The anniversary was coming up; sheâd been gone nearly three years.
The Resistance base had bigger establishments than Finn had ever seen when heâd absconded from the First Order. They now had an entire base on the planet of Coruscant â it was as hi-tech and flash as Finn had only dreamed of on Canto Bight and, what was more, Rose didnât want to scratch the inhabitants eyes out â well, of most of them anyway. They werenât living out of the back of a rust-bucket ship anymore, in trenches or dug outs.
They were established. Respected. Out in the open.
It also helped that the First Order was officially dust.
Nearly three years to the day actually.
The Resistance always seemed to go quiet about Finn at this time of year. Any victory parties they held were well-away from Base. Finn wasnât sure whether that was out of consideration to Finn or because they could get better liqueur the further out they travelled.
Either way Finn never celebrated. The First Order falling coincided with the desertion of her best friend. For him.
Poe, or General Dameron as he was now known, also went quiet. But not out of sadness â out of fury. He would always lament losing their one chance of revenge.
âWe were this fucking closeâ He raged, holding his fingers only a breath apart to show just how close they had been, âto getting that scum punished for his crimes! And what happens? Rey gets carried away with compassionâ he said it like a swear word âand runs off with him!â
Finn would always feel a bond with Poe â he had been the one to help him escape the First Order and given him the name he now went by after all â but this would always be a bugbear between them. Poe was furious with Rey for her betrayal of the Resistance and the Cause. Finn honestly couldnât care less about all that (theyâd already won â Reyâs defection didnât changed anything). What had broken his heart was her leaving behind her friends â they had been the very best of friends. Hadnât that meant anything to her? And for that⌠Supreme Leader?
Rey had left with Kylo Ren. On the battleground, theyâd refused to harm one another. When theyâd captured Kylo Ren, Rey begged for clemency. If only for the sake of the late General Leia. Kylo Ren was the Generalâs son after all.
In fairness, Poe hadnât exactly been reasonable. He was determined that Kylo would die a traitorâs death and Rey even asking for Kylo to be spared made her at risk of being branded a traitor too apparently. Finn had been winded by this â it sounded a little too familiar with how he had once heard another General talk. Yes, they were on opposite sides but the utter conviction that they alone were right⌠well, Finn didnât like to think about that even now.
Either way Rey wasnât going to stand by and let it happen. When the jailers came to give the prisoner food the next day, they found his cell empty. They were also missing one Y-T Corellian Freighter and one Force-Sensitive Scavenger.
Poe had issued a million credits reward for both Rey and Kylo Renâs capture. But, as of yet, theyâd never been found.
Finn had gotten in too many arguments with Poe over Rey to risk bringing her up again so there was an unspoken role â Rey was never to be mentioned around them ever again.
Yet it was Rose who refused to act as though sheâd never met Rey.
Just the other night as theyâd lain in bed together, sheâd whispered: âTo just leave everything⌠she must care about him very much.â
Finn could give no reply.
Nor could he give a reply now. For it would be a risk.
But he kept rereading the piece of parchment that had been scribbled on.
Meet me on Takodana in three moons. I miss you.
It wasnât signed but Finn didnât need a signature to know who had sent it.
The next two days left Finn flitting from one emotion to another. One minute he was all set to go to meet Rey; the next he was swearing to throw the note into the fire.
Had she gone insane? For all she knew, he could have handed this note straight to Poe and he would have surrounded the entire planet! She was putting a hell of a lot of faith in his ability to keep quiet.
But already Finn knew that Poe would never hear of this no matter what Finn decided. He would not sell Rey out to a traitorâs death.
On the morning of Reyâs request to meet, he told Rose that he was going to do an inventory run with his new ship. Rose kissed him goodbye and waved him off. She was either oblivious or unconcerned with what Finn was about to face.
All the way during his journey, Finn kept muttering to himself that he was just flying within distance of Takodana⌠he was just flying over the planet to appreciate the greenery⌠he was just looking to see how Mazâs Palace now looked⌠he was just landing to see if he could get a drinkâŚ
It was rather laughable really.
Mazâs Palace looked much the same as it had the first time Finn, Rey, Chewie, Han and BB8 had come to Maz for help. It seemed her clean up after the First Order had landed to search for BB8 had gone very well. The place looked almost unscathed.
Finn looked up at the establishment and wandered inside almost aimlessly. The clientele were as unsavoury as they had been on his first visit but Finn now had enough smarts to not make eye contact with anyone. He moved towards the bar where a tiny woman was distributing drinks. Finn waited for her enormous goggled eyes to fall on him.
âHow you doing, Big Deal?â Maz Kanata asked in her usual wry tone.
âMaz. Good to see you.â Finn nodded his head. âI⌠donât know what Iâm doing here.â
âStiff drink is what you need. Come with me.â She waved her hand imperiously. âI keep the good stuff outback.â
Finn numbly followed Maz out the back. It felt like there were numerous tunnels that made up her back-rooms â all the better for Maz, he supposed. More privacy for her clientele.
Maz opened a door and they went into a dimly lit side-room. But there were no barrels or bottles. Just a table and chair with a petite figure wearing a cowl sitting on it. At the sight of him, she lowered her hood.
She hadnât changed â the three years that she had been away hadnât taken away her dainty freckles, hazel eyes or hopeful expression. She looked stronger and healthier â even on the run she could maintain a better diet than on Jakku. And her look of joy seemed even brighter at the sight of him.
It suddenly didnât matter that Rey was now wanted by the Resistance for a stupid amount of credits or that she had been in hiding for three years â she was back and she was now in his arms, hugging him like her life depended on it.
They clung to one another for a prolonged period of time â it took him back to when they had embraced outside the cave on Crait when she had lifted the rocks away from the secret exit. After many moments they broke apart.
âMaz!â Finn blurted out and looking around at the tiny former pirate. âYou helped Rey? But you know sheâs a fugitive.â
âThe girl ainât done me any harm.â Maz countered. âBesides Iâve been wanted by at least four planets since my 400th year.â
Finn turned back to Rey after deciding that Mazâs code of ethics wasnât worth getting a migraine over.
âHow⌠I mean, where⌠I mean, are you okay?â
âIâm fine Finn. Oh. Iâve missed you so much! And donât be mad at Maz. Arenât we all breaking the law right now?â Her face looked guilty as though clearly torn about having Finn break the law just to see her. âSheâs been in secret contact over the last few months. Sheâs made sure Iâm always a step ahead of the game. And I couldnât exactly meet you in the bar. But listen -  we canât stay here. The Falcon is in the middle of the forest. Itâs concealed but⌠I donât like leaving it.â
Finn could guess that someone was on the Falcon anyway but wasnât about to let Rey walk away from him. Even if it meant facing him.
Rey gave Finn a cowl to put over his head (just in case they were spotted darting into the forest) and hugged Maz her thanks. They darted through the trees and kept an eye over their shoulders. It was almost like old times â like the time they had fled Starkiller Base into the snow filled forest.
There was a sight that caught them up short there too.
Finn nearly staggered to a halt when he saw the Millennium Falcon in front of him. Heâd almost believed the ship had been a dream. Yet there it was â as dirty and ramshackled as it had ever been.
Rey darted up the ramp that had been lowered and Finn took a deep breath before following.
Finn took a moment to look around before his ears picked up on voices.
âIâm back.â Reyâs voice announced.
âThank Forceâ came the reply. It was a deep voiced reply and it sent the sparse hairs up on the back of Finnâs neck. âI was getting worried.â
Finn lingered in the hallway of the ship. Did he go forward or back?
âFinn?â Reyâs voice was quiet as it approached his position. Nervous even. âCome in and meet them.â
Finn didnât have time to contemplate the number of people waiting for him before he was taken by the wrist and led towards a sight he was likely never to forget.
The man who had once been Kylo Ren was stood in the centre of the ship. His hair was shorter but still long enough to show off his wavy locks and his scar that bisected his face. He was wearing black and dark brown robes. He looked similar to how he had appeared when Finn had known him as the enemy but different enough that Finn could envision him living a quieter life with Rey.
It was what he was holding that made him freeze. Or, more to the point, who.
Rey walked up to the baby in his arms and kissed her head. The baby had the look of a girl, was probably about eighteen months old and a full head of black hair. She looked like her father but also undeniably like Rey.
âFinn⌠this is Kira. Sheâs⌠sheâs our daughter.â
Daughter. Rey had a daughter. Kylo Ren and Rey had a daughter.
The baby looked too preoccupied with drooling to really be concerned with the poignancy of the reunion. She looked contented in her fatherâs arms and didnât seem grizzly. Kylo Ren held her with surprising gentleness; how could the one-time Supreme Leader be so natural holding an infant?
Rey gave a shy smile. âWe got married when we first disappeared.â
âI need to sit down.â He said already on his way down to one of the Falconâs seats.
Rey sat with him and they talked. It may have been for seconds or maybe days. They discussed everything they could. Rey didnât disclose where her and Kylo were hiding and Finn didnât ask. Even if she trusted Finn, she couldnât risk her family. Because thatâs what they were now â family.
Finn spoke of Rose, about the little flat they lived in and how Rose was trying to learn to cook. Sheâd only burnt their dinner twice. Rey didnât ask about Poe and Finn didnât volunteer the information. They seemed to know it would do no good.
From time to time, his eyes would wander to the toddler and her father on the other side of the Falcon. Kira seemed to be fascinated by the new person on the ship. Sometimes she would even toddle towards Finn and look at him with a happy smile. She was definitely Reyâs little girl â that smile could win over anyone.
Kira threw up her arms. Rey picked her up off the floor and the baby sat on her motherâs lap as Finn tickled under Kiraâs chin. Rey kissed the crown of Kiraâs head with evident love and pride. Kylo stood apart from the group but close enough that he could step in if Kira needed him.
It suddenly hit Finn in the face: Rey was never coming back.
There was always a chance that she might come back to the Resistance in time on her own. If she handed over Kylo Ren at the same time, Poe might even punish her rather lightly. But she was never going to turn in her husband and she would probably rather die than abandon her child. Sheâd been left behind by her dead-beat parents and Kylo Ren had been forced to suffer from absentee ones.
They were never coming back â because they finally had everything they wanted.
And that was okay. It was okay.
The sun was setting before Finn stood up to go. Kylo took Kira and nodded his head to Finn. It was not quite a hand of friendship but it was probably as good as they were going to get. The baby waved a pudgy hand at Finn and the former Stormtrooper couldnât help the wave back.
Rey and Finn descended the ramp but didnât embrace this time. They just wanted to look at one another as though to memorise every detail. Who knew when they would meet again?
âAre you happy?â Finn asked. It was the most important question that he needed an answer to.
âYes.â Rey said simply. âAnd now Iâve seen you⌠Iâm happier than Iâve ever been.â
They did hug then. The longest and warmest hug of their friendship. âWe will see each other again.â Finn promised. âI believe that.â
And then, with a heart light as air, Finn walked through the forest and back to the Resistance.
blakekathryn
titsay
theartofmadeline
discoholicmusic
pixelskylines
romaincrisis
amandla
