a/n: it’s been a hot minute since i posted something :) this didn’t turn out as much as i expected, but it ends really sweetly ;) enjoy!
•••
When the news that the royal family would be coming to your village, everyone panicked. People were cleaning the streets every day, they were repainting shutters, gathering all stray animals and making sure everything was presentable. This also went for you.
You owned the bakery in your village. It was your family’s for the longest time, run by your parents and sister. But when you were of age, old enough to run a business on your own, they left the village. They wanted a better life and that apparently didn’t include you. Your sister stayed, though, but she didn’t really like helping with the bakery, since she’s done it for so long.
After the news broke, you spent days dusting shelves, cleaning dishes, sweeping the store every hour, and making sure you had enough ingredients for the big day. You made sure to make enough bread for them, as well as give them many different desserts and pastries.
You were extremely tired after all the baking and decorating, but you had to make yourself look at least a little more presentable. So you quickly ran upstairs and changed into your favorite outfit, ridding the flour and dough from your body, forgetting that some of it was still in your hair.
Finally, the time came. The entire town was standing on their door steps and porches, watching as the carriage drove in and stopped in the square. They were introduced by their squire, and you and your sister are in awe.
They begin making stops around the different stands and shops in the square, and yours is the last they get to.
“(Y/S/N), fix that basket of french bread!” You yell to your sister, watching as the king, queen, and prince walk into your shop.
“Hello! It’s such a pleasure to meet you King and Queen,” you greet them with a big smile. But the prince is the one to catch your eye.
His bright blue eyes stare at you in adoration as you talk with his parents, explaining your story and how you came to own the bakery and how much you make and sell a day. You offer them small samples of each kind, giving them the box of free desserts you made specifically for them.
“Oh how rude of us! This is our son and future king, Finn,” the queen introduces you. He steps forward and reaches for your hand over the counter, keeping his eyes on you as he presses a light kiss to your hand. Heat rises to your cheeks and you grin a little at him.
“It’s lovely to meet you, beautiful,” he whispers against your hand with a wink. You halt for a second, really taken aback by his gesture, but you snap back to reality and smile sweetly at the king and queen.
They chat with you for a few more minutes, and the entire time, Finn is staring at you with a small grin on his lips, enjoying one of the pastries you made for him.
“This is really good,” he interrupts the conversation, making his parents laugh. You giggle as well, handing him a handkerchief to him. A blush covers his cheeks when he realizes that he has jelly on the corner of his lip.
“Well, it was very nice meeting you and we hope to send our squire here every weekend to pick up bread and desserts. Finn seems to like it, so I’m sure he’ll request a lot of those jelly pastries.”
“I’ll have everything fresh and ready for him when he does! It’s been a pleasure talking with you.” You curtsey to them, as your sister said you should do when greeting and saying goodbye to the royal family.
Once more, Finn reaches for your hand, upon disapproval from his parents and bids you a goodbye himself. And then he was gone.
“He is so cute,” you mumble to yourself, but your sister, standing behind you, hears you clear as day.
“You like the prince?” She wonders.
“I mean, he seems sweet and he is very handsome, but who knows? He’s probably just like his parents, power hungry and not really caring of the people they rule.”
You go on with your day, selling your bread to all of your regulars and chatting with people every now and then. It was a pretty long day, but once you got into bed, your mind was solely focused on Finn. What he’s really like, if he’s truly different than his parents or if he wanted his own life.
Days go by and you go back to regular life, your sister going back to being no help now that the royal family isn't here anymore. Well, two members of the royal family.
On one rainy weekend afternoon, you were preparing some dough to make pastries for tomorrow, since the dough had to sit for at least twelve hours. You were working on making some pain au chocolat dough when the bell to your bakery door rang. Wiping your hands on a towel nearby, you run out to the front.
“I’m sorry, the bakery’s closed for the rest of the day,” you sigh out, not looking up just yet.
“Actually, I wasn’t planning on buying anything,” a familiar voice rings out in the small shop. Your heart starts to race and you finally gaze up at the man. He removes his soaked hood and runs a hand through his hair.
Finn.
“Oh, um, hello. Are you, are you here for um,” you couldn’t get a sentence out properly. He chuckles and steps closer to you.
“Are you alright? I didn’t mean to startle you, darling. I just really wanted to come see you,” he says with the sweetest tone in the world.
“Really?”
“Yeah. Ever since we first met, I haven’t stopped thinking about you.” Heat rises to your cheeks and you avert your eyes to the ground.
“Honestly, I haven’t either,” you shyly admit. He keeps stepping closer to you until he’s directly in front of the counter, where you’re standing behind.
“So, do you have time to take a walk?” You smile at him and look back to the kitchen area.
“I have to finish some things up, and it’s also raining. Shouldn’t you know that? I mean, you did ride here, right?” He shakes his head in embarrassment and glances out the window at his horse, shielded from the rain under the awning.
“You would think I know that…” he trails off, rubbing his neck. “But once I saw you, everything on my mind disappeared.”
“Oh, so you’re cheeky, eh?” You say in a teasing voice. Finn laughs and keeps his eyes down.
“If you’d like to come back and wait until I get done with my work, we can talk for a while,” you offer. “There’s stables at the end of the road so your horse isn’t stuck sitting under the awning.”
“Right. I’ll be back, love.” Another blush covers your cheeks as he leaves the shop, guiding his horse out of sight. You go back to the kitchen and continue kneading the dough that was abandoned. Soon after, Finn returns and finds his way to the kitchen, watching you from the doorway.
“How long have you been doing this?” He asks, moving to stand next to you.
“If you had been listening to when I was talking with your parents, you would know,” you joke.
“I couldn’t help but be so enamoured by your beauty, I was barely listening,” he murmurs.
“I’m no princess, Prince Finn. There’s no need to flirt.”
“I think you’re very beautiful.” You stop your actions and turn to him. You want to say something, but realizing that you’re close to being done with the dough, you finish up first before talking with him.
He stays put, watching you clean the table up and pack everything away before washing up and motioning for him to follow you upstairs.
“You’ve been shivering for the past ten minutes,” you say, throwing him a cover to warm up with. “I can get a fire going and make you some tea.”
You are quick to start a fire, giving him a blanket to wrap himself in it.
“Here you are,” you quietly say, handing him a steaming cup of tea. You lower yourself to the floor next to him and sit in silence for a little.
“So, why did you come here?” You ask.
“I told you, I wanted to talk to you more. Get to know you better.”
“But why? I’m just a commoner. Aren’t you supposed to be promised to a beautiful princess of a neighboring kingdom to better the ties your family has?”
“Technically yes, but they have yet to find a princess that fits their standards. So I’m taking matters into my own hands.” A giggle escapes your lips and you set your tea cup down on the brick next to the fire. You go to grab a blanket for yourself but Finn offers his to yours.
“I’m warm now, I don’t mind.” You take it and thank him, another silence falling over you.
“I really don’t like the royalty life anyways,” Finn whispers, eyes cast down in his lap.
“It seems like a great time. I mean, you don’t have to worry about if you are going to have breakfast, lunch, or dinner, you have a roof over your head with a warm place to sleep, and you do not have to worry about making a living to stay alive.” Finn hadn’t realized that’s what you struggle with as a bakery owner.
“You...are amazing. You go through so much and still are so positive. I don’t think I would be able to survive on my own, which I hate. I want nothing more than to be able to fend for myself, but there’s no way out of my family.”
“Tell them. Tell them you’re not fit to be king or don’t want to be. It can’t be that hard.”
“Oh it is,” he sighs. “But I’ve always dreamed of the day I stand up to them and go to live in a cottage, no worries about running a country or anything of that matter. I’d give anything for that life.”
“It’s not as glorious as you think. I’ve had days where I just cry and cry because it’s so much stress to run this bakery by myself. I sometimes think of running away, just like my parents did to me.” This was something you didn’t mention when you met them. You told them your family used to run the bakery but you took over, you didn’t say why you had to take over.
“What?”
“My parents left my sister and I with no warning when I turned eighteen. I was old enough to run the bakery and live on my own, so they left.”
“But doesn’t your sister help out? She was helping the other day?” You scoff in humor and shake your head, taking a small sip of your tea.
“No. She was there because she had to be. She’s always exploring the forest and out of the house every single day. She always stays with her lover that she met. I prefer the place alone anyways, it’s much more relaxing. She doesn’t like being here and she’s always so pissed off and annoying.” Finn laughs and moves a bit closer to you.
“I don’t have any siblings. So it’s odd to hear that you like being away from your sister. For me, I’ve always wanted a sibling.”
“We can trade?” You both laugh together and you can’t help but rest a hand on his leg, which he takes into his hand in seconds.
“Life is hard sometimes but we have to push through the bad days to get to the better ones,” he says.
“I like that saying,” you smile softly, your tone matching his. His thumb rubs against the back of your hand, comforting you a little.
“My butler told it to me one day when I was young, and it’s stuck with me since then.”
“Wow, so weird to know you have a butler.”
“It’s awful, honestly. They come into my room when all I want is to be left alone. I’ve lashed out on so many since I was young, we’ve had different ones every other year because they all get mad that I talk back.”
“Doesn’t sound like you. You’re so sweet and kind, I couldn’t imagine you yelling at someone.”
“It happens quite a lot,” he laughs. “Another reason why I don’t believe I’m cut out for this life.”
“We could always switch lives, like switching siblings,” you offer as a joke.
“I wouldn’t mind a life like yours,” he takes your joke seriously.
“What?”
“Being a baker in a small village, living above where I work, getting to know people on a personal level. I think that would be nice.”
Weeks and months pass, and you and Finn continue seeing each other every once in a while. You were in love with each other at this point, but Finn came to you with news one day.
It was another late night for you, you were up making dough for bread the following day. The only light was a few candles illuminating your kitchen. Finn’s footsteps creak the floorboards, catching your attention. You smile and go to greet him with a kiss, but the look on his face says everything.
“What’s wrong?” You wonder, wiping your hands on your apron.
“My parents found me a princess to marry me off to,” he whispers. He doesn’t dare make eye contact with you, scared to see your reaction, if you would be angry, sad, or disappointed.
“Oh,” you mumble, beginning to pick at your fingernails. “T-that’s great. I’m happy-”
“No you’re not,” he interrupts, looking up at you. “You’re not happy for me so don’t say it. I love you and you love me, there is no way either one of us is happy about this.”
“But, you have to. You’re the prince after all.”
“That’s what I came to talk to you about. Can we go upstairs? I had a long ride and need to lay down.”
“Uh, yeah. Just let me finish up this last batch of dough. You can go up and help yourself to some tea.” He nods and walks off, leaving you alone to tear up at the idea of your ‘relationship’ ending tonight or sometime soon.
Once you finish, you take a few minutes to collect yourself before walking upstairs. Finn was sitting on the floor in front of the fire, warming his hands with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders.
“I made you some tea,” he murmurs. You clean yourself off a bit more before sitting next to him, making sure to keep some space between you, and begin drinking your tea.
“I’m not going through with it,” he sternly says. “I’m not going to be married off to some girl I do not know just because it will help my family gain more power and notoriety.”
“But you-”
“No! There’s no way I’m going through with it! I fucking love you and I want to be with you!” He yells. You stare deep into his eyes, which were lit up from the fire.
“Finn, I love you too. But we come from two different sides of life. You can’t just leave all that you’ve known to be with me.”
“Yes I can. I can live here with you and help you with the bakery so you’re not overwhelmed with everything. I may not know how to bake, or handle money, or do anything really, but I’m willing to try.” There’s a slight hint of teasing in his voice, but you could tell from the look in his eyes that he was dead serious.
“Do your parents know about me? About us?”
“They know I’ve been sneaking away every once in a while, but no, they don’t know the reason.”
“How can you be sure they are going to be okay with you leaving for good?” He shrugs and wraps an arm around your shoulders, pressing kisses to your forehead.
“They're going to have to deal with it because I want to be with you more than anything,” he whispers. You sit in silence, eyes closed in content, basking in the feel of his arms.
“So are you really going to help me with baking?” You ask. Finn chuckles and pulls you onto his lap, his hand caressing your cheek afterwards.
“I’m going to try if it means I can be with you.”
Sure enough, Finn broke the news to his parents that he was not going to be marrying the princess, and that he would be leaving them to be with you, the baker of the village. They weren’t happy, of course, but Finn didn’t care.
The sun was shining through the window above the table you were working on, a small smile on your face as Finn’s voice rang out as he talked with customers at the front of the bakery. A second bell dings, signaling that the customer left, when Finn comes up behind you, his arms circling your waist.
“That was Mrs. Kalding. She picked up her order. She said she’s excited for the baby,” he says into your neck. His hands rub your slightly swollen stomach, his lips attaching to your skin.
“She’ll be the first one knitting booties and hats for them,” you giggle, turning around in his arms and looping your own arms around his neck.
“I’m so happy here. I never thought this would be possible,” he grins, kissing you deeply on the lips.
“It’s crazy what can happen in a year, right?” You respond, playing with the curls at the back of his hair.
prince!Finn au is at 12,657, thanks to the Star Wars Writing Alliance Write-in! Edging ever closer, maybe. Poe kissed Finn(’s hair) anyway! And there’s political intrigue now.
7362 words on prince!Finn au. Still haven’t actually made it from California to ‘Kalinda’ (I stole a random name off the wookiepedia entry for planets).
So I never post any of my art, because Im scared of others opinions, but I decided to be brave... I wanted to contribute (i guess would be the word) to @mythoughtcrime ‘s Prince Finn AU you can find her original post Here! Mine is obviously more tribal themed but im really happy with how it came out!
