Photophobia

Epilogue

In hindsight it was strange how fast the First Order crumbled once Ren had been defeated by the scavenger girl. What wasn't strange was how fast Hux had been sold out to the New Republic – he suspected that it had been the last revenge of a slighted officer from the Old Empire.

He had been in Republic custody for less than a month, awaiting trial for his many war crimes -- most prominently for wiping out the Hosnian system, of course.

He had expected a show trial, seeing as some of the crimes he was accused off didn't happen under his direct supervision. But he was the last figurehead of the Order and they were right – he was responsible even if he hadn't given the orders himself. He had been mildly surprised when he got an actual lawyer, a young twi'lek whose lekkus twitched when she spoke.

Solicitor Drua was very assiduous and went methodically through every charge laid upon him. He listened politely and at the very end she exhaled and leaned back.

"How do you want to plead, Mr. Hux?"

He took a sip of the cheap tea they served at the prison and grimaced at its sweetness. "Guilty."

He could tell from the expression on her face that this wasn't what she had expected to hear. "Guilty?"

"Well, I was an integral part of the First Order."

She tilted her head, her lekkus intertwined. "You were. But one could argue that you didn't order the bombardment of Balmorra for example. Frankly, I'm a bit surprised – I assumed you wanted to exploit every angle to escape the sentence for life."

He scoffed. "What for? I'm guilty."

She nodded. "If that's what you want ... I'll prepare everything for the court."

He just nodded. Taking another sip of the disgusting tea he mused about another boring evening in his single cell.

Drua stood up and put the data pad in her bag. "You've got a visitor. I'll send her in if that's alright with you."

He sat up, almost chocking on his tea. "A visitor? Who?"

"According her security clearance she was with the resistance – Rose Tico."

He felt how he blanched. It had been years ... he gulped and realised that his hands started to tremble. "Ah."

"Do you want to see her?"

He tried to compose himself and nodded.

Dura left and a couple moments later, Rose entered. He smiled at her – she looked as striking as ever. She shyly returned the smile, brushing her still curly hair behind her ear. She didn't wear overalls but a dark blue suit. She held a small bowl with a lid in her hands.

"Hi," he said quietly, not sure how to properly greet her.

"Hi." She put the bowl on the table and sat down.

"W-What is it?" he asked and pointed towards the bowl.

"It's snake soup with Shiso Leaf," she said and pushed the bowl a little closer to him.

He laughed. "Snake soup? You made me snake soup?"

She shrugged. "Well, you seemed to like it."

They smiled at each other for a few moments, then he cleared his throat. "How are you?"

"I'm good. I'm now an engineer in the Corellian ship yards. The work hours are crazy, but ... I get to test my own designs." She rubbed her hands together.

"I'm glad for you," he said and straightened his grey prison uniform. "I assume you have a meeting of some sort here on Coruscant?"

"I came here to visit you," she said with a kind gleam in her eyes.

He frowned. "But-"

"I wanted to bring you snake soup, all right?"

His smile faltered and he felt an all too familiar warmth spread on his cheeks. "Thank you."

She blushed. "Don't mention it."

They fell silent for a moment. Then she reached into her purse and pulled the sets of chopstick out of it. She handed him one set and opened the lid.

The smell was delicious. They started to eat in silence.