The Sands of Jakku

Phasma's Hour

The resistance marched on the palace. Leia didn't think anything else could possibly go wrong.

She was incorrect on that point.

They were not even out of Tatooine before they met Phasma and several of her troops in pursuit of Kylo Ren. The guard was small, but efficient. Their training was indisputably better than many of the men and women in Leia's militia.

The guard held their own against the Resistance, despite the numbers Leia's troops had on them. Leia was impressed by the way they fought, their reckless abandon, their intelligent strategy.

She didn't like what this meant for when they got to the palace and faced the guard there.

Finn found her a few hours into their stand-off. He looked concerned, his brow creased with worry. Leia was meeting with the officers, trying to find the best strategy in order to take on the remaining Palace Guard.

"They're special ops," Finn said when everyone turned to look at him. "These are the best of the best of the Palace Guard."

"How do you know this?" Leia asked after a few beats of silence pass.

"I used to be one of them," Finn said, "Or I was training to be. I was there in Yavin 4 years ago when they slaughtered the entire province to take control away from the people there."

Leia stared at him, her jaw going slack.

Behind him, Finn heard footsteps approaching swiftly. He turned quickly, hands up to try and defend himself. He dropped his aggressive stance when he saw Poe standing there with a look of awe on his face.

"That was you in Yavin 4?" Poe asked, his eyes shining with tears, the corners of his lips quirking upwards into a sad smile.

"What was me?" Finn asked, confused. Poe looked him over and laughed to himself, in awe.

"I should have known," Poe said, shaking his head and laughing again, "It was so obvious."

"What's obvious?" Finn asked, almost afraid. Poe slung his arms around Finn's neck and hugged him. Finn's heart raced, his hands moving slowly, awkwardly to brush against Poe's hips.

"You saved my life that day," Poe whispered against Finn's cheek, "You were so young and you saved my life."

Finn's eyes widened when he heard Poe's confession. Poe had been that scared boy, barely older than himself, whose parents had been murdered in the square by Captain Phasma.

Poe pulled away just enough to look Finn in the eyes, tears spilling down his cheeks, despite the smile on his face.

"You're alive," Poe said in awe. "After all this time, you're alive."

Overwhelmed by emotion, Finn leaned forward to pull Poe back into his arms to give him the embrace he deserved. Poe stopped him, placing his hands on either side of Finn's face and pressing their mouths together in a short, chaste kiss.

Finn stilled, his body almost rigid. The moment Poe's lips left his, he was acutely aware that they were not alone. All around them were Resistance troops, and behind them stood the highest ranking officers.

"Thank...you," Finn said, his voice rising at the end, almost as if it were a question. Poe bit the inside of his lip and winced. He patted Finn on the shoulder and grimaced before slipping back into the fray. Finn wanted to go hide somewhere and pretend none of this ever happened.

He didn't know what to do. Or how to react to what had just happened between them. So he stood there, completely still and tried to pretend he didn't exist.