Hope Remains - A Reylo Story

⭐Sixteen⭐

Author's note: Just in case if anyone gets confused over the timing of events in my story, I am taking into account different time zones for individual systems and planets so while it could be night on Balmorra, it could be day on Pillio and there could be days between events really if only a few moments for some characters. That's just me tryna make it realistic in a sense. Anyways, I am so happy with how Hope Remains is being received, thank you for your continued support and keep voting!

Poe awaited Finn's response to the truth of all the lies he and Rey had told for the past four years. Where Poe could usually read every expression that crossed Finn's face, for the time since he had met him, he could not. "Finn?"

Lira looked between the two men but her gaze scrutinised the man that her mother so revered and held in such high esteem. "So you're the famous Finn?"

Finn's gaze lightened momentarily but he held his stern countenance all the same. "I am."

"Mama told me stories about you... and Rose... And how you left the bad guys." Lira told Finn excitedly.

Finn's gaze hardened with betrayal, not on Lira's part but on Rey's. "Poe, can I talk to you a minute?"

Poe nodded and the two men left Lira in the communal area to talk in the cockpit. "How could you keep this from me? That is Rey's child, I had a right to know!"

Poe rubbed the bridge of his nose, he knew this would come back to haunt him like the Gungans and their clumsiness. Although, as Poe recalled it was one particular Gungan that had a thing for trouble. "I made a promise to Rey to keep her out of the fight for as long as I could, to keep her and Lira safe."

Finn looked gobsmacked. "How can you care for that child? Her father is Kylo Ren!"

Poe felt his own core darken at Finn's cruelty towards the girl he had protected and loved for years. "Do not place the sins of the father on her. Lira is not like him, she's light like Rey. Get to know her. Don't take your qualms with Rey and Ren out on Lira, she's just a kid!"

Finn tensed up for a brief moment before letting his muscles fall lax. Poe was right, he couldn't blame Lira for the problems he has with her parents. No matter how angry he wished he could be at the young girl that mirrored his closest friend, he simply couldn't. "You're right. This is between me and Rey." He paused collecting himself for a minute before adding, "So, what's she like?"

Poe chuckled lightheartedly. "Why don't you talk to her and find out?" It was a small jab at banter and Finn rolled his eyes before exiting the cockpit with Poe trailing behind him.

The communal area was quiet when they got there. Too quiet. "Where's Lira?" Poe asked his tone laced with angst and the briefest sparks of panic.

"Um, she was right here when we left her a moment ago."

Poe went straight for the smuggling compartment but found it still empty. The bag was still there and as his eyes dragged to the bench, he noticed her stuffed Wookie still planted where they had been sat. "She wouldn't go anywhere without Chewie!"

Finn's brows pulled in confusion, "Chewie knew and I didn't?"

"No!" Poe shouted the panic within him building. "She named her stuffed Wookie Chewie. It was the first gift Rey ever got her when she was a baby. She never sleeps without it."

Finn become aware suddenly just how blatantly obvious Poe's love for this girl was. She may only have been his Goddaughter but he clearly had a deeper attachment to her than what he would have thought possible. It made Finn jealous, it should have been him knowing Lira so intimately. This knowledge only deepened his resentment towards Rey. "I'll check the hangar." Finn said and took off at a sprint towards the Falcon's hangar.