Force Destiny

Reunited

The moment the connection closed, the tears began to fall. Rey had cried when she left the Supremacy, certainly. The wait in the escape shuttle for Chewbacca and the Millennium Falcon were the loneliest moments she had felt since she left Jakku. She had sobbed in fear for her friends who were losing their lives and for the man she had left unconscious on the floor of a broken ship.

That was before Crait, when Kylo revealed how evil he could be. Though it had been difficult to hate him in that last connection on that base, with his sorrowful eyes staring back at her, everything else had been lost in the urgency. It had been easier then – when her friends were in immediate danger – to push aside what had happened between them. She had never considered how painful it would be to see him again without that distraction. She most certainly had not considered seeing him again so soon.

Emotions she had successfully buried since she had left the Supremacy suddenly overwhelmed her the moment she saw his face – no, not face – mask. Not just any mask, but the mask she hadn't seen him wear since the skyway when he killed his father on Starkiller. The longer he had gone without it, the more he seemed to transform back into Ben Solo. After all that transpired in the hut, she had every reason to have hope that he would turn. He had understood her, promised she would never be alone. She had been so certain he would turn.

The mask had left her with little doubt that he was any closer to Ben Solo now than when she first met him on Takodana, perhaps even further down the path of darkness. As painful as it had been to see him again, the mask made it easier to hate him. It made it easier to pretend it was only her enemy, Kylo Ren, not the short glimpse of the man she had thought was Ben Solo. Rey dreaded the day she would have to meet his burning stare again.

Kylo may have been lost to darkness, but she knew that whatever had happened to them on Ahch-To wasn't over. It changed nothing. She had to let him go, so she could save the galaxy from his wrath. She had to let him go. If she ignored him long enough, perhaps whatever it was between them would fade. That meant she would have to ignore the aching pain that was tearing at her heart, making it difficult to breathe. It was worse now – the loneliness – but she would survive. She was good at it.

Rey was wandering aimlessly when she stumbled upon the cot containing the unconscious woman she had only glimpsed briefly after escaping Crait. Rey didn't even know her name, how she had come to the Resistance, or why she was unconscious. The only thing that mattered was there was hope; she was alive. Finn had spent most of his time checking on her or sitting with he. She was clearly important to him.

Anyone important to him was important to Rey. Straightening the blanket over the woman, as she had watched Finn do, Rey wondered if moments like that were what having a family was like. She imagined that was how parents comforted their children when they were sick or had nightmares. She wondered if this young woman had parents, if they were missing her, or if she was missing them. She wondered who the woman was. Could she find family in her too?

Rey was so singularly focused on the unconscious woman that she hadn't heard or felt anyone approach. "Her name is Rose," the familiar, comforting voice said.

She dried her tears before turning around to face her friend. "Hey, Finn, I didn't see you."

"You okay?" he asked, wrapping her in a tight embrace. Finn gave the best hugs. It was everything she imagined she would feel if she'd had a family. It was soothing, centering, and warm, like the first meal in days. She released a long, slow exhale, and the tension drained from her body.

She smiled.

"I will be, I think. You?"

He released her from his embrace, but his arm remained around her back in support as he turned to stare down at Rose. "I will be when she wakes up, when I know you're both safe."

Rey studied the concern on his face before turning back to the woman. She knew that fear well; being across the galaxy from her friend when he was injured, without word from the Resistance about his condition, had been excruciating. Her apprehension hadn't eased until she had found him alive and well on Crait. "What happened to her?"

Finn reached forward to straighten the perfectly arranged blanket. "She crashed her speeder into my speeder. It was my fault. She stopped me from flying my speeder into a battering-ram cannon on Crait. She saved my life." Rey couldn't hide her gasp as she turned to stare at him in disbelief. The news had blindsided her, viscerally terrified her; goosebumps crawled over her skin, and bile rose in her throat. Finn, her friend, – more than a friend, family – had almost... sacrificed himself. She was proud of him for finding his place in the Resistance, but she had almost lost the most important person in her life. He was her rock in this terrifying new place. What would she have done without him?

Rey turned back toward Rose, viewing the woman in a new light. Not only did she want the woman to live for her friend's sake, but hers as well. She owed this stranger everything; she had saved her only family. "Then I am forever in her debt," she said softly. "I can't do this without you, my friend."

Rey hugged him again, tighter, as if she could squeeze him strongly enough to erase the visions of losing him from her mind. On Ahch-To, she had been so concerned about him healing from what Kylo had done that she hadn't thought about how it might have changed him. She could feel it now – how he had changed. He was braver and had found a purpose and belonging, but he was still the kind, caring man she had met on Jakku. "I'm sorry, I didn't tell you until now," he whispered.

"No, thank you for being honest with me," she replied. It didn't make her feel any better. Finn was nothing but honest with her, and she was hiding a secret that would break his heart. Kylo had almost killed him, and she had gone to him on the Supremacy. Tell him you'll explain later, Chewie had suggested when she had tried to decide what to tell her best friend before putting her life in the hands of their enemy. But she couldn't explain. Not only had she gone to the man who had tried to kill them all, she had failed, putting them all at risk, and Finn had nearly sacrificed himself because of it. Even worse, the danger hadn't passed. Rey was still connected to their enemy.

Finn stepped out of her arms, grasping her shoulders tightly. "Rey, I need to tell you something else."

"What's wrong?" Rey studied his eyes for a clue, fearful of what she would find. His tone had sounded apprehensive. Whatever it was, it wasn't good. After her confrontation with Kylo, she wasn't certain how much more she could manage. What if something terrible had happened? What if they didn't want her at the Resistance? What if they knew?

He exhaled slowly. "It's just, you and Rose are both important to me, and I hope you can –"

"Anyone important to you, is important to me, Finn," she said, hoping that was all it was. Perhaps Finn believed she would think Rose was replacing her as his friend. There couldn't be anything further from the truth. She didn't know Rose, but she trusted Finn. They could expand their family with more friends, it wasn't a competition. There was nothing that could come between them.

Finn smiled, visibly relaxing.

"Good, good. I have a lot to tell you."

I have so much to tell you too, she wanted to tell him. She couldn't do it; she wasn't strong enough, yet. One day, one day soon, he would know. "And I have all the time in the galaxy now," she said instead.

Finn grabbed her hand, dragging her away from Rose. Rey happily allowed him to guide her to a nearby game table. Sitting down across from him, she was reminded of their trip from Jakku to Takodana. So much had changed, too much. Finn activated a switch on the table and holographic creatures popped up on the board. Finn was excited in a way that made her giggle. It didn't require much to make him happy and Rey loved that about him. "I missed you," he said, as he began a new game, "after everything that's happened."

"You have no idea," she replied.

Rey smiled as Chewbacca passed by with a friendly growl on his way back to the cockpit. "Where are we going?"

"I don't know," he shrugged. "Far from here, I guess."

I don't care, as long as it's as far from the First Order as possible.

Asfar from him as possible.