Heir to Skywalker ⤇ Finn

Chapter 18

Chapter 18

"A map to Skywalker himself?" Maz asked Han. "You're right back in the mess."

"Maz, I need you to get this droid to Leia," Han explained himself.

"Hmm," Maz pretended to contemplate the idea, but had already made up her mind. "No. You've been running away from this fight for too long," Maz was gentle with the man. "Han, nyakee nago wadda. Go home!" She told him.

"Leia doesn't want to see me," Han said.

"I thought I didn't either, but here we are," Padme explained. As angry as she was with him, deep under that anger she still missed him. "Plus, there's only one way to find out," Padme noted.

"Please, we came here for your help," Finn said, desperately. Padme felt terror in his body.

"What fight?" Rey asked, referring to the fight Han had avoided for years.

"The only fight," Maz started. "Against the dark side. Through the ages, I've seen evil take many forms," Maz started into her speech. "The Sith. The Empire. Today, it is the First Order. Their shadow is spreading across the galaxy," Maz was getting into the thick of the inspiration. "We must face them. Fight them. All of us," Padme started to see Han's face change.

Finn interrupted the moment and motivation was lost.

"There is no fight against the First Order! Not one we can win. Look around," Finn spat. "There's no chance we haven't been recognized already. I bet you the First Order is on their way right -"

Maz adjusted her goggles and looked deeper into him. Padme crossed her arms and leaned back into the booth.

"What's this? What are you doing?" Finn asked, but Maz kept looking at him. Padme had only seen her do this once before, to her. When her father had disappeared, she came to Maz just like Finn. Afraid, hurt, angry, but brave, motivated and inspired nonetheless. Maz had searched her and found that she was a lot like her father, and his mother before him.

Maz got on the table and started crawling towards Finn. That had never happened before. Plates and cups came crashing down on the ground.

"Solo, what is she doing?" Finn looked terrified.

"I don't know, but it ain't good," Han said.

"If you live long enough you see the same eyes in different people," Maz explained. "I'm looking at the eyes of a man who wants to run."

"You don't know a thing about me. Where I'm from. What I've seen," Finn seemed more angry than he had ever been. "You don't know the First Order like I do. They'll slaughter us. We all need to run," Finn had stunned the entire group, Rey and Padme the most. But Maz the least. She turned and crawled back to the chair.

"You see those two?" She asked, pointing to some pirates in the corner of the room. "They'll trade work for transportation to the Outer Rim. There, you can disappear."

Finn looked at the duo in the corner, contemplating the idea. He began to stand up.

"Finn!" Padme and Rey both interjected.

"Come with me," He asked both girls.

"What about the droids? We're not done yet," Padme told him.

"We have to get them back to your base," Rey said. Padme looked at Finn with such disappointment. Not only was he considering leaving them, but Rey still thought he worked with the resistance. Padme had assumed Finn would tell her at some point, but it was becoming clear that he had no intention of doing so.

"I can't," Finn stood to leave. Padme couldn't do anything but just watch as he offered Han his blaster back.

"Keep it, kid," Han dismissed.

Finn left. Rey stood up to go try and stop him, but Padme stayed behind. She was tired of getting attached to people and losing them. So, she let Rey go try to stop him, but she didn't follow her.

Maz adjusted her goggles back to normal. "Who's the girl?" She asked, referring to Rey.

But Han didn't answer, just watched the two argue. His attention turned to his niece. "You okay?" He asked. But she couldn't respond with words, only gestures. She looked down and clenched her jaw. She wasn't okay. She hadn't been since the attack on the temple.

Padme looked up to find Rey standing still, Finn walking away from her and towards the smugglers.

"I can't believe he just left. After all this," She mumbled.

"He'll be back," Han said. Padme didn't want to hear his optimism.

"And how do you know that?" She asked disbelievingly. She looked up at the man.

He smiled the tiniest bit. "A feeling."

When Padme looked back for Rey, she was gone. It was unsettling.

"Hey, I'm gonna get a drink," Padme said without looking at the other two. She wiggled herself out of the booth and looked at her droid, who was now alone. "Where's BB-8?" She asked, walking away. The droid followed her

BB-7 answered her question while they were moving.

"What do you mean 'you don't know'? Why weren't you watching him?" She snapped. The droid snapped back. "I know, I know, 'he isn't your responsibility', I'm sorry."

They walked further. "We'll never find them at this rate," Padme stopped walking, her droid stopping with her. She closed her eyes to search for her friend. She knew her inexperienced search tactics wouldn't work with all the people around her, but she had to try.

She didn't need the force to hear the thumping going down a staircase next to her. If her eyes were open, they would be rolling. But when she opened her eyes and looked down, she saw the droid she thought was going down the staircase was, in fact, right next to her.

"BB-8?" She asked her droid. They slowly crept down the staircase. Padme decided to lift BB-7 off the ground for better discretion. That way, if there was danger, no one would know they were there.

The thumping stopped. Padme started walking quicker, bringing her droid with her. When she reached the bottom of the steps, the space opened to a dark and cold stone hallway with doors everywhere. She saw what she thought was the back end of BB-8 creep past a doorway. She placed her droid down slowly as to not alert anyone. She heard a click and her whole body felt ten times heavier.

Her father's lightsaber had found a new wielder.