The Revival of The Force

23 preparations

23 preparations

"Hey Zorii, I've been thinking," Poe says while he hops next to her and walks in her tempo. Zorii looks at him, he can see that she is annoyed.
"Could you at least finish your sentence?" she complains.
"I've been thinking that we could hang out," he lets out in a breath.
Zorii sighs but keeps walking her way. She is fast, her steps are even quicker than Poe's.
"Please give me a second chance," he begs.
"Okay, fine..." She stops and faces him. "But you better come up with something fun."
He lets her walk away. When she is out of sight, a victorious scream leaves his throat.
"What is that noise, man?" Warren asks when he comes out of one room.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Poe answers with a wide smile. He flicks his hair back and asks: "How is it going here?"
"Less things to do. I can sleep as much as I want. But if I sleep too long, there won't be any breakfast anymore. So I still wake up at reasonable hours. Best meal. The food is better here, by the way."
"If you need anything, let me know," Poe says after chuckling. He walks back, because he needs to make himself ready for the night.

"Look, Rey, I'm sorry," Finn says.
He saw her come back from the woods and he decided to speak to her. But as she entered in the sleepy base, though, he didn't see her again. He made the choice in the morning to see if she was in her room, he surprisingly found her.
"I've been an asshole and not only once. But tell me what is going on."
"I'm tired. I haven't slept properly the whole trip," she only answers, pretending to search something in her cupboard.
"Have you seen Ben?" Finn asks carefully. He rarely talked about Kylo Ren with her, afraid she might – what?
"Sometimes. He doesn't show up a lot," she answers while she still avoids looking at him. Finn still stands at the door frame intensively looking at every of her movement.
"Come in," she invites him to enter properly. He sits down on the ground while she takes out her brush to do her hair. It's needed. Finn has rarely seen her with opened hair, but he loves it.
"How is he?" Finn asks.
"What do you mean?" she answers, still brushing her hair in front of the mirror.
"I mean, I don't really know him as Ben. What is he doing, what is he telling you? Why do you – "
She lets her brush down and decides to look at him. Her lips have a little smile.
"Love him?" he finishes.
"I don't love him, Finn," she smiles even wider.
"You obviously do, Rey. Look at how you are smiling."
"Well he's – stubborn. He wanted me to take his hand so many times. I never took it. Only when he saved me. But then he was on the Light Side. He's protective. (She frowns and looks up to the ceiling to picture Ben better.) I remember when we went on Exegol so we could defeat Palpatine together. When he fought off the Knights of Ren. When he stood next to me with the blue lightsaber." She closes herself in her thoughts, still staring into the blank ceiling, but her frown turned into a slightly opened mouth and eyes in admiration.
"Okay, that is love, more than any woman Poe talked about," Finn laughs.
Rey smiles too. When she realises she does, it widens.
"Thanks, Finn. I know I should've taught Yugantar. My quest isn't finished, I still have to find all the Jedis."
"And what about the Yavin IV thing?" Finn asks.
"I think it's not real. I try not to think about it too much. The Force is capable of quite a lot of things."
"I kind of liked Shana though. She's funny," Finn remembers with a chuckle.
"Yeah, okay," Rey responds.
"You're saying that because you don't have any humour."
"Shut up," she smiles. "But you're right. I'm not laughing enough. We should hang out some more."
Finn keeps his mouth shut about the party tonight.
"I don't hate Ben." The words come out of Finn's mouth, surprised himself.
"Are you serious?" Rey questions. "If he would still be alive, you would talk to him?"
"Yeah, I mean, we've all done mistakes. Not as big as his maybe, but I've seen that he's fragile. He chose the right path."
Rey's lips stay stretched out the whole conversation. There are people who would accept him...

Her steps are heavy as she walks in the canteen. It's full, looking at the time, it's obvious. It closes in one and a half hour, the peak hour is now. She stands in the queue, she refuses any invitation to go forward. Just because she's a Jedi is no reason. Finn joins her on the table. Rose, Zorii, Poe and three strangers come too.
"This is Charley." Poe shows a young woman with short fake-blond hair and full lips that smile. "Warren," another blond haired man, but his lips are a line, no smile. "Rick," has dreadlocks and his white teeth show.
"I'm Rey," she smiles. The others seem to know them already, but she has never seen their faces before. She frowns at Finn, he understands the message.
"Ex-Stormtroopers. We kidnapped them," he whispers. "From the Resistance. Keep it secret."
"If they find out, you – "
"We know," Finn and Poe say in union.
"Why don't you come to the little house in the woods tonight?" Poe proposes.
"Why that?" Rey asks.
"Well to talk a little, all of us," he answers.
"This place is huge, man," Rick suddenly interrupts.
"Yeah, it grows really fast. When we first came here, it was one old house. We have some construction workers who are there, building all day. They can stay here and get food and beds in exchange. It's one job the Stormtroopers could get," Poe explains.
"Is there something I can die my hair with?" Charley randomly asks.
"CY! Again? You're going to destroy your hair. Remember last time," Warren exclaims. But no one understands.
"Charley, her name is Charley. Not CY, okay. I don't want to force things on you, but this is important. If you don't want to be discovered, you will have to do at least that," Poe warns.
"Why is that a problem for you?" Rick answers menacingly.
"Because we saved you from the Resistance. You could be in cells right now, having to fill surveys until they find a job for you. If they discover about your past, not only you three, but all of us will have problems," Finn clears up with a warning. They stay silent. "But you can come if you want, knock at my door and I'll show you the way. Take flashlights, it's dark," Finn adds kindly.
"You have mood changes, are you pregnant?" Poe jokes.
Finn blushes for no reason, some laugh. Zorii fixes Poe, if she smiles or stares in hate, we will never know.