#luke has one of those too. it's that rueful smile when the light goes out of his eyes and we saw it in his proposal card

[vynegar]

u know it's a good card story when it's got the Despair™ sprite

[all-that-is-gold]

My take on an alternate ending

“With my death, so dies the last of the Skywalkers.” Palpatine’s eery voice echoed through the great chamber as he outstretched a bony hand. A surge of force power threw the newly redeemed Ben off his feet across the great hall and into a chasm, hitting the ground on the way down. He grabbed on to the rocks surrounding the opening on the floor, his tired muscles complaining all the way. “You forget… I’m also a Solo.” He huffed as he began to pull himself back up; back to her. The stubbornness that characterized his mother and father flowing through his veins.

-Cut to Rey in the hall

Rey stood up, her head pounding and her vision blurry from the life force Palpatine had sucked from her. Ben. Ben wasn’t there. Where was he? “And now child,” The voice of the long dead rang through the chamber. “Fulfill your destiny.” Palpatine echoed the words of Snoke. “Kill me and take my place on the throne.”

Dozens of Sith whispers can be heard through the hall. Urging Rey to finish it.

“I’m not going to kill you.” Rey told him truthfully. “It isn’t my destiny.”

“But it is mine.” Ben Solo said from behind her. He stood there, chest heaving from exhertion. Ben raised his hand and his uncle’s saber flew to his hand without hesitation, he was finally worthy. He walked towards Rey, her eyes glossy at seeing him alive. He nodded to her and in unison they turned on their lightsabers. The chamber filled with brilliant blue light. They stood side by side, ready to fight till the end.

Palpatine let out a maniacal laugh. “Your coming together, will be your undoing.” He told them as he outstretched his pale hands, lightning crackling out of his fingertips and towards the pair. Without speaking, Rey and Ben tilted their lightsabers to create an ‘x’, effectively blocking the Emperor’s force lightning. It seemed like ages passed with the pair snarling their teeth, gripping the legacy sabers with every strength they had.

“You cannot defeat me! I am all the Sith!” Palpatine laughed.

Rey turned to look at Ben, who seemed to weaken with each surge of lightning coming out of Palpatine’s fingertips. They needed a miracle. And then she remembered. Of course! She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. In and out. “Be with me.” She whispered, hoping to the Maker that they would hear her plea. “Be with me.” She repeated. Ben looked at Rey, confusion and awe etched on his face. He watched as she repeated it a third time, then he understood. “Be with me.” He closed his eyes as he whispered it also.

“Be with me.” They said together.

Suddenly, both of them felt power like they had never felt before flow through them. The legacy of a thousand years of knowledge rested atop their shoulders. Palpatine might be all of the Sith. But they were all of the Jedi.

They took a step forward, one foot after another. Together. No longer Rey and Ben. No longer Light and Dark. They were the balance. Two halves of the same whole. The Light in the Darkness and the Darkness in the Light. The Force flowed freely by them as if they were a conduit for it.

Palpatine hesitated for a second as the pair in front of him seemed to glow from within. Never in his years had he witnessed something so pure in the Force. “What are you?” He asked.

“We are everything.” Ben and Rey said in unison, their voices mixed and amplified by thousands of other voices of the ones that came before them. With one last powerful push of their lightsabers, they turned the Emperor’s lightning on himself. With a scream of agony and shock, the Emperor’s lightning beginning to eat away through him, burning flesh and bone in its path. The Force is too strong amongst the three of them. As the Emperor “explodes” into nothing, Ben and Rey are sent flying off from the power surge. The hall around them collapsing. Each of them thrown in a different direction mirroring the end of the Throne Room Battle seen in The Last Jedi.

-Cut to the Resistance Plot

Ben awakens first. He searches for Rey and sees that she was flung to the other side of what remains of the hall. He gets up clumsily, limping. He falls on his knees, succumbing to his injuries and crawls to reach her. He grabs her gently by her arm, she’s cold to the touch. He turns her motionless body over, only to find her whole side and face littered with dark marks; as if the lightning had etched itself on her skin. Her eyes wide open and lifeless. She wasn’t breathing.

Ben held her close to his chest, looking around to see if anybody could help them. It was just them in the ruins of the great hall. He needed to do something. With a breath, he knew what to do. He cradled her on his lap, holding her head gently with one hand and the other placed on her stomach as she had done with him before, when she gave him a new birth. So would he.

He closed his eyes and concentrated. Focus. Breathe. Just Breathe. With his last remaining energy he passed on his life force onto her. Feeling the warmth slowly leave his body, transferred to her from his palms. She wasn't done yet. The Resistance needed her. The galaxy needed her. Her friends needed her. Nobody needed him after all he had done. It was okay. He was at peace with his decision.

Her palm covered his as she breathed in for the first time. He opened his eyes, relieved that it worked. He helped her sit up gently. “Ben.” She breathed. His face breaking into a grin, crooked teeth and all. She was alive. She gave him an equally radiant smile. She looked down to his lips hesitantly at first and then gave him a passionate kiss. His arms encircling her as she reached up a hand to touch his cheek. They pull back, contemplating everything they had been through. Content with each other being alive. Ben’s face suddenly changes. He feels himself slipping. His smile fades, he looks at her face. Committing every last detail to memory. For this was the last time he was going to see her while he lived.

With a sigh his eyes close and his body falls back, lifeless; as Rey clamors to reach him desperately.

Without letting go of his hand, she brings her ear to his chest and a tear rolls down her face. He is gone. She stays there. Silently crying

-Cut to a background of space, stars.

“Ben.”

“Ben.”

“Ben.”

He opened his eyes slowly. He saw that he was surrounded by stars. He sat up and found himself standing on nothing. Floating it would seem.

“Ben.”

“Ben.”

“Ben.”

Different voices called out his name. All around him, enveloping him. He was tired of hearing voices in his head. “Who are you?” He asked them. What are you, he wanted to ask.

“I‘d hope you would know us by now, kid.” Luke’s force ghost materializes behind him, giving him a soft rueful smile.

“Uncle Luke.” He said tensely. So Ben truly was gone. Then that meant-

“She’s not here.” Luke answered for him, as if reading his mind or his heart. “She’s waiting for you.”

“I’m ready to see her.” Ben said shakily. He had to. She was his mother after all.

“No you’re not.” Luke shook his head gently. “This isn’t over yet, kid.” Ben frowned at this. What did he mean.

“Where are we?” He asked his uncle, who only looked around him.

“Everywhere and yet nowhere.” His uncle answered quizzically as he always did, Ben wanted to roll his eyes. He understood nothing. “We are one with the Force.” Luke outstretched his arms.

“So I did it.” Ben nodded. “I saved her.”

Luke looked at him sadly. His nephew had suffered a great deal at the hands of the man who had abused three generations of his family and now, his final act as a redeemed man was to die saving the woman he loved. Saving the galaxy’s knowledge of the Force in the process. Luke had to admit it that he was a bit impressed at his nephew’s selflessness and proud of him. He wished he could forgive himself for all the wrongs he had done in the past. For not being there for him.

“Yes.” Luke conceded.

“So, no more voices?” Ben pressed.

Luke gave him a rueful smile. One that was etched with mischief Ben hadn’t seen in years. “Not the ones you’re familiar with.” Ben frowned at this.

“You need to bring balance to the Force.” Anakin’s Force ghost appears next to Luke’s. “Both of you.”

“Grandfather.” Ben breathed.

“This is what has to be done.” Anakin tells him.

“I don’t understand.” Ben shakes his head lightly.

“For balance to exist both sides of the Force must coexist.” Came another voice. Obi-Wan Kennobi appearing on the other side of Luke. “Light exists within the Dark and Dark exists within the Light. One incomplete without the other.” He explained. “A dyad.”

Ben stares at them.

“Dead, Kylo Ren is.” The little Master Yoda spoke up as he materialized. “Rise, Ben Solo will.”

Then it dawned on him.

“Everything I did, all of it was wrong.” Ben said sadly and ashamed, referring to half of a life living a lie as Kylo Ren. “It’s too late.”

“Death is not the only way one can be redeemed.” Anakin smirked, placing a hand on Ben’s shoulder. Obi-Wan did the same. Master Yoda extended his hand in front of him. Finally, Luke placed his hand on his nephew’s chest.

“The Force will be with you.” He told him earnestly. As thousands of Jedi appeared behind them. Qui-Gon. Ahsoka. Mace Windu. Luminara. Aayla Secura. Some of them Jedis from other centuries past. “Always.”

And with those words Leia’s body becomes one with the force. Her final act to be transferring her life force to save her son.

-Cut to Rey still resting her head on his chest. Sobbing softly.

Ben takes a sharp intake of breath as he comes back to life. Making Rey jump back, scared and in surprise. He looks at her as she looks at him. Both in disbelief as to what had just happened, but for different reasons.

“You came back.” She whispered to him in awe and confusion as he sat up. Ben breathed, looking at her intently.

“I’ve been told I’m very hard to get rid of.” He told her jokingly. A little bit of Han Solo’s sassiness shining through. She smiled back. They hug tightly, relieved.

-Cut to the celebration. Everything happens as it does in the movie. Rey goes back to the resistance. Celebrates with Finn and Poe. Hugs Chewie.

-Cut to Rey on Tattoine, her hair up in an intricate Alderaanian braid and her new clothes are light grey; almost white. Everything happens as it does in the movie.

She digs the legacy lightsabers in the sand. The final resting place of the Skywalker twins where it all began.

An old lady walks past the Lars moisture farms. “It’s been years since anyone has been in this place.” Rey smiles at her. “Who are you?”

Rey turns to where she landed the Falcon, Ben climbing down the ramp with Chewie and BB8 waiting at the bottom of it.

-Ben is dressed in dark grey, almost black.

Half of her found family.

“Rey Skywalker.” She smiles.

Ben walks up to her, smiling softly.

“Where do you want to go now?” Ben asks her. Coming to stand by her side.

“Somewhere green.” Comes Rey’s answer, a content smile on her face as she takes hold of his hand.

Together they watch as the twin suns of Tattoine disappear down the horizon.

The camera pans out and we see the Skywalker twins looking at them, smiles on their faces.

Peace at last. The balance restored.

[redrikki]

Lady in Waiting? I really love your take on Rey - it feels very genuine!

Alright, here goes my first DVD commentary. I wrote this story for @sosobriquet as part of the @fandomtrumpshate‹ exchange. She had a couple of different requests and, after struggling to decide I went with “Rey and Poe bond while Finn’s in a coma. You can read the story without commentary here. Story with commentary below the cut.

The staff was cutting Finn out of his clothes by the time Rey found the med bay. The grey medical droid sliced along the seams while the human doctor peeled off the resulting rags. The exposed wound on Finn’s shoulder was both better and worse than Rey had imagined. It wasn’t bleeding or anything, but it shown an angry red against the dark brown of his skin and smelled strongly of overcooked meat. Rey swallowed hard and looked away as the doctor gently rolled Finn onto his side to examine the slash across his back.

I actually had this scene planned out and bouncing around in my head way before anything else. Like, even before I got the prompt. It was nice to be able to work it in somewhere. I find it always pays to stick those random ideas somewhere because you never know when they might come in handy.

Rey’s gaze landed on Finn’s jacket, crumpled like a dead thing in a heap on the floor. It had been spared the same fate as his shirt and was largely intact. There was still the small burn on the shoulder and the larger, more horrifying one which bisected the back, but Rey could fix that. She darted forward and snatched it up.

Unfortunately, someone else had the same idea. No sooner had Rey gotten her hands on the collar than somebody grabbed a sleeve. Rey glared up at her competition. He was a human male, maybe ten or so years older than her with dark, sweat-soaked curls and light brown skin. A pilot too, judging by his bright orange flight suit. Rey felt like she should know him though she couldn’t say how or why.

Disconcerted by the feeling, Rey narrowed her eyes and tightened her grip. “Scavenge from the dead, but this is Fin’s,” she said and yanked.

Rey often gets portrayed as this ray of sunshine, and she’s really not. She’s fiercely territorial and used to fighting for every scrap of everything.

The man let go so fast Rey overbalanced and stumbled backwards, crashing into a tool-laden cart. Medical instruments clattered to the floor, drawing the doctor’s attention.

That’s one way to win at tug-of-war! This is the start of a pattern with Poe. Every time Rey expects resistance from him, he does a yielding parry instead and utterly disarms her. Seriously, start counting the number of times it happens as you read this.

“Are you hurt?” She frowned first at Rey, then the man, and back again.

They both shook their heads. Rey’s back was one massive bruise from where Ren had thrown her into the tree, but nothing was broken or bleeding or burnt.

“Good.” She jerked her head toward the door. “Now get out so I can help your friend in peace.”

The man reached for Rey’s arm, but she shook him off and saw herself out. In the hallway, she squared her shoulders and braced for the fight. She didn’t want to hurt him, not like she’d wanted to hurt Ren, but she would if it meant Finn would wake up and wear his jacket again.

“You must be Rey,” he said with a disarming smile. “I’m Poe.” He offered his hand, but didn’t seem bothered when Rey didn’t take it.“Thanks for looking after BB-8.”

So, I part of the reason it took me so long to write this story was that I wasn’t really comfortable writing Poe after seeing the film. There didn’t really seem to be enough to get a good read on him. I went out and bought the Before the Awakening book and then read all the Poe comics. Not only did it help a lot, it was really entertaining.

It took a moment for his words to register. “Poe? Poe Dameron?” BB-8â’s kind-brave-master Poe? The-best pilot-in-the-Resistance Poe? The original owner of Finn’s jacket? That Poe? “Finn said you were dead.”

You know both BB-8 and Finn just gushed about this guy to her. He’s practically   a Han Solo-level legend for her thanks to them. 

Poe just shrugged. “The way we landed I thought he was dead. Good thing we were both wrong.” He glanced back at the closed med bay door with a furrowed brow. Then he sighed and the tension melted from his face. “We can’t do any good here. Let’s say we grab a bite. My treat,” he added with another one of those easy smiles.

Rey’s stomach rumbled at the mere mention of food, but she hesitated, looking back toward the med bay.  It felt like years since those few mouthfuls she’d snatched at Maz’s, but what if? What if Finn woke up and she wasn’t there? What if the medical equipment broke and she wasn’t there to fix it? What if he died?

My Rey has a lot in common with Anakin. They both have lost so much and have so little left that they tend to cling. Also, she’s spent so long being responsible for pretty much everything that the idea of letting someone else handle it has to be kind of terrifying.

“Rey?”

She turned back toward Poe’s patient, smiling face and sighed. He was right. There was nothing they could do here. Standing blocking the hallway wouldn’t make Finn wake up any faster than wearing her hair the same way for ten years had made her parents come back. Poe hadn’t said anything about claiming Finn’s jacket, so Rey shrugged it on and let him lead the way.

***

Poe was ridiculously friendly, and not just with Rey. They’d barely sat down with their food trays when what seemed like half the planet stopped by.  They crowed about their victory. They wept over missing friends. They even asked about Finn. More people came in five minutes than passed through Niima in five months and somehow Poe knew all their names. Some of them stared at her curiously, but Rey just kept her head down and made the most of the free food.

Poe seems like the kind of guy who is effortlessly popular, mostly because he takes the time to learn everyone’s name and actually listens when they speak. 

It was easily the best thing she had ever eaten. Like the prepared meals she’d found on her Ghtroc 690, it was meat and vegetables in a sweet and sour sauce, but this was served over some sort of cooked grain. It was all so fresh the vegetables crunched. Rey devoured it like a starving gnaw-jaw. She was already eating her last forkful by the time Poe had finished socializing long enough to take his first bite.

This bit about the Ghtroc 690 and the food came from the Before the Awakening book. The bit about her just shoving everything into her mouth came from her behavior in the film and the common traits of kids who grew up with persistent food insecurity. I did quite a bit of research on that even though it only showed up for, like, 10 seconds.

His eyes widened as she lifted the plate to lap up the last of the wonderful sauce. “Wow. I guess you really like sweet and sour shaak.”

Rey has never heard of table manners. Seriously, what are those even?

“Ah uh,” Rey grunted. It was amazing and the only complaint against it she could make was that it was  too moist and squishy to be stuffed in a pocket for later. If only she had a rigid container. Who knew when she’d be able to have something like this again?

Hoarding is another thing kids who grow up with food insecurity tend to do.

Poe shook his head with a rueful laugh. “Well, the kitchen will be glad to know at least one personâ’ll be happy eating it every other week.” He wrinkled his nose and dug in like a man rushing through an unpleasant chore.

What sort of worlds had Poe lived on that he could turn his nose up at fresh vegetables and real, actual meat? His attitude probably wouldn’t have hurt so much if Rey hadn’t known such worlds existed. She had though. She’d flown simulations of them and lived off their scraps. She had yearned for them, but never reached. It hurt to know she could have eaten like this ages ago if she’d had the courage to fly away with Devi and Strunk.

Devi and Strunk are another book reference. I really liked the idea that she’d a) had friends who betrayed and abandoned her and b) had opportunities to leave that she refused to take because of her family. It makes Finn coming back all the more poignant.

“You planning on sticking around?” Poe asked.

Rey shrugged. She was stuck here at least until Finn healed, but beyond that? She thought longingly of her island. Too bad it was only a dream.

This story is about Rey learning to let go of her fears in order to move on with her life. She needed a reason to want to leave and, honestly, looking for Luke Skywalker wasn’t good enough. She has zero connection to him. She had expressed zero interest in learning how to Jedi. The island, on the other hand, could itself be draw thanks to her dreams and the Force. 

“You’re from Jakku, right?” Poe pushed his plate away and lounged back in his chair. “I was stuck there for just one day.” He shook his head. “I can’t imagine you want to go back there.”

“I do or I did. Before Starkiller, I mean.”

Poe quirked an eyebrow and Rey flushed. He must think she was mad. Why else would anyone want to go back to sand and starvation once they’d gotten away? “My family. They left me there when I was a little girl. I thought…I thought if I just waited long enough, they’d come back.”

Poe’s easy smile slipped from his lips. “They never came back, did they?” he asked quietly.

“No, I—” Tears gathered in Rey’s eyes. She snuffled and dashed them away. “I knew, deep down, that they wouldn’t but…” She shrugged. “It was easier to stay and pretend. I didn’t have to live, just wait.”

“So what now?”

Rey stroked the sleeves of Finn’s jacket. She had never felt so loved as she had wrapped in Finn’s embrace. “I’m going to fix Finn’s jacket. I’m going to stay until he’s better.” She had been waiting her whole life for someone to come back for her. She wasn’t about to leave him.

“And then what?”

“I—” And then what? Had Rey ever thought about that before? She used to tell herself stories where her family came back, but they always ended there. Finn would wake up and then they would do….something.

The island, the island, the Force seemed to whisper. Go soon, go now.

“I don’t know,” Rey lied and pushed the Force away.

****

BB-8’s map slotted into place, completing the galaxy. It filled the gloomy command center with the light of more stars than Rey had ever dreamed. They sang like a calling.

I feel really proud of the phrasing here and also in the first line of the next paragraph. It’s almost like poetry, if I do say so myself. 

Poe wandered through the constellations, tracing the glowing path that led to Skywalker. He tapped the planet at the end of the line with a slow smile. “General” —he turned to face her— “I can have the Black Squadron there in an hour.”

General Organa raised an eyebrow and favored him with a sardonic smile. “And bring Luke home on your lap?” She shook her head. “How about something a little roomier than an X-wing?”

“I can pick Luke up with the Falcon,” Chewie offered.

Canon never bothers to translate Chewie, but damn it, I was going to. Rey speaks Wookie. There was no reason for her not to understand exactly what he was saying. 

Poe nodded crisply. “And I’ll go with him.”

Rey’s stomach sank. Chewie and Poe were the only conscious people she knew on this base. They couldn’t just abandon her.

The general pursed her lips, considering, then shook her head. “It won’t work. Finding Luke was the easy part. We need something, someone to lure him back here.”

The weight of her gaze fell on Rey and suddenly it was hard to breathe. The stars’ song swelled to a crescendo as the scent of the sea filled the air. The Force was like a push at her back. Go, go, it whispered. Rey shook her head to clear it.

The Force is aggressive and has issues with boundaries and consent. Rey’s lucky it didn’t knock her up.

“Rey” —the general took her hands— “you are strong in the Force. You have his lightsaber. It has to be you.” Her eyes were like quicksand, sucking Rey in until her words seemed reasonable. She could find Skywalker where everyone else had failed. She would just have to leave Finn to do it.

Look, I enjoyed the film, but there was no logical reason to send Rey as articulated by the movie. Finding him has been Poe’s mission, pretty much since he joined the Resistance according to the comics. Leia is his twin and Chewie is one of his oldest surviving friends. Any of them would have made more sense as someone to send to pick Luke up. Heck, R2 and C-3PO would have made more sense than some random girl who’s lineage and connection to the Skywalkers was never explicitly established. It took me a long time to come with a reason to send Rey and it’s still a pretty shitty one. 

“No!” Rey wrenched her hands from the general’s grasp. “Finn’s hurt. He needs me.” She backed away. “I haven’t even started fixing his jacket.” Hands reached for her, the stars reached for her, but Rey shook them off and ran.

*****

She wasn’t hiding, Rey told herself. She was working. It just so happened that the med bay was a quiet, perfect place to do both. Rey sat hunched in a chair by Finn’s bed, struggling to repair his jacket. The leather that had felt so supple and soft pressed against her face as they hugged was proving surprisingly tough. It took real effort to force the needle through. It would probably be easier if she had an awl or something to pre-punch her holes. As it was, her fingers ached.

“The general wanted to send me,” Rey recounted as she worked. Talking to an unconscious man felt a bit like yelling at the desert, but the doctor said it would help. All the more reason for Rey to stay. Who else was going to come and talk to Finn? “Skywalker’s her brother,” she grumbled, stabbing with the needle and yanking it through the resulting hole. “She should be the one to go and—”

My thoughts exactly, Rey. I mean, I guess she has to general and shit, but, it still makes more sense then sending a complete stranger. Whatever. Work with what canon gives you. 

The whoosh of the med bay door cut her off mid rant. Rey looked up from her work to glare at whoever had found her. Poe. The general must have sent him to talk her into the mission. Well, it wouldn’t work. Rey braced her shoulders and raised her chin. The only way she was leaving was if Poe dragged her out of her chair.

Rey’s stomach clenched as Poe strolled across the room. Her tension only mounted as he claimed the chair on the far side of Finn’s bed and proceeded to ignore her. “Hey buddy,” he said quietly, taking Finn’s hand, “you having a good nap?”

I love the way Poe calls BB-8 buddy, so naturally I had to use it here. 

Finn, of course, remained silent except for the faint sound of his breath and the steady beep of the heart monitor. His doctor was keeping him in a medically induced coma to keep him from moving until his back was healed. He’d only be allowed to wake once the bacta-jell bed had worked its magic. Rey tried to tell herself that watching him sleep was better than watching him suffer, but the unnatural stillness of his normally expressive face was all wrong.

Finn being unconscious when she left didn’t make much sense unless it was a medically induced coma. I mean, he could have passed out from the pain back on Starkiller, but there’s no medical reason he should have still been unconscious when she left based on his injuries. If anything, she should have been in a coma after being thrown into that tree and knocked out for several minutes. That’s some serious brain damage right there.

The three of them sat their in increasingly uncomfortable silence as Poe stared at the monitors and squeezed Finn’s hand. Any moment now he would start in on her. Her muscles quivered with anticipation. Any minute. “Well?” Rey finally demanded, unable to take it any more.

“That’d be easier if you used a punch,” Poe said mildly, nodding at Rey’s sewing project.

Like her cramped and aching fingers hadn’t already told her that. Rey ground her teeth in frustration. “Why are you here?”

Poe crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. “Finn’s my friend too, you know,” he said. “In fact, he was my friend first,” he added with a smirk.

He was.

Rey colored and looked away. Finder’s rights on a person was a pretty dubious claim, but she got what Poe was saying. He had just as much right to Finn’s bedside as she did. She cleared her throat awkwardly, searching for something to say to reset the conversation. “Finn said he helped you escape?”

Poe smiled fondly. “I’ll never forget the first time I saw his face.” The smile slipped from his lips and, for a heartbeat, he looked almost haunted. “I’d been captured, tortured, had my memories just” —he ground his fist against his temple— “ripped out of my head. I’d blown my mission, given Ren everything, and I thought they were going to kill me. Then this guy showed up.” Poe’s grin reappeared like the sun bursting out from behind a cloud. “‘This is a rescue,’ he said. I have never been so glad to see anyone in my life.”

For real, what happened to Poe was awful and traumatizing and I don’t think he magically got over it just because he escaped. I hope TLJ touches on that, but it probably won’t. 

That certainly sounded like Finn. Rey smiled faintly, remembering. She had more or less rescued herself back on Starkiller, but the sight of Finn, the feel of his arms around her? That was the moment she knew she’d be alright. “Then you understand why I can’t leave him.”

Both of these people are just so into Finn, but really, neither of them know hardly any thing about him. They’ve both built him up in their heads based on some fairly intense encounters. He’s Poe’s hero. He’s the family that was promised Rey. Once he’s awake, he’ll have a lot to live up to.

“Do I?” Poe leaned forward, the intensity of his gaze pinning Rey to her seat. “During the months we looked for Skywalker, my team and I went up against a monster, got trapped in a high-security prison filled with dangerous prisoners, and almost died more times than I can count.” From anyone else it would be a litany of horror, but Poe made it sound like the time of his life. “I wouldn’t trade a second of it, but you’re what? Giving it up to sit here and sew?”

Poe’s an adrenaline junkie of the finest order who grew up on stories of the heroes of the revolution. The idea that anyone would not want to be part of that is just so foreign to him. Also, I had a line here originally where he mocks her sewing abilities but I cut it. Being unnecessarily dick-ish isn’t Poe’s style.

A surge of hot anger took Rey’s breath away. Her fists clenched tight around the jacket. “You know it’s not like that.” The mission might succeed. The island might be real. Finn and his love for her were the only sure thing in her life. She wasn’t going to give that up just for the possibility of an adventure.

“You could be a Jedi, Rey, but instead you’re just” —he threw up his hands— “doing it again.”

“Doing what?”

“Waiting.” He reached out and squeezed her hand. “Please, don’t make Finn your next excuse not to live your life.”

And here we come to the crux of the story. I needed a good wham line to get her to let go of her insecurities and actually leave. 

****

Rey sat and watched the gentle rise and fall of Finn’s chest. She hadn’t even left yet and she missed him with an intensity that made her own chest ache. “We’ll see each other again.” It was a promise to herself as much as to him. “I believe that.” She laid a kiss on his forehead. “Thank you, my friend.”

And now we’ve caught up to canon. 

They would see each other again. With each step she took away from his bed, she reminded herself of that. They would find their way back to each other. They had done it before; they would do it again. Finn would wake up. Rey would come home. For now though, Rey was done waiting.

The end.