Resistance Family
Summary: Rose is upset and it's up to Rey to help her. Is this the start of a new friendship? Tag to The Last Jedi, hints of pre-ship FinnRey (most likely a one-shot)
Rey was deep inside one of the Falcon's access compartments, reaching around wires and pipes with a hyrdospanner. She was working to fix the deflector shield generator. Again. The damn thing never seemed to stay fixed.
Occasionally she would pop up and Finn, sitting on the edge of the opening, would hand her another tool. He was telling the story of his adventure on Canto Bight again. Rey seemed most fascinated by the part about the tall racing creatures with the sad faces and big ears.
Poe appeared around the bend in the hallway and, from his expression, Finn could tell right away that something was wrong.
Finn broke off his story to ask, "Poe, what is it?"
Poe hesitated for a second before explaining, "I just saw Rose when I went to get something in the sleeping quarters. She told me she was fine, but I could see that she was crying. Finn, maybe you could go check on her?"
Finn's face fell. He said slowly, "No, I don't think that's a good idea."
That was clearly not the answer Poe was expecting, "What? Why not? You know her better than I do, you should go. I'm worried."
"Because," Finn sighed, "There's a good chance that it's my fault she's upset."
Rey stood up and pushed her safety goggles onto her forehead. "Why? What happened?" she asked, abandoning all pretenses of not eavesdropping.
Finn rubbed his face. With both Poe and Rey looking at him expectantly, there was no way he was getting out of this one.
"What happened is…So the other day Rose was…She was saying…" Finn was searching for the right words.
"Get to the point!" Rey prodded.
"Basically, I told her that I only saw her as a friend. Which wasn't the answer she wanted," Finn said.
"Ahh. So you rejected her," Poe said thoughtfully, "Buddy, you should have come to me for advice! These things have to be handled delicately."
"What was I supposed to say? And don't give me that look! I was nice about it," Finn glared at Poe, then added in a more subdued tone, "I thought it was best to be honest. I wasn't trying to hurt her feelings…"
Then, gesturing at Poe, he asked, "Why don't you go talk to her?"
Poe shook his head, grimacing, "She already told me to leave her alone."
"So then what do we do?" Finn asked.
Almost at the same time, Finn and Poe turned their heads to look at Rey. She waited for them to say something and then she realized.
"Me?" she asked.
"Please Rey," Finn said and then they were both looking at her with helpless but eager expressions.
Rey didn't have much experience with consoling people or, for that matter, with being comforted herself. But clearly the task could not be left to Finn and Poe, so she would have to step up and do her best.
She climbed out of the maintenance bay and, instructing Finn not to touch anything, set off to find Rose. Although Rey had barely spent any real time with Rose, the young mechanic been in and out of medical the past few weeks recovering from her injuries, Rey almost felt like she knew her already from listening to Finn's stories.
Rey almost thought the messy sleeping quarters were empty. Looking closer, she found Rose sitting in the corner, her knees pulled up and her head resting on her arms. Her shoulders were shaking.
Rey knelt down in front of her and after a second, said softly, "Rose?"
Startled, Rose looked up. "Rey?" she asked, rubbing her eyes, "What are you doing here?"
"I was worried about you," Rey answered carefully.
Rose took a shaky breath. "Poe told you I was here," she stated.
Rey nodded.
"Well you can tell him I'm fine! Just leave me alone!" Rose said. She turned her head away but Rey caught sight of tears spilling over.
Rey was about to do as she was told. It was clear her presence was not welcome. But something was telling her not to give up so easily.
She sat there for a moment before speaking again, "You can tell me what's wrong…if you want."
Rey waited but no response was forthcoming.
Deciding to try a direct approach, Rey started to ask, "Is it because of Finn? He said…"
"No!" Rose interrupted, glaring at Rey.
Rey shifted back a bit, thinking that she wasn't helping at all. She shouldn't be sticking her nose into some else's business, especially considering her own unresolved feelings about Finn. She was about to apologize and make a hasty retreat when Rose took a deep breath and wiped a sleeve over her face.
When she spoke again, Rose's voice was less sharp. "I mean, sort of. I take it he told you what happened?"
Again, Rey nodded.
Rose tugged on a thread coming loose from the edge of her sleeve as she talked, "About Finn…I know how it goes. I've been rejected before. I don't blame him. And he did say that he was still my friend no matter what. It's just that… It was really nice. Meeting him and going on this big mission together. Helping each other. Being around Finn, thinking about Finn…It felt great. And…I didn't have to think about my sister."
At that last part, Rose's voice broke and she started crying again.
Everyone in what was left of the Resistance had heard about Rose's sister and her heroic death, her bombs destroying a First Order Dreadnought at the very last moment.
Rey reached out and placed a hand on Rose's arm, at the same time reaching out with the Force. She could feel the sadness coming off of Rose like a pulsing energy. It was so strong that Rey could see brief glimpses of images that she realized were memories.
Rose throwing her arms around a tall, pretty girl in an orange flight suit. The girl hugging her tight and then winking at her before strapping on her helmet and turning to her ship.
Rose in the maintenance bay with the other workers, huddled around the open comm channel, their only connection to the battle raging outside. Getting word that Paige's was the last bomb ship, that she did it, she held on long enough to drop the payload and destroy the Dreadnought. Then the deck shaking as they jumped to lightspeed. Everyone bursting into cheers. Everyone except Rose.
Rose running in the open air, somewhere drenched in green, her arms and legs those of a child. A smiling girl picking her up and spinning her around and around, her long black hair flowing in the air like magic, until they collapsed on the ground laughing.
"Rey?" Rose's voice cut in and the images disappeared from her mind.
Rey blinked and realized that she was crying too.
"I can feel it," Rey said softly, "You miss her so much."
Rey was very familiar with this feeling, of longing for someone that you would never see again. She moved to sit beside Rose and wrapped her arms around the other girl. After a second Rose leaned her head against Rey's shoulder.
Staring out into nothingness, Rose said, "That's part of why I wanted to go on that mission to Canto Bight, even though it was risky. I wanted to do what she would have done. But…"
"But it didn't work. We didn't save the fleet. And now we're stuck here and she's gone…"
Rey turned to face her, "Rose, look at me. It wasn't your fault! You did your best. You did what you believed was right."
Another memory surfaced, this one of a red room with a large throne, that brief moment of thinking that she'd done it, she'd helped turn Kylo Ren back to the Light Side. Then his outstretched hand. The lightsaber suspended between them, splitting in half in a brilliant burst of light. Running to escape the ship with the broken pieces and this sinking feeling that she'd been tricked, that she hadn't changed anything.
Rey repeated the words, this time to herself as much as to Rose, "You did what you believed was right. You did everything you could."
Rose had stopped crying. She looked thoughtful, then after a moment there was a new determination in her voice, "Rey, we're all that's left of the Resistance. We have to be each other's family now. That's the only way we'll make it through all this."
Her eyes were red and a little swollen from crying but her expression had a spark that was contagious.
Before Rey could respond, a loud roar that could only come from an irritated Wookie echoed through the ship.
"What's wrong?" Rose asked.
Rey sighed and translated, "He says that shield generator isn't going to fix itself."
She stood up, "I'd better get back to work."
Rose's face lit up. "Can I help? Deflector shields are my specialty!"
"Of course!" Rey grinned and Rose smiled back.
Rey thought to herself that maybe this is what it felt like to have a sister.