Fifty Paces Away

A/N: Post-Force Awakens….inspired by the fact that these two need more written about them! Hope yinz enjoy! -BK

"What's cooking, good looking?" Finn appeared suavely from around a corner of the Millennium Falcon where Rey was spending the afternoon off from Jedi training alone in the hangar where the legendary ship was docked.

"Hey you." Rey smiled at him turning head for a quick greeting.

"I just wanted to come surprise you and get you out of this metal shack."

"You can't surprise a Jedi, you know." she teased, not budging from the part she was currently working on, "I could feel you from fifty paces away."

Finn groaned, moving behind the young Jedi to wrap his arms around her, "Well if you can feel me from fifty paces away, then I guess you don't really need me here-"

Rapidly turning around to fully encapsulate herself in Finn's arms, she cut him off, slipping her tired arms around the familiar form of her ex-Stormtrooper.

"I'd much rather feel you like this."

Moving a loose strand of hair away from her piercing blue eyes, he couldn't help the bright smile that broke through, "You better."

Finn released his grip on her to grab her hand. Swinging it playfully he asked, "So, you free for a walk?"

"Eh, I don't know." she bit her lip, barely able to keep the smile contained, "I'm super busy with-"

"Come on." Finn moaned, squeezing her hand tighter. He used his interlocked connection to the scavenger to pull her against his chest. After staring into his hopeful eyes for a second, Rey released her built-up laugh and Finn rolled his eyes, "You always gotta tease me, huh? You can't just say 'Yes, Finn, I'd love to go for a walk with you!' can you?"

"Shut up." she kissed his palm that was interlocked with hers and led them outside to walk along the tree-lined pathway in the forest.

They walked for a bit, enjoying each other's company. If you were to ask either Finn or Rey what they're favorite time of the day was, it would be a simple answer: any time spent with each other. Just months ago, Finn was FN-2187, a helpless pawn 'raised' in the scheme of Evil. Rey was Rey, but she might as well have been nameless too. She lived alone, fighting and working for every second of every day. It was times like this, when she was haplessly wandering the base with Finn, that she looked back to her days on Jakku, and the single chalk line she would draw on the wall of her shelter after another day down.

Back then, living until sunset felt like it took eons. But now, by the time she's released from training, she barely has time to socialize with Finn and Poe and all her friends before the sunset sneaks up on her. Time is a funny concept, Master Luke has taught her that time doesn't exist in the way we feel bound by it. It's really all about perception. And Rey knows that the reason she wakes up, perceivably happier every day has a lot to do with the man holding her hand right now, babbling on about his day doing landspeeder drills in the woods.

Master Luke also taught her it was never good to be consumed in her own thoughts for too long, so she quickly snapped back into the moment just as they reached a beautiful lake beyond a clearing in the woods where the couple decided to take a rest. Finn plopped down first, and then held his arms up to her. Rey grabbed the strong hands and got pulled into his lap, where she cuddled into his warm, safe body.

"What're you thinkin' about?" he asked her, noticing her relative silence.

Rey smiled at Finn's ability to read her like a book. It was Jedi-like, but it had a lot less to do with energy fields created by living things and a lot more to do with his incredible care for one specific human being.

"Nothing important." she balked. She breathed him in, which always calmed her down, and noticed a distinct scent ingrained in his jacket, "But I can smell jetfuel, how long were you out there training?"

"Since the sun came up this morning." he exhaled, visibly exhausted from the hours he was devoting to the mission, "I'm having a lot of trouble grasping these new machines...sorry, by the way, I haven't been around much lately, I'm really trying to get up to speed-"

She loved when he opened up to her like that, and his fears were quickly overtaken by her need to comfort him with a soft kiss to his cheek, "Finn, after three months away from you I'll take anything I can get."

He sobered up at memories of their months apart...and the nearly-fatal impromptu battle with Kylo-Ren.

He squeezed her a bit tighter, as if to remind himself that this perfect woman in his arms was real, "You know how you said earlier that you could feel me from fifty paces away?"

Noticing the quick change in his demeanor, she knew he was being serious, so she curiously entertained the question, "Yeah?"

"Well, when you were away and I was…"

Finn didn't need to finish the sentence for Rey to know exactly what he meant.

"Could you feel me then?"

"With the force, I feel spirits of the universe," she began to answer him, haphazardly moving the zipper of his jacket up to the rhythm of his beautiful heart beat.

"Doesn't that get insanely annoying?" He interjected, "Like every rat that lurks around…"

"It's tremors. And with my training I have learned to control the tremors and how they affect me...I can ignore most of them by now."

"How can you tell what's what?"

"Well like rats and stuff, they're barely recognizable, I can barely pick up on them." she replied, "You feel the most powerful tremors for the people that you...love."

Finn stared at her as she quietly finished her sentence. He carved meaningless circles into the dirt with the hand that wasn't propping them up as he plotted his next question, "So….like if you could feel someone from, say, fifty paces away...where is that on the force scale from rat to love?"

Rey blushed and exhaled. She garnered the courage to look her sweaty, goofy, courageous man in the eyes. What she felt for him was unlike anything she'd ever experienced. Leaving Jakku, becoming a Jedi...there were so many new things happening to her right now. But the one new thing that didn't feel completely terrifying was the feeling she got whenever she was around Finn. It felt right, almost destined even, so in her newly-gained wisdom the young Jedi figured it was time to let him know.

"To answer your question," she gulped, "When I went to find Master Luke, far away on that strange, secluded planet….all I could feel was you."

Finn's eyes lit so brightly they could've been spotted from light years away, "That's more than fifty paces away..."

She laughed, bowing her head at how adorable he was, "Just a couple."

"Yes!" Finn turned Rey over in his arms and gave her a huge bear hug, "I knew you were in love with me!"

"Of course I am, you idiot." Rey bit her lip. And Finn couldn't take it anymore and captured her lips in his. They'd kissed before, many times actually, but this one felt different. This one was full of that one word….love.

Breaking apart, Rey kept her hands on FInn's cheeks and he tried to catch his breath, "I love you too, by the way."

Biting her lip, she couldn't wait to kill his thunder, "Remember when I said you couldn't surprise a Jedi…"

Finn's overzealous eye roll was worth whatever backlash would come later, "You're ridiculous!"

Rey laughed hysterically and peppered his face in kisses, "I love you so much."

"Come on, it's getting late." Finn got up and offered Rey his hand. As they retreated from the lake, lit dimly by the setting sun, Finn lazily strung his arm around her shoulder and pressed a kiss to her cheek, murmuring to himself.

"Why'd i have to fall in love with the one girl in the galaxy who can't be surprised…"