Chapter 1
Rey didn't quite know what to expect of Luke Skywalker, so many being the legends about him. So when she first found him, she didn't have words. She just stared at him as she gave him his old lightsaber.
She couldn't say how long they stood there, motionless, before Luke moved, taking the lightsaber from her hand and smiling at her, a smile that seemed so damn familiar – she just couldn't say from where.
Rey hesitated, before finally asking the question that had been running through her mind ever since she talked to Maz Kanata. "Are you my father?"
Luke didn't answer for a moment, looking away from her for the first time since he first turned to find her there, and then he finally looked back. Rey's heart beat strong inside of her chest as she waited for his answer. "Not exactly," The answer didn't help making Rey less confused. She wondered if Luke was as mysterious and vague as Kanata had been. "I knew your mother. She died when you were born and I could feel your strength in the Force. I took you in, then. So I guess I could say you are my adopted daughter."
Rey couldn't help the next question to leave her mouth. "Why did you abandon me?" She knew it was probably not the best thing to ask, but she had spent years wondering what had happened to her family. And now that she knew she had something close to one, who had spent years apparently doing nothing in this planet. She didn't understand.
"I thought you were dead, until today," Luke admitted, and Rey looked at him, surprised. If it hadn't been him to leave her in Jakku, then who had? "The moment I felt you, even before I turned around, I knew it couldn't be anyone else, I knew it meant you survived. I love you, Padmé."
Rey's already fast-beating heart managed to beat even faster. Padmé. She had wondered what her name was for years, she couldn't remember her real one, Rey had come from the helmet that she found when she was young.
But Padmé. It was a good name. She wasn't sure she would be able to start thinking of herself as that, but it was so good to know for sure she came from somewhere.
That she was someone.
"I go by Rey now, I couldn't remember… Padmé. Were you the one who gave me that name or- or my mother?"
Luke smiled warmly and Rey felt the urge to hug him. "I did. I thought about giving you your mother's name – Keri – but she said she didn't want that, before she died. So I gave you my mother's name. I never met her. I thought maybe, since you would never meet yours, it made sense."
Rey knew she was crying, but she had dreamt of that for years, for as long as she could remember. So she did hug Luke, then. It felt right, it was everything she had ever hoped for, that she spent so long waiting for.
She could have hugged him for hours, but she had gone there with a purpose besides only finding out for sure whether or not Luke was her father. "I was sent here by General Organa. The First Order, I don't know if you've heard of it, is attacking. They destroyed the main Republic center, the system is a mess right now, most of the Senators are dead, so is the Chancellor. We need help."
Luke sighed before nodding. "I felt something wrong happen through the Force, I'll help, of course. But the main reason the First Order is a problem is Snoke. He corrupted Ben, and he's stronger in the Force than the Republic could ever handle. I came here hoping to find a way to discover more about him – he's no Sith, but he uses the Dark Side better than my father used to. I'm still not sure how to defeat him, however."
Rey didn't quite have words for that, Snoke – she had seen him for a moment, when she had seen inside Kylo Ren's mind. Was Kylo Ren Ben? She thought she had heard Han call him that before his death, but at the time dismissed it as a mistake because of how apart she was from the two.
"There are no other Jedi?" Rey asked. If he couldn't do it alone, maybe he could with more help. It wasn't possible that all Jedi were wiped out, was it?
"Not anymore," Luke answered weakly, memories clearly coursing through his mind.
"Then," Rey breathed, making a choice, before her voice became stronger. "Then make me one." She ran away from the Force before her battle with Kylo Ren, but now, she knew her destiny belonged to it. That she was supposed to be a Jedi.
Luke smiled, like he had already been expecting that. Maybe he had.
"I feel like we were brought together from the start so I could train you. It was the will of the Force. But the way of the Jedi isn't easy," Luke said, turning in the direction of the Temple close to them. "But I should teach you differently than I did the Order. That didn't turn out so well in the end, did it?"
Rey didn't give an answer; she didn't think he wanted one. She still didn't know what had happened to the Order, she didn't even know there had been one. But maybe with time he would tell her. They had time now.
For the first time, Rey knew for sure she would have time to be close to her father, even if not by blood.
"It won't be easy," Luke warned again, giving her a last chance to back away. She wouldn't.
"I know," Rey said simply in return.
She could do it.
When the Millenium Falcon brought Finn back unconscious, Poe hadn't quite known what to expect. He had felt a connection to the Stormtrooper from the moment they first met, he had for a moment thought he was dead, but he turned out to have been OK.
Then why was it that when he thought they had won, that Finn was safe, he came back in a coma?
It had been a few weeks since Rey left to find Luke Skywalker and Poe still couldn't quite believe everything that happened from the moment he first landed on Jakku. He went to see Finn every day, always hoping for a change.
But that wasn't possible, he kept hearing, for Finn to wake up, especially to wake up with movement left in his body, would be nothing short of a miracle. But Poe believed it, maybe enough that the Force would make this miracle happen.
Most of the Black Squadron seemed incredibly amused by how much time he spent close to Finn, everyone seemed to think he had a crush on him. Poe wasn't sure that was true, he had always been too focused on the mission, to fly for the Republic and then for the Resistance, to worry about things like crushes.
But at the same time, he knew he wouldn't have cared as much about most people being in a coma the way he cared about Finn. It was confusing, and he hoped Finn would wake up soon so he could start making sense of these feelings.
It was during one of his visits to Finn that he received the message that he was being called by General Organa for a meeting. Worried, but at the same time excited, he went to see what it was about.
He was the last member of Black Squadron to show up to the meeting, he realized as soon as he saw his mates that they were being sent in a mission. That was a good thing, he could occupy his mind from his worry over Finn.
"We have received information from multiple sources that the First Order base on Daxan Beta is undergoing a personnel problem due to the recent destruction of Starkiller Base and this is the best chance we've got to destroy it. If we wait too long, they may relocate the base somewhere else, or abandon it completely. You are tasked with making the most damage possible in the base, as to make the First Order preoccupied and thus unable of finding to where we've relocated for a while," General Organa explained and Poe could see his entire Squadron paying attention to her orders.
It wasn't a hard mission in theory – certainly not anywhere near as dangerous as destroying Starkiller Base – but for some reason he had a bad feeling about this.
Against his better judgment, Poe ignored his bad feeling, chalking it up to just being unwilling to stay too long without making sure Finn was still alive. It had been the one thing in his mind the most ever since he first met Finn, after all.
He ordered for his Squadron to prepare, they would leave during the night.
As soon as they were dismissed by the General, Poe found himself going back to Finn before even checking on his X-Wing, if he was leaving, he needed to see Finn one more time.
"Hey, Finn," Poe said quietly. He didn't usually talk when he visited Finn, happy to just make sure he was still breathing, but he felt the need for something different, this time. "I'll be leaving for a few days, big Resistance mission. I'll see you when I get back, alright? Stay safe," He whispered the last part, pressing his hand on Finn's for a moment before turning to leave.
Much to his surprise, however, Finn's hand held his back.
Poe turned back to Finn in surprise, Finn's eyes were open. He seemed to be struggling to say something and Poe waited, still holding his hand.
"What-What happened?" Finn asked weakly.
"We destroyed Starkiller Base, Rey brought you back, you've been in coma for a few weeks now," Poe answered.
"Where's Rey?" Finn asked again, his voice getting a bit stronger, but still raspy.
"She left. To look for Luke Skywalker, not that long after," Poe said, trying to hide the sudden sadness at Rey being the first person in Finn's mind. Finn seemed sad at hearing this, and even thought it bothered Poe a bit, he knew he had to make Finn feel better, he disliked that look on Finn's face. "She stopped to say goodbye when she left though," It wasn't much, but he didn't know what else to give him.
Finn sighed, and then the Droid that had been taking care of him realized he was awake and everyone started going do tests on him and Poe wasn't able to say anything else. He nodded at Finn, who nodded back.
Poe felt more relaxed now, Finn was awake despite everyone saying he wouldn't wake up, maybe after his mission they'd have more time to talk.
Poe checked his X-Wing, looking for anything wrong with BB-8's help, and he was soon done, with the repairs done to his ship following the attack on Starkiller, there wasn't anything left to fix.
Soon it became time to take off and he prepared to get inside of his ship.
"Poe!" Finn called, and Poe looked around to see Finn walking – or, limping – in his direction. A smile broke off in his mouth despite himself.
"What are you doing here, walking? Somehow I don't think you're supposed to," Poe said, approaching Finn and hugging him. He noticed Finn was wearing his – their? – jacket, and his smile widened.
"Yeah, I found out you were going off in some mission, I had to say goodbye, it's enough I was sleeping and didn't have the chance to do that with Rey," Finn said, also smiling.
"I'll see you soon, Finn," Poe said, putting his hand on Finn's shoulder for a moment before going to his X-Wing.
He had a mission to think about now, but the fact Finn had went against orders to talk to him one more time before he left made Poe keep smiling.
During all this, he didn't notice his bad feeling hadn't disappeared even after Finn woke up.