Part Two, Cooking Lessons for Finn and Rey*: Chapter 1
*Or: Finn explaining the circumstances surrounding him learning the secret Organa cake recipe and helping Kylo Ren win back Rey.
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Dantooine, around one month after the battle at Crait:
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For nearly a month, the Resistance members gathered on the Falcon hopped from planet to planet, from Sullust to Kashyyyk to Yavin 4, before settling on the abandoned rebel base on Dantooine. As the weeks passed by on the latest planet, the First Order seemed to have at least slowed down their pursuit of the rebels, if not stopped altogether. The lull gave the rebels a chance to finally settle and regroup their efforts.
The passage of time on Dantooine did not escape Rey's notice, and one afternoon, rather than attempting once again to comprehend the ancient Jedi texts, she sought out Finn. She found him sitting against a tree outside, reading a datapad. Rey called out to her friend, grabbing his attention, "Hey Finn! What are you doing?"
Finn looked up from his datapad and greeted back, "Hey Rey! Just reading up some reports that Leia forwarded along about the state of the First Order's stormtrooper program. What's up?"
Rey sat down on the ground next to him as she replied, "I see. Well, did you know this is the longest we've been in any one place since we met on Jakku? We've been on this planet for nearly two weeks as of today."
Finn furrowed his eyebrows as he considered Rey's words before responding, "Huh, you're right. It's definitely been very calm around here this week..."
Rey nodded, "Yes, so that gave me an idea... Everyone here's been so welcoming to us and working hard for weeks... As a thank you of sorts and for fun, why don't we cook dinner tonight and invite whoever wants to join us?"
"Sounds fun. I can finish reading this later," Finn answered as he shut off his datapad and headed towards the kitchen with Rey. Once the two of them reached the kitchen, they immediately took an inventory of the food in the cabinets and the fridge.
After a while, Rey selected a package of bantha meat and a variety of vegetables and fruits from the refrigerator. "I could probably stew this meat and put these in with it," Rey told Finn before she began looking for the pots and pans.
Finn didn't answer immediately as he was busy flipping through the pages of a well worn, stained cookbook he found in one of the cabinets. When Rey caught his attention again, he answered, "Okay, stew's always good. I was thinking, if we're going to make dinner, maybe dessert should be included?"
"Dessert? We've got fruit for that though," Rey responded.
Finn shook his head and clarified, "I mean more like cookies, cake, or brownies."
"I don't know what those are...," Rey frowned.
Finn looked at his friend in shock. He knew Rey's life on Jakku had been harsh but not so harsh that she didn't even know about the existence of the most delicious dishes to be found in the galaxy. He explained, "They're some of my favorite foods. I've got a lot to teach you about desserts. I'll make cookies if you work on the stew. What do you think?" Rey assented with a small smile, and the two of them set to work at preparing the meal in the kitchen.
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Four hours later, after Finn and Rey finished cooking and set up a table outside, they went in separate directions to find and invite people to share their meal. Finn found Rose wrapping up repairs on one of the X-Wings. "Rey and I cooked dinner tonight! We've already set everything up outside," Finn said to Rose as he drew closer to her and stole a kiss from her.
"I'd love to try what you made. Give me a few minutes to clean up, okay?" Rose answered with a smile. When Rose finished washing the grease and dust off herself, she went to the picnic area with Finn and found Rey already seated at one of the tables with Poe, Jessika, and Kaydel.
Once Rose and Finn sat down at the table, Rey began piling servings of the stew into individual bowls and proudly explained, "I made the stew, and Finn made the cookies."
"Thank you Rey!" Kaydel said before she took a bite eagerly from her dish. However, she bit on a tough, undercooked vegetable and tried not to make a face as she began chewing slowly. She poked at the other vegetables and found them equally tough, opting to try the meat pieces before eating further. Thankfully, it turned out that Rey cooked the bantha properly, and she stuck to eating these specific pieces. She noticed Poe spitting out something into a napkin and asked, "Poe, are you okay?"
Poe answered Kaydel before addressing Rey, "I'm okay... Rey, did you put marble-berries in this?"
Rey nodded as she finished chewing her bite and remarked, "Yes, I put in whatever tasted good and still looked fresh." Jessika wrinkled her nose at her stew, and Rose immediately put down her spoon, no longer feeling like finishing the dish.
Poe struggled to come up with a tactful response to Rey's admission and finally said, "I see. Well... Can't go wrong with bantha. Finn, you made cookies? I'd love to try one before I get too full." The rest of the table clamored in agreement, and everyone quickly grabbed cookies for themselves.
Rose frowned as she chewed her cookie. The bottom was horribly burnt, and she noticed an eggshell sticking out of the bite she just took. She remarked, "Finn, sweetie, I love your effort but these are burned..."
"What ingredients did you put in here?" Kaydel asked as she put her cookie back on her plate, without the intention of finishing it.
"Chocolate and some spices that smelled good in the pantry," Finn answered nonchalantly.
"The combination's... interesting. Sweet and peppery..." Poe said slowly, still trying to remain tactful with his friends.
"Rose and Poe won't say it. The meat in the stew is good, but fruit does not belong in stew. The cookies are inedible," Jessika stated bluntly. She noticed Finn looking down at his plate dejectedly, Rey's eyes beginning to tear up, and glares from her other friends, making her immediately regret her harsh tone. Jessika sighed and spoke more gently, "Thank you for making dinner though, Rey and Finn. I'm just wondering, have either of you ever cooked before tonight?"
Finn shook his head as he replied, "We usually had rations or cafeteria food. Nothing fancy. This is the first time I've tried to cook anything from a recipe book."
"I just usually prepared portions. Luke and Chewie taught me to catch and roast meat and fish. Luke also showed me how to collect milk... That's it," Rey explained.
After a period of awkward silence, Rose spoke up, "Thank you for dinner tonight, but you two need cooking lessons. Tomorrow. Meet me in the kitchen. I'm teaching you both cooking basics."
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The next morning, Rose set up the kitchen as she waited for her friends to arrive and put out the ingredients for a dish she found simple to prepare: pasta with tomato sauce. Once her friends arrived, she began the lesson, "Welcome to your first cooking lesson! So, I'm going to teach you both how to cook pasta and make a tomato sauce to go with it. First thing you do is..."
Rose first put the water on to boil and showed Rey and Finn how to properly measure out the pasta, as it would expand while it cooked. While waiting for the water to begin boiling, she explained the ingredients for the sauce and how they would work together. She showed them how to chop an onion and a tomato before encouraging them to try chopping some of the vegetables themselves. So far, so good, Rose thought to herself.
After a few tomatoes, Rose heard Rey muttering random phrases here and there, but the sound of boiling water caught her attention first. Rose and Finn walked away from the counter to drop the pasta into the boiling water while Rey finished chopping her onion.
As Rose set the timer and explained cooking times, she heard Rey suddenly shout, "It's none of your business, that's what!"
"I didn't ask you anything! I'm just talking about how to time the pasta!" Rose exclaimed in disbelief, taken aback by Rey's outburst.
"Not you, Rose!" Rey answered before returning to her task, and her muttering became quiet again. Rose shook her head at the girl's peculiar behavior and walked back to the counter.
A few moments later, while they began measuring and loading chopped onions into a pan for sautéing, Rey shouted once again, "I'd rather kiss a Hutt! Be quiet and leave me alone!"
"Rose and I did nothing... Rey, are you all right today?" Finn commented, looking at Rey with deep concern in his eyes.
Rey flushed with embarrassment and sighed, "I wasn't talking to either of you, Finn. Ugh, just give me a few minutes, I'll be right back."
Shortly after Rey left the kitchen, Rose brought the pan with onions to the stove, drizzled on oil, and put the heat on medium, instructing Finn, "Okay, now just stir this until it turns clear. I'm going to measure out the herbs, spices, and tomatoes."
Finn obeyed readily and stirred as Rose instructed. However, he quickly grew weary of the constant stirring and raised the temperature to see if it would make the onions cook more quickly. Sure enough, they quickly browned in no time. Once he finished the onions, he brought them to Rose, who looked in shock at the pan, "Finn, these are way too overcooked! Just let me do it and I'll show you what they look like when ready."
Rose grabbed the spoon from Finn, put the pan with burnt onions in the sink, and put the extra chopped onions into a new pan. As she cooked the onions, Finn opted to begin setting the table and simply talk with Rose to pass the time. When the onions were finished, they noticed that Rey was still absent, prompting Rose to leave the kitchen to check on Rey.
However, once Rose left, Finn heard the timer for the pasta go off, prompting him to immediately turn off the stove. He remembered that the pasta needed to be removed from the water, but he couldn't find a strainer for the pasta. Eventually, he decided to grab the pot's lid and simply carefully pour out the water while using the lid to hold back the pasta.
That idea worked well, at least until Rey and Rose came back into the kitchen and startled him, causing him to spill the rest of the pasta all over the pan with the burnt onions in the sink.
"Just get out of the kitchen, Finn. Rey and I can handle this ourselves," Rose groaned at the sight of the ruined pasta.
Once Rey and Rose finished making the sauce and a new batch of pasta, Rose left the kitchen to find Finn arranging purple flowers inside an empty glass. She walked up behind him and hugged around his waist gently, "I'm sorry I got mad at you in the kitchen."
Finn turned around and hugged Rose back. Caressing one of her curls, he answered, "It's fine. I learned a couple tricks from you today, at least."
Rose nodded, "I'll admit you chopped up everything pretty well. And the table looks great. Thank you for all your help. Did you just pick these flowers? I've been seeing these pop outside lately..."
Finn grinned and offered the glass to her, "These are for you today, my darling Rose."
"Awww, you're so sweet!" Rose exclaimed as she accepted the flowers and gave Finn a kiss, unaware that Rey had noticed the exchange between the couple. After they ate dinner, which got compliments from all present at the table, Rey once again found herself distracted by an unwanted force connection with Ben and excused herself as soon as she finished her meal.
In her room, she explained to Ben how Finn and Rose communicated with each other and emphasized her conclusion, "... So, Rose apologized to Finn, and Finn got her some flowers from outside. That's what I'm talking about."
Ben leaned back against the wall and commented, "I already offered you the galaxy, Rey. Hundreds of planets full of flowers and you're still mad at me?"
Rey responded, "You still don't get it! I'm not talking with you anymore tonight. Good night!"
"It's daytime where I am," he smirked, eliciting an annoyed expression from Rey in response.
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Note: Whoa, thanks to everyone for all the reviews, favs, and follows! I didn't expect such a reaction to this work so quickly! Thank you all for your patience with this update (and for those reading my other multi-chapter work, I've currently got a bit of a writer's block but it'll certainly be updated within the month).
I was originally going to make this a series of works, but it would be too difficult to make a summary for each one. So, hopefully this format makes sense? Feel free to leave feedback and have a great weekend! Hope you all enjoy this chapter!