A/N: Thank you, as always, Sarah (bergersteen on twitter) and Nicki (notnicorette on twitter) ;)


One thing was for sure: she had to talk to Finn.

No more delays. She was ready, or as ready as she'd ever be.

There was no more time.


The main conference room had never been so full. All members of the Resistance on that base wanted to be aware of every final detail of the plan. They went over pilots, shields, ground defense, air offense, escape routes.

"The distress signal will be transmitted tomorrow at 8:00 hours." Leia motioned her head at Rey. "Will you be ready then?"

The girl set her jaw. "Yes."

The General turned back to the audience. "All matters are settled, then. Rest this evening, as tomorrow, we'll fight. And may the Force be with us."

One by one, the rebels stood up and the room filled with chatter. Rey looked around for her friends, spotting them in time to see Finn rushing out.

She strode after him, fast enough that his back was still visible as she rounded the corner. Rey stood on her tiptoes. "Finn!"

He stopped for a millisecond before he resumed walking, faster that time.

Rey shook her head, then raised her chin as a sea of people walked past her. Her eyes were focused on the retreating silhouette of her friend.

"Finn!" she called again, before breaking into a run.

The ex-stormtrooper turned right, and she followed. Rey reached for his arm and walked around him until they were face to face.

He halted, glanced at her, but soon averted his eyes to look at the wall.

"We can't do this, we can't go to war not talking to each other. Not us," she said.

Finn glared at her, shrugging her hand off. "It wasn't me that started 'not talking', Rey."

She looked at her feet. "I'm trying to fix that. So, can we talk now?" She gazed back at him. "Please."

After a sigh, he nodded.


Rey tugged on a leaf and the flowers around it jiggled in a blur of vibrant colors. Droplets of water fell on her face as she watched the swirl of pink, orange and yellow.

"It's sad to think all this won't be here tomorrow," she said as her fingers caressed a petal in hopes her skin would memorize the velvety texture.

Finn grunted and put his hands on his hips. The quiet place they had found away from the base just didn't emanate magic and peace like it used to. He side eyed the battered wooden chairs they had carried all the way to this small clearing during the year after Crait.

His mind was filled with memories of the days he and his friends spent here. When Poe would cross his arms behind his head, close his eyes, and yell at anyone within earshot to not disturb him for at least two hours. The same place where he told Rose he loved her for the first time.

A place where he found Rey crying over her parents countless times, and where she found him punching tree after tree yelling over his. Those were the times they spent the entire night talking. Even with the harsh wind and the scary looking birds, the pitch black sky would always turn back to light blue as they stayed beside each other.

Those were the moments when Finn learned what friendship meant. It was more than just a good emotion, or a person to make you smile; it was even more than having someone to fight and die for. It was laying yourself bare, without fear of being rejected because of your past, your ideas, your feelings. It was having someone that wouldn't always understand you, but would always care enough to try.

She was the one who taught him that.

He clenched his jaw. "Rey." They sure weren't there to talk about the pretty flowers.

She closed her eyes briefly and turned to him. "Sorry, I-" she scratched her forearm as she stuttered. "I don't know where to start." She left her hand resting on the trunk beside her.

Finn raised his eyebrows. "Why don't you begin from the part where you didn't trust me."

Rey shook her head. "No, that wasn't it." She took quick steps towards him. "Finn-"

"No." he held his hand up then dropped his arms to his sides and walked aimlessly in a raging pace. "I thought you knew, Rey. None of it mattered to me before. The First Order, the Resistance. I only cared about you." He stared deeply into her eyes. "You are my best friend, my first friend. It still doesn't matter to me. How could you not know that?"

Rey took a shaky breath, "Finn-"

He stiffened his back. "No, Rey- "

"No." She walked to him, teeth grinding and nostrils flaring. "You're not listening. I told you that's not what this is about."

His shoulders fell, and he looked he wanted to listen for the first time since discovering Rey's connection to Kylo Ren.

"That day, I didn't tell Leia everything," Rey said. At Finn's scrunched eyebrows, she continued. "I didn't go to him just because I thought he was our last hope, even if that was the main goal." She stared down at her hands. "He made me feel less lonely."

Finn blinked, he raised a hand to reach her shoulder, but it was her turn to step away.

She placed the heel of her palm on her forehead. "I know what you're going to say. I know I have you, and Rose, and Poe, and Leia. I have the entire Resistance. But it's different." She swallowed hard and gazed at him. "All of you, you understand what your roles in all this are. You get to choose if you want any roles in it at all."

Finn gulped, remembering a time when all he wanted to do was run.

"I don't get to choose anything." She grimaced. "I have this-" she motioned around herself, "inside me and I can't hide it, and I have no idea where it comes from." An anxious energy buzzed and surrounded her as if the Force responded to her anguish. "And it's not just about choosing or everyone expecting me to have super powers that will save them. It's an…awareness that never ends, a pull. And nothing in the galaxy feels the same to me."

Her friend stood motionless now. He leaned on the tree beside him with a heavy crease between his brows.

"And I thought that if I finally understood my past, I would understand everything else." Rey sighed. "All my life I've waited to find out about my past. And when I first discovered the Force, I needed that more than ever. But Luke didn't seem like he'd give me any answers, or even wanted to. So, I told…him." She bit her lip. Her voice came out softly at the pronoun, breathless enough for Finn to get that she didn't mean Luke. "I told him about my doubts, the little I learned about my past. And he told me about his."

Rey headed for their old chairs and sat down. Finn followed her lead and settled beside her. He looked at her with bated breath, waiting for her continuation. Birds chirped around them and butterflies fluttered their wings, but the Jedi only watched the ground.

"Luke thought about killing him when he was still his padawan," she said. Finn released a sharp breath, but she continued before any interjection. "Luke saw darkness in his mind, and when he did, he almost acted on his fears. He didn't hurt him, but it was too late. When you wake up to your uncle holding a lightsaber above your head, there's not enough time to clear up misunderstandings, is there?" She stared ahead at the never-ending green and yellow under the burning sun.

The beauty between the violence.

"But what if-" Finn whispered.

Rey shook her head. "He didn't lie. I asked Luke." She looked at him, watching as Finn closed his mouth and blinked, taking in the world of information she had given him.

"And I felt it in him," Rey said as she rested her elbows on her thighs and stared straight into her friend's eyes. "I felt the conflict in him. I could feel in him what I feel in me. The confusion, the loneliness, the fear. But when we are together, it all quiets down." Her eyes burned as she remembered her feelings around him at that time. Feelings that still existed every time she was with him.

"I wanted to believe he would turn. So, one day I reached for him, he took my hand and I-" her voice wavered as her vision blurred. "I saw his future, solid and clear as I see you and me right here. He was free of Snoke, of the war, of the dark side." Her heart hammered at the memory. "Him and me."

Finn's eyes widened, and she dropped her head. There was a sliver of wood splintering off the arm of her chair and she started fiddling with it.

"I went to the Supremacy sure he would turn, that we could end the war. And he did kill Snoke, but his plans were different than mine. He thought I would be the one who would turn." Her grip tightened around the splinter until her skin burned. "He asked me to rule the galaxy with him and I said no." She chuckled humorlessly, jerking her hand away from the chair when blood spilled from her palm.

"Rey-"

"I could have killed him, Finn." She lifted her head to him, tears falling as she sniffed. "We fought, that was how Luke's…Anakin's saber broke and sent us both flying. When I woke up, he was still unconscious. I could have ended everything, but I didn't. I just ran." The last word broke as she said it, a half sob she tried to swallow.

"You feel something for him," Finn stated.

She moistened her bottom lip with her tongue, tasting the salt of her tears.

Then, she nodded.

Rey sagged back in her chair, her chest rising as she inhaled. "It's because you're my best friend that I knew you would know. I knew you would say it." She wiped her face with a thumb and grimaced. "And I wasn't ready to hear it."

He stared at her. "Are you ready now?"

"More than I was before at least," she replied.

"What about tomorrow, what are you going to do?"

She clenched her jaw. "He won't come tomorrow."

Finn sighed, eying her carefully. "I know that's what everybody thinks but what if-"

"What should I do then? Abandon our friends? Abandon the people that trust me." She looked at him, "If you have an alternative for me, just say it, because I have no idea. He made his choice, Finn, over and over. He had years to leave the First Order if he wanted to, but he didn't. And we can't let the First Order run free anymore. People are counting on us, on me. And if he comes tomorrow I-" she stuttered before closing her mouth.

Her friend set his lips in a thin line. He took a deep breath and nodded curtly. "He's not going to show up tomorrow."

Rey replied with an exaggerated nod. "He's not going to show up tomorrow."

Finn then watched as she stared ahead while clasping her hands on her lap. One of her thumbs had a red blood stain from the wood of her chair. He realized all anger and resentment had fled him, leaving only sadness in their wake.

There were few things as hurtful as not being able to help a friend in need, but he couldn't talk Kylo Ren into changing his mind. He couldn't stop the war that separated their sides. He couldn't unmake Rey's feelings.

So, he took a deep breath, placed his hands on the armrests and pushed himself off his seat, making his chair creak with the movement. He stood in front of Rey, who then looked up at him. He held out his hand with a smile.

There was still one thing he could do.

"Well, I believe the General told us to enjoy our evening. Let's do that and call our friends to join us. Maybe we can forget everything for one night."

Rey smiled back and took his hand.


A/N: aaawww. I love Finn and Rey's friendship okay. I feel like my Hufflepuff heart was screaming in this chapter.

Very well my friends, now that i brought enough softness to you, your siblings, your parents, your cousins, your parrots, your dogs and the cousins of your dogs…..

*Jon snow's voice* Plot is coming.

For real this time. You're gonna figure out this fic is way crazier than it seems.

(but softness will always stay with us)

See you then! And God bless you lovelies.