Author's Note: Howdy! This chapter gets a bit dark, but I'm spoiling you next chapter with a solo Rey/Ben mini exploration (smutty) chapter as my way of thanking all of you for bearing with me these last few chapters! I'm so excited about this chapter because I kinda explore something I thought would have been neat to see or hear about in the sequel trilogy. Alas, another missed opportunity. Oh well!

Again, sorry if you think this comes from nowhere. I'm not character bashing. I genuinely love each and every character introduced in the trilogy (for the most part). And I know I'm really running with this whole Finn-loves-Rey thing. That's just the vibe I always got from my own viewing of the entire trilogy, but it stops in this chapter because I'm going to focus on the next wave of the story (mostly the feel-good stuff we all came here to see and enjoy mixed with the main plot of this story). Plus, Finn deserves his character arc. And gosh darnit if I'm going to try to give him one.

This chapter ends kinda in the middle of a scene, but that's only because I just cannot publish a 9k+ chapter lol. I had to stop somewhere. It's not really a cliffhanger, though, so no worries!

Finally are y'all still with me? I hope so! These updates aren't as fun in silence. :(

I'd still love to hear your thoughts about this chapter if you can spare the few minutes to share them afterward.

Happy reading!

CHAPTER 16

Jakku

REY

Anakin and Finn's canteens had run dry over an hour ago. While Rey knew the importance of staying hydrated in this climate, she'd opted to only drink from their canteens twice the whole journey, her sips sparse so not to take any more than she needed to stay alert. Skywalker looked drained, but his history with a desert environment aided him a little, though it had been a while since he'd actually lived on Tatooine. The fact was that even he looked exhausted. Finn's clothes were drenched in sweat, his skin slick and shiny. He hunched forward on his speeder, panting like water had yet to be invented.

Swallowing, Rey's mouth lifted when the displaced image of the fallen star destroyer emerged from the horizon. The sun set, which allowed them a respite from the intense midday heat. A patrol of stormtroopers had blocked them from using Pilgrim's Road. Rey had easily guided them an alternate route, but the new course had cost them two more hours of travel. The scavenger, in her blind emotional state back at the outpost, had broken one of her top cardinal rules of survival. Her stash of food and her canteen were still on the Falcon, so she was at the mercy of whatever scraps of food Anakin and Finn offered her. The whole way Rey hadn't asked. She could go at least a week without food. A few hours were nothing.

The closer they approached the decayed starship, the more relief flooded her chest. It would get cold soon, so their arrival couldn't have been more perfect as far as timing went. Rey utilized the thrusters to leverage more speed, surging past the two of them. The sooner she saw Ben, the sooner she could relax. It was almost silly. They'd spent so much of their time apart in their bond than together, but being away from him the six hours now left her almost itchy with the need to be with him.

The speeder rushed toward the ship and eventually, she entered its large, gaping maw. Across the other side, Rey saw the Falcon and little mines exploded in her belly, the fire transforming into butterflies that tickled her gut and made her toes curl. Biting her lip, the scavenger looked behind her, seeing Anakin and Finn catching up to her. In the sand on either side of her, she saw one of the fallen TIE fighters she and Finn had lost on their way out of this planet. Perhaps the vessel could still have a working part they needed for the Falcon if it hadn't been fully stripped yet.

The three of them neared the Falcon, and Rey was the first to hop off, immediately finding Ben and wrapping her arms around him. He kissed her temple even though her body was lathered in a thin layer of sweat.

"You smell awful."

Pulling away, the scavenger gently shoved him away. "Welcome to Jakku. Hopefully, though, I will be able to bathe," she retorted. Rey hugged Desren when he launched at her. Kneeling down, she smoothed his hair, fingers fidgeting with his silka bead strand attached to the growing hair braided. The boy was officially a padawan, and the look suited him. "When I get back, you'll have to tell me everything about your training." Cupping his face, she stood up, turning toward the direction she would find the cave entrance, but Desren caught her hand. She turned to look down at him.

"But you only just got back!" Desren fussed, his expression broke her resolve.

Rey shook her fingers at the top of his head, but his shorter style didn't mess up as it once did before his training. A thin smile disturbed her flat lips. "There's work to be done. I'm not going far. I'm just going to make sure the spring is safe for us to use while we're here."

"Then I wanna help!"

Rey lifted her brow. "Do you remember what happened when we were running low on water and I let you help me carry it back to Master Luke's home?"

"I only dropped the water because my kyber crystal fell out of my pocket! It never happened again." The boy rushed to his master, tugging on his cloak and pulling him back to Rey. "Tell Rey I can come!"

"I'm afraid that's not quite how this arrangement works, Desren," Skywalker mused, though a grin tugged his mouth to life. Untangling his hands in front of him, Anakin cupped Desren's shoulder and chuckled softly. "I'm your master; therefore, I give you orders," he said, sighing and looking to Rey. "Although I am curious about these caves. I suppose we could join you. It might be an interesting opportunity for Desren to learn a few things and further his training."

The scavenger swallowed, features pinching as she checked back toward the entrance. "I really don't need any help. I won't be gone too long."

Ben moved toward her, kissing her damp hair and pulling back, wiping his mouth. When she looked up at him, she laughed at the funny, disgusted expression twisting his features. "Rey, you're not alone anymore. If you think you're going in there alone, you're wrong."

"Someone needs to stay here and look after the Falcon," Rey argued. Crossing her arms, the scavenger rolled her eyes and lifted her brows. "And be my guest if you want to go down there," Rey added, pointing her thumb in the direction of the entrance.

Ben narrowed his eyes and checked over her shoulder, remaining where he stood. "I'm sure Finn would be happy to stay behind with Padme and Jannah."

A slick laugh cut him off. The woman's wild hair of tight curls bounced as she moved toward them. Looping her fingers on her belt, she scoffed. "No more assuming I'll do anything. I'm here on behalf of the Resistance. One of my generals is here, so he's the only person I will take direct orders from here on out."

"Will everyone just stop?" Padme said, a low grumble escaping her throat as she squeezed in the middle of the small circle they'd all formed. "I understand we all have our differences, but right now we have to work together."

"It's insulting that anyone would think I will willingly listen to an Empire overlord dog or his Supreme Leader First Order pup. I didn't defect to only have to listen to these people a few years later."

Anakin stepped forward. "What was that?"

"Ani," Padme warned, placing her flattened palm on his chest. The ambassador looked to Jannah. "I can't begin to understand where you've been or what you've endured. All I know is that we're both on the same side. That's all that should matter for now at the very least."

"And then there's you!" Jannah stalked closer to Rey, their noses almost touching.

Rey relaxed her arms at her sides. "What about me?"

"For years you hid away from everyone, always running from the Force when you were the only one who could have taught me and Finn a thing or two. Maybe you didn't want to begin a new Jedi Order, but maybe we could have!"

"I thought that, too, when I found Luke. I didn't see it then, but I understand a bit better now," Rey replied. Sighing, the scavenger rubbed one elbow with her palm and knit her brows together. "Simply put, the Force is what binds the universe together, Jannah. That people—Jedi and Sith alike—ever thought it was something that was ever ours to claim is the problem. All the power we fantasize being ours is all borrowed. We're at the will of the Force. Not the other way around."

Finn rested his hand on Jannah's shoulder, though it was Rey he looked to. "Luke let his fear drive him into exile, Rey...as did you. You didn't give us a chance to build it right."

They were talking in circles. How many ways could people talk about the same subject before results popped up? The same restlessness from when she went to Kylo Ren to save Snoke swelled in her chest. Flexing her fingers, Rey sighed, slipping between Ben and Anakin to stalk toward the cave entrance. Finn called her name out, but Anakin stopped him from following her, blocking his approach with his body.

"Leave her be, general. No need to smother her. Give her some time, and I'm sure we will all reach an appropriate conclusion," Skywalker said, his voice aloof and even. Monotonous.

"That's the last time either of you touch me," Finn seethed. Holding out his hand, Rey's saber flew past Anakin and into his palm. Ben shoved Jannah and Desren back, while Anakin stood between Finn and Padme. Igniting her saber, Finn shook and his jaw trembled. "The only one between the three of you I care about is Rey."

While Rey reached out toward her bag, Jannah's breath caught, and she looked like she was awoken from a spell. Moving around Ben, she held up both of her hands. "Finn, are you mad? This isn't you! Come back to us."

Finn didn't spare her a glance, but he didn't swing Rey's blade. Yet. Closing her eyes, she tried to slip into Finn's mind, but something far more powerful than the ex-stormtrooper was capable of at the moment blocked her attempt. Neither Anakin nor Ben ignited their own sabers, but both did have theirs readied in case they had to defend the others.

Gripping her saber's hilt, Finn stepped back toward Rey. "I'm not mad. I'm finally seeing everything clearly." Holding his hand out to Jannah, he pushed her with the Force until she was knocked unconscious as she impacted the hard metal ship in the distance. Finn turned, ignoring Padme's cries and Anakin's attempt to control the Resistance general. His eyes were heavy with tears that poured down his face. Biting his thick bottom lip, he held out one hand to the scavenger. "Rey, I don't care if you're a Jedi, a Sith, or nothing. We started this together. Teach me what you will. I'm done being used."

Rey stood her ground, hand still reaching in the direction of her bag, as he stepped closer to her. When she heard Anakin's saber ignite, something in the galaxy clicked into place. Searching his dark eyes, she swallowed. "Darth Maul."

The general's features broke, but a flicker of defiance remained, holding together his flimsy resolve. Tightening her lightsaber in his grip, he retracted his hand and held the hilt in both of his hands, trembling before her. "I didn't know it was him until it was too late."

Rey shocked him by stepping forward. Finn froze a few paces away, but she closed the distance. As she walked closer, she said, "It was you who tampered with Poe's mind. Not you alone; acting for Maul. No one else could have possibly had enough access from within the Resistance and enough trust from the most powerful groups in the New Republic that would have the opportunity."

"Thankfully you got in the way, though. I've never had as much control on my abilities as Maul has over my mind right now." Finn's chin trembled. "Rey, I'm tired of fighting for control. He's too strong. You have to help me!"

"He offered to you what you could not refuse." The heat from her saber nearly pinched her cheek, so she stopped her pursuit. "What was it?"

"It's not like that. It started with whispers. Your voice. About a year ago. The longer I went without being trained, the more desperate I became for help. At first, you told me you were off gathering resources for the new Jedi order, so I did what you told me to do and started rounding up kids and folks who were also Force sensitive."

"Why did you never try reaching out to me if you heard my voice? You should know I would never steer you toward the Dark side. That's part of why I stayed away from you." Rey shook her head, holding the weight of his gaze in her own as his spirit crumbled before her. "I could have killed Poe because of you." Her breathing started stuttering as she inhaled quickly, but Ben's warmth infiltrated her mind and impregnated her heart with the Light, calming the storm threatening to rage at any second. "Do you know what I sacrificed for you and the Resistance when I woke up and left Snoke's throne room?"

"Rey…" Finn stepped back when she stepped forward, holding back her saber so not to cut her face. "It was supposed to be us. I just don't understand why he matters at all. He's a monster."

"Yes, he was." The walls of Rey's throat slammed together, cutting off her air supply until she swallowed the thick ball of sharp emotion back to her belly. Flexing her jittery fingers, she allowed tears to roll down her face as she simply stared at Finn. "And I loved him even when I drowned underneath all the shame and fear that accompanied that fact. Our tether, at first, was a shackle. I could only get so far from the Dark. But then everything changed. He touched my hand, and it was like the whole galaxy breathed new life. For the first time in my whole life, I wasn't alone. He saved me, Finn."

"He killed Han, his own father. He could kill you!"

"That's not possible, Rey retorted, head shaking as she chuckled. "And I'm not going to apologize for how I feel about him or what we've been through together, Finn." Wiping her eyes, Rey scoffed. Chest concaving as a sob wracked her body, she briefly looked down and covered her hand with the back of her wrist, slowly sliding it down her chest until she grasped her stomach. Rey straightened her spine, eyes hardening. "I won't do it."

A hasty wind whistled between them, and sand dusted the small space separating them. The dry, hot world beyond the destroyed starship almost felt miles away. Like it didn't even exist. Finn shook his head, a nasty snarl curled his upper lip as he looked her over. "There's nothing you can tell me that makes this make sense, but I can't stand beside you if he's there. Not after everything he and his grandfather have done to the galaxy."

"Right now, I see no difference between the men they left behind and you. You risked Poe's life because you let in a creature of the past." Someone somewhere shoved a knife right in her gut. It had to be real because the pain sank too deep in her heart. Releasing the breath caught in her lungs, the scavenger stepped back, nodding. "Finn, the Resistance—the legacy Leia left behind that you and Poe always speak of—all of it would have crumbled to the ground. And it would be because of you ."

Finn tightened his grasp on her saber. "Stop it…" he whispered. "Thanks to you, it never came to that."

"And there's more you've done." The breaths flowed swiftly in and out of her body, stuttering as she shivered. Eyes narrowing, she pressed against his mind and shook her head. "I sense it in a place in your mind I cannot go right now. That's the point the Jedi failed to see, Finn. The Light? The Dark? We're not deities immune to either side of the Force. We're people who feel—probably more than anyone living amongst us. All of us are capable of great and terrible things. The thing that bridges the deep divide between the Dark and the Light sides is compassion."

"Compassion?" The general laughed. "Is that what you call all the times I've tried to fight at your side and you just left and shoved me out of the way? What about all the times I threw everything I believed out the window if it meant to save you?" Finn turned around, pointing her saber to Ben. The tips of their blades buzzed as they crackled against each other, but neither made any sudden movements. "Not only did this monster torture our friends, he lured you right to his master Snoke. He knew what he was doing all the times he hurt you. Everyone says that he's Leia's son, but I think Kylo Ren was right. He told Han, before killing him, that his son was dead."

Ben sealed his other hand on his saber, the violet shade of his dark crossguard hilt shaking under his violent grip. Lip curling and eyes twitching in sync with his jaw, her husband breathed erratically as he opened his mouth, no words spoken at first. "Are you stupid enough to believe that I don't know I'm not worthy of her?"

"I really don't think you get it, Ren ." Finn's stance stabilized as he bent his knees and twisted his boots in the sand. Bringing her saber back to his right shoulder, the general spit in Ben's direction toward the sand. "You go from leading our greatest opposition to dead and back to living again. For seemingly no reason. Only now you're with Rey? And you're not being held accountable for all the shit you did? Instead, it's the stormtroopers' fault. Like you and your First Order didn't pry each and every one of us from our families to build your stupid army."

The scavenger didn't know where Finn ended and where Darth Maul began. Upon reflection, Rey conceded that, although lonely, life on her own had been much simpler. Fisting her hands, Rey cut Ben off. "Finn, he's my husband. You don't get to talk to him that way. He has yet to treat you so fouly since returning."

Her diversion worked because he snapped back in her direction. "I don't get to talk to him that way, huh?" Stepping toward her, Finn's features broke the longer he looked at her.

Rey swallowed, but squared her shoulders and jaw. Although she didn't look to Ben, the scavenger blinked as she passed on a message to his mind. Lower your lightsaber, Ben. He stands little chance against you if you provoke him. Exhaling, she managed to slow her heart rate by dragging it out until every stitch of air left her chest. Waiting a second before inhaling, Rey bit her lip and released it. "We have to get Maul out of your head."

"Don't change the subject."

"I'll do it by choice or force if I must." Rey narrowed her eyes and sighed. "You have an idea of what happens if you manage to leave here and become his apprentice. He wants me, and you know it. You'll never possess a fraction of the power I have at my disposal. You'll be discarded because that's how it's always been. For those before Anakin and those since."

The Force showed her that he would try to strike at her, so she called Kylo Ren's saber to her and blocked his futile attack with the blade that killed Han Solo and thousands of others. Probably much more. Although the hilt was too long and too thick for her to leverage the perfect grip on it, Rey felt connected to the man who'd once held onto this saber to cut down those in his past as well as protect her once. It was probably wildly inappropriate to love a man capable of such violence, but Rey came face-to-face with the truth: her love was unconditional. Ben was her soulmate, but it had been through Kylo Ren with whom she'd first explored the depths of what love was: even while she fought against the idea.

A small smile flickered warmth in her cool features as a tear slipped down her face. Finn grunted, using his physical strength against her, but she willed the Force to lend her some power to anchor where she stood; it was he, instead, who was pushed back.

Though Rey was slower at the lightsaber than Anakin and Ben, two people who'd trained most of their lives at the blasted weapon, she held every advantage against Finn, though he had held his own against a wounded Kylo Ren on Starkiller. He wasn't totally helpless, so to underestimate that would be her folly. The scavenger, easily deflected his attacks and only swung when necessary to avoid his onslaught. The Force, though, was unable to pierce whatever hold Maul had on his mind right now as she tried to freeze his body. With each attempt to do so, Maul's sinister chuckle only got louder, but she wouldn't let it distract her.

"You don't love me, Finn!" Rey said, her voice steady and calm. Groaning when she reached a wall as she backed away from him, she bared her teeth and shoved him back, but he caught his balance before he tripped down. "At least not in the way you think!"

"Don't tell me what I believe!" Their blades hissed when he swung at her again. Rey hopped up, avoiding his low swing. "I've always believed in you! I've always followed you!"

"No...You've always been afraid to lose me, but, Finn...you never had me. I wasn't yours to lose," she shouted. Raising Kylo's saber flat above her face, she looked up at Finn, the red glare hissing against the yellow hue of her saber. "I know why it's easy to confuse what you feel for love. I know it, too, because I've never had much in the way of possessions. All because I had to grow up here alone. You were taken as a boy, Finn, and you want so desperately to hold onto the things that feel like the family you will never know. It clouds your mind even now! Like me, you allowed it to take over your entire soul. It's unbearable, but you're not alone. You'll go to Maul over my dead body. You have Finn, Rose, and Jannah. The whole of the Resistance! We're all each other's family. You must see it!"

The longer she talked, the thinner the barrier keeping her from his mind got, so she leveraged the opportunity and slipped inside of his mind, traversing the endless trails that sparked across his thoughts. Flashes of their time together zapped before her, but she moved deeper, seeing an infestation of a blurry red glow. Grinding her teeth together, she slipped beyond through a narrow crack, hearing some of the whispers crescendo louder and louder until reality fell away from her and it was all she could perceive.

The incoherent words thrashed until images projected into her mind. Back on Naboo, the scavenger watched as Finn inspected the ship they'd crash landed on Ajan Kloss. Something blinked in his hand. At first, she thought it was an explosive, but upon closer examination, she recognized that it was a tracker. The general quickly attached it to an obscure part of the craft. Rey's eyes flashed to Finn's as she gasped. They looked clouded, blurry.

Suddenly, Anakin cupped his shoulder, asking something. Rey studied Skywalker, noting the curious expression laced with suspicion. They briefly chatted, but she couldn't hear.

"I've waited too long to speak with you again." Darth Maul's voice echoed around in the void space that feasted on Finn's mind. "I may be too late for you yet, but I've discovered other ways to sway you back to the Dark."

"What makes you think you can win me? Kylo Ren was incapable. So was Darth Sidious. You died an apprentice."

Maul phased before her, both ends of his saber staff burned red and ready to pierce her organs if that was what he wished. His dark grin unnerved her. "Kylo Ren was weakened by love . And Palpatine? He was foolish to believe he could sway you with simply his blood connection."

Rey gripped her hands, feeling naked and vulnerable without the saber she held back in reality. "There's no way you will win this."

"Child, you must use a bit of the imagination you leveraged as a child...playing by yourself stranded in the middle of the desert where your pathetic family abandoned you." Maul's grin died, but he stepped toward her. "Ben Solo's death was just long enough for me to harness my talents and search the Force for more power while you closed yourself off to it. But there is more power that belongs to me in you, and I will smoke it out the only way that matters now."

"No."

"Yes, girl . You will watch as every part of your life catches fire around you. Even you have a breaking point. Fortunately for me, you, too, suffer a similar weakness as Kylo Ren did. You love too much." Before she could speak, Maul stabbed his saber through Rey's heart, but the scavenger didn't fall over dead. Instead, she snapped back to reality and was hurled from Finn's head. I look forward to breaking you, girl.

The heat of her saber almost collided with her neck, but Ben shoved her back from where he stood and shot Finn in the leg with Han's blaster. The general groaned and released his hold on her saber, which deactivated as it rolled to Rey's side. Both Rey and Finn fell to the ground.

The scavenger's eyes were wide as she clutched her heart and suffered a sharp ache in her lungs. Convulsing as she brought her head to her knees, Rey sobbed quietly as a few flashes of the bodies of those whom she loved the most surrounded her in the throne room on Exegol. It was just like the few years she suffered quietly. Alone. Though the Force had been closed off to her, a stray nightmare had managed to haunt her a few nights each month.

Crossing her feet at her ankles, the scavenger composure broke as the image of Ben's severed head on a pike next to her grandfather's throne kept her company as she assumed it. Gripping her hair, she didn't stop herself when her nails began to dig into her scalp. Low mumbles incoherently choked her as the Rey in her vision showed her Han standing where she'd stood against her grandfather. He had no saber. Only his blaster. In the distance, Chewie's lifeless, charred body permeated the air surrounding them. The vision Rey stood and slowly paced toward the old man, igniting Kylo Ren's saber and shoving the red blade through his heart before he had a chance to speak.

Hands grasped hers, and the scavenger tried shoving away at whoever, but Ben's strength, physically and in the Force, eclipsed hers right now, so he remained steady as she jerked away from him. Enveloping her in his arms, Ben quieted her by smothering her mouth with his until her outburst subsided. The edges of his thumbs wiped away tears that fell from her brown eyes just as she inhaled, opening her mouth to him. They both grabbed onto each other's clothes, fingers trembling in sync with their bodies against the other. The smooth expanse of his tongue warmed her, and the cold pinching her waned just enough for her breathe a sigh of relief.

Moaning, Rey reached for his chin, her touch featherlike as she touched the curve of his neck like he had done with her so many times. Whispering each other's name like a quiet prayer with the power to revive those they'd lost, they brushed sweet, quick kisses over each other's mouths, noses, and chins until their frenzy lulled. Ben's fingers were lost in her unkempt hair, while she nearly snagged the fabric of his black long sleeve shirt.

Right above his heart.

Ben pulled away from her mouth in order to sink against her, holding onto her like she'd disappear from him the way he did to her. Rey's eyes fixed on Finn, who held a hand over where Ben shot him on his thigh. What held her focus was Anakin's lightsaber pointing down at her friend.

"Ben."

Her husband jerked as he tensed and threw his gaze over his shoulder. They stood together, but it was Ben who reached his grandfather first. Holding his hand out, Ben swallowed. "Anakin, deactivate your saber."

The look in Skywalker's eyes was something the scavenger knew well. Understood even. He'd seen what Rey had, and he knew that Finn, in some way, was the reason why his wife's life was in danger. "I sensed something was off back in Naboo," he said, teeth bare and grinding against each other. The air flowing between the small crevices of his teeth made him sound like he hissed like a creature. His attention targeted only Finn. "I lost Padme once before because of my failure to see what was right in front of me."

"Anakin! You won't hurt him! He's unable to control what he does," Padme yelled from back where she tended to Jannah's unconscious body. Standing, she shifted her skirts and rushed to her husband, placing her hand on his arm as she stepped between him and Finn. Her shoulder nearly grazed the edge of Skywalker's saber. "You will not hurt him. You're going to go through me first."

Ben reached out for his red saber, still ignited and slid it underneath his grandfathers'. "Grandfather, she's safe now. No one won't hurt her with us around to help protect her."

Padme scoffed, her eyes switching between both men. "I need for everyone to stop pretending that I'm totally helpless here. I know how to use blasters. I may be unable to use the Force, but it was average, everyday people who died saving the galaxy beside the heroes. If I recall correctly, it was a fleet of cargo ships and transports that tipped the scale in the aerial battle at Exegol."

Anakin tore his gaze from Finn to his wife. Tears stung his blue eyes, and looked down and nodded, though he did not deactivate his saber. "I cannot lose you, Padme. I wouldn't survive it."

Padme avoided the pulsing blue glow of his saber and threw herself on him. Anakin immediately killed the weapon and wrapped his arms around his wife, bringing her in for a passionate kiss. Somewhere in history, these two people who loved each other as fiercely as she loved Ben had hidden their entire life together. Their love had destroyed the galaxy's fate, but Rey couldn't deny the warmth that flooded her chest as she stared at them. Luke and Leia probably never knew they were born of such a powerful love. If they did, neither of them had spoken on the matter of their mother. Ben deactivated the restored red saber and took her hand.

When Padme pulled away, she took Anakin's face in her palms and smiled up at him. "We have the chance to build a new life together, Ani. We have to do better this time. Hiding isn't something that matters anymore. This new Jedi Order can be a way to start over...to live out the rest of our lives the way we always imagined before I lost you," she whispered.

"You're right." Anakin put his saber on his belt and wrapped his arms around her small body, resting his forehead to hers. "I'm sorry I almost lost control."

The ambassador pressed a quick kiss against his mouth before pulling back and smiling. "All that matters is that you came back to me."

The scavenger looked away from Anakin and Padme, opting to throw her attention down at Finn. Letting go of Ben's hand, she knelt down and winced when she saw the blaster wound. Although Ben had strategically shot the outermost part of his leg, the wound wasn't as shallow as she would have liked. Blood oozed out of the wound at a leisurely pace.

"Get this cleaned and dressed," Rey said to no one in particular. Reaching out for her saber, the scavenger cut off a long part of the fabric that dangling around her legs. Folding it, she handed it to him, but he stopped her hand with his.

"Just let him kill me, Rey." Finn's body convulsed as he adjusted to the pain. Rey looked to her friend, who stared at her from where he sat on the sand. "Everything you said is true. I could have destroyed the Resistance. I endangered Poe...and Padme's lives. I don't know how to resist this. I'm not like you."

"No one's killing anyone, Finn."

Standing, she dropped the fabric onto his lap and turned, walking away from the group and passing Desren. Stopping only long enough to ruffle the top of his head with her hand, Rey marched back onto the Falcon and gathered a few things: her canteen, an extra helping of food to accommodate the lack of it in her stomach at the moment, and a change of clothes.

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