Chapter 2: Ten Years Later

The garden dinner party had achieved that relaxed atmosphere under the assurance that Finn would be serving up the meal soon, and that all the guests had safely arrived.

Well, almost all the guests.

On a small hillside blanketed with meadow grass, just beyond the hut of Finn and Rose Tico on Dantooine, Poe Dameron kept his binoculars trained to the clear skies of dusk. Lowering the lenses from his eyes, his teeth clenched together as he winced broadly, hissing along his underbite.

Gliding up to his side, Poe's wife, Zorri Dameron (née Bliss) pecked him on the cheek, lightly rubbing his arm.

"She'll be here. Finn said Rey RSVPed."

Poe nodded absently. "I just want her to get here already!"

"Well, there's plenty of time," Zorri said cheerfully. In her arms was their new baby, Martha. Bouncing the cherub snuggled against her chest, the former bounty hunter beamed with love. The baby hadn't been planned, and the knowledge that she was expecting had terrified Zorri at first. She had never wanted to get pregnant, never wanted to be a mother, for fear that she would be a failure like her own mother. Ironically, it was Rey who had managed to talk her into keeping the baby. Now, Zorri couldn't imagine not having Martha in her life.

By now, Poe was back to watching the skies. Zorri whacked him.

"Stop that! She will get here in time to eat!"

"I know, it's just... I've been worried about her," Poe huffed. "She hardly ever comes out of that training temple of hers, and when she does, it feels like..."

"... she's not totally invested?" Zorri cocked an eyebrow. Her husband nodded. "She's trying to bring back the Jedi Order, Poe."

"Yeah, but... we're her family. Shouldn't we get equal time too?"

The couple glanced back across the meadowed plain to the Tico's front lawn. Finn and Rose's little girl was frolicking through the waist-high grasses, always within her mother's sights as Rose tried to snap a holopic. Seated at the table were Beaumont and Jannah Kin. A beaming Jannah was trying to feed a bottle to her infant son, Owen.

A sudden whine made the Damerons glance up. Poe grinned in relief as the Millennium Falcon swooped low into the atmosphere. "She's here!"

Right then, Finn emerged from the hut with platters of food. "And dinner is served!"

The Falcon touched down, hydraulic steam dissipating as the gangplank was lowered. A lone figure strode down in white Jedi hood and robes, and began making her way across the meadow grasses with a long gait. As she drew nearer, Rey Skywalker threw back her hood. Seeing her, the frolicking little girl pelted across the field towards the new arrival.

"Auntie Rey!"

"Paige!" Rey gave a tired smile as she picked up her goddaughter and cuddled her close in greeting. "Ready to start your Jedi training?"

"I can't wait! Mama's been helping me pack my things."

Finn followed his daughter at a light jog, giving Rey a side hug.

"Hey, Jedi."

"Hey, Finny." They kissed cheeks lightly, smiling affectionately. Both had moved on from the intense moment of nearly a decade prior, and though they had never spoken of it directly since, a new understanding and appreciation had been reached between the two best friends.

"Come on," Finn smiled. "The bantha burgers are gonna get cold."

After supper, Rey stood in the kitchen, washing dishes. It was the best way she could think to help, on account that she had almost arrived late. Soon, she felt a warm and familiar presence at her side, as Finn slipped in to help her.

"Come on, Rey, let me help! Guests shouldn't do dishes."

"I want to," Rey insisted.

"Well, then, you wash. I'll dry."

"And I'll put away!" Poe joined them, the three friends soon falling into the companionable rythym of an assembly line. After a comfortable silence, Poe craned around Finn to address Rey as he was handed a plate.

"I shouldn't be surprised anymore that you came alone, but I am. Could you have at least brought some of your Padawans?"

"They're under curfew on the island; I left Temiri in charge," Rey dismissed, scrubbing a bowl in a circular motion before passing it to Finn.

"OK, fair enough. What about a boyfriend? Significant other?"

"Poe..." Rey sighed, sliding past him to help store some glasses in the cupboard. "Don't start... There is no significant other..."

"There could be if you at least tried!" Poe frowned. "Do you really want the kids to know you as bachelorette Auntie Rey the rest of your life?"

"Paige did ask me once why Poe is her only uncle. 'Is Auntie Rey ever gonna get married?', she says," Finn admitted.

Rey huffed, rolling her eyes. "I'm never getting married, Finn."

"Why not? All the rest of us are settled down!" Finn pointed out. "Rey... we're just worried about you. We're your family."

"And can't a family want to yearn for your happiness?" Poe inquired. "It would give us some peace of mind to see you married!"

"Well that's very... misogynistic of you," Rey frowned haltingly.

"He didn't mean it like that, Rey..." Finn tried to jump in.

"I'm just saying," Poe continued to dig his own grave. "I still have friends in Black Squadron. An acquaintance or two in the Senate. I could hook you up... with some nice guys... You could still find a nice husband -"

There was a sudden crash as Rey threw an errant fork into the sink. She whirled to face her friends, eyes blazing.

"Poe. Finn: I had a husband! And I lost him! He's been one with the Force, may he Rest In Peace, for ten years. And I am never going to find anyone who could equal him, much less be better!" And she stormed from the kitchen, leaving the two men in shock.

"And then she says, 'I had a husband, and he died, and I'm never gonna find anyone better!'" Finn ranted through the bedroom door as he brushed his teeth in the adjacent bathroom.

Sitting up against the pillows in her nightgown, Rose eyed her husband hard. "And you don't believe her."

Finn whirled around so fast, he nearly tripped over his pajama pant leg as he struggled to tug it on. "Of course I believe her! How can you even say that?" He looked genuinely insulted. Sighing, he confessed, "Of course, it would be a lot easier to if I had ever met the man. Or you know, attended an actual wedding ceremony on her behalf."

"Some marriages don't need to be sanctified by a church wedding, Finn," Rose pointed out, as he crawled under the covers next to her.

"Ours was," he frowned, bemused.

"Rey is a Jedi. They and the Force play by a different set of rules."

"The Jedi weren't allowed to marry until Rey came along!" Finn gawped. "Staying single now, she doesn't have much of an excuse."

"What if this marriage wasn't about the Jedi?" Rose pondered. "What if it was... willed by the Force or something? A Force marriage?"

Finn stared at her almost horrified, and Rose couldn't help but roll her eyes. "I said Force, Finn, not forced. Rey would never go for any arranged marriage."

"She seemed pretty against getting married at all," Finn muttered, as he reached to turn out the light.

"Most widows are," Rose mumbled into her pillow. "Just be sure to fix this spat with her before she leaves and we say goodbye to our daughter tomorrow."