Rose ran as far as she could until she reached the edge of the forest and her lungs couldn't take the pressure anymore. She took long, heaving breaths, her face damp with tears and sweat. She had never seen Finn so angry before. At her. And she knew she deserved it. What was she thinking? Why did she feel so jealous witnessing that stupid kiss? Why did she have to hurt Jannah, who had been nothing but nice to her? Rose punched the nearest tree in her frustration. Ow!

The sound of feet shuffling in the grass behind her drew her attention away from her self-guilt. Rose didn't even look up.

"Please go away. I just want to be left alone."

"No," said the voice.

"Really, go. You're the last person I want to talk to right now."

"I know I am. But I'm not leaving." Rose wiped her face with her sleeve as she turned towards her pursuer.

"Zin, are you always this annoying?" She was surprised to see that Zin wasn't smiling like she usually did. Instead, she looked cross. Serious. It startled Rose.

"To most people, probably." Zin shrugged. "But I am who I am." She gave a sad little smile, her eyes piercing into Rose's. It was like Zin was a completely different person from the annoyingly happy-go-lucky girl Rose had first met. "I… I overheard what you did… the note to Jannah."

"Please, Zin…"

"No, Rose, listen. Please. I'm not mad at you. I just want to talk."

"Talk? About what? How disappointed you are in me? How you can't believe I could do something like this? Because if that's what you want to talk about, don't bother. I already know and I feel horrible as it is."

"No. I want to share with you my story."

Rose blinked. "Your story?"

"Yeah. I haven't told anyone, not even Jannah. You see, I wasn't kidnapped by the First Order like most of the others. I was about five when I joined."

Rose was stunned. "You joined by choice?"

"Sort of. You see, when I was a toddler, my mother abandoned me and my father. I can remember bits and pieces of her, but otherwise she didn't mean anything to me. My father considered me to be a burden. He took care of me, but it was more out of obligation than love. I tried to do what I could to make him happy, but because my existence prevented him from doing the things that he wanted to do, he didn't care that much.

"One day, we were at this small village, and there was a festival going on. I remember being really excited and wanted to see everything. My father told me that I was old enough to look around by myself and I should go and have fun. I was astounded; it was the first time I could remember getting a compliment from him. Plus I felt like a big girl; this was a huge responsibility, and my father trusted me! He told me to be back at the transport in a couple of hours. I so desperately wanted to prove to him that I was dependable and not a nuisance, so I excitedly took off, constantly checking the time to make sure I wouldn't miss the transport.

"I made it there a few minutes early. My father wasn't there, which surprised me, but I knew he'd be coming soon. So I waited. I waited and waited. After an hour, I wondered if my father had lost track of time itself. The transport seemed to be late as well. Maybe I got the time wrong? As I was starting to panic, someone who had been watching me approached and asked what I was doing. I told him, and he informed me that the last transport for the day had left a couple of hours ago. When I gave him a description of my father, he said he saw him get on that last transport. My father lied to me so he could ditch me and get away. I had been abandoned, and I was alone in a strange town with strange people."

"That's terrible!"

"Yeah, it was. For the first couple of days, I was so scared. I'd hide between shops and when no one was looking, I'd sneak out to claim any scraps of food I found. I quickly realized that being scared wasn't going to solve my problems. I had to do something, and I wanted to prove to my father that he had lost someone very special, even though I knew I'd never actually see him again. Instead of being shy around people, I tried to help them. I was like a town's vigilante, making sure people didn't steal or children didn't get separated from their families. It was all small stuff, but apparently it drew attention. Someone must have been observing my situation and reported it to the First Order, because Phasma came herself."

"Phasma?"

"Yup. I remember watching her ship land just outside of town. She walked towards me with authority, her metal helmet gleaming in the sunlight, and I was in complete awe. It was obvious she was someone of high rank. At first, I thought she was just passing by, but when she stopped and turned to me, I was perplexed. The first thought that came to my mind was am I in trouble? Did I do something wrong? Then she spoke, her voice hard, but cool. She informed me that there were rumors of a homeless girl who had been abandoned in this town, and asked if it was me. I was too intimated to speak, so I just nodded. She then told me that from what she heard, I had the potential of becoming an excellent stormtrooper and asked if I wanted to join the First Order. Even though it sounded tempting, I declined. I had heard rumors that they were bad people, and I didn't want to be one of them. She didn't give up and explained to me that the reason the First Order has a negative conception was because the Resistance was persistent on fighting the good the First Order was trying to achieve. The main mission of the First Order was to preserve order and peace throughout the galaxy. The bad people were the ones fighting the system, and if they won, the whole galaxy would be in chaos. Joining the First Order would make me part of a team, a family, that would prevent that from happening.

"As soon as I heard the word 'family,' and the thought I'd be working with this remarkable woman, I was sold. I didn't see Phasma much after I joined the First Order, but I was forever grateful. She gave me a home, a purpose, a sense of belonging. I worked hard every day to show my gratitude. I didn't play with the others. Instead, every free chance I got I would train to sharpen my skills. Eventually I became one of the best shooters. All I wanted to do was prove to everyone, and myself, that I was useful because I never wanted to be abandoned again. I did fight in many battles, so there is blood on my hands, but from my perspective, it was the bad guys I was fighting.

"When rumors of a new Jedi surfaced, we considered them to be nothing more than rumors. Then starkiller base was destroyed. Then Phasma was killed. Then the Jedi killed Snoke."

"That's not what happened."

"I know that. But that's what we were told. With how quickly Kylo Ren came to power, we all quietly assumed it wasn't the Jedi that did the deed, but him."

"For the first time since my father left, I felt lost. Scared. The person closest to a mother to me was dead, and everything was in disarray. It felt worse than being abandoned by my parents. That's when I started taking a hard look at the First Order, and realized I wasn't fighting the bad guys. I was the bad guys. For the next year, I kept my head down, going through the motions and avoiding fights if I could. It was difficult going from one of the top shooters to not fighting all together without raising suspicions. Somehow, I did it.

"After the fall of the First Order, it became a different type of chaos. Now we had no direction and we were fighting for order amongst ourselves. When I heard a rumor that some stormtroopers were able to escape from the corpse of the First Order, I had been beyond ready to get away. Jannah was my life saver."

"I didn't know that."

"Like I said, I haven't told anyone this, until now. It's not something I'm proud of."

"As much as I appreciate you sharing your story, why are you telling me?"

"There is more to us than first impressions. When you first saw me, I could tell you didn't care for my upbeat personality. Am I right?"

"Well… yeah."

"And what do you think of me now?"

"You've been through a lot. I guess I see you in a different light."

"Right?" Zin frowned. "When I heard what you did, that note, it scared me at first. My first impression of you was someone I could trust. Even Finn didn't want to believe it. The thing is, you didn't do that to be mean or vindictive, right?"

Rose shook her head "Maybe at first, but if I could go back in time, I wouldn't have written that stupid note."

"Exactly! You're a nice person. Finn knows that, Jannah knows that, and I do, too. I trust you."

"But how can you trust me?"

"Because in your case, my first impression was accurate. We all make mistakes. What's important is whether or not we learn from them."

"Thanks, Zin. I…" A look of horror emerged onto Zin's face, as a low growl interrupted from behind her. When Rose turned around, she saw a large creature about 2 meters in height. It'd be even taller if it stood up on his hind paws. Rusty gray fur was matted to its skin, and its mouth hung open revealing an array of jagged, hungry teeth. Behind the creature, Rose could see several more pairs of eager, golden eyes. She froze.

"Zin… you said you were a good shooter. Please tell me you have your blaster."

Zin's voice shook, "I left it at the campsite."