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"Dyad's Blessing, Dyad's Curse"

By EsmeAmelia

Chapter 33

Tomorrow.

The word nested in his mind as soon as Renda said it, throbbing like a headache as he walked around in circles with his cane and D-O excitedly rolled back and forth. Tomorrow he'd be released from the hospital, taken away from this sanctuary of relative comfort. He almost wanted to curse his own body for healing.

"Better!" D-O shouted. "B-b-better!"

"Yeah," Ben mumbled, the cane seeming to vibrate under his arm every time it hit the floor. "I'm better."

He hobbled over to the bed and sank down on the edge, his grandfather's words from the coma whispering in his mind. "A chance to make things right" – what Anakin didn't get, what Ben had now, what Anakin told Ben not to waste.

But how could he make anything right in prison?

. . .

"Rey, are you all right?"

Rey hadn't even realized that Finn was sitting next to her. She'd been staring ahead out the restaurant's window, watching the speeders zip by, only taking a few spoonfuls of soup, for . . . how long had it been? When did Finn arrive? "Wh-what? Finn?"

Finn's brown eyes were wide, staring at her like he'd give his soul to make her feel better. "Did something happen? Did he do something?"

Rey's mouth went dry, causing her to automatically take a gulp of her ice water – well, it had been ice water, but as it flowed down her throat, it gave the unpleasant bitterness of room temperature. "Yes, something happened."

"What?" Now Finn's hand was on her shoulder. "Rey, you can tell me."

Just recalling the dream caused her eyes to well up. "That memory," she choked out. "We dreamed of that memory last night."

No more elaboration was needed. Finn's arm draped around her shoulders, gathering her in a loose embrace. She took another spoonful of soup only to wince – it had gotten cold in the time she'd spent at the table.

"Here," said Finn, handing her half his sandwich.

Rey looked at the sandwich, trying to ignore how her mouth watered at the fish salad expanding around the crusts. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," said Finn, and Rey sensed the sincerity in his words. She took the sandwich half and sunk her teeth into it, savoring the tangy, meaty taste. "Thanks," she mumbled with her mouth full.

Finn stared into her eyes once more. "Rey, I think we should do something fun tonight."

Rey licked excess fish salad off her fingers. "What do you mean?"

"I mean you're falling apart!" Finn exclaimed. "I know you're going through a lot of shit, but you still need to take care of yourself." He took a deep breath, as if having to keep himself from exploding. "Rose and Jannah are going out tonight."

"Rose and Jannah? Are they . . .?"

"A thing? I don't know if they're officially a thing, but they're going out tonight and they invited us to come with them. Poe's got to meet up with some representatives, but he said you and I could go – in fact, his words were 'Go on, you deserve some fun and the Resistance won't fall apart if you're gone for a few hours!'" He gave her a slight smile. "So, are you in?"

Yes, absolutely! Rey wanted to say, but she held herself back. "And what if Ben and I link while we're there?"

Finn's mouth crumpled as if the mere mention of Ben was an offense. In a world where things were simpler, she might have just thought he was jealous, but simple troubles like who was dating whom weren't luxuries afforded to them.

"Well," he finally said, "if you link, you link, I guess. Does it really matter where you are when you link?"

"I guess not," said Rey, "but if I start talking to nothing in a public place . . ."

"Fine, then I'll pretend you're talking to me," said Finn, putting his hand on hers, letting her feel the honesty in his statement. "So . . . will you come? I really think it would be good for you."

Finally Rey allowed herself a tiny smile. "All right, I'll come."

. . .

Rey had expected a fun night out with friends, but she did not expect Chancellor Naberrie to lend them all semi-fancy clothes for the evening. Where did she get clothes that fit all of them anyway? Did she keep them aside just in case any senators ripped their clothes or some other embarrassment happened?

As she and the others stood on the landing platform in the sunset, waiting for the airbus, Rey kept scratching at her yellow dress made of some sort of itchy material. Not only that, but the neckline was cut lower than she was used to, causing her to frequently glance down and make sure her bra wasn't showing. Had she ever worn a dress before? She sure couldn't remember ever wearing one – tunics and robes weren't the same thing.

Meanwhile, Rose in her pink dress and Jannah in her purple dress looked much more jovial and relaxed, though Rey figured that they weren't any more used to wearing dresses than she was. They were both staring out into the skylanes, Rose bouncing on her heels and Jannah shifting her weight from side to side, as if they were already dancing. Maybe Finn was right and they were a thing.

Finn, meanwhile, was standing next to Rey, looking rather handsome in the tan suit Pooja had lent him and smelling of some sort of musk – did Pooja lend him cologne too or did he obtain it some other way? He periodically grinned at her as if reminding her to try to have fun tonight.

Fun, yes, she would have fun. She wasn't going to worry about Ben or dyads or lightning or anything else, right?

"Remember, everyone," Jannah announced as she turned around, still shifting her weight and making her skirt swish back and forth, "tonight we're normal! No former stormtroopers or orphaned mechanics or Jedi tonight – no misfits, no Resistance, tonight we're just a bunch of friends having a good time."

"Normal, I like that idea," said Rose, grinning at Jannah with a certain intensity.

"Yeah," said Finn, putting his hand on Rey's shoulder. "Tonight we're normal."

"Normal," Rey repeated, though she felt like a rock had settled in her stomach. Did any of them even know how to be normal?

"Hey look, there's the bus!" Jannah shouted, and sure enough the airbus was flying over them, its engines hissing as it slowly touched down. Rose and Jannah rushed for it as soon as its door opened, but Finn lingered behind, squeezing Rey's hand and smiling at her.

"Don't worry," he said, "everything's gonna be fine."

Rey wished she could believe him, but as they boarded the airbus, she couldn't help but look around and make sure Ben hadn't appeared.