Chapter 2

When she woke up, Rey was back in the comfy bed in the forest bedroom. Finn sat on the edge of her bed. He looked up when she stirred.

"Hey, peanut. We thought it'd be better if it was just me with you the next time you woke up," Finn said. "Even if Poe's a little mad about that."

Rey nodded. Then she frowned. "Who's Poe?"

Finn's mouth opened a little but he didn't speak at first. 'Oh, boy."

"What?"

"Rey, what's the last thing you remember?"

"We were on Starkiller base. Kylo Ren killed Han. He injured you. And then we fought. I was winning before the land broke apart. And that's about it."

"Ah. Alright. Let me start from the beginning. You'll probably have lots of questions, but let me keep talking until I've caught you up. Deal?"

"Deal." Rey bit her lip.

Finn took a deep breath. "That was three years ago, Rey." Finn stopped to watch her face. Rey's blood ran cold. Three years?

She didn't dare speak. Her throat felt dry, and she had promised Finn to let him finish talking.

"After Starkiller, you went to see Luke. He wasn't much for training you, but while you were there you formed a force bond with Kylo Ren. I understand that you had some... good conversations with him. I was still recovering on the Raddus and it took us a while to meet up again."

Kylo Ren and I talked? Rey frowned.

"You need a teacher. I could show you the ways of the force."

"You met up with Ben on the Supremacy, Snoke's ship, and you and Ben killed him. After that, we fought on Crait. Luke helped us escape but it cost him his life. You saved us too with your rock lifting jedi thing, but the resistance was in rough shape. We spent a year hiding, recouping and training. You trained with Leia. Kylo Ren became Ben again. Emperor Palpatine returned. He's your grandfather. You and Ben fought him and you killed him, but died yourself. Ben brought you back to life. And Leia sacrificed herself to save Ben. And then you married him and bought yourself a nice house in the middle of the woods of Takodama, close to Maz's. That's where we are now."

Rey's breath came in a little faster. Crait? Kylo Ren? Force bond? Palpatine?

"Look, I realized half way through my explanation, there's no way I can convey half of what's happened in the past three years. I think it'd be best for us to figure out what happened to your memories of the past and go from here. Ben can always do that mind thing he does and feed you images of the past."

Rey recoiled. "Absolutely not."

Finn smiled a little. "Look, I'm happy for you and Ben. I can see now how much of a good match you both make, but from my perspective, and Poe's, and Leia's, your relationship with him came about rather suddenly and I was annoyed at how easily you seemed to love our enemy. If your reaction now is any glimpse of the past, then I'm getting a lot of joy out of knowing he had to work for it."

Rey let out a small laugh. "Finn, everything you're saying sounds like a lie. I can't love him. I don't. I-" Rey ran out of things to say. She didn't have any reason to believe Finn was lying to her, but she couldn't remember anything. She did remember the moment he took off his helmet on Starkiller though. How he took her breath away, how he terrified and excited her at the same time.

"Don't worry, I feel it too."

"What made me lose my memory in the first place?" Rey asked instead of any more questions that would lead to more conversation about Ren.

"Right. You and Poe were on a supply run when you were ambushed up smugglers. You were going to bring some medicine to one of the poorer planets near by. Medicine that was worth a lot on the black market. Poe said you hit your head really hard while fighting them off."

"Oh. Did that planet get the medicine they needed?"

Finn smiled wide. There was warmth in his eyes. "Yeah, peanut, they did." He took her hand. "The doctor said you'd need some rest for a few days but that you'd wake up once your brain had healed. There was, uh, swelling. He didn't say anything about memory loss. We'll call him back to talk about this."

"Ok," Rey said. "Thank you, Finn. Sorry for all the trouble."

"Don't you dare mention it. I'm just glad you're alright. Poe was worried sick. He blamed himself for your injury. Ben's been worried too. He hasn't left your side unless the kids need him."

Rey stilled. "Kids?"

"Oh, crap." Finn paled. "Sorry, I was going to let you process all this information before I told you. You and Ben have twins. A boy and a girl, just like Luke and Leia."

Rey's mouth hung open. She tried to speak but her throat felt tight.

She had fought with Ren, instead of against him.

She apparently liked him enough to marry him.

And they have kids together.

"You know I can take whatever I want."

Rey lay back down. She felt dizzy again.

Finn seems to pick up on her unease. "Let's call the doctor. He'll know what to do about your memory." He squeezed her hand. "I hope you get all your memories back, Rey. Especially the ones about me. Let's be honest, those really are the best ones."

Rey laughed a little. "I hope so too." Rey couldn't believe she's a mom. And that Ren is the father of her children. She wants to run. Run from the reality that is this life, but she knows that wouldn't make sense. Finn isn't lying. And the way Ren looked at her in the other room was like nothing she'd ever seen from him before. She had to steady her nerves. He wasn't the man she remembered. Whether or not she wanted to believe it, this was her life now.

Rey needed to get her memories back so she could take back her life, at Ren's side.

My books (e-book/kindle unlimited/paperback):

The Priests and the Yokai I and II by Lindsey Merril

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