Finn couldn't help but think about his father. He hadn't always been in the military, after all. He'd lived in a rather nice, rural area back on Mandalore, and he really had enjoyed it…well, at least, the land. When he got to get away from home. Because when he WAS at home, he had to endure what his dad had to say, and, well-
"FINN!"
"Wh-what?" Young Finn, all of 14 years of age, awoke with a start, seeing his dad glowering at him, holding up an alarm clock in one hand. His father had a grizzled beard on him, and he was wearing a very tight-fitting, long-sleeve shirt, with a big belt over his armored pants, and a bandolier around his chest.
"What do you mean "what"? Like there's nothing you're supposed to be doing this morning? Know what time it is?" His dad asked.
"8:34-oh. Oh, crap, I-I slept through my alarm."
"That's right, and you know who ELSE knows what time it is!?" His dad snapped, as he tossed the alarm clock through the air and it broke against the desk by Finn's bed, a chunk flying off and cracking a little photo by the side that showed a much younger, happier Finn with his VERY dark-skinned mother, whilst his white father gave him a dark glowering look. "Mr. Grarhn, Mrs. Kail, the Simsonz family and about NINE other people on your route who are all waiting for their morning food deliveries."
"I'm sorry, I'll fix it." Finn said, quickly getting out of bed, putting on his pants as they laid on the floor below.
"You SAID you were ready for this job and the responsibility that went with it."
"I was. I mean, I am."
"Then why are you arguing with me, THREE HOURS after you were supposed to make your deliveries?!"
"I made a mistake! I've only made it twice in the last three years I've been delivering…" Finn muttered, his own glowering look coming to his face.
"That's two too many."
"I wake up every single day at 4:30 in the morning to do this job and the only time you seem to notice is the few times I mess up." Finn found himself saying, the words spilling from his mouth as his father stared at him, as if stunned, but then…he got RIGHT in Finn's face and picked him up by his shirt front.
"Welcome to the real world. We work hard, and nobody gives us COOKIES at the end of the day. Now if you're finished patting yourself on the back, you can wipe that scowl off your face and get your ass out there and do the job you THINK you're so good at! And be back here when you're done!"
"But it's the weekend…" Finn began to protest as his father put him down and stormed out.
"You should have THOUGHT of that before you talked back to me!" His dad Abel snapped back.
Things didn't get better. Because later that day, Finn had done something really dumb. He'd let his friends talk him into…well…shoplifting. Or as they put it, "don't think of it as stealing, think of it as "you're just going to forget to pay"." And the store owner had caught them. AFTER he'd finished yelling at them and kicking their asses up and down the store, he'd called each of their parents, and…well…
When twilight began to descend, his father's vehicle had arrived, the land speeder parking abruptly in front of Finn as his father didn't even look away from the steering wheel he was gripping like mad. "Get in." He muttered.
Finn tried to speak, to apologize, as his father drove towards their home. "Dad, I'm so-"
His dad just gave him a single, harsh, biting look, mouth taut, eyes narrowed, and Finn glanced down and to the side. Utter silence bathed over the vehicle as they finally arrived at their home, and Finn began to trudge after his dad. But when his father opened up the front door, he stopped then turned to look back at his son.
"Where do you think YOU'RE going?"
"Inside? To bed?"
"No. You're not. You're sleeping out here." His father said, pointing out at the grass outside their home, one hand in the thick jacket he had on. "If you think you're such a big man who can do what he wants, WHEN he wants, a big man who can take care of himself…you just shrug off your responsibilities, huh? Then when I tell you to come home, you decide to do your own thing, run around with your loser friends and then get caught STEALING…well…" His dad had a furious and baleful look in his eyes, the wind picking up around him, whipping his hair about as he practically grit his teeth and growled. "You're telling me you're a big man now. You clearly don't need me. Or the roof I put over your head. So you…can just stay out here, big man."
"Dad, please, I'm sorry." Finn begged as his father turned quickly away, and began to head inside the front door.
"Save it, "big man". I don't give a shit."
"This is why Mom left you."
That…made his dad stop. And he didn't just stop, he turned around on a dime, his eyes and nostrils flaring as he made his way back towards Finn, his face a taunt line before he spoke, and his words were now dripping with pure, raw, barely suppressed fury.
"Oh. Oh, you…you think she left ME? Your mom and me were good. She loved me. She was…WE…were fun. But then you came along and she realized she wasn't cut out for the whole parenting thing. It was too much. Your mom didn't leave me. She left YOU." Abel said, pointing accusingly at his son as Finn felt the tears coming, sliding down his cheeks…
And he felt the words softly tumble out of his lips.
"…fuck you."
"…what did you say, big man? I couldn't HEAR you." His dad asked, standing in front of Finn, arms folded over his chest as the wind seemed to rip through them, getting harsher, stronger, more loud with every passing minute. When Finn was silent, Abel's eyes seemed to bulge out as he got right in his son's face. "I ASKED YOU A QUESTION, BIG MAN!"
"Fuck. You."
"I still! Didn't hear you. One more time, big man!" His father snarled, grabbing Finn by the jacket he wore, shaking him slightly. This time, Finn didn't hold back.
"FUCK YOU!" Loud, clear, practically spitting in his dad's face, the wind getting so strong that chunks of bushes and grass were being blown up into the air.
"That's what I thought you said."
THWAP. A strong, swift slap, right across Finn's face, as he slightly clutched his cheek, then rose up from off the grass, and glared back at his dad. "Does that make YOU feel like a "big man"!?" He said coldly to his father.
And then…something happened. Something Finn couldn't remember. All he remembered was that somehow, the wind had gotten even stronger than ever, and when he woke up…
The house was broken apart, in chunks and pieces, patches of grass were burned left and right, and…his dad was gone…
"Wow."
Finn sat across from Poe as he and Poe sat together in the same room, on the same bed. Tomorrow was a big day for the Dyad, they were going to speak to the press along with that Leia Organa woman, as part of a candidate's forum, and after a few drinks, Finn had started talking about his time growing up on Mandalore.
"You really don't remember what happened?" Poe asked. "My family life's dull." He confessed. "Normal, caring, sweet parents. Dunno how I ended up a tool." He admitted sheepishly.
"You're NOT that much of a tool." Finn jabbed him gently in the shoulder as the clock softly ticked next to their bed and the two sighed. "Sometimes I wish I knew why my dad hated me so much. It must have been good with me and mom and him at some point, but I don't even really remember him smiling anymore. Just…just his anger, and…and the way the wind would always blow so hard when it seemed like he WAS angry."
"Yeah. You know, maybe, honestly…we should go see a shrink or something about all this stuff we've had to put up with." Poe confessed.
"Group therapy?"
"Dunno if I'd do well in group." Poe nervously admitted. "I mean, actually, I tried that after I got drummed out of the Galactic Republic fleet and it backfired horribly. I just ended up taking out how I feel on other people. I can only really open up to guys I REALLY trust. Like you."
"I'm glad to hear it." Finn said with a small smile. "Guess we'll just have to be broken together, I suppose."
"I don't think we're broken. Just a little…cracked." Poe said with a shrug. "I can live with that."
"Yeah, me too." Finn admitted as he flopped back into the bed. "…hey, long as we're being super honest…anything you wanna get off your chest?"
"Okay, if I'm REALLY being honest, I don't like sleeping in the same room as you. You're a sleep farter." Poe chuckled. "A CHRONIC sleep farter. It's like crop dusting up in here!"
Finn whacked him with a pillow. THWUMPHF!
…
…
…
…"Alright, this won't be a problem." Han gently rubbed over Leia's shoulders as he and his wife were ready for their first question and answer forum from the press. It was a candidate's forum, both Darth Raize, aka Rey, and Darth Furiosa, were there as well, with their own armed guard as Chewbacca stood next to Han, and Mara Jade stood next to Leia. Chewie nonchalantly had his repeater crossbow slung over his shoulder and Mara Jade nonchalantly was tapping her fingers on her side…right next to where her lightsaber was.
Rey scowled slightly as the press approached, almost like a mob of pirhana, eager to tear the COW in front of them apart, she thought to herself. She fumed as she clenched her fists, keeping them buried in her pockets, Furiosa brushing some of her hair back, being calm and resolute as she nonchalantly folded her arms in front of her.
"I know Leia's a beloved galactic figure, but we can absolutely handle this." Furiosa insisted to Rey as she leaned in and kissed her softly on the cheek, like the brushing of a gentle wind on Rey's face that calmed her down. Their apprentices were standing behind them, Finn and Poe acting as their own armed guard along with THEIR apprentices, Marhkz and Engul'z as they glanced at one another. "All we need to do is remind Nar Shadaa of one thing, and one thing only."
"That the lives of its citizens have totally improved since we came here?" Rey quietly asked back.
Both of them looked into one another's eyes, long and deep, then began to guffaw and laugh hysterically. "Ha ha ha ha ha! Ohhh, that's a good one."
"Yeah, yeah, cracks me up! No, of course not, if there's one thing that unites all Nar Shadaa, it's a reminder that…say it with us, guys?" Furiosa turned to Finn, Poe, Marhkz and Engul'z and they all said, together…
"THE NEW REPUBLIC SUCKS."
"Mrs. Organa, Mrs. Organa!"
"Or is it Mrs. Solo?"
"Organa-Solo?"
"Organa. Han is just fine with me keeping my old last name." Leia offered warmly.
"You wouldn't believe how I got MY last name. It's really embarrassing." Han said with a shudder.
"So Mrs. Organa…we recognize that you want Nar Shadaa to rejoin the New Republic. But the New Republic doesn't exactly have a good track record. They've allowed serious Mandalorian raiders to cut a swath through the galaxy, and on top of that, there's many planets still left in the Outer Rim that don't have the proper constitutional protections the New Republic has. Why should the people of Nar Shadaa trust that you can deliver when you've not been able to deliver so far?"
Kendall, meanwhile, was watching the news feed from the campaign headquarters, in disguise with thick horn-rimmed glasses, having died his hair black and having a slouch to his walk as he used the Force to levitate posters around, tacking them to the wall one after the other. He was finally getting really, really good with his force levitation technique! But he couldn't help but cringe when he saw Leia's response.
"The New Republic knows that it's got a lot to make up for. Me being here is just the first step. But we don't want to go back into the dark days of the Sith, and that's what the Dyad is taking you on. A slope, steady but sure, down into pure authoritarianism and Sith control, with no accountability. Do you want that? Or do you want a government actually by the people and FOR the people?"
Zack groaned as he finished putting up the posters and tugged his face down, whilst Omarosa looked over at him. She was helping out too, she and HK-47 were currently moving boxes around, trying to see which one of them had the computers they needed. "What?" She asked. "You made that noise you make when you're super frustrated by something."
"It's just…I reaaaaally hate it when Leia's too…agreeable. The problem was she agreed to their premise, and she shouldn't have!" Zack moaned.
"What's wrong with the premise? I mean, the New Republic DID let the Dyad grow to where it is right now."
"The New Republic has been around for all of 20 years. Palpatine had been setting up and crafting an empire for 40, since 32 BBY, before the Battle of Yavin, when the final Death Star fell. Why do these idiots expect a new government to fix things so quickly? 40 years of cruelty, manipulation, tyranny and authority as Democracy got swept away, but no no no no, we'll have ALL your problems fixed in HALF that time, and with HALF the resources! While still fighting off remnants of the Empire, AND Mandalorian raiding parties! Oh, we'll get to this ARMPIT OF THE GALAXY when we get to it, Omarosa. The New Republic can get to Nar Shadaa when they get to it!" Zack snapped as he promptly kicked a chair over, his face slightly red.
"…wow, I didn't know you had such an issue with the planet."
"I had to listen to these people complain over and over about how the New Republic wasn't doing enough for them back when they HAD some degree of influence over Nar Shadaa, then when they were gone, the patients at the free clinic would whine about how the Dyad was screwing them over and not doing enough. All they'd do is complain and complain and complain, and NONE of them ever talked about actually CHANGING anything or DOING anything! I just…" Zack threw his hands in the air. "To me, it's like they've done NOTHING and they've all out of ideas! You can't complain about how much your life sucks if you don't do anything to actually make it better! And it ain't like they didn't have a chance to get rid of the Dyad before! They could have voted for somebody else to be in charge! But they didn't! Like, three times over! It's so frustrating!"
"It's hard for people to see more than a few feet in front of them, I guess." Omarosa said.
"Observation: the average voter's interactions with politics is limited. It remains almost entirely adhering to what is in their immediate day to day. Issues such as whether or not they have enough money or food on their plate will often take priority over even issues like basic freedom and rights. It is the classic security over freedom debate." HK-47 mused aloud.
"Wow, you're getting all philosophical in this bitch!" Omarosa laughed as she held up her hand. "Come on. Up high."
"Question: You want me to high five?"
"Yeah! Come on."
SLAP!
"OWWW!" Omarosa held her hand as HK-47 shrugged.
"Apology: I do have very strong hands."
"Look, ow-ow-ow, if you really think you could help more, then why don't you offer up some political advice to Leia? Become like, an advisor instead of just volunteering here at her campaign headquarters and walking the streets to whip up people's votes for her?" Omarosa asked.
"I'm…not a good choice. I like Leia a lot. I think the New Republic is better in every way than the Dyad. But it's not because I believe in Democracy. It's because I believe it's the best choice out of all the other more rotten choices. Democracy's good because it means it's easier to hold people accountable. Not because people are so great they deserve a voice in government. I wouldn't WANT the average person running the government." Zack sighed as he put a hand on his chest. "I'm…I'm the sort of person who knows most people couldn't handle running a LEMONADE STAND, let alone the deepest trenches of representative government! People make tons of mistakes! Myself especially included! I wouldn't want ME as president!"
"So you don't believe much in the goodness of the average joe, huh? Spoken like a true Sith!" Omarosa laughed.
"It's not about goodness." Zack sighed. "It's about…damage control. I want government intervention as little as possible, a small government that lets people do whatever they want in their own privacy, a strong, powerful military to defend the New Republic and the planets IN it, free market solutions, and that the government shouldn't tell people what they can believe, who they can screw, and what they can say."
"…wait…are you…" Omarosa's eyes bulged wide. "…oh my holy fucking shit. Zack, are you…a CONSERVATIVE?!"
"…well…" Zack scratched his head before shrugging. "…yeah. I mean, I guess you could say living on Logos sort of imparted a lot of conservative thought into me. Logos is VERY conservative and religious to boot, I kinda tossed the religious part away when I came here but the basics of conservative thought never left me." He admitted. "It's why I wouldn't be a good pick to advise Leia. I really, really disagree with her fundamentally on a bunch of stuff. I don't wanna get into a political debate with her or Han. So please, PLEASE don't tell them I'm a conservative. They'll probably get upset."
HK-47 raised a robotic eyebrow. "Assertion: I sincerely doubt that your being a conservative will be any true issue to anybody."
…
…
…
… "Wait, you're a CONSERVATIVE?"
"Toooold you."
Zack sighed as he sat across from Leia and Han in the little cafeteria they'd set up in her campaign room as Mara Jade sat next to them, whilst Omarosa cringed, sipping from a soda as HK-47 meanwhile was shaking his own head back and forth, scarcely able to believe how dumb these organics could be. "I just…don't really believe in liberal positions like you do. I just disagree with them."
"…well, like…what?" Leia asked. "How about…uh…" She scratched her head. "The issue of the death penalty?"
"I think people who do terrible crimes do, probably, deserve to be executed by the state."
"…rent control?"
"UGH, that idea doesn't work, I've looked at the studies."
"Decriminalizing illegal entry to planets from immigrants?"
"Just…not a fan. I had to jump through plenty of hoops when I came here, I went through a port of entry, I didn't just sneak on board a ship and pop out when they landed, it's the least they could do to do what I did, and I didn't arrive here with much but the clothes on my back!"
"Okay, how about…legalizing drugs like moon hookah?"
"Not interested in it, I think it makes you stupid and dumb and you're wasting time doing it that you could spend on something else."
"Taxes?"
"I prefer a flat tax rate. Simple, and effective."
"What about…" Leia hesitated, and they all nervously looked at her. Uh oh. She was about to ask about a super uncomfortable position. They could tell by the way her face was scrunched up. "…what about the issue of abortion?"
Dead…silence. Nobody said a thing. It was as if the entire room had been struck with a magical "Mute" spell as they all looked at Zack. He stared back at Leia before he hesitated.
"Um…the thing is, as a nurse at a free clinic, I…I had to watch, sometimes, the procedure be done. About…8 times. Not much, but…sometimes. As a nurse, I GET why people may need it, but…the thing is, it…repulses me. So…honestly, I…I don't think people should get abortions. At least…not like…in the third trimester." Zack confessed quietly. "The first time I assisted Dr. Morgan with any kind of surgery was because he thought that the patient had some kind of infection that we needed to cut out. But it turned out she was pregnant, and didn't know it. We should have checked for that…I…should have checked for that." He murmured as he hung his head, and clutched at his hair, biting his lip. "That was the first time I assisted on an abortion procedure, there was NO way to help the child after…I just…" He began to shake, taking in sharp, rasping breaths, before he finally shuddered, and stiffened. "…sometimes I look at a window or a mirror, and I see the faces of every patient that I failed, and let die. And that girl and….what I had to take OUT of her…was one of them. I just…can't support a procedure like that after…after having to do it that much. It just…seems wrong to me."
Nobody said a word. Omarosa thought about speaking up, she opened her mouth briefly, but then closed it. She wasn't sure how to phrase it. What Zack was describing was a deeply personal trauma he'd endured, and you couldn't really LOGIC your way through something like that. That was something she knew firsthand.
"…I've…I've had one before." Leia muttered. Zack looked up, gasping in surprise as Han slightly gripped his wife's shoulder. "We…we had to because…there were complications. We thought we were going to have a healthy child but...somehow, there was a complication, a freak accident. We don't know what we did wrong but…" Leia began to shake now as Han gently brought her into a hug. "…I don't want ANYONE to go through that. No matter who or what they are. But…it ought to be their choice. Because sometimes…you DON'T have a choice." She quietly said as she felt the hot, terrible tear sliding down her cheek, and Zack sighed softly.
"I understand. But…I still just can't agree with it. It just…FEELS wrong. Intellectually, I get what you're saying, but I can't help how I feel about it."
"…I understand too." Leia said. "…thank you for telling me this."
"Thank YOU for telling me what you did." Zack said as he reached out, and held Leia's hand. The two just sat there, across from one another, not saying anything. It was as if an entire lifetime passed in this moment. "…it means a lot to me that you're so open about something so personal."
"Telling us what you did was very personal too. In a sense, I was lucky, I was mostly unconscious for it. I can't imagine how it must feel for a doctor or an assisting nurse like you were to do the procedure." Leia added.
"I don't think we'll agree politically on a lot. But I don't trust anybody else with Nar Shadaa getting better. If I can give just one bit of advice, it's…" Zack hesistated, and then said it. "…to hell with it. Get MAD. Get righteously angry. Don't just let others frame questions if you think it's unfair." He suggested.
"You're right. I've had to hold back what I say a lot for diplomacy's sake." Leia admitted. "But I guess there's nothing wrong with a LITTLE bit of vitriol snuck into what I say every now and then…it lets people know I'm authentic. But, I gotta admit…" She cringed. "When I get authentic, I get sorta…corny."
"People like corny." Han insisted as the others all nodded. "Corny is good."
"Observation: People do, in fact, enjoy "corniness". It is somehow surprisingly endearing. Just lame enough to be cute but not so lame as to make folks dismiss what you've said." HK-47 remarked aloud.
"Next time you've got a candidate forum…I'll tear their fuckin' FACES off. Rhetorically." Leia promised.
"Okay. Here's to a whole new Leia, then." Han said with a nod as he took a soda of his own, and everyone held up their own respective drinks. "To a brand new Nar Shadaa! NOT under the domineering thumb of two psycho dominatrixes."
"AGREED!"
