AN: Thanks, I hate it.
Dice
"So please please please,
let me, let me, let me
let me get what I want
this time."
The Smiths
After the dust settles, after arrests are made and some semblance of a government is set up, the Falcon ends up in Rey's possession. She doesn't ask for it, but with everyone it's tied to, the aging ship is given to her. Ignoring the ache where her soul has been cleaved in two, she spends her days the only way she knows how. Fixing the Falcon. In the space, somehow, she feels closer to Ben. Knowing that he spent what was most likely his only happy years here, restoring the ship is a small thing she can do to honor him.
She loses track of time, and Poe, Finn, and Rose allow her space. The Last Jedi is not useful at this moment, and they want her to heal. She can't find the words to tell them that it is not possible, at least, not during their lifetimes. Half of her entire being is gone - lost forever. There is no coming back. Some days she finds herself wishing for the sanctuary of the Jakku desert, living a life before she knew who she was. Before Ben. Before the First Order. Back when she actually believed someone was coming back for her.
It is Chewie, in his quiet understanding, who keeps her company over the long and quiet hours in the nearly abandoned hangar. Sometimes he ventures off to track down parts for the ship, or to visit his family - Rey doesn't ask - but little by little they return the Falcon to its original glory.
Chewie asks if she wants Lando to see the ship. She declines. He's busy reuniting with his long lost daughter, and she doesn't want to stand in the way of anyone's happiness.
They are close to finishing, but there is one interior light she can't seem to get to work. No matter what amount of wiring and rewiring she tries, the small lamp simply won't turn on. She hears rattling in the compartment, and one day, out of complete frustration, kicks the board where the noise is coming from.
She accomplishes nothing but a bit of pain.
Then, the board pops off and out spills something shiny, clattering on the ground.
She looks down and retrieves the small item.
It's a pair of dice.
She slides to the ground and leans back against a panel.
There is no doubt these belonged to Han.
There is no doubt that Leia, in her wisdom, somehow managed to find and put them back into the Falcon, where they belonged.
Had Leia hoped Ben would be the one to find them?
Had she imagined her redeemed son coming home to the Falcon?
Chewie finds her in the fetal position on the floor, and making gentle noises, simply strokes her head, allowing her to grieve for the Skywalkers and all that might have been.