Chapter 3: You Are Ashamed of Us

It had been months since the Battle of Exogol. And still, Rey had not been seen. No sign or hide or hair of her.

Finn knew that wasn't right. That couldn't be right. Others were telling him to give up, that their Jedi was dead, but the instinct inside Finn told him that wasn't so. "Look, we got separated on the ruins at Kef Bir, and that's the last I saw of her!" he would recount. "But I know she's alive somewhere!"

Only Poe seemed to believe him, but after weeks upon weeks of searching, even his patience was wearing thin.

In a two-person X-wing, they ambled through deep space, dipping into the Unknown Regions. A crestfallen Finn had gone so far as to call out her name, in the hopes that the Force would amplify it and that she would hear. The ex-trooper knew just what Han Solo would say to that: That's not how the Force works!

"Rey! REY! Rey, where are you?!" Finn slumped in the gunner's seat. "Where could she have gone?"

"With our luck? Far away," Poe groused.

Craning his gaze over his friend's shoulder, Finn spotted a blue and green mass growing in the viewfinder. All at once, the Force spiked in him.

"She's there..." he breathed.

"Finn..."

"I'm telling you, she's there! Now fly low!"

Poe obeyed. The X-wing taxied down over churning waters, banking hard around an island in the middle of this planet nearly covered in ocean. Finding a decent landing platform at the base of the mountain, Poe made for it. As he did so, Finn spotted something on the mountain out of the corner of his eye.

"Is that... a TIE fighter?"

Behind him, Poe frowned, but maintained course. The reverse thrusters powered down as he came in for a landing, the hydraulics lifting the cockpit hatch for him and Finn to scramble out.

Finn immediately made for the stone steps to his left and took them three at a time. Poe followed with intrigue. The Force or whatever it was had always told his friend that Rey was alive, and now it seemed to be leading him to her like a beacon. Or a metal detector. Poe was baffled by it.

Finn got winded as they neared the top of the mountain, amusingly allowing Poe to catch up with him so that the two men emerged into the ring of stone huts at the same time.

All at once, the hum of a laser sword pierced the dapple and sunlit morning. Whirling around, Poe and Finn saw a figure all in black prowling towards them, his expression twisted in a fierce snarl.

"Leave this island - NOW!"

Now, Finn didn't recognize the assailant's face. But he did recognize his voice, and the lightsaber wielded at his side. Kylo Ren!

Finn bravely stepped forward, cocking his blaster. "Where's Rey? What have you done with her?! I know she's here!"

Just then, a sweet voice called out: "Finny? Is that you?"

A flap of Happebore animal skin rustled to reveal Rey waddling out of a stone hut just a yard or two from Finn. Clutching her stomach, she swayed a little on unsteady feet, breathing deeply in and out through an amazed, but beaming smile. She looked hugely pregnant. Out of the corner of his eye, Finn saw Kylo's body sway protectively towards Rey, but the Jedi soothed the creature with an easy smile. Almost adoring.

"Ben," she murmured. "Put down your saber. They won't hurt us."

He actually obeyed her. A tad belatedly, all the pieces clicked into place in Finn's brain.

"Oh no, Rey... don't tell me... How can you do this to me?!"

With a growl, Ben lunged for Finn, Rey's eyes becoming stricken as she tried to get her ballooning body between the two men.

"Stop!" she pleaded, tears in her eyes and in her voice. Out of her peripheral vision, she spotted Poe take deadly aim. She barely intercepted him in time, yanking his blaster arm back. The shot went high. Flinging out her hand with the Force, Rey threw Finn and Ben apart, keeping a barrier between them.

Still pinned by Rey, Poe's eyes darted between the two hideaways, a sharp glint in them. "What's this I find? You run away to shack up with him?" The pilot appeared livid.

Finn was upset for that and also an entirely different interpretation. "I felt you on Exogol, and then you were gone again! Only to find out you decide to bear his baby? Oh, false one, you have deceived me!"

Tears slipping down her cheeks, arms cradling her swollen belly, Rey reached for him. "Finny..."

"But we are short-tempered, impotent - we embarass you..." Finn ranted.

"No!" Rey whimpered, tears splashing down her front.

"You are ashamed of us..."

"No! Never!" Rey drifted towards her dear friend.

"You are ashamed..."

How could he think that? When she had already resolved to name the boy she carried after him. Whimpering, her lips pursed and tears glistening, Rey shook her head.

"You don't understand..."

Poe glanced between the pregnant Jedi and her... husband? Lover? Were they married? In a voice far too gentle for him, the pilot entreated, "Then help us to."