Maia was digging through various drawers in the common area on the Falcon, "What are you doing?" Finn asked.
"Searching." She tossed a bunch of clothes on the floor and sifted through them, picking things up and then tossing them away.
"I don't think you should be going through their stuff." He started picking up what she was throwing around and folded them.
She tossed a shirt onto his face and laughed, "Don't worry Stormie, he doesn't fold his clothes anyway, he'll never notice."
"Why are you like this?" Finn muttered to himself, kneeling to access the drawers better.
"It's better than screaming all the time."
Finn stuffed the clothes back into the drawer, "Well, you aren't wrong, I guess." He leaned back on his heels, "How do you know Poe?"
"He rescued me from boredom, a long time ago."
"Cool cool, I rescued him from the First Order, no big deal."
"Yeah, people do that all the time." Maia agreed with him, no hint of sarcasm in her voice. He was a little taken back at her genuine tone, but then she grinned wickedly and laughed at him, "I've been trying to get that jacket off him for two years and you did it in two hours, I'm impressed."
Finn looked down at the jacket, "Thanks I-" He looked back up and saw she had the same big grin on her face, "No no, it wasn't like that. I thought he was dead so I took it to shield myself from the sun."
"Mhmm." She nodded, clearly still teasing him.
"Did Poe say something to you about me?" His palms felt a little sweaty as he asked.
"Oh, we had a long conversation about the handsome man who saved the Resistance's best pilot. He just wouldn't shut up about your eyes and just how good looking you are." She over exaggerated every word and he crossed his arms.
"I see what you're doing here. You like Poe."
Her face turned pink, "You like Poe!" She threw a pile of clothes at his chest.
Finn caught them, "Mhmm, yeah, no, you can't turn this around on me. You have a huge crush on Poe Dameron."
"Shut up." She hit his arm, "Don't tell him."
"Your secret is safe with me Maia."
"You aren't too bad Stormie." She admitted.
"It's Finn."
She scrunched her nose, "Nah, Stormie." Her hands finally found what she was looking for. She slid the worn black poncho on over her head. It was a little too small but it still covered her arms.
Han walked in and stopped short for the second time that day, "Where did you find that?"
Maia made eye contact with him, and she saw him, a young boy with black hair standing right where she was, wearing the same poncho. "Sorry." She pulled it off quickly.
"You'll probably need it, the surface of the planet is cold." Finn said, trying to cover up the large pile of clothes Maia had created.
"We're making our final approach, we'll be there in a few minutes." Han turned around, oblivious to the mess, and went back into the cockpit. Finn followed him.
Maia clutched the poncho in her hand, the fabric held the memory of the last time Han Solo had seen his son. The sadness in held threatened to overwhelm her, but she was shaken out of it by the Falcon dropping out of lightspeed and crashing towards the planet. She jerked forward and cursed at the boys in the cockpit in Frentian, her native language. Chewbacca roared at her, apparently, he could understand her.
The boys came out, "Put a jacket on, we need to get a move on." Han said.
"I don't need a jacket, the Force will keep me warm."
Han hit the button for the ramp, remembering his time on Hoth very clearly and knowing full well the force would not keep her warm. As the cold air hit them, Maia shrieked and ran around the corner. "We have to go now."
Maia peeked around the corner, "I can't."
Finn approached carefully, "You want a story to tell Poe, remember? The story is out there. In the cold." She nodded, grabbed the jacket Han held and followed them out into the snow.
Maia stayed quiet while they argued about how to get things done. The Force was moving and swirling around the base. The queen was down there and she was growing more powerful by the second. Finn started leading her around by the elbow through the base, her feet seemed to be taking her elsewhere.
"We could use your help kid." Han broke her out of her trance. He knew this would happen, she was too spacey for missions like this.
Maia looked at the shiny woman. She gently took her helmeted head into her own hands. "What are you doing?" The woman demanded.
"You remember them, your family. You were older when they took you, but they didn't take your brother. He had a limp, a broken leg that never healed right on your backwater planet. They still talk about you, they miss you." She could feel the woman's confusion, the deep buried pain caused by mentioning her family. Her guard was lowered enough to be suggestible, "Drop the shields, please."
The woman's hand was a little shaky as she pressed the buttons to lower the shields.
"Thank you." She kissed her domed forehead.
"You are the most terrifying woman I know." Finn said.
Phasma seemed to snap out of it. "You can't be so stupid as to think this will be easy. My troops will storm this block and kill you all. I will kill you myself." She indicated Maia.
"Well that's not very nice of you."
"How are we going to find Rey?"
Han looked at Maia, "I think I know how."
They let her lead them through the base. Han had his doubts about Maia, but she acted like she knew where she was going. She paused in the corridor, looking out a window, "There."
"Where?" Finn turned to Maia, "She can't be out there."
Maia put her finger on the glass, Rey was climbing up the side of the wall. "This way." She pulled him along.
The girl stopped as they ran into each other in the hall. She was just a bright as Maia had thought she would be and more so. She was frozen, basking in her light. Maia touched the girls' shoulder, hoping it wouldn't burn.
Rey jerked out of Finn's arms in surprise. She tried to back away as the strange woman enveloped her in a hug. Over the woman's shoulder Rey mouthed a question to Finn who is this?
"Just go with it." Finn said.
"Your Majesty." The woman bowed after she let Rey go. "I am Lady Mermaid, this is The Storm and you know Sirs Lonely and the Hairy One."
"Sir Lonely?" Han asked.
"Shut up Hairy One, I'm in charge of this rescue mission and we have an adventure to finish." She flashed the girl her best impression of Poe Dameron's roguish grin.
Rey looked at Finn in alarm. Finn shook his head, "It would take too long to explain."
"Let's go." Han pulled them forward. "Chewie and I will set the explosives, we will be less noticeable with just two of us."
Finn was relieved that Rey seemed just as baffled by this woman as he was. She followed them dutifully, doing whatever they asked her to do, mostly keeping watch as they dismantled important systems.
"Ben!" the voice cut through her very being. It was a name she had not heard spoken in over ten years. The doors opened, shining light on the two figures on the bridge.
"Your son is gone."
His voice. They were far away, but she could hear him like she was right next to her. He didn't know she was there, not yet. Terror gripped her, bringing her to knees. Finn knelt beside her, asking her if she was okay, but his voice was drowned out by the memories.
The burning temple, filling the air with acrid smoke.
The screams of children as they tried to run.
The blood on her hands as she tried to save little Hanlon.
And Ben Solo, standing over her with his lightsaber.
She heard a cry and it snapped her out of her memories. She felt another soul become one with the Force. "Han Solo." She whispered. She looked up and even though he was far away, she could see his eyes, his confusion and the split in his soul. The names were spilling form her lips, the names she had been saying since the temple had burned and Ben Solo robbed her of her life.