ladyofleithian (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ladyofleithian) wrote2020-08-24 10:14 pm
ladyofleithian) wrote2020-08-24 10:14 pm
Entry tags:
For hc_bingo
Title: Need Any Company?
Summary: Finn comes back for Rey.
Prompt: Cages
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Author’s Notes: Title based off a line from the KOTOR II cut content. More specifically, one of the Light Side endings.
Rey was just about ready to content herself living in exile on Tatooine when a ship touched down. Resistance. She knew the design, the colors, and she could feel...
Finn. Somehow, after she’d taken him for granted, he had come back for her. She knew full well that she didn’t deserve him. Not really. Not after she’d run straight into the darkness after Ben...
Ben. She knew that she had been drawn to him, started to pity him before growing to care for him. That had long faded, replaced with a sense of mourning the family she never got to know.
Finn disembarked, and he ran to her just then. Ran like everything had been building up to that moment. Rey almost wanted to hug him, but first...
“It’s you,” Rey managed to say.
“Yeah. It’s me.”
“Yeah.” Rey sighed. “I let you down, Finn. I really am sorry...”
“I will admit I was confused,” Finn said. “I needed time to think. But...there’s too much history. And I’m not letting you waste away on Tatooine. You deserve so much more than this.”
“It just seemed...normal.” Rey sighed as she spoke. “You want to talk inside?”
Finn nodded.
***
“So that kiss on Exegol...”
Rey laughed. She was surprised, if she was to be honest. “I was stupid, Finn! It was a gratitude kiss, that’s all...”
“That...” Finn paused. “Is that a dyad thing I don’t know about?”
“Well, different parts of the galaxy, a kiss doesn’t always mean romance. From what I read. I suppose I was happy that he made the right decision in the end. It doesn’t matter anyway; thanks to my grandfather meddling...Ben and I are good as cousins.”
Okay, admitting she kissed her cousin was embarrassing.
“Huh.” Finn said. “Did you — ”
“If I did, I assure you I would have just hugged him.”
“Right.” Then, “He...was kind of a murderer, though.”
“I know. I think he caused a lot of pain. But he went through some too. It’s not as simple as villain or victim. And on the island...it’s different on the island. I was alone...except for Luke. And him.” A beat. “And then I learned that Luke was willing to forgive Vader everything but when Ben was so much as having nightmares, he...drew his lightsaber on him.”
Rey could feel Finn, reluctantly, wincing. “Oh, yikes.”
“I know. It doesn’t excuse what he did but if Luke had shown him kindness, stuck to who he was as Luke Skywalker...who knows where we’d be now?”
Silence.
Then Rey spoke. “And I came out here because...well, it seemed natural. Plus, what if it’s what I deserve, Finn?”
“That’s not true.”
“I was so used to thinking that I didn’t deserve better,” Rey said. She could still remember, Plutt dealing out portions that were laughably miniscule. In a way, it had prepared her, groomed her for dealing with more men who thought she was a dumping ground for their troubles. Not on Jakku, but with Luke, with Ben. And then alternatively, she latched on to strangers. Latched on to anyone who gave her even a morsel of affection.
And her parents...they hadn’t foreseen that. Probably. Her mother had been from Jakku, probably saw it as the best place she had. Her father had fled to Jakku from his abusive maker — taken shelter there, seen it as something like a second home.
“Do you remember your parents?” Finn said.
Rey nodded. “My father wasn’t a perfect man,” she said. “But he was almost unfailingly kind, especially after where he came from. He was the opposite of my grandfather. He helped people without expecting a ‘thank you’, and he...” A faint smile. “He called me ‘little heroine’. He wasn’t perfect; I think he was recovering from what my grandfather did to him. But he loved me and my mother.” A beat. “He loved everyone, almost like a Jedi would. He had every opportunity to become a monster, and he refused. My mother was also strong. Deeply compassionate. She saw what my grandfather had done to my father...and she loved him all the same.”
“Of course she would,” Finn said. “That’s what love is.”
“Like with you and Rose? You and Jannah?”
“Rose and Jannah are together, Rey.”
“Oh.”
“I’m talking about you and me. You saw what happened to me and you loved me all the same. I want to return the favor, Rey.”
There were so many things she didn’t deserve.
Rey hugged him just then. “I wasted so much time,” she said.
“Yeah. But...we can fix that.”
***
Leaving the cage she was used to wasn’t easy. But Rey cast a look, one last look, at the old Lars homestead. BB-8 wheeled cheerfully behind them, happy to leave Tatooine behind.
“So, where are we going?” Rey said. “I mean, first time it was us together, we were running for our lives."
“And there was a map...”
Rey smiled fondly at him. She didn’t know how Ri’ia had blessed her, but she knew she would never make Finn doubt her love for him again. “Come on, Finn,” she said. “Let’s go home.”
Summary: Finn comes back for Rey.
Prompt: Cages
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Author’s Notes: Title based off a line from the KOTOR II cut content. More specifically, one of the Light Side endings.
Rey was just about ready to content herself living in exile on Tatooine when a ship touched down. Resistance. She knew the design, the colors, and she could feel...
Finn. Somehow, after she’d taken him for granted, he had come back for her. She knew full well that she didn’t deserve him. Not really. Not after she’d run straight into the darkness after Ben...
Ben. She knew that she had been drawn to him, started to pity him before growing to care for him. That had long faded, replaced with a sense of mourning the family she never got to know.
Finn disembarked, and he ran to her just then. Ran like everything had been building up to that moment. Rey almost wanted to hug him, but first...
“It’s you,” Rey managed to say.
“Yeah. It’s me.”
“Yeah.” Rey sighed. “I let you down, Finn. I really am sorry...”
“I will admit I was confused,” Finn said. “I needed time to think. But...there’s too much history. And I’m not letting you waste away on Tatooine. You deserve so much more than this.”
“It just seemed...normal.” Rey sighed as she spoke. “You want to talk inside?”
Finn nodded.
***
“So that kiss on Exegol...”
Rey laughed. She was surprised, if she was to be honest. “I was stupid, Finn! It was a gratitude kiss, that’s all...”
“That...” Finn paused. “Is that a dyad thing I don’t know about?”
“Well, different parts of the galaxy, a kiss doesn’t always mean romance. From what I read. I suppose I was happy that he made the right decision in the end. It doesn’t matter anyway; thanks to my grandfather meddling...Ben and I are good as cousins.”
Okay, admitting she kissed her cousin was embarrassing.
“Huh.” Finn said. “Did you — ”
“If I did, I assure you I would have just hugged him.”
“Right.” Then, “He...was kind of a murderer, though.”
“I know. I think he caused a lot of pain. But he went through some too. It’s not as simple as villain or victim. And on the island...it’s different on the island. I was alone...except for Luke. And him.” A beat. “And then I learned that Luke was willing to forgive Vader everything but when Ben was so much as having nightmares, he...drew his lightsaber on him.”
Rey could feel Finn, reluctantly, wincing. “Oh, yikes.”
“I know. It doesn’t excuse what he did but if Luke had shown him kindness, stuck to who he was as Luke Skywalker...who knows where we’d be now?”
Silence.
Then Rey spoke. “And I came out here because...well, it seemed natural. Plus, what if it’s what I deserve, Finn?”
“That’s not true.”
“I was so used to thinking that I didn’t deserve better,” Rey said. She could still remember, Plutt dealing out portions that were laughably miniscule. In a way, it had prepared her, groomed her for dealing with more men who thought she was a dumping ground for their troubles. Not on Jakku, but with Luke, with Ben. And then alternatively, she latched on to strangers. Latched on to anyone who gave her even a morsel of affection.
And her parents...they hadn’t foreseen that. Probably. Her mother had been from Jakku, probably saw it as the best place she had. Her father had fled to Jakku from his abusive maker — taken shelter there, seen it as something like a second home.
“Do you remember your parents?” Finn said.
Rey nodded. “My father wasn’t a perfect man,” she said. “But he was almost unfailingly kind, especially after where he came from. He was the opposite of my grandfather. He helped people without expecting a ‘thank you’, and he...” A faint smile. “He called me ‘little heroine’. He wasn’t perfect; I think he was recovering from what my grandfather did to him. But he loved me and my mother.” A beat. “He loved everyone, almost like a Jedi would. He had every opportunity to become a monster, and he refused. My mother was also strong. Deeply compassionate. She saw what my grandfather had done to my father...and she loved him all the same.”
“Of course she would,” Finn said. “That’s what love is.”
“Like with you and Rose? You and Jannah?”
“Rose and Jannah are together, Rey.”
“Oh.”
“I’m talking about you and me. You saw what happened to me and you loved me all the same. I want to return the favor, Rey.”
There were so many things she didn’t deserve.
Rey hugged him just then. “I wasted so much time,” she said.
“Yeah. But...we can fix that.”
***
Leaving the cage she was used to wasn’t easy. But Rey cast a look, one last look, at the old Lars homestead. BB-8 wheeled cheerfully behind them, happy to leave Tatooine behind.
“So, where are we going?” Rey said. “I mean, first time it was us together, we were running for our lives."
“And there was a map...”
Rey smiled fondly at him. She didn’t know how Ri’ia had blessed her, but she knew she would never make Finn doubt her love for him again. “Come on, Finn,” she said. “Let’s go home.”