A Reylo Ever After Story

Goodbye

Rey's POV

I walked next to Finn and was sad about him leaving so soon. I knew the moment was coming, but saying goodbye was definitely going to be one of the hardest things I would do. I had no idea when I was going to see him again. The three of us had a silent understanding that we would see Finn off and back to the ship safely. We walked across the sand, with Finn to my left and Ben walking slightly behind me to the right. We walked quietly, with the wind howling and sand blowing all around. I stared at the ground, watching my steps in the sand, and I quickly found myself getting lost in my thoughts.

When would I see Finn again? How would his life with Poe be? Where would they settle down? What about Chewie and Lando? What would happen with the rest of the crew? Where would they go? What would living with Ben be like? Where would things with us go? What does he think about this situation? And what does he really think about living with the droids? Would Finn tell others about us? Could Ben and I ever be seen out together? What would people think? How would people react?

Questions swirled around my head with no sign of stopping. Meanwhile, unknown to me, Finn had slowed down to walk with in tandem with Ben.

Ben's POV

I walked slightly behind Rey and Finn. I wanted to give Finn and Rey some time to talk privately, so I felt it best if I just lagged behind them. But to my surprise, I never heard any of the two speaking; we were all moving in total silence. I continued on forward, and after several minutes of quiet walking, I noticed Finn slowing his pace until he was beside me. Rey didn't seem to notice, which confused me even more. I looked at Finn, quizzically. He understood my confusion and spoke just so I could hear. "I wanted to talk to you privately, before I leave for good," Finn looked serious when he spoke. I nodded and said "Okay, sure. What about exactly?" He hadn't indicated that he wanted to say anything earlier, so I really had no idea what he was talking about.

"Look, this is one of the first times that I'm leaving Rey without knowing when I'm going to see her again. And she's not with anyone that I know like really well..." he trailed off. It was clear that Finn was just worried about Rey and the uncertainty of me and my past made him nervous, but he was having trouble phrasing this without being offensive. I see why Rey considered him such a good person. "I mean, I totally trust you- that I'm not worried about. What I'm trying to say, uh-" It was kind of funny to see him stumble on his words more and more and I grinned as he lost his typical calm, steady, composure.

Finn carefully though over and considered his next words. Then he looked directly at me and spoke "Look, you and I both know Rey can take care of herself perfectly well, but you need to protect her at all costs." It felt as though Finn was staring directly into my soul as he said these words to me. And I knew exactly what he meant. Rey does take care of herself, she's amazing that way, but I felt a sense of duty to make sure that nothing and no one would ever hurt her again. That was what Finn would do, and he would no longer be here in that way for her, so the duty fell upon me. But I somehow knew this before Finn even mentioned it to me. I replied to him, "Of course. Always, I swear it to you." I really wanted Finn to trust me and be able to have peace of mind that his best friend would be okay living in a new environment and with me.

Finn nodded at me in approval and said "Good. I know you will, but still – I worry about her. And I guess you by extension now." He laughed when he said the last part and it was clear that his seriousness had subsided. We continued talking and sharing laughs, when finally Rey noticed that we were behind her as opposed to next to her.

Rey's POV

I was snapped out of my thoughts when I heard a loud laugh from Finn. I had heard mumbles for a while now, but I continually ignored it. But hearing Finn's loud, hearty laugh was impossible to ignore. I looked to my left and didn't see Finn, then I turned to the right to look for Ben and he wasn't there either. Before panic set in, I turned around and saw the two boys laughing and smiling together. I smiled and tried to keep this image in my mind. Before the war these two were enemies, and now here they were sharing a great moment together. Life has a weird way of working out.