"Finn! Rose!" Rey exclaimed, jogging to greet her friends. She embraced them both, hugging tightly and they each returned the affection.
"Rey! It feels like it's been so long." Rose said, grinning. Rey took a step back and admired the newlyweds.
"You both look so happy. I assume it was a great getaway?" Rey asked. Her smile was beginning to hurt her cheeks, and it hadn't hit her until then that she deeply missed the company of them.
"It was amazing. The view was just unbelievable!" Finn said, placing a couple of their bags down. The crowd around them was starting to drift away, everyone on the base coming to say hello to the two people that many called heroes. It brought Rey such joy to see the impact the two had on everyone.
"Have we missed much?" Rose asked as she looked around the base, and her eyes stopped at a tall man glaring at them from across the courtyard. Rey turned to glimpse at what caused Rose to freeze, and Finn's gaze followed.
Rey rolled her eyes. "That's Sano, one of the new members here. He isn't taking a liking to being here, to say the least..." Rey glanced to the ground as she turned around back to her friends.
"What happened?" Rose asked, taking another quick peek to Sano, but he was gone.
"More like what hasn't happened... It's a story for another day. Just stay away from him, if you can, for now at least." Rey said, noticing that Finn was still looking around for him. For a moment, Rey felt quite bad, knowing all too well that his fighting instincts kicked in very quickly. She knew that all Finn wanted was peace, even if it meant leaving the resistance. Rey hated to be the one to bring the pair back to reality.
Sighing, Rey spotted Flora and Kai coming back from the training base and called them over.
"And who are they?" Finn asked, his hands in his back pockets as he timidly watched his new wife eagerly greet the girls.
"Hi! I'm Rose." She said, sticking her hand out when the twins approached them.
Flora and Kai shared a glance, and they both smiled at the girl, happy with her excitement.
"I'm Flora! This is my sister, Kai." Kai nodded towards them both, smiling politely. Finn did the same. Turning to Rey, Flora looked at her curiously. "We waited with Poe in the cafeteria. Where were you? He said you sounded odd."
Right then, all four of them turned to Rey, studying her and waiting for a response. Clearing her throat, she built her block up and made sure to look at them blankly, just as Kylo did. "I wasn't feeling too well. All better now." She said, her voice stern and even. Rose and Finn easily bought it, Flora and Kai however, second guessed it.
"Really?" Kai said, her tone dripping with sarcasm.
Eyeing them carefully, she pushed gently into their mind. 'Yes, now drop it.'
Flora and Kai looked to one another again, eyes wide, then turning back to Rey they both grinned, the first time that Rey had ever seen Kai do so, obviously impressed.
Rey returned their smile, and they all walked to the meeting hall where Leia had invited them.
Staying back for a moment, Finn joined Rey so they could talk one on one as Rose, Flora, and Kai walked on, laughing at whatever story Rose told them.
Finn turned around, making sure the area was clear. "So, what's happening? What's the plan? Oh, no do not look at me like that. You rebels all have the same look in your eye when you're planning something, especially you." He said.
Rey couldn't help but smile, knowing she was found out from the moment she spotted Sano. She didn't mean to pry, but she purposely focused her reaction so that Finn could see it, gently poking at his mind so he would catch on.
'And he did.' She thought.
Glancing down, tension crawled up her spine, and her smile washed away, causing Finn to step closer.
"Finn, there's something I have to get from Sano. He does not have good intentions here, and I have tried to give him a chance, but he refuses to take it. He has something I need, and I need to get it before he realizes what it is." She explained, her eyes meeting his. He noticed how serious her tone was, and how quickly her expression changed. Finn knew without a doubt how serious this was.
"Okay, what is it you need?" he asked.
For a moment, Rey weighed the option of telling him, unsure if it would be the best decision to do so. If she did, there's the chance that Sano could find out somehow... If she didn't, at least someone else out there knew about the crystal...Thankfully, Finn made the choice for her.
"Fine, I don't need to know. Maybe it's best I don't know. With that said, what's the plan?" Finn asked, fully game for whatever was about to go down.
Rey smiled at her friend, her partner.
.....
Later on that day, Rey was able to track down the bunker Sano stayed in, all thanks to Finn fishing it out of a very stubborn Resistance member who handled organizing rooms and ship docking. He was also able to confirm that Sano had no ship, and only traveled in with one small bag.
"Alright, C3-PO said he's in the docking area, apparently asking around about the nearest cities. He must be doing some planning of his own. Now or never." Finn said, sweat beading his forehead. Rey quickly nodded, trying to calm her nerves as she paced her room.
"Go, BB-8 is waiting near the east exit of the hall. As soon as I'm done, I'll have R2 send a signal to BB-8 to let you know it's clear and you can leave. Remember Finn, he is not a good guy. He didn't travel with much, so I should be in and out."
With a quick nod, Rey and Finn departed, Finn running down the long main hall to find the exit he was told to go to, and Rey taking off towards the bunkers.
Slowing down when some members stopped to watch her, she smiled to them, and once their backs turned to her again, she began to run once more.
Turning the corner, she spotted R2-D2 , who rocked from side to side when he spotted her. She smiled to the droid as she tried to gain her breath, her throat hurting and head pounding as the anticipation rose.
R2 beeped loudly, and Rey quickly shushed him as few members whipped around to their direction. Rey pretended to clean a few smudges around R2, who greatly appreciated it, oblivious to the task at hand. Once the hall was clear, she sent R2 a knowing nodding, who hummed a response back to her.
Rey crept her way inside to the empty room, passing by a few bare beds that belonged to no one, and came across the only bed that was not made, the blanket thrown carelessly to the floor.
'This one is his, no doubt about it.' Rey thought, and with a quick glance behind her, she saw no one in the room. Bending down, she began rummaging through the bedside dresser, throwing around a few items of clothes, a random droid repair kit, a map, and packages of stolen portions.
Slamming her palm against the dresser, Rey cursed. It wasn't here.
Sighing as she felt the anger and disappointment rise, she shut her eyes tight, tapping into the force with such haste and rage that nearly made her lose control. Remembering the first time she saw it, she could see the crystal on his ring back in the cafeteria, and thinking about it, her stomach tightened as it hummed to her again. This time, the urgency made her anxious, almost sick with the need for it.
In that moment, Rey was scared with the truth. She would have done anything to get it.
'No! This is the dark side...Do not think like this...' Rey yelled at her own mind, and again, tried to connect with the force, this time more gently, pushing that dark, hefty desire away.
She could sense it was not here in the room.
Cursing again, her eyes slowly opened, defeat filling her insides, weighing on her mind.
When she looked down to the dresser to put Sano's belongings back so that he would not suspect anything, her gaze landed on something Rey had cast aside.
It was the map...
With her heart stopping, her eyes went wide, and without hesitating she stuffed the map beneath the wraps around her ribs.
Quickly placing everything else back inside the drawer, she left the room, running right past R2 as she called back to him to alert BB-8. R2 eagerly whistled out his alert as Rey ran to meet Finn, who was distracting Sano at the ship docking bay.
As she ran, Rey couldn't help but smile as she felt the light scrape of thick paper tickling her ribs, the paper that mapped out a journey to Cinnon'Ra, home of the Knights of Ren.
...
:D I actually really liked writing this chapter. Hope you all enjoyed! Feel free to leave some love!