I- Agh- Let me know when you get this! I don't know if you're sleeping-
Kylo came back about a day ago. He was saying things about the end of the war, that you were okay- Just let me know when you get this! I can be at your place fast.
I'm... [ she hesitates, not even sure how to answer that. ] It might be better just to talk in person. I'll be there in a few.
[ Sure enough about five minutes later she shows up on his doorstep, dressed in winter jacket and leggings, looking back to normal in the sense that she's back in her Lunatian clothes, but definitely been through some stuff. First thing she does when he opens the door is hug him. ]
[ Well... he'll take it. And though he finally wants to let go to get a good look at her, he decides that this is for Rey. Finn will pull away when she does. ]
He said we won the war...
[ And that Rey was alive. As expected, Ben knew nothing about everyone else... ]
[ Dread began to pool in the bottom of his stomach, but he clenched his teeth, nodded, and motioned towards the door.
His place wasn't entirely noteworthy. Spartan, mostly, like he hadn't settled yet. And he hadn't. He missed his house by the river... But this would someday feel like a home, too. For now, there were couches looking out a large window, and that's where he walked to after shutting the door. ]
I, uh- [ He was clawing to ask about Chewbacca, Poe, Rose, Leia, all of them. But he shut his mouth again, standing awkwardly in the middle of his small living room. ] Sorry. Forget it. Do you want something to drink? Are you all right talking about this?
[ Rey can feel that tension in the air, the anxiety to ask questions unanswered hanging between them. She moves to sit on one of the couches, frowning lightly as she shakes her head to his first question. ]
I don't know if I'm fine, but I've kept you in the dark longer than I meant to. So.. even if you could go back tomorrow and learn all of this first-hand, I'm telling you now.
[ Kept him in the dark... Finn swallows down his anxieties and guilt about doing the same thing before sitting down beside her. ]
He said that you lived. [ His voice is quiet, measured after a beat of silence. ] And that he-... I'm sorry.
[ Finn doesn't like Kylo or Ben or whoever he says he is. He still doesn't understand how or why Rey's with him. But none of that matters, really. Rey cares for him, and he's dead. ]
[ She can't help the wince as he mentions her living, that guilt over what happened stirring to the surface, even after she'd talked it over with Ben. ]
He shouldn't have died. It was me. I died. He gave his life to bring me back.
[ This isn't where she wanted to start but, well. She had said she'd tell everyone what Ben had done. ]
[ That-... Somehow, that still shocks him, after everything. He's even silent for a second, processing those implications. And the abilities...
But once he does, Finn shakes his head. ]
Then that was his choice.
[ He wants to say that he's glad in a morbid way. Ben gave everything to save her. That was worth something. But he can't say that. He doesn't know how without being a jerk about it. ]
[ Rey sighs, running her hands over her face then rubbing the back of her neck, not at all appeased by that reasoning. ]
He shouldn't have. I'm not... I served my purpose. I ended things once and for all. He lost his entire family, he shouldn't have had to give up his life for... for a Palpatine.
[ It makes her sick to say it, but she'd kept it from Finn when she'd found out the truth. She couldn't keep it from him now. ]
[ He reaches out for her hand, shaking his head. ]
Rey, I can't imagine what you're feeling, but you can't-
[ And his hand barely touches hers when he freezes, eyebrows bunching, confused. ]
A-... What?
[ The small admission of Leia's death doesn't even register. (He lost his family long ago, right?) It certainly doesn't stay in his mind as he tries to understand this new piece of information. ]
[ She repeats the name like it's a bitter taste in her mouth, her shoulders hunched as she crosses her arms over her stomach, as if she can make herself small enough that the truth won't be what she's so recently come to learn it is. ]
I'm Emperor Palpatine's granddaughter. My parents hid me when I was a child, because Palpatine didn't die on the second Death Star. He survived, and has been manipulating the First Order from the beginning.
At least twenty full seconds pass of Finn staring at her with wide eyes. It's less about the relationship thing and more about... the rest of it, but the grandfather stuff is definitely part of it. ]
[ Weirdly enough it actually helps that Palpatine being alive is the thing that's freaking him out the most at the moment. She lets out a short laugh, shrugging her shoulders. ]
I don't know. I didn't ask while he was trying to kill everyone I love.
[ Finn winces and tries to think before he speaks again. ]
I'm sorry, ah-...
[ Excuse him. This is a lot. He leans back in the couch, running a hand through his hair. And Palpatine's her blood. It makes no sense... at first. But it's slowly making more sense the more he thinks about it. Not exactly something he would have guessed at, though.
But that just brings him to another question. Finn's brow furrows. ]
Your parents... Are they-? [ They must be gone but if they aren't- ]
[ Rey shakes her head, resigned. She'd known all along, her parents were never coming back. ]
They're dead. Palpatine wanted me, because he knew I was strong in the Force. He had them killed when they wouldn't give me up.
[ It doesn't change the years of hardship she'd suffered under Unkar Plutt, but it's a small consolation, to know that her parents did love her. As misguided as they had been. ]
[ Well-... Finn leaned forward again, pressing the heel of his palms to his eyes. What a situation.
He wanted to give some sort of words of comfort, something about how good it is that she knows now, but is it better to know when it's something like this? Finn thinks so, but Rey may not agree. ]
I'm sorry... I'm sorry. This is such a mess. [ He moves his hands away and sighs. ] He's gone now? For real this time?
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voice message left at like 3am the day she comes back from canon update
I'm back from... our universe, I suppose. A lot has happened. Let me know when you can talk.
slinging a reply back at 5am
I- Agh- Let me know when you get this! I don't know if you're sleeping-
Kylo came back about a day ago. He was saying things about the end of the war, that you were okay- Just let me know when you get this! I can be at your place fast.
reply at 8am when most normal people are awake
I can come over to your place? Ben is here and... I think he's living here now so I don't want to ask him to leave.
well he's not most normal people, rey! huff!
Well, okay, it matters a little. If he can just focus on Rey right now, that'd be fantastic. ]
My place is fine. Whichever. Are you all right?
nah she isn't either 8am is sleeping in for her but it was a late night
[ Sure enough about five minutes later she shows up on his doorstep, dressed in winter jacket and leggings, looking back to normal in the sense that she's back in her Lunatian clothes, but definitely been through some stuff. First thing she does when he opens the door is hug him. ]
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Though Finn wants to let go and examine her, he can't bring himself to get out of the hug yet. ]
Are you all right?
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Yes and no. It's been a long year.
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He said we won the war...
[ And that Rey was alive. As expected, Ben knew nothing about everyone else... ]
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We did. Thanks to him. We should go inside, I think at least some of this you'll want to be seated for.
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His place wasn't entirely noteworthy. Spartan, mostly, like he hadn't settled yet. And he hadn't. He missed his house by the river... But this would someday feel like a home, too. For now, there were couches looking out a large window, and that's where he walked to after shutting the door. ]
I, uh- [ He was clawing to ask about Chewbacca, Poe, Rose, Leia, all of them. But he shut his mouth again, standing awkwardly in the middle of his small living room. ] Sorry. Forget it. Do you want something to drink? Are you all right talking about this?
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I don't know if I'm fine, but I've kept you in the dark longer than I meant to. So.. even if you could go back tomorrow and learn all of this first-hand, I'm telling you now.
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He said that you lived. [ His voice is quiet, measured after a beat of silence. ] And that he-... I'm sorry.
[ Finn doesn't like Kylo or Ben or whoever he says he is. He still doesn't understand how or why Rey's with him. But none of that matters, really. Rey cares for him, and he's dead. ]
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He shouldn't have died. It was me. I died. He gave his life to bring me back.
[ This isn't where she wanted to start but, well. She had said she'd tell everyone what Ben had done. ]
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But once he does, Finn shakes his head. ]
Then that was his choice.
[ He wants to say that he's glad in a morbid way. Ben gave everything to save her. That was worth something. But he can't say that. He doesn't know how without being a jerk about it. ]
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[ Rey sighs, running her hands over her face then rubbing the back of her neck, not at all appeased by that reasoning. ]
He shouldn't have. I'm not... I served my purpose. I ended things once and for all. He lost his entire family, he shouldn't have had to give up his life for... for a Palpatine.
[ It makes her sick to say it, but she'd kept it from Finn when she'd found out the truth. She couldn't keep it from him now. ]
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Rey, I can't imagine what you're feeling, but you can't-
[ And his hand barely touches hers when he freezes, eyebrows bunching, confused. ]
A-... What?
[ The small admission of Leia's death doesn't even register. (He lost his family long ago, right?) It certainly doesn't stay in his mind as he tries to understand this new piece of information. ]
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[ She repeats the name like it's a bitter taste in her mouth, her shoulders hunched as she crosses her arms over her stomach, as if she can make herself small enough that the truth won't be what she's so recently come to learn it is. ]
I'm Emperor Palpatine's granddaughter. My parents hid me when I was a child, because Palpatine didn't die on the second Death Star. He survived, and has been manipulating the First Order from the beginning.
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At least twenty full seconds pass of Finn staring at her with wide eyes. It's less about the relationship thing and more about... the rest of it, but the grandfather stuff is definitely part of it. ]
He... survived... That's not-...
Ha-... How?
[ Sorry, Rey. He's trying. ]
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I don't know. I didn't ask while he was trying to kill everyone I love.
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I'm sorry, ah-...
[ Excuse him. This is a lot. He leans back in the couch, running a hand through his hair. And Palpatine's her blood. It makes no sense... at first. But it's slowly making more sense the more he thinks about it. Not exactly something he would have guessed at, though.
But that just brings him to another question. Finn's brow furrows. ]
Your parents... Are they-? [ They must be gone but if they aren't- ]
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They're dead. Palpatine wanted me, because he knew I was strong in the Force. He had them killed when they wouldn't give me up.
[ It doesn't change the years of hardship she'd suffered under Unkar Plutt, but it's a small consolation, to know that her parents did love her. As misguided as they had been. ]
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He wanted to give some sort of words of comfort, something about how good it is that she knows now, but is it better to know when it's something like this? Finn thinks so, but Rey may not agree. ]
I'm sorry... I'm sorry. This is such a mess. [ He moves his hands away and sighs. ] He's gone now? For real this time?
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I destroyed his body. The only way he could have survived is if he preserved himself in the Force somehow.
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And you-... How long has it been since you found out? About the... blood relation thing.
[ He really hesitates to use the word 'family.' ]
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;threads from TDM