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Rey wakes to the warm near-afternoon sun on her cheeks and muffled voices echoing from downstairs. For a moment, she is still, eyes rolling slowly up and around until she's sure that this is real, that she's here, that she's alive. She takes three deep, heavy breaths, just like Luke taught her, until her heart rate slows. One. Two. Three–
She feels a stirring beside her and turns her head to see Finn blinking slowly at her. He huffs out a breath before waking fully, taking in her tense form and wide eyes.
"You OK?" He asks quietly, voice deep and sleep-rough. She nods against her pillow.
"You?"
The sound of something clattering comes from downstairs, followed by a squeal. Finn smiles sleepily.
"I'm fine."
They take a while to simply lay and breathe in each other's company, trying to break through their post-dream haze.
This morning, it seems, will be one for the better.
Eventually, Rey begins to rise slowly, as always, running a hand through her hair–kept shorter now, less of it for grubby little fingers to pull and prod at–and pushes herself up. Finn struggles to get going as well, sitting on the edge of the bed and silently willing himself to give the day a chance.
He grabs his shower first, because he always takes the longest, scrubbing every inch of skin with perfect precision. Rey simply steps in, rubs a little bit of fruity-smelling soap over her body and into her scalp, washes it out with ice-cold water, and steps out, done in minutes.
Finn takes a razor and meticulously works at his hair and around his mouth, making sure everything is perfectly even and aligned. Rey starts to run a comb through her hair and then quickly abandons it, settling instead for a small bun. She still grabs a handful of the product they use on the kids and fixes her fly-aways, for posterity. Finn pulls a set of neatly folded and ironed clothes from his drawer and dresses, making sure to smooth every crease and wrinkle as he goes. Rey simply plucks a shirt and a pair of trousers from the clothes hamper, sniffs them, and decides they're decent enough to throw on.
It's fascinating, Finn and Rey think, how they can be both so similar and yet so distinctly different.
They make their way down the steps, preparing to tackle the first challenge of the day. Rey is content–happy, even–but still her heart, her whole being, feels oddly heavy, weighted down like that of a woman far beyond her years.
When he reaches the first floor, Finn finds himself immediately tackled by their youngest girl, four-year-old Constance. Her thick coils of hair bounce and her face splits into a blinding smile as she wraps herself around her father's leg. Finn grins, bending down to pick her up.
"Good morning, princess," he murmurs, kissing the top of her head.
"You woke up too late," she says matter-of-factly, and her eyes hold a question he knows she won't ask. It's one of those things she and her siblings have come to accept without explanation, like how Mama's hands shake when she pours her caf in the morning, or how Daddy's eyes sometimes stare off far, far away and he goes silent and stock-still.
Finn blows a raspberry into her cheek to lighten the mood before setting her back down. He turns around to see Rey handing slices of freshly-cut jogan fruit and glasses of blue milk to their other daughters--ten-year-old Thalia and seven-year-old Oyuna. Han, just barely a year and a half, wriggles in his high chair where Rey has set him, slapping his hands down against the plastic and babbling.
The house is quickly becoming wildly noisy, filled with the sounds of smacking lips and excited chatter and the increasingly loud jumbles of consonants from Han, still fighting for his share of attention. Finn takes a slow, easy breath and tries to stay calm, pushing away the clawing visions of screaming villagers and blaring sirens in his head. It's over now, he thinks, closing his eyes tightly. Breathe. You're safe now. You're safe–
"By the way, Poe and Kameis invited us to stay over for a few days," Rey says, interrupting his near-breakdown as she ushers the girls to sit at the table. "They just finished getting their place fixed up. Poe says there's plenty of room for the kids to enjoy themselves while we catch up."
Finn smiles, remembering the two cheerful boys Poe and Kameis had adopted just three years ago. They were slightly older than he and Rey's children, but they got along wonderfully.
"You wanna go?"
Rey shrugs. "It'd be a nice little escape. Luke's taking my place at the Temple for the rest of the weekend, anyways."
Finn chuckles as he cuts up more jogan into impossible-to-choke-on pieces for Han. "Luke's gonna teach saber lessons? With those old bones?"
"No, thank the Gods. He said he's just going to show them how to clean them. That, and something about balance. What ever it was, he sounded happy."
Finn places the chopped fruit onto Han's tray. He gurgles angrily at his father, who sticks his tongue out in return, earning a squeaky giggle.
Once everyone's seated and eating, Finn turns to Rey. "I think we should go."
Rey nods at him and quickly reaches across the table to stop Thalia from flicking a piece of jogan at Constance. She sighs and scrubs a hand across her face, already dreading the thought of having to get four overly-excitable children dressed and out of the house.
By the time they've all piled into the speeder and reached Poe and Kameis' settlement, Corellia's sun has begun to set. Poe is waiting for them as they pull into the shed, beside a flashy landspeeder and Poe's X-Wing and what must be one of Kameis' old fixed-up ships.
"Guys!" He half-shouts, half-laughs, holding his arms out. The kids–all but Han, who is dozing happily in Finn's arms–barrel towards him, nearly knocking him over. He's older now, his hair a dark silvery color and his face creased with hard-set lines, but he still retains the strength of his youth, and he wraps his arms tightly and sturdily around his "nieces".
Kameis steps out into the driveway, his long, equally gray hair tied into a shimmery stream down his neck and his wrinkled face splitting with a smile.
Rey hurries towards him, wrapping her arms around his slender waist and laughing into his neck.
"Hey, you," he says, pulling back from the embrace to look her in the eye. "Where's Finn?"
"Stealing your husband," she teases, pointing to where Finn is chatting excitedly with Poe, still carefully holding on to Han.
"That the little guy?" Kameis asks, gesturing.
"Yep. Been asleep since we left the house. Be prepared for when he inevitably wakes up and subjects us to his fussy wrath."
Kameis laughs mirthfully, looking younger than she's ever seen him.
"I don't know how you two do it. My boys are getting to be more independent, but wrestling the two of them up and off to school every morning is hell in itself."
"Speaking of, where are they?"
"Aidan's finishing up in the kitchen, and Ranik is probably down in the den. I don't think they know you're here."
As if on cue, Ranik, their older boy, calls to Finn and Rey with a wave.
They hurriedly exchange greetings as Ranik tows their luggage inside. Poe and Kameis' new house is impeccably similar to Poe's father's place on Yavin, with a long, low front that extends out and down a steep hill. Finn takes Constance's hand and steers her and the other girls inside, marveling at what looks to be a new paint job.
As they approach the kitchen, Aidan sets down the plate he's been scrubbing and turns to them with a grin.
"Long time, no see! If you consider two weeks a long time."
Finn goes and wraps an arm around his shoulder, laughing.
"For us, that's a lifetime!"
Finn's always been extra fond of Aidan. He, too, was from Astoria, though he'd spent most of his life in the Corellian foster system. Still, the common thread gives Finn an almost protective feeling over him.
Ranik finishes unloading their things into the guest room and taps Rey on the shoulder.
"We can distract the kids if you and my Dads wanna go have some time to talk." He punctuates his offer with a wink.
Rey nearly laughs. Ranik and Aidan are both still kids themselves–fifteen and thirteen, respectively–but they've got the charm of men twice their age. She gives him a nod and a grateful smile.
Once they've settled the children down in the den, Rey and Finn take seats out on the patio while Kameis and Poe set out little plates of food, mostly cheese spreads and olives and thinly-sliced meats. Rey has taken Han into her lap, stroking her fingers against his curls as he sleeps.
Eventually they're all sitting and nursing glasses of pale ale, exchanging gossip and stories.
"Finn," Kameis says, "I hear you guys talked Takodana into calling off the blockade with Kashyyyk?
Rey brightens and claps his shoulder.
"Sure did. They signed the treaty and everything, all because of him."
Finn just shrugs bashfully.
"It's really not much. We don't know how much that's gonna fix–Kashyyyk's economy's still struggling to get back on its feet, and the language barrier is proving to be a challenge."
"He's just being humble," Rey says, leaning up to kiss the swell of his cheek. It was one thing he'd never quite left behind. He could lead the whole universe into ultimate peace and still shy away from praise.
"Chewie still serving as your interpreter?" Poe asks. Finn makes a face.
"When he wants to. I don't think he likes being on Corellia too much."
They all understand. They'd all lost people in the war, people whose ghosts still followed in their wake, hanging like dark clouds. Better not to dwell on those things.
"Rey," Kameis says suddenly, brightening the air, "how are things at the temple?"
Rey smiles. "Good, I'd say. We're at a little over 500 students. I think people are slowly warming up to us."
Kameis nods. "Things are changing."
The evening rolls on until the sky is inky black, speckled with bright stars. Finn puts Han down for the night and returns to find that Poe and Kameis have gone inside to get the rest of the kids to bed.
He finds Rey, moved out of her chair and seated on the grassy hill overlooking the Corellian countryside. She turns to Finn and beckons him over.
He takes a seat beside her and she leans into his chest, just content to be here with him.
"Things really have changed," she murmurs, leaning up to place her chin on his shoulder.
He ducks down to kiss her.
"Let's hope they stay that way."