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Poe has to pick his pace up to nearly a jog to keep up with Finn as they cross the duracrete to the blocky, utilitarian facility ahead. It's not often that excitement carries Finn anywhere this swiftly; seeing it now sets a helpless grin to pulling at the corner of Poe's mouth. He chuckles a little, and Finn glances back over his shoulder — then shrugs, laughs, and breaks into an actual jog.
"Babe!" Poe complains, but there's the chuff of laughter in it and he's already matching Finn's jog with his own.
They reach the entrance to the building and don't even have to slow. The tall, blue-skinned woman behind the reception desk waves Finn in with a familiar smile, but she does call to them as they pass, "Who is it this time?"
"Sunmin," Finn answers without slowing. He waves the holofilms in his hand in her general direction.
He showed Poe those holos on the way over: a mother and father that one of the former First Order trainees — Sunmin — was plucked away from as a small child. The mother held a baby girl in her arms, a sister who will now be able to grow up with her older brother. And it is because, in large part, of Finn, though he would deny the importance of his role in their reunion.
Poe's smile softens as he rolls his simple tungsten wedding band with his thumb. His eyes trace Finn's broad back as they pound their way down the halls of the facility. Finn's stride doesn't hesitate; he's very familiar with every inch of this place, even if Poe has had less opportunity to visit.
They turn through a wide doorway into a large room that Poe does recognize: a sort of rec area where children and young adults cluster in different little groups, playing holo games or listening to music or even, in one sunny corner, reading. It doesn't take long for Finn to draw everyone's attention, though. Dozens of young faces turn toward him, varying from warm welcome to wary hope to something Poe could only describe as hero worship.
A young girl Poe recognizes from last time he was here is the first to bounce up to Finn, her smile bright and expectant. She's maybe eight years old with light brown skin and a halo of wild dark hair. "Did you find them this time, Finn?" she asks.
Finn kneels down to face her and puts a hand on one of her shoulders. "Not yet, Sirah."
If she's disappointed, it passes in a flash. "It's okay — I remembered more! I remembered my birthday before… before I was taken away. These green banners with a gold symbol, and music like…" She half-hums, half-sings a bit of a tune, da duh da dum, and motions with her hands as if she's strumming an instrument.
It's a familiar tune, even to Poe, and for a moment he feels keenly sad for her because it must be a popular tune that is played everywhere — but the look on Finn's face, seen even in profile, stops him. He's got that same faraway look he wears when he describes the fragments of memory he's managed to dig up about his own family in the last couple of years. Poe squats beside him and puts a hand on his shoulder, creating a chain between the three of them. "What is it?"
But Finn just shakes his head a little, like he's clearing it, and then turns a smile on Sirah. "Maybe you can draw the symbol for me. And the — " He copies her strumming motion. "I need to talk to Sunmin now, okay? But I'll talk to you before we leave."
Sirah nods, eager, and darts off toward a table cluttered with art supplies. The children there part to allow her room, and one of the older girls gives her a fond smile.
There are still a lot of children watching Finn. He has a pull like gravity in this room. But where Poe has seen them swarm him with excited greetings before, this time they keep a respectful distance. It only takes a moment to realize why. A boy of about ten or eleven steps forward hesitantly, a fragile spark of hope in his eyes. "Did you say my name?"
"I did," Finn agrees. "We found your parents, Sunmin."
The boy's eyes glimmer and a smile breaks across his face, and then he's in front of Finn, arms wrapped around his neck. Finn smoothes a hand across the boy's back and glances over at Poe with an expression of pure joy.
Now the other kids do close in, many of them reaching for Finn or for Sunmin or both. Some offer congratulations. Some say goodbye to Sunmin, and their tones vary from utterly happy for him to bittersweet.
The weight of a stare draws Poe's attention to the side, where a vaguely familiar girl watches him with a sort of hesitant awe on her face. He offers her a small smile, and then she plasters herself against his side, her fingers gripping at his jacket. "Poe Dameron," she says. "Can I be a pilot like you?"
Warmth rushes through his chest. "You can be anything you want. I bet you'd make a great pilot."
"Finn says you're the best pilot in the Alliance," she says.
Poe shoots a fond look at his husband. "That I am," he agrees. He returns his attention to the girl and taps a finger under her chin. "Will you be the best when you grow up?"
Her expression turns very serious as she nods. "Yes."
"Good."
Finn rises back to his feet, extricating himself from the kids around them. Sunmin stands beside him, his hand engulfed in Finn's larger one. "I need to take Sunmin to get ready to leave," he says. "I'll be back to see you all soon."
Most of the kids step back, giving them space. A couple linger to ask if he knows anything about their families, and Finn answers them gently with promises that he will talk to them next time he comes to visit, but that now he needs to talk to Sunmin.
Last to approach them before they leave the common area is Sirah. She hands over a drawing to Finn with a determined look on her face. "Here."
"Thank you," Finn says as he pockets the flimsi. "I'll tell you next time what it helps me find out."
She nods, then scuffs her shoe along the floor for a moment. "Finn?"
"Yes, Sirah?"
"D'you think Rey Skywalker can visit again soon?"
It wasn't what Poe expected to hear, and he bites back the chuckle that wants to rise. Sirah says Rey Skywalker like it's one word, inseparable. She's already becoming something of a legend, like her father, but Poe just thinks about her tendency to hustle them out of their desserts most meal times. And that terrible attempt at a cake she baked for Poe's birthday not long ago.
"I'm sure she will," Finn says. Then, more firmly, "I'll see you next time, Sirah."
Sirah turns her gaze to Sunmin, and suddenly there's something almost shy in it. "Bye, Sunmin. I'm glad you found your family."
"Thank you," he says. His voice is quiet — stoic, especially for a boy his age.
With that, Finn turns and steers them from the room. Out in the hall, he asks in a gentle voice, "Where's your room? You should get anything you want to bring with you. And I'll tell you a little about your family before we go to meet them."
Sunmin nods and leads the way.
&
Partway through Finn's explanation of Sunmin's family, Poe noticed the unease brewing under the boy's stoic countenance and expected it would break through at any moment. But they made it through Finn's quick story about how they were found and the longer introduction of his family through holovids and the quick messages they'd recorded for him all in a calm, hovering sort of acceptance, the glimmer of wet in Sunmin's eyes the only hint at what he was feeling.
Now they're on board the transport to Sunmin's homeworld and the boy keeps darting glances at Finn that he doesn't seem to notice. Knowing Finn as he does, Poe suspects he's fully aware of the boy's attention, but letting him work up to whatever it is that needs working up to.
And finally: "What… does my family…" He hesitates. "Expect? From me?"
Finn's expression goes soft and warm in a way that makes Poe's chest tighten. He turns in his seat to face Sunmin directly. "They don't expect anything," he assures him. "They're just happy you're alive and coming home to them."
Sunmin's voice is tight: "But I was a Stormtrooper. I — I didn't even remember them." The glimmering in his eyes finally spills over, a tear tracking down his cheek. "I don't even know what they made me."
He couldn't have been older than eight when the First Order officially fell, although Poe supposes he might not have been rescued from whatever training facility had him until more recently. He could hardly have been counted as a Stormtrooper either way.
But Finn doesn't brush that concern away. Instead he says seriously, "I was a Stormtrooper too. The First Order tried to break me and make me what they wanted, but they couldn't. And they didn't break you, either."
Sunmin shakes his head, more tears falling. "But I don't — I don't remember them!"
"I don't remember my family either," Finn admits. "That's not our fault. Your family understands that. The First Order took them away from you, even your memories of them, and that's not okay. I won't pretend it is. But the important thing is that you'll be with them. You'll make new memories with them. They love you, and they just want you home."
Snuffling, Sunmin wipes his face on his sleeve. "They won't be mad that I forgot them?"
Finn reaches out, cupping his hand around the back of the boy's head and neck. "Of course not."
Sunmin shifts and leans slowly up against Finn until he's tucked up under Finn's arm. For a little while he stares at nothing, but gradually his eyes ease closed, and soon his breathing steadies into the rhythm of sleep. Finn looks down at him, then meets Poe's eyes.
Because of Finn, dozens of families have been reunited in the last couple of years. It aches to think that Finn hasn't been able to find his own. They've begun a small family together, just the two of them, and watching him like this leads Poe inescapably to the thought that Finn would make an amazing father.
"What?" Finn asks, amusement lighting his handsome face.
Poe must have been staring too long, lost in his thoughts. "Just thinking about our little family," he says.
A smirk twists across his face. "Not so little," Finn says, his eyebrows raising. "Your cousins alone could man a star destroyer."
Poe nearly coughs a laugh. "That is a blatant exaggeration," he says. "Although they have talked about forming their own grav-ball team." Also an exaggeration, and in truth Poe's family size is something of a bittersweet subject; it's true that his extended family is more sprawling than many, particularly in a time when war orphans abound, but it is also quite a bit smaller than it would have been had much of his parents' family not been lost on Alderaan before the Empire fell.
The thoughts sober him, and it carries into his voice. "But I meant… you and me, and what our family will be like."
Recognition is plain on Finn's face, and he looks almost startled as he meets Poe's stare. "You mean…"
Poe shrugs and gestures to him, Sunmin sleeping against his side. "You're a natural."
His eyes crinkle with a smile. "Me? As if you aren't?"
Surprise flushes through Poe's chest. It's not the implication that he'd make a great father; he's never doubted that, if he's honest. It's that Finn has been thinking about it. That they both have been thinking about it.
His stomach tightens. They've only been married four months now. Maybe it's a bit early to start thinking about kids. Especially with the war cleanup still going on around them. His gaze drifts down to Sunmin's face, relaxed in sleep. At least they can get these kids home to their families. As for anything else… Well, there will be time enough to think about that later.