Chapter Text
“Mommy, look – a DOG !”
Clara exclaims the last word loudly enough to make Rey turn to her, along with a few more people by the bakery they just exited. Her seven-year-old child looks rapturous, her mouth hanging open and her green eyes wide, as if she always believed dogs didn’t live outside the city. But when Rey follows her gaze, she, too, realizes she has never seen anything like this before.
The shepherd, whose leash is currently tied to the arm of an empty bench in front of them, is huge . And magnificent, sitting there with his spine straight like a proud lion. His head looks big because of the thick fluffy honey-colored hair covering his neck like a ruff, going down his broad chest and strong forelegs. His wide back and sides are midnight black, shining under the rays of the sun that penetrate through the leaves of the tree behind the bench. It does little to shield him from the August warmth, and the shepherd breathes with his mouth open and long pink tongue protruding, nestled between long white teeth. His amber eyes are glued to the window display behind Rey’s back. Despite his size and the length of teeth Rey spots even from a distance, he seems calm and even amiable, absolutely nonchalant about attention, not only Clara but the others who have to pass by the bench and can’t help but steal a look in his direction.
“What a behemoth…” mutters a man.
“Gorgeous!” exclaims another.
“Like a pony!” a teenager tells her friend, glancing back at the fluffy giant who just yawns in response, shifting his weight before turning his gaze back towards the bakery. His erect ears tremble a little, as if he’s trying to hear what’s going on inside.
“He’s so beautiful,” Clara says, tugging at Rey’s hand to make her meet her shining eyes. “Isn’t he, mom?”
Oh yes, thinks Rey. Definitely a Dog with a capital D.
The moment when the shepherd’s long tail begins to thump against the ground, a deep, pleasant voice behind them says:
“Excuse me…”
Rey realizes they had been standing right in front of the bakery door for the last few minutes and hastily steps aside to give way to an elderly woman. She slowly walks towards the shepherd who stands up, greeting his owner.
“I’m sorry, honey,” she croons, untying his leash, as if it’s a small puppy she’s talking to. “The man in the line in front of me couldn’t decide if he wanted an apple tart or cinnamon roll for stars knows how long.”
She scratches the shepherd between his soft ears; he’s already busy, sniffling at her stuffed bag with deep interest. Clara giggles, and Rey smiles at the nice sight of the thin, elegantly-looking woman in a long turquoise dress, her gray hair done in the crown of braids around her head, and her titan of a pet who clearly enjoys her touches. Right now he raises his head to lick her wrist and nuzzle at her open palm.
“Is he a biter?” suddenly asks Clara, sounding a bit shy. The woman looks up and gives her a kind smile.
“Only when he thinks he should defend me. He may take it too seriously,” she points out, lovingly patting the shepherd’s back, “which is why no one dares to offer to help me with my bags, but when he’s with me, I’m not afraid of anything.”
“What’s his name?”
“Chewbacca. But we call him Chewie.”
At the sound of his name, Chewie tilts his head in question, looking even more adorable because of his size, and the woman laughs.
“Yes, we’re talking of you, pretty boy. Look at these beautiful ladies who can’t take their eyes off you!”
Clara grins, pleased by a compliment, and takes a few slow steps towards them. Rey follows, carefully watching the dog’s reaction to avoid any accidents, ready to tug her daughter back – but, having his owner calm and safe behind his back, Chewie doesn’t stiffen or growl at them. A few seconds of sniffing the air between them and quick glances at their faces seem to be enough for him to let them get closer.
“I’m Clara, and this is my mom, Rey,” says Clara, squeezing Rey’s hand a bit tighter.
“Nice to meet you. My name is Padmé,” replies the woman, and the three exchange smiles.
“We don’t have a dog, Mrs. Padmé,” Clara informs her without taking her eyes off Chewie. “Mom said we would consider it when I become older because they require much attention.”
“And she’s absolutely right,” confirms the woman. “Any dog, small or big, needs care. I’m too old to play with Chewie like he wants to, but I still have to cook for him, walk and brush his coat and even wash him with a shampoo. Can you imagine how long it takes?”
She buries her hand in his fur to emphasize her words, her fingers disappearing beneath the soft black thickness. Rey doesn’t see Clara’s face but she has no doubt there is the expression of pure joy; her child is fond of animals, especially fluffy, and she can talk of them for hours.
This reminds her they have already detained this poor lady for too long. Rey politely excuses them both and reminds Clara they still need to pay a visit to the bookstore to buy the new comic books she’s been waiting to be released for months.
“Have a nice evening,” Chewie’s owner tells them with a smile.
“You too, Mrs. Padmé! It was nice to meet you and Chewie,” replies Clara, waving goodbye at them both before turning to Rey and hugging her around her thighs.
“I love the Lake Country, mom. I’m so glad Auntie Maz had to leave and asked us to look after her house!”
Rey laughs, stroking her child’s head. She has no doubts she’ll hear of Chewie for the rest of the summer. Clara’s last favorite was Orange, the kitten of her best friend from school that she can easily spend hours retelling the tales of. Tales are all she can have since both of the Niimas are allergic to cats and Clara finds goldfish, rabbits and hamsters too boring – hence their decision to get a dog someday. Rey works from home as often as possible, but pursuing a career in social media marketing while being a single mother leaves her little time for anything else.
“It’s not like she had to leave, my dear,” she tells Clara. “She has been planning this trip to Ajan Kloss for many months.”
“Is it beautiful there?”
“Yes,” Rey says, recalling the pictures of the pink and blue sunrise above the mountains and the small bamboo house in the middle of the wild jungles she saw in the HoloNet. “But there is little entertainment for children – no malls, bookstores, or theme parks like in Theed.”
It seems to be enough to lessen her interest in the jungles, without mentioning the fact that her ex-boss and old friend had to get several vaccinations to avoid possible infectious diseases and prepare herself for constant heat and thirst. It would have probably made Clara half-jokingly remind her how strong she is (definitely enough to survive several vital shots, thank you very much), making it hard for Rey to find a good counterargument.
Perhaps it’s in Clara’s genes - Rey had survived on her own since she was five, when her parents had left her on the threshold of a bar in Jakku and disappeared, and there was no one who could inspire her to live and fight but her own dreams and wishes. Maybe it’s also her prayers during her unplanned pregnancy at the age of twenty, when she was abandoned for the second time, by her lip-serving boyfriend, a few weeks before Clara’s birth. She had been broken and confused despite everything learned about motherhood, her mind a chaotic blur, and she had begged the universe to let her become, if not an ideal mother, then at least a perfect one for this tiny human being who depended only on her. To give them both courage and strength.
Fortunately, they were not alone. Rey’s best friends Finn and Rose had brought everything necessary to turn her room into a proper nursery and became the most supportive godparents a baby could ever have, while Maz Kanata, the hale owner of the Takodana coffee shop where Rey worked between her classes, was glad to help with babysitting and free snacks. The least she could do for her now is to move to the peaceful and quiet Lake Country from bustling, elegant Theed for three weeks to make sure Maz’s delicate plants and precious aquatic turtles are safe and fine. Even though it’s only their second day here, Rey’s already falling for the harmonious, serene atmosphere of caressing sunlight and beautiful flowers, shaking her head when she recalls Maz’s words about mixing business and pleasure . The latter leaves no room for anything else.
The house is located on quiet Varykino street five minutes away from the center of a small town. It’s a small brick cottage Maz had moved into after retiring, with two bright-colored bedrooms and a big wooden kitchen with French windows opening into the garden full of flowers and shrubs. Its red tile roof can be seen from afar, as soon as Rey’s car passes a giant apple tree and turns right. It’s Sunday evening, and her mind is occupied by plans for dinner and dessert – maybe she’ll borrow some of Maz’s mint to make tea to accompany raspberry croissants they bought at the bakery – when she notices a familiar large golden and raven figure in the distance, two houses down the street, waiting for his owner to open the gate.
“Looks like we’ll see Chewie again,” Rey intones, and a moment later Clara squeals in delight from the back seat.
______________
Their temporary neighbor’s full name is Padmé Naberrie Skywalker, and she used to hold a post in the Naboo Senate. She retired several years ago and moved to the Lake Country with a dog, Chewie. She’s a widow, but she has a family that visits her several times per year.
That’s what Maz tells Rey on the phone this evening after hearing Clara’s monologue about the charming lady with a giant, impossibly fluffy shepherd. Rey is surprised: she’s never met a politician, even former, in person, and she could hardly imagine them acting so casually; going to the bakery by themselves and living in a relatively small house instead of some mansion by the water.
“Oh yeah, she’s something else,” chuckles Maz. “Always kind, nice and friendly, no snobbery or affectation. Everyone loves her. And her gorgeous looks? At first, I thought she was an actress, or maybe an artist!”
“I’d say a handler,” replies Rey, remembering how Chewie obediently followed her and how calm he was, sitting in the middle of the crowded street.
“Ah, Chewie is really the smartest dog I’ve ever seen – and I know a few people whom he surpasses. He never kills cats or birds, never barks without a reason or tries to bite you. As long as you don’t try to attack his house or take something from Padmé, you can do anything you want around him.”
Her words reassure Rey – accidentally meeting such a giant is one thing, but living so close, especially with Clara, is another. But of course, Maz would never let anything bad happen to them.
The abovementioned child is currently browsing through Rey’s laptop, trying to find a movie for their regular Sunday movie night. Rey is happy to use her laptop for something that is not her job. She cherishes every moment that she and Clara can spend entirely together, without her having to discuss new online campaigns for their agency’s clients with her colleagues on the phone, or write content plans to achieve particular KPIs while Clara is in her room, reading or playing quietly so as not to disturb her. Rey was glad her daughter didn’t mind spending the rest of August far from Theed – all her friends left to visit their grandparents or went on vacation with their parents, and she was allowed to take as many books as she wanted and was promised movie nights in the garden.
It sounded nice back then, and it feels almost magical now. Saying goodbye to Maz, they cuddle under the warm plush blanket on the wooden garden bench, the laptop on the plastic chair in front of them and How To Train Your Dragon playing quietly as the small solar lights illuminate yellow rose bushes and rare night moths around them. The sky above the small garden is clear and full of stars, making the silence around them even deeper.
“Will you have to work tomorrow, mommy?” asks Clara, nuzzling at her shoulder. The older she gets, the more she becomes Rey’s small copy – same hazel eyes, same sharp nose and freckles on her cheeks. But her long hair is lighter, and in the soft yellow light it looks almost golden, as if she’s rather a cherub than a child. Rey kisses her crown, pulling her thin body closer under the wave of tenderness and adoration that washes through her.
“Yes, my love. It’s Monday, and my co-worker is on vacation now, so I couldn’t take a leave. But I we’ll have more movie nights and go find more good pastries together. Is it okay?”
Rey works hard to give her daughter everything she wants and needs, and even though she doesn’t know her own parents, she has to thank them for her skills that made her a valuable employee who even gets a bonus from time to time.
“Okay. Will we see the lakes?” Clara asks, watching Toothless carry Hiccup and Astrid above the sparkling water.
“Yes,” confirms Rey. Clara was deeply disappointed when she realized houses in the Lake Country don’t float on water but stand on solid ground.
“And see Chewie?”
“Maybe.”
Reassured by Rey’s promises, her daughter buries herself deeper in her arms and turns her attention back to the screen.
___________
Rey keeps her promise, taking Clara to every place Maz recommended for them to see, from the legendary lotus Amidala Lake to Jogan Pastries , a patisserie famous for its fruit eclairs, and the large Gungan Aquarium. Then they spend a whole evening in a boutique full of clothes made by independent local designers, finding a few dresses for autumn and jeans overalls with butterflies for Clara they fall in love with at first sight.
During their first week in the Lake Country, Clara and Rey see Padmè and Chewie every day. She takes him for a walk in the morning and at night around the neighborhood, always passing by their house. Clara already waits for them, sitting in the wicker chair on the porch with a book or a datapad or walking down the curved stone path to pick berries from large raspberry bushes by the fence, making sure to leave enough for Maz to make jam.
“Hi Mrs. Padmè! Hi Chewie!”
Her voice rings around the garden, and Rey smiles to herself, busy at work or in the kitchen. The first time, Padmè was surprised to see Clara waiting, but later her smile, whenever she sees the girl, has always been genuine and kind since then. Standing by the fence that’s just a little higher than her, Clara asks about Chewie, and Padmè talks to her without condescension, describing his daily routine and some remarkable adventures. Sometimes Rey joins them, and they three chuckle at the furry gentle giant, who usually accompanies his owner in the garden to lie under the rose bush, watching hoes and pitchforks as if they could attack her, or eating flies that bother him without standing up. As if understanding they’re talking of him, at such moments he looks even more proud of himself – Rey didn’t even know a dog’s eyes could be so expressive.
“As I said, I’m fully protected,” remarks Padmè on a Friday morning when he does it again, this time in front of Rey and Clara, jumping and turning until he catches the small black insect that was hovering around them for a while.
“Good boy, Chewie,” awws Clara, and he waves his tail at her, coming closer to sniff her hand and dress, shoving his big black nose between the bars of the fence.
“He definitely likes you,” notes Padmè, as if reading Rey’s thoughts: she’s torn between desires to tug Clara away from him or simply enjoy her child’s delighted laugh at the tickle. “Do you want to join us on a walk?”
The girl freezes, looking in turn at her, at Chewie and then at Rey. “Mommy?” Her voice is shy, but the plea in her eyes is clear, her little fingers squeezing her skirt with anticipation.
Rey looks down at her watch. She has a Zoom call in an hour to discuss the current project, but her part of the presentation is already finished, and laundry definitely can wait. When she nods, Clara literally storms through the gates to stay next to Chewie. Waiting for her to lock the house, she slowly strokes his head like Padmè; the shepherd doesn’t look at her, but his eyes flutter shut each time her tiny fingers brush against his brows and his mouth opens a bit wider, as if he’s actually smiling. Padmè told them he’s the grandson of her son-in-law’s first dog, whom he took for her when he was a puppy so she would have company after retirement.
“His eyelashes are so long… Are you sure he’s a boy?” asks Clara, her brow wrinkled in confusion when Rey returns. Padmè laughs, but it’s a kind laugh, no mockery or arrogance in this pleasant sound, and she appreciates it.
“Yes, darling, he’s definitely a boy. A pretty one, that’s for sure.”
“He is,” agrees Clara without any embarrassment, and then immediately asks: “Have you ever been to the Gungan Aquarium, Mrs. Padmè?”
“Of course. I brought my grandson there when he was a teenager to watch The Purple Dolphin Night Show.”
“We saw it too!” Clara practically jumps with excitement as they walk down the street, Chewie leisurely jogging in front of them, his nose brushing against the ground. “I waved at one dolphin, and he waved at me back, can you believe it?! He noticed me! Do you know dolphins also can recognise themselves in a mirror and have unique names for each other?”
Soon, feeling too much is already said of the aquarium, Rey carefully changes the subject, but Padmè doesn’t seem to mind listening to Clara. She nods and asks questions, giving the girl her full attention, and addresses Rey with the same easiness. Spending half an hour in her company, Rey realizes Maz was right. Padmè is quite something, and the warmth she feels in her presence doesn’t leave her even after they say goodbye at her nice snow-white house with a blue door and bay windows; lush hydrangea bushes almost reaching the windowsills. Growing up in foster care, Rey has met many different people who gave off different vibes, from pure to eerie, and it feels almost beautiful to be close to their neighbor, to see her smile and listen to her, as if they have known each other for longer than a week.
Perhaps this is why, when Clara asks her if she could join Padmè and Chewie the next morning, when Rey is already working, she lets her go, asking to always stay close to her companions and don’t do anything to Chewie besides stroking his head. (Yesterday the giant shepherd acted nice and even licked Rey’s bare knee at parting, but his teeth still look too big for real games.) Padmè told her they always went the same path, walking down Varykino street to the long tree alley and then turn to pass by a small grocery store and a few beautiful cottages, brick or stone, reaching the other end of their street and completing the circle. It seems perfect: Chewie can, as Clara calls it, chat to his buddies through the fences, and Padmè enjoys a smooth, calm path where she doesn’t have to climb up or constantly look back to make sure there’s no car behind them. After coming back, Clara shares with Rey everything Padmè told her of each flower they see, as well as some fairy tales about them she might not have read yet, her voice high with joy and eyes shining.
She offers to walk together in the evening, and then the next morning until it becomes a tradition, and each time Clara sees the two waiting behind the fence, she bursts with excitement. And whether she can join them or not, Rey, in turn, invites the neighbor to tea. (She calls Maz to make sure she wouldn’t mind, making the other woman indignant – how could Rey doubt Padmè is more than welcome in her house?!) Padmè asks about her job and life in Theed in general with sincere curiosity, sharing the stories from the past and eagerly listening about the present. She also doesn’t try to find out anything about Rey’s husband or Clara’s father, instead showing interest in their hobbies and opinions on literature and cinema. Spending all day between walks in the garden, weeding, fertilizing, and watering, she sips her tea with the elegance of a queen in her gorgeous summer gowns, her tan hands always perfectly clean and her hair done in a bun or braids. Clara can’t stop praising her when she leaves, and Rey feels equally impressed.
With her permission, one day Clara invites Padmè to their movie night to watch live-action Cinderella , and she immediately says yes.
“I can disobey my doctor’s order, going to sleep late once a year, can’t I?” she says, playfully raising her eyebrows. She brings Chewie, too, but the fairytale leaves him indifferent, no matter how long Clara dances around him to the music from the laptop; lying on the ground next to their bench, he only raises his ears once, at Ella’s stepsisters’ high-pitched screams, his expression humanly frustrated.
“Well, it was good,” Padmè concludes when the movie ends and chuckles at Clara’s shocked expression. “I’m sorry, honey, nowadays I rarely watch movies like this. I enjoyed the original animation picture when I was your age and had no idea what else they could come up with to make this story even more beautiful. Ella’s dress is definitely much better.”
When her child’s face softens, Rey smiles. It means very much to Clara that the person she likes shares her love for this movie: she watches it every month.
“But I still wonder, though, what happened to the Fairy Godmother?” continues Padmè. “What had she been doing before the ball? And where did she go after that? What do you think?”
Clara ruminates on her words, leaning her head back against Rey’s shoulder. She looks at her, then at Chewie who snores quietly laying on his stomach, his head between his forelegs, before glancing around the night garden.
“Maybe the Fairy Godmother was somewhere very far from Ella. Maybe she’s a gardener – did you hear how many vegetables she mentioned? And she knew how strong and courageous her goddaughter is despite everything that happened to her. She went to help when Ella’s heart broke – it was her mother’s dress, one of the few things that were left of her, and they tore it! It was cruel.”
She turns to wrap her arms around Rey’s neck, pressing a kiss to her cheek. “I’m so happy I have you, mommy.”
Tears sting Rey’s eyes, her heart swelling with infinite, deepest love for her child, unexpected, but welcomed anyway, and never to be abandoned. She holds back tears, instead smiling at Padmè who watches them both with a tender, even nostalgic expression on her face. Her own children are much older than Rey, and the only grandson, as she explained one day, would blush like a tomato if she tried to hold and kiss him, thinking himself too adult. Rey suspects that, with all the kindness she pours onto Chewie and her and Clara, she must miss them very, very much – as well as her late husband, because she wears the pendant he gave her, a small wooden thing with peculiar symbols, every day.
“I like your version, Clara,” Padmè says a minute later, nodding towards the laptop. “I think she could also have a beautiful flower garden somewhere in a fairy land, and maybe a pond with fish.”
The girl shifts a little to look at her. “Like those in the Gungan Aquarium? What if they could fly?” A new, great idea brings a smile to her voice, and the mood in their small company shifts back to more positive.
Soon Padmè stands up, taking Chewie’s leash who immediately follows her example and stretches after a good nap, waving his tail when Clara strokes his neck.
“Mommy, he licked my nose!”
“Tomorrow is my turn,” Padmè tells Rey after they both smile at the happy, giggling child who tries to wipe her face with her wrist but makes no attempt to step away from the shepherd. “Come to me for dinner.”
“Oh, Mrs. Padmè, please, we don’t want to bother you-”
“You don’t. I haven’t had such sweet company for stars know how long, and I love cooking. Do you like chicken?”
“We ADORE it,” quickly assures Clara. “Mommy makes delicious rotisserie chicken.”
“Then it’s settled.”
“Let me at least bring a dessert!” Rey says, feeling a bit guilty her invitation didn’t include dinner. “Your cookies were amazing. Do you like brownies?”
“I ADORE them,” Padmè says with a wink.
____________
They make brownies together after lunch, Rey and Clara, adding raspberries and cherries from Maz’s garden to the nice-smelling chocolate dough the latter washed very carefully.
“I hope Mrs. Padmè will like it,” Clara tells her, watching her mother put the full tin into the oven.
“I’m sure she will, sunshine.”
Rey has been cooking for herself all her life, capable of making a proper meal out of any leftovers. She’d refined this skill to a higher degree when she realized she’s pregnant, and now she is often told she’s a great cook.
She closes her laptop at 7 p.m. and, smoothing their dresses in front of the mirror, Rey and Clara grab the bag with the brownies from the kitchen counter and head towards the white stone cottage.
Chewie barks, looking deeply shocked when they open the gate and step on his territory for the first time, but then Padmè appears on the porch, smiling and inviting them to come in, he relaxes and even licks Clara’s face again when she strokes his back.
Before dinner, they have a short tour around the cozy and charming house. It’s bigger than Maz’s, but matches the personality of its owner as well. The interior is made up in white, creamy blue and light violet, and the walls in every room are decorated with landscapes and pictures of flowers, rather comforting than overwhelming. Padmè shows them her big library and the pictures of her family: a husband, son, daughter, son-in-law and grandson. Rey doesn’t have any pictures of her own parents, so she spends several minutes, curiously studying the faces, looking for inevitable similarities in their faces – Anakin’s and Luke’s thick blonde hair, Padmè’s beautiful brown eyes inherited by Leia, and equally wide, warm smiles on the faces of her husband Han and son Ben.
“Here he’s a student,” Padmè notes, pointing at the picture of a tall black-haired man. In her head, Rey can’t help but call him remarkable: his features are strong and hardly fit in beauty standards, but somehow, together they look pretty good. Even attractive, but she quickly stops herself at this thought, noticing how the other woman’s smirk turns from friendly into playful. She feels her cheeks warm, as if she’s being caught gawking, and joins Clara in the kitchen without looking back at Ben. She knows nothing about this man besides his lineage and job (he’s a specialist on finance), and she definitely is not going to ask his grandmother to tell her more.
They eat delicious braised chicken with mushrooms and potatoes, the conversation between the three people flowing easily. Sitting by the table, Chewie stares at Clara with so much hope in his amber eyes, following every movement of her fork with a longing expression, that Padmè has to kick him out on the porch, where, as she reminds loudly, he has his own meal, boiled turkey and rice.
“I’m sorry. Of course, he would try to get something from you – a charmer,” she snorts when she comes back, shaking her head. “He already knows it doesn’t work on me.”
Rey and Clara exchange glances and giggle. After tea with the brownies Padmè describes as fantastic, they find Chewie in the garden, sated and not sad at all, and take him for a usual walk around the neighborhood.
Later, switching off the light in the turtles’ aquarium before going to bed, Clara tells Rey with a sigh,
“I don’t want the summer to end, mom.”
She knows Maz returns at the very end of August, right before her school starts. By that time, they’ll already be back in Theed, far from Padmè and Chewie.
But, as often happens, when you don’t want something to end, time suddenly begins to run faster. Before Rey realizes, the remaining ten days till the last summer Sunday pass, and she and Clara are packing their things. Rey cleans all the rooms in the cottage and leaves full food containers in the fridge for Maz so she wouldn’t have to care about cooking when she comes home, along with several jars of raspberry jam she’s made using Maz’s recipe. The other woman told her not to bother (“ I’m perfectly capable of making jam myself, sunshine!” ) but Rey really wanted to thank her for this little trip.
She puts the keys under the flower pot on the porch as told and heads towards the car with Clara in tow. Padmè and Chewie come to say goodbye, and the woman gives each of them a tight, warm hug. Clara then goes to card her fingers through the golden fur on Chewie’s neck, stroking his head with the other and laughing while he tries to lick her nose and cheeks.
“Let me hug you, Chewie… Ugh, wait, just a hug!”
“It was nice meeting you, Rey,” says Padmè. “Make it home safe.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Padmè. The pleasure is mine. I didn’t know what I expected from this trip, but it turned out to be one of the best in my life.”
Rey pulls away to smile at the other woman, and she gently squeezes her arms.
“If you ever want to visit the Lake Country again, let me know. Chewie and I would be happy to see you both again.”
Beside Maz, no adult has ever shown her the same kindness, and Rey’s heart fills with gratitude and warmth. After all those tough years in Jakku, the time she has been spending in Theed and its environs feels like a blessing.
“And you’re a brilliant, wonderful girl,” Padmè tells Clara with tenderness that doesn’t hide her sincerity. “Good luck with your classes.”
“Thank you. Good luck with your garden and Chewie, Mrs. Padmè,” politely replies the girl, and the woman laughs.
“Oh, sometimes that is what I really need.”
They get into the car and see Padmè in the rearview window wave at them until they have to turn and Varykino street disappears behind the apple tree.
“Hey, are you okay?” Rey asks her quiet child a few minutes later, her eyes glued to the road. When she took her daughter to the first trip outside Theed in her life, she expected her to find a few friends her own age or spend three weeks reading books and watching movies. Never could she have imagined her starting a friendship with an elderly woman and her dog. One quick glance back tells her Clara doesn’t cry but looks at the window with a thoughtful expression.
“Yeah,” she replies after a short pause. “I’m just thinking of Chewie. And Mrs. Padmè… They’re really nice. Oh,” Rey hears her voice become more joyful and smiles, “I can’t wait to tell my friends about them! And the whole Lake Country.”
“And what did you like most in the Lake Country?”
“Hmm… The purple dolphins in the Aquarium. And the Amidala Lake. And the patisserie. Oh! Did I tell you about how Mrs. Padmè caught Chewie stealing a cookie from the kitchen on Wednesday?”
“No.” On Wednesday Rey had been terribly busy and stayed at home all day, while Clara, with her permission, accepted Padmè’s invitation and went to her cottage for the whole afternoon.
“It was hilarious!”
They spend the rest of the four hour drive to their home recalling their favorite moments with Chewie (Clara definitely remembering more than Rey), like when he tried to sniff a butterfly who sat on his back but it immediately flew away, or when he picked an apple from the tree in Padmè’s garden and ate it lying on his back, squeezing the fruit between his large paws.
On the first September days, Clara makes sure everyone around her knows about the Lake Country, Chewie and Mrs. Padmè. Finn and Rose listen to all her stories when they come to their apartment on her first day at school, Rey showing them a few pictures she made on her phone, and later Clara informs her all her classmates and teachers find Chewie adorable. Rey has to gently ask her to stop talking of the shepherd each time someone mentions their dog, but fortunately, Clara’s obsession passes relatively quickly: her attention expands to her friends’ stories from their holidays in Hanna City or Canto Bight, the amount of homework increases every day, and her evenings and weekends are again occupied by extracurricular activities – drawing and dancing.
Whenever they speak to Maz on the phone, she says Chewie and Padmè said hello, and Clara eagerly says it back. She and Rey decide to visit the Lake Country again in November, when Rey would be able to take a few days off. Based on her calculations, even if Maz can’t have them again, the trip wouldn’t cost them too much and she still will be able to give Clara a big tour around all the Christmas markets in Theed.
“Mommy! Mommy! Mom! ”
Clara’s excited shouts startle her one October afternoon, after Rey had brought her child back from school and headed towards the kitchen to heat up the soup. Clara storms into the room, waving her phone in the air like a flag and looking positively ecstatic, jumping in one place between the table and kitchen counter.
“We won! We won, mommy!”
Rey is glad she’s already put the pot on the stove, otherwise she’d definitely have dropped it on the floor from shock. She has to grab her daughter by her shoulders to make her stay still and asks calmly:
“What is it, Clara? What happened? What did we win?”
“You remember what I told you about the Disney Naboo online contest, right?”
Rey furrows her eyebrows in concentration. She vaguely recalls Clara telling her about something Disney-related when they still were in the Lake Country. “The Halloween one?”
“Yes! You were supposed to write a short story about which character you and your parents want to dress as, and if you win, you get a three thousand gift card to buy the costumes!”
They never wrote it. Clara must have mentioned it once and then dropped the subject, and she decided she’s not interested. But then, how could they win?
Clara continues:
“ I did it, mom. I wrote a story and showed it to my grammar teacher. She helped me fix a few mistakes, and I sent it two weeks ago from your personal email. They’ve just replied. Surprise!” she intones with a giggle, looking at her in anticipation. But Rey can only stare back in silence, trying to process what’s going on. Her seven-year old got them Halloween costumes from Disney Naboo – by writing a story that won a huge online contest?
“Mom? Are you okay?” Clara asks her a minute later, her smile fading. “You… you don’t look happy. Did I upset you?”
Oh no. This immediately brings her back to her senses. Rey shakes her head and pulls her daughter into a hug, pressing kisses to her cheek and hair between whispering:
“My angel, I-I have no words. I couldn’t imagine… I’m so, so proud of you.” Her voice shakes, and she tries her best not to cry. “My beautiful, brilliant girl. Will you at least let me read your story?”
“Um, you already know it,” comes a shy answer. When Rey pulls back to look at her, Clara explains.
“Do you remember how we and Mrs. Padmè discussed Cinderella and the garden of the Fairy Godmother? I decided to write it down, and then,” she lowers her eyes and bites her lip, like Rey always does when she’s embarrassed, “I mentioned some stories Mrs. Padmè told us about her youth – but the Fairy Godmother still was the main character!”
In the next few minutes, Rey learns how the Legislative Youth Program turned into Wizardry Youth Program, and how the Fairy Godmother is able to break not the Trade Federation blockade but the Tribe of Trolls one – but not before becoming a supervisor of the capital of Fairyland (not Theed, of course, it doesn’t even exist in her universe).
“When you work, you often say it’s all about associations,” Clara adds hastily, as if afraid Rey will start scolding her at any moment. “I thought it was a good reason why she didn’t come to Ella sooner – she was too busy in her own world, working hard and keeping her place nice.”
The pot behind her back starts to whistle. Shaking her head, Rey stands up to turn the stove off, and Clara follows her to wait for her reaction.
“So, what do you think, mom?”
The realization that her little child ruminated on those words of hers and decided to follow them hits her even deeper than news about her story being recognized by Disney itself. The tickling warmth blooms in her chest, spreading through her whole body and bringing new tears to her eyes. She blinks, forcing herself to focus and wrap her mind around what’s happening.
“Well,” Rey says, putting the lid of the pot aside and reaching for the ladle, “from what I’ve learned about Mrs. Padmè, she wouldn’t mind becoming the Fairy Godmother. But Clara,” she turns to look at her daughter who already smiles again, “I hope you didn’t mention anything about her that is not publicly available on the HoloNet? Anything private, about her house or family?”
To her relief, the girl quickly shakes her head. “No! It’s all about her and Cinderella. I didn’t even mention Chewie!” The last sentence sounds like a story without the shepherd is something scandalous. “When I have time, I’ll add another chapter, about him.”
After lunch, Rey takes her laptop to read Clara’s fantasy story and again marvel at her child’s fantasy and talent (who again swears she wrote everything herself), and then they go to the Disney store official website to pick out their costumes.
“This,” Clara says firmly, finally pointing at the screen with her thin index finger; Rey fights the strong desire to take her hand and dot it with kisses. “This is what inspired me, mom.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to be Cinderella?” Rey asks, studying the children’s version of the Fairy Godmother’s puffy pearlescent dress, with a tulle high collar and small glittering wings.
“My story got us this gift card. I think of the two of us, this time I am a miracle worker,” shrugs Clara, skimming her finger against the touchpad to add the dress to their cart and press Search again. “You worked so hard every day, even when we were in the Lake Country, and I think you’d look amazing in blue and butterflies- Oh!”
This time Rey finally pulls her daughter in her lap and crushes her in a bear hug, sobbing, My precious miracle worker. Her obstetrician had told her her baby would surprise her every day, and sometimes they have had their bad days, but still… It’s been only seven years. How will she even survive the rest of her life?
“Mom, can you please wait until we choose a dress for you?” Clara mumbles in her neck, but her arms wrap around her waist anyway. “I’m trying to give us a proper Halloween at the festival in Sanandrassa Park, okay?”
“Okay.”
But Rey makes no attempt to release her, and Clara has to twist and turn in her arms to see the screen again.
“I don’t know your size. Here,” she puts her hand on the touchpad. They both laugh when Rey refuses to move it herself, without Clara’s help, but soon proceed to checkout and spend three thousand credits in one click.
Rey’s Cinderella dress doesn’t have a crinoline like the movie one, and her long blue skirt is not so large but still shimmers, as if embroidered with crystals. The off-the-shoulder tulle neckline is covered with tiny butterflies Clara loves most, and she asks Rey to wear the silver butterfly earrings Finn and Rose gave her on Christmas. They decide they can do without wigs and special shoes, but that they will certainly watch some cute hair and make-up tutorials and practice before Halloween Saturday.
____________
On October 31, Finn whistles when he notices them carefully getting out of the car in the parking lot by Sanandrassa Park where their friends are already waiting for them.
“Whoa, this explains the secrecy about your costumes!”
Neither Rey nor Clara told him and Rose about the gift card and their idea, intending to surprise them before the festival. And now, seeing his jaw slack beneath a fake pirate beard, they realize it was a great idea.
Rose, dressed as a pirate king Elizabeth Swann, gasps.
“Rey, you’re gorgeous! Please, tell me you also have the glass slippers?”
Rey laughs, smoothing her dress and making sure she hadn’t stained it on her way from home.
“I’m sorry, Your Majesty, but in Theed you wear flats . With butterflies, of course.” And she raises her skirt a little to demonstrate silver shoes decorated with delicate lace butterflies. They were supposed to be her wedding shoes, but she and Clara’s father never made it to the altar.
“And look at you! Bibbidi, bobbidi, boo!” Finn takes her daughter’s hand and twirls her to have a better look at the pearlescent gown and her glittering hair, curled and done into a high bun. “Pure magic.”
“Did you break into the Disney dressing room?” Rose asks Rey, brushing her fingers against the tulle on her shoulder.
“No. My daughter sold them her story.”
On their way through the green, crowded city park, Clara tells them a whole story of how she saw the contest announcement and decided to participate without telling Rey. How Mrs. Padmè was as kind and nice as the Fairy Godmother could be in her beautiful house, and how her stories could be easily turned into something magical if you look at them from another perspective. When she reveals she wrote a tale of the Fairy Godmother’s life in Fairyland, Rose immediately demands a signed copy for her and Finn, but Clara asks her to wait until she writes part two.
Rey just lets herself be happy, holding Clara’s hand and smiling at the owners of the food trucks who shout their compliments. Her dress feels a little scratchy against her back, but it’s not heavy, and she enjoys the way the top tulle layer of her skirt sparkles under the gentle autumn Theed sun, the paths here wide enough for her to move comfortably. Sometimes Rose stops the Niimas to take pictures of them both and selfies, and other visitors ask if they can join the little Fairy Godmother and her goddaughter. Clara always says yes with a smile, waving her tiny wand at goblins and superheroes with pure delight.
Eventually they notice her classmates on the lawn, playing board games with their parents. Exchanging gasps and praises for their costumes, Clara expresses the desire to stay with them, and Rose and Finn leave to attend the pumpkin painting zone (the latter dreaming of turning the orange fruit into a marine landscape with a black silhouette of a ship). They play a little Boooo-opoly and Hocus Pocus and are about to switch to One Night Ultimate Werewolf (aka the spooky Mafia) when Rose appears again with a bag of pumpkin cookies. It seems to be just in time - busy with games and talks, the children and parents somehow managed to eat all the candies they brought.
“I just saw a ghost,” she informs Rey with a chuckle, fixing a sword on her belt, “by the boardwalk. The dog costume parade is about to start there.”
“Did someone put a sheet on their poor pet or try to turn it into the hound of the Baskervilles?” quips Rey, offering Clara a bottle of water and grabbing a cookie from the bag. She knows not all dogs like to be covered - Padmè told them how she and Leia tried to wrap Chewie in a plush Santa Claus blanket for a family picture, but the shepherd threw the blanket off himself and sat on it to prevent further tries.
“No. I mean Chewie the country lion. I think I saw something as huge as him.”
Clara looks up, almost spilling the water on her dress, a few droplets on her chin. “The parade starts at 4 p.m.”
“Honey, it’s in five minutes,” her friend’s dad tells her, glancing at his watch.
“Ahh, Hocus Pocus !”
Exclaiming the name of the game as if it’s a swear, Clara jolts to her feet and rushes towards the boardwalk.
“Mommyyyyy, are you coming?”
Stars . Rey has practiced walking in this long dress and even a little dancing, but not running, relying on her daughter’s promise to stay close to her or Finn and Rose. But now, rising from the low plastic chair, she has to pick up the hem of her skirt and jog after Clara, leaving their companions behind.
“Hey, it’s not even midnight!” someone shouts to her with a chuckle, but Rey’s too busy with keeping her eyes on the small figure in white that quickly squeezes between princesses, rock stars and wizards on the path that suddenly doesn’t seem so wide. Where do so many people suddenly come from?
“Are her wings real?” pants Rose by her side, taking off her hat so as not to lose it, and raises her voice. “Hey, everyone make way for Cinderella and her gorgeous dress!”
At this moment, the dress doesn’t seem so gorgeous; the layers of the blue fabric constantly try to slip off her hands, and she could get stuck on someone’s plastic axe or spiked boots at any moment. Rose is here, and she’ll definitely chase Clara if it happens, but right now, Rey forgets about everything. Her child is in the middle of a crowded park full of strangers, and she is not with her. This is the only thing that matters.
Finally, they spot the little Fairy Godmother by the last bench in front of the boardwalk, next to a huge shepherd. Rey vaguely realizes Rose was right and it’s definitely Chewie, but she doesn’t wonder how it’s possible, her entire mind tunneling to her daughter.
“Clara!” Rey shouts, ignoring the heads that turn in her direction.”What did I tell you about staying close to me?”
Clara turns to her with a beaming smile, her cheeks rosy, and the rising panic in Rey’s chest begins to ease.
“Mom, I found Chewie!”
“And we almost lost you, young lady,” Rose informs her, stopping in front of the bench and waving her black and gold three-cornered hat in front of her face like a fan. Dropping her skirt, Rey crouches down in front of her daughter and puts her hands on her small knees.
“Never run from me like that again. Promise?” she asks her, her voice quiet and serious, but not angry. “I was so scared.”
Her daughter’s smile softens, and she strokes Rey’s short curled hair with her fingers.
“It was just a minute, mom. And I was sure you’re close, because I know you can run very fast.”
“Hi,” Rose behind her back says to someone, but Rey’s eyes are glued to Clara.
“We’ll talk about it later. Stay with me till we go home.”
“Okay, but, mom - Chewie is here with Ben!”
“Ben?” Rey echoes with a frown, and with the sound of a familiar name, reality comes rushing back to her. People around them laugh and chat, music playing from a distance, mixing with the smells of cotton candy and warm cinnamon, and Chewie tries to sniff her voluminous skirt that brushes against his forelegs through a muzzle on his snout.
She notices someone standing behind him and slowly looks up, higher and higher, until she sees the face of the man from the picture in Padmè’s house. It was taken several years ago, and now Ben Solo’s shoulders are definitely broader. His thick hair is longer, brushing against the collar of his flannel shirt as he watches them with an amused smile on his lips.
“Ben,” Rey repeats affirmatively, catching the look of his brown eyes. She had called him attractive in her head back then, and now, seeing him in real life, she can’t help but return to that thought.
“You must be Rey.” His voice is low, but it sounds nice - maybe because he still smiles at her. He offers her his hand, and Rey takes it, slowly rising to her full height. It’s been several years since a man has touched her hand outside a conference room, and it feels strange, but not unpleasant. His palm is warm and bigger than hers, and he squeezes her fingers a little, as if trying to steady her. To her surprise, Rey realizes she likes it, and the corners of her lips pull up on their own accord.
“My grandmother told me about you,” Ben says, studying her face, as if comparing it to the image he’s made up in his mind. He’s a bit taller than she is, and Rey tilts her chin up to look at his face.
“I hope she’s okay?” she asks; there must be a serious reason why Chewie suddenly left his owner.
“Oh yeah,” Ben slowly lets go of her hand to stroke the shepherd between his fluffy ears. “Grandmother asked me to take Chewie to a vet clinic here for a check-up while she’s in Aldera, looking after her best friend Breha who got sick. They feared it was serious, but fortunately, Breha is already recovering.”
“She comes back in two weeks,” Clara happily informs Rey and turns to Rose. “Oh, and this my Auntie Rose!”
Ben greets the other woman before turning back to Rey. He opens his mouth to say something, but gets interrupted by the voice over a loudspeaker that says the long-awaited parade starts in two minutes.
“Sorry, I have to go. Grandma made a Halloween costume for Chewie, and I promised her he would wear it.”
Ben tugs at the leash, and when Chewie stands up, Rey finally gets a chance to appreciate the full measure of Padmè’s imagination. She attached several handmade cotton pumpkins to the extended pad of the harness on his wide back - along with a small scarecrow made of straw and pieces of fabric by his tail.
“Is he… a pumpkin patch ?”
Ben shrugs with a chuckle. “Well, he’s huge. Why not? We’re here to have fun and take pictures for my grandmother.”
Rey exchanges glances with Rose and Clara, and they burst out laughing. Ben laughs too, brushing his hair off his face, and the dimples Rey remembered from the picture appear on his face again.
They leave the bench under the trees to join a large group of pets and their owners at the beginning of the sunlit boardwalk, at least four feet between each pair. Rey notices a few hot dog dogs, dogs as sandwiches, vampires, devils, bees, cowboys, porgs and one rainbow next to a Boston terrier with a plush pizza slice around his head. Chewie seems to be the largest of them all and walks leisurely as usual, as if the whole park is his backyard, letting Clara keep her hand on his neck. They look adorable together, a tiny girl in a fairy’s costume and a huge shepherd, his fur shining in the sun, and Rey notices Ben’s smile as he watches them is surprised and warm. As if feeling her gaze, he turns his head, and for a brief moment, they look only at each other, her hazel eyes and his honey brown that make something unfamiliar flutter inside her.
Before she figures out what it is, Ben stops in his tracks and asks, glancing at the women that accompany him, “Actually, would you like to join us? We could make a great team.”
“Yes!” exclaims Clara.
“Oh no, I’d rather go find Finn and watch you four!” Rose says, shaking her head, and turns to the girl before leaving. “And I have no doubt you, little storyteller, will easily come up with a new story!”
Clara tilts her head and hums, looking at Rey and then Ben and Chewie. Her gaze focuses on the largest pumpkin on his back, topped with a small blue butterfly.
“Okay, if mom is Cinderella and I’m the Fairy Godmother,” she begins, “then Chewie is a pumpkin patch and Ben is the Prince who owns it.”
Ben’s eyes widen, and Rey can swear he blushes. She suddenly feels warm all over and lowers her head to adjust the tulle on her shoulders. She knows it’s just another game, her little daughter’s fantasy, but the truth is, before today, she’s never had a chance to wear such a beautiful, princess dress, not to mention to have a *prince*. Especially a prince who is built and looks like Ben.
“Me? The Prince?” Ben asks, pointing at his plaid red and black shirt and jeans. “Doesn’t he wear a tailcoat or something like that?”
“Yes, Ben,” replies Clara, and Rey’s eyes dart to him to see his reaction at the simple address, but there’s nothing but curiosity on his face. Clara is always polite - perhaps he’s already asked her to call him by his name. “But you see, the Prince’s mother, the Queen, had a secret rose garden, and also a small pumpkin patch where he works without a tailcoat when he wants to relax after difficult meetings. He told Cinderella about it after their wedding, and sometimes she comes to visit him. The Fairy Godmother gave her her ball dress as a wedding gift, so she could wear it anytime she wants. Ta-da!” She waves her wand at them to emphasize her words and turns to scratch Chewie around his ears.
“Wow,” mutters Ben, glancing at Rey who laughs, shaking her head at her daughter’s unlimited imagination. “Oh, wait,” he bends down to take off Chewie’s muzzle. Clara strokes his nose and gets a couple of quick licks on her palm in return before Chewie barks at her and then at Rey, waving his tail, as if scolding them for their long absence and leaving him.
“Shush, Chewie,” orders Ben. “Clara and Rey were very busy in Theed.”
Rey doubts Chewie understands what it means, but a few more strokes from her and Clara seem to be enough for him to forgive them. The fur on Chewie’s head and ears is silkily soft, and Rey recalls how good it felt in the Lake Country to bury her fingers in his warmth. Maybe she’ll change her mind about waiting a few years to get a dog, after all.
The host announces the start of the parade, and the four start walking along with the other participants, accompanied by the audience’s laughter and cheers. Clara keeps one hand on Chewie’s neck and holds Rey’s hand with the other, while Ben stays by the shepherd’s other side, holding the leash. They were the last to arrive, and now it looks like they lead the whole procession - a royal couple, the Fairy Godmother and a shepherd carrying their own pumpkin field.
“Princess! Princess Cinderella! Fairy Godmother!”
Rey recognizes Finn’s voice on their left and turns to smile at him. To her surprise, more than ten people around him wave at her.
“You’re a star, mom!” Clara tells her with a megawatt smile. “Let’s wave at them!”
Rey obeys, pointing at Chewie’s back to attract attention to Padmè’s creation, and the applause becomes even louder. Ben waves at the audience, too, but lowers his hand a couple of seconds later.
“Where is your costume, Prince?” a pudgy Dracula yells to him.
“I have a day-off in the pumpkin patch,” immediately comes the answer, causing everyone around them to burst into laughter.
When Rey turns to him, she catches Ben already looking at her. He doesn’t ogle her or check her out, but something in his gaze awakens the same feeling she felt a few minutes later, on their way to the parade.
“They’re all looking at you and Chewie,” she tells him, unable to take her eyes off his.
“Believe me, they’re all looking at you.”
The way he says it, with no flirt but softly, the way he studies her face almost intently - this is what makes her heart, as they often describe it in books, skip a beat and then speed up.
After what happened between her and Clara’s father, Rey believed she would never experience anything like this. Taken by surprise, she releases a small chuckle and switches her attention to her vivacious daughter who blows kisses to the audience and dogs around them, enjoying herself and singing Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo . Ben looks away, and her treacherous heart eventually calms down - as it should, she reminds herself.
It takes them five minutes to reach the end of the boardwalk, the small unicorn and pizza dogs finally overtaking them and triumphantly barking at Chewie. He looks at Ben with an almost bored expression, as if saying, Children. Rey offers to make pictures for Padmè, and they move from the crowd to the stone fence of the boardwalk. Chewie stands in front of him so all the pumpkins can be seen, and Ben leans against the fence with his lips pulled up at both corners, his shirt stretching a little across his chest.
“Smile bigger, Ben!” Clara encourages him, waving his wand in the air and jumping a few times. This makes him laugh, his fingers buried in Chewie’s coat, and Rey gets several impossibly cute pictures of he and the shepherd.
Some people say dogs and their owners look alike, and well… In terms of size it’s definitely true, Rey thinks, studying the one where, to Clara’s pure delight, Chewie stood on his back legs and Ben held him by his forelegs a few seconds, turning away as the shepherd tried to lick his cheek and nose.
“You rocked this parade, Peanuts!”
Finn and Rose approach them with beaming smiles. Rey introduces Finn to Ben, and they shake hands, Chewie coming to sniff a large painted pumpkin Finn balances on his hip.
“It was gorgeous. And you, my dear, are the true Fairy Godmother,” Rose tells Clara, kissing her crown.
“She is,” agrees Rey. “What is it, Sunshine?”
Her daughter tugs at her skirt to make her bend down and then whispers, “Mom, can we have a picture with Ben and Chewie?”
“If you don’t have a picture, it will be a crime!” states Rose before Rey can say something.
Ben immediately agrees with them, giggling at Chewie being called Your Pumpkin Highness by Rose.
“Great! Rey, give me your phone,” she says, outstretching her hand. Later Rey will realize they could again use Ben’s, but now, she pulls hers out of the pocket in her skirt and hands it to her friend before standing next to Ben.
“Is it okay?” Rey quietly asks him. She doesn’t know if he’s even the type of a person who would like to take pictures with people he meets for the first time.
“Of course,” replies Ben sincerely. He radiates warmth, and he’s close enough for her to smell the faint cedar notes of his cologne. He doesn’t put his hands on her waist, instead locking them behind his back, and Clara stands next to him, her hand on Chewie’s head and the other raising the wand.
“Everyone say, Chewie !” Rose intones.
“Awww, you’re so cute, guys,” Finn comments as his wife takes pictures of them from different angles, making faces at Clara to make her laugh, and Rey and Ben to smile more. Later Rose asks them to step aside, leaving Clara and Chewie alone, before asking Rey to join them. Then Rose whispers something to her goddaughter, and she grins, taking Chewie’s leash and leading him towards Finn and Ben.
“The Prince and Cinderella should have a picture, too!” announces Rose.
It shouldn’t make Rey so nervous (and excited) but somehow, it does. She hides her fists in the layers of her skirt, watching Ben run his hand through the raven waves of his hair as he approaches her.
“It’s my turn to ask if it’s okay,” he says with a chuckle.
“Of course,” replies Rey, tilting her head back and smiling at the camera when he stays next to her, again respecting her boundaries and keeping his hands to himself. Without Clara and Chewie, Ben’s presence next to her feels stronger, but it’s rather comforting than threatening. Maybe he inherited it from his grandmother.
“Aaaand excellent!” Rose exclaims, finally handing the phone back to Rey. “Who’s hungry?”
“Me!” responds Clara.
“And him,” adds Finn, nodding at the shepherd who sits in front of him, staring at his pumpkin as if trying to make it fly to him with his mind.
“I know a good pizza place,” Ben says, taking the leash from Clara and tugging Chewie away from the pumpkin. “I doubt we would find a table inside, but...”
It sounds like a question, and Rey looks at Clara who has been dreaming of a Spooky Hamburger with berry sauce (aka blood) from the food truck, but the girl already nods in response. To her, nothing compares to the prospect of spending more time with Chewie.
“I thought Chewie didn’t eat junk food,” Rey says, remembering what Padmé told her about his rations.
“He doesn’t. He’ll have grilled chicken. And maybe some cheese, right?” Ben asks Chewie. “Do you want cheese? Cheese. ”
The dog cocks his head at him in question, which, considering his size, is hilarious, and Clara recalls all the times Chewie did the same thing when they were in the Lake Country on their way to the crowded bistro. Ben and Finn volunteer to get in line to make an order, while Rey, Rose and Clara look around, searching for an empty bench. They notice one not so far away and quicken their pace. Chewie must feel their determination and almost runs forward, successfully scaring off a couple with a black corgi and sitting in front of the bench, his tongue sticking out as if he’s mocking them.
“Good boy, Chewie,” snickers Rose, plopping on the wooden seat with a groan and stroking his head. “I’ll text Finn where we are.”
Rey and Clara decide to look at the whole album of pictures she made on Rey’s phone. Chewie looks calm, as always, and impressive even with the pumpkin patch on his back. Their Disney gowns fit them perfectly, their smiles are shining, and Ben, with his luscious hair and strong posture, really looks like a prince even in a simple plaid shirt.
“I bet he has an eight-pack,” says Rose when they reach the end.
“Rose!” Rey turns to make sure Clara didn’t hear her, but her daughter is already busy, telling Chewie about her teachers and how they find him adorable. “I’ll remind you that you're married to Finn,” she whispers, raising her eyebrows.
“And my heart fully belongs to him. It’s just my observation. Did you see him in the Lake Country? You didn’t mention it when you told us about Padmé.”
“I saw him in an old picture. I had no idea we’d ever meet,” Rey replies honestly. “I was told he lived in Theed and worked in finance, that’s all. Now we also know he’s a good grandson.”
“And that he works out,” Rose points out with a smirk, swiping her finger across the screen to move back to the picture of Ben holding Chewie, the muscles of his arms visible beneath his shirt. She is absolutely right, but Rey replies with a simple shrug, leaving her thoughts to herself.
Soon Ben and Finn arrive with two big pizza boxes and a bag where there must be chicken for Chewie. Finn looks at Rose with such an expression, as if he knows a secret and can’t wait to share it with his wife. Rey, however, has to turn her attention to Ben who offers Clara a small bottle of water from the bag.
“Here. You must be thirsty.”
The child smiles at him. “Auntie Rosie already gave me her pirate flask, thanks!”
Ben turns to Rey, and she accepts the bottle from him with a grateful yet surprised smile. He didn’t have to care about them drinking enough water, but he did, acting like it’s the most natural thing to do, and it impresses her. There were too few people in her life that showed her care and compassion so effortlessly to take it for granted.
Chewie is feasting on chicken drumsticks as the men sit together, between Rose and Clara and Rey, so it would be easier to take slices of delicious margarita and barbecue pizza from the boxes in their laps.
Their conversation switches from the ghost-shaped mozzarella pieces to the most ridiculous Halloween costumes they’ve ever seen, both in Theed and the Lake Country. Finn and Rose share the PG stories from their corporate parties, while Ben tells them about the legendary light festivals he attended when he was a child, spending Halloween on Varykino street. Rey and Clara discuss with him the fairy tale plots of every light show, and he surprises them again, this time by how well he remembers all the details, including costumes and songs, and how much joy it brings him to go through it again. He talks with his hands, his eyes shining in the light of the sunset and his voice expressive, and he looks almost beautiful like this.
Autumn in Theed is warm, but when almost an hour later, the sky above them turns dark purple and Clara yawns, leaning her head against her mother’s knees, Rey realizes it’s time to go home. There, after a short break, they will watch Casper (and maybe Cinderella ), treating themselves to dried apples or pop corn and sugar-free lemonade she will buy at the local coffee shop.
They all stand up, waking up Chewie who has been snoring for a while, and throw the napkins, empty bottles and boxes into bins. Rey shakes her skirt in case some crumbs escaped her mouth, again marveling at the shimmer of the fabric in the light.
“Lace?” Ben asks. When she looks up, he studies her shoes he must have seen for the first time since they met.
“Did you expect to see glass?” she retorts with a chuckle.
“Oh no, of course not.” He laughs, but she can notice a faint blush on his cheeks. “They’re beautiful.”
“Thank you.”
“Rey, could you send me the pictures from today? I had a really great time as the Prince with a pumpkin patch who met Cinderella and the Fairy Godmother,” here they both laugh again, “and I want to remember this day.”
Rey could say to him they spent only a couple of hours together, but he’s right. She had a great time, too, on the parade and then here, on the bench, listening and talking to him. It felt nice. Even more than nice, in the middle of the atmosphere of Halloween fun in the sunlit Sanandrassa park, with her happy daughter and friends, where she could be a princess in a beautiful gown.
“Sure, Ben. Give me your number.”