Chapter Text
Looking at him, you wouldn’t think he used to be in the army.
He always looked the calmest when he was tending to his flowers, preening each leaf and petal so they would be absolutely perfect, an intense yet serene expression on his face. Rey never understood the appeal of it, flowers were pretty whether or not they were perfect. But it helped him, so she never questioned it.
Munching on her bagel, she watched him cut off the last wilting leaf off of a tulip while she idly twirled a pencil between her fingers. He bent up slowly, hand on his back, his eyes closed as he tried not to wince. She felt bad for him; he had been injured by a bullet, making it so he was in constant pain. He had told her that he spent months in the hospital, and for a while, they weren’t sure if he would survive it. He’d almost been paralyzed for life by it, but by his luck, he was alive and still able to walk. He had to wear a leg brace and usually walked with a cane, but he never complained about it. Rey figured he felt he was just lucky to be alive that he’d take the one paralyzed leg.
“There we go, perfect,” Finn sighed when he opened his eyes again.
“Now will you come eat your damn bagel, I spent $3 on it.” Rey grumbled as she set down the pencil, even though there was a trace of a smile on her face.
“No need to be rude,” Finn laughed as he grabbed his cane and hobbled over.
Rey rolled her eyes, taking a swig of her lukewarm coffee.
They fell into a comfortable silence as they ate their lunch. It was a daily routine for her: wake up, shower, get dressed, go to work (which was the coffee shop next door), try to be polite to the guys that tried to hit on her, actually be polite to the nice people, take her lunch break by bringing Finn food and sitting with him in his shop, go back to work, walk home with Finn. She was glad she met the guy, and she seemed to be the only person in his life as well, so she was extra glad that she got to be a part of his life.
The open door brought something other than a breeze, breaking her train of thought. She put her cup down, listening harder. It sounded like someone was… crying? Rey stood up and walked to the door, peeking her head outside.
On the sidewalk sat a little redheaded girl, who was clutching her knees and crying into them. Rey stepped over to her, kneeling beside her.
“Are you okay? Are you lost?”
The little girl looked up at her, tears in her eyes as she nodded.
“Where’d you lose your mom? Or dad?” Rey inquired.
The girl raised her hands and signed [Dad] then [Street.]
Rey furrowed her brow, knowing it would be hard to find a single man in the busy streets, especially since it was lunch hour.
“Do you want to see some flowers? You’ll be safe in here while you wait for him.” Rey offered.
The girl’s eyes lit up as she nodded again.
“What’s your name?”
[B... B.]
“Bibi?”
Another nod.
“Okay, Bibi, I’m Rey.” She signed ‘R- E- Y’ for her. “Do you want a cookie?” Rey offered as she helped the girl up and walked her inside.
Bibi made a happy noise that Rey took as a yes. She’d been looking forward to eating that cookie, but this girl obviously needed it more than her.
Finn looked up at her when she walked back in.
“Why’d you- oh… Hello, little one.” He said in confusion.
She waved shyly from behind Rey.
“This is Bibi, she’s lost. Bibi, this is my friend Finn. He takes care of the flowers.”
[Hello… Flower… Man.]
Finn looked blankly at her before awkwardly saying, “I don’t understand, I don’t speak- uh, know, sign language.”
“She said ‘hello, flower man!’” Rey translated.
“Oh. Well, hello again.” He said sheepishly.
Rey offered Bibi her seat, giving her the cookie.
[Thank… You.]
“No problem, sweetie.”
[Dad.]
“What is she saying?” Finn asked curiously.
“That means ‘dad.’ What does he look like?”
[Small… Spanish… kind. Name… P… O… E.] Bibi signed thoughtfully before picking the cookie back up.
“Alright… Finn, you watch her, and I’ll go see if I can find him.”
Before Finn could say anything, Rey had run back out the door. He looked back at the little girl, who was staring at the flowers.
[Pretty.]
Finn shook his head, “Sorry, I don’t know what you’re saying.”
Bibi looked confused for a moment before pointing at the flower then at herself, making a big smile.
“Oh, you like the flowers?”
She nodded enthusiastically.
“Do you want one?” he offered.
She started bouncing in her seat, making joyous sounds.
He smiled, pushing himself off of his chair with his cane, hobbling back over to the flowers she was looking at, and cut the best one of the bunch. She pointed to her hair with a questioning look on her face, and he obliged, weaving into a little braid. She grinned at him as he sat back down.
She pointed to the cane.
“I was in the army.” He started to explain.
[Dad.]
“Your dad was too?”
Bibi swooshed her hand in the air, attempting to make an airplane noise.
“He was in the Air Force?”
Bibi nodded.
“A pilot. Wow… I don’t think I could get in one of those small airplanes, even before this,” he gestured at his leg. “I got hurt, and now I have to use this to walk.”
Bibi nodded seriously before going back to her cookie. Finn slid a pencil over to her, leaning over his chair to grab a sheet of paper off of his counter, sliding that along as well.
“I don’t have terribly much to do around here, but you can draw something while Rey finds your dad.” Finn suggested.
She nodded happily, wiping crumbs off of the table and picking up the pencil. Finn sighed as she started drawing lines, hoping Rey would come back soon with Bibi’s dad.