The Last Jedi: The Spark of Rebellion

Moon Harvest: Part One

Author's Note: Hi guys. Sorry I've been gone most of this week. We went to the big city! But I've finally got a new chapter written. Here you are ^_^  Thanks for reading!

ROSE

Rose stopped for a moment to breathe in the sweet scent coming from the trees in the mountains, which surrounded the small mining community.

It seemed like every light in town was lit that evening. The homes on the hills twinkled between the trees, the store signs were on and tiny lights hung between the lampposts which ran along main street, glittering under the clear sky. The festive look contrasted the poverty that she knew was the true condition of her home town. They did at least have some decorations to use once a year for their Moon Harvest Festival. Music and singing floated out onto the streets from the local deli. Rose's heart swelled at the sound of it.

"I guess no one's getting any sleep tonight," Finn said, standing beside her. It was surreal having him here, one part of her life being introduced into another, her two worlds colliding, one reality merging with another.

She nodded to Finn, too choked up to respond to his comment. It had been a crazy two days, but they'd made it through. It felt more like two months had passed, and yet miraculously her town was still in one piece, thanks to a fleet of Space Pirates that had come to their aid against the Ruling Order attack. 

Rose had the idea to disengage the nearby space station, which was giving orders to the Ruling Order fleet during the fight. And it had worked. Once the communication between the space station and the robot fleet was terminated, the small army sent to kill all life on her planet suddenly became inactive. This was only a temporary fix. A small battle won, but a war still left to be fought. Now they were finally here, on planet and out of danger.

"Do your parents own a store here?" Finn asked. He tucked his hands into his pockets even though the night air was warm.

"No." Rose shook her head. She was stalling. With all the craziness of the past two days in battle and no sleep, she wasn't ready to face her parents and all the cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, grandparents and barrage of grandchildren that would likely be celebrating together tonight. Not to mention, seeing them would remind her that Paige wasn't a part of it all anymore. This would her first Moon Festival without Paige.

Finn kicked up dust on the street with his boot. They were standing under a lamp post, which had shiny string wrapped around it from top to bottom for the festival. It was a miracle that the battle had been won just in time for the Moon Harvest, a tradition brought over from the Old World by settlers like her grandfather, who wanted to preserve the practice of giving thanks for the year's harvest in celebration. It was the only time of year that all three moons were visible and full at the same time, while lined up next to each other.

"Do you want to go somewhere?" Rose asked Finn. Her palms began to sweat just at the thought of inviting him to her and Paige's special spot, but it was a special ritual she didn't want to forgo, not if she was already here by some divine chance, on planet during the festival days.

"Are we going to your home?" Finn asked. He looked nervous and she smiled.

"We will. I think we both deserve some sleep tonight, but I meant somewhere else. I'm not ready to face the entire family just yet. It will be loud and there will be a lot of kids running around."

Finn smiled, then frowned. "How do you think Rey and the rest of them are doing?"

Rose resisted the urge to frown. She did care about Rey, but Finn cared a lot more. 

She looked away from him, not wanting to see his expression. He always had this sad look of longing on his face whenever he brought up Rey. Rose still wasn't clear on what their history was.