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“So it’s your one thousand and eleventh Festival of Love?” asked Flare the droid. The mechanical girl gazed inquisitively at the ancient pirate Maz, twirling her metal fingers around her silica fiberwire hair.

“Oh yes”, replied Maz. “But it never gets old, not when I see scamps like you all a-flutter at their first.” The diminutive ex-pirate chuckled, remembering the mischief of bygone years. “Don’t worry about making mistakes, my dear, you’ve got a millennia more yet to make!”

It felt like the whole Jedi temple was trembling with excitement that morning, as staff and volunteers hurried to put up the last of the decorations for the holiday. The shelter walls, usually austere stone, were adorned with flower arrangements, sweet smelling bouquets from all over the galaxy. Holo projectors lit the hallways, displaying the courtship customs of many planets. Down in the barracks, rehabilitated stormtroopers and temple staff were washing and steaming stacks of formalwear for the festivities. And the courtyard was the busiest of them all, being prepared for the evening dance. It was here where the Jedi students were gathered, helping set up the decorations.

“It says here that the Festival of Love was originally an Ewok tradition”, said Flare, reading out of her holobook. “But following the defeat of the Empire, it was imported from the Endor moon to the many planets of the Alliance, as a revolt against the Imperial crackdown on traditional celebrations.” Flare sighed happily, holding her book close. “Isn’t that inspiring? Love as rebellion!”

T’Bu groaned, having abandoned the pile of chairs he’d been given to arrange, and instead lying down on the floor. Sand People were typically nocturnal, and he wasn’t enjoying chores so early in the morning. “I’d love a nap”, he gestured in his people’s sign language.

“You might as well sleep in the whole holiday, unworthy as you are”, taunted Ariccira. The feathered princess was bearing half a dozen folded tables in one arm, and a jug of extra strength caf in the other. Tilting her head back, she gulped down all its contents in one swig, pouring it down her mouth usually hidden by her small face-wings. “I on the other hand will have plenty of energy for the dances tonight, as no doubt I shall be pleaded for at least a hundred suitors.”

“You’re really gonna dance with a hundred former stormtroopers tonight?” asked Gantei skeptically. The giant, nearly 30 feet tall, was normally gloomy, but he seemed to be a bit more talkative today now that he could hang arrangements up outside instead of being trapped outdoors all day with nothing to do. “I thought you’d find being with a bunch of ‘commoners’ disgraceful.”

“They can consider it a gift from me to be so honored”, replied Ariccira. “All tonight will see the grace of their future queen, and so clamor for my ascension to the throne. Now make sure to hang those arrangements just right, I want my ballroom to be perfect!”

The chit and chatter around the courtyard came to a quiet as the workers started to notice their Jedi masters Rey and Finn ascending the steps to the temple entrance. It was time for them to make the morning brief.

“Good morning everyone!” exclaimed Finn, speaking from a handheld mic. “Thank you all for being up bright and early for our first annual Festival of Love!”

A chorus of whoops and cheers came from the crowd, eager for the evening’s celebrations.

“We’ve got a whole day planned with activities, so let’s get started with the schedule,” Finn continued. “First, each of you needs to check with Threepio to make sure you’re on the list for a set of formalwear. You’ll get a number and it’ll be called when your clothes are ready. Once you’re set for tonight, be sure to head down to the dining hall where Rose will be leading the craft area for making chak hearts and love cards. But the most exciting part starts this evening!” Finn turned to his fellow Jedi. “Rey, what’s it gonna be?”

Rey raised her mic to speak, but curiously, nothing came out. Everyone listening waited patiently, but the silence continued to stretch. Finn, looking a little anxious, cautiously chimed back in.

“Umm… seems we have a little mic problem. Anyway, the big attraction for tonight is going to be the evening dance! Following dinner, you’re invited back here to our ballroom for all the happy couples and everyone in the dancing spirit! And we’ve got none other than Star Waver for our music here tonight!”

Another cheer came from the crowd. Rey, finally finding her voice, spoke into her own mic.

“If there’s any emergency, you can reach me in my office or leave a call with R2. I’ll see you tonight.” With that, Rey pocketed her mic and went inside. Finn watched her go, a concerned expression on his face, while the listeners went back to their previous tasks.

“Huh,” wondered Flare. “What happened to Rey there? Did she get stage fright?” She looked around to see if anyone else had noticed. Ariccira was running off, saying she needed the refresher. T’Bu was slumped on the ground, fully asleep. Only Gantei was still with her, tying an arrangement over and over. “Don’t you think it’s strange that Master Rey said so little?” Flare asked. “It’s the first time we’ve celebrated this holiday here, after all.”

Gantei looked nervous. “It doesn’t matter what I think,” he responded.

“Of course it does!” said Flare. “Don’t you ever think you’re not valuable, Gantei. I appreciate your opinion.”

The giant sighed, and leaned down, bringing his face as close as he could to Flare for a whisper. “Look, this is just a rumor, and it might all be whoophogwash. But I’ve heard the little droids in the walls chitter amongst themselves,” he said, pointing to his enormous ears, “and they say, that during the war Master Rey was… involved… with Kylo Ren.”

“WITH KY-” screamed Flare, before Gantei interrupted her with a loud “SHHHH!”

“It’s what they say,” he continued. “Like, on the battlefield they were hero and villain, but off of it they’re were in some kind of weird situationship! It was like this enemies and lovers sort of thing!”

“Oh my stars”, gasped Flare. “This is just like the holodramas, like Burning Hearts on Mustafar or Unlimited Passion!”

“Well, you know in those stories it doesn’t end well. And it didn’t here either, so they say.” Gantei cast an anxious glance around to make sure no one was hearing them. Fortunately, it seemed most people nearby were distracted by the fight that had broken out between Ariccira and a stormtrooper over the last batch of caf. “Anyway, supposedly Rey did manage to turn Kylo Ren back to the light, turn him back into Ben Solo. But that was just before their confrontation with the Emperor. Where Ben saved her. And then he died.” Gantei stood up, and he and Flare looked up at the north tower of the temple, where Rey’s office was situated. “I don’t know if any of that’s true. Maybe it’s just tall tales. But if it were me… I figure if I had something going on with a person that most of the galaxy remembers as a monster, and then just as I managed to turn him to good he died in front of me… I think that’d mess me up. I wouldn’t want to be at a holiday like this either.”

Flare continued to watch the tower, pondering the flickering dim light coming from the window. “That’s such a shame,” she mused. “To be burdened by sudden misfortune for years since, not daring to ever try again for love…” Flare’s tone grew more indignant. “It’s not fair! Master Rey deserves to know that she’s not doomed to never love again! I mean, everyone in the galaxy loves her!”

Gantei looked perturbed. “Err, not everyone…”

Flare scoffed. “Okay, everyone except heartless morons like the Sith. I mean, it just makes sense! She’s a sweetheart, she’s strong, she’s got piloting talent, is an intelligent teacher, she’s so pretty, and she’s got the biggest heart of them all! There should be, like, a stack of love cards delivered to her every day!” Just then, Flare’s photoreceptors shot open wide. An exhilarating plan was forming in her core processor. “…what if we did deliver a stack of love cards to Master Rey?”

“Flare, please tell me you’re kidding.”

“No, see, it makes perfect sense! She deserves a thousand cards to make up for the hundreds that she’s missed for the past four years. We’ll just have to make them ourselves with the help of everybody here. We can design one thousand, one hundred, and thirty-eight variations-”

“Calm down before you overheat!” Indeed, Flare’s cooling fan was whirring loudly with a creaking groan.

“Fine, fine! But still, it’s a project we have to try. Can you help me on this, please?” Noticing the giant still looking nervous, Flare added, “It would be very useful of you.”

Gantei sighed. “Might as well keep you grounded.” Noticing T’Bu still snoozing, he carefully picked him up with one hand and passed him to Flare to carry inside.

Rey wasn’t in her office. She’d gone through the secret door behind the shelf of invaluable Jedi artifacts, made her way down the hidden staircase, used the Force to move the bricks in the wall, then proceeded into the empty alley. Clad in a hooded gray cloak, Rey kept her face hidden as she moved from one shady backstreet to another.

The temple she had just left was once an ancient stone rocket, piloted by the Jedi in the eons before repulsors were invented for starships to fly. It was since permanently parked here, an old ruin leaning at a precarious tilt, surrounded by stacks of somewhat less ancient pueblos and more modern durasteel architecture mixed in. The dense maze of old and new buildings meant it wasn’t hard for Rey to avoid being followed; anyone would’ve been lost if they tried.

Her destination was in sight. A deserted plaza, rimmed by dead trees, with a fountain at its center that was completely dry.

Rey spoke through her mic, modulating her voice. “I’m here. Have you got it?”

She heard a growl. “Hrm. Show me the credits first.” Rey reached into her cloak’s pockets and pulled out a set of gleaming bars. The figure only growled again. “Hrm. Much, but not by much. Prices rise every week. I could do better if I wait.”

“Next week won’t be a holiday. Your best bet is to sell now.”

“Hrm. I’ve got other offers for your price. I could get you tickets for the Halcyon-”

“I’ve been,” Rey interrupted them. “I don’t need to go again. Now, let’s give each other what we promised.”

“Hrm, hrm. This had better settle all my debts.”

A figure rose from the fountain, camouflage shimmering off of their body. It was a small figure, coming up to Rey’s waist, with only a pair of tusks visible beneath a cloak of their own. Reaching into its folds, the figure pulled out a small box, presenting it forward with one hand while holding their other open for their pay. But just as the exchange was about to made, another cloaked figure emerged from the opposite alley.

“I’m here for my deal”, their modulated voice rang out. “Don’t tell me you’ve stiffed me so soon.”

“What is this?” said the small smuggler. “You mean you’re not together? When you both told me to meet here, I assumed you had a partnership, but this-”

Rey reached for her lightsaber, not yet brandishing it, but making clear she was armed. “Whoever you are, back off! This is mine and I’m more than ready to defend it.”

Her cloaked opponent reached into their robes too. “So am I,” they retorted.

The smuggler held up both hands, dropping the box and a pair of packages out of their robes. “Hrmm I didn’t come here for a fight, hrmm! Just take it and hrm, leave me be!” They swiftly turned and shifted back into invisibility, leaving the two cloaked rivals in the plaza.

The packages lay on the ground between them. Rey drew her lightsaber and its bright golden glow lit up the square. But the other one pulled out their weapon, and Rey’s eyes widened as it turned out to be a lightsaber of their own.

“So tell me, Mister Stormtrooper-”

“Tevlin.”

“Mister Tevlin Guy”, Flare replied. She held out a rectangular recording device to the Zabrak before her, who was seated among many others in a makeshift salon, getting their hair, horns, scales, and all other features groomed before the evening dance. “Tell me, why do you love Rey Skywalker?”

The Zabrak frowned a little at this impromptu confrontation, but reneged. “Well, I like that she’s out there rescuing folks like us, and giving us a place to get on our feet. I can actually grow my horns out here, the First Order never allowed that.”

“How heartening!” Flare cheered, and moved to the next seated trooper. “How about you, tell me why you love Rey.”

The ex-trooper was a tusked Aqualish, who responded in a series of gurgles and snarls. After many uninterrupted minutes about the food in the shelter, her theories on the evening holodramas, and some kind of strange anecdote about a man named Jhorizo Boe, Flare decided it was best to move on to the next one.

As for Gantei, he’d been charged with crafting the 1000 chak hearts. At first he’d expected to have a hard time making such tiny trinkets from little scraps of bark and paint, let alone enter the craft area at all, but it turned out he didn’t need to. The stormtrooper younglings coming from the dining hall had no fear of him, and squealed and cheered as he let them climb all over him and took them for a ride in his massive hands. The tiny ones would bring chak hearts they made themselves, and within the hour he was overflowing with them.

As the temple occupants broke for lunch, the two apprentices met up again. Gantei helped himself to some spare bark and logs as snacks, while Flare plugged herself into a charging station. She leaned against the wall, the hiss of exhaust venting from her chassis.

“Never seen you look tired”, remarked the giant.

“I… I… I’ve got 29 testimonies,” she said between exhaling steam. “But at that rate… we won’t make a thousand by nightfall… We need a faster approach.”

“How do you expect to get faster? What, you’re gonna lock everybody in a room and make them proclaim their love for Rey?”

A puff of smoke burst from Flare’s vents. Gantei waved it away, coughing. When he looked down again, Flare had gone.

The giant sighed. “Me and my big mouth…”

Two lightsabers glowed in the plaza. One gold, and one… green?

“Finn?!”

“Rey?!”

The two of them pulled off their cloaks, revealing the faces of the stunned ex-scavenger and the confused former stormtrooper.

“What are you doing here??” cried out Rey. “Since when do you trade with the Sph’for Smugglers?”

“I was about to ask you the same thing”, responded Finn. “But I assume, like you, I came here for that”. He pointed at the parcels on the ground. Rey called the small box to her hand, while Finn picked up both his larger ones.

Their prizes now claimed, the two Jedi began to walk back to the temple together. Finn continued to explain himself. “I went up to your office. I was hoping to distract you with a situation down in barracks while I took the secret exit. But you weren’t there, and I noticed all the artifacts on the shelf were slightly shifted from before. I hurried down, worried about where you went… and here we are now.”

“Fantastic,” groused Rey. “Guess we both screwed up our surprises. You’re not going to tell me what’s in those parcels, are you?”

“I mean, are you eager to tell me about yours?”

Rey frowned, and pulled out her box. “Just promise not to tell Poe until tonight.” She opened it, revealing a pair of finely crafted rings. They were made from titanium alloy, the same used as armor on X-wings. “I hired that person to find Poe’s ring that he lost on Crait. And then I thought, well, with how busy you and Poe have been with helping me with the temple, and all the stormtrooper rescues, you two haven’t really had the chance for a real wedding, and since Poe would be needing a ring for you too-”

Finn interrupt her with a swift and crushing hug. Rey held on to him, embracing the overcome Jedi. “It’s going to be really hard for me to keep these secret from Poe,” he muttered, struggling to speak through a quavering voice. As they parted, Rey saw tears in his eyes.

“Well, enjoy your three gifts”, replied Rey teasingly.

“…these are for you, actually.” Finn handed the two parcels to Rey, and she took them with a confused expression. “I was thinking about what you could use for today’s Festival, and seeing as you’re a Skywalker, well, you deserve something from the Skywalker archives. So if you happen to have a cute date for tonight…”

Rey opened the parcels and peered inside, discovering a pair of outfits. They were unmistakably Nabooan in design. One appeared to be a gorgeous sky blue dress embedded with tiny crystals. The other seemed to be a suit, maroon and of a silken fabric. “I didn’t know if you’d want the dress or the suit,” continued Finn “so I figured I’d get both. But man did that guy charge for them. Said it was for deep space retrieval fees, somehow. But they left before I could pay them, so I guess better figure out how to get in contact again-”

Rey looked up at Finn and smiled, but he spotted it fall for a moment. Her smile now was looking a little strained, and she seemed to avoid looking him in the eyes. Oh no, this was definitely the wrong thing to get her. “Well that explains why you were asking about my measurements last week”, she responded. Straightening up, Rey turned to Finn a little stiffly. “Thank you so much, Finn” she said in that perfectly even voice he heard her use whenever the reporters came around. “I… I’ll definitely appreciate this.”

It'd been like this ever since Exegol. Maybe even further. She wouldn’t tell him what had happened on the planet, and he accepted it, at first, thinking it was too soon to the end of the war and every wound was still raw. But then came the next year, and the next, and now four years later he could tell she was still holding on to something that made her feel like a damned soul. He knew it had to do with Kylo Ren, and some nights lying awake he almost dared to answer it for himself. But he wouldn’t press her to tell him, not until she felt safe. But how could he get her to know that she was safe with him, that she didn’t need to keep punishing herself over this?
For now, they made their way up the hidden staircase together, and helped each other move the trick bookshelf back, until Rey broke the silence. “What were you going to tell me about the barracks?”

“Oh, that. Well…” Finn replied nervously. “I was hoping you could solve an issue. You see, we’re throwing this big Festival of Love, we’re having everyone finding dates, we’re having this big dance at the end, and it got me thinking, tonight, after the dance, a lot of our clients are going to be… eager. And the shelter dormitories, well, they’re not exactly private.”

Rey buried her face in her hands. “Kriff,” she muttered. She looked back up at Finn with a morose expression. “How many of those hotel vouchers do we still have, the ones we used during the flood?”

Finn shrugged. “It’s a holiday, the hotels are sure to be packed.”

“Well then you’d better hurry. Start booking rooms now, I’ll tell Threepio to set up a line for after the party, first-come-first-serve. Move!”

Flare cracked her limb servos, flexed the pistons in neck, and stretched her digit articulators. “Well, I hope the makeup folks feel like giving it another go,” she said, as she pulled a panel off the wall of the maintenance hallway, plugged her hair cables in, and then across the temple set off the sprinklers.

Cries of outrage rang across the shelter. Everyone tried to cover themselves from the water pouring from the ceiling. Soon everyone was running to the underground bunker, the only place inside that was still dry.

Flare followed the cacophonous crowd at a stroll. “Now for the finishing touch,” she remarked, pulled a set of wires leading to the bunker entrance, and casually stepped inside as the door slammed shut.

For a minute, there was silence in the dark. Then voices began to ring out.

“Is it done? Can we get out of here?”

“I can’t see a damn thing, someone crack open a door! Or a window?”

“Are there windows? How about the door, will it open?”

“It’s not opening! The door’s stuck!”

“We’re stuck! We’re all gonna die down here!”

“Nobody eat me!”

The crowd’s yells grew louder and louder, hundreds of screaming voices echoing off the walls. There was banging, and shoving, and all manner of chaos, until one voice rang out louder than all the others.

“ATTENTION, TROOPERS!!” At this, all of the ex-stormtroopers in the bunker fell silent. Some stood at attention, residual indoctrination still lingering in them. “No one is getting trapped down here, no one’s getting left behind, and most of all, no one is going to panic!” yelled the old trooper. “Now we’re going to wait this out, and General Finn is going to be getting us out of here!”

“Permission to speak?! Sir?!”

“Denied! Now all of you just sit tight, and think to yourself about all General Finn has done for you!”

Flare perked up. “And don’t forget, Master Rey has done so much for us all too!”

“I didn’t give you permission to speak, trooper!”

“I’m not a trooper!” Flare yelled. “Just let me have this!” Magnifying her voice, she spoke to the crowd. “Now c’mon, everyone! Remember all the ways that Rey’s rescued us?”

There were murmurs and grumbles from the crowd. “That’s true,” one said, “Master Rey broke us out of captivity.”

“She’s the one who reunited me with my family.”

“She’s kept those stinkin’ Sith off our backs.”

“Rey’s unstoppable, there’s nothing she can’t do!”

“Yes! Yes!” shouted Flare. She held out her recording device. “Now keep going!”

Soon the room filled with tales of gratitude and hope, everyone inside sharing their memories of how the Jedi had helped them. As they praised her, a crack of light began to appear, growing wider and brighter as the door to the bunker was slowly shoved upon. Soon enough, the way was clear, with Rey and Finn catching their breath at the entrance.

The trapped ones inside cheered, and the crowd began to make their way out while giving their thanks to the Jedi as they exited. Flare joined the throng, but as she crossed the entrance Rey grabbed her by the arm.

The Jedi glared at the droid. “Gantei tells me you set off the fire alarm,” she declared.

Flare looked around nervously. “Ummm… do I still get to attend the party?”

Finn thrust a floor sweeper in Flare’s hands. “The whole temple. By tonight.”

The evening had arrived. The temple was adorned, the floors were gleaming, and Flare’s joints creaked and whined.

“Ughhh, I feel like the dump on Lotho Minor,” she whined, pouring oil into her sockets. “Well, at least I got nearly everybody,” she said to her fellow Padawans. “That leaves just you guys.” She held out chak hearts to each of them, offering to record something.

Gantei leaned in close to the scrap in Flare’s hand. “Umm, hi Rey, happy Festival, and… thanks for taking a chance on me as a Jedi when every other planet was too scared to let me in.”

T’Bu examined his fragment closely. Rather than making a recording, he took a piece of chalk and scribbled ot it, doodling a Rey stick figure with a glow coming off of her, and the Sand Boy giving a thumbs up.

Ariccira took her bark and made her spiel. “To Rey Skywalker… thank you for recognizing my limitless ability, and in the future, I think you will make a fine warrior-servant.” Their messages made, the Padawans handed their tokens back to Flare.

“I’ve got the staff, the stormtroopers, and now apprentices. Which leaves-”

“Attention everyone!” Finn’s voice rang out across the courtyard. “Tonight’s dance will be starting soon, so finish up your business and gather your partners soon!”

That’s who she needed. As Finn wrapped up his announcement, Flare went up to him. “Hello? Mister Finn? I’ve been making chak hearts for Master Rey, and I was wondering-”

Finn did a double take upon seeing the nearly overflowing basket in her arms. “Did you make all of these?” he asked.

“Why yes! Well, Gantei helped, and so did everyone else in the temple, kinda. Which brings me to you!” She held out her recording device out to Finn. “Got anything to say for Rey on this holiday?”

Finn thought for a moment. “To Rey… we’ve been through a lot! We’ve changed each other, in so many ways, for the better.” He thought again. “You should know… I treasure every moment we’ve had together, and nothing you could do would change that.”

Flare widened her optics. “Wow… she’s gonna really love this one!”

Finn smiled. “I sure hope so.”

As people began gathering on the dance floor, Flare began to collect her remaining recordings. Poe teased Rey about her adjustments to the Falcon and said he’d be challenging her to a race later. Rose thanked Rey for all the times she had helped the mechanic in fixing up around the shelter. Chewie teased about having known Rey since she was small and saying he might let her win a game of dejarik. Maz started to tell a story about how exactly she had gotten the old lightsaber until Flare cut the recording when certain details started to sound incriminating. BB-8 beeped excitedly begging Rey to take them on another flight soon. Threepio stammered and dithered over every word, before R2 cut him off to say they looked forward to their next adventures together.

With her countless recordings made, Flare set to work in stitching them into the trinkets. Still, she couldn’t escape the nagging feeling that she was missing somebody, but the thought was pushed out of her processor by the increasing screams of people yelling “Star Waver! Star Waver!! STAR WAVER!!!” as the famed band made their way to the ballroom stage. Dancers and partners took to the floor in exhilarated cacophony, and the once austere Jedi Temple was a center of dizzying emotional high.
Swept up in the music, Flare almost wanted to join in, but out of the corner of her optics she spotted someone leaving the party. And she had her suspicions about exactly who it was…

Rey kept on walking, out into the dark night, not stopping until she reached the launchpad. The forlorn Jedi sat down on the deserted runway, lost in her thoughts. Countless stars shown overhead but she wasn’t watching any of them.
Not very far away, a few voices whispered to each other.

“This is our chance! Now float the love cards over to her!”

“Why do you want me to float them?? I don’t dare use the Force, I’d flatten everyone in the temple!”

“It has to be this way! Won’t it look romantic, a thousand love cards floating down to Master Rey from the night sky? Now please, this is the most important part!”

“*Gulp* Force be with me…”

Gantei extended a hand, and a grand bundle of bark trinkets rose into the air. They floated their way over to Rey, looming over the Jedi… and promptly fell out the sky and buried her.

Rey burst out of the pile, wiping the cards off of her with a muttered “dank ferric”, then curiously picked one up. It had a button for playing a recorded message, which she pressed… to be met with cacophonous roars.

“Noo!! That’s not how it’s supposed to work!” Flare ran out and snatched the chak heart from Rey’s hands, examining it as it wailed. “The recordings must’ve bled together somehow! Ughhhh, it’s gonna take me hours to fix this-”

“Flare?” asked Rey. “What’s all this? Did you make these? …is this why you locked everyone downstairs?”

A loud thud was heard, then another, as Gantei lumbered away as fast as he could. “All her idea! I had nothing to do with this!” he exclaimed, heading back to the party.

Flare looked back at Rey, looking nervous. “I’m sorry, it was supposed to be a thousand love cards and I wanted to get recordings of everyone saying how much they love you! Because you were looking so sad all of today over because of the Kylo Ren thing and-” Flare suddenly covered her vocoder, realizing what she’d just said.

Rey sighed. “I guess the lothcat’s out of the camtono…”

Flare braced, afraid of what might come next, but Rey said nothing and sat down again, looking off into the distance. Anxiously uneasy, Flare sat down with her, the pile of bark cards between them. “So… it is true? You were dating Kylo Ren?”

Rey chuckled mirthlessly. “‘Dating’’s a strong way of putting it. But, yes… there was something between us.”

Flare dared to scoot a bit closer. “May I ask why?”

Rey shrugged her shoulders. “Well I guess a childhood spent growing up in a wasteland didn’t give me great taste in men.”

Flare tilted her head at this. “You don’t have to put yourself down. Your feelings are valid.”

Rey glanced at Flare, eyes narrowed. “Are they? How do I say this to anyone? ‘Oh hi, I had a crush on the Master of the Dark Side who wanted to kill us all, and for many of us, succeeded? Oh don’t worry, he turned good at the end, just trust me on that! He gave half of you scars and then we made out!’ What, do I tell a therapist about this? Tell Poe? Tell Finn?” The Jedi sighed. She held her hands together at her face, continuing to muse.

“The worst part is,” she continued, as Flare listened, “deep down, I still feel it. I still feel what it was like to be that girl, scared on Jakku, feeling all these unanswered questions about myself, wondering if anyone would ever return for me. And here comes this person who seems to have all those answers, who can tell me exactly who I’m supposed to be. He’s frightening, and furious, but also… vulnerable. And whenever I push him down, I feel stronger, like I’m making up for all those times I felt powerless. And I want to do that, again and again.”

Rey sniffed back a tear, wiping it from her eyes. “And then I think, if he can get to me and make me feel all these things, then surely I can reach into him too. And for a moment, it feels like I did. Like I really mended his soul… before he died in my arms.”

More tears began to stream down her face. Rey struggled to push down her sobs. “I can’t… tell… anyone… this…”

Flare pondered all this, unsure of what to say. Eventually, she opted to reach out and offer Rey to rest in her arms, and the Jedi obliged, her tears falling down the droid’s plating.

“Master Rey…” whispered Flare. “Well… I don’t think of you any less for this. And I don’t think Finn and Poe and the others would either.” She looked down at the pile of the scattered chak trinkets. “When I went around, asking everyone here why they love you, people were so eager to share about all you’ve done for them. Literally a thousand of them! We all know your intentions are good! Maybe you consider this a mistake, and we all make mistakes! I’ve sure made a lot… But my point being, we know you’re trying to do the right thing.”

Rey was still crying, but she had slowed a little. She took the chance to get in a couple of deep breaths and wipe her tears.

Flare looked down at her. “And, well, some of us know. Finn definitely knows. And I think, if you wanted to tell him yourself, he’d accept that. It’s what he told me, that there is nothing you’re able to do that would make him not treasure every moment you’re in his life.”

Rey sat up a bit, a faint smile coming to her lips as she continued to wipe away her tears. “Just like him to know and be too much of a gentleman to say it.” She let out a long sigh, catching her breath for good. “But yeah, I guess he should hear it from me.”

For a few minutes more, the two sat in silence beneath the night sky. Rey continued to rest in Flare’s arms, until- “Dank ferrik, I just realized!” the droid cried out. “I was so busy trying to get everyone else’s confessions, I forgot to record mine!” Flare snatched a chak shard and shot up to her feet, pulling Rey up with her. “Just… cover your ears. Don’t even try to read my vocoder. Just for a minute.”

Rey obliged and turned around to face away, hands over her ears. But she couldn’t resist letting Flare’s words come through.

“Rey Skywalker, you are by far the most… amazing, no, astonishing, wait, inspiring person I’ve ever met. Every day I see you doing everything you can to help all the people in the need here and on a million planets, and discovering all sorts of incredible things in this world and in the spiritual world beyond. You’re genuinely kind, and brave, you give all of us hope when the times are darkest, and you’re so kriffing beautiful my photoreceptors feel like they’re gonna burn. I’m just… so overwhelmed to get to witness you being so breathtaking every day, and whenever you doubt yourself just remember that all of us across the galaxy we believe in you!”

Flare switched off the recording and tapped Rey on the shoulder, urging her to turn around. She held out the chak card to the Jedi. “There, that should be one recording that works tonight.” Rey took it and Flare turned to head inside. “I’ll see you at the party!”

Rey stood there, stunned, holding the little token. A feeling she’d almost forgotten began to sweep over her from head to toe. Her face flushed red and her heart thundered.

“Wait!” she cried out to Flare. The droid stopped, and looked back at her. “Do you want to-”, Rey stuttered, “would you want to- be my dance partner?”

Flare gazed back at her, dumbfounded. “…dance??”

Rey shrugged, trying to look casual. “Sure! Night’s not over yet. They ought to have saved the best song for last.”

Flare continued to stare back, lost for words, until the silence was broken by the whirr of her fan. “Ummm, I-, I-, yes! Yes I’d love to dance! But…” She looked down at her overalls. “I’m all covered in grime after cleaning today. I don’t have anything nice I could wear…”

Rey examined Flare closely. “Do you think you’re my size?”

“Well, it’s not often I get to work on a droid,” mused the hairdresser. “Ironic, being a droid myself. Definitely a challenge on such short notice, but, I think you’ll like what you’ll see. Ready?”

The droid in the saloon turned on the lights in front of the mirror, letting Flare see herself now made over. Her chassis had been polished to a gleam, her cable pigtails now braided into a plait, topped with a red bow, and she was wearing the dress Rey had been gifted. It was an off-the-shoulder ball gown, sky blue and the fabric was decorated with lace and tiny crystals, giving it an iridescent gleam in the light. Flare stared at her own reflection, stunned.

“Maker… I look like a kriffing princess!”

Ariccira raised an eyebrow, but relented. “Sure, for tonight.”

Rey too had been made up extra fancy for the dance. She wasn’t exactly a scavenger living in a dilapidated wreck anymore, but it was still a foreign experience for her having her hair put through the really lavish shampoos then braided and adorned. The suit she wore maroon red, with gold trim and a silken texture, long sleeves and an open back. Oddly, there were a handful of burns on the fabric that resembled blaster marks; Rey made a mental note to investigate those after the dance.

Down in the courtyard, the lights were dimmed to a soft yellow glow, and Endor wispies floated among the dancers like little stars. Star Waver’s tunes had slowed to a relaxing melody, but in spite of it Rey couldn’t stop her heart feeling like it was going to drum out of her chest. The droid girl was no less nervous. Her plating and dress sparkled but she could barely contain the rattle of her servomotors keeping from spinning out of control.

The two of them met on the dance floor, trying their hardest not to think about the dozens of other guests surrounding them.

“Is that Master Rey?” questioned Threepio. “And F14-R3? Are they about to-” The protocol droid was suddenly cut off as a very exuberant astromech rammed him in the knees, beeping at him to shut up and dance together.

“G-good to s-see you here,” stammered Flare, her voice heavy with static. “Th-thanks so much for this dr-dress!”

Rey wiped a drop of sweat from her brow. “No problem. I’ve… done little dances during the Resistance days, but… never with someone else before, so… sorry if I’m bad at it...”

“Oh no worries!” exclaimed Flare. “I’m bad too! Haha! I think. I tried watching 247 holos on dancing while I was getting ready but they were all on fast forward so… w-we’ll learn together.”

The droid held out her hands, and Rey took them in hers. The Jedi took the lead, though all she could bring them to do was sway.

“Your hands”, the Jedi remarked curiously. “They’re… softer than I expected.”

“Oh! Um… I built them with polycompliant material, so that they’ve got a bit of give. You know, so that I don’t break somebody’s face during training.”

“Good idea”, Rey replied. Taking in a breath, she worked up the smallest bit of confidence to bring one hand to Flare’s waist.

To a spectator, it must’ve not looked like a great dance. The two ladies stumbled about each other’s feet, didn’t have much in the sense of rhythm, and could barely hold a gaze into each other’s faces, blushing furiously all the while. But to the two of them, it was the best dance they’d ever had, and all their worries and anxieties were for this one night replaced with peace.