On the main base, Finn sees Rey in the isolated engine room, standing over a vast emptiness. He goes near her. “Is it okay if I join?” he asks.

“Yeah,” Rey replies, still staring into the distance.

After a few moments, she breaks the silence, “I hate this place. Those leaders, this duty. All I wanted to do was help people. But not... this.”

Finn replies, “I’m not the biggest fan of this place either. They’re doing the right thing, but I just can’t always agree with everything they do. I guess you saw what happened with me.”

“I don’t know all the details, but something about it didn’t seem to be right to me, either. They can’t imprison everyone they suspect. But I’m sure once they get it all sorted out, they’ll figure out who the real traitors are and let everyone else go.”

Finn looks unconvinced, and then asks, “What did Gnovian and the others talk to you about?”

Rey hesitates, and decides not to tell him about the force drain. “I hesitated when I faced Kylo. I told the other soldiers to stop firing at him. And it cost us. Who knows how many I could have saved if I were to end him right there?”

Finn responds, “Wait- why DID you stop?” Rey stops talking, and sighs. Seeing that Rey doesn’t want to talk about it, Finn says, “Rey, all these people expect too much from you. They say you’re the savior. Who cares? You don’t have to live up to their expectations. Even if you can’t save everyone, you’re trying your best. You don’t have to be perfect.”

Rey finally turns to him, “But if I’m not, what am I to them? Will anyone even care for me if I’m not the savior? Everyone is so friendly- but only because of my powers! They’d just treat me like dirt- like how everyone else did on Jakku!”

Finn shakes his head, “Not everyone. I thought of you as a friend even before you discovered your abilities. You helped me get BB-8 to Poe even though you didn’t have to. You were eager to help me escape the First Order, putting your own life at risk. You didn’t use your fancy powers to do that. And because of that, I knew I could trust you- not your powers, but just you. And I will do whatever I can to be a good friend to you too.”

Rey dips her head down away from Finn, and smiles. “Thank you,” she says. “Though I’m still not sure what these powers are. But ever since I learned more about the Force, about how it flows through all things, I think it’s been with me this whole time.”

Finn perks up, reminded of what happened in the battle. “Rey... there’s something that’s been bothering me.”

Rey turns to him and replies, “What is it?”

Finn continues, “Back in the battle, something strange happened. I reached my hand out, and these boulders started moving. At the time, I wasn’t sure if it was my imagination or not, but now, I’m sure it wasn’t. I don’t know what to make of it.”

Rey says, “You think it’s the Force, don’t you?”

Finn responds, “Wait- I never said that!”

Rey ignores this and continues, “Finn, that’s amazing! What did it feel like? Could you do it again? Was this the first time you felt the Force? How many stones did you move? How far?”

Finn stops her, “Whoa, okay, okay. First off, I don’t know if it was the Force. Second, I don’t know anything about the Force, so I can’t answer any of what you just said. Just- what IS it?”

Rey smiles, lighting up with passion. But when she speaks, she has a somber tone, “When I was a child on Jakku, I was alone. All the people there wanted with me was to use me to collect their scraps. I was hit, spit on, and tossed aside. The only hope I had was in those Rebel scraps I found. I heard stories about the rebels- and of the Force. I would always pray that one day, a Rebel ship would just swoop down and pick me up. And if Unkar tried to stop them, a Jedi would step out and push him out of the way.”

Rey continued, “One day, a group of bandits was arguing with Unkar. They left very unhappy. That night, after drinking heavily, I guess they wanted to take their anger out on anything. Unkar had ordered me to stay out at night in the city alleyways and capture the Lifs, who would only appear at night and were selling for high prices. So I was the first thing they saw. I picked up a metal pole and tried to fight them, but they just grabbed it and tossed it aside. I was so scared and didn’t know what to do. But just then, I closed my eyes and prayed for the Force. I prayed that if the Force helped me, I would do all I could to repay it. And when I opened my eyes, I couldn’t believe what I saw. The bandits’ arms were twisted up. They were frozen, and couldn’t move. I ran out of there as fast as I could. I don’t think I had done anything- but something, I think the Force, had saved me.”

Finn asked, “You’re saying the Force is a conscious being? Is that true?”

Rey replied, “Well... no one ever said it wasn’t. Or was. I still don’t know what the Force is. I just know that wasn’t the only time. When I was alone, I would feel some invisible being next to me, curled up next to me while I was crying, or tricking Unkar into giving me more portions for the day than he wanted to. I was still on Jakku, but it was protecting me. The more I connect with the Force, the more I think it was there with me the whole time. I just couldn’t truly connect to it until Kylo Ren had used it on me.”

Finn tries to respond, but doesn’t know what to say. “That... helps me a bit,” he says, not meaning what he says.

Rey gathers herself up to speak again, “And there was... something else that I couldn’t explain...”

“What was it?”

But just then, Rey stops herself, “Never mind. It’s nothing.” She pauses. “I’m glad that the Force is reaching out to you, Finn. I’ve never told this to anyone, because no one would understand. Now I know someone who does.”

Finn replies, “Yeah! You can always tell me what’s on your mind.”