I originally shipped Finn and Poe, but after The Rise of Skywalker, it firmly became an OT3 for me. I do ship Rey, Finn, and Poe as either romantic partners or friends; I'm happy with either. I just want them traveling the galaxy together forever. (For the record, Kelly Marie Tran seems like a wonderful human, but I fell in love with the original three in Force Awakens, so it was hard for me to let Rose into my headcanon. Kelly did not deserve the horrific treatment she endured on social media, though, and I wish we had gotten a third movie that let her into their group—but she was sidelined, and my heart exploded at the trio's ending hug, and here we are. So, I'm sending positive vibes to Kelly Marie Tran, but I never shipped Finn and Rose.)

Post-Rise, I wanted Rey, Finn, and Poe to learn more about their mentors' history (the movies don't really reveal the depth of what they do know), and I wanted them to see Naboo, because I think Rey would like it there.

I don't really feel confident that I captured their voices, but this is my first outing in this fandom, so please be gentle.

One more thing: I don't pay much attention to the expanded canon, but I recently read Queen's Shadow by E.K. Johnston, and this borrows a great character from that book and contains a very mild spoiler from it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars, nor am I profiting from playing in its sandbox for a while.

The Portrait

Rey wanted to go somewhere green.

She was quiet as she boarded the Falcon after her stop at Luke's childhood home. On the way, she had been tense and distracted—only answering Poe and Finn in short sentences, obviously not ready to talk about what had happened to her on Exegol. She spent the majority of the trip with BB8; she needed his soldering attachment to help her finish the lightsaber she had been building on Ajan Kloss. Finn and Poe had agreed not to press her, knowing she would share when she was ready.

And now, finally, she was. Her expression was content as she glanced around the cockpit and at her companions. "I have a lot to tell you. I thought we could go somewhere else with a forest, somewhere peaceful."

"I have an idea," Poe spoke up, hand poised over the controls that would take them away from Tatooine, Luke and Leia's symbolic final resting place. "Naboo."

BB8 beeped his agreement as Rey and Finn looked at each other noncommittally. "That's where their mother was from, right?" Finn asked. He didn't need to spell out who "they" were.

Rey locked eyes with Poe. "I got to say my goodbye. It's your turn." She laid her hand on his shoulder gently. "That would be a nice way to honor her, to visit the place her mother loved so much."

"How do you know that?" Finn asked, surprised.

"Luke. He learned his family history from the Jedi who knew them, and he told me a little. Not all of it, but enough."

She suddenly looked melancholy, and Poe reached his hand out to touch Finn's shoulder so they were all physically connected, just the way Finn liked it. Finn nodded. "To Naboo."

SWSWSWSWSWSWSWSWSW

The queen of Naboo was happy to hear from them when they asked permission to visit. She said she would prepare a suite at the palace, and they could stay as long as they liked. Any friend of General Organa's was a friend of hers, she said.

So all the three of them (five, with BB8 and DO) had to do was set a course and wait. When BB8 and DO went to their charging ports, the humans gathered blankets into a big comfy pile on the floor of the Falcon's living quarters, and it was there that Rey told them what had happened to her. Finn inched closer and closer throughout the story until he was holding her, and Poe, sitting in front of Rey, reached for both their hands. Finn and Poe's hearts ached for their friend, not truly able to understand what she had been through, but knowing it had been a nightmare.

And when she was done, she leaned back against Finn and closed her eyes. "I'm going to move forward, but keep everyone with me, in a way. I've decided … I've decided I'd like to be called Rey Skywalker." She took a breath, opened her eyes, and looked at each of them in turn. Their supportive smiles told her everything she needed to know.

"That's beautiful," Finn said. "I love it."

"Me too," Poe agreed.

Rey turned her attention to something that she had forgotten about until that moment. "Finn, do you think you could tell me what you wanted to tell me back on Pasaana?"

Poe shifted uncomfortably, but he didn't drop their hands. Finn smiled at him. "Buddy, you can stay. I didn't want to talk to you about it because I didn't want to make you feel left out."

"Too late for that." Poe furrowed his brow. "Just tell her, whatever it is."

"Well, it's about me—and the Force."

"You?" Poe and Rey said at the same time.

"Yes, me. Is it that hard to believe that I could use the Force?" He let an edge of annoyance creep into his voice, and they both shook their heads, quick to reassure him.

"No, no, it's not that. I thought I would have sensed it, but I guess I was too focused on my own training," Rey said.

"You were so sure about that control ship, and now I get it," Poe added.

"I felt it, when you di—" He couldn't say it. He tried again. "When Palpatine took your life, Rey. There was … I guess you call it a disturbance."

"You felt it?" She reached up to palm his cheek, eyes brightening with excitement. "Oh, Finn, I have so much I could teach you."

Finn looked at Poe, who was staring at the floor. "I want to learn from Rey," he said gently. "I want to use the Force. I want to build a lightsaber. Maybe we can find other Force-sensitive people and teach them, help them connect to the Force and use it for good."

Rey nodded. "Yes. This is brilliant." She lifted the hand that was intertwined with Poe's and kissed his knuckles. He looked at her uncertainly. "Poe, we're going to need a pilot if we're going to travel the galaxy. Chewie left the Falcon to me officially, but I think you should be its pilot."

His whole face lit up. "Really? I wouldn't be in the way?"

Finn kissed Poe's hand in the same way Rey had. "Of course not. We're a team, Poe. Nothing will ever change that."

"You're stuck with us," Rey said, beaming. They smiled at each other, all thinking the same thing—that it was nice to know where they belonged.

SWSWSWSWSWSWSWSWSW

The queen of Naboo received them in her throne room, and it was an understatement to say that everyone was intimidated. "What is the protocol here?" Finn muttered as they took in the ornate architecture and well-dressed guards and handmaidens. No one answered him. To their amazement, the queen stood up and, red robes billowing around her, strode toward them with a smile. She said each of their names as she clasped their hands, correctly identifying who was Finn and who was Poe. The three of them visibly relaxed.

"So good to meet you all. General Organa spoke so highly of each of you." Her voice had a stilted, regal quality, but she exuded friendliness.

"She did?" Poe asked in disbelief.

"Oh, yes. She sent regular transmissions here. The palace at Theed holds an archive of the Skywalker and Naberrie families and their lineage, which of course includes General Organa and her brother Luke. The records are sealed to those with only the highest security clearance for privacy, but anyone looking to do research can apply for admittance. I'll happily waive the process for you three. You'll soon meet the person who maintains it."

"Wow, that would be great," Finn said, exchanging intrigued glances with Rey and Poe. They had so much they wanted to see on Naboo, and obviously this was now first on their list.

The door opened and a distinguished-looking woman in her eighties walked in, striding quickly and purposefully toward the group despite her advanced age.

"Sabé!" The queen called, extending a welcoming arm. "I just mentioned your role as record-keeper. So glad you could join us."

As she got closer, Poe went pale.

Finn put a hand on his arm. "You okay?"

"Look at her, she looks like—" Rey and Finn looked closer, and they gasped.

"Leia?" A smile played at the corners of Sabé's lips. "Yes, well, I would, wouldn't I? Leia looked very much like her mother, Padmé. And I was Padmé's handmaiden decoy. I was hired because of my resemblance."

They all stared at Sabé, and the queen shrugged apologetically. "I suppose that's as good an introduction as any. Allow me to present our guests, Sabé. As you know, Rey trained as a Jedi under General Organa, and Poe and Finn were her successors as generals of the Resistance. These three helped to save the galaxy merely days ago, and they're here to learn about Leia's family history and honor her memory."

Sabé nodded, obviously having been briefed on this before. "I'm pleased to meet you, and I thank you for your heroic leadership of the Resistance. I'll be happy to help. We must show them the portrait first, Your Majesty. It's breathtaking."

"Yes, I agree," the queen replied, and she gestured for Sabé to lead the way.

"After Queen Amidala's term was up—that's Padmé's royal name—she turned her focus to the Galactic Senate," Sabé said as they started walking. "We were very close, but she didn't want me to continue in her service as a handmaiden; she had other plans for me. She tasked me with helping to bring about the end of slavery on Tatooine." She glanced back, making sure the others were following, both literally and figuratively. They nodded. "Since we first visited that planet, it had been on Padmé's mind, for obvious reasons."

"Obvious?" Poe asked.

"Oh, you didn't know? Padmé met Anakin Skywalker there as a slave boy. He won his freedom in a pod race and left with Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn to be trained as a Jedi."

Finn stopped short, looking pained. He couldn't help but think of his own childhood as a slave to the First Order. Who knew they had that in common?

Rey and Poe recovered from almost running into him and had equally confused expressions.

"There's so much to tell you." Sabé's shoulders sank. "It's not a happy story. But Leia would have wanted you to know, I'm sure." She straightened up and walked a few steps ahead. "Come with me; I'd like you to see this."

They turned a corner into a long, gleaming hallway with floor-to-ceiling windows on each side. A giant marble statue anchored the other end of it. "This is where Queen Amidala, Padmé, scaled the wall and blasted through the window to reenter the palace during the Battle of Naboo." She took in their blank faces. "I know all of this new information must be overwhelming."

Rey was listening, but her body carried her farther down the hall, to the dead center, where there hung a life-size portrait of Queen Amidala in full regnant makeup. Her white jubilation dress had pink and yellow veils cascading down it, forming a cape, and the silver-trimmed white headdress framed her head like a halo, giving her an ethereal quality. And yet her powerful stance and self-possessed expression couldn't be ignored. Without realizing what she was doing, Rey sank down on one knee in reverence.

She felt Poe and Finn each put a hand on her shoulder as she stared at the painting. "You look like her," Finn said, giving her shoulder a squeeze. Her friends kneeled on either side of her, and she saw tears glistening in Poe's eyes at seeing Leia's mother for the first time. Finn had bowed his head in respect, but he quickly returned his gaze to the beautiful former queen.

"I'll answer any questions you have," Sabé said softly. "What would you like to know?"

Rey breathed in the power of the Force, connecting her to her history, her adopted family, her existence as someone with a new place in the world and a new purpose to fulfill. She breathed out her love for the people next to her, as it surrounded and uplifted her, and she knew she was ready to learn it all, no matter how painful some of it would be. "Everything," she whispered.