Alone in the Garden

There's a question on the mind of every member of the Resistance, and indeed, every inhabitant of the galaxy – "what next?"

Rose Tico has no doubt that this question has been asked before. "What next," people asked, with the end of the Clone Wars and the formation of an Empire for security and stability. "What next," people asked, when that Empire was defeated, its lies exposed and its fleets scattered? Perhaps the question could be phrased as "what now" or "what happens," but she has no doubt that the question remains.

For herself, she has her own answer. But it's a fair question all the same. The First Order is gone. So has the New Republic. Trillions dead, and the galaxy might ask what's to be done now. A new government, or should star systems go their own way? The Old Republic stood for 1000 years. The Galactic Empire 26. The New Republic, 30. Perhaps this saga will be a blip in the history of the galaxy, perhaps it's a sign of change. She doesn't have the answers to these questions. But on the question of "what next," she knows what she's going to do. Heck, it's what she's doing right now.

"Rose."

She also knows what Finn's going to do as well. She's known this for the last week or so. As she gets to her feet and rubs the dirt off her hands, she looks at him and knows that he's here to tell her. Question is, does he know that she knows?

"Finn."

Probably not, she supposes. Which doesn't make this any easier. Frankly, she'd be fine with him just heading off now, and cutting the farewell part off. It would be easier for her, and looking at his face, she knows instantly that it would be easier for him as well.

He gestures to the dirt that's on her hands and trousers. "Am I interrupting?"

She can't help but give him a small smile. "If you are, you'd have to wait forever to get to the point where you weren't."

"In this for the long haul then?"

"More or less." She brushes her hands on her trousers again, and this time, not to get the dirt off them. She returns to the garden.

"Listen, Rose…"

He knows that she knows. She doesn't know if that's the best option or not. Because on one hand, because he knows that she knows, he might know that she knows that he's going to go off and do his thing with Jannah. But if he knows that she knows, then he might be compelled to tell her. Which on one hand…wait. Humans only have two hands.

"Jannah and I…there's millions more like us out there. Maybe tens of millions."

He's kneeling down in the dirt beside her, and she's struggling to think of a species with four arms. Stars and galaxies, there's billions of species in the galaxy spread over trillions of stars, and for some reason, they're all escaping her memory.

"First Order's gone, but the other stormtroopers, the kids like us…they need help. Home. A-"

"Family?" Rose whispers.

"Well, yeah. Kinda. I…"

He trails off, the rock dropping. She smiles, but it's forced, and she doesn't doubt that he can tell it is. Nevertheless, she pats him on the arm.

"Get out there," she says. "War's over. Now we need to make something out of the ashes."

He nods – there's nothing left to say. Which isn't new – she's come to that realization for a year. One year, of seeing Finn look at Rey. One day, of seeing him look at Jannah. At the Battle of Exegol, when she saw them, heard them, how they were there ready to fight together, die together…truth has a funny way of rearing its ugly head at the worst of times. One year ago, she was willing to give her life for him. One week ago, she saw him ready to give his life for someone he'd barely met, but had bonded with over experience she'd never had.

He gets to his feet and looks around the Resistance garden. Or rather just "the garden," as there's no Resistance anymore. "You sure you're going to be okay here?"

Rose doesn't say anything. She just goes back to working the soil.

"I mean, I always took you as being more of a mechanic than a gardener."

"Why can't I be both?" The question is harsh, and when she continues, her voice is softer. "You know there's a legend," she murmurs, "of mankind having its origins in a garden? That during the day their eyes were downward, while at night, their eyes turned to the stars? That the first man and first woman swore that their gardens would populate every one of those worlds?"

"That's a lot of stars," Finn murmurs. "Especially on Coruscant."

Rose shrugs – most agree that Coruscant is the ancient homeworld of humanity, even if all trace of that origin is gone. Coruscant is a rotting husk of a world now, but may well revert back to being the seat of galactic power after the destruction of the Hosnian system.

"But Rose, I mean, if the stars are still out there…"

"War's over." She looks up at Finn and manages to steady her throat. "Go, Finn. Just go. You don't need to say anything."

He knows that she knows. She knows that he knows. There are no more secrets, no more false hope, nothing. All that's left is her, him, and the garden. And after he hesitates, pats her on the shoulder, and gives a non-committal "I'll stay in touch,"

She believes him, in spite of everything. But it gives her cold comfort. Finn will be with Jannah, among the stars. And she'll be in the garden. One rose, among so many other plants. Alone. Waiting for time and decay to take her. The one who's sipped the nectar called love, and sits in the dirt in knowledge that it'll never touch her lips again.

Finn heads off, and she returns to work.

A/N

So, I saw The Rise of Skywalker. Honestly, I could go into a lecture as to why I feel it's the weakest of the trilogy, and how apathic I'm left feeling about the franchise right now, but right now, I don't particuarly care.

What got me to write this up though was how it handled Rose. And by "handled," I mean "shunned to one side." A move that hypothetically could be inoccuous, but I can't separate this from the harassment of Tran after Last Jedi (the same harassment that Jake Lloyd and Ahmed Best went through, because something about Star Wars brings out the worst in people - Dark Side and all that), and that when you look at the structure of the film, Jannah has a role that Rose could have equally fulfilled in a lot of instances, such as the mount scene in the final battle. Don't get me wrong, I like Jannah as a character conceptually, showing the effect of Finn's actions on First Order stormtroopers, but as a role, a lot of it feels like a role originally meant for Rose.

Anyway, drabbled this up.