Finn and Poe never saw Rey again.

After the Battle of Exegol, they looked everywhere for her for two long months. However, with Leia now gone and their new government in desperate need of leadership and direction, the pair were eventually just forced to give up their search, in favor of helping the galaxy right itself, again.

It always bothered them, though, that they never even managed to find her body. After all, if their roles had been reversed, both Finn and Poe were certain that Rey would have uprooted the entire galaxy just to find them and were equally certain that she eventually would've. Still, Finn and Poe knew that they just had to learn to accept that they would probably never get any closure on the matter, as the years continued to fly by. However, every year that marked one more, since the Battle of Exegol, Finn and Poe would go down to that old Sith planet in the Millennium Falcon and sit a daylong vigil for their lost friend with three golden, blue and orange droids in tow. Together, they would share their fondest memories of their dear friend, who had helped save all of them and push the galaxy towards a brighter future. Next to that, though, they also just talked a lot about how much they missed her. For while they'd only really known each other for about a year at the time of Rey's disappearance, after everything that they had gone through together, it felt like they'd known each other for so much longer. An eternal bond had been forged between the trio and it was one that would most likely never be broken. Not even by death.

It was a hard loss, but loss would always be a part of life and so, Finn and Poe just continued to do their best to move on. After all, they could not stop loss any more than they could stop the suns of Tatooine from setting. No one could. Not really.

Finn and Poe grew even closer than they were before over the next five years following the Battle of Exegol, as together, they worked to help build up a brand new system of government to replace the First Order, alongside other key leaders of the Resistance including Major Caluan Ematt and Major Taslin Brance. Suffice to say, they were incredibly busy. All throughout the entire process of change and creating the new government, however, they made sure that they were incredibly thorough in their work and clear in their wording. After all, everyone wanted a system of government that would help unify the people of the galaxy in truth, rather than tear it apart like pretty much every other preceding system of government had seemingly done, caught in the midst of lies and manipulation. Eventually, it was decided that the new form of government would be a Centrist Republic. At first, there were a couple of systems that were outraged by the decision to follow centrism rather than populism; a huge debate that had been one of the biggest factors of which had torn the New Republic to shreds. However, upon the disgruntled populist systems discovering that while the new form of government would still have a Chancellor, Senate, most of the other governing bodies of the previous Republics and secret service, it would also let each planet elect a Governor with a four year term that could only be renewed once, just like the Chancellor and now, the Senators, many of those populist systems quietened. After all, with planetary-elected Governors around, while planets wouldn't have total sovereignty, they would have a heightened voice and be able to create laws of their own, as long as they did not conflict with the laws of the Centrist Republic. However, any laws that a planet made could still be overturned by the Senate, if it was proven to interfere with people's freedoms.

All in all, the new system worked… at least for the moment.

The populist were content, especially since one of the huge points that they had made before the fall of the New Republic was that they wanted more of a voice for individual planets, which they now had, since for so long they had believed that planets needed to be allowed to have their own sovereigns, so that they could maintain order. So, now that the Centrist Republic was finally listening to and agreeing with their ideology was one of the biggest factors in winning them over. The centrists were, of course, happy for obvious reasons, since the government of the galaxy was a Centrist Republic based upon centrism. Finally, for the most part, people who either stood in the middle or even those who held completely different views from thinking either centrism or populism were better, had to agree that the government did a good job, compared to those of the past.

While Poe was encouraged to run for the role of Chancellor, upon the establishment of the Centrist Republic, he never did. Instead, the Centrist Republic's first Chancellor was an older man, by the name of Lux Bonteri. Chancellor Bonteri did well in office and while sometimes he did make mistakes by being a little too much of a dreamer, for the most part, he was well liked and did a lot of good for the galaxy. However, despite not ever becoming The Chancellor, Poe did not completely step away from politics. For while he never did become Chancellor, he did serve in the Senate, as the Senator for Yavin 4. He kept his role for a four year term with Finn as his most trusted cabinet member. If he'd wanted to, Poe could've easily run for another four year term and won the race, however, he knew that, in order to help get the new government up and running, he needed to show the people of the galaxy that this new form of government was one of freedom and peace, rather than one filled only with power-hungry politicians. That was also a big reason as to why in the process of creating the Centrist Republic, the Resistance leaders had made sure to leave out any emergency powers that might let the galaxy's leaders stay in power longer than the average one or two four year terms that most positions offered. After all, no one wanted a repeat of Chancellor and later Emperor Sheev Palpatine.

As a few more years went by, Finn and Poe continued to grow closer until finally, Finn told Poe about how he believed that he was force-sensitive. Poe was fascinated by Finn's revelation, but not incredibly surprised. After all, Finn did have the tendency for being oddly lucky, especially having defected from the First Order in the way that he did and getting away with it. However, upon Poe asking Finn if he wanted to try and hone his powers, he declined. Already, he'd seen what the Force had done to people like Rey and Kylo Ren. So, he wanted no part in it. More than that, though, the prospect of actively using the Force made him sad, because it reminded him of Rey and everything that he had lost. Poe, of course, was completely understanding of Finn's stance on his newfound power and accepted his reasoning as to why he wanted to keep his abilities dormant. It wasn't long after that that the two finally confessed their feelings for one another, started dating and then, eventually got married. The wedding was a small event, only attended by their closest friends, but it was perfect nonetheless and ironically, they actually had it back on Jakku.

Back where it had all started.

After getting married, the couple bought a comfortable little apartment on Chandrila, the planet where it had been decided that the Capital would be placed. Soon after arriving, though, they began to feel like something was missing in their lives, besides their lost friend from a time that now seemed to be so long ago.

So, they decided to adopt a baby and they named her Rey Dameron.

In memory of one of the wisest, most intelligent, kindest and intuitive friends they'd ever had.

Rey Dameron always did her best to live up to her namesake; the woman she'd heard so much about, and sometimes, if she closed her eyes, she thought that she could see her in her mind's eye standing right there in the grassy fields of Chandrila.

The girl ended up being very smart, as good a pilot as her Papa, Poe, and as caring as her Dad, Finn. Eventually, she even went on to become Chancellor, once she reached her late forties and was beloved by many of the people. She served for two terms.

Her parents were very proud of her and knew, without a doubt, that Rey would've been too.

Another fifteen years came and went.

Two old men made their way back to the planet, where that final battle had once occurred, during a time that now seemed so long ago. With them, were three droids and together, they sat their vigil for their lost friend, for what would end up being the very last time.

They hoped that if she had died that it had been painless and quick.

They hoped that if she had survived that she was happy.

After all, at the end of the day that's all anyone can ever really do.

Whether it be in a galaxy far, far away or anywhere else for that matter.

Hope.

This is it.

I had so much fun writing this fic. It's been an idea that I've had since TROS came out (not that I don't like TROS, it's actually one of my favorite Star Wars films), but I just never really got around to writing it until now.

Thank you to everyone who's read and commented on this fic. It's been really fun talking to you guys in the comment section and getting to hear your thoughts. Also, to everyone who's reading this during this crazy worldwide pandemic that's going on right now, I hope that you all stay safe and healthy!

MTFBWYA