this imagine has been rewritten! if you're thinking the title is familiar, it is but the story has been changed :-)

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The war was over, and everyone was rejoicing. You were jumping from person to person, throwing your arms around them, laughing and cheering, crying tears of absolute joy and some of grief as you prepared to mourn the loss of those who didn't quite make it, but who fought for this --- this moment of victory --- here. 

While you hugged everybody that you could reach, even those you didn't know well, you searched for your four best friends: Rey, Poe, Chewbacca, and most important to you, Finn. 

Finn was everything to you. Everything. Out of the family the two of you had created of lost souls searching for a place in the galaxy, you had found one another and sparked something that went beyond a friendship. General Organa, in all of her wisdom and years, once told you that what you had with Finn was something some people could only dream of --- and something that she had with Han Solo long, long ago. 

Your friends were the only family that you had now. They meant the entire galaxy to you. They were all that you had and all that you wanted. Two years ago, you were rescued by the Resistance when the First Order raided your entire kingdom. They killed everybody, including your parents, the king and the queen. But somehow, you were spared. Then you were rescued. You felt undeserving at first As a princess with no kingdom, no family, and no hope, you were useless and weak.

But then you found Finn, who somehow understood you on that level. On that level of being alone without a place to call home or a person to call family. He was an ex-stormtrooper, running from his past and searching for something more. Something good. It didn't take him long to realize that the something good that he was searching for was you. It took you an even shorter time to realize that the home you were trying so desperately to create again was in his arms. 

And now you only wanted to find Rey, Poe, and Finn, to know that they were safe and to wrap your arms around the three of them and hold them close to you.

You were covered in sweat, blood, grease, ash, and burns, and you were limping slightly from your fight on the ground. You had separated from Jannah and Finn without meaning to. You'd hardly escaped; your X-WING was moments away from blowing up when you got back to it and fled, nearly a second too late.

As you pushed through the crowd, hands fell on your arms, congratulating you. You thanked everyone and congratulated them back, shaking hands and squeezed arms and embracing quickly. Connix hugged you so tightly you stopped breathing, telling you that Rose was safe and Chewie was safe and everything was okay. 

But out of your little group of friends, it was Poe who saw you first. He called your name behind you and as you turned, you felt his hands on your sides. You tore yourself away from Connix and wrapped him up in a huge hug. He lifted you off the ground and spun you around before placing you back on the grass. There were tears in his eyes. 

"Oh, it's so good to see you, Princess!"

"I never thought I'd ever be this happy to see your face, Dameron," you joked. 

"Hey." He placed you down and playfully punched your arm. 

You laughed and glanced behind him. Nervousness gnawed at you. Too much time had passed and you still hadn't seen him. "Where's Finn?"

"You haven't found him yet?" 

"No." Your smile disappeared. "Is he alright? Did he make it back?"

Poe's hands fell on your shoulders and he smiled reassuringly. "___, he's fine. He's around here, safe and sound. I've already seen him. He went looking for you and for Rey. I don't think Rey's back here just yet." 

You sighed in relief. "Okay. I'll get Finn, you keep looking for Rey." 

"Got it." He nodded and you parted ways, already scanning the crowd for Finn. 

You were so desperate to find him that your chest ached. You longed to see him, to feel the softness of his face in your hands, to hold him in the warm sunshine and know that the First Order could never touch him again. They had tried everything in their might to take him from you, and they had failed. The war was done and he was yours. 

The entire galaxy stopped when you finally spotted him in the crowd. He was spinning around in a circle, again and again, moving slow, scanning the face of everyone that crowded by. You stopped in your steps, teary eyed and so happy. He stood up as tall as he could. He was searching for you. You knew by the look in his eyes that it was you he was trying to find. 

"Finn," you whispered.

Above all of the sound around him, he heard you. He turned around to face you and he spotted you right away, several feet away. Tears were streaming down his face.

"___?" he said, and you wedged yourself between two different couples that were hugging, and he saw you.

Your voice was a raspy cry, a soft whisper. Your throat was full of tears. "Finn---"

"___!" All at once, he was full of new strength and energy. He looked so relieved as he ran up and grabbed you, yanking you to his chest. Your arms flung around him and you let out a relieved sob, hanging on him as tight as you possibly could, sobbing into the soft fabric of his jacket. 

"You're safe," he whispered against your cheek, and you felt him press his lips there. He cradled the back of your head and you pulled apart to look at one another. "Thank the Force you're safe."

"You're safe, too." You kissed him softly, closing your eyes tight and feeling the safe grip of his hand on your waist. His lips barely brushed against yours; the kiss was as soft as a feather touch. The tears continued to fall down his cheeks even as you brushed them away. "Finn, are you okay?" 

He didn't answer, but he didn't have to answer. You already knew. 

"What's wrong? Are you hurt?" 

"No. I'm fine. Princess, we won. I can't believe it. We won... and I shouldn't be sad. It is selfish to be sad knowing that so many people --- even Leia --- died for our cause. But..." 

"But what?" 

His voice cracked as he said, "It's been eating away at me for so long. That I... I never even got to know my family. And I am happy with the one I've made. I am so happy with you. But I don't even know what my last name is." 

You knew that finding his family, or at least getting an idea of where he came from, really wasn't Finn's focus. But it was always a dream of his. And now it seemed further away than ever. You always thought that no one left in the Order would know where they took a few month old child. They never paid much attention to the faces of those they stole away. But you never wanted to take that hope from him, no matter how small that hope was. 

"We both lost our families in this fight," you whispered, continuing to wipe the tears off his cheeks.  "And I don't expect you not to long for them, Finn. You lost them. It was unfair, it was horrible --- it still is. And listen to me, Finn. You are anything but selfish. There isn't a selfish bone in your body. You're so good, and you're so selfless. And it is okay to be sad about this."

You dropped his hands and wrapped your arms around his neck again, pulling him close. He bent forward slightly so that he could bury his face in your shoulder.

"I wish I could explain to you how much I love you," he said. 

Your stomach filled with butterflies. "I think you do a pretty great job."

Pulling away, you put your hands on his shoulders and you kissed him so hard. He held onto you so tight, and he kissed you back, moving his hand to your hair, your face getting wet with a mix of his tears and yours.

Against his lips, you whispered, "Marry me, please."

His lips slowed as he stopped kissing you. He pulled his face away by a couple of inches and you stared up at him, brave as ever.

"Marry me," you said again. "You can take my last name, if you want to. Or we don't have to have a last name. I don't care. I just want to be yours forever. Marry me?"

His smile widened into a grin and he was pulling you back in to kiss you. "Yes. I love you---"

You were smiling, and you only smiled wider when you heard Rey call yours and Finn's names softly. You both tore apart to see her and Poe, rushing over, hand in hand. Their free arms were each outstretched towards the two of you, and they were sobbing tears of relief---

You and Finn met them halfway, and you collided into one another so hard that it nearly knocked the breath out of you. Your arm was around Finn, and around Rey, and Rey's arms were around you and Poe, and Poe's were around Rey and Finn, and Finn was gripping you so tight that you felt like you were connected to him. And as you hugged the three of them, your face pointed up towards the sunny sky, you found Finn's hand and Rey's hand. 

You squeezed Finn's hand so tight that you thought you might hurt him, but he squeezed just as hard in return and it was okay. 

"I love you, guys," you whispered, clinging to them. "I love you all so much."

And you sobbed harder than you ever had before, feeling warm and loved within your little family.

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the sequels trio makes my heart explode <333333333333333333