ROSE

Rose stiffened when she heard clanking behind her. She'd hoped Finn would be gone a while, in search of the chocolate she'd requested, but knew he would never find on this ship.

"I found chocolate dessert squares!" Finn came bounding into the cockpit holding two small grey bags.

Rose turned her chair around and crossed her arms. Of course he would find chocolate on a basic freight vessel like this. He was Finn. His positive energy made things like chocolate dessert squares just appear out of nowhere. 

He smiled at her, looking very proud of himself and she turned away, rolling her eyes. She pretended to busy herself with the controls. Why was she the only one who knew anything about cryogenic chambers? Why couldn't someone else have come on this trip?

"You know it's on autopilot, right?" Finn said. "Are you sure you don't want to play a game of Dejarik?"

"How you managed to find a portable, miniature holochess board is beyond me. I can't believe one even exists."

"What! It's a fun game!" Finn spread his arms out dramatically, a plastic bag in each hand. Rose jumped up from the pilot's seat and snatched one away. She could hardly say no to chocolate.

"This isn't a pleasure cruise, Finn." The moment she said it, she regretted her choice of words. Her cheeks flushed and she quickly turned away. Had she really just used the word 'pleasure' to describe their trip together?

Fortunately, Finn didn't seem affected by her comment and ripped open his bag of dessert, then began to smell it.

Rose took a seat again. Why would he even think along those lines? He no longer saw her in that way. They'd shared a kiss, her first and only kiss ever, and now his attentions were all on Jannah. Sure they'd agreed to just be friends, her and Finn, but it wasn't until Jannah came into the picture that Rose realized she didn't see Finn as just a friend.

"Jannah beat me in a game after only playing it twice," Finn said, his words muffled now as he ate the dessert.

Rose turned again and shoved the small bag into Finn's chest. "I'm no longer hungry," she hissed.

Finn looked startled at first but then shrugged and opened the bag. He popped the second dessert into his mouth before Rose could object.

"Hey! I could get hungry later you know!" she scolded.

"But, we'll be there in an hour anyway," Finn mumbled through the chocolate square. He made as though to remove it from his mouth and Rose laughed.

"Gross! I don't want it back now. Just eat it."

"You said you wanted it back."

"Not from your mouth!"

Finn finished off the dessert and smiled. "So, no Dejarik?"

"At the speed we're going we can't afford to leave the controls unattended," Rose said, all serious again. "The autopilot forward sensors can only detect so much. What if we get into the path of a wayward meteorite that the sensors don't pick up?" She tried to sound convincing, but the truth was the autopilot would do just fine without her there, she just didn't want to spend too much play-time with Finn. It was already hard enough liking him when he wasn't around, engaging in fun games was just too much. 

Finn let out a big sigh and sat down beside her in the co-pilot's chair. Suddenly Rose felt sad. He smelled like fresh air, as though the wind on planet had clung to his clothes and hair. She wanted to hug him, to do the little things that couples are allowed to do like lean her head on Finn's shoulder. But their relationship wasn't like that.

They sat in silence as the autopilot did its job and flew the plane. Rose suddenly wished they were playing a game of Dejarik. She could beat him, even if it would be her first time. It was a well known fact that he and Poe were terrible at the game. But instead of swallowing her pride and conceding to a game, Rose just stared stubbornly at the dark expanse in front of them, trying desperately not to think about that kiss, on Crait. It had been a life and death situation at the time. People did things in the heat of the moment, in life and death situations. Afterwards, they'd agreed to be just friends. It seemed like the best decision then. But when Rose saw Finn and Jannah talking, and how much they shared in their histories, she experienced true jealousy for the first time.

"You okay, Rose?" Finn asked now.

"I just don't see why Jannah didn't just come..." She was about to say 'instead of me,' but then hesitated. Finn jumped right in.

"I know," he said with a sigh. "She loves rescue missions and any kind of adventure."

Rose clenched her jaw but said nothing.

"But she's not very tech savvy," Finn continued. "And I think she wants to become a commander in the Resistance. She's been working a lot with Lando on Base, and he wanted her there to lead her group, if anything happened, while Poe and I were away..." he looked at her then and suddenly she sensed that he knew what she was thinking. She quickly looked away. "And you're the only one who knows anything about cryogenic chambers," he finished off in a soft voice.

Rose didn't have to look at him to know he was figuring it all out. He was far too intuitive for his own good.

"I don't know every model," she quickly said, hoping to steer the conversation away from anything remotely personal. "But the basics of all of them is the same. I just hope this kid survived the leak from the lid being open. That's what Rey said, right?"

"I think so."

"I wonder why the First Order took him, and from where."

"The Final Order. It was under General Pride's command that that ship was sent out."

"How do you know?"

"I've got my connections," Finn said, lifting his chin.

Rose rolled her eyes again, glad that their awkward moment had passed.

"What would they want with a little kid?"

"The same thing they want with all kids." Finn leaned back in his chair and looked out into the expanse. "To make them stormtroopers."

"Do they put all their recruits into cryogenic chambers?"

Finn's brow furrowed, as though he hadn't considered this until now. "No."

"I think they're scared of this boy," Rose continued. "It's the only reason I can think of, for them to go to the trouble of freezing him."

"Then maybe we should be scared of this boy too," Finn said.

There was another moment of silence then Finn suddenly got up.

"I need more chocolate. You want me to bring you some?"

Rose grinned. "A man who likes chocolate..."

"Is a man after your own heart!" Finn added, thought that wasn't what Rose was going to say. He bowed dramatically as though he was some kind of Royal from an old world human planet. Rose laughed but then Finn seemed unsure of what to say next and simply walked off.

Rose rubbed her eyes in frustration. She'd avoided going on missions with Finn up until now, choosing to hang back at the Base for the entire battle with the Final Order. But it was impossible to avoid him altogether. She had to stop making it awkward.

The ship suddenly lurched forward as it came out of hyperdrive. Rose quickly took over the controls. They were nearing Jakku and its gravitational pull. It was time for her to take over and drive manually. And she needed a co-pilot.

"Finn!" she called out over her shoulder. "Get back here I need your help!"