An AU

Rey Dameron anxiously awaits her brother’s return. When he is nowhere to be found, she flies to Jakku after him. She doesn’t find Poe, but she finds his droid, chasing a man wearing his jacket. The man, who calls himself Finn, explains that he rescued Poe from the First Order only for Poe to die in a crash. Rey is furious but has no time to mourn because her ship is destroyed, forcing her to run with Finn and BB-8 in a junk ship that she recognizes as the one General Leia always told her about: the Millennium Falcon. After escaping Jakku, Rey apologizes for being angry with Finn, since it wasn’t his fault Poe died. Who should they run into next but Han Solo, the owner of the Millennium Falcon! Han recognizes the name Dameron and agrees to help them. But first they have to deal with two gangs Han owes money to. Rey, being more experienced in dogfighting than using a blaster, needs a little help from Finn, but both of them are able to fend off the gangs, thanks to an ingenious plan by Rey to release the rathtars (pretending that that was the plan all along and not something far less reckless.) Chewie is wounded, but Rey has had experience as a pilot since her brother taught her to fly. When they get to Takodana, Finn tries to leave. Rey begs him to stay, if only for the sake of Poe’s memory, but Finn says he’s done all he can and nothing he can do will bring Poe back. Rey and Han have everything covered, they don’t need him. Rey, crushed, watches him leave, then follows voices into the basement, discovering a box with what she recognizes as a lightsaber– but whose? When she touches it, she has a vision and sees a man wielding it. The dark figure he’s battling, the droid he lays his hand on– his robotic hand– make her realize this lightsaber is Luke’s. Realizing she’s tapped into the Force, she realizes just how desperately the Resistance needs the map. She runs off in search of Finn to tell him what she’s discovered, but is captured by Kylo Ren, who takes the lightsaber. Finn hears screaming and sees a vision in the sky of a red flame quenching stars and planets. Finn duels a trooper with a riot control baton using a pole he finds and manages to knock the trooper into a wall, not realizing he used the Force to do so. He sees Kylo Ren’s ship and immediately assumes (senses) Rey’s on it. He goes to D’Qar with the Resistance and finds out Poe is alive! He tells him Poe what happened. The Resistance plans a mission to rescue Rey and destroy Starkiller Base, using Finn’s intel. Meanwhile, Rey escapes. She runs into Finn and Han and goes with them to set charges to weaken the reactor. They witness Kylo Ren murder Han Solo and chase him into the forest to confront him. Rey Force-pulls Luke’s saber from Kylo Ren and duels him, but the saber is knocked from her hand. While Rey defends herself with the Force, Finn picks up the saber and uses it to distract Kylo Ren. Kylo Ren Force-throws Rey into a tree and duels Finn, wounding him. Rey comes to Finn’s rescue and picks up the saber, dueling Kylo Ren and wounding him. She goes to Finn’s lifeless body and Chewie picks them up in the Falcon. The medics tend to Finn while Poe promises his sister he’ll look after him. Rey Dameron flies off in the Falcon to find Luke Skywalker in hopes that he will help her understand her abilities more fully and restore hope to the fight.

PS– this AU means Poe would be Finn’s brother in law when Finn and Rey end up together, which Finn would be ecstatic about.

L.J.: Also anon submitter has said Rey would be a Latina in this AU. I nominate María Mercedes Coroy (link).