Continuing with the short story challenge for December 2022
December 22 - Wishlist
“What is this?”
Poe looked up from the piece of flimsy he had found sitting on the edge of the table. Rey was working on the other side of the room, gathering up more wires so she could continue working on the new communicators, and she looked over at his question. Noticing the flimsy in his hands, her face colored and she looked abashed.
“It’s nothing,” she said.
“Nothing?” Poe repeated. “It says Wishlist on the top. That’s not nothing.”
Rey moved back to the table. “I started it a couple weeks ago, after Leia talked about her Wishlist for the Resistance at that meeting,” she explained, setting the wire down on the table. “I thought I would make a Wishlist of my own.”
Poe looked back at the flimsy and started reading. “But, Rey. These are all things for other people.” He glanced back up at her. She was chewing her bottom lip. Poe started reading. “New holster for Finn. Dish set for Snap and Karè. A hydrospanner with a grip that Klaud can grasp easier with his antennae.” He looked up again. “Rey, what about you?”
She shrugged. “It’s my Wishlist and I wish the people around me could have what they need. I already have what I need.”
Poe frowned at her. “You don’t have any wishes at all?”
“I have a comfortable bed with a soft pillow. I have food when I’m hungry and the companionship of people that I know will not abandon me. What else do I need?”
“Come on, there’s gotta be something special you wish for!”
“Okay, I wish that we could destroy the First Order and bring peace to the galaxy.”
“Seriously?”
“Well, what do you wish for, Dameron?”
He paused, blinked a couple of time, then opened his mouth, only to close it in frustration. When it came down to it, that was his greatest wish, too.
Rey looked pleased. Even though he hadn’t said anything, she knew exactly what he was thinking. “See?”
He wasn’t going to let her win this argument. “Okay, no!” he exclaimed. “I know! I have a wish!”
Rey folded her arms in front of her. “What?”
“I wish… to be kissed.”
Rey laughed. “Go outside,” she smiled. “Look around. Ask the first person you think is attractive. I don’t think you’ll have any problem getting your wish.”
Poe was both flattered and offended. “I don’t want to kiss just anybody,” he corrected. “I have a certain person in mind.”
“Who?”
Giving her sly grin, he answered, “You.”
Rey’s expression was shocked, then she looked a bit panicked. “Me?”
Poe nodded. “Uh-huh. You.”
She dropped her arms, looking both confused and flustered. She licked her lips, then drew the bottom one into her mouth. Poe felt his body tighten involuntarily. Did she even know how sexy she was?
She took a deep breath and looked at him. “Okay,” she said, her voice higher pitched than normal. Then she stepped toward him, quickly giving him a peck on the cheek before backing away.
Poe couldn’t help but smile. “That’s not what I meant, Rey, and you know it.” When she hesitated, he challenged her. “Come on. Don’t tell me you’re scared?”
Her expression firmed, and she stepped close to him once more. This time she moved in slow, looking nervous but determined. When their lips were inches apart, she stopped. “Is this what you really want, or are you just making fun of me?”
“If I wrote a Wishlist, this would be on it,” Poe told her softly. “But if it isn’t on yours, then stop.”
“What if it is?” she whispered.
“Then don’t stop.”
Rey closed the gap between them, and the second her lips touched his, Poe responded. He wrapped his arms around her waist as she brought her arms up around his neck. He parted his lips and she did the same. He tasted her, and realized as he did so that a fantasy of his was finally coming true.
And it was far better than anything he had ever imagined.
After a long while, they pulled apart, but they kept their arms around each other. “That was on your Wishlist, huh?” Rey asked breathlessly.
Poe nodded, trying to catch his own breath.
“What else is on that list?”
Poe smiled. “Come to my quarters tonight and I’ll show you.”
December 23 - Tip-yip
“What is that burning smell?”
Both Poe and Finn looked up at Rey’s question, more than a little guilt on their faces.
“That’s the Tip-yip,” Finn said.
“But it’s not burning!” Poe defended. “That’s just a little bit that got caught up in the engine that smells. The rest of the Tip-yip is fine!”
“What is Tip-yip?” Rey asked. “I’ve heard more than one person mention it, usually in association with Life Day.”
“It’s a bird, actually,” Finn told her. “Native to Endor. When the Rebellion- slash- New Republic celebrated their first Life Day after the war, they roasted Tip-yip for their meal. Word got out, and it’s become a Life Day tradition.”
“You can find Tip-yips all over, now,” Poe added. “Anyway, we thought you might like to have a traditional Life Day meal this year, our first Life Day since our war ended.”
“I don’t know,” Rey said, eyeing the men warily as they turned the Tip-yip on a spit behind Poe’s X-Wing while BB8 controlled the thrusters from his droid socket. It looked more than a little dangerous. “I’m not really liking that smell.”
“I promise once the burned smell goes away, the aroma will make your mouth water,” Poe smiled.
Finn shook his head. “Provided we don’t burn the whole thing up.” He looked at Rey. “I know what you like to eat, Rey, and you’ll love Tip-yip!”
“Hmmmm…” Rey voiced noncommittedly.
“Hey, Rey!” Rose shouted from behind her. Rey turned. “Come help with the rest of the meal. It may be all we get!”
“I am truly appalled by your lack of faith in us, Rose!” Poe called out as Rey turned to help Rose. “Hey! Hey! Hey!” he suddenly shouted. Rey looked back to see him slapping the Tip-yip with a rag, dousing the bit of flame that had appeared on the bird. Laughing softly, she joined Rose.
“I’m assuming that was Poe’s bright idea?” she asked.
“He said he’s done it before, but I have my doubts,” Rose answered. They grinned at each other.
Thirty minutes later, the meal was ready, and the Tip-yip was surprisingly not burned to a crisp. In fact, when Rey finally got her first taste of it, she was amazed. “This is really good!”
“Told you!” Poe said with a smirk. “Granted, it might have tasted almost as good if we had just stuck it in an oven, but that takes so long!”
“Well, even I’m impressed,” Finn said. “When you said it was the best way to cook Tip-yip, I was sure we weren’t going to get anything but ashes for dinner.” He nodded solemnly toward his friend. “I concede that you are the master Tip-yip chef extraordinaire.”
Poe snorted a laugh. “Yeah, I think my greatest achievement was not getting killed while cooking this thing.”
Everyone laughed at his comment, then continued to eat.
They hadn’t planned on celebrating Life Day here on Candidus. Rey and Finn were travelling to the sites of old Jedi temples, looking for any information they could find on the teaching of new Jedi so that Rey could finally start a school of her own. Rose had come to be with Finn, and Poe had also followed along, uncertain of his future now that the war was over, and just wanting to be close to his friends. They had camped just outside the main village a week or so ago, and just yesterday while shopping in town, Rose had been reminded that it was almost Life Day. She had quickly purchased a Tip-yip and brought it back to camp.
After the meal, they all sat around the table with drinks and just talked. Rey had never felt so full and content before. She found herself staring at Poe. The graceful way his hands moved as he talked, the errant curl that fell over his forehead, the tiny gap in between his canine and incisor teeth, the slight imperfection endearing… Kriff, she had it bad. Sadly, he would never look at her as anything but a friend.
“What do you think, Rey?”
Finn’s question jerked her out of her brooding. “I’m sorry, what?”
“If Rose and I go to the Life Day ball at the Auditorium in town tomorrow night as a couple, would you be willing to go with Poe?”
Rey stared at her friend for a moment, then looked at Poe, not sure how to respond.
“Yeesh,” Poe said, eyes wide. “If her expression is anything to go by, I’d say that’s a no.”
Rey shook her head. “No, that’s not a no,” she denied. “I’m just… you mean like… a date?”
Poe suddenly looked uncomfortable. “Well, you don’t have to think if it that way. I mean, we could just be two friends escorting each other.”
“Friends,” Rey breathed. “Of course.” She nodded, looking down, not wanting them to see her disappointment. For one second there, she had been so hopeful. She composed herself and looked back up. “Yeah, I could do that.”
Poe was staring at her, his brows furrowed. It was the most serious he had looked all night.
“Well, I don’t know about you, but I am ready for bed,” Rose told them. As if that was everybody’s cue, they stood, saying their goodnights and heading for their individual tents. Rey knew Finn would end up in Rose’s for the night.
Rey was half-way to her tent when she heard Poe call her name. She turned to find him running up to her, his expression worried.
“Hey, if you don’t want to go to this thing with me tomorrow night, I’m okay with that.”
Again, Rey felt her heart lurch. “You don’t want me to?”
“No! I want you to,” he said. “I just don’t want you to feel pressured into doing something you don’t like.”
“I want to go,” Rey told him. “I think it sounds fun. I just don’t want it to get awkward with people thinking you and I are a couple.” She smiled, but she was sure it looked as fake as it felt. “It might get in the way of you finding a real date.”
“What if… I want you to be my real date?”
Rey’s heart started pounding. “Really?”
Poe nodded, a small smile on his lips. “Yeah, really.”
“I’d like that,” Rey said softly.
Poe’s smile got bigger. “Good. Then it’s a date.” He paused. “A real date.”
Rey couldn’t help but smile back, and this time it was real. “Okay. Goodnight, Poe.”
“Goodnight.”
As Rey turned back toward her tent, she looked over her shoulder. “And thank you for the Tip-yip.”
December 24 - Decorations
Poe set the box of decorations down on the floor with a smile, watching as Rey continued to mess with the string of lights. They weren’t too tangled, but she was still having trouble with them. Lack of experience, he supposed. He looked up at the currently bare tree, excitement filling him as he realized he and Rey were about to start a new tradition. Granted, they weren’t in their own place, yet, but to have Rey enjoy her first time decorating a Christmas tree in the house he grew up in was pretty special.
Poe’s father had decided to go on vacation for Christmas this year. He and a couple of friends that he had worked with for the last decade, all either divorced or widowed men in their 50s, had decided to spend the holiday in the Caribbean. He had asked Poe to housesit for him and told him that Rey was welcome to stay, too, if she desired. Since they were both living in tiny apartments of their own but had been talking about getting a larger one together, Poe thought it would be a great time get used to living together. Not that he was unsure of his feelings on the subject; he was ready to start sharing his life with her. But Rey was still nervous about the idea.
Today, Christmas Eve, Poe decided it was time to put up his father’s old fake tree and decorate it.
“It’s a little late, isn’t it?” Rey asked when Poe told her the plan.
He shrugged. “Traditional Catholics tend to wait until now,” he told her. “Christmas doesn’t start until tonight in the Church, and it lasts until Epiphany.” Poe had been raised Catholic, and while he didn’t consider himself devout, he did still love practicing the traditions he grew up with. They reminded him of his mother.
Rey finally got the lights untangled enough to satisfy her, and Poe directed her on how to wrap them around the tree. Having grown up an orphan, Rey had mixed memories about Christmas, some good, some bad, but she had never actually been able to decorate a tree.
Once the lights were in place, Poe plugged them in. “It’s more fun doing the rest of the decorating with them on," he told her. The garland came next, both blue and gold in color. It was old, Poe thought as he unwound it from the cardboard holder. It was still shiny and pretty, but it was starting to fall apart. He made a mental note to get some new stuff for his father for next year.
Next came the decorations. Poe moved aside the newspaper that had separated the garland from the individual ornaments and felt his breath catch.
“What’s wrong?” Rey asked, always attuned to his emotions.
“So many memories in this box,” Poe told her softly. He reached in and pulled out a small ceramic dog, painted in fading watercolors. “I made this in 3rd grade,” he told her. “I was so proud of it. Mom was, too.”
Rey was smiling softly at the ornament. “It looks like Bee,” she said. The owner of that name lifted his head from where he had been laying next to the fireplace and swished his tail.
Poe chuckled. “I guess I’ve always had a thing for yellow Labs.” He reached into the box and pulled out a package of shiny glass balls in red and gold. “Why don’t you put these on the tree,” he told her. “I’ll do the ‘special’ ornaments and tell you about them if I remember anything.”
She took the package and smiled her brilliant smile. “I’d like that.”
And so, they took their time decorating the tree, Poe telling her about each individual ornament as he pulled them out. If he couldn’t remember anything about one in particular, he still had a cute or funny or touching story about past Christmases to tell. “Mom bought this at the Angel Bizarre at church,” about the pretty beaded star. “I asked dad for this one the year after mom died because she always collected the annual ornament from this store,” he said about the snowman. Sometimes, he worried that he was boring Rey, but whenever he got quiet, she would start to question him, encouraging more stories out of him. Her eyes were bright and her laugh free.
God, he loved this woman.
Finally, the tree was covered with a combination of store-bought and homemade decorations, shiny balls and cute little Santas. Poe pulled out the tree topper last. It was a beautiful silver snowflake design, a more recent addition as the star from his childhood had long since stopped lighting up, though he did notice that it still sat at the bottom of the box, as if his dad refused to throw it out. Poe grabbed the footstool and pulled it over to the tree.
He handed the snowflake to Rey. “I’ll let you do the honors,” he told her.
“Oh, so I can be the one to fall and break something, huh?” she teased as she stepped onto the footstool.
Poe moved up behind her, wrapping his arms around her. “I’ll make sure you don’t fall.” He rested his head on the small of her back.
She smiled down at him, then reached out and placed the snowflake on the top of the tree. She plugged it into the already glowing light string and it lit up with brilliant white light.
Rey turned to face Poe without getting down from the stool. His face now even with her abdomen, he looked up at her as she started playing with his curls.
“Next year, when we have our own place and our own tree, we’ll have to buy all our own ornaments,” he told her.
“But it won’t have the history or memories this one does,” Rey said, frowning.
“No, it won’t,” Poe agreed. “But we get to start our own history. Our own memories.”
Rey nodded, smiling again. “I like the sound of that.”
“Merry Christmas, Rey,” Poe whispered, then he nuzzled his face into her belly.
She giggled. “Merry Christmas, my love.”
December 25 - Peace
It certainly wasn’t what they had planned for Christmas.
They had gone to the 4:30 Children’s Mass at church the evening before, on Christmas Eve, and then had come home for dinner. They had opened presents, let the children excite themselves into exhaustion, then gone to bed. They planned on driving to Kes’ house Christmas morning for a big brunch and more presents… if the weather allowed them to. It has started snowing and blowing, with temps below zero and wind chills even colder than that, on their way home from mass.
Leia and Shara had been super well-behaved through all the holiday hubbub, but their little sister decided she wasn’t going to be as accommodating.
It was shortly after one a.m. when Rey woke in a cold sweat, her back screaming, and the area she was lying in bed was wet. She had been on her left side, the side she was most comfortable sleeping on, and she reached around behind her and started smacking Poe hard. He jerked awake immediately.
“What?!” he shouted. He sat up sharply. “What is it?!”
Rey gave him a panicked look. “I think I’m in labor!”
Poe stared at her for a moment, his eyes wide in the dark, then he jumped out of the bed, turned on the light, and rushed around to her side. Together they threw back the blankets as Rey struggled to sit up. The baby wasn’t due for another two weeks. They had actually been joking about maybe getting a New Year baby, but their other daughters had been right on time, being born within a day of their due date, so they expected the same from this one.
As Rey swung her legs over the side of the bed, Poe raced for the closet. “Let’s get you changed," he told her, then he looked back. “Or should I call Maz first?” Maz was Rey’s midwife. Though Leia had been born in a hospital, Rey had used Maz as her birthing coach, and when Shara came along it had just been Maz and Poe with her right here at home with no problems.
“Call Maz,” Rey said. “I don’t think I have time to change.” She tried to stand and doubled over as a contraction hit hard. Poe rushed back over to her. Rey stared at him. She could feel… “Poe, I think she’s already here.”
“What?!”
“Get me to the tub,” she said, panting. Poe helped her to their connected bathroom, then sat her on the closed lid of the toilet as he grabbed up blankets and pillows, setting them up in the bathtub. Rey pulled her nightdress up and off her body, then shimmied out of her soaked panties. Poe helped her into the bathtub, where Rey spread her legs so both she and Poe could look.
Sure enough, the baby was already crowning.
“Holy crap,” Poe mumbled. He looked up at Rey.
“Call Maz!”
Poe ran back to the bedroom to get his cell as Rey continued to pant. She wanted to push. She knew she should push. But she was scared. Yes, she had been through this twice before, but never had it happened this fast. Was everything okay? Was there something wrong with the baby? Why did this have to happen in the dead of night on Christmas morning during a blizzard?
Poe appeared in the doorway, phone on speaker in his hand, two scared little girls and one excited French Bulldog on his heels. He squatted down to talk to his daughters. “You two stay right here in the door, okay. Do not come inside. Just stay here and watch.” He glanced back at the dog, who was running circles in the bedroom. “You, too, BB!”
“I couldn’t get hold of Maz,” he told Rey as he kneeled down at the side of the tub. “So, I’m going to try 911.”
“Poe, we don’t need 911,” Rey gasped. “I need to push. And I need you here with me. We can call them after.”
Poe took a deep breath. “I was afraid you were gonna say that.” He grabbed a couple of towels from the closet, then got in the tub with Rey, kneeling between her legs. “Okay, we can do this.” He glanced at the girls, who were watching them wide-eyed. “Ready to meet your sister?”
Rey smiled as they both nodded solemnly, but then a contraction hit.
“Push,” Poe said firmly, his hands gentle on her knees.
Suddenly afraid again, Rey shook her head, closing her eyes tight.
“Rey.” Poe’s soft voice made her open her eyes. “Look at me.” She focused on his face. He smiled softly at her, and when her next contraction hit, he nodded. “Now, push.”
She pushed. The baby’s head appeared. The contraction eased and Rey let her head fall back to lean on the wall behind her. Poe was looking down at the little face frowning at him, then he glanced back up at her, a wry smile on his face.
“You know, I think I might have been in this same spot when she was conceived.”
“Shut up,” Rey said on a giggle. The next contraction came, and Rey pushed without any encouragement. And just like that, their baby girl slid out into the world, Poe catching her with a gasp and a smile. “Oh, my God,” Rey huffed as the baby started crying, softly at first, then harder as Poe wrapped her in one of the towels. She was red and wrinkled and wriggling like mad as Poe handed her to Rey. He grabbed the first aid kit he set on the sink, took a roll of gauze and cut two pieces to tie off the umbilical, then doused the scissors in alcohol before cutting the cord. Rey couldn’t help but smile, knowing her neurodivergent husband had been paying close attention the last two times they had done this.
Suddenly, his cell rang, making everyone in the room jump. Poe had to get out of the tub to reach it from where he had set it down on the toilet tank. He looked at the screen and huffed a laugh. “Hey, Maz.”
Rey giggled, then focused on the little one in her arms as Poe ushered the other littles back out of the bathroom while telling Maz what had just happened. BB rushed in, his nails clicking on the linoleum. He peeked in at Rey and the baby, then circled several times, grunting and screaming happily, then ran back out. Poe came back in after a while, and Rey knew he had put the girls back to bed.
“Maz is on her way, but it might take a while. The roads are really bad. She’s called an EMT to come, too, just to make sure everything is okay with the two of you, but she doesn’t think you’ll need to go to the hospital.” He took a deep breath. “Let’s get you guys cleaned up.”
While he was bathing the baby, Rey felt another contraction and easily expelled the afterbirth. Then she carefully stepped out of the tub and began cleaning herself up. “I like this better,” she said to Poe as he held on to her arm, keeping her steady. “Just us. No hospital.”
“Sweetheart, you’re lucky I’m still sane,” Poe told her. “I’m still shaking, here.”
She smiled. “Me, too.”
Poe helped her into a dry nightgown, then left her to sit in the chair with the baby while he changed the bedding. She offered her breast to the baby, but the little one was too busy observing everything around her. Her big light brown eyes weren’t focusing, yet, but they were sure curious anyway. Finally, Poe assisted her back into the bed, propping her up on several pillows as she finally got the baby to nurse. He moved to look out the window, his body radiating tension.
“Poe,” she said softly. “Come lay with me until they get here,” she said.
He nodded and climbed back into the bed, wrapping his arm around her shoulders, his body relaxing as he looked down at their little girl. He shook his head, his expression awed. “We did this.”
“All by ourselves, from start to finish.”
He huffed a laugh and looked at her. “You were amazing.”
“So were you.”
He ran the tips of his fingers over the baby’s cheek. “A Christmas baby.”
“Tala,” Rey said. “Tala Noel.”
Poe smiled. They had already agreed they liked the name Tala, but Noel was the perfect addition. “Yes. I love it.”
“I don’t think we’re going to get to your father’s today,” Rey sighed, laying her head on his shoulder.
“I think he’ll understand.”
The baby stopped nursing as she fell asleep. Poe wiped away the bit of milk that lingered at the corner of her mouth, then he laid his hand gently over Rey’s where she held the baby. He closed his eyes, a smile playing on his lips. Rey shifted a bit, then settled, her whole body lethargic. As quick and easy as this birth had been, she knew she would still be sore for a few days. But as always, it would be worth it.
Soon, Maz and the medics would be here to check her and the baby over, but she knew they would find nothing wrong.
A peace she had never known enveloped her. She closed her eyes and fell asleep.
December 26 - Contentment
Mature Content Warning!
It had been a busy day, but a good one.
It was Rey and Poe’s second Life Day together, although they hadn’t been a couple the previous year, so really it was their first. They had joined their friends at the local tavern for a big traditional dinner and then they had spent most of the evening talking and laughing and catching up with each other as alcohol flowed freely. Most in the group didn’t live on Yavin IV permanently, but because both Poe and Rey had settled there after the war, they visited frequently.
It had been fairly late when the group had finally dispersed, with the non-residents heading either back to their ships or to the local hostel, Finn heading back to his little house at the edge of town with Rose on his arm, and Rey and Poe jumping in the speeder to head back to the Dameron homestead, where they had built a cabin for themselves just down from Kes’ house. Poe had BB8 drive the speeder because he knew both he and Rey had imbibed a bit too much Merezane Gold and were tired. Once home, however, they both determined that neither were ready for bed.
Or at least not ready for sleep.
Making love while drunk was a new experience for Rey, but she trusted Poe enough to know he would take care of her, inebriated or not. There was a lot more fumbling and a lot more laughter, but once they were naked and safely situated on the bed, they were able to focus a bit better. The longer they touched, the more they whispered first sweet talk and then dirty talk to each other. Poe began to challenge Rey, daring her to use her natural strength to make him do what she wanted. She, in turn, threatened to use the Force to pin him down, something she never would have said if not for the alcohol.
“You’d never,” he told her firmly, his eyes unafraid.
“How do you know?”
“Because that’s not who you are.”
She had stared at him for a long moment, knowing he was right, but then used that brief distraction to flip him over onto his back, straddling him while pulling his arms up above his head, holding his wrists down firmly. If he had truly struggled, she would have let him go, but he didn’t. Instead, the look on his face was approving. Since they had become lovers, Rey had always let Poe take the lead, acceding to his experience and her natural desire to please. But tonight, with her inhibitions almost non-existent, Rey was ready to dominate.
She had taken his fully aroused cock in hand and impaled herself on it while still keeping one hand on his wrists. Once firmly seated, she started rocking her hips, not just back and forth, but in circles, loving the feel of him, thick and solid, inside her.
“That’s it, baby,” Poe had encouraged, offering just a bit of resistance, making her reach back up with her free hand to keep his hands pinned down above his head. Stretching up that way caused her breasts to come near his face. He purposefully breathed on them as he continued to goad her. “That’s it. Take you pleasure from me. You fill up that tight little cunt with my cock. Stuff it full. Shove it in there as hard as you can take it,” he growled.
“Oh, Kriff, Poe!” she had shouted. “Make me come!” She let go of his wrists and sat up, placing her hands on his chest, riding him hard now. He responded by grabbing her hips, sliding his hands around to squeeze her ass. “Please, I want to come!”
“Then come, baby. Come for me!”
Rey did, feeling her whole body convulse as her back bowed and her thighs tightened around his hips. She arched her head back, mouth open on a silent scream. She felt Poe’s release just as she was coming down from her high. She opened her eyes and looked at him, smiling. “That’s it, baby,” she whispered, echoing his earlier pet name. “Come for me.”
After they had both cleaned up, they had cuddled together under the blankets. Though Yavin IV rarely got cold, it was a cool enough night for the covers to be comfortable. Rey had never felt so satisfied. Whether it was the fun, busy day behind her, the after effects of the alcohol, or the great sex, she wasn’t sure. Maybe all of the above?
Or maybe it was simply because she had enjoyed all of the above with the man she loved. No one but Poe had ever made her feel this content, and she would never take that, or him, for granted.
December 27 - Love
It was a rare quiet day on Ajan Kloss. Rey and Leia rarely found time to meditate together. More often than not, when she wasn’t actively training Rey, Leia was far too busy to spend any kind of quiet time with her apprentice. But today was an unusually slow day for the members of the Resistance that were on base, probably because the majority of the beings that called this secret part of Ajan Kloss home were off world. Those that remained were waiting patiently to either hear back from those on specific missions or waiting for their return.
As often happened when a great majority of her teammates were off doing something important while she stayed behind, Rey became agitated and moody. If Leia was busy, she would send Rey out to run the training course, or give her some other chore to do to keep her occupied. Today, Leia decided she had the time to meditate alongside Rey.
While the meditating was helpful in controlling her anxiety, these moments also allowed Rey to ask her master questions that weren’t that important to her training, but were still of great interest to her. Today especially Rey seemed to have one specific question burning up inside her, and Leia wondered if she would be brave enough to ask it.
“Rey, you’re about to explode,” she said calmly, giving the younger woman a smirk. “I can feel it.”
Rey’s cheeks turned red. While she was usually very good at hiding her emotions in the Force, some days she just couldn’t.
“You know you can talk to me about anything,” Leia continued.
Rey took a deep breath. “You were already married with a baby when you started training with Luke, right?”
Leia nodded. “Yes.”
“When I was reading in the most recent text, the only one I didn’t need translated, it stated that the Jedi Order didn’t allow their members to marry and have families. Is that true?”
Leia nodded again. “It was true for a very long time, but I don’t think it became a mandate until late in the Order’s history. I guess they believed that the Jedi needed to focus completely on those they served, and that a family would distract them.”
“Do you believe that?”
“I think it depends on the person,” Leia answered.
Rey looked at her for a long time, and Leia could still feel anxiety churning within her.
“Rey,” Leia raised an eyebrow at her. “Just ask.”
“How do you know when you’re in love?” Rey blurted.
Leia was startled by the question.
She looked inward briefly as she contemplated the question, then she focused on Rey again. “I know you love the color green,” she waved her hand around, indicating the green jungle and grass they were sitting on. “I know you love to fly. I know you love your friends. How do you feel when you think of things you love?”
Rey thought for a moment. “I feel happy,” she said. “I feel content. I feel that I’m not alone.”
Leia nodded. “Being in love is the complete opposite of all that.”
“What?!” Rey gasped.
Leia smiled. “Okay, maybe not the complete opposite, it just feels like it in the beginning. You feel uneasy. You aren’t always happy. Sometimes you’re even angry. And you often feel very alone.” She paused. “But then something amazing happens. You discover the person you love, loves you. And then everything falls into place. You’re happy, content, not alone. And of course, through it all, the good and the bad, is passion.”
Rey paused for a long moment. “So, how is being in love different from say… friends with benefits?”
Leia chuckled. “There’s no real passion in that kind of relationship,” she explained. “If there is, then they are fooling themselves. Passion is different than physical desire,” she continued. “It’s more than physical. It’s a combination of sexual attraction and emotional attachment. It’s intangible, almost spiritual.”
She tilted her head. “So, to answer your question.” She took a deep breath. “You want to be around them all the time and you want to know everything about them. You want to see them happy and you want to do everything in your power to make them so. But at the same time, because your emotions are heightened around them, you sometimes become a bit out of control; lose your temper easier, laugh harder, cry more. You can imagine a future with them, and when you’re with them, you feel like you can do anything.” She smiled slightly and looked at Rey. “Unfortunately, you also get jealous easy, although that becomes less so as trust is developed.” She nudged Rey gently with an elbow. “That trust thing happens faster when you fall in love with a friend, like I did.”
Rey smiled at Leia’s words, but Leia could see she was still apprehensive.
“What if the person you’re falling in love with… doesn’t feel the same?” she asked nervously. “What if he only thinks of you as a friend?”
“If that’s true, then you need to move on. You can’t make a person fall in love with you.” She looked intently at Rey. “But make sure that’s true. Because sometimes people feel things they don’t want, and hide it, scared to let anyone know. Especially the one they are in love with.”
“So…so you think he could feel the same way?” Rey stuttered.
“Rey, if it’s a ‘he’ we’re talking about, then I can think of more than one person that most likely feels the same way.” She shrugged. “I guess we best hope one of them is the one you want.” She raised her eyebrows in question.
Rey looked away, biting her lip.
“You don’t have to tell me,” Leia said softly. “But I promise I won’t tell anyone else, especially him, unless you want me to.”
Rey shook her head. “There’s no way he could look at me like that,” she continued. “I’m not even on his radar.”
“Rey…” Leia started.
“Poe.”
Leia stopped short, her mouth forming a little ‘o’ before widening into a full smile. “Oh, Rey. You have no idea, do you?”
“What?” Rey asked, her eyes wide. “That he’s already secretly engaged to some beauty back on Yavin IV?”
Leia laughed, shaking her head. “No.” You have no idea how much that man does everything in his power to make you happy, even though you usually end up making him lose his temper. You have no idea how jealous he gets when he sees you laughing with others, wishing it was him making you laugh like that. You have no idea that he works so hard here, not just because he’s trying to make me proud, but because he wants to be worthy of you.
She didn’t say those words out loud; that would mean betraying the trust of the man she considered her second son. But she did say, “You have no idea how much he cares for you, do you?”
Rey stared at Leia, her eyes hopeful but fearful. “Really?”
Leia nodded decisively. “Really.” She leaned into the young woman one more time. “But don’t tell him I told you,” she whispered.
“How..?” Rey started, her brows furrowed. “How do I let him know how I feel?”
“Just spend time with him. Let him know that you enjoy being with him. I think things will flow fairly easily from there.”
“Did it for you?”
“Hell, no!” Leia snorted. “Han and I had to go through our own storm before things became easy for us.” She looked at Rey. “Please, don’t fight it like I did. Don’t waste time, Rey. Life is too short.”
The sound of a starship entering atmosphere made them look up. They watched as the dark spot far above formed into the shape of an X-Wing as it came closer. An orange and white X-Wing. It sailed smoothly above the trees, then disappeared behind them as it came down gently for a landing.
“Now’s your chance,” Leia said softly. “Go get him.”
December 28 - Together
“I’m sorry.”
Rey looked over at the man sitting next to her. They were huddled up together on the bench seat on the starboard side of the little cruiser. Rey had her feet up on the bench and was hugging her knees, while Poe had his arm wrapped around her shoulders. The temperature inside the ship was just above freezing and was slowly dropping, but Rey knew that wasn’t a concern.
The fact that they were also slowly running out of oxygen was a bit more distressing.
“It’s not your fault,” Rey told Poe quietly. “You didn’t know that patrol would be there. I think you did an amazing job getting us away.”
And he had. He had flown this ship, an older model that was unknown to him until they had ‘borrowed’ it for this mission, brilliantly. The First Order patrol didn’t have any reason to hassle them, as their forged credentials were perfect, but they didn’t need a reason. They were in control and they were bored. When they didn’t like Poe’s answers to their questions, they had announced they were detaining them and were sending a boarding party. With the two storage containers full of weapons on board, Rey and Poe could not let that happen.
Poe had made a run for it, and he had succeeded in ducking and dodging the resulting laser fire for the most part. But one lucky shot had hit them just as Poe jumped to hyperspace. They had made it maybe about ten seconds into the jump when the ship fell out of hyperspace. For over an hour, Rey had helped Poe try and make repairs to the ship, but there was nothing they could do. Everything was fried. Engines, communications, life support.
The ship was literally dead in space.
The little stolen cruiser had nothing in the way of emergency life support. No space suits, no thermal blankets, no filtration masks with oxygen attached.
After determining there was nothing more to do, they had settled close together on the bench, sharing each other’s body heat.
“In a way, it is my fault,” Poe argued. “I was the one who wanted to stop here for supplies that aren’t necessities.” A contact had informed them that a supporter had a large number of data pads and other clerical equipment available. While these things would come in handy with the growing Resistance, they weren’t essential.
“You were just tired of Leia complaining about our equipment,” Rey said with a smile. “You’re just trying to make her life easier.”
“Yeah, and look were that got us.”
Rey shrugged. “Well, I could say something profound like ‘we’re all going to die at some point,’ but I don’t think you want to hear that.”
Poe snorted.
“At least we’re together,” Rey added softly. She rested her head on his shoulder. She could already feel herself getting light-headed.
“Isn’t there a… thing… you can do with the Force?” Poe asked. “Where you can go into a coma, or something?”
Rey lifted her head and looked at him, shock filling her. “What?”
“You can do that,” Poe continued, his eyes huge and worried. “Maybe you can survive until help comes.”
“We don’t know that help is coming,” Rey argued. The Resistance knew what planet they had been heading to, but the odds of them being found lightyears away from there were beyond astronomical. Poe had engaged the emergency beacon in his pack, but it was meant for use on planet surfaces, not the middle of space. “Besides, I’m not leaving you alone.”
“Rey, if there is even the slightest chance of you living through this…”
“No!” She laid her head back on his shoulder, effectively ending the debate.
“You’re so stubborn,” he whispered.
“And you love me all the more for it.”
“I do,” he confirmed. “I do love you.”
Rey felt tears forming in her eyes at his words. Though they had become more than friends over a month ago, he had never said those words to her.
“I love you, too, Poe.”
She felt him kiss the top of her head, and she squeezed her eyes shut, feeling the tears slide down her cheeks. She started to slide into sleep when she felt something almost like a poke on her brain. It woke her up, and she struggled to focus. She recognized the feeling, now. She looked at Poe, who had also been fading into sleep, as he became alert to her tension.
“What is it?”
“Leia,” Rey breathed. “She found us.”
As soon as the words left her mouth, the Millennium Falcon appeared in the viewport.
“Well, it looks like we’re getting out of this after all,” Poe grinned.
Rey smiled back. “Together.”
Cozy
Rey didn’t know how he did it.
It didn’t matter what color he wore, what pattern, what kind of material, or what season of the year, Poe always made sweaters look cozy and comfy. Cardigans, turtle necks, v-necks, even ugly Christmas sweaters looked great on him.
Rey envied how comfortable he was in them, as she herself had such sensitive skin that all but the softest of sweaters made her skin itch. She didn’t like anything tight around her neck, either, so though she knew she looked cute in turtle necks, she always felt as if she was suffocating in them, and if they weren’t super soft, it was pure torture to wear one. Poe knew about her dilemma, though, and never bought her anything but the softest of cardigans. They were always in bright colors, with no patterns, and they were warm and easy to slip on and off in case they became too prickly feeling at any time.
When Rey and Poe first stated dating, Poe was never picky about what kind of sweater he wore, nor did he really care how he looked in them. Not that he had to worry, since he looked great in anything. However, after he and Rey had been together for a few months and he started to learn her little quirks, her likes and dislikes, and the reason behind them, he started paying attention to what he wore. Not for any aesthetic reasons, but for Rey’s comfort.
Suddenly, his t-shirts, dress shirts, and of course his sweaters, had to be super soft. He wanted Rey to be comfortable touching him, therefore she needed to be comfortable touching his clothing. Rey didn’t notice what he was doing at first. All she knew was that she was never physically irritated by anything while she was near Poe. Her brain slowly began to connect that fact that everything he wore on his torso was of fine material, oftentimes smooth, and always soft. The rough sweaters he used to wear were gone, as were the stiff, starchy shirts.
When she began to suspect he was doing it for her, she was too afraid to ask him outright. What if she was just imagining things? What if he was just realizing he was more comfortable in that kind of clothing? But one night, as he was dropping her off at her apartment after a movie, she decided she had to ask him.
His coat was open, so she ran her fingers gently down his chest, appreciating the downy feel of the sweater he was wearing underneath the coat.
“Is this for me?” she asked softly.
He tilted his head questioningly. “Is what for you?”
She felt her face heat, but she pushed forward. “The sweater,” she said. “Your other shirts these past few weeks. They’re softer than what you usually wear.”
He looked away, biting his lip, then he smiled and looked back at her. “I wasn’t sure you’d notice.”
“It is for me, isn’t it?” she nodded. “Because I’m too sensitive.”
“You’re not too sensitive,” he denied. “Sensitive is just what you are. It’s not a bad thing.”
“Isn’t it?” she asked. “If it’s making you change who you are?”
He laughed softly. “Rey, my choice in clothing isn’t who I am. My sense of style has no definition. Besides, I’m kind of getting overindulged by wearing all this soft stuff.”
Rey huffed a laugh. “More comfortable?”
He shook his head. “Nope. You touch me more often, now. It’s spoiling me.”
“What if?” Rey started to say.
“What if, what?”
“What if I wanted to touch you even more?” she said with a shy smile. “Without that soft stuff between us?”
He looked at her for a long moment, his eyes intense.
“Then you better invite me inside.”
Rey stepped aside and invited him inside.
December 30 - Life Day
Poe sat quietly by himself on the far side of the room, watching the many people that filled the space, but not seeing them.
He hadn’t wanted to come tonight, but Finn had begged him to, and he couldn’t deny the people he loved anything. Finn’s excuse was that it was the first Life Day since he and Rose had been married, and Poe supposed that was an okay thing to be happy about. Firsts were important. Your first Life Day married. Your first Life Day after a war. Your first Life Day after a child was born.
Your first Life Day since your father died.
Kes Dameron had passed away over ten standard months ago, and Poe had thought he was done grieving and mostly back to normal, but the holiday reminded him that normal would never be the same. He would never stop grieving. Not really. It would come and go, ebb and flow, but it would never end. As long as he loved his father, he would mourn his father.
Life Day had always been a big deal in the Dameron household. Even after his mother died, his father managed to keep the traditions they had all celebrated together the same. Only now did Poe realize how hard that must have been for his dad, and he knew the grieving man had only done it for Poe. Every year, Life Day was celebrated with traditional songs, foods, and gift giving. Even when Poe wasn’t home on Yavin IV, they still found time to connect and share with each other the events of the day. Only during the few years of the war had they not done this, if only because Poe didn’t dare contact his father; there was no way he was taking the chance that the First Order would find Kes and use him against Poe, who had been on their Most Wanted list for years.
But then the war had ended. Poe was able to go home, and he and his friends were able to celebrate Life Day together at the Dameron Homestead. Within two years, Poe was married, had become a prominent advisor for the New Republic’s Department of Defense, and had become a father. Life was perfect.
Until Kes informed Poe he had been diagnosed with lung cancer.
The doctors believed it was a result of Kes’ exposure to toxic gases used by the Empire during the Galactic Civil War. Though minimal, it had eventually caught up with him. Poe and his family took leave from their respective jobs and came to Yavin IV immediately. They were by Kes’ side when he died two weeks later.
Life had gone on. Slowly but surely, things became better. Poe had dealt with death many times. Two of his best friends, Muran and Snap, both died in their fighters right before his eyes. Commanders and those under his command, friends and former friends. The hardest death had been Leia’s, but the eminent attack from Palpatine’s fleet had prevented him from focusing too much on that loss until much later. He had loved them all in one way or another, but none had been his father.
Now it was Life Day, that special holiday that he and his father had always managed to share the same delight in. And now his father was gone.
He wasn’t mad at the people around him for celebrating. He wasn’t jealous of their joy. In reality, he simply felt nothing. No sorrow. No resentment. He was just… empty.
It was while the group in front of him started singing one of his favorite songs for Life Day, Gaudete, a familiar and beloved presence appeared next to him. He closed his eyes, letting the ancient High Galactic language play in his ears as the feeling of comfort and peace filled him. The Force. Sometimes he thought it was the only thing that had gotten him through the last few months.
He felt his wife, the bearer of that powerful Force energy, tuck her hand under his arm and lay her head on his shoulder. She he never strayed far from his side this past horrible year, despite the fact they both had obligations away from each other. Even when they were apart, if he started having a depressive episode, she would know, and come to him. She claimed she wasn’t using the Force to read his emotions, but that she could simply tell by his voice, his body language, the look in his eye even over a holocom. And when she was with him again, life became bearable once more.
Which told him that it wasn’t the Force that had kept him going.
It was Rey.
She never pushed him to talk, but she listened when he did. She never told him he should talk to a councilor, but she encouraged him when he chose to. She never pressured him to ‘just do it’ when he didn’t want to. She was his silent support, her strength and love palpable, even to a non-Jedi like him. He asked her once how she could still be there after so many months of his moodiness and disassociation. She reminded him that he had done the same for her during the months following Exegol. It was how she fell in love with him.
And as Poe felt her physical and mental warmth fill him, he realized with a strange certainty that he was falling in love with her, all over again.
He heard the familiar giggle of his daughter, and looked over to see Suralinda dancing to the music with the almost 2-year-old toddler in her arms. Little Leia had a huge smile on her face, her cheeks rosy red from the excitement of the evening. For the first time in days, Poe felt a real smile form on his lips, and a new determination in his heart.
He would grieve this first Life Day without his father, as was expected. But by next year, his little girl would start making memories of her own, and Poe was determined to make them as good as his own memories were.
He looked at his wife, letting is smile carry over to her. She smiled back, the picked up his hand and kissed the back of it. “Happy Life Day, Poe.”
“Happy Life Day, my love.”
Free Day
I chose the prompt Epic Fight
“Rey! Falcon’s back!”
Nimi’s shout made Rey’s head jerk up. She had been trying to read, but had not been having much success. Her brain was just too full already. Thoughts of the vision she had earlier on the training course, her frustration with her lack of progress in meditation, her fear that her power was more than she could control, and of course, always in the back of her mind, thoughts about the men she loved and currently worried about.
She closed the book and jumped up, then ran down the short wooden staircase that had been built that led to Leia’s private chambers. Rey had lived with her there until a few months ago, when she had moved in with Poe, but she still spent a great deal of her time studying in the relaxing space.
She rushed out of the cavern and toward the clearing where the Millennium Falcon was usually docked, spotting BB-8 out of the corner of her eye as the droid followed her from his station at the foot of the stairs. Fire crews were rushing toward the ship, and Rey felt her breath catch as panic filled her. But no, she thought. If something had happened to her friends, she would have known. Finn and Chewie were like family to her, and she could recognize their imprints in the Force easily. And as for the other one…
He was stalking toward her right now, his whole body radiating tension. She could feel the residual adrenaline flowing out through his Force essence, the fear and excitement of a close escape not quite gone despite the fact that he was now safe.
“It’s on fire,” he grumbled toward the crew rushing past him. BB-8 twittered an exclamation. "Whole thing’s on fire. All of it. It’s on fire.” Poe’s voice got more and more disgruntled sounding as he headed toward Rey.
“Hey,” Rey said as he got closer. She scanned his form with her eyes, reassured that he wasn’t hurt, then she glanced at the Falcon again, wondering how in the galaxy she had come back like that.
“Hey!” Poe said in return. She wanted to rush him and give him a hug, but the anger on his face and the tautness of his body held her back. He continued to march toward her. “Really could have used your help out there,” he said, frustration filling his voice. He had argued with both her and Leia more than once that Rey would benefit them more by helping on missions, but after their adventure on Soelea Leia rarely let her leave the planet.
“How did it go?” Rey asked, more than a little wary of Poe’s attitude.
“Really bad, actually,” Poe told her. “Really bad.”
Rey looked back over at the Falcon. “Han’s ship…” she started.
Poe, meanwhile, had noticed BB-8 behind her. “What’d you do the droid?” he asked in disbelief.
Rey’s wariness was turning into anger as she glanced back at BB-8. She looked back at Poe. “What’d you do to the Falcon?” she countered.
“The Falcon’s in a lot better shape than he is!”
Rey waved toward the ship. “BB-8’s not on fire!”
“What’s left of him isn’t on fire,” Poe growled.
Rey barely prevented herself from rolling her eyes. “Tell me what happened,” she demanded.
“You tell me first.”
Stubborn, stubborn man. She smirked. “You know what you are?”
“What?”
“You’re difficult,” she answered. “Really difficult.” There were so many other words she could have chosen at that moment, but she was determined to keep her cool. “You’re a difficult man.”
She could see Poe’s eyes light up and recognized the look. He was arguing with her because it was the only way he could release the pent-up anxiety of the near-death experience he had just been through. He was arguing with her because he wanted to do something else to her, but couldn’t at the moment. But oh, the look he gave her as he responded, “You… you are…” He shook his head and bit his lip in frustration.
She wanted to jump him then and there.
“Rey!” Finn’s voice, thank the Force, distracted her.
“Finn!” She moved past Poe as he kneeled next to his droid, meeting Finn and finally getting the hug she had been looking for. Best friend versus lover. Seriously.
“You made it back!”
“Yeah,” Finn answered as he enveloped her in his arms. “Barely.”
Rey pulled back. “So. Bad mood?”
“Me?” Finn looked startled.
Rey used her thumb to point back at Poe. “Him.”
Finn scoffed. “Always.”
Rey glanced back at Poe, who was still inspecting BB-8, then looked at Finn. “Do we have a spy?”
As Finn started to answer, Chewie shouted at her from the Falcon, his arms high. He was obviously angry, and Rey understood why.
She turned back toward Poe. “You lightspeed skipped?” she asked, dumbfounded.
Poe had also heard Chewie’s complaint. “Yeah, well, it got us back here, didn’t it?” he defended.
Rey stalked over to him, fear and anger overwhelming her. “Poe! The compressor’s down!”
“Oh, I know!” Poe said sarcastically. “I was there!”
Finn followed Rey, but she ignored him as he mumbled, “Every time.”
“You can’t lightspeed skip the Falcon!” Not only was it dangerous in a sound ship, something so demanding could rip apart an older ship like the Falcon, even if her pilot got all on-the-spot calculations correct.
Poe popped up from his kneeling position, his expression hard. He shrugged, his reply quick and biting. “Actually, it turns out you can! So…”
Finn, trying to keep the peace, as he so often did when Rey and Poe started bickering, said, “All right, guys. We just landed, okay?” He was defending Poe’s actions by essentially reminding Rey they could be dead, but weren’t.
Poe set off, stalking past them and heading toward command. Rey wasn’t going to let him go that easily.
“What happened?” she demanded.
“Bad news, that’s what happened.” Poe answered while still walking.
“No spy?” Rey asked, trying to fill in the blanks.
“No. Spy.”
Poe’s caustic echo of her words just pissed her off even more. “Did we make contact with a spy or not?”
Finn, bless his heart, answered her. “There’s a mole in the First Order, and they sent us a message.”
As he spoke, BB-8, who had been racing alongside them, chirped at Poe. Rey stopped short as Poe spun around to glare at her.
“You dropped a tree on him?” His voice was deceptively calm.
Remembering what else Chewie had been shouting earlier as he circled the ship, Rey countered, “You blew both sub-alternators?”
“Well, you know what?” Poe exclaimed, calm no more. “Maybe you should’ve been out there with us!”
Finn immediately tried to stop what he could see was about to become a conflagration. “Okay, guys!”
Rey heard him, but ignored him, focused on the impossible man in front of her. “You know I want to be out there with you!”
“Yeah, but you’re not! You’re here. Training. For what?” He paused for a moment, his expression turning from angry to earnest. Finn had moved over to stand next to him, and he was giving Rey the same expression as Poe. “You’re the best fighter we have,” Poe continued. He glanced at Finn. “We need you! Out there! Not here!” He turned, heading determinedly toward Aftab Ackbar. “Junior. Get R2 into recondition.”
Rey watched him go, not sure what to say. She looked at Finn, who was watching her intently. “It’s true,” he said softly.
Rey had always felt she could better help the Resistance out in the field, but she had never argued much when Leia insisted she stay behind. More than once, Rey had reminded Poe that she would have to face Kylo Ren again, and that she needed to be ready, but he had always disregarded her excuses, telling her she would never need to face that man again, that the Resistance would win the war and take away his power without her having to personally involve herself with the man formerly known as Ben Solo.
Rey knew Leia was also using Rey’s training as an excuse. She was afraid to lose her, whether by death or to the Dark Side. The older woman had become like a mother to her, and she knew Leia loved her as well. Maybe too much, if her overprotectiveness was any indication.
Pushing away those thought, Rey focused on Finn once more. “What’s the message?”
***
Palpatine. Exegol. A super fleet ready to take over the galaxy. It was the stuff of nightmares.
Once Rey had spoken with Leia, letting her know she was not going to stay out of the fight any longer, she headed back out to help Chewie repair the Falcon. Fortunately, most of the damage was minor, and Chewie had it well in hand. As Rey helped him finish up, she was reminded how the ship had been damaged, and felt a certain amount of awe that Poe had successfully lightspeed skipped the old freighter. If he wasn’t careful, he would let everyone else in on the fact that he had more than a little sensitivity to the Force.
It was well after midnight when Chewie announced the ship ready to go. They could fuel it up in the morning and then Rey could be on her way to find Exegol. He gave her a strange look while he said it, and Rey suspected that he was going to attempt to come with her, but that was a problem for the morning.
Rey headed for her quarters, which were located in the relatively new dormitory building they had put up just two months ago. Though the tent she had been living in had been comfortable, there was more room in the dorm. Not to mention thicker walls for privacy.
Rey walked up to the door of her room and paused, knowing what she would find on the other side. She hadn’t spoken directly to Poe since their argument, and now she would have to tell him she was finally heading out on a mission, but that he couldn’t come. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door.
She was wrong. She was surprised. Leia was there, her face serious as she and Poe both turned to look at her. Poe’s face was set in stone, as it had been most of the night. Leia glanced at her second-in-command, then stood from the chair she had been sitting in, cane in hand. She headed for the door, gripping Rey’s shoulder gently as she passed. “Get some sleep,” she whispered. Then she was gone.
Rey looked at Poe as he sat on the edge of their bed, knowing Leia had been telling him what Rey’s plans were. Now she would have to defend her belief that she needed to go alone.
“So, you got her up and running?” Poe asked. “The compressor’s fixed?”
Rey nodded. “Chewie had it almost all done when I got there tonight.” She stepped further into the room, her arms crossed over her chest. “Leia told you my plans?” she asked, wanting confirmation before continuing.
Poe nodded. “You’re going to look for Exegol.” His voice was monotone.
Rey licked her lips. “You were right before. I’m needed more out there than here.” She walked over to the chair, but didn’t sit. “I’m going to pick up where Luke’s trail went cold, the Forbidden Desert of Pasaana.”
“I know,” Poe nodded. “Finn and I are going to go with you.”
“No!” Rey dropped her arms. “It’s too dangerous! I need to go alone!”
“Yeah, alone with us,” Poe said agreeably. There was a slight smirk on his face, and his eyes were bright with challenge.
“Poe!”
“Rey!”
They stared silently at each other for a long moment before Poe finally spoke. “We go together,” he said firmly. “You know Chewie is going to demand to go, as well. We’ll take Threepio, and of course BB-8.”
BB-8, who had been silently observing them from his charging station, squealed an affirmative.
Rey felt tears form in her eyes. She didn’t want them to go. She didn’t want them to die. But at the same time, the relief she felt at not having to do this alone overwhelmed her. “I can’t lose you, Poe,” she whispered.
“And I can’t lose you,” he told her softly. “We work better together. You know it and I know it. With Finn and Chewie, we are unstoppable.” He lifted his arms, holding out his hands. “Come here.”
Rey reached for his hands and as soon as they connected, he pulled her into him, spreading his legs so she could stand in between them. He wrapped his arms around her waist and burrowed his face in her belly just below her ribs. Rey’s fingers were automatically drawn to his hair and she closed her eyes, letting her finger run through his thick curls.
“I’m sorry about BB-8,” Rey muttered. “I was on the training course and was hit with a vision from Ren. I just started swinging the saber, not really paying attention. I was trying to kill him through the remote.” She paused. “I wish it were that easy.”
“What did he make you see?” Poe mumbled into her belly.
“It doesn’t matter,” Rey told him, unwilling to let him see the darkness inside her. “You know my visions more often than not don’t come true.”
“But he was pushing you into this one, wasn’t he?” Poe pulled back, looking up a her, his expression concerned.
“That makes it even less likely to come true, doesn’t it?” Rey asked. “He doesn’t really know me. I’ve never let him see me like you do.”
Poe looked at her for a moment, then nodded and swallowed. “I’m sorry about the Falcon,” he said with a raised eyebrow. “If you had been there, maybe you would have chosen a less dangerous way out.”
Rey snorted a laugh. “I doubt it,” she argued. “I think you did what you had to do to keep all of you safe, and you succeeded. I’m sorry for getting so upset about it.” She shook her head. “As much as I hate to admit it, you are the better pilot.”
“Ooooh!” Poe exclaimed. “Can you say that in front of the whole squadron tomorrow?” he teased.
She laughed, tugging his hair slightly. “Never,” she told him.
Poe chuckled, then let his hands slide down her backside, cupping her ass. “We should probably get some sleep before we leave,” he told her. “We’ve got a long road ahead of us.”
“And not much privacy,” Rey added, continuing to play with his hair.
“Rey…” Poe said in warning.
She tilted her head as she looked down at him. “What?” she asked innocently. She backed away from him and started unbuckling her holster and belt. “You haven’t cleaned up since you got back, have you?” she continued. “We have to shower before we go to bed.” She pulled her wraps off, then slid the cream collared tunic, the one Poe had gotten her on Soelea, up and off her body. She watched as his eyes dropped to her now bare torso, his eyes focusing first on the ring hanging from its chain around her neck, then on the breasts that the ring dangled between.
As Rey toed off her boots, Poe’s eyes rose back up to meet hers. She smiled as she saw his pupils already dilated. “Hurry up, Commander,” she said huskily as she pulled off her leggings and underwear, then turned toward their tiny fresher.
Reaching for the buttons on his shirt, Poe smirked.
“Yes, ma’am.”
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
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