It was time to solve the mystery of the loloberries.
Damerey Challenge Short Short
Prompt: Gift Giving
Rey had fallen in love with loloberries immediately after she tried her first one shortly after settling in with the Resistance. Apparently, they were a common berry, grown on so many worlds no one could remember which world they were native to. But as common as they were, the Resistance still had a limited supply, therefore only a few were put out during the mid-day meal.
When Rey was able to partake, she accepted no more than three berries for herself, feeling guilty if she took any more than that. However, for more than a week now, she had been late training and all the berries had been gone by the time she arrived for her meal. She tried not to show her disappointment; after all, they were just a sweet treat, not something that she needed for sustenance. But disappointed and saddened she was. She had so little, she sometimes felt it unfair that she couldn’t have even this tiny bit of comfort.
She had briefly thought about asking Finn to save some for her, but he was so busy himself she didn’t know what time he even got his mid-day meal. He was also spending a significant amount of his free time with Rose, and Rey didn’t want to derail that train at all; she thought they made a brilliant pair!
Then five nights ago, Rey had arrived at her quarters, tired and sore, only to find a small cloth bundle sitting on her bed. She had approached it cautiously, then carefully unwrapped it. Inside were five large, ripe, juicy loloberries. All for her. She had been shocked, and then embarrassingly tearful.
The next night, the same thing happened. Then again on the third night. Who was doing this, she wondered? Who knew how much she loved these berries and how had they known how sad she was to miss out on them?
Yesterday, she had asked Leia outright if she was the one leaving loloberries in her quarters.
“Loloberries?” Leia had frowned at her. “Why would I do that?”
Knowing with that answer that it obviously wasn’t Leia, Rey nervously explained to her Master about her missing out on the loloberries at the mid-day meal but then having some magically appear in her room at night.
Leia looked pensive for a moment. “It looks like you have a secret admirer, Rey,” she finally said, her eyebrows arched.
“A what?”
Leia laughed softly. “Someone who admires you, cares about you, but won’t tell you directly because they are either too shy or scared or,” she shrugged, “some other reason.”
Rey frowned. “How do I find out who it is?”
“Well, there is a reason it’s called secret admirer,” Leia said. “You may have to work to find out who it is.”
That night, more berries appeared, and Rey became determined to find out who her secret admirer was. She had requested a ‘day off,’ something she had never heard of before, but which everyone told her was a ‘necessary’ indulgence. Leia had accepted her request and told her, “Good luck.”
Rey’s first thought was that she could have her mid-day meal early to ensure she got some loloberries, but that would defeat the purpose of taking the day off to find out who her mysterious berry benefactor was. So, she avoided the mess area, and instead found a corner to hide behind while she watched the door to her quarters. She didn’t have to wait long.
She had barely gotten comfortable when the perpetrator appeared. BB-8 rolled smoothly up to her door, proceeded to trill a command to the locking mechanism, and rolled right inside as the door slid open. Her mouth having dropped open in shock, Rey quickly abandoned her hiding spot and marched up to her door. She waited, arms folded, until it slid open again and BB-8 rolled out. He stopped, suddenly still as a statue, his optical lens focused on Rey.
“Who gave you the code to my room?” she asked, then shook her head. “Never mind.” There was only one person BB-8 would obey for something as sinister as breaking and entering. “Where is he?”
The droid was silent for a moment. Then he warbled out an answer: helping Jess with her ship.
Rey spun and headed directly for the hanger bay. She spotted Jess’ X-Wing immediately and headed right for it, BB-8 on her heels. The man she was looking for was just climbing down a ladder that was propped up against the ship’s nose. She stopped, arms folded once again, watching as he stepped to the ground, laughing at something Jess has said from her position straddling the nose of the ship. He turned and saw her.
“Rey!” Poe Dameron said in surprise, his eyes wide. He glanced at BB-8, then looked back at Rey, panic in his eyes now.
Rey would have laughed if her emotions were a bit more stable. She took a deep breath, then moved toward him, slipping her hands under his arms so she could wrap her own arms around him. She hugged him tight, resting her chin on his shoulder. He stiffened at first, but then his arms came around her, squeezing her back.
“I guess this means I don’t have to have BB-8 sneak into your quarters any more, huh?” he asked softly. She could feel his breath move the fine hairs on the side of her neck. It tickled.
She pulled back a bit so she could see his face. “I have a better idea,” she told him. “Why don’t you bring them personally next time and we can share?”
Poe’s eyes crinkled at the corners as he grinned. “I like that idea.”
With a smile of her own, not caring who all in the hanger was watching them, she hugged him close once more.
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