February, it was the end cap of winter and the birth of something new, something warm. Spring brought new life into the world, into the city that Rey had lived in for just over a year now. It was supposed to be the month of romance, of young couples falling in love, and the city recognized that with a burning passion such that there was a festival every year dedicated to the day of love.

A year ago, Rey would have been giddy at the thought, the bright reds, pinks and soft whites always made her happy, but not this year. This year, like the coming of spring, she was a new and different person, no longer so easily fascinated by the colors and kindness of others. Some would say she was hardened, refined not to be as gullible as she once had been.

The reason had happened long ago, she put her trust in someone and they took that trust and threw it to the wind like it meant nothing. They hurt her, deeply, and she changed as to never let it happen again.

None of that mattered anymore, Rey was a very successful and very independent person, brilliant in the mind and resilient in the body. Her occupations said as much, by day, she worked for an important local government firm that aided those in need and established places of living and demolished those that had been unfit to live in, it was a very rewarding profession. By night, Rey was a personal trainer for some of the most elite ring fighters in the world, and even had the honor of training and rehabilitating those fighting the good fight in the war.

Every morning started the same way now, just like this one, Rey awoke to the soft beeping of her alarm on her dresser across the room, the sunlight from the early morning just peeking into her drapes of her apartment. Her eyes squinting at the light before a soft smile touched her face, she would rise from her cream and grey colored sheets and briskly wander into her shower. The sun would be up and shining by the time she was dry in a towel, her hazel eyes glinting in the yellow glow.

Work attire was the same standard, though not required, she liked the professional feel of her grey pencil skirt and white blouse, she rolled her hair up into a bun, chocolate locks just long enough to stay put. She donned her trench coat as she entered the kitchen, barefooted against the wood of her apartment, the glass cool and allowing the chilled winter air to enter her home.

Breakfast was the usual, bagel with cream cheese and strawberries, a favorite she inherited from her boss. Once the dishes were in the wash and the clock read 6:40, she was out the door and down the 3 flights of stairs in her kitten heeled shoes.

She'd walk to work if she didn't live so far, so it was a taxi for her until she could decide on a car or bike. The drive was nice, and usually 10 minutes or so to the coffee shop beside her workplace, where as per her routine, she would pick up a tall black coffee, a salted caramel frappacino, vanilla bean late, and her very own, hot chocolate. This was for her respective co workers, and often times, not unlike today, she was early enough to get the free bag of doughnut holes. From there, she would march a block with her duffel bag over her shoulder with a tray and bag of sweets in her hands.

Her work place was an imitation corporate building, the first floor was brick and marble, the rest was the more affordable steel and glass. The doors were all tinted glass and spotless, baring the symbol of the local government, she marched in like all other mornings and greeted those that had meetings with her boss or visitors new to the city looking for directions. Her desk was waiting for her, clean and organized in her own way, her co worker was already waiting for her.

Rey shot them a smile, the dark mop of hair that fell over his face needed some grooming, his jaw was home to a perma-five o'clock shadow, and his own hazel eyes caught hers with delight. Even though he was wearing the standard attire, a button down, black tie and black dress pants he was still the boyish person Rey had come to befriend. He greeted her with a hug and smooch on the side of the head, "Good morning Lady Rey,"

"Poe," Rey said in turn with a soft smirk, "Your coffee and doughnuts, be sure to share them with that boyfriend of yours," She winked at his blush as he took his vanilla bean and his crush's salted caramel frap. He looked at her desk before marching off and said, "Organa wanted to speak with you this morning Rey, said it was important, you might want to deliver her coffee yourself this time, and you have two calls waiting on line 1 and 3, Rose should be right in to take your seat while you're with the boss," Then he gave her a smirk and kissed her hair again before marching to the elevator.

Rey watched the doors close with some sense of curiosity, it wasn't unlike Organa to call her employees to her office, but it was rare she did so with such severity and through someone else. Still, she squared her shoulders and placed her things down beneath her desk and took the two calls that were pending on lines, one was easy to schedule, as it was the leader of a local help group wishing to speak with Organa about funding, line three was more unnerving. When she pressed the line and answered with her standard, "Good morning, this is a representative of the Resistance government office for the city of D'kar, what might I help you with today?" There was nothing but silence on the other end, silence from the person who might have called, but in the background there were clearly people talking or working, streetcars could be heard, "Hello?" She asked, and looked at the time on her computer, pulling up scheduling files and pieces that she had been working on for days now. There was no answer, and Rey took the liberty of moving to terminate the call when they had done so for her. She frowned at the machine.

Rey stood from her desk a few minutes later and made way for the elevator with some documents that Organa needed for today and her coffee. Rey's cocoa was still sitting on her desk, waiting for her to drink it in. Organa's office was on the top floor, and surrounded by tinted glass. Rey always enjoyed going up there, mostly because she could see the city and all its life. In the distance, she saw rain clouds, and idly remembered the forecast mentioning snow for the last time in February, she hoped it would be rain, even if it was freezing, she loved it.

Organa's doors were already open and waiting for her inquisitive knock, the boss in question looked up from a pile of folders and computer and stared at Rey with deep brown eyes, "Come in," Came the weathered and aging voice of her boss, Rey took in Leia Organa, observed her slightly frazzled grey and white hair, took in her finely and smartly pressed attire and aging hands. Her face was soft but was one of a woman who had seen and experienced too much. Rey set the coffee on Organa's desk and smiled, "Good morning, you wanted to see me ma'am?"

"Yes, I did Rey, have a seat," She gestured to one of the chairs with a frail hand, moving the folders out of her way as Rey sat down. Then she pointedly said, "You've brought me the schedule for today, wonderful, how's your project going?" Rey unclipped the several papers of information, timestamps, and official seals from other organizations before answering, "Quite well, I've been making fine progress, the bulk of it is done, it just requires some fine tuning before I can release it,"

"Mm," The older woman nodded once in agreement, "I'm sure the others will find your hard work to be very beneficial Rey, you're a prize to this company, and an angel to the city,"

"I wouldn't go that far Ma'am," Rey blushed in embarrassment, Organa gave her a smile and leaned back in her office chair, "I'm sure praise isn't why you called me here Ma'am,"

"Intuitive as always, though yes, I did see that you should get some acknowledgement for all you've done in just this past year," Organa took pause and unlaced her fingers, placing one hand on her desk, "Rey I want you to take a vacation," Rey froze, her fingers were locked tight into her lap, nails digging into her skirt. She stared openly at her boss, her mind running a million miles a minute. Had she done something wrong? Were the clients unhappy with their scheduled times? Had she messed up when out as a public figure for the city? She had done some stuff with the press but that was mostly Organa, last week she had an interview in her steading, was something wrong with that? What did she do? "I object with all due respect Miss. Organa, I enjoy working here, I don't want a vacation," Rey squared her shoulders against her higher up and watched how the older woman smiled fondly at her,

"Rey, you're not in any kind of trouble, no one is displeased with you, I've looked at your records dear, and you've not taken one day off in the last year, the state and this firm require that all employees take some time off, not to mention how much over time you've clocked in. I want you to take a break,"

"But my project…" Rey tried to fight, there were no words for how she felt, none but one, cold. Her livelihood was being threatened, she liked to work, she couldn't think of anything else to do with her time, and she felt protective of it. Organa shook her head, narrowing her eyes sadly at Rey, "I'm not doing this just because I want you to Rey, the government requires that employees get due time off, hard work is otherwise detrimental to the health of those working. I'm doing this because I'm worried about you, it's not been the same since last year, you're different-"

"I'm fine," Rey said harshly, then she relaxed her voice and looked down at her lap, "I just like to work," Silence stretched between them, and it was clear Rey was still conflicted about taking the time off, Organa sighed, "You know I see you as my surrogate daughter, you mean more to me as a person than you do as an employee, and as a surrogate mother, I'm concerned for your health, please, a few days is all I ask, just one week, and you can continue another year without break before this comes up again," Rey looked up at the old weathered woman then, her eyes glossy from hearing such a powerful truth and plea. She frowned for a moment but nodded, watching the look of relief and happiness slowly flood onto the face of her boss.

Slowly Rey stood and left the room, walking quietly to the elevator and listening to the soft words of Organa, "One week Rey, don't come in tomorrow," she gripped her skirt between her fingers hard enough to flush her knuckles white. What would she do now during the day? It was too cold to run, she had nothing waiting for her at her apartment. Could she schedule appointments during the day at the gym? Rey sank into her desk quietly and carefully, her fingers numb as she answered calls and wrote the scheduling format for next week on auto pilot. She never touched her Cocoa.

The day was over much to her dread, she would go home now, shower, and change for her next occupation, but what then? She left her desk feeling empty and cold, she wrapped her trench coat tighter around herself, almost to the doors when Poe ran into her, he looked spent, his brown eyes tired and ready for his warm bed, his hair was a matted mess that he culdn't fix if he tried, and he was lacking the tie he donned that morning, "Rey," He said, coming to stand next to her as she paused, "Heading home,"

"Yes, I am," She said, tilting her head to look up at the man, "What can I do for you Poe?"

"I actually wanted to invite you over for dinner," Rey flushed red, sudden warmth and tingling electricity claimed her back and chest, this was unexpected, for all reasons that were obvious she assumed that Poe was interested in men. She opened her mouth only to stutter, "I… Well, Poe thats… I thought,"

"Rose is going to be there, she's bringing this beer from her home town, and Finn wanted us all to get together for an early valentine's day," She looked up at him,

"So it's a co-worker thing,"

"I guess you could call it that, you don't have to come, there's no pressure or anything," Poe gave her a charming smile, "It would be wonderful if you could make it though," Rey let out a quiet breath, her hand came up to affectionately squeeze his arm, his rather well compact arm no less, she blushed a little and smiled, "I'll see what I can do, send the address to me and what time,"

"Yes, Lady Rey, we shall be awaiting your arrival with great enthusiasm," Poe bowed dorkishly at her and gave her a soft smooch on her hair line before walking back to the offices, Rey smiled kindly at him and made her way out of the building toward the busy city. To her apartment and then to work again.

It was dark by the time she got home, just like most nights, she was tired, but happily sore and fulfilled for the day with her feat at the gym and the progress she made with her clientele. Tonight, it was raining, a heavy and cold rain much like the early morning had prompted, it was the first rain of the year, and it meant that it was the end of the snowy season.

She never minded the rain, ever since she was little she remembered how rare it was in a small town facing a life threatening drought for as long as she had known. To her it was a blessing, no matter how cold. She walked into the safety of her apartment complex, the sound of the water beating heavily on the rooftop, comforting her and drawing her closer to home on the third floor. She would take a nice hot shower, or maybe a bath to draw out her sore body, to relax with the window open, watching the rain fall. Then she would order some food, eat and go to bed reading a book on her favorite hobby.

Her keys jingled in her pocket as she retrieved them, she was so busy finding her key in those last few steps that she didn't notice the surprise before her. She all but bumped into the dark thing in front of her door, not realizing it was there. She gasped and stepped back, clenching her fists in defense, prepared to strike but quickly freezing to the spot when she saw what, or rather, who was standing in front of her door.

He was older, not noticeably so, but more weary and drenched from head to toe, like a wet cat, his black eyes were wide and unblinking, staring right at her. His black hair was pulled into a bun at the back of his head, the wet curls breaking free over his ears, his lips were almost blue from the cold and she wondered just how long he had been standing there. Still, she couldn't deny the strange familiarity that came with his black coat over his equally black business suit. He opened his mouth first, his body tall and imposing turning to her in the dark hallway, his deep voice rumbled softly in her ears, so quiet that it fell away at the end of it, "Rey,"