Force Awakens AU. Intro: In which Poe is a female and the name "Poe" is a nickname for her full name; Padme Solo. The daughter of Leia Organa and Han Solo and sister of Ben Solo, now Kylo Ren, and a current member of the Resistance where she is one of their best fighter pilots. After leading the successful attack against the Starkiller base, Poe returns to the Resistance base to learn her brother has murdered their father, Han Solo. She then embarks on her late father's ship The Millennium Falcon with the mysterious Rey to find her estranged uncle, Luke Skywalker.
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Chapter 1
It still smelled of him; like dirt, wind and engine oil. With a faint hint of the particular brand of liqueur he enjoyed. It was too big on her and she shrugged her shoulders awkwardly, childishly determined to pull this look off. Her father's old vest, taken from his things and one of the only articles of clothing he wasn't wearing when he... When... Ben. When he... Well, when it happened. Poe sighed and tried to shake the reverie off, instead she attempted to watch the dark movement of space and distant stars outside the front of the ship...
Currently Rey was taking the lead, piloting the ship. There had been a bit of a back and forth between them when they first set off; who would pilot versus who would co-pilot, but Chewie argued that he was still and would remain the co-pilot to the Millennium Falcon. So that settled that and Rey and Poe decided to take turns in the pilot seat. Although it still unnerved Poe that this strange girl had seemingly come out of no where and seemed perfectly at home flying HER father's ship... But, hey... It had been a long couple of days and if she wanted to fly then, whatever.
Poe leaned back in her seat behind Chewie, his presence made her happy because he reminded her of her father, even if it was bittersweet. She wanted to close her eyes and nap... But every time she did she heard ...his voice...his strange robotic voice that wasn't him,..
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"Padmi"
"Don't call me that. Only family calls me that... "
"You don't understand."
"You're right, I never will understand YOU...Traitor.. I spit on your existence!"
"...If you would just - tell me-"
"Get out of my head! Get out get out GET OUT!"
"... You know where the map is! Just tell me, just tell me! I'll leave you unharmed-"
"Too late."
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"Hey Rey!" Her voice suddenly too loud in the small cabin, "let's, uh, talk. You know chat, shot the breeze... Whatever, okay?"
She needed a distraction.
Rey looked over quickly in surprise. "Talk?... Right yeah okay..." Her voice sounding soft and confused in comparison to Poe's falsely confident bark.
"Cool, cool, so... Uh, so you're an orphan huh?" Poe stammered while leaning forward with her elbows on her knees feigning interest, "That's uh, that's ...neat, I guess." She ended lamely realizing her social skills were poorly lacking. She spent most of her time piloting and running errands for her mother and the Resistance, not socializing and making friends.
"I guess..." Rey echoed back awkwardly. She wasn't really use to small talk either, having spent most of her time alone.
There was a pause and Chewie growl to acknowledge the awkward vibe in the cabin.
But then Rey spoke again, "We don't have to talk about me, why don't, um... You tell me about Luke Skywalker?"
"Ah, yes.. Uncle Luke..." Poe leaned back again feeling more comfortable. "Yes, that's topical I suppose." She grinned a lopsided grin and folded her hands in her lap, "Okay so what can I tell you about good ol' Uncle Luke..."
Poe trailed off and looked to the ceiling of the ship like she was waiting for...
Chewie interrupted the silence.
"Well, yes of course she knows he's a Jedi, Chewie!" She sighed and crossed her arms and started talking more thoughtfully, "Uncle Luke has been gone, well many years. I haven't seen him since I was a kid. But, I remember him. He was... sad, I guess."
"Sad?" Rey looked over her shoulder in surprise, like that wasn't what she expected to hear "Why sad?"
"Well, not sad in the traditional 'boo-hoo' sense, but sad like, tired and worried. My mother always said he carried too much responsibility. But, he was also wise and caring... He told the best bed time stories... Mostly about some dead Jedi named Yoda. And he use to play the best games with us. He'd have us run and jump, balance on things, he taught me to juggle once, but that was all before..."
"Before? Before what? Before he went missing..?" Rey looked over her shoulder again.
"No, uh, before my brother went to go train with him as a Jedi. After that, I didn't see Uncle Luke as much, and then, not at all."
"Oh, right." Rey nodded and looked back towards the front of the ship. "Can I, can I ask you something?"
"Sure why not"
"Why your brother, and not you? Isn't the force like a family thing? Why did he train and not you?"
"Ah, yes, that ol' question," Poe grinned, "the force is strong in my family," she stated this like it was a quote she'd heard many times before, "but stronger with some more-so than others. Like my mother, I have a sense of the force but it was never strong enough for me to train. Plus, uh, Uncle Luke said I was too emotional, but ha! Whatever. It's not exactly like Ben was emotionless! I mean, I mean! Look what happened!" Poe was now practically jumping out of her chair and Rey looked over uncomfortably. "I would of probably been a better Jedi, for goodness sakes!"
Poe stopped suddenly, catching herself and cleared her throat.
"Hey Rey, how about I take the pilot seat for a bit, cool?"
"You, sure?" Rey look unconvinced.
"Yeah, of course. Yeah, yeah, I got this. I'm the best pilot in the resistance, you know.."
Rey just nodded and stood, stepping aside.
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"Rey? Rey! Hey Reeeey!" Poe kicked at Rey's boot. Rey opened her eyes, waking up. "Hey. We're here. Time to face the music..." Poe handed the light saber to Rey, "uh, so to speak." And she gave Rey a grin and turned to leave the ship.
"Wait!" Rey came running off the ship with the lightsaber, "why, me?" She awkwardly waved the lightsaber, "he's your uncle, you should uh, return it to him."
"Uh yeah," Poe chuckled, "that thing 'called' to you, not me. It's all you, kid."
"I'm not a kid..." Mumbled Rey, while they stood and took in the giant mountain side winding staircase.
"Well up you go!" Poe nodded up the mountain and nudged Rey.
"What?!" Rey looked alarmed, "you're not..?"
"Listen Rey, Luke left on purpose. It isn't an accident that we haven't seen him in years. He didn't want to see us...But that lightsaber called to you. I don't know why, it's never 'called' to me or anyone else that I know of. So... Maybe YOU, he wants to see. Go."
"But he's your uncle."
"And he's a Jedi before anything else... He's your,... Master, I think. Go greet him."
Rey hesitated, then she nodded and set off up the mountain.
Poe sighed and leaned back against the ship hugging her father's vest around her and watching Rey go. Chewie growled softly.
"I know, Chewie. But, she can't be. Can she? They all died. They were all dead..."