The Aftermath

Disclaimer: I do not own Star wars or of its characters.

A/N: So this chapter is going to pick up after the battle on Exegol. And for the sake of my story, Zorri and Poe do have a history but there was no flirting between them when the gang is in Kijimi and Ben and Rey do not kiss. Everything else is pretty much the same. Now on to the story.

Cheers and tears of happiness filled the air. They had just won against the final Order and were now back at base, healing their wounds and mourning their losses. Finn and Poe were making their way through the crowd, watching their friends reunite.

"You did see her right?" Poe asked. Finn had told him that he had felt Rey die. Everything was happening so fast that he didn't have time to process the heart breaking news. Before he knew it, they had spotted Luke's X-wing rising from the planet. The only one who could have flown it was Rey and Finn confirmed his suspicions, announcing that she was alive.

Somewhere along the way back to the base they had lost track of her X-wing. While everyone was rejoicing about their win, Poe was looking for Rey. She was the only one who hadn't made it back yet and he was beyond worried. He knew that they had things to talk about but right now all he wanted was to know that she was safe and in his arms.

"Yeah it was definitely her, I felt it. She was right next to us when we left. She should have been here by now." Finn looked up at the sky and then back at his friend. Poe's eyes were searching the crowd, the sky and then the emptying ships. His arm was in a sling but it didn't slow his movements, he still pushed through everyone. Poe was stopped by a pilot, who wanted to have a conversation with him. He trying so hard to focus on what the young man was saying that he almost missed the old X-wing landing.

Poe looked over at Finn and smiled. The two made their way to the young woman climbing out of the beat up ship.

…

BB-8 was the first one to greet her. Rey let her hands check his antenna and any damage that might have befallen him on the dangerous mission. The little droid chirped happily, glad to see her. She stood and made her way through the cluster of people who were gathering. BB followed her, watching as hands clasped on Rey's shoulders.

Rey wasn't paying attention to them though. She saw two men making their way to her and mimicked their movement. The minute they were close enough she lunged into their arms. The three held tight to one another.

When they let go Poe got a good look at her. She was covered in cuts, bruises and plenty of blood. He lifted his uninjured arm and touched her forehead where the blood was the thickest. "I was worried about you." He said, his eyes never leaving the gash.

"I know." Rey replied. She brought her hand up to clasp his fingers in her own. "That ship is not as fast as it used to be." She tried to joke but realized she missed her mark when the two men standing in front of her frowned.

"I thought you were dead. Boy, am I glad to be wrong!" Finn exclaimed. Rey's face fell and her head bowed slightly.

"You weren't wrong Finn." She said, not wanting to look up at them. The fingers in her hand stilled and she knew that Poe was now looking her up and down for more than just scrapes and bruises.

"How?" Finn questioned. If she died how was she standing here in front of them?

"I'm not sure if I am ready to explain all of that right now. I will tell you but first I need to see Leia." Rey looked over to the spot where they hugged before their recent adventure.

"Rey, Leia is-" Poe started but she cut him off.

"I know, I felt it. I just need to see." She looked up at him and tears started to well up in her eyes.

"Okay, I'll take you." Poe grabbed her hand and watched as she nodded her head.

"I'm sorry Rey. I have to talk to Janna but I will see you guys later." Finn placed a hand on each of his friend's shoulders and gave them a squeeze. He left, leaving Poe and Rey alone.

"Come on. She is over here." Poe led her to where Leia had laid. When they got there he noticed that the sheet that was covering her body was now laying over the flat surface. His mood went from sorrow to livid. "What? I don't understand. She should be here. This is- this is where I left her. Someone must have moved her. They better have a damn good-" Rey lifted the hand that was not in his and placed it on Poe's cheek.

"It's okay. No one moved her. The same thing happened to Ben and it happened to Luke too. They are now one with the force." She looked into his eyes. "I hoped to say goodbye but I have a feeling that we will meet again." Leaning up, she kissed his lips, defusing his anger.

When they parted, Poe released her hand and cupped the back of her head, bringing her back to his lips. "I have lost so much to this war but I refuse to lose you too." He said against her mouth. The kiss broke and he held her to him as much as he could with one arm.

"You're not going to lose me. I'm not going anywhere without you ever again." She snaked her arms around his neck and tucked her head under his chin. "I love you."

Poe smiled and tightened his grip on her. He turned his head to kiss the side of her head. "I love you too." He said into the shell of her ear.

"So General Dameron what do you want to know?" Rey asked. It had been hours since their reunion and everyone was celebrating in their own different ways. Poe and Rey took this time to be alone. She was sitting on his bed with a wet cloth, trying to rid her arms of dried blood.

Poe noticed her struggle and gently took the cloth from her hand and sat down beside her. He started on her arm and asked her what happened. He was surprised when she agreed.

"Why did you run away after your fight with Kylo Ren?" He glanced at her face for a moment and then went back to her arm. Even with one hand he was making fast work at the cut.

"I couldn't control my anger. With every swing of the light saber I felt myself slipping. I almost killed him." She looked down at her hands. She remembered how it felt running the saber through the man, she didn't like the feeling but she didn't hate it either.

"You did it to protect yourself. He was going to hurt you." Poe tried to reassure her.

"That's the thing. I don't think he was. He just wanted me to go with him. I was the one who attacked him after he destroyed the sith way finder. I was so focused on trying to prove that I could be a Jedi that I let him get to me." Her hands balled into fists and she bit her lip. "It was when I nearly killed him that I felt Leia die. She was trying to reach him and I felt it too late. That's when a thought had popped into my head. 'As long as I am around the people I love get hurt or die'. I couldn't let that happen again." She looked at him, his face full with understanding.

"Rey, what we do is dangerous and we know what we are getting into when we sign up. I lost a dear friend today and I almost lost you too. I would rather spend a short time with you than a life time without you." He stated not looking at her. He finished his work and got off the bed, walking over to the sink and rinsing out the cloth.

"I know. Luke helped me realize that I can't run from everything just because I don't like the truth. And I guess that brings me to the next matter." She waited until he was back at her side. Poe lifted the cloth to her temple and started to wipe the blood away, most of the cuts were already healed up. He put it on the list of things he wanted to ask her.

"My parents sold me to save my life. Palpatine Sent Ochi to find me but when he couldn't get them to tell him where I was he killed them." Rey paused, waiting for Poe to say something. When he noticed this he let his hand fall into his lap.

"I know that part. Finn had discovered that Palpatine wanted you alive from D-O." Poe lifted the cloth back up to her forehead and finished what was left.

"Oh well that wasn't the worst part. The reason why he wanted me was because I-I am his granddaughter." She didn't like the taste in her mouth. She wasn't even sure if her worst night mares came close to that statement.

Poe was speechless. She wanted him to say something, literally anything but his lips were pursed together. She took it as a sign to finish talking before he ran out of the room.

"He wanted me to kill him and become empress. He said that all of the sith would reside within me and I would carry on his legacy. But I wouldn't do it. Ben helped me fight him but after everything I died. What Finn felt was real, it did happen. One minute I was laying there and everything was cold." Rey wrapped her arms around herself. "And then I was in Ben's arms and everything was getting warmer. He gave me his life force so I could live but it was too much and he died."

Poe set down the cloth and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her into his lap. "It's okay, it's all over."

"I don't think it will ever really be over but at least I can try to move on. I may have his blood but I will never take his name." She said jaw clenched. Suddenly she relaxed as she thought of something. "I was thinking I could take the Skywalker name. They were like my family, all of them. I want to carry on their legacy."

"You should. Leia would have loved it." Poe kissed the corner of her mouth, making her bring her attention entirely to him.

"How is your arm? I can't believe that I haven't even asked about it before. I am being a terrible friend." Everything was happened so fast that she forgot all about his injury.

"A friend?" He smirked. After everything friends was the last thing he wanted to be.

"I..I'm not really sure wh-" Rey started but stopped herself. "I… the thing I was keeping from you before was that I was having these visions. It was some sort of link between me and Ren. They were really bad and I was afraid to say anything to anyone. Leia was the only one who knew and she was trying to help me. He was tracking me through these visions and so we came up with a plan to make sure we wouldn't be able to. It worked while I was here but when we set off to Passana it started to happen again. I should have told you and because I didn't I was afraid that I had lost us."

Poe gently slid her off of him and stood from his spot on the bed. Rey wanted to say something but when she worked up the nerve to look at him she immediately regretted it. His hand was combing through his hair and he was pacing back and forth. Poe's eyes were on the floor never lifting up to meets hers.

He was thinking. He wasn't sure what to say to her, how to explain how he felt. The irony was not lost on him that the one time he needed to find the words, he didn't have any. Poe stopped his movements and stood in front of the young woman.

Rey stood to meet his eyes. "Poe I-" Poe smashed his lips against hers, hard enough to bruise her skin. He pulled her to him with force. Rey's eyes closed and she grabbed onto his arms, forgetting his injury. He pulled away in pain and she jumped back when he moaned. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay." He gritted his teeth as a sharp pain shot through his shoulder.

"Here let me." Rey put her hands around his wound and slowed her breaths. Poe stayed very still, not quite sure what to do. A few seconds later his pain started to go away. Rey stepped back and gave him some space. Poe unwrapped the bandages and sling. His arm was completely healed. "How does it feel?" Rey bit her lip, swollen from their kiss.

"Much better. Thank you." He moved his arm around in circles. When he was satisfied by his range of movement he let it fall back to his side. "Thank you for telling me all that."

"You deserved to know when it was going on but since I can't go back and change it, I want you to know now. From now on you will be the first to know everything. I promise." Rey rocked back on the heels of her feet until she started to get light headed. Helping Poe out had caused her to get a migraine.

She started to undo the knots her hair had been held up in. Letting her hair fall down her shoulders, she combed her fingers through her hair. The pressure started to ease up as she massaged her head. Poe tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and let his hand stay there.

"I would have understood if you told me before you know. But if I haven't made it pretty clear yet I will now, I have no intentions of going back to before. I want you. I don't want you three out of seven days a week. I don't want part of you. I want all of you, everyone single minute of every single day." He smiled when her eyes shot straight to his, with a smile that now mirrored his own.

"I was always yours." Rey closed the space between them and kissed him softly. Poe returned it with a tender one of his own. His fingers laced themselves into her hair as her hands found their way to the front of his jumper.

Laughter bubbled in her throat and Poe broke away. "What's so funny?" He asked with a smile. Rey smiled bright and looked at him from head to toe. "What?"

"You know you look funny in that flight suit." Rey chuckled. Poe looked down at the orange material.

"Not my color?" He laughed. "You know these are meant to keep us safe not help us win any beauty pageants."

"And I am very thankful for that but I think you need to get out of that before I can even consider you sexy again." She mused, kicking off her shoes.

Poe pretended to be hurt. "This doesn't do it for you?" He asked slowly undoing the front of the suit. Rey walked over to him and kissed his jaw.

She hummed her kisses down to his exposed collar bone. "To be honest, everything you wear does it for me. I just needed an excuse to get you out of those clothes." She pulled on the jumper and nipped at the sensitive flesh on his neck.

"If that was all you wanted you could have just asked. I would have gotten out of this a lot faster." He said quickening his pace.

"Good." Rey breathed. "I thought this was going to take forever." They both smiled and Rey started to get undressed.

"We have all night, we don't need to rush you know." He discarded his clothes and walked her to the bed.

"I know." She followed his lead and fell next to him on the bed. They both laid there in their underwear. She perched herself on her elbows, head cocked at an angle that exposed her neck to the man across from her. "I just want to be with you, in your arms. You know, now that we have a moment to slow down, I could really use a shower."

Rey got up and walked over to the bathroom. Poe looked up from his bed and gave her a raised eye brow. She disappeared and Poe could hear the water being turned on. A few seconds later a slender arm peaked through the doorway, dropping the material that had seconds ago been on her body. "Well are you coming?" She asked with a sultry tone. She didn't have to ask again, Poe was up in an instant, throwing his undergarments in the pile with her.

A/N: Hello everyone! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Leave a review and let me know what you think. Feedback, as always, is more than welcome.