A/N: Happy Star Wars Day! :D However you celebrate, I hope you let your fandom flag fly. This is my first foray into a modern AU (as well as my first time trying past tense for fic), and I really enjoyed writing it! Thank you for reading!

Rey let the door to the break room slam shut behind her, blinking furiously to stop the tears from falling. She wasn't going to cry at work. She wasn't. Poe was a certifiable jerk, and he didn't deserve this kind of reaction from her.

Still. That didn't take back what he had said, how he had laughed at her —

Rey slammed her hand down on the little table before her. It wasn't her fault that she had nothing else — no one else — but her favorite characters growing up. How could she be lonely, or sad, or frightened, when the movies playing on Plutt's fuzzy old TV swept her away from Jakku?

That was why May the Fourth was so important to her. It was the one day she could let her fangirl flag fly without shame or judgement. What better way to celebrate, she figured, than to dress as Kira, the heroine of the most recent Galaxy Wars trilogy? Kira meant the world to Rey. If she could overcome abandonment and loss, fall in love with Kylo Ren, and become the strongest Force user in the galaxy, then Rey — plain, ordinary Rey — could do anything.

Except, apparently, handle nasty comments from her coworkers about her nerdiness.

The door to the break room flew open again. Rey scrubbed her worn sleeve across her cheek, ready to whirl around and confront Poe, but it wasn't Poe she found when she turned.

It was Ben.

Quiet, brooding, sensitive Ben, with dark hair and piercing eyes. Ben, whom she had had a crush on for five months.

He simply stared at her for a long moment, his eyes fixed intently on hers. Then, he reached out to her with one hand, letting his fingers gently wipe away the lone tear that had escaped her control. Rey's breath caught in her throat. Quietly, firmly, Ben said, "Poe is an idiot." His hand slowly drifted to her shoulder, which he gave a light squeeze before releasing her.

Without another word, he disappeared, striding back out into the heart of the store.

Rey felt a smile begin to steal its away across her face.

Walking into the store the next day, in full Kira regalia, Rey felt as if she were floating. Or, better yet, as if she truly had the Force, and its power was cushioning her every step. Running one hand along the back of her head, she couldn't help but smile as her fingers grazed the three buns that Rose had helped her perfect that morning.

Then she saw Poe, and her smile instantly fell away.

The moment her coworker made eye contact with her, his eyebrows shot up, and he quickly scanned her appearance from head to toe. He began to snicker, nudging Kaydel with his elbow before calling out, "Hey, Kira! Where's your dyad in the Force?"

Rey clenched her jaw as the words echoed in the quiet space around them. The few customers they had this early turned and stared at her, some with faint amusement, others with undisguised disdain. She forced herself to keep walking with the same confidence that had surged within her a moment ago.

"My dyad in the Force," she said, her tone infused with all the steel she could muster, "is — "

"Right here," a deep voice interjected from behind her.

Rey spun around, and her heart stopped. Ben stood before her, black pants tucked into polished black boots, a chunky belt cinched over his plain waffle shirt. A red line had been drawn across the right side of his face, in the precise location of Kylo Ren's scar — the scar that Kira had given him in the first movie.

Rey couldn't help herself; she grinned so widely that her cheeks began to hurt.

Ben took a step towards her and extended a gloved hand in her direction. Rey's brain all but short-circuited. Was he really going to — ?

"Kira," he began, his eyes imploring, and — yes. He really was going to do this. "I love none but you. The galaxy means nothing to me if you aren't at my side. Please; will you join me?"

Rey practically leapt out of her boots in her haste to close the distance between them. Letting her hand settle into his, she replied, "Yes, Kylo. I will."

Ben's eyes widened, as if he couldn't believe her answer, even though it was what Rey — and Ben, too, apparently — had heard Kira say countless times onscreen.

"Thank you," she whispered, leaning in close so that no one else could hear. "You didn't have to do that."

"I wanted to." He squeezed her hand. "Rey?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you want to see Galaxy Wars with me? Tonight? AMC is showing episode eight at seven, so maybe we could get dinner together once we get out of here, and — "

"Yes. Yes, Ben, I'd love that."

He smiled, thrilled, and Rey grinned back at him.

May the Fourth really was her favorite day of the year.