Introducing my pride and joy! This story is my favorite out of any I have ever written, and it was such a fun experience writing it; I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did in creating it!
This fic came about because I really wanted to write a good, angsty story for Poe and Rey, but everything I came up with was too soap-opera-like. I decided, being Star Wars, that I could use the Dark Side to bring about that angst, but I just couldn't see Rey being that susceptible to the Dark Side; in my mind, the Dark Side just can't really affect Rey anymore.
Poe, on the other hand...
So, welcome to Naboo!
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Would it have been too much to wish for at least a decade of peace?
General Poe Dameron asked himself that question as he stood at the foot of the shuttle ramp, taking data pad after data pad from one person after another, perusing the contents, signing off on the ones he approved of, and telling the others to come back with something better. The chaos surrounding him was mostly controlled, but every once and a while he was distracted by a sharp curse word or frustrated shout. This was it. The Resistance was prepping for battle. Odds were good a great many of these people would not be coming back to Yavin IV in the weeks ahead.
He glanced up from time to time, looking across the landing field, scanning the ships and variety of beings that were working their butts off to get going on time. The New Republic Fleet was waiting on them. Just a few short days ago, the combined forces of New Republic ships and a handful of the Resistance's best fighters had successfully fended off the first wave of the invading alien force that called themselves the Traagmol. However, reconnaissance told them that there was a much larger force waiting in the wings. So, the Resistance, at the request of the still young and inexperienced New Republic, was sending their whole fleet to Naboo. If that wasn't bad enough, the New Republic had unanimously voted in favor of having General Dameron lead the entire combined fleet.
How the hell had he gotten here? It wasn't the first time in the last few years that he'd asked himself that. He wasn't even 40 years old, yet, and he was in command of the Republic's fleet. Responsible for the protection of billions of innocent souls throughout the galaxy. Things had been going so well after Exegol, too. However, after an Imperial remnant that called themselves Black Star had attempted to assassinate the last Jedi (who just happened to be Poe's wife), things had gone downhill. While it had been easy enough to root out the traitors and spies Black Star had placed in the senate and other governing bodies of the New Republic, the effort had distracted the sorely understaffed security forces and had allowed this alien species to essentially sneak up on them from Wild Space. There was very little history of the Traagmol in the Old Republic or Imperial archives, but what there was wasn't very good. They were aggressive and territorial, and apparently, they had decided to expand their territory.
Poe looked up again, but he still couldn't find what he was looking for. He tried to ignore the anxiety that was beginning to creep in. The coming weeks and maybe months were going to be uncertain, and the last thing he wanted was to leave without saying goodbye to his wife, but his last contact with her had been Rey letting him know one of her students had injured themselves severely on the training course and she was taking him to the infirmary. Poe knew she wouldn't leave the child until everything was okay, and he didn't expect her to. But time was running out.
It didn't help that he was leaving when things were not as comfortable between them as they should be. Rey had been moody and depressed the last couple of weeks. She was her normal self during the day with her students for the most part, though it did seem her patience was a bit strained, but Poe had been witness to a few too many temper tantrums and crying jags at night. He wanted to blame hormones. Rey was currently six months pregnant with their second child, and it wasn't going as smoothly as the first one. Whenever Poe pushed her to talk to him, she denied that anything was wrong. "It's nothing," she would say with a small smile. "I'm fine." Her exhausted eyes told him otherwise, but with the stress about the Traagmol and war already plaguing him, Poe didn't push any further. "You don't need to worry about me right now," she told him just yesterday, rubbing her baby bump with one hand and holding Shaina's tiny hand with the other. "We'll be fine."
Poe was guessing that a part of her mood was due to the fact she wasn't coming with them. She had already offered her services to the Republic as a negotiator and advisor, but she was not planning on getting near the front line, not with a baby on the way. Poe would have done his best to prevent that even if she had wanted to come; she may have been a Jedi and more than capable on the battlefield, but she was also his wife and the mother of his children. He knew she would not be happy with his attitude, but he couldn't help it; it was his nature to protect what was his.
Suddenly, everything was in place. "General?" called a voice behind him. Commander Gokelman stood at the top of the ramp, his anxiety evident in the way he bounced lightly on the balls of his feet. "It's time to go."
Poe looked around the landing field one last time, his heart feeling like it was being squeezed a bit. He nodded and turned to head up the ramp. His X-Wing and BB-8 were already on board the Organa, everyone had their assignments and duties, and ships were already taking off, coordinates set for their rendezvous at Naboo. It was indeed time to go.
He would comm her as soon as he got to Naboo, he thought. He would comm her every day that he could, in fact. And he would be back in time for Skyler's birth, come hell or alien invasion. There was nothing that could keep him away.
His encouraging thoughts didn't make him feel any better.
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Rey ran quickly over the rough ground of the landing field, but dodging all the ships that were taking off slowed her down significantly. She could already see the shuttle she was aiming for leaving the ground. Damn it! She was too late! She stopped and immediately opened herself up to the Force. Her connection with her husband had only gotten stronger in the last several weeks, since she had learned how powerful it truly was while she was marooned on the planet Kolbe. She reached for him now and felt his presence, bright and powerful. However, she could tell he was distracted, already focused on the job ahead of him, and he did not recognize her touch. Though sensitive to the Force, he himself could not direct it or use it like she could; he had to be focused on her already in order to complete their connection. She pushed her thoughts at him, anyway, hoping he would hear them, if only subconsciously. "I love you! Stay safe and come home to me!"
She opened her eyes and looked at the shuttle already far above her. She kissed the palm of her hand, closed her fist, and threw it up toward the shuttle, but tears entered her eyes as she acknowledged that this time it would not be 'caught.' She took a deep, shuddering breath and looked around her. Almost all the ships were gone. Only a few were remaining to ensure the safety of the base and those that remained behind, including her students and their families. She suddenly felt small and very alone as she stood there; she must look like she had been abandoned, she thought with a bit of humor. But the humor died as she thought of her husband.
She had so wanted to hold him, kiss him, one more time. There hadn't been enough of that in the last couple of weeks. In fact, Rey couldn't even remember the last time they had made love. All because of the dream. She should have told him about the dream. She took another deep breath and turned back toward the command center. She would wait there until she heard that the fleet had arrived safely at their destination, then hopefully she could talk to him via the comm. But she couldn't tell him about the dream, not over an open channel. Even though she had convinced herself that it was simply the result of stress, that there was no way it was a vision, she knew it had been affecting her negatively. She had not wanted Poe to worry, especially with all the other things he had to worry about right now, so she had kept quiet. It didn't help that the dream was disturbing and frightening in more ways than one and she didn't know if she could talk about it even if he hadn't been about to lead the New Republic into battle. She felt a brief surge of pride, remembering her elation upon hearing about his command, but it quickly turned to fear.
She should have told him about the dream
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