Author's note: Surprise! I had the first chapter ready to go, along with the prologue. Just one chapter from here on out, but I hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: Still not mine.

Chapter 1

Two Years Later

Rey tightened the last bolt and slid out from under the chassis of the old truck. She wiped excess grease from her hands, pleased with her work. Old Man Skywalker brought in his prized vintage Ford truck the week before; he only trusted Rey to work on it. They'd had to special order parts from Minneapolis; her boss, Unkar Plutt, complained about the added expense, but when Luke threatened to take his business elsewhere, Plutt shut up. Where Luke could have gone was a mystery to Rey; the next largest town was an hour away.

Such was life in semi-rural Minnesota.

"Finished?" her boss demanded.

"Finally. They don't build engines like this anymore."

Unkar huffed. "Well, I won't be sad when that old coot finally kicks the bucket. Waste of time and money to fix a heap like that."

Rey didn't agree with her boss, but she'd learned the hard way to keep her mouth shut. Unkar didn't care about her, or anyone else that worked for him. Unkar's garage was the only full-service repair shop for at least fifty miles. He could afford to be rude to just about everyone, including his employees. Fixing things was really Rey's only skill, aside from hockey. No longer something she did for fun, but it was the only thing that kept food in her mouth and roof over her head. Even if she shared that roof with Rose.

She glanced at the clock; it was four o'clock. If she hurried, she could get Rose to make her a sandwich before heading out to the lake for that night's game.

Rey waved good night and went to punch out. She grabbed her lunch box and her coat on the way; she didn't want Unkar to call her back at the last second. She used to love tinkering, fixing things, but the last two years had washed all that away. She hated her job; she hated her cramped room at the apartment she shared with Rose. She'd even come to hate the town she'd called home for the last twelve years. She'd dreamed of getting away from all of this; everyone told her that dream was gone. She refused to believe it. When she wasn't working, she was working out, staying in shape for the day her call came. She was certain it would.

She couldn't afford to believe anything else.

Rey drove her old Chevy station wagon out to the bar. Her foster sister, Rose Tico, inherited the place from their parents shortly after the girls graduated from high school. Since everyone in their small town was hockey crazy—just like everyone else in Minnesota—it was called Tico's Penalty Box. Rey used to love it. In some ways, she still did, but lately it had come to embody everything she hated about the way her life had turned out. Whenever the bar was short staffed, Rey got roped into playing bartender, even though she was terrible at it. Her skills lay in consuming drinks, not making them.

It was still an hour before the dinner rush; the place was deserted aside from Rose and Beau. "Hey Rey!" Beau shouted as she passed through the empty bar.

"Rey! I need a hand!" Rose called. "D'Acy called in sick!"

"I need a sandwich!" Rey called back. She passed out the back of the building, stepping over tools and two by fours. Rose was trying to remodel the back, expand their storage, but it was slow going.

"I need a hand!" Rose called again. She huffed and followed Rey out. "Come on, Rey. Please?"

"I've got a game," Rey reminded her. "I need a sandwich!"

Rose snorted. "You're playing a bar league!"

Rey grabbed her worn Team USA bag. "At least I'm playing."

Rose dug into her pocket and extracted a folded envelope. "Your tenth letter arrived today. Buffalo Beauts." Rose said it like a curse; Rey's blood boiled. She'd written to every pro and semi pro women's team she could find, begging one of them to give her a chance. She could still play! She played two or three games a week, routinely kicking the ass of women and men alike. Rey's eyes widened; she darted forward. Rose was shorter than Rey, but she nimbly stepped out of her sister's grasp. "Give it to me!" Rey shouted.

Rose danced away again. "It's over, Rey. Everyone knows it but you!" Rey lunged for the letter again, but Rose stepped back. She waved it derisively. "Hey Rey, sorry about the eye! If you're ever in town, we'll give you a ticket!"

That hit Rey where she was sore, just as Rose intended. Every letter said that. She lunged at Rose, getting right in her sister's face. "Give it to me!"

"What are you gonna do, Rey? Fight me? Come on, let's go!" Rose was tiny compared to the taller Rey, but she was fearless. She had zero qualms about breaking up bar fights; unruly patrons quickly discovered the petite Korean woman had a mean left hook.

Rey marched off in a fury; as angry as she was, she couldn't bring herself to harm her sister. Rose and their older sister Paige were the only family Rey had left. Rose sighed. "You want a sandwich? Make it yourself." She tossed the letter on the ground and marched off.

Rey scrubbed her hand over her face and picked up the letter. She tore it open, despite being certain regarding its contents. She was a masochist like that.

Poe slowly drew his arms into his chest and kept his legs tight as he spun faster and faster and faster. A dull thud cut through the sound of ice scraping; Poe smiled to himself. Another one bites the dust, he thought.

His coach held up a hand. "I think that's enough, don't you?"

Poe ended the spin, stilling his slowed momentum with his toe pick. He crossed his arms over his chest, sneering down at the latest sad excuse for a partner Leia had dreamed up. "Do we, or do we not, have eight minutes left?" Poe demanded.

Leia arched a knowing brow at him. Despite his attitude, Poe really did have a lot of respect for the older woman. She was a legend in the sport. When Poe decided he wanted to come out of retirement and try again for gold, Kes Dameron made only one phone call. That led to the famous Leia Organa showing up in Poe's building. For the last three months, they'd been trying partner after partner, growing more and more desperate for the right fit. The poor girl panting on the ice was the eighth. Or maybe she was the ninth. Poe honestly lost count. None of them could keep up with him.

"That's enough for today," Leia repeated. They both watched the young woman push herself up. "Time to hit the showers, I think."

Poe sighed, deciding to take a quick cool down lap around the rink. He didn't understand what the problem was. He was—in his opinion—the best. They'd been so close in Sochi; for months afterward, Poe didn't even want to look at his skates. But Kes' prodding finally won out. He started to go back to skating. And it had been fun at first, like it was when he was little, trailing after his mother. Yet, as the months passed, Kes started to needle him about his decision to retire. It wasn't like they lacked money; Poe didn't need to get a job like a regular person. Kes was the CEO of a Fortune 500 company; it allowed Poe the luxury of training at home. In his own rink. No long car rides or red eye flights. After Sochi, Poe had received offers to go out on tour but Kes forbade it. He believed such things were below a skater of Poe's caliber; Poe was too afraid to argue with him. Competing in South Korea was the last thing he wanted, but Kes was persistent. Poe resisted for months, but after seeing what his peers were doing on social media, he changed his mind.

Now, he was here, still trying to find a partner. He didn't want to imagine how Kes would react if they failed to find someone.

Leia watched her charge glide around the rink. Poe really was a beautiful skater. She'd watched his career with interest since juniors; what happened in Sochi was unfortunate. When she received a call from Kes Dameron, she would have been a fool to say no. And Leia Organa was no fool. However, this was turning out to be a more difficult task than she anticipated.

Kes took off his gloves as he stepped into the building. His son skated past Leia—backwards. Kes loved to watch Poe skate. It reminded him strongly of Shara; she would be so proud to see her son making another try for Olympic gold. They would get it this time. Kes was certain of it.

"How'd it go?" he asked Leia.

Leia sighed. "We should make him a singles skater."

"That bad, huh?" Kes tried not to allow his frustration to show; it was his money that was funding this comeback.

Leia wrapped the leather cord around her precious notebook. "He's a fabulous skater; everyone says so."

"I'm sensing a but."

Leia looked Kes in the eye. They both knew what Poe's real problem was. "But it always comes down to the big B. What a bastard."

Kes didn't flinch; he'd heard all this before. Poe had been a handful ever since his mother died. "What about Hux?"

"Armie Hux? She said that she'd rather eat garlic and sleep with a cross before she'd skate with Poe." Kes opened his mouth, but Leia held up her hand. "I'm not sure what else you want me to do, Kes. We're scraping the bottom of the barrel."

Kes's steely gaze—so much like his son's—rooted her to the spot. "Then you find another barrel."

That night in her loft, Leia started going through tapes. She wasn't quite sure what she was looking for. Poe was a singular skater, powerful, graceful, charismatic. She needed someone who complemented his strengths and could compensate for his weaknesses. Leia hadn't been entirely kidding when she suggested making Poe a singles skater. Trust was Poe's weakness. For a pair to work, one had to trust their partner completely. Yet, at this stage, it was too late to switch Poe to singles. The other men competing in singles had too large of an edge. They were doing quad jumps now. Poe—as great as he was—couldn't compete with that.

Which left her with the task of finding him a suitable partner.

After several hours, she switched gears. It was getting late; she decided to put on some hockey to unwind. Being from the Great White North, hockey was in her blood. She'd never played herself, but she loved watching it. She selected one of Canada's games from Sochi. Oh, this was one of the women's games! Leia propped up her iPad against her legs and switched off the light.

She remembered this game; the Americans had given the Canadians a run for their money. The American men may not be quite as good as their Canadian counterparts, but the women more than made up for it. There was one woman who stood out; she was all over the ice, flying around like a gladiator on skates. Leia watched her footwork, fascinated by this one skater. During the broadcast, her name appeared on the screen: Rey Kenobi.

Why did that name sound familiar? Leia wracked her brain. Oh! That was the woman who'd gotten injured. In this very game. Leia paused the game to do some quick Googling. There were several stories about the unfortunate player, most of them a couple of years old. Kenobi was from Minnesota. As far as Leia could tell, she still lived there.

On a hunch, Leia found more clips from Kenobi's playing days in college. The girl really was a tremendous skater. If anyone could keep up with Poe Dameron, it was this girl. She looked like she didn't take shit from anyone. Sure, the learning curve would be steep…

Kes had told her to find another barrel. Leia just might have found it.

Rey leaned dangerously over the ladder, hammer in her hand. Rose's nagging had finally paid off; Rey agreed to help out for the afternoon. Her goal was to finish the framing for the addition to the bar by sunset. Beau and his friends had done most of the work; Rey worked on shoring things up. She didn't want the whole thing to come crashing down on Rose's head.

She knew she would be tired, but she was still planning on doing her five mile run before bed.

Rey heard snow crunching nearby. "Hey, Rose, would you hand me that level?"

"Who is Rose?"

Rey stopped, hammer in mid swing. A stranger? That was odd. She turned, finding an older woman with her long hair braided intricately under her fur cap. Rey hoped it was faux fur, not that anyone around there would care. They still had to leave the back lights on during hunting season so that no one shot the windows of the bar! The woman looked vaguely familiar, but Rey couldn't place her. Usually when strangers accosted her, it was a reporter, looking for a story. Rey scowled. "If you're looking for a story, it's been done," she snapped. "I've got work to do." Rey resumed her hammering, ignoring her visitor.

"I'm not a reporter, I'm a coach. My name is Leia Organa."

Rey stopped. A coach! The woman sounded Canadian. "Oh my god, you're from the Thunder! You got my letter!" She hopped down from the ladder, excitement and happiness searing her veins. This was it! This was her shot! Sure, it was the Canadian league, but Rey would take it. She'd take anything at this point. She just wanted to show everyone they were wrong. She could still play! "I'm in the best shape of my life! I'm like a rock. Speed drills, stick drills, road work. I'm skating five, six hours a night!"

Organa's face remained solemn. "I'm not a hockey coach."

Rey instinctively backed up. "What is this?"

Leia shrugged. "May be nothing. Or it just might be something. That's up to you." She reached into the bag that was slung over her shoulder and carefully pulled out a pair of skates. "Try these. They should be your size."

Rey's nose wrinkled in disgust. "Those are figure skates, lady."

"I am well aware, Miss Kenobi. I'm asking you to try them."

"Why? I'm a hockey player!"

"A hockey player going nowhere," Organa observed quietly. Unlike others, this woman didn't seem to pity her; Rey was thankful. She'd had enough of that to last a lifetime. "What have you got to lose?"

Rey thought later that she really must be out of her mind. At first, she kinda thought Organa was playing a prank on her, but the woman seemed sincere enough. After a bit more hedging, Rey tried on the skates. They felt all wrong; it was even stranger when she stepped onto the ice pond not far from the rear of the bar. She had a little trouble getting her balance, which was insane. Rey had been staking since she was a kid! It took a few minutes, but she got it. She wasn't sure what Organa was trying to prove, but Rey never backed down from a challenge.

She tried skating around the pond—emphasis on try. Figure skates were fundamentally different from hockey skates; it took longer than she expected to even get the basics of pushing off, gliding and stopping. She fell a couple of times, much to her embarrassment. She thought for sure she'd failed whatever test Organa had set up, but when she came back, the woman looked oddly pleased.

It wasn't until after that Rey discovered the real reason behind the coach's visit. Over a couple of beers in the back of the bar, Organa explained about a skater she was working with. This skater was a pairs skater, looking for a partner. Rey thought the woman was out of her mind to even consider someone like Rey, but once she heard about the compensation she'd get for her trouble, she reconsidered. Surely, it wouldn't hurt to go out there? She'd never been to Connecticut. It wasn't like her home was the land of opportunity.

At the very least, it would be an adventure, something she could tell stories about when she came home. Rey agreed to the visit, just as a tryout. She'd be back by week's end.

That night, she scoured YouTube for some footage of this Poe Dameron guy. Oh, he was handsome! That was certainly a plus. His stats said he was a hair taller than her, brown eyes, dark hair. He'd been skating competitively since he was young. He was good too, at least according to her untrained eye. His partner seemed to fade into the background as she watched him. As a hockey player, she'd always made fun of figure skaters, but this guy? He was nothing like she expected. He had a presence on the ice that was hard to look away from. Organa said he was a bit of a perfectionist and a little temperamental. She could handle temperamental.

The longer Rey watched him, she started to get the oddest feeling she'd met him somewhere. But for the life of her, she couldn't place him. He'd been on the Olympic team in Sochi, but after her injury, she avoided everyone. She just couldn't stand by and watch everyone else with their medals. It was depressing.

Rey closed the app on her phone and started packing. She wouldn't be gone long, but she liked to be prepared. She was scheduled to fly out of Minneapolis first thing in the morning