Although this story takes place six months before my last story, it would probably be best to read Rising first, so you can understand my Star Wars Universe a bit better. s/13658210/1/Rising

Sorgan

The party was finally starting to wind down, and Rey was glad. While she had enjoyed herself immensely, being surrounded by so many active, loud, and excited people was exhausting. She looked over at the two people who were responsible for this particular get together and could tell that they were also ready for it to end. While the celebration of the marriage of two of her best friends was beautiful and appreciated, Rey was sure Finn and Rose were more than ready to leave and start their new life in private. She glanced at Temiri and knew the boy, who officially had two parents now that his adopted mother had married, was already settled comfortably with the Morey family for the duration of Finn and Rose's honeymoon. Since Colt Morey, one of Rey's other students, was Temiri's best friend, Rey knew the boy would be fine.

Rey felt her gaze move over the crowd of beings packed in the open sided mess hall, unconsciously searching out her other friends. Chewie was having an intense conversation with a couple of members of the special ops unit, one of which was a Lasat, almost as big as Chewie himself. She continued to scan the crowd, but couldn't see Poe. She wasn't really surprised, as he had been on the move constantly ever since he gave the official toast at dinner; being Finn's Best Man had kept him busy. He was most likely out flirting with one of the many women who had been following after him all evening. She ignored the pang she felt at that thought. It's just who he was, a tease. He was never serious about it as far as she could tell, never having seen him with any one woman more than once. He also seemed very much the gentleman, never being disrespectful or vulgar, but she couldn't be sure as he had never, ever flirted with her.

She sighed and moved from the side of the room where she had been for the last several minutes and toward Finn. He saw her coming and his smile widened. She grinned back at him and grasped the hand he held out to her. "You okay?" he asked.

She nodded. "Just tired, as I'm sure you are," she replied. "I'm going to call it a night," she told him. "You guys should, too," she nodded toward Rose, who was talking with another couple. "Before you know it, it'll be morning and you'll be too tired to fly to where ever you guys are going."

Finn looked over at his new wife, and the warmth in his gaze made Rey more than a little envious. While she had never considered Finn as anything other than her best friend, she had to admit that watching his blooming romance with Rose had saddened her as much as it had given her joy. A love like that was not for her, she was sure of it. She had had her chance, but the Emperor had taken that away from her, ensuring that she would never have the opportunity to get to know and love the one man she believed had been meant for her. Finn looked back at her, almost as if he sensed her disquiet. He probably did. She smiled at him, hoping to head off any more concern for her wellbeing. "You guys have a wonderful time, and no worries about Temiri. I'll make sure he stays busy in class so the Morey's won't have any trouble with him." She grinned at her minor joke. Temiri was a hyper child and needed to be busy all the time, but was not really a trouble maker.

"Just tell him he can't tend to the fathiers if he gets too uncontrollable," Finn responded with a grin. "He'll behave." Finn and Rose hadn't just brought back Temiri from Cantonica; they had also brought back three fathiers, large mammals that had been used for racing at the casino on Canto Bite. Temiri had begged him to bring the animals, who were getting too old to run and therefore would be auctioned off to whoever wanted them; he had been sure they would go to people who would not care for them.

"Good plan," Rey said, and turned to leave. She headed across the room, walking carefully through the crowd, suddenly anxious to get to the quiet of her quarters. Her feet hurt from wearing shoes that she was not accustomed to and had trouble walking in. The heels on the fancy sandals weren't that high, but they were thin and it took some concentration for her to keep her balance. Had she had some time to practice walking in them, she probably would have been fine, but she hadn't worn them before tonight. Once she left the hall and the crowd behind her, she picked up her pace, but was dismayed to find the softer ground made walking in the shoes even more difficult. She was rounding the corner of the brand-new dormitory when her right heel sunk into a soft spot. She fought to find her balance as she fell forward, and instinctively called on the Force to help cushion the fall she knew was coming, but it never happened.

Strong hands grabbed her at the waist and her own hands landed firmly on the shoulders of the owner of said hands. She pulled herself upright and found herself face to face with Poe Dameron. The fancy heeled shoes gave her just enough height to match that of the current leader of the Resistance. She took a deep breath. "I am so sorry," she said in a rush. She moved her right foot to the side and looked down at it. "These stupid shoes. I'm not used to walking in them."

Poe glanced down at her foot, too. "Well, at least you make them look great."

Startled, Rey looked at him. Was he flirting? With her?

The small smile on his face wasn't giving her any answers, but when that smile faded as he continued looking at her, she felt her heart rate increase. His brown eyes were focused on her intently, and she suddenly realized how wonderful he smelled. Good grief, what was she thinking?! She'd never noticed how a man smelled before, unless it was really, really bad. This was as far from bad as could be, though, and she felt herself lean toward him even more. Her movement must have encouraged him and he closed those last few inches between them, bringing his mouth to hers.

What was going on? Rey shouted in head, but the shout was quickly silenced as she felt herself sink into the kiss. He tasted as good as he smelled, she thought. How did she not know this was possible, she wondered? Yes, she had always acknowledged Poe's attractiveness. Upon her first meeting with him she remembered how much she loved his eyes, how comfortable she had felt with him, how much she trusted him without even knowing him. However, she had never foreseen this!

She felt him pull back and started shouting in her head again. No! Before he could even back off enough to meet her eyes with his own, she followed him, taking her hands from his shoulders and bringing her arms around his neck, pulling her upper body flush against his chest and kissing him back. She felt his hands leave her hips and his arms wrapped around her waist, bringing her lower body up against his. Yes! She thought. Just like that! Her lips parted and he responded by bringing his tongue out to touch hers. Oh, yeah! She really liked that! She felt her whole body start to burn and a tingling sensation began in a place that she tried not to think about. She had never felt anything like this!

Distant voices worked their way into her consciousness, and they were getting louder. Poe heard them, too. With one accord, they broke apart and stepped back from each other. Breathing hard, Rey stared wide eyed at her friend. She was only mildly relieved to see he was breathing just as hard and was looking at her with his eyes just as wide, proving that what had just happened was as much a surprise to him as to her.

Two men came around the corner. Both she and Poe turned to face them, and Rey would have laughed at how they both tried their best to look innocent if she hadn't been in so much shock. Todd and Linter both stopped short upon seeing them. "Oh, General," Linter said. "Finn was looking for you."

"I was just on my way back there," Poe said. Rey was impressed by how steady his voice sounded. She was quite sure she would sound like a hydraulic lift that needed oiling if she spoke right now. Poe looked over at her, his eyes unreadable. "Goodnight."

She nodded, refusing to speak. His eyes narrowed and his expression hardened, but his dark eyes betrayed nothing. Then with a nod to the two men, he left to head back to the mess hall. Rey didn't even look at the men still standing there. She turned on her spindly heels and headed into the dorm, her whole body shaking.

She had just kissed one of her best friends and the commander of this base. And she had loved it. How in the Force did she handle this?