A/N It's my birthday and I'll post if I want to! Anyway, I'm not getting any feedback on this, but I hope there is someone out there reading. This is a long one, but one of my favorite chapters. I'm enjoying it even if you aren't. ;-)

Rey had spent the remainder of the afternoon fiddling around in the hanger, ignoring the questioning expressions on both Hudstall and Todd's faces. As soon as they left for dinner in the mess hall, after declining their invitation to join them, she headed for her quarters to clean up. She stared at the dress she has worn to the wedding the night before and thought briefly about wearing it again, but quickly decided against it; she wasn't one to get gussied up even for special occasions, and Poe should learn quickly that while she thought a date with him was special, she wasn't about to change who she was for it. Or him.

As the sun sat low right over the horizon, Rey headed for the clearing by the creek. It was a moderately popular place among those on the base that enjoyed the outdoors and she had spent a significant portion of her time here on Ajan Kloss meditating in the peaceful locale. She walked through a thick stand of trees with a barely discernable path until she came to it, just as the sun touched the horizon. She saw him kneeling in the clearing, setting out what she assumed was food on a blanket laid out on the ground. A handful of ultrasonic torch devices circled the area, helping to ensure the meal wouldn't be interrupted by any of the several biting insects that called Ajan Kloss home.

She carefully wiped her suddenly damp hands on her thighs and stepped into the clearing. Poe's head jerked up to look at her, and relief flooded his face. She had to grin at him. "You're still here."

"Yeah," he responded with a grin of his own. "You got here before I ran."

She stepped up to the blanket, a pretty patterned one of blue and teal, and kneeled down on it across from him. She surveyed the selection of food that he had acquired from the mess hall. Since the war had ended, their food choices had greatly improved. When you didn't need to smuggle in food stuffs for several different beings to a secret hideout you could offer a little more variety. Even the limited choices the base had had before Exegol were still amazingly diverse to Rey, of course. "I guess you couldn't decide on a meal, huh?" she asked jokingly.

Poe looked decidedly embarrassed. "I wasn't sure what you liked best. You seem to always enjoy it all, not having any favorites. So, I thought it was best just to bring a little bit of a lot."

"I like it," she told him simply, changing her position so she could sit more comfortably cross-legged. Poe did the same.

He reached into the bag he had used to bring the food and brought out a small bottle of Namana liquor. "I knew we had to have this, though." He opened the bottle and poured some of the thick drink into two small glasses. "Not sure how well you hold your liquor," Poe said with a sly grin, "but this shouldn't be enough to get either of us toasted. I did think we both might want something to relax us, though."

Rey bit her lip nervously. "Why do you think we need to relax?" she asked sarcastically. "I'm not nervous. Are you nervous?"

Poe just snorted as he handed her a glass. He took a deep breath and raised his glass. "What do you want to drink to?"

Rey raised hers to meet his. "How about BB-8?" she asked. "If it wasn't for BB-8, we never would have met."

Poe looked at her with surprise and then grinned. "Hell, yeah! I'll drink to that!" They touched their glasses together and took a sip. "Mmmmm…" Poe said.

"Whoa!" was Rey's response. She and alcohol had only a passing acquaintance.

Poe laughed. "You okay?" he asked her.

"Yeah!" Rey said. "Yeah, I'm okay," and she took another sip.

"All right, all right!" Poe said, still laughing. "Eat something! I don't want you drunk!"

"You don't?" Rey said with a smile of her own, setting the glass down and reaching for some Zeffo fruit, one of her favorites. With that, the two started eating, commenting off and on about what they liked, loved, and only tolerated when it came to food.

"Ration packs were pretty much the extent of my diet on Jakku," Rey told him. "Every once in a while, someone in Niima would have a get together of some sort for the scavengers and there would be fresh meat and vegetables. You always had to be careful and not eat too much or you'd get sick and not be able to work the next day. It was hard to do that sometimes."

"I get that," Poe told her. "Ration packs were pretty much the only thing we ate while on missions for the New Republic," he told her. "Fighter pilots don't have a lot of space aboard ship for fresh food. But we were never away for more than a week or two. I can't imagine that being my only diet."

"Why did you leave?" she asked him suddenly. "The Republic, I mean."

"Aw, it was my second rebellion," he told her with a grin. "My first came right after my mom died, and I had convinced myself I didn't need my dad, either, since he didn't seem to need me. It wasn't until I was older that I realized he was mourning my mom so much it only seemed he didn't want me around. Anyway, I ran away and he found me camped out in the jungle a few days later. I was really hungry by then, having not thought to pack food, so I didn't really argue when he brought me home. It was hard for us, those first few years without her." He looked at her. "I grew up, went on to flight school, even though I was convinced I already knew everything since my mom taught me all she knew, and became an officer in the Republic. I started seeing things when I was on missions in the Outer Rim, and no matter how much I reported my suspicions to the Republic High Command, they never acted."

"Suspicions?"

"The First Order. How strong they were getting. How much their military was growing." He shook his head. "The Republic wanted to keep their head buried in the sand and ignore it all. They didn't believe that 'fragment of the old Imperial Army' could do anything to harm them." He grabbed a piece of Dandoran bread. "I finally gave up and handed in my resignation. I should have just found a way to contact Leia then; she had hinted several times that she would have loved to have me in the Resistance, but I was stupid and just didn't want to take orders from anyone anymore." He popped the piece of bread in his mouth.

"So, you started smuggling spice?" Rey asked with a tone of disbelief.

"Well, yeah," he confirmed. "Thought I was being all cool and tough doing a job that would have had me thrown in a Republic prison had I been caught." He shook his head. "I think I was in Han Solo envy back then. It didn't last long."

"What happened?"

"We came across a village on Falucia that had been completely destroyed. Burned to the ground. We had just been there a few days earlier on a legit supply run and I had been goofing off with a couple of boys while we waited for the ship to get loaded." He frowned. "I saw what was left of them and their mother lying in front of their burned house." He looked at her sadly. "The First Order. Apparently, they had come for supplies, too. And that was how they paid. I left to find Leia the next day."

They were both silent for a moment. When Poe reached for another piece of bread, the glint of metal from around his neck caught her eye. "The ring," she started. "That was your mother's, wasn't it?"

Poe grabbed the gold ring hanging from a chain around his neck. "Yeah," he said softly. "Dad gave it to me when he found me after I had 'run away.' It makes me feel close to both of them." He looked at her curiously. "Finn tell you about it?"

She nodded. "He said you plan to wear it until you find the right person to share your life with to give it to." She gave him a small smile. "That's an awful romantic notion coming from a hot-shot pilot."

He shrugged. "I may have been mad at my dad for not giving me the attention I thought I deserved after mom died, but when I grew up and thought about why he had been that way… I've always wanted that. To love like that." His eyes were unfocused, as if he was looking backwards in time. "To be loved like that." He took a sharp breath and focused on Rey again. "But that's why it's so scary. To lose someone you love that much is devastating. My dad was never the same."

They sat in solemn silence for a moment. Rey dared to speak first. "I never knew Leia before Han died, but I often got the sense from the people around her that she was never the same, either."

"She wasn't," Poe confirmed. "She hadn't seen him in years before he and Chewie met up with her on Takodana, but I think she had people keeping tabs on him so she knew where he was and what he was doing. I think she still felt a part of his life, even while he was gone. But when he died… well, she felt it. You know that. It wasn't something she had to be told. To have that kind of connection with someone who isn't Force sensitive… from what I understand, it's indicative of a very strong bond." He shook his head. "If she hadn't had a war to fight, if she hadn't had hope in you, I think she would have let herself die after being pulled off the Raddus."

Rey winced at his memory. She hadn't been aboard the Raddus when the bridge had been destroyed, killing all the senior staff but Leia. She had been on Ach-To trying to get through to Leia's brother and bring him back to the fight. "I loved hearing her stories about Han. And Ben as a child." She gave Poe a small smile. "She wouldn't plan on telling me them, I'm sure. She would just go off on some tangent that had nothing to do with my training, and I would just listen, not daring to interrupt for fear she would stop." She paused. "She was so amazing." She paused. "I want to be Leia when I grow up," she said with a smile.

"Me, too!" Poe agreed, grinning. He reached for his glass of Namana nectar and took a sip. The ring flashed again around his neck, and Rey realized suddenly that she wanted to be the one he gave that ring to. She took a deep breath and took another sip of her nectar as well. The liquor wasn't as strong now that she had food in her stomach, but it still made her feel a bit giddy.

Rey continued. "One story I clearly remember Leia telling me was the one about her wedding night."

Poe's head jerked up to look at her. "Leia talked about her wedding night?!"

"Well, not the details, no, of course not!" Rey blushed. "No, she talked about how they waited to… you know…"

"Have sex?" Poe finished with another grin.

Rey felt her face heat even more. "Yeah. Leia said it was traditional on Alderaan for the couple to wait until the wedding night. That's how important marriage was to them. Han had known about that tradition and took it very seriously, almost more so than Leia did. She apparently tried to seduce him a couple of times before the wedding, but Han had actually told Chewie to interrupt them often when he knew they were alone together, so her attempts always got thwarted."

Poe laughed out loud, and Rey giggled with him. Oh, my did he have a wonderful laugh, she thought.

"Anyway, she told me it was worth the wait. That the connection between them seemed that much more special and beautiful after they were married." Rey smiled sadly. "It made me envious."

Poe frowned, opened his mouth to say something, then stopped.

"What?" Rey asked him. When he stayed silent, she added, "Come on. You've never been shy. Don't be now."

He shook his head. "It's not that I'm shy," he told her. "It's just a sensitive subject."

Rey looked at him expectantly.

"I don't know all about what all you may or may not have… experienced… when you were on Jakku."

"You mean about sex?" she asked, trying to keep her embarrassment in check.

Poe nodded, his eyes serious. "Not just sex," he continued. "Were you ever… forced?"

Rey realized what he was asking and knew it was a legit question. If they were going to make this relationship work, he had a right to know.

She took a deep breath. "When I was about 12 or so, I left the group of scavengers I had been living with. It was what happened on Jakku. The kids without families tended to band together until they became confident on their own, then it was everyone for themselves." She paused, remembering how she had not felt even one moment of sadness leaving the small gang, as none of them had treated her with any semblance of friendship, but she had felt fear. "It wasn't long for the predators to find out I was on my own and that I was maturing. The first time I was attacked, I didn't really have a weapon of any kind, but there was a short metal pipe on the ground near me that I managed to grab. Somehow, I used it hard enough to cause one of my attackers to bleed badly, and I was able to get away and hide. Looking back, I'm sure the Force had something to do with it, too, but at the time I just considered myself lucky. I was pretty beat up after that attack, but alive. That pipe ended up being the first part of my staff." She smiled at that, but then turned serious again. "There were various packs of mostly human males, and they made attempts at me more than once those first couple of years. I could usually avoid them, staying in the presence of others, slipping around buildings and tents without anyone seeing me. But sometimes I got caught. And I fought. And got better and better. Eventually, I became known as one of the 'untouchables,' women who were too much trouble to try and assault." She looked Poe in the eye. "So, to answer your question, no, I was never raped." She glanced down. "I'm still a virgin."

Poe was silent for a while. When he spoke, his voice was softer than she had ever heard it. "I'm glad, Rey. That kind of trauma isn't easy to live with, and I'm very happy you didn't have to face it. But it wouldn't change the way I feel about you, had it happened. You know that, right?"

She looked at him again, and felt tears in her eyes. "I do now."

They gazed at each other for a while, the illumination from the torches the only light now visible since complete darkness had fallen. Both of them seemed to realize that at the same time. Poe glanced at his chrono. "Geez! How did it get so late? I have a meeting in the morning." He looked at her apologetically.

"And I didn't get any sleep last night," Rey reminded him. "I'm exhausted and this nectar is not helping."

Poe started throwing the containers and napkins and cups back into the bag he had brought them in. Rey helped, and soon they both stood. "Where does the blanket go?" she asked.

"It's mine," he told her. "Just something I picked up on Selonia a while back. The cooling system in the Control Tower can be a little too cold for me." Poe had grown up on Yavin IV, a planet almost as hot and humid as Ajan Kloss.

"Didn't you used to live on Kijimi?" Rey asked with a smile.

"Hey, I never said I liked it!" he argued. He folded the blanket and laid it over his arm, picking up the bag with his other hand. He stood still and looked at Rey. "Thank you," he told her.

"For what?" Rey asked with humor. "Making sure you followed through with this date?"

"Yes," he responded. "This night has been the most illuminating, most fascinating night of my life." The corner of his mouth went up. "Up to now, anyway. I have a feeling it won't be the last if we keep this up."

"Do you want to?" Rey asked. "Keep this up?"

"Getting to know you better?" he asked. "Absolutely."

Rey smiled. "Me, too."

He nodded. "Good. Then we'll plan to do something like this again, soon." He shifted, almost as if he was getting nervous. "I'll walk you to the dorms."

She nodded, and they turned back toward the dark forest around them. She let him lead, confident he could find his way the short distance from the meadow to the base, even in the dark. Soon, they were back among the well-lit structures of the Resistances base, and she moved up to walk next to him as they headed for her quarters. It was quiet, and Rey was reminded how late it was; time had flown while she had been with Poe, but she was truly very tired.

He stopped at the door and faced her. "Thank you, Poe," she told him softly.

"For feeding you?" he smiled.

"Yes, that. And for making me feel like I'm something other than the 'last hope for the Jedi.' Making me feel like, well, me again."

His smile was soft. "You're welcome," he whispered.

Because his hands were full, Rey leaned in to him, wanting more than anything to kiss him again. He complied, quickly deepening the kiss, making her whole body heat up. She found herself fingering the ring around his neck as they kissed. Poe pulled back first. "You know, this isn't gonna go any farther than kissing."

Rey froze. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, if this is real, and we want to make it special, then we're gonna have to do what Han and Leia did."

Rey glanced down at the ring she was still holding, then back up at him. "You mean...?"

"I mean that I'm not taking you to bed until you're wearing that." He looked down at the ring in her fingers.

"Do you think we'll make it that far?" she whispered.

"Damn, I hope so," he responded fervently. "Goodnight, Rey." Stepping back from her, he turned and walked away.