Chapter 2: Rain Shadow Effect
Tatooine was clear across the galaxy from Ajan Kloss, so even going full throttle, it took Poe more than a standard day to get there. Arriving in atmo, he decided he really didn't want to land in one of the outposts to ask for directions, so he took his X-wing down low over the sandy plains, keeping his eyes peeled for the Falcon.
As the twin suns sank fast over the desert hills, he finally spotted the famed freighter parked by an old run-down homestead. Water vaporators were the only other landmarks for miles around. A moisture farm. Poe quickly swooped in low for a landing, and was just clambering out of the cockpit when a figure emerged from the sanded hovel.
Rey Skywalker had her lightsaber hilt in her hand, unignited, her hostile face easing into one of confusion. "Poe?"
"Howdy, Jedi," he sent her a million-watt grin.
She just cocked a wary eyebrow.
"What are you doing here?"
"Finn asked me to come check on you."
Rey huffed out a breath. "Of course he did..." she muttered.
"Hey, he would have come himself, but he has quite a caseload back on base. He sends his love, and asks when the kriff you'll be back."
"For Force's sake, Poe, I don't need to be babysat! Certainly not by you! I'm not a little girl!"
Poe held up his hands in supplication. "Not saying you are." In the brief lull of silence that followed, he took the opportunity to look her up and down. She was still wearing her white Jedi robes that she had left in, which had now been defiled by the elements into a dusty beige. "So... how's my ship?" He didn't need to clarify which one.
"It's my ship," Rey countered back as easily as she would with her blade ignited in a lightsaber duel. "And both sub-alternators are fixed, just so you know. Cost me a pretty credit in Mos Eisley."
He scowled at this. This was the Rey that he remembered - combative, strong-willed. But the bite of her barbs was duller than he recalled, and he wondered why. There was a significant slump to her shoulders, maybe from fatigue. No, worse than that... sadness.
After standing there for over a full minute, sort of admiring her, Rey let out a resigned breath. "Is that all you came here for? It's rude to stare, you know."
"It's also rude to leave your guest standing out in the hot sun," he shot back, easy as breathing. Though he probably should have been more sensitive. Rey had grown up wild in a desert much like this one, all by herself - no one had been there to teach her manners. Not that Jakku ever bothered with trivial things like that.
She sighed. "Would you like to come in, Poe?"
"I'd be delighted," he nodded.
Poe had to stoop low to duck inside the homestead, emerging into a meager kitchen.
"Fix yourself a drink," Rey entreated over her shoulder. "I need to use the fresher and change."
After she disappeared, Poe rummaged around in the fridge and found a dusty bottle of Tosche whiskey, uncorked. He checked the date: around the time of the Battle of Yavin. It had to be plenty ripe! Uncorking it, and as he poured himself a glass, he spied Rey re-entering the kitchen.
Her hair was let down so that the long chestnut tresses cascaded down her back like waves. Poe couldn't think of a time he had seen her with her hair down... except for the day they met, after Crait. He found that he much preferred the look.
She was wearing all black - black cinch pants, black sweater with a threadbare hole. A black cowl. He frowned in bemusement. "Are those your pajamas? I didn't think you went to bed this early."
The glare she sent his way was fiercer than he had expected, and he backed off, hands up in surrender. It might be an odd choice for a nightgown, but the get-up obviously meant something to her.
As Rey lowered herself into a chair, a shrieking whistle could be heard, followed by a ball rolling into Poe's leg. Glancing down, he beamed.
"Hey, buddy! I missed you too!" and he petted BB8 exuberantly. He was encouraged when he caught a soft smile grace Rey's face.
Crossing to join her at the table, he held up an empty glass. "Want a drink?"
She snorted at the Tosche whiskey in his hand. "Got anything stronger?"
Poe's brow creased hard. "You used to get drunk off of just ice water." Plopping the glass down on the tabletop, he filled it to the brim. "Drink up. Something tells me we have a lot to talk about."
After a couple rounds, Rey was tipsy and giggling. Poe was even louder and more boisterous than usual. The alcohol had soothed their sniping banter into a playful one, as Poe regaled her with stories.
"So, wait, wait: you light speed skipped into a corkscrew barrell to take out some smuggler?"
"Jannah thought I was nuts..."
"I should think so! She's probably a more practical pilot than you - and more skilled!"
"Hey!" Poe clapped a hand to his heart as if wounded. Getting his breath back, he finally sloshingly gestured at the Jedi's ensemble. "So, what's with the Goth routine before bed?"
At this, Rey sobered up significantly, as if she wasn't drunk at all. Her hazel eyes - bloodshot from the whiskey - grew wet. "This was... something I recovered off of Exogol." Her voice had fallen to a whisper.
"Dirty black laundry? What for? Some souvenir," Poe chuckled.
She tried to send him a withering look, but her eyes were unfocused. "It is not dirty black laundry! It's... all I have left of my..." She pursed her lips tightly, and a single tear slipped down her cheek.
Poe leaned forward in his chair, deeply intrigued. "You lost somebody," he guessed.
She nodded tightly, her voice so small he could barely hear it. "My sweetheart. Ben Solo."
Poe's eyes went wide. "Leia's son?" She nodded. "But... but he was... Kylo Ren!" Despite the booze, it all clicked into place for him.
"Go ahead: laugh at me! Call me naive! I wouldn't expect a lifelong bachelor to understand anything about love!"
The shot across his bow stung more than Poe thought it would. "Actually... I do understand," he mumbled, as he thought of Zorii, who had cut out from Ajan Kloss as soon as the celebrations were over and without even saying goodbye.
He should have been angry. Berated her in a big brotherly way for being so caring, for if there was one thing Rey was, it was caring. The kind of person who allowed Porgs to roam free in the Falcon and call it keeping them as pets. He should have felt betrayed that she would fall for the enemy. Instead, Poe scooted his chair closer and took her hand.
"What happened?" he asked softly, and for the first time with her, Poe did something he wasn't very good at. He listened.
The alcohol had loosened Rey's tongue considerably, for she haltingly spilled everything: "After Starkiller, Ren and I discovered that we shared a Force Bond. We could interact with each other across lightyears. As we continued to see each other, I can began to see Ben Solo, the man behind the mask. I... I think I fell in love with him even back then. After seeing a vision of us together, I went to him on the Supremacy, to try and turn him. He murdered his master to save me, but he wouldn't come with me. After Crait, the Bond continued to bring him to me - there was a lot of heartache hurled out, in those days. After we fought on Kef Bir, he finally redeemed himself and followed me to Exogol. He killed his own Knights and fought Palpatine to save my life again. He brought me back from the dead... we kissed..." Bunching up a fistful of the black sweater, Rey stuffed it in her mouth to muffle her sob. "...and then he died in my arms!"
Poe lightly rubbed his fingers over her knuckles, taking in the tragic tale. "He..." The pilot cleared his throat. "He sounds like he was a wonderful man. In the end."
She lifted her eyes to his, the hazel flecks surprised and grateful. "Thank you." The smile she sent him was weak, but warm. Hastily wiping at her eyes, she folded into herself. "I'm... I'm sorry I was so rude to you when you first showed up. If things seemed worse between us after Exogol, that was my fault."
"No..."
"It was. You... you remind me of Ben, in a way. Look like him, and I took that out on you."
A rumble in the distance made them both glance away from each other and out the window. Poe frowned in bemusement as he recognized the thunder. "I didn't think it rained here."
Rey chuckled. "It's only the second storm I've seen since I got here. Well, heard anyway - over on Tusken Mountain. The rainwater never reaches moisture farms here."
"Ah, yes," Poe nodded with a smile. "The rain shadow effect." When she blinked at him, perplexed, he just shrugged. "We learned about it in school."
"I wish I'd been to school," Rey's voice and face were soft. She smirked self-deprecatingly. "From flying and scavenging to lightsaber combat and love, I'm mostly self-taught."
Poe's hand closed over hers. "Lucky for us you are." He gazed at her warmly, but intensely, and she smiled in appreciation.
The temperature in the hovel had seemed to heat by many degrees. Lifting his free hand to cradle her cheek, brushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear, Poe leaned in closer. In his eyes, there was a question.
Rey's lashes were lidded, but she didn't move, granting Poe the permission to lean in and capture her lips with his. He felt her let out a pretty little gasp into his mouth, her head leaning back a little as she relaxed into the kiss - only her second.
Murmuring a little, Poe slipped his tongue gently out to touch her mouth, seeking entrance. It was at that moment that Rey broke out of the kiss abruptly, and turned her face away, tears streaming down her cheeks.
Poe leaned back, confused. "I'm... I'm sorry," he stammered. "Did I bite your lip or something?"
"No," Rey croaked, her mouth pursing in a thin line. She looked so broken, that Poe just wanted to hold her. Moved by an irresistible impulse, he stood. Turning her cheek to him, tilting her head back, he passionately kissed her again. She wrenched free with a whimper, her movements sharper this time.
"No, no, I can't!" she cried. "Ben... Ben..."
Still cradling her face in her hands, rubbing his thumbs along her cheekbones, Poe crooned gently, "Ben would want you to be happy."
She didn't answer, gaping at him almost. Releasing her, Poe backed up quickly, arms raised in surrender. "Whether or not you do find happiness with someone else, it doesn't have to be me. I shouldn't have kissed you again like that; that was out of line. I'll... I'll go sleep in the X-Wing -"
"No!" she yelped, jumping up so jerkily that her chair overturned. The tears still leaving tracks down her face, she shook her head, lip trembling. "I don't want you to."
He froze at this, waiting, though not expectantly. Wringing her hands through the black sweater, Rey lifted her eyes to his pleadingly. "Will you stay?" she whispered.
He bobbed his head. He shivered in surprise when Rey suddenly, and quite assertively, took his hand. Holding his eyes, she guided him with deliberative purpose back towards the room that clearly housed her bed...
The thunder still rolled over nearby Tusken Mountain all through the night, the rain shadow effect kicking up a small dust storm to tumbleweed across the Dune Sea.
In Rey's room, tangled up in the sheets, the Jedi splayed her legs as Poe wriggled inside of her. The pair's bodies slapped wetly and undulated slightly as they made love. Poe kissed her freely this time, and she kissed him back, with a tenderness that was wonderful and soothing. Pausing to gaze into each other's eyes for a moment, Poe lazily dipped his head and kissed her again. Closing her eyes gently, Rey draped her arms about his shoulders to pull him closer.
All through the night, her back arched and her toes curled as Poe made her cum again and again... then just once more. All the while, between flurries of kisses, she could only moan.
"Hmmm... Mmmmm... Uhhhh... Huhhhh... Mmmmhmmmmm..."
Her knuckles fisted the blankets so hard, they stayed white long after she had come apart in his arms...