"Deep breaths and let go of everything within your mind." Kyp suggests, opening one eye to find Rey floating several feet above the floor.
In the two months since Rey had given birth, Kyp has been amazed at how quickly she's progressing with her training. Only two others have progressed as quickly as she has – the first being Jaina and the second her younger brother Anakin. However, he can sense that the dark side of the force still swirls around her and this worries him.
On the other side of the training room there's a high-pitched squeal.
"Someone is a happy rebel today." Kes Dameron softly says softly, eyeing Leia's giggly grandbaby as the older woman gently bounces him. Thankfully his squeals don't wake Mya who is peacefully nestled in his arms.
"When isn't he?" Leia says. "He is just like his Uncles were at this age – always getting excited whenever someone uses the Force."
Kes chuckles and looks across the way to were Rey and the other Jedi are meditating. Never did he ever expect that his son would get involved with a Jedi. And knowing that his granddaughter would probably be a Jedi too, well that was just an adventure for the future.
But his sentimental thoughts are cut short as the training room doors open and BB-8 speeds in and heads directly towards Kes. The little droid lets out a series of whirls and tweets which only cause Kes to sigh and Leia to snort in a very unprincess-like manner.
"Bee, you realize that I am just as capable of keeping our girls company as you are. No matter what my son may have told you." Kes tells the droid, not witnessing Mya waking up.
BB-8, however, notices and quickly lets out a few happy trills. The tiny creature that Master Poe and Savior Rey made may be small and helpless, but the droid finds it fascinating. Each day, the tiny human grew in some way or fashion, and BB-8 was categorizing every single change. And with Master Poe giving it an order to stay and watch over the babe and its mother, BB-8 wasn't going to fail now.
"See, Mya's happy to see you too." Kes tells the droid and gently turns the baby so that she can see it.
BB-8 focuses his ocular lens, capturing an image to show Master Poe when he returns from his mission for General Leia.
But the baby suddenly lets out a screeching howl and it's quickly echoed by Zeth. Before either grandparent can react, Rey and Kyp hurry over. But the two don't stop to soothe their crying children. Instead, the pair run past and out of the training room.
The Force urges Leia to follow and Kes takes it as his cue to do the same.
Entering the landing bay of the Errant Venture, the sight before them does nothing to put them at ease.
The Falcon is on fire.
Rey immediately runs toward the ship. "Poe!" she screams. "Chewie! Finn!"
"We're okay," Finn call out from the other side of the bay. Chewie is at his side and Rose is already fussing over them both.
Rey rushes over. "Where's Poe?"
Chewbacca lets out a roar while pointing over to the landing ramp. There is Poe – a man who is currently paying no mind to the fact that he's standing next to a burning ship (Rey's ship!) and is instead busy checking over Artoo.
"Poe." Rey huffs out before walking towards him.
Artoo must have said something to the man because Poe looks over his shoulder and quickly stands up. His hair is disheveled and there is some soot smudged beneath one eye. His shirt and pants are both grimy thanks to the smoke.
As he gives Rey a smile, it quickly disappears when he sees her expression.
"What did you do to my ship!"
"Your ship?" Jaina calls out, having stepped away from Kyp's embrace. "The Falcon was my father's ship. So if it is anyone's ship, it should be mine. And it's been through worse than lightspeed skipping."
"Lightspeed skipping!" Rey exclaims, choosing to ignore Jaina. "Do you know how incredibly dangerous it is?"
"We made it back okay." Poe says, trying to calm Rey down.
"You call the Falcon burning okay?!"
Letting out a sigh, Poe is about to respond but doesn't as soon as he hears his daughter's cries from the other end of the landing bay. His father is trying to calm their wailing daughter and sees Leia giving him one of her most exasperated looks.
"At least we got the information." Jaina states, as she walks by to hand Leia a data-chip.
There's beat of silence and Poe reaches out to Rey, but she quickly turns and marches out of the bay without a backward glance.
He starts after her, almost making it to the door, when a gentle hand on his shoulder stops him.
"Let her have some time to herself, mijo." Kes says as he hands over the squalling babe to her father.
He doesn't hesitate taking Mya and cuddling her against his chest. With a heavy sigh, Poe tries his best to calm his infant daughter.
Staring out into space, Rey wipes away the rest of her tears. She hadn't meant to become angry with Poe over his recklessness. Hell, both have done far worse than lightspeed skipping. But somehow, this time, it rattled her more than ever before.
'It's because you now have a greater responsibility. That happens when you have a child.' An unfamiliar voice whispers out from within the Force.
A child, their child. Hers and Poe's.
Everything nowadays seems to always comes back to that small human. Since giving birth, Rey has been struggling to adapt, and has done her best to hide her struggles from everyone. Including Poe. The only person who has spoken to her about any of it has been Kyp. The older man has practically taken her under his wing to not just train her as a Jedi but has also been a quiet listener when she's needed to vent her frustration and worries. Even now, Rey can sense the Jedi Master at the edges of her mind in a silent check-in.
Slowly, Rey gets up off the hard ground and winces at the soreness in her legs.
There is minimal movement within the halls of the large Star Destroyer, which means that it must be late at night. Leia had mentioned once that space has no night or day, so it is up to a ship's captain to determine a schedule for their crew.
Reaching her destination, Rey lets out a sigh before pressing the door release and entering. There is no one in the main room, and the lights are dimmed in the familiar nighttime routine. But what draws her attention is the soft tones of Poe's singing coming from their shared bedroom. So, she quietly makes her way there.
Standing at the foot of the crib, Poe sways with Mya swaddled in his arms. BB-8 sits off to the side, projecting planets and stars onto the ceiling.
Rey smiles at the sight of her small family. However, the moment ends when she shifts her weight and bumps into the doorframe. The sound is just loud enough to catch both Poe and BB-8's attention and there's a sad look on Poe's face.
He gently settles Mya into her crib before heading over to Rey. Yet she doesn't let herself be pulled into his arms. Instead, she steps back and heads towards the dresser to pull out a sleep shirt and pants. Then she heads towards the refresher.
Poe lets out a sigh before looking down at his droid. "Keep an eye on our little girl, buddy. I've got Rey."
BB-8 lets out a soft coo before stationing itself right next to the crib.
He heads towards the 'fresher and takes a deep breath, entering only a second later. Inside, he can see the glass of the walk-in shower is steamed up pretty good, as is the mirror. He follows the trail of clothes, shedding his own as he reaches the shower door.
Stepping in, he immediately sees that Rey is kneeling on the floor and leaning heavily against the tiled wall. Her face is wet with more than just the water from the shower-head. Being as gentle as possible, Poe settles before her and wipes away her tears.
"I'm sorry." Poe whispers, pressing their foreheads together. "I'm sorry I wasn't here when you needed me. I'm sorry about setting the Falcon on fire and lightspeed skipping. I'm sorry for worrying and scaring you, Rey."
Without giving him a reply, Rey launches herself at him. Once she's in his arms, she tries to speak but all that comes out is broken incoherent words between sobs. With each failed attempt, she hears soft words of comfort from Poe which just makes her tears flow even harder. Part of her doesn't like that she's being so emotional over every little thing.
Once she's cried herself out, Poe helps her stand up. Then he carefully, methodically washes her hair and body before proceeding to clean himself up as well. By the time they're done, the water has gone lukewarm and Poe herds her out of the shower. He wraps a thick towel around her before wrapping one around his own waist. With a third towel, he gently dries her hair which he then brushes and braids. He moves on from there to dry nearly every inch of her. Once he's satisfied that her skin is dry, he reaches for a creamy lotion and proceeds to massage it into her skin.
As Poe works, his mind drifts over the information that his father had given him earlier. Rey has been pushing herself too much in training. Add to it that a week into his mission, Mya had begun to refuse nursing from Rey and wouldn't take the pumped milk or straight-up formula either. No one could determine a reason for the sudden change, but luckily one of the med droids was able to blend some of Rey's milk with a synthetic that the baby would accept. Though she tried to hide it, Rey seemed heartbroken over the sudden loss – there is a special kind of bonding that occurs when a mother feeds her baby from her own breast.
So between that, the training, and then his particular manner of return today, it was no wonder she had a bit of a breakdown.
"Thank you." Rey softly says, pulling Poe out of his musings.
"You're welcome." Poe replies guiding Rey back into their bedroom, ignoring the set of sleep clothes on the counter. "Let's get you to bed, you must be exhausted."
As soon as they're both in the bed, Rey is quick to cuddle up to his side.
"I've missed this." Poe whispers to her. "Missed holding you, kissing you. Missed sleeping next to you. Even if your feet are as cold as Hoth during the night."
Rey snorts at the comment and proceeds to push her cold feet between his shins, which causes Poe to hiss.
"You've never complained about them before."
"That's because we've usually been on warm planets while sharing a bed. Plus we didn't have a baby yet. I've heard tales of what having a baby can do to a woman's body."
Rey flushes in embarrassment at Poe's remark. Since having Mya, Rey has noticed that her own body has changed, and it makes her feel uncomfortable in her own skin. However, as Poe starts running his hands up and down her body, she wonders if he finds these changes acceptable or not. She gets her answer when he shifts them so that he's hovering above her, pressing open mouth kisses down her neck.
"Poe." She sighs out as he moves lower.
"Let me do all the work, love."
And he does, making Rey come twice with just his fingers and clever mouth. Yet, even feeling as tired as she is, she manages to stay awake and pulls him up for a lingering kiss. With a skilled hand, she manages to guide him to the place she needs him most.
"You sure?" He manages to ask before looking over at the crib and a powered down BB-8.
"I'm sure. All Mya will sense is that her mother and father are sharing their love for one another." Rey whispers out, then nips at Poe's neck to draw his eyes back to her. "And Kalonia cleared me six days ago. Even gave me a stronger contraceptive implant."
Hearing the news is all Poe needs to know before sheathing himself within her warmth. It's been nearly three months since they'd last done this, been this intimate with each other and he'd be lying to himself if he said he wasn't nervous.
"Poe." Rey whispers, bringing Poe back into the here and now. "You can move."
Not needing to be told twice, he begins to move with slow and gentle strokes while languidly kissing the woman beneath him. He's unable to hold back a shiver as she tickles the hair on the back of his neck with one hand, the other scrapping down his chest.
"Rey."
"Commander."
Seeing the smirk on Rey's face, Poe adds a small twist to his hips as he pushing into her. He lets out a soft chuckle as she lets out a gasp followed by a whimper, then proceeds with doing the same action again.
"Poe."
"I've got you."
Knowing exactly what Rey needs, Poe does several long strokes before picking up speed. He knows that neither of them is going to last much longer, but he'll be damned if he doesn't make sure that his Rey enjoys every bit of it. And she doesn't disappoint when her body clenches around him, her hands digging into his skin. He follows not a second later, releasing deep inside and letting out a loud groan of satisfaction.
At some point, late in the night, Rey feel a familiar nudging in her mind, and it is enough to rouse her from sleep. Slowly, she opens her eyes to the dark room and next to her Poe shifts in his sleep, using his arm around her waist to pull her closer to him.
But that's not what caused her to wake.
On the other side of the room, Kylo Ren leans over her daughter's crib.
Rey jumps out of bed. "Get away from her." She growls out, calling her lightsaber to her hand.
Behind her, Poe has woken up and calls her name, but she ignores him.
Kylo Ren doesn't step back, but rather tilts his heads to the side as his eyes flick up and down Rey's body. He finally says, "I'm just checking on my daughter."
"She's not yours. She'll never be yours." Rey snarls, igniting her lightsaber. "There's no Solo or Skywalker blood in her."
"You're with the pilot, aren't you? You're even wearing his shirt; how domestic." Kylo tells her, stepping away from the crib and towards her. "Tell me, how does Poe Dameron feel about being a cuckold?"
"He isn't. My daughter's DNA is a perfect match to her father's." Rey lies, not wanting to reveal the part about there being a third, unknown bit of DNA blended in.
But Kylo Ren senses that she's holding something back. "You're lying. There is… something. Something you refuse to acknowledge."
Rey barely has a moment to think of a response before the door to the suite opens and Jaina charges in with Kyp right on her heels.
"Where's my son?" Jaina growls our as she stomps towards her brother, much to his absolute amazement. But he doesn't respond fast enough for her. "Where is he, Ben?"
He opens his mouth to speak, but then seems to be immediately distracted by something unseen on his end. He stares off into the distance before his face turns menacingly back towards Jaina.
"A surprise attack. You should know better, sister." he spits out before breaking the connection he has with Rey and Jaina; and his specter disappears.
All four adults turn to look at each other as if one of them knows something the others don't.
"What was he talking about? What surprise attack?" Rey asks the other woman, causing the two men to look at Jaina.
"I have no idea what he's talking about." She replies, looking just as worried as the rest of them.