Safe in the galley of the Millennium Falcon, Rey leaned against the counter with her sweaty palms gripping the surface. Her encounter with Kylo Ren had shaken her to her core. She had spent the time following her discovery of her heritage dreading it coming out.
Not that she was ashamed of being the granddaughter of Obi-Wan Kenobi. But she was ashamed of being Sheev Palpatine's. Luke had only granted her a small amount of information, but the thought of Sheev Palpatine fathering a child made her sick to her stomach. Had the woman been compelled through the Force? Had he even bothered with the Force, or had he simply taken the girl he wanted? Or worse yet, had this woman voluntarily formed a relationship with the most evil creature the galaxy had ever known?
However Rey's mother, Reyna Palpatine, was conceived, she did turn out to be good. That was the word Luke had used—Good. And yet. She had that potential.
Her head swimming with thoughts, Rey sat at the galley table, barely able to support her own weight anymore. She put her head on her arms on the table in front of her.
She didn't want anyone to know who she was. But Snoke knew. And so did Kylo Ren. The future of her secret very much rested with Luke and Kylo, and she trusted Luke with her life. Rey concluded then that she wanted Kylo to stay imprisoned. She very nearly admitted she wanted him put to death, but in her time with Luke, she had formed her own opinions about capital punishment.
Self-defense was one thing. Murder was another. But could it be considered murder when his crimes had been so heinous? She simply didn't know how she felt. A dark part of her wanted to see Kylo punished in some way. This, more than anything, scared her.
And then there was what Kylo had said to her. I know you felt it… our bond. I won't let him have you. She pushed the question of whether Kylo himself wanted her from her mind. It was all too much for one day.
Just when she had raised her head, and began rubbing at her face with exhaustion, she heard footsteps on the Falcon. So far from the ysalamiri, Rey was able to feel a familiar presence. When he turned the corner, her feelings were confirmed.
Poe Dameron stood meekly in front of her, his hand resting on the frame of the doorway.
"You alright?" he asked, approaching her.
Rey sighed, smoothing her hair with both of her hands, clasping them behind her neck.
"He gets under your skin," she said simply, feeling a calm wash over her in the presence of the Resistance fighter.
"That he does," Poe said, stopping when he stood less than a foot from where she sat. "I don't trust him. He wants us to believe he's a turncoat."
"If he's sentenced to death, it won't matter what he wants us to believe." Rey was quiet a moment, and then looked up into Poe's kind eyes. "I don't think he would have come here if he wasn't sure he would be pardoned."
Poe sat, scraping a chair along the floor to be closer to Rey. "Then that begs the question of what he wants out of this," he said, absentmindedly.
Rey's insides screamed for her to tell Poe. She wasn't ready for Poe to look at her any other way than he already did. She wasn't ready to lose that. So, she pressed her lips together and shook her head.
"With the ysalamiri here, I can't know for sure."
Poe nodded, reclining in his chair. "I heard that Luke was going to order their movement from the base. When I went to get them, it did feel a little too easy. I know all of the troops feel better with them here, but… you and Luke can't function with them here."
Rey nodded. "Luke thinks they won't even matter, Kylo's got such strong wards up now."
"Everything rides on this trial," Rey said. "If he's allowed to go free… Luke will watch him like a hawk. And if he makes one misstep, Luke will kill him." She looked into Poe's eyes, as if she was gauging his reaction.
"And he's right to," Poe said, shaking his head.
Rey opened her mouth for a second, the words frozen on her lips. "And if Luke doesn't, I will."
Now it was Poe's turn to size Rey up. "I held back, on Starkiller. I am sure he did too, and maybe that's why I was able to give him that scar. But I won't hesitate."
Poe smiled a sad, half smile, and tentatively raised his hand to Rey's face, gently tucking a bit of hair behind her ear. At this gesture, Rey felt the familiar pull every time they touched. About to speak, breaking the heavy silence between them, Rey stopped when she heard a murmur outside the Falcon.
It sounded to her like a kind of hiss, mixed with the sound of tapping on the hull of the ship. Her senses flared, rousing her to fight if necessary.
"What's happening?" Rey asked, looking to Poe.
Poe looked around the Falcon, and listened. He looked back at Rey incredulously.
"It's rain," he said simply, a small smile playing on his face. Surely she knew what rain sounded like. Then again, he knew she'd spent her entire life on Jakku, a desert planet. "Have you never seen rain before?"
Rey swallowed. She had indeed seen rain for the first time on Ahch-To. It was cold, and on the island there was almost always a slight drizzle. But it was never as heavy as what she was hearing.
"I hadn't until Ahch-To," Rey said. She rose as if in a trance, and walked to the cockpit of the Falcon to look out of the window. It was coming down in sheets, blurring the view out of the windshield. "It was never like this though."
Poe came up behind her, and Rey could practically feel the heat coming off him. She certainly could feel how he felt about her, but she didn't want him to know how much she could pick up on with the Force. She turned, and looked up at him in the now-dim light that came through the cockpit. Her heart hammered in her chest. It just now occurred to her that this was the first time she'd been truly alone with Poe since her return.
His skin appeared almost blue in the overcast light, his eyes almost black. Time seemed to slow down as he closed the small distance between them, and gently traced a line from her hairline to her jaw with his fingers. It sent chills down her spine, and she involuntarily closed her eyes.
"I thought about you every day," Poe admitted. Rey's eyes shot open, and back to Poe's, searching him. She refused to probe his mind, so she hoped she wouldn't have to ask him to explain.
"I know…" he started, letting his hand rest gently on her neck, "I know I barely know you, but it doesn't feel that way."
Rey's words were gone. She felt the same, but in the back of her mind, she wondered if he did know her, who she was, would he be looking at her that way?
"All I can say is," he said, lowering his face, whispering his words onto her lips, "I wanted nothing more than to kiss you for those two months, and now that I've done it, I don't want to stop."
Without waiting for a response, Poe brought his lips to Rey's, deepening their kiss immediately. All the innocence of the kiss they shared on the tarmac was gone, replaced now by a soft intensity that nearly knocked Rey off her feet. To steady herself, she grabbed the fabric of Poe's flight suit, letting him lead her through their kiss.
When Rey felt Poe's tongue graze her lips gently, she tensed up slightly. Giving her a moment's reprieve, Poe pulled back, gauging Rey's expression. His eyes moved from her lips to her eyes, searching for guidance. Rey, in turn, looked at his, and decided to close the gap herself.
Still clutching to his flight suit, and with Poe's arms securely around her waist, Rey opened herself to what Poe was teaching her. And whether or not the two of them said it out loud, they both knew that was exactly what Poe was doing. Gently, Poe nudged her lips open and coaxed her tongue with his own.
Before she knew it, every part of Rey's body was responding to Poe's. Her head swam, and she was thankful Poe held her as he did.
Reluctantly, Poe pulled back, breaking their kiss. Rey could hardly catch her breath, so she stood there, the two of them nose-to-nose. When she finally opened her eyes, she saw Poe smiling his boyish smile.
"Come on," Poe said abruptly. "You've got to be starving after your journey. I'm sure there's something in the mess hall." Poe took Rey's hands, and took advantage of her speechlessness to pull her towards the entrance of the Falcon.
By the time they reached the open ramp, Rey was able to shake herself from her stupor. The torrential rain still lashed the concrete tarmac. Rey paused at the edge of the Falcon's shelter from the storm.
"I thought it would have let up by now," Poe said, suddenly doubting whether he wanted to bring Rey out into the deluge.
Rey held her hand out to feel the fat drops of rain that fell from the darkened sky. She smiled. Despite being on a blustery, drizzly island for two months, Rey still found it incredible.
"Come on," Poe said, walking back up the Falcon's ramp. "We'll wait for it to pass."
After a moment, Rey pulled her hand, wet with cold rain, back to herself, and turned to follow Poe back into the belly of the Millennium Falcon.
AN: Thank you, Arallute! I'm glad you appreciated my little nod to Zahn. I love the EU books. I am still making my way through them, but what I've read, I like. I just feel like they're so rich, it would be a shame to ignore them completely.