Thank you all for reading!

This part does not include smut, but there is talk of sex as Rey seeks advice from a fellow pilot.

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If he thought long enough about it, Poe knew he was in too deep.

But it was easy to lie to himself, to tell himself he was mentoring Rey, that he looked on her as he would a little sister. To ignore the grins and the elbow nudges from Snap and Iolo, to pretend he didn't know the rest of the squad talked about how he had finally fallen. He watched Leia warily, hoping upon hope that she didn't believe anything improper or unprofessional was going on between him and his new star pilot; if there was any person whose opinion he cared about, it was hers. And he protected Rey the best he could, too, knowing she was probably getting an earful of stories every night from her roommates. At least he had broken things off with Paige without any drama and was still friends with her, so anything they told Rey shouldn't be bad. Right?

And he himself tried his best to keep things professional and straightforward with Rey. She was so young, and still learning not only how to be a fighter pilot, but how to live in a social setting without becoming overwhelmed. He wasn't going to make her think he expected anything from her but her faithful service to the Resistance.

He had watched from the sidelines as she chose her new astromech droid, a well-used tan and white R3 unit that she called 'Sandy.' He paid close attention to her first flight in her new X-Wing, feeling a surge of gratification as she took off with more competence than many experienced pilots did. It took less than two weeks for Iolo to inform him she was more than ready to be included in the regular training rotation with the other pilots. In less than a month, she was going out on patrols.

Poe made sure he was the other half of the team on her first few runs, but eventually he had to let her 'off the leash,' as Jess called it, giving her the freedom to not only learn from her own experiences and decision making, but allowing her to bond with the other pilots, learning their habits and individual strengths and weaknesses. Even after she had settled in as one of the squad, he still did his best to meet her for the evening meal, as had become routine since her first week on base. One night she didn't show, and since he knew the schedule and knew she wasn't on patrol, he worried, only to learn later that Jess, Tallie, and Paige had taken their new young comrade out for a 'girls only' dinner elsewhere. He had tried his best to be unconcerned; it was good for her to spend time with other young human women, he told himself. But he eventually acknowledged, to himself at least, that he was jealous and protective. He knew Jess and Tallie were not only occasional lovers, but that they sometimes shared their bed with others, male and female. The idea of Rey being initiated into that kind of 'play' made him nervous. He had no idea what her sexual experience was, but he imagined her to be relatively innocent. He had to continually remind himself that she was an adult woman and in charge of her own life.

He would not admit to himself that he wanted to be the one to introduce her to any physical intimacies.

It was about three months after Rey arrived at D'Qar when she faced her first dogfight.

He had started sending her out with the recon teams a couple of weeks before, and twice she and her fellow pilots had gone into situations that could have put them in the crosshairs of First Order TIEs, but they had come out without running into any hostiles. Both of those times, Jess mentioned that Rey had insisted they leave the area earlier than they had originally planned; they got the info they needed, so why stick around and tempt fate? This time, Rey once more suggested they leave the moon they had been surveying, only Fordie wasn't done with the atmospheric readings. Jess informed Poe later that Rey had become agitated. "We need to leave. Now."

Recognizing Rey's distress, Jess, who had command of the four-pilot team, pushed Fordie to hurry. "All right, all right!" the young Arkanian had replied. "I think I got it." They had pulled up, heading out of atmo, when a Star Destroyer appeared from hyperspace. "Sithspawn!"

The four X-Wings had taken evasive action, hoping upon hope the Destroyer hadn't spotted them, but they were too late. Eight TIEs emerged from the giant ship, heading right for them. They managed to make it out of the moon's atmosphere before the TIEs reached them, but not soon enough to make the jump to lightspeed. Without any encouragement from Jess, all four pilots turned to face the enemy. In less than a minute, all the TIEs were obliterated.

Not only had Poe recognized the pride in Jess' voice when she told them Rey had taken out four of the eight TIES herself, but he also recognized the contemplative look on Leia's face as she listened to Pava's report. When the pilot had left Leia's office, leaving Poe alone with his General, he had turned to her. "Rey knew they were coming." It wasn't a question.

Leia looked at him. "Maybe," she responded. "Or maybe it's just coincidence." She bit her lip, her expression thoughtful. "Keep an eye on her, Commander," she said softly. Then she smiled wryly. "Not that you aren't already doing so."

Poe stood straight. "General…"

"It's alright, Poe," Leia interrupted him. "I know you would never do anything improper. You're hardly the type of man to take advantage of an innocent. But I also know the two of you are very close, and the potential for more than friendship is there."

He shook his head. "I'm too old for her," he argued, using the same old rationalization he always used when anyone hinted there might be more between Rey and himself.

Leia scoffed. "Han tried using that excuse with me, once," she said with a glare. "But he recognized that I was far older than him in many ways. I see an old soul in Rey's eyes, too."

Knowing his commanding officer wasn't opposed to his connection to Rey helped ease his mind a bit, and the weeks that followed found him spending more and more of his free time with the former scavenger from Jakku, taking long hikes around the perimeter of the base and spending time in the common room watching old holo films or listening to music, all of which was new to Rey.

She had bloomed during her months with the Resistance. Regular meals caused her to physically change. Her narrow face became fuller, and her tall, skinny frame started developing healthy weight. The gentle curves that appeared did not go unnoticed by Poe, and he wasn't the only one. Often on their long walks together, Rey would ask him about someone who was giving her extra attention. He or she would ask her to eat with them, or take a walk with them, or a couple of times they had outright asked if she wanted to have sex with them. Poe would do his best to give her his honest opinion about the person she was asking about. "He's a great mechanic, but I wouldn't trust him to be faithful." "She may act like she knows it all, but she's all bluff." "He's a good guy. You could do worse." No matter how he answered, good or bad, she would shrug and say, "I'm not interested." He wondered what she would say if he was the one asking her to share his bed.

He never did.

XXXXXX

"How do you know when you're in love?"

Rey had been wanting to ask someone that question for a long time, but she had not known who to ask or how. She wanted to be discrete, so asking any of her roommates was out of the question. Rose might keep it a secret, unless Paige pushed her to say something, and then everyone would know. Same went with Jess and Suralinda. Besides, she had a feeling none of them would even know the answer. Snap and Karè were in love, but she wasn't sure she could trust Snap to keep his mouth shut, either, and Karè was the only one of the pilots she hadn't really gotten to know well. While she had never been mean to Rey, Karè seemed cool and distant with her, almost as if she didn't trust her. Asking either of her superiors was out of the question, the General because Rey didn't know her well enough to ask her something so personal, and the Commander for obvious reasons.

But after a particularly stressful mission, where she, Karè, Jess, and Suralinda had barely made the jump to lightspeed after a nasty encounter with several new TIE Interceptors the First Order had just begun using, Rey found herself sitting alone with Karè in the mess. They had just finished their report to the General, and while Jess and Suralinda had decided to go get drunk rather than eat, Karè and Rey were more interested in food and quiet.

They sat together in companionable silence after they finished their meals, and for the first time Rey felt comfortable with the older woman. So comfortable, she had dared to ask the question that had been plaguing her for weeks now.

Karè didn't looked at her after Rey uttered the words, but she tilted her head and looked thoughtful for a moment. Finally, she looked at Rey. "That's a tough question," she said softly. "I think for everyone, it's different." She tilted her head. "Are you involved with this person sexually?"

Rey felt her face heat, and she glanced away, but then met Karè's gaze once more. "No," she said, shaking her head slowly. "I've never been sexually involved with anyone."

"Really?" Karè didn't look surprised, just curious. "Have you ever wanted to be?"

Rey had been offered sex more than once in her life. On Jakku, it had been with the promise of an exchange of food or credits. Since she had arrived on D'Qar, it had been with the promise of fun and relaxation. She had refused all offers. The idea of sex had always been unpleasant to her. Until…

"Not until recently," she told Karè.

"The person you think you might be in love with?"

Rey nodded. "I've always felt comfortable with him," she said softly, not looking at the other woman, afraid she would know right away who she was talking about. "Safe. Trusting. Wanting to spend time with him." She took a deep breath. "The longer I'm here, the more I want to be with him. To hear his voice. To feel his touch. To make him laugh." She shrugged. "Recently, I've been thinking about him doing… things to me. Things I used to find distasteful. But now… now, I want it. But only from him."

"What things?" Karè asked softly.

Rey glanced at her, already worried she had said too much, but the other woman's expression was patient and kind.

She took a deep breath. "I feel a heat between my legs. A heaviness in my breasts. My heart gets faster, as does my breathing. I've… touched myself, imagining it's him touching me." She felt another blush rise and she stopped and shook her head. "It's probably not love, then, right? It's just… lust?"

"Rey, it sounds like you're the kind of person who can only feel desire for someone she already loves," Karè said. "That's not a bad thing, although it can be hard if the person you love doesn't want you back." She shifted in her seat but kept her focus on Rey. "Do you think he feels the same about you?"

"I… I don't know," Rey whispered. "I know he cares about me. I know he likes to spend time with me. But-" She lifted her eyes and looked at Karè, pleading without words.

"It's Poe, isn't it?"

Rey breathed out, not even realizing she had been holding her breath. She nodded. "Not only is he my superior, but he could have anyone on this base." She frowned. "But Paige is convinced he… wants me."

Karè smiled suddenly. She reached out to take Rey's hand, the gesture surprising Rey but also making her feel comforted. "He does," she said softly. "Snap and I both know he's fallen madly in love with you." Rey felt her eyes widen. "But you're right in that he's your commanding officer, and he was trained formally in the New Republic, so while we are a bit less restrictive here, he still has his own personal hang-ups." She sighed and her expression became serious. "Considering your age and inexperience, I would normally recommend that you just be patient and wait for him to come around. Because he will, eventually. I'm sure of it. But…"

"But?"

"But we're at war. Or close to it. And I have a feeling it's only going to get worse. After that skirmish today…" she grimaced. "There's a part of me that says don't wait. You never know what tomorrow will bring."

Almost as soon as she finished speaking, two men walked into the mess. Poe and Snap. Karè looked over at them and smiled, then she turned back to Rey, squeezing her hand gently. "Whatever you decide to do, wait or not, don't let him go," she said softly. "Make sure he knows you want to be a part of his life, and vice versa. He's as loyal as anyone I've ever known, and he won't let you down." She gave Rey's hand another squeeze, then she stood and headed toward the two men who still stood in the doorway.

Rey watched as Karè smiled and grabbed Snap's arm, then leaned up to give him a kiss. Then she looked at Poe and said something to him. Rey saw Poe's eyes dart in her direction and she looked away, uncertain what Karè had said to him and hoping it hadn't been anything to do with what they had just been talking about. She glanced up again to see Snap and Karè turn to leave the mess, most likely going to their shared quarters, and Poe was walking toward her.

He had been in the room during her briefing with Leia, his expression hard, his brows furrowed the whole time. She knew he had been worried; it had been a close call and all the ships had come back to base with some kind of damage. But their pilots and droids were all okay, and after the adrenaline had faded, Rey was able to tell herself she had done a good job, not only in defending herself and her fellow pilots, but in listening to her feelings. She had felt something wasn't right just before the ships had appeared; her warning to her comrades had prepared them, and while the fighters had still been a surprise, they had not been caught completely off guard. At the end of the briefing, the General had told Rey softly to keep listening to those feelings.

When she had left the room, she had felt Poe's intense gaze follow her out. That same gaze was on her now as he made his way across the empty mess to stand before her as she sat at the table. He glanced at the tray in front of her. "Finished?" he asked.

Rey blinked at him, then nodded.

"Good," he said, his voice sharper than it usually was. "Let's go get a drink."

"I don't drink," Rey reminded him.

He offered her his hand. "Well, then you can watch me get drunk," he told her, his usually jovial expression still serious.

She cocked her head at him. "Why do you want to get drunk?" she asked.

"Because you're gonna give me a heart-attack one of these days," he told her, the first sign of a smile appearing as he lifted the corner of his mouth. "So, I might as well live life to the fullest now."

She looked at him silently for a moment, then took his hand. As she stood, she said, "Well, now you know how I feel when it's you getting shot at up there."

The surprised look on his face made her grin.

He looked at her warily as they walked toward the door together, then he said softly, "Then maybe you should have a drink, too."

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. "Maybe I will."

XXXXXX