#some people are kind to him in the name of rey and leia's memory

[haveyoureadthisfanfic]

this isnt a poll submission thingie i just needed to make sure you (the mod of this blog) knew about the only good reylo fic https://archiveofourown.org/works/5457191

okay that made me snort

[bookishofalder]

Night Changes [Nine]

Summary: Will Poe and the reader be reunited?

Warnings: Angst, character deaths, language, smut. TW-pregnancy, birth, infant, breastfeeding. WC—+10k

A/N-At the end.

“Rey,” At the sound of her name, Rey paused and glanced around to see Leia standing next to the Falcon, waiting. Meeting her kind eyes, she hoped Leia wasn’t going to try and convince her not to go again; she’d already told the wise General that she had to find the Wayfinder, that she needed to complete Luke’s mission and get to Exegol. Finn, Poe, Chewbacca and C3PO were already on board, waiting for her to join them; it was time to leave.

“Leia?” She stepped toward her mentor, who looked around cautiously before lowering her voice to speak to Rey.

“I need to give you something.”

Rey frowned, confused, glancing down to Leia’s empty, “What do you mean?”

Leia sighed, her eyes tired. Rey understood—she felt exhausted too. “I can’t explain it. And you must keep it to yourself until the moment is right—trust me, you’ll know when that is—if you do end up needing to,” Leia took hold of Rey’s hands, squeezing, “I’ll show you, but you must keep it tucked away no matter what.”

Seeing the seriousness in Leia’’s eyes, Rey swallowed and nodded, “Of course. I promise.” She returned the pressure to the General’s hands and watched as she reached up and pressed her fingers gently to Rey’s temple.

In a brief flash, Rey saw enough to understand.

As he was pushed roughly through the doors to an open hangar with Finn and Chewie, Poe couldn’t help but reflect on his life over the past year and a half. He’d had a lot of close calls, even been captured, but this was the first time he felt like he was going to die, as General Hux and a couple of Storm Troopers stood behind them, ready to execute Poe and his friends. He hoped Rey was able to escape, at least.

And Leia could get the news of his death to you. She would make sure you were taken care of for the rest of your life. He had no regrets, no, not with you on some planet far away from all of this and free to raise the baby. He’d done everything he could, fought as hard as possible, but that didn’t mean he was guaranteed to live.

Poe tried to picture what the baby might look like, whether they got your smile, his hair. Pain shot through his broken heart that his child would grow with only pictures of him, no memories. He glanced up at Finn, eager to distract himself; he could hear Hux speaking to the Troopers and ignored them.

“What were you going to tell Rey before?”

Finn hesitated, appearing uncomfortable, “You still on that?”

“Oh,” Poe frowned at him incredulously, “Is this a bad time?” He just wanted to hear Finn admit aloud he had feelings for Rey. He could sense it between them, especially recently, and thought that they made a good pair. In another life he could see himself with them, you at his side, enjoying a late-night dinner, laughing around a table while the kids pretended to be asleep in their bedrooms.

Nodding, Finn gave Poe a wary look, “It sort of is?” Poe scoffed, shaking his head.

“So I tell you my deepest secrets but right before we’re about to die you’re locking down on yours?” Poe hadn’t just told Finn about you; after he’d confessed your existence, he hadn’t been able to stop sharing with his friend, who listened attentively as Poe described his life with you, how he’d love you since he was ten years old.

Finn blanched, and after a pause opened his mouth to respond, only shots went off behind them and they flinched. Poe expected to feel pain, or perhaps nothing if the shot was well placed, only they heard thuds behind them and instead glanced around to find Hux holding a blaster, eyes on the dead Troopers momentarily before he looked up at them.

“I’m the spy.” He claimed, a dark smirk on his twisted face, and Poe felt a rush of confused relief—he and Finn exchanged looks as Chewie groaned.

“What?” He exclaimed at the same moment Finn yelled, “You?” In disbelief.

Hux ignored them, “We don’t have much time, we have to go.” He gestured for them to follow and after a brief pause, they hastened to climb to their feet.

Poe hurried forward and grabbed a few of the fallen Troopers blasters, passing them to Finn and Chewie before taking one for himself. His blood was rushing, the feeling of being alive still—of getting lucky, again—made him feel powerful like you were out there somewhere sending him the strength and good fortune that he needed at every turn.

As they ran behind Hux, Finn touched Poe’s arm. “That was too close—made me realize, do you have a way of her knowing if something happens to you?”

Poe nodded, “Leia will tell her.”

But he sincerely hoped that would never happen, that you wouldn’t be standing in the doorway of some home he’d never know and hear the words that he had died, that he was never coming for you. The idea of you being in that kind of pain was something he couldn’t fully fathom, and it only renewed his determination to get to the Wayfinder and finish this fight once and for all.

11 Months Ago

“Doesn’t matter how many galaxies separate us, I will always be with you, and you with me. I promise.”

Memories of your life with Poe had a way of burrowing into the forefront of your mind when you least expect them; when you let your guard down. The emotional goodbye all those years before, back on Yavin-4 when you were just kids—Poe leaving with Charlie to join the Resistance...it was a lifetime ago. And as much as you believed his words both then and now, it didn’t make the pain any easier to endure as you lay here without him, the Healer and Kes having left you alone with the newborn baby cradled in your arms.

You were surprised when the Healer had passed you the baby—after almost nine hours of labour—to see the tuft of dark curls on their head; Kes had remarked that Poe had come into the world with as much hair, and you’d laughed through your mixed tears of sorrow and joy and love. So they took after their dad—what a beautiful, heartbreaking thought.

Stars, you hoped Poe would meet them before long--before they grew too much. Just seeing the tiny creature, skin-to-skin with you like the Healer recommended, both made your heart feel complete while simultaneously tearing it apart. He should have been here to hold your hand, to cut the cord and press soft kisses to both of your heads and cry tears of joy from it all.

It wasn’t fair. Up until this moment you’d been able to lock back to anger and the bitter feelings over having let Poe send you away because it had been the right choice no matter what way you looked at it. But now, as you lay exhausted and bursting with love for the baby you made with your soulmate, you let some of that anger free through wretched sobs because it wasn’t fair that he had to miss this, that for all you knew he could be...

You stopped yourself from thinking of the worst-case scenario. It wasn’t helpful to imagine what he was doing now, where he was, if he was okay. And you’d promised him you would keep him alive in your mind unless you knew for certain that he wasn’t.

A small whine met your ears and you glanced down at the baby, smiling at their pinched expression as they struggled to adapt to their new surroundings. “It’s okay, little bug. Mama is here, shhh...” You cooed softly, running a lone finger over their hair in a gentle motion. You watched their eyes flutter beneath the lids, enjoying the feel of your touch, and then froze when they opened their eyes for the first time to look up at you blearily.

Stars, they had Poe’s eyes.

Now - 35 ABY - Battle of Exegol

When Temmin died, Poe truly began to lose all hope.

Before watching another friend’s x-wing get shot down, he’d managed to scrape the bottom of the barrel for that hope, for any remaining belief that they could win this fucking fight. That everything he’d ever sacrificed was worth it because now they had arrived and it was time to put an end to it all—but then he was screaming for Snap to watch his six, heard the anguished cry through the comm when he was hit, the searing memory of losing Charlie so many years before in the same way making his stomach churn, and he just felt so...

So fucking hopeless.

Leia was gone. The Resistance was down to pathetic numbers, and he had finally lost all hope.

Shit, if he was being honest with himself he’d been running through these last few days with urgency and adrenaline that prevented him from overthinking the odds, a blissful denial that anything other than winning could occur. When he’d told the remaining fighters of the Resistance that this was their final stand, that help would come, he had meant it as much as he’d hoped it was true.

“Help will come if they know there is hope,” Poe had stared around at his friends, at their doubting expressions, “They will. We have friends out there. The First Order wins by making us think we’re alone. We’re not alone—good people will fight if we lead them.”

In all of the time that had passed between when he’d said goodbye to you to this moment, he’d never once regretted sending you far away from the fight. Even here, with Rebel, after Rebel dying and a fleet of Destroyer’s that would wipe out entire planets unless they bent to the will of the First Order, he felt a sense of peace knowing that you were safely tucked away well beyond the reaches of their tyranny. His child would grow up with a mother who could share stories of Poe’s life, his love for you, for them.

It still stung, though, knowing he would never see you again. That he would die fighting and his last thoughts would be of you, of his little family, and you would have no idea. He hoped when you did find out the Resistance was done, the fight was lost, that you didn’t take it too hard—didn’t blame yourself in any way. He wanted you to be mad at him, not at yourself, not after everything you’d done for him, everything you had sacrificed.

He almost could have laughed, bleak as the outlook now was it shouldn’t have hurt as much as it did that no aid had arrived, that Lando and Chewie flew to the inner core worlds for nothing—clearly, no one was coming. Just like the Battle of Crait, they were alone; only now Leia was gone and Poe was the General, he was the one everyone was screaming for orders from through the comms, he was the one that had to say it aloud.

“My friends,” His voice was scratchy, choked up, as his mind played flashes of his life—of you, of losing Charlie, marrying you, losing Leia. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry—”

He would die taking down as many enemies as he could. He would tell the rest of them to either do the same or flee—he wouldn’t blame them if they fled. Poe could almost imagine himself doing it, but the idea of finding you somewhere out there and saying he’d left at the final hour made bile heave in his stomach. He would never abandon the fight, not when you had wanted to stay as much as you had, but left for the baby.

As he struggled to pull in a breath to speak, he recalled the last time he saw you.

It was late, the base quiet and most of the Rebels sleeping, all except for Poe and you—it was time to say goodbye, under the cover of darkness. He wasn’t allowed to follow you into the hangar because he couldn’t know even the most minute details of how you got off-planet. Still, he would walk you as far as he could, and savour every final second together.

“I changed my mind, I’m not leaving you.” You whispered, halting in the hallway and turning to face Poe. One hand ran absentmindedly over your swollen stomach, the other reached up to grip his forearm. Your lower lip trembled, and he felt every word you wanted to say to convince him you should stay.

Poe took a shuddering breath, “Sweet girl, you aren’t leaving me—stop thinking about it like that. You’re saving our baby, keeping them safe, remember?” He tried to keep the desperate plea minimal in his voice because it had been like this for the last few days. One moment you were reluctantly prepared to leave, the next you were begging to stay. He didn’t know how much more of this torture he could stand before he broke down and let you stay.

Your pretty eyes were bloodshot and red-rimmed, just like his. You’d each cried more than enough to last a lifetime, and although heat pricked the corners of his eyes now he knew no more tears could come until you were out of sight. He would cry in his bed alone tonight, and probably every night until he saw you again, but right now he needed to show strength.

You stepped into his arms and Poe hugged you close, your body angling your stomach so that it wasn’t pressed between you both. “I don’t...Poe, I don’t think I’m strong enough to do this.”

Poe stared at you in disbelief, “Not strong enough? Are you kidding me?” He brought his hands to cup your cheeks gently, “You are the strongest person I know. What you are about to do for us, for our baby, is the most incredible sacrifice anyone could make. Everything you are doing and have done in your life only proves how amazing and strong you are—no matter what happens, please never forget that, okay?”

You whimpered sadly, nodding your head, and Poe shakily pressed his lips to yours, capturing you for one last kiss. It was soft and for one brief moment, he let himself imagine it was a greeting, though in truth it only made his heart fracture further rather than make him feel any better.

“Whatever happens, Poe, we’ll be okay...so don’t worry about us, focus on yourself,” You reached up and pushed your hands into his curls, savouring them one final time. “Promise me you’ll never stop fighting, flyboy.”

Poe smiled sadly down at you, his eyes drinking in every detail of your beautiful face, “Never, sweetheart, I promise I’ll never stop fighting. And this isn’t goodbye,” He pressed one hand gently against your belly, “It’s just a...see you soon. Once I’m finished blowing shit up in my x-wing.”

You laughed, tears streaming down your face and then pulled Poe against you again, his hand stuck between your bodies as you crushed him in a strong embrace. “I love you, Poe.”

“Oh, sweet girl, I love you too.”

35 ABY - Sorgan

You missed flying, though the place Leia had sent Kes and you to barely had any air traffic, the planet much too out of the way. Still, it had a sky that night or day you’d find yourself gazing into, wishing you could feel that weightlessness that came with blasting off from base, that you would look to your left and see Poe in his ship, the stars stretching beyond.

Poe. Stars, you missed him more and more every day. You had trouble believing it had been over a year, that the baby was now eleven months old and starting to try and walk and they’d never met their father. Though each time this knowledge became too heavy, you reminded yourself of the peaceful life you were living on Sorgan and how that had been the whole point of you leaving the fight—for the baby, for safety.

Sorgan was so far removed that no news reached the planet from the middle and core rims, something you’re sure Leia knew when she decided to send you here. You sometimes felt suffocated, not knowing a single thing about what was happening out there, but then you knew if you did know, it might make it harder to stay. And you couldn’t leave, you knew that for certain the moment you’d laid eyes on your newborn when the Healer had set the baby in your arms, face pinched as shrieks filled the air until they’d calmed, skin to skin with you.

You had gazed at the beautiful baby and you knew that you could never bear to part from them, no matter what you did or didn’t know about the war. Nonetheless, it was perhaps infinitesimally easier to be ignorant and allow yourself to imagine that it was all going fine.

You were living in a small but cozy yurt on the edge of a fishing village. The simple space comprised of the main room that hosted the barebones kitchen with a big table to eat at and a couple of comfortable sitting chairs, and had two rooms, one on either side, for sleeping quarters. The baby was in a crib at the end of your bed, where you were laying now. Very much awake even as they slept soundly.

Or so you thought until you were jerking from your thoughts at their sudden cries. You waited for a minute, the soft cries more whimpers than anything, and hoped the baby would soothe themselves back to sleep. They hiccuped, however, and started to cry again from the jolt. You sighed before sliding out from under the covers and padding softly to their crib.

“Your eyes aren’t even open,” You accused, grinning at the baby with the scrunched face, all the drama of their dad and only eleven months. Carefully lifting them, you tucked the baby against your chest and began to stroll slow circles around the bedroom, swaying as you went. “You know, when your dad finally comes and meets you he’s taking night duty over. I don’t care how many wars he wins.”

The little coo you got in response was enough to tell you Bug was on your side.

Though every day apart from Poe was painful, you did savour the good moments with the little piece of your heart that remained, beating for the baby you held now. And on this peaceful, sleepy planet most days had plenty of good—even if you were sad. Kes was an incredibly positive man, and like his son knew how to read you well, often stepping in to whisk the baby away whenever he sensed your sorrow was too hard to contain. You tried to spend all of the energy you had smiling for Bug because that was the only thing you could really do.

The guilt was heavy. You knew Poe would be devastated if he knew just how much you carried, living so comfortably—if a little rustic—on Sorgan all while he spent every day fighting to stay alive. But it was easier to focus on that guilt, to hate yourself than it was to be afraid of losing him—never seeing him again. Stars, the guilt was practically a salve in comparison to that.

Some days though, it was harder to keep the frame of mind that staying was the only option. As the baby grew, the guilt began to feed a steady flow of ‘what if’s’ into your mind. It was getting harder to ignore the sense of it. When Bug started to mix food into their diet, weaning partially from your breastmilk, you told yourself you could wean them completely, earlier than you planned but then you could hire a ship to take you back to D’Qar...

Only, you didn’t even know if D’Qar was still safe anymore.

It was a circular battle you couldn’t win no matter the choice you made, though you always chose the baby, chose to stay because you promised Poe you would. He’d told you that you were making the greatest sacrifice, and he had been right—he knew he could distract himself with the fight, and that you would only be able to distract yourself so much with raising the baby. He understood you would spend every day apart wishing you could rejoin him.

A soft snore pulled you from your thoughts and you glanced down at the baby to find them fast asleep again. You smiled fondly, that little chunk of your heart giving a happy beat as you settled them back into their crib and ran your fingers gently over their soft cheek.

“Goodnight, Charlie, my sweet girl.” You whispered heart clenching at the sight of her chubby cheeks relaxed in sleep.

Deciding a cool drink was needed, you slipped from the quiet of your room and into the main extension of the yurt you shared with Kes. A single lamp lit the small space dimly, and you helped yourself to a glass of water and took a seat at the table. You weren’t sure how long you were sitting there before Kes appeared and sat down across from you with a knowing smile on his face.

He sat silently for a few minutes as you sipped at your drink, speaking only once you’d finished. “Can’t sleep again?”

You sighed, running your hands through your hair, exhaustion setting deep in your bones.

“I keep having the same dream, Kes. Poe and Bug, back home on Yavin-4. Only, the beach is in colour but they aren’t.” You choked up, glancing toward your room, where you could see the crib through the doorway.

Kes followed your gaze, “Bug will meet him someday. I know it. You need to believe that too, kiddo, and you really need to get some sleep.” He patted your hand gently before standing and you watched him make his way to his room, pulling the curtain across his doorway as he did.

Taking a deep breath, you pressed your palms into your closed eyes, willing your mind to settle so that you could go to bed and get some rest. You just don’t think you could stand to have the dream again—always waking up and wondering, would you ever really get to see Poe again? Would he ever get to meet his little girl?

When you climbed back beneath the cool sheets of your bed, you fell into light sleep, your dreams the same as ever—Poe playing with Charlie on the beach back home on Yavin-4 while you sat on a blanket on the sand watching, laughing as they splashed each other. Your family, together again.

35 ABY - Battle of Exegol

As wretched as it was to think of never seeing you again, this wasn’t the first time he thought he was going to die. At least here, in his x-wing, he could take out as many enemies as he could before going out in a blaze—just like...like Charlie.

“I thought we had a shot. There’s too many of them.” He finished speaking to the remaining fighters in resignation, his eyes heavy—he was tired, so tired. Enough so that when a new, familiar voice came clear over the comms, he sat up straighter before his mind even registered what they were saying.

“Oh, but there’s more of us, Poe. There’s more of us.”

Poe spun his ship around, his heart frozen in his chest, flew up over the wreckage of the one First Order ship they’d so far managed to take out—and there it was.

Lando and Chewie were back; he could see the Falcon, and behind them were thousands and thousands of ships. And still, more coming as he looked, pulling out of light speed to fall in with the Falcon. Poe could hardly believe his eyes, but right before him, he couldn’t doubt for a moment that his friends had come back and they...

They had brought hope.

You sat with your toes in the water, the sun shining on your back warm and comforting. Charlie splashed around happily, her water suit covering her arms and legs, joining her cute straw hat in protecting her from too much sunlight. She kept looking from the water around her chubby legs to the flowing stream behind her-as if dissatisfied with the ankle-deep water you had set her in.

“You can go in the river in a few years,” You cocked a brow at her as she gave you a pouty look. “You’re very cute, but mama says no.”

With a resigned sigh that seemed far too mature for her, she went back to splashing the water and you slid your toes towards her, wriggling them so that she tried to catch hold. When she managed to grab your big toe, you laughed and she giggled brightly, her gleeful peals filling the quiet around you.

It was a beautiful day on Sorgan. They all were, really, even the rainy days, the ones that kept you inside the yurt listening to the rain while Kes tried to teach Charlie how to crawl and you laughed as you watched them. But the sunny days were the best, the ones you could fill with endless activity to distract yourself as much as to tire out the baby. Because when your mind settled, it tended to stray off into dark thoughts.

Maybe Poe was gone.

Maybe he would never come to find you here, your little family would be memories of Poe as you raised his little girl with Kes instead. The weight of that responsibility, of ensuring she had a happy life all while missing a whole section of your heart for the rest of your own was heavy so you tried not to overthink it.

You channelled that energy into Charlie, focused on her and you think you were doing a good job of keeping her safe and content. You showed Charlie pictures of Poe every day, wanting to ensure she knew his face even if she would never get to see it in person. She’d been looking at him since she was just a little bean, and you repeated his name, ‘dada’, every time as well. She wasn’t speaking yet, but it couldn’t hurt to keep the association in her mind when she was ready to start talking.

Charlie stopped splashing and glanced up at you with wide eyes, her expression familiar. “Hungry, Bug?” You reached out for her and lifted her from the water, carefully standing and wading to the grassy spot you’d set your picnic up.

You dried her off first, then let her crawl on the blanket while you dry your feet before following her to sit. She beelined for you as you untied your tunic, lowering one side and easing your breast out, grateful your nanny droid had provided you with a soothing balm for your aching nipples. Breastfeeding was your favourite way to bond with her, but Stars, it came at a cost.

You settled Charlie against you and watched as she closed her eyes, suckling softly. You adjusted the tunic to protect her from the sun and fell into a quiet state as she fed. It was sometime later that the sound of a large ship captured your attention, breaking you from your meditation.

Charlie was asleep against you, her face still pressed to your breast, and didn’t stir as the ship, far in the distance, flew past. You wondered briefly, a jolt of electricity coursing through you wondering if it was Poe come to find you both. But when the ship flew only further away, you pushed the idea from your mind. It was probably a shipment from the core worlds going to the markets. You made a mental note to plan a trip there for the next day—if there were fresh supplies, you might find a treat or two. Get something nice for Kes, perhaps.

Feeling exhaustion hit, you napped with Charlie there on the river's edge. You had nothing to fear on Sorgan, and in fact, many of the neighbours in your village were around, not too close but enough so that if needed they could come and wake you. You kept Charlie protected from the sun but let it shine on you, the brightness no match for the gentle lull of sleep, the soft trickle of the river.

When you woke an hour later, you felt more rested than you had in some time, pausing as you sat up to stretch the kinks from your body. Charlie was wriggling and you knew she probably needed to be changed. “Time to go home?” You asked her with a grin, and she made a sour little face in response that made you laugh. You loved how expressive she was, how even though she wasn’t talking yet she managed to let you know how she felt.

With practiced movements, you packed up the little picnic, hoisted your bag over one shoulder before lifting her to sit against your hip, and made the short walk home. Kes was sitting outside the yurt when you arrived, reading, though he set the book down at the sound of your footsteps and grinned widely when Charlie cooed for him.

“Did you have a nice time, ladies?”

You smiled, “She sure loves the water, I should start taking her in the river, see how she likes floating,” Kes took her from you carefully—Charlie made a face and you both laughed, “Sorry, Kes, I think she needs to be changed.”

“No worries, you relax for a bit and I’ll deal with diaper duty.”

Nodding gratefully, you set your bag down on the chair Kes had vacated and turned to gaze out at the grassy lawn. It was a simple home, certainly not where you would have planned to raise a baby, but it was peaceful. You start to think about the next steps, how long you would stay on Sorgan before leaving. You would go ahead first, find out if it was safe, and then you wanted to return to Yavin-4. Not for a few years, although you’d like to leave before Charlie got too old and she was too attached to this place.

You stepped away from the front of the yurt to stare out over the fields. First towards the villagers as they came in from working for the day in the waters, ready to put their feet up before making dinner, and then you turned toward the river and watched the water for a while, your arms crossed, listening distantly to Charlie and Kes making each other laugh inside.

When a voice broke through your thoughts a short while later, you started in surprise before spinning, recognition of the honey-warm tone slamming into you.

“You dreaming about me, sweet girl?”

“Rey, I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to thank you—“

Rey cut Poe off, gripping his arm with a soft smile, “It was Leia, Poe. She found me before we left Ajan Kloss, she put the coordinates in my head, just in case she didn’t make it.”

Poe hugged her quickly, “Still, without you, I don’t know how long it would have taken me to find her here.” He hurried to the ramp, hitting the button to lower it with excitement mounting within him by the second.

“What do you want us to do?” Finn was standing next to Poe as he waited for the ramp to lower onto the grass.

Poe glanced up at his friend, “I have to go alone, can you wait for me here? I’ll come for you—or send for you—if I find them.” He adjusted his jacket as he spoke, nerves slicing his stomach to pieces. He hadn’t felt this close to you in almost a year and a half.

Finn nodded, a small smile on his lips, “We’ll wait. She has to be here, Poe, you’ll find her.” He clapped Poe on the shoulder encouragingly and he swallowed, unable to form a response so he just returned a half-smile and then clambered down the ramp.

Sorgan was a quiet, sleepy planet full of green. If you were here, the idea that you spent all this time in such a place was comforting to Poe—you would have been able to enjoy the land, be outside, not cooped up somewhere.

He was in a small village, and the market that lined the street was bustling with after-work crowds that were in the tens, the people all smiling at one another in a way that revealed how kind of a place it was. He wandered for a few minutes until he spotted a stand that carried medical supplies and approached the vendor, a friendly-looking older woman who grinned at him.

“Hello, stranger. How can I help you?”

Poe held up the photo he had of you, one he’d taken not long after finding out you were pregnant, your hand on your small belly and a big smile on your face. “Have you seen this woman, ma’am?”

“That’s Mrs. Carstairs,” She responded with a small nod. Poe felt his insides inflate, his excitement now ready to burst forth in a shout of glee that he had to bite back. He took a steadying breath, realizing that you had used your mother’s maiden name as your cover.

He grinned, “Yes, (y/n)—“

The woman cut him off, her eyes widening, “Oh now, you must be the husband. Now that I look at you, the baby has your eyes.”

Poe’s stomach turned over at this information. The baby had his eyes? “That’s me, do you know where I can find her, please?” He made to pull out some credits to pass over to the woman for her trouble, only she reached over to take his hand gently and shook her head, smiling.

“No need for that, dear,” She jerked her head in the direction of a nearby road that split off from the village, “Just follow that, about twenty minutes you’ll come across a fishing village. She lives right off that road on the outskirts of the village.”

Saying his thanks quickly, Poe ran faster than he had in his life in the direction she had indicated.

When he finally saw the little yurt along the main road, he breathed a sigh of relief. The sun was lowering in the sky and casting a golden glow over the ponds, fields and the nearby river. It was beautiful, and as he passed the fishing village he smiled at the villagers, who gave him curious looks before returning friendly smiles. He slowed to catch his breath, his eyes moving back to the yurt, now much closer. And then his gaze snapped to a figure standing not far from the door, gazing out in the direction of the river.

It was you.

His heart about ripped out of his chest at the sight of you alive and well. The closer he got he could see how you’d barely changed—your skin had seen more sunlight, your hair was longer, and he could see the soft curves of your figure that motherhood had brought on. He watched you for a moment, standing a few feet back, and he could hear his dad inside the yurt making a baby laugh.

Making his baby laugh.

“You dreaming about me, sweet girl?”

You spun around so fast you were a blur, though Poe didn’t miss the way your hand twitched toward the blaster at your hip before your eyes landed on him. Seeing this only made him grin more broadly, but nerves for the reunion kept him rooted to the spot. What if you were angry with him? The thought hadn’t occurred to him before this, but perhaps you-

“POE!” You cried out, and then you were running forward and jumping into his arms and it was everything he’d dreamed of and more. He caught you and held you close as you both fell to your knees in the grass, and Poe let himself get lost in the moment, sobs pulling from deep within.

He hugged you as tight as he could and then started to pepper your face with kisses, “Oh my sweet girl, I missed you. Stars above, I missed you,” He murmured, his eyes closing as your fingers sunk into his curls and tugged him, your lips crashing to his in a desperate kiss that felt exactly like coming home.

“I was so afraid you wouldn’t be able to find us,” You whimpered after pulling back, your body still pressed against his, “I can’t believe you’re finally here...”

Poe shook his head, “Leia had a backup plan all along. Stars, you are so beautiful,” He swept his fingers over your cheeks, getting a good look at you now and seeing how well cared for you looked; Sorgan had been good to you. “I’m here now. It’s over, we’re safe now.”

You released your hold on his head to run your hands over your face, wiping at your tears, “Poe, the baby’s just inside, I—”

Poe and you both turned your heads at the same time at the sound of Kes coming out the door, his excited shout of glee making you both grin wider. He was holding the baby in his arms, and they looked around at the sound of your laugh, eyes just like Poe’s wide and curious—what a beautiful sight.

For a beat, the baby just stared at him, and then as Kes moved closer, a smile—a little smirk just like yours—appeared.

“Dada!”

Kes froze and glanced down at the baby in surprise, and Poe heard you gasp, one of your hands landing on his arm and squeezing excitedly. “That’s right Charlie, sweet girl, this is your Dada!”

Poe couldn’t stop staring at the baby, who hadn’t looked away from him either even as you spoke to her. She made grabby hands then, reaching for him and he tentatively raised his hands. His dad closed the gap between them and lowered the baby and he took hold of her cautiously, words caught in his throat and his heart beating fast.

She was a solid thing, sturdy in his arms and cooing happily as she gazed up in wonder at Poe. She was stunning, her eyes honey-brown and lined with thick, long lashes just like yours. Her skin was soft, and she was chunky, her baby rolls making him smile wider. After a minute, she spoke again, “Dada!” She raised her little fists towards his scruffy jaw before glancing at you.

Poe followed her gaze, “How does she know me?” He breathed, his heart in his throat.

Your watery smile only grew, “Showed her your picture every day. Wanted her to know her daddy, even if he...he couldn’t be with us,” You shuffled closer, one arm securing itself around Charlie and grasping Kes’ arm. “That was her first word, Poe. She said it just for you.”

Tears stinging at his eyes, Poe sat huddled with his family, clutching the baby closer with one arm, the other around your shoulders. His dad had thrown his arms around both you and Poe and was lamenting about how good it was to see him while Charlie cooed happily in his arms.

The moment was better than he’d ever dreamed.

Poe couldn’t put Charlie down. He carried her around for the rest of the evening, following you into the comfortable yurt you had called home all this time, one hand always on you, keeping you close.

Dad was making dinner and Poe enjoyed the banter you had, the routine of living together clearly having established itself long ago. He felt a jolt of gratitude for his dad dropping everything on Yavin-4 to take care of you and Charlie all this time.

He ate with one hand, relinquishing his hold on you but tugging you into his side before eating, his eyes constantly drinking in every expression on the baby’s face. He hadn’t realized how in love he would be so instantly, and certainly had not expected Charlie to adore him just as much—he’d thought the baby would be shy around him, maybe cry when he held them. But you had ensured she knew his face, his name—just another thing you did for him.

Poe was never going to be able to thank you enough for everything you had done.

“Poe?” Your soft voice broke into his thoughts and he looked around at you. You gave him a tentative sort of look, “Where is BB8?”

His shoulders relaxed automatically, “Oh he’s on the ship I came here in...with my friends,” He grinned and you copied him, your eyes curious, “I’ll go get them tomorrow and you can meet...I have so much to tell you, sweetheart.”

Your expression softened, “We have all the time in the world now.” You reached up and stroked his jaw, the motion so familiar his eyes automatically closed and emotion swelled in his chest. Before he could reply, he felt a second, much smaller hand land on his jaw and begin to copy the movement.

He smiled, looking through his lashes to see Charlie watching you intently as she imitated you, “Clever baby,” He murmured, and Charlie lit up at the sound of his voice. He turned his head and kissed her little hand affectionately.

“She gets her brains from me,” Kes piped up, tossing a wink at you before collecting everyone’s plates. He set them in the large stone sink before glancing at his watch. “You want to put her down for the night in my room?”

As you nodded, your eyes falling from Kes to Charlie, Poe felt a flush begin to creep up his neck at the idea of being alone with you again after so much time. He wanted to hold you close with nothing separating your bodies and curl into your healing warmth. Your hand reached for his, pulling him from his thoughts, and you tipped your head toward the baby in his arms, whose eyes were blinking slowly as exhaustion set in.

“Time for bed, little Bug,” You murmured, leading Poe towards your room. The curtain across the doorway sat open, fluttering slightly in the cool evening air, and the room was dark, illuminated only by the moonlight outside and some of the filtering light from the lamps in the main room of the yurt.

Poe carried Charlie to her crib, pressing his lips gently to her forehead, “Goodnight, Charlie, I love you.” He whispered, smiling to himself when she replied with a sleepy little coo. You took her from Poe then and took a moment to show him how to put the baby down for the night.

His heart was beating wildly in his chest as he watched you soothe Charlie, your fingers brushing delicately over her cheeks until her fluttering lashes settled and a small snore confirmed she was asleep. Poe hadn’t felt so much love in such a long time, he was half convinced he wouldn’t survive all of it thrumming through him now. And Stars, he was fucking proud of you, of how good of a mother you were; you’d done an amazing job raising Charlie so far, and he briefly worried about how he would ever be able to compare to you; if he could be as good of a parent as you were.

Once you had Charlie tucked in, you pushed the crib silently into Kes’ room, then wandered over to an armchair and picked up a blanket. When you turned to look up at Poe, his breath caught at the expression on your face. “Come with me, flyboy.”

Gulping, Poe followed you outside and across the grassy lawn in silence. You led him straight to a secluded spot along the riverbank, the flow of the water the only sound he could hear aside from his heartbeat. He wasn’t exactly sure why, but he suddenly felt nervous, alone with you for the first time in over a year—he’d faced down death countless times since, and yet it was this moment that was giving him pause.

He watched as you carefully spread the blanket out on the cool grass, then slipped off your shoes before stepping towards Poe with a soft smile. “Come here,” You whispered, and he closed the gap between you both eagerly. Kicking off his shoes before pulling you against him in a crushing hug, nuzzling his face into your neck, inhaling your familiar scent deeply.

He couldn’t have said who started to cry first, just that the moment he had you tight in his arms, you were both taking shuddering breaths. He let himself sob in a mixture of joy and sadness for everything, one hand cradling your head against his chest as you sniffled. “Sweet girl,” Poe drew back to look down at you after a few minutes, “Maker, I missed you. Every day was...shit, just complete shit without you.” He admitted, eyes closing automatically when you reached up to brush the tears from his face.

“I missed you too, but you’re here now, Poe. You’re here and you’re safe,” You whispered, leaning up on your tiptoes and pressing a gentle kiss to the end of his nose, “You’re safe, baby.”

He kissed you then; harsher than he’d intended, but you met him with equal intensity, your hands sliding into his hair to draw him closer, teeth clashing. The need then, to be with you, became overwhelming—he pushed your pants down frantically, then undid the tie of your wrap tunic and slid it off your shoulders, grunting when he realized you wore no chest band beneath.

You’d started undressing him, but when your hand passed over his length he brushed his fingers against your pebbled nipples in response and you hissed, body jerking away slightly. Poe’s eyes snapped open and he quickly pulled back from kissing you, “Sweetheart, did I hurt you?”

You tugged at his shirt, smiling softly, and he removed it before glancing down your body, his eyes drinking in every glorious curve, the fullness to your breasts. “Breastfeeding is hard on these,” You replied, gesturing toward your somewhat swollen nipples, “You didn’t hurt me, just need to be careful.”

Poe nodded his understanding, surveying your postpartum body with a new wild hunger he’d never before experienced. You were beautiful, always, but something about seeing your shape with its new fullness, your milk-filled breasts and soft stomach—it made him feral. With a groan, he quickly helped you to lay down on the blanket, careful to avoid your chest as he peppered kisses down your warm body, relishing in every square inch of you. “My beautiful love,” He spread your legs apart, his hand trailing down the slit of your wet heat, “Oh sweet girl, so wet for me. You’re a fucking dream.”

As much as he wanted to taste you, lick you until you couldn’t see, the need to be inside of you was too great to allow for any more time apart. Propping himself on one arm, Poe gripped your thigh, lifting it from the ground, and gently rocked his hips forward, groaning as you tightly gripped around his cock, your body needing his just as much.

“Oh fuck, Poe...”

“I know—I’ve got you,” Poe whispered, settling between your thighs, he dropped your leg and lowered his body fully over yours, careful to keep his weight on his arm. He captured your lips against his as he slowly dragged his cock back, then rutted forward, building a slow pace meant to draw out the feeling of bliss for as long as possible. “Missed you—dreamt of you every night, baby, every fucking night.”

You had one hand tangled in Poe’s curls, the other pressed into his lower back and your legs wrapped around his hips. You whimpered, “N-never leaving you again,” The words came out strained, thick with emotion even as you moaned at the feel of him moving within you, “It’s you a-and me, f-forever. Forever.” Your back arched slightly, and Poe groaned at the change in angle, your walls clamping around him harder.

“Fuck,” He felt himself getting close and quickly slid his free hand between his body and yours, slamming into you as he circled your clit tenderly. “Forever, sweet girl, I promise—cum for me, let me feel you—“

“Poe—“ You whined, your eyes fluttering as your pleasure spiked, and he felt your body go rigid beneath him as his hips stuttered—he came with you, spilling himself with a groan as you trembled and moaned, then pressing himself as deep as he could while you both came tumbling back to each other.

When Poe finally collapsed next to you, he slipped out of you carefully before tugging you into his side, pressing his lips to the crown of your head while you both caught your breath. “Still...still got it, flyboy.” You joked, giggling when Poe shifted to look down at you with a smirk.

“I was going to say the same to you.”

“Ah well, it’s busy work running around after a baby, you know. Keeps you fit.” You grinned, snuggling against Poe as the cool night air seemed to seep between you. He reached above his head, grabbing his shirt and tossing it over your upper body to protect you from getting too cold.

Once he was satisfied you were comfortable, he rolled so that he was looking down at you, your head resting on his forearm. “Sweet girl, you—I mean, Charlie is perfect. You kept her safe, raised her, taught her who I was...I can never thank you enough, but I’m going to spend the rest of my life trying.”

“Oh Poe,” You smiled, your eyes glistening as you gazed up at him with a fondness that he felt almost undeserving of, a hand cupping his cheek. “You came back to us, that’s all I could have ever asked for—you’re alive and you’re here.” You choked up, then, and Poe leaned down to press his forehead to yours, cupping your cheek softly with one hand.

You lay together for a short while; until the cold became too much. Curling up together in bed sounded almost too good to be true. “Come on, sweet girl, let’s get some sleep,” He gathered you in his arms, pausing as you grabbed at the clothing he wasn’t going to bother putting on, and carried you into the yurt, the blanket abandoned in the grass outside.

When Poe had his body pressed against yours under the comforter of the bed you’d slept in alone all this time, he kept his arms securely around you and felt peace wash over him, “Going to introduce you to some pretty special friends in the morning, and then we can plan our next steps, my love.”

With a happy little sigh, you tucked your head into his neck and fell asleep promptly, your light snores lulling him until, just at the precipice of sleep, he smiled to himself—he was home.

The first thing you noticed when you woke early the next morning was the bed next to you was empty. Your hands roamed for Poe and when you didn’t find him you sat up quickly, wondering if perhaps you had dreamt of the day prior, of him coming home...

Only, a little giggle from outside your room sounded and you heard Poe proudly declare, “Clever, just like your mama, Charlie girl.”

You hadn’t ever known happiness like this, truly. Your heart was full and repaired and you couldn’t believe how after so much time, so many years of mistakes and pain, you were married to your best friend and he was currently waiting for you to wake up while caring for your baby, the little girl who shared traits of the both of you. This felt like a dream, but it was so raw it couldn’t be anything other than real.

You sprang from bed, throwing on your robe and hurrying out to see Poe holding Charlie as he sat in the armchair, bouncing her on his knee as she giggled for him. When you paused to watch, a smile stretching over your face, he glanced up at you and his own broadened, eyes shining brightly with affection.

“Morning, mama,” His thick morning voice always sent heat through you, and the fact that he was sitting shirtless, his hard muscles flexing as he moved Charlie only doused further fuel on the fire within. He seemed to read that in your expression, his soft eyes darkening somewhat before he sent you a wink that said there’d be time for that again later.

Charlie had looked around to follow Poe’s gaze and she cooed loudly when she saw you, her hands raised towards you. You frowned, “Oh, now you want mama time? Could it be that you’re hungry?” Charlie made grabby hands as Poe laughed and you pulled her from his arms before settling into the chair next to him, easing your robe open enough for her to have access to your chest.

Settling her in for her meals was second nature to you; you knew the way she preferred to lay, how to hold her just right, that she liked to feed quietly in the mornings but at night you were allowed to rub her back and speak soothing words to her. As she began to suckle, you carefully adjusted your breast to make the angle more comfortable, then glanced up remembering that Poe was watching.

The expression on his face was stunning—he was watching you rapturously, as though the sight before him was the most beautiful he’d ever seen. You saw emotion mixed in with the awe and the adoration, and you knew he was feeling grateful he hadn’t missed something as pure as this entirely, that Charlie hadn’t grown too much.

You leaned your head back to rest and smiled at Poe warmly, “She’s on partial foods now, you can feed her yourself a little later, if you want.” You whispered, and his face brightened even more. You felt a bit like those first days after you’d joined him and your brother on D’Qar, the giddy joy of reuniting making the smiles stretch for days.

“I’d love that,” He shuffled his chair closer, resting one hand behind where you were holding Charlie, the other raising to brush over your cheek. “Does it...hurt?”

You shook your head and his look of concern relaxed, “Not really, she’s good about not biting,” Poe cringed at the thought and you giggled, “She’s a good baby. Now, you said you wanted us to meet your friends?”

He nodded, his expression softening sadly, “They’re the reason I was able to make it home to you...I have so much to tell you, but I want you to meet them first.” Poe’s eyes dropped down to watch Charlie again and you let him have a moment, recognizing he had suffered a great deal over the year and a half apart.

You let your eyes wander over his bare torso and noticed now, in the morning light, that he had some new scars, some angrier than the others. The idea of him having been hurt made your stomach sink, and you couldn’t help but lean toward him, capturing his lips against yours when he glanced up. He moaned softly at the tender kiss, petting your hair, and you let yourself sink into the moment, pulling back only when Charlie stirred.

“Where did you leave them?”

Poe gestured toward the main village, “Just outside the village, on our ship. I could go and get them—“

You shook your head, “I think a walk will do us all good. Let’s get dressed, eh Charlie?” You made a face at the baby, who was sleepily peering up at you, happy with her tummy now full, and she smiled at your expression.

Poe insisted on changing Charlie’s diaper and dressing her, so you merely stood by and watched, handing him her daytime outfit and trying not to laugh too hard as he struggled. You could see the joy in his eyes as he attempted to get her arms through the sleeves, his big hands so incredibly gentle as he worked. It took about twice as long as normal, but eventually, Charlie was ready to go and you took her from Poe, strapping her to your chest with a sarong, watching him as he dressed.

You wanted to ask about the new scars. But you were afraid when you did, it would open up the vault he was currently guarding and all of the terrible stories would come tumbling out. Enjoying this peaceful reunion for a little longer wouldn’t hurt anyone, so you resisted the urge and instead popped your head into Kes’s room to let him know where you were going.

“It was hard, not knowing anything,” You admitted quietly as you walked along with Poe, Charlie gazing around happily. The arm draped over your shoulders tightened somewhat at your words. “Leia sure picked a good place for us, though. It’s been quiet, safe.”

You glanced at him, the tension in his jaw confirming something you’d suspected since he’d arrived-after he’d mentioned it was thanks to one of his new friends that he’d been able to find you. Leia was gone, but he didn’t know how to tell you—just as much as you were avoiding asking him for details, he was reluctant to give them.

“Yeah, she knew what she was doing,” He replied softly before his eyes lit up. You followed his gaze and saw a large ship, its ramp lowered, come into view just as a familiar orange and white blur was speeding in your direction.

“Buddy!” You yelled, hurrying forward and dropping to one knee to greet BB8, one arm securing Charlie closer to ensure she didn’t get too jostled from your movements. The droid beeped and whirred excitedly and the baby began to giggle, craning her head to look at BB8. “Charlie, this is BB8, wave hi—“ You laughed as Charlie roughly flopped her chubby arm in the direction of the droid.

You could feel Poe’s hand resting lightly on the crown of your hand, and you looked up at him to speak but before you could, another voice chimed in. “Poe, man, you found them!” A handsome man with enviably smooth skin and a friendly grin was walking towards you with a pretty woman who had sad eyes next to him.

Poe helped you to stand back up, his arm securing around you as he led you forward to meet his friends. “Finn—Rey, meet my better half, (y/n), and my kid, Charlie.”

You saw the pair shoot wide-eyed looks at Poe when he said Charlie’s name, and you realized he must have told them about you, about your brother. The thought warmed your heart even further. You reached out and grasped each of their hands in turn, grinning, “It is really lovely to meet you, thank you for getting Poe back to me and Charlie safely.”

Finn smiled warmly, “Hey, he saved our asses as much as we saved his,” Poe shoved his arm playfully, laughing. Rey was quiet, you noticed, gazing at the baby thoughtfully. You wondered who she had lost.

“Do you want to hold her?” You asked, and Rey met your eyes in surprise, though after a brief pause she smiled nervously and nodded. Her smile lit up her whole face, and you were glad you thought to offer the baby as a way to pull it from her—babies had a way of making the sad a little less daunting.

You lifted Charlie out of the sarong, “Say hi to Auntie Rey, Charlie!” Charlie began to babble incoherently in that cheerful baby talk as she settled against Rey’s hip. She watched her, smiling to herself, before glancing between you and Poe.

“She’s beautiful,” Rey’s hand caught one of Charlie’s, squeezing gently, “Takes after her mama, clearly.” She tacked on, throwing Poe a look that made you laugh out loud.

Finn, you noticed, was watching Rey hold the baby with a quiet expression of adoration that made you smile inwardly. He caught you staring and grinned cheekily. As he began to chide Poe teasingly, a sudden memory came to mind, of the last time you had spoken to your father.

“Just remember, family always comes first—but we can make our own family, sweetie,” Dad squeezed your hand, “Family is what we make it, big or small, blood-related or not. So you make sure to surround yourself with good people, people you love and trust, and you’ll always have a family.”

And as you stood there, gazing at your new friends, the people who had ensured your Poe had come back to you, you realized that you were only adding to your family today. You felt like the luckiest woman in the entire galaxy, your heart was bursting with joy and hope for everything still to come.

Poe pressed a kiss to your temple, and you shot him a smile, knowing he felt it too.

Here, you thought, was where the next chapter of your life began. And you couldn’t be more excited.

A/N—THANK YOU for reading this story, for enjoying this journey with me and loving my characters so much. I’m hopeful you loved this final chapter and can’t wait to hear your thoughts. And of course, we still have the epilogue coming!🤍

Taglist

@mermaidxatxheart @foxilayde @eleinemk @paintballkid711 @mylifeisactuallyamess @20th-centu-fairy-girl @deitysnips @cannedsoupsucks @ubri812 @poedameronloverx @hoeforthefictional @astrological-bitch @itsnottilly @itsdameron @alex-sulli @generousrunawaydonut @wildmoonflower @onlyferorder66 @afootnoteinyourhappiness @asaucecoveredsomething @ladydmalfoy

[imagineyourworld-old]

Dating App AU

Poe Dameron x Reader (Genderneutral)

Summary: Your friend convinced you to try this dating app and while your date is cute and nice, there is just something about his flatmate... 

Warnings: Mentions of Covid19

You hated to admit how nervous you were, especially because there was no reason to be nervous. It was just a date, hundreds of thousands of people went on first dates every day, there was no reason to be nervous. Besides, you had already talked to Finn on the dating app, on the phone and in a zoom call, he was nice and funny and easy to talk to, going on a walk with him, in a park full of other people, should be a piece of cake. And yet you were nervous.  This is all Rose’s fault, you thought to yourself. It was Rose who had convinced you to try a dating app. “To meet new people”, were her exact words. True, due to the pandamic you didn’t know anyone in the town you moved to for university, but you were not sure a dating app was the right way to meet people, especially since you weren’t even really looking for a relationship.  You glanced at your phone that you still had in your hand from texting Rose you had arrived at the spot you were supposed to meet Finn. He was a few minutes late already.  “Sorry, I know I’m late.”  The already somewhat familiar voice made you look up from your phone. Finn stood right in front of you, both hands in the pockets of his jeans and an apologetic smile on his lips.  “Rey had car troubles and needed a helping hand and I just couldn’t refuse her.” It took you a moment to place the name. Finn had told you quite a bit about his friends, but then it dawned on you that Rey was his flatmate, or one of his flatmates at least.  “It’s fine, you’re just a few minutes late and I’ve heard worse excuses.”  Finn raised an eyebrow.  “Does that mean you’ve been stood up?”  Right as the words left his mouth the smile fell from his lips. He opened his mouth and closed it again.  “(Y/N), I am so sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. It’s not as if I think you should be stood up, I just sometimes speak before I can think and-” “It’s fine. I was just talking about my friends, they’re never on time.”  You could pratically feel the tension leaving Finn’s body.  “You’d hate Poe then, he’s always late.”  Poe was another one of Finn’s flatmates, you remembered, as well as his best friend.  “I wouldn’t judge someone based solely on their time management, I’m usually early anyways.”  For a moment Finn just looked at you, it was as if you could feel his eyes staring into your soul and if he weren’t so kind it would be downright creepy.  “You’re new in town, aren’t you? How about we walk over to the best ice cream shop around?”  And just like that the awkward silcen was interrupted. You smiled and nodded, ice cream always sounded great. 

Half an hour later you sat on a park bench, both with an ice cream cone in hand, having an easy conversation.  Finn, you learned, was an only child, though his best friends were like siblings to him. He was three weeks younger than you, on the dot, and hated stracciatelle for unknown reasons.  “Once the cinemas open again I really have to take you to this small one at the other end of town. It’s a bit more expensive than the big chains, but the popcorn is to die fo- Poe?”, Finn interrupted his sentence.  You looked at him with a raised eyebrow but his gaze was fixed on the man walking towards you.  “Finn, hi.”  The other man, appearently this was Poe, put friendly hand on Finn’s shoulder and then looked over at you.  “And you must be (Y/N), right?”  You didn’t know whether it was his smile and the way he said your name but all of the sudden you felt yourself blushing and at a loss for words. Luckily though it only lasted a second, you were brought back to reality when you reminded yourself that you were on a date with Finn, who you really liked, and not his goodlooking friend.  “That’s me.”  Before either you or Poe could say anything else or fall into an awkward silence Finn spoke again.  “What are you even doing here? Don’t you have a shift starting in a few minutes?”  Poe finally let his eyes fall away from you and turned back to his friend. You weren’t sure whether you should be glad or sad that you no longer held his attention.  “They’re not busy today so Leia told me to take the day off. I decided to spend some quality time with Beebee instead.”  Must be his girlfriend, you though and immediatly scolded yourself for the though. Finn was your date. Not Poe, Finn. “Where is he then?”, Finn asked and looked around.  He, you replayed Finn’s word in your mind. Boyfriend then. Should be obvious that a guy like Poe is in a relationship.  “What do you mean, he’s right... I mean he was right here next to me...”  Now Poe looked around again and you tried not to take the opportunity to stare at the way his dark curls moved when he moved his head.  “Beebee, come here boy”, Poe called. Nobody came, so he started whisteling.  “Is that really the best way to call your boyfriend?”, you asked.  Poe had seemed nice at first, but you couldn’t tolerate his behaviour towards his significant other, and were suprised Finn wasn’t bothered by it.  “My what? I don’t have a boyfriend. Beebee is my- here he is!”  You looked down at Poe’s feet where a small dog with white and orangy-red fur stood. You weren’t quite sure what breed he was but there seemed to be at least a bit of corgi in there.  “(Y/N), may I introduce you to Beebee. As you can see he is not my boyfriend, but rather my best friend.”  Poe knelt down to pet his furry companion just as Finn let out an annoyed “Hey!”.  “My dog best friend, of course. Finn is my human best friend.”  While Finn looked satisfied with this correction Beebee now seemed offended. But that ceased quickly when you knelt down in front of him.  “Hey, buddy”, you smiled as you reached out his hand for the dog to sniff. He gave it a quick lick which you interpreted as permission to pet him.  “You’re a little cutie, aren’t you? What are you- Hey, that’s my ice cream.”  Beebee either didn’t listen or didn’t care because he reached for your cone with his tongue.  You stood up again to get the ice cream away from the dog and looked to Poe.  “It almost looks as if you don’t feed him enough”, you joked.  For what felt like an eternity Poe didn’t answer, he just looked at you with an unreadable expression. It wasn’t until Finn gave him a light kick that he replied.  “I guess that means I should give him his dinner. And leave you to your date, of course.”  He gave Finn a warm smile before turning to you. “It was very nice to meet you, (Y/N).”  There it was again, the way he said your name did something to you. You couldn’t help but smile at him.  “Likewise, Poe.”  Before you could sit down next to Finn again Poe and his dog were gone.  “Usually I’d say the first date is too soon to meet my friends, but the two of you really hit it off”, Finn said.  You looked at him. Was he mad that you had run into Poe? Should you have paid less attention to his friend and Beebee and more to Finn? How were you supposed to ask that?  “It’s getting dark soon, but I’d like to see you again sometime”, Finn told you before you could say anything.  You nodded.  “I’d like that.” 

Just a short week later you met up with Finn again. While you had wanted the first meeting to be in a public place, even though you had already gotten to know each other in videochats, you were now comfortable enough to visit him in his flat.  “Would you like anything to drink?”, Finn asked from the small kitchen.  “Whatever you’re having is fine, I’m not that fussy with drinks”, you called back.  From your spot on the living room couch you could hear Finn rummaging through the fridge. Meanwhile you looked around. The room was quite big, just a little smaller than your one-room-flat, but since Finn shared his flat with both Poe and Rey it made perfect sense for it to be bigger. Though it was tidier than you had expected from a flat where two men lived. The shelves on one wall were filled with all kinds of books, board games, video games and little trinkets. Right next to it was a dog bed that was more than just a little too big for Beebee, as well as a box filled with dog toys, a water and a food bowl.  Your gaze went over to the wall above the TV, on which a multitude of pictures hung. Most of them showed the three flatmates, often joined by Beebee and sometimes other unfamiliar faces, in all types of situations. In a park, in the snow, out in some sort of pub or club, at uni or just in the flat.  One picture of Poe and Rey with three elderly people especially caught your eye. That must be their respective parents, you thought.  “I see you found our wall of memories”, Finn remarked as he entered the living room. He sat down next to you and placed a tall glass in front of you.  “I thought a diet coke would be the safest choice.”  You managed to squeeze in a “Thank you” before Finn started talking again.  “As you can see most pictures are just Rey, Poe and me, but there are some of our other friends as well. And Beebee of course. And Leia, Luke and Han.”  He looked at you with a smile.  “Perhaps you’ll meet them one day. Leia and Luke own the restaurant where Poe and Rey work and Han, he’s Leia’s husband, works there as well. Though they’re more like family than just employers now. Other than this flat the restaurant our favourite hang out spot.”  Around an hour later you were interrupted in the middle of the movie.  Lazily you lifted your head from Finn’s shoulder to look at the intruder.  It was Poe, followed by a pretty brunette you recognized as Rey.  “(Y/N), hi. I didn’t know you’d be here”, Poe greeted you.  Rey shot him a look that seemed to say that he did know, but that couldn’t be, right? After all, why would Poe lie?  “You’re welcome to join”, Finn offered. “As long as (Y/N) is fine with it.”  Even if you hadn’t been, how could you say no to that? As if he’d been waiting for the invitation Poe sat down next to you. A little closer than he had to, due to the big sofa, but you didn’t complain.  Rey followed suit and sat down next to Finn. Just a second later Beebee, who you only just noticed had come into the flat with the two of them, settled down at her feet.  “Traitor”, Poe muttered under his breath.  You turned to him and raised an eyebrow.  “So you’re the jealous type?”  He shrugged, though a small smile stole onto his face.  “Usually not, but Beebee only prefers Rey because she bought a gigantic box of his favourite treats and gives them to him whenever he wants one.” You couldn’t help but laugh.  “It’s not my fault you don’t feed your dog food he actually likes”, Rey shot back from her end of the couch.  You looked from her to Poe, only just catching Finn rolling his eyes. This seemed to be a common argument between them.  “I do feed him! Do you have any idea how expensive the organic dog food is I buy him? It’s not my fault healthy food isn’t always the most delicious.”  “Can we please get back to the movie?”, Finn asked in a slightly annoyed voice. He really did seem tired of the discussion.  For a few minutes it was quiet. Though you felt as if someone was constantly watching you, but that might just be Poe and Rey continuing their conversation through looks over your head.  “Hey, Finn, remember when you promised to have a look at my paper? I have to hand it in tomorrow morning”, Rey interrupted the silence.  You expected Finn to tell her he’d do it later, he was still on a date with you after all. But instead he jumped up immediately.  “Sure thing! Poe, why don’t you stay with (Y/N) while I’m gone?”  And just like that Rey and Finn disappeared down the hall.  Right after they were gone Beebee jumped up onto the spot Finn had vacated next to you and snuggled up close to you. Absentmindedly you ran a hand through the dog’s soft fur.  “Beebee is an excellent judge of character. It means a lot that he likes you.”  You looked over at Poe. Though it was dark and only the TV was lighting up the room you could have sworn he was blushing.  “I’m glad. I really like him too.”  Although you meant the dog you suddenly weren’t sure he’s the only one you were talking about.  “You’re still Finn’s date though”, said Poe.  That remark was definitely not just about Beebee.  You looked at Poe.  “I know. And I really do like Finn, just not in a romantic way.”  Part of you wanted to add that there is someone you could picture yourself one day falling in love with, someone you had met through Finn, but you didn’t dare to.  “To be honest, I think Finn doesn’t like you that way either.”  You waited for Poe to add something else but he just looked at you, right into your eyes. But for a split second you could have sworn his eyes went down to your lips.  “Perhaps I should talk to Finn then. We could still hang out as friends.”  Poe nodded just as the credits started rolling. Though neither of you moved to get the remote.  “Then you’d be looking for someone else to date”, Poe finally said after a few moments of silence.  You had no idea what to make of that statement. Was he glad you wouldn’t be dating Finn? Did he want you to find a boyfriend? Or was he maybe implying something?  “To be honest, I’m not even looking for a relationship. My friend Rose just made me get a dating profile so I’d meet new people.”  Just as the words left your lips Finn and Rey reappeared and the atmosphere seemed to change.  “How about we all get something to eat?”, Rey suggested.  Though you weren’t really hungry you wanted to take the opportunity to spend more time with the people you hoped would become your friends, as well as the one person who might be more than a friend. 

That same day, on your way to the restaurant to pick up your order, you told Finn that you were not interested in him in a romantic way and just as Poe had suggested, he felt the same way. That was the start of a wonderful friendship, you started to spend most of your free time with Finn and his friends. And while you considered Rey and Finn good friends, you soon realized that your feelings towards Poe were just different. Every time he sat or stood a bit closer than he had to your heart started beating faster and you felt a sense of comfort at the same time. He was kind and funny and so good looking, you just couldn’t help your developing crush.  Today it was especially obvious. You were alone with Poe, Finn was out and Rey had to work, so you sat at the small kitchen table, both enveloped in your uni work.  “Do you know another word for pretty?”, you asked.  You were writing an essay about the protagonist of a novel you had read for class and were in desperate need of synonyms.  “Beautiful, gorgeous, stunning, (Y/N).”  No matter how hard you tried, you just couldn’t fight the blush that crept up your neck. Most of the time Poe was simply friendly, but sometimes he said things like that, things that were just too flirty for friends, and you didn’t know what to make of his comments.  “Love, are you blushing?”, he asked. Today seems to be an especially flirtatious day, you though to yourself. Usually when Poe dropped such a comment it was just one, not calling you pretty and a pet name within just a few seconds.  “Who wouldn’t blush to hear your sorry attempts at flirting?”, you joked.  You could have sworn Poe’s expression turned a bit darker. Maybe you had taken it a bit too far.  “I’ll have you know that people usually like when I flirt with them.”  You didn’t know what to reply. Of course people liked when Poe flirted with them, you’d enjoy it as well, if only he really meant it. But you both knew that you were strictly friends. After all, you had told him you were not looking for a relationship and he kept on flirting and making out and probably a bunch of other things with others anytime you went out together.  “In that case it seems like you never met anyone with taste”, you teased.  With a smile he closed his laptop and looked straight at you. You felt heat rushing to your cheeks at his intense stare, but tried to hold your own and didn’t let your eyes leave his.  “Maybe I should just show you what your’re missing out on, darling.”  You were stunned. What should you answer to that? Did he mean it, was he really trying to flirt or was it just a game to him?  Poe seemed to interpret your silence in his own way.  “But I know you’re not looking for a boyfriend.”  His gaze moved from your eyes down to the table. He pulled his bottom lip between his teeth and bit it softly, a gesture that drew your eyes right down to his kissable lips.  “Poe, are you... were you actually trying to flirt with me? I thought you were joking.”  He looked back up at you, eyes wide open. His left hand moved to ruffle through his curls while his right reached for your hand, which was twisting with your water bottle.  “I confess, there are a lot of things I don’t take serious and joke about, but you’re not one of them. I don’t know why, but from the moment I saw you I was intrigued. But then I realized you were on a date with my best friend and you seemed to get along, so I tried to back off. I guess I wasn’t as discreet as I wanted to be, though. Rey quickly noticed and tried to push us together and every moment I spend with you I realize just how amazing you are, how much I’m falling in love with you.”  Any time you had been speechless before was nothing compared to this. No one had ever confessed a crush on you, let alone told you they were falling for you, and here was Poe, beautiful, funny, kind Poe, telling you what you never dreamed he would tell you.  Suddenly it made sense why he always sat so close to you, why Rey kept shooting him looks whenever you hung out together, why Finn often canceled last minute, leaving you alone with Poe.  “Have Rey and Finn been trying to set us up?”, you asked.  Poe looked down at your intertwined hands resting on the table. Slowly he nodded.  “After Rey realized how I feel she immediately told Finn, even though I begged her not to.  I though Finn felt the same way, I just didn’t see a reason why he wouldn’t, but it turns out he only ever thought of you as a friend and was glad I like you.”  You could tell all this confessing made him nervous, especially since you haven’t said a word yourself. You stroked his hand with your thumb, slow, soft motions that immediately seemed to relax him.  “You know, I really wasn’t looking for a boyfriend. Downloading a dating app was my friend Rose’s idea in the first place, but it turned out great. I might not have been looking for a boyfriend, but then I met this really cute guy and event though I hadn’t planned it, I started liking him, really liking him. How could I not, with his sweet smile and funny jokes and concern for me and his friends, plus he has this super cute dog and any guy who’s good with animals is boyfriend material.”  While you were talking Poe’s eyebrows kept raising. You could tell he was hoping that you were talking about him, but there was just a little hint of doubt in his expression.  “What do you say, should we relieve Rey and Finn of their efforts and tell them we’re dating?”, you asked.  For a few seconds Poe just started at you, but within a moment he leaped up from his chair at the other end of the table and swept you in his arms.  “I think they’d be glad to hear it, my love.”  Poe let go of you with a smile on his face. You just looked at him, eyes bright, unruly hair, the sun shining on the side of his face. Only a bark made you tear your eyes away from him.  Poe glanced down at Beebee, who was standing between the two of you.  “I think he’s trying to tell us something”, you grinned.  “I think he just wants us to kiss already”, Poe returned.  As if to confirm the dog barked again and both of you laughed.  But once the laughter died out you finally felt Poe’s soft lips on yours. A soft sight escaped your mouth as you wrapped your arms around his neck to pull him closer. Your hands found their way into his hair, pulling it slightly, which made Poe moan and you smile into the kiss.  When you finally let go to catch your breath both of you were smiling.  “You know, you might have said people who enjoy my flirting don’t have taste, but based on how you just kissed me you’re on top of that list”, he grinned.  You just rolled your eyes and pulled him closer again.  “Less talking, more kissing”, you mumbled against his lips.  At your feet Beebee barked again, clearly the dog agreed. As did your boyfriend, when he captured your lips with his once again. 

[whirlybirbs]

BEGIN AGAIN ---- i.

summary: after the events of the rise of skywalker, ben solo and rey of jakku make work on gathering and training the next generation of jedi on the planet of ajan kloss. you are a force-user from tattooine. there are two things you’re sure of: there’s much work to do, and you do not like jedi master ben solo. pairing: jedi master!ben solo x jedi!reader word count: 1.6k a/n: this is an au and does contain some spoilers for tros. anyways, i’ve been chipping away at this for a few days now -- merry christmas if you celebrate! if not, happy holidays! here’s my little gift to you.

If someone had asked you where you saw yourself in a year, you wouldn’t have answered, “on Ajan Kloss, of course, running the jungle training course blindfolded, being nipped in the heels by blaster fire from a rusted out JTR-47 droid”.

Certainly, you wouldn’t have explained that you, and many others, were a part of the first class of Jedi to be trained by the legendary Jedi Master Rey of Jakku and Ben Solo-Organa, ex-Sith lord and one of the last Skywalker’s.

But, here you are.

After all, everything changed on Exegol.

Everything.

And when Ben Solo and Rey limped from the carnage of the great hall, force dyad split wide open for the world to see like a raw wound, the war around them began its end in soul quaking violence. The two, bound by the running river of the force, witnessed the end of the Empire -- old and new -- from the cockpit of his Uncle’s old X-Wing.

It’s done.

In the silence of space, they find comfort.

Age old wounds finally begin to heal under the stars.

The war is won.

On Ajan Kloss, Ben Solo falls to his mother’s knees and weeps. Leia Organa cannot remember the last time she held her son -- and for a moment, the whole of the Resistance hangs on the reunion of the last Skywalkers, and the swing of emotions that rush between mother and son through a rekindled home in the lightside of the force.

Leia holds him and Ben smiles for the first time in years.

Everything is different; with the war won, with Palpatine gone...

There’s much work to be done.

Rey is as much his opposite as she is his right hand -- their dyad, though often annoying and terribly troublesome, allows him to have a true friend for the first time in... forever. She is, despite her polarity in approach and attitude, an important part of his life.

And without her, he’s not really sure if this whole rebuilding-the-Jedi-Order thing could happen.

It’s with R2′s help that they locate an age-old holocron buried deep in a temple on Yavin’s third moon -- the names of children who were once designated as ‘gifted’ by the Jedi Order lay in the record. It’s something. The archival piece is nearly rusted shut with age but opens with a delicate tinker when it passes into Ben’s hands.

It’s beautiful.

Pale blue light flickers awake the information inside, presenting a list of names -- a list of lives -- protected deep within the holocron’s humming databank.

When Rey, Ben, Fin and Poe return to Ajan Kloss, hopeful and excited about the prospect of finding others -- it’s with a mournful tone that Leia explains the systemic hunt the Empire conducted to snuff these children out.

“Many of them,” she says softly, “are gone.”

So, perhaps it’s pure chance they find you -- maybe it’s a cosmic happenstance granted by perfect timing and a straight shot in the dark.

Kau'i Koi -- Human -- 10 years old -- Location: Mos Espa, Tattooine.

Your chain code is old -- but places you in a small, old-Empire controlled mining town just outside the Western Dunes.

Ben is skeptical. He blames his dad -- that Solo trait runs through his blood more than anything, along with a bad habit of getting himself into things he can rarely get himself out of. It’s the temper. And off-putting sense of humor.

Whatever.

Ben has to duck when they enter the cantina. Rey is quick to bound ahead of him, leaving the Solo to tug at his poncho and pry the goggles from his face. The sand storm outside has finally started to die down, leaving Chewie looking rather windswept as he steps inside beside him; the Wookie gargles out a bitter complaint.

“No kidding,” Ben supplies, “Let’s hope we find who we’re looking for.”

God, he hates sand.

Shaking his boot, Ben trails Rey to the bar. She’s already chattering excitedly with the barman, eyes alight in that curious way -- the sand doesn’t bother her. Not in the slightest. In fact, she seems to relish in the Jakku-like atmosphere of the desert planet.

“We’re looking for a Kau’i Koi?” she asks, leaning in on her elbows, “Do you know where we can find them?”

“Koi’s been dead a long time,” is the gruff retort she gets. Immediately, the Jedi’s posture sags and Ben sighs, “But her daughter’s around --”

“Daughter?”

“Yeah,” one of his four hands tosses the bar rag over his shoulder, “She runs her Ma’s medicinal shop now. Kid’s got a good hand at elixirs...”

Rey blinks. Ben, narrowing his eyes, tosses five credits on the bar. “And?”

The bar-tender spares a quick look around, leans in and takes the bribe before saying: “Rumor has it, she’s got some Force mumbo-jumbo goin’ on. Buddy a’ mine jacked up his shoulder in a pod-racing accident -- Koi’s kid just...”

He snaps.

“Good as new.”

And that’s how they found you -- wrist deep in an old text about the distilling of certain Felcuian herbs that allows for maximized healing potency. The book, though, is quickly forgotten in exchange for a weary sense of confusion that follows the two people and the Wookie into your cozy, small shop.

“Can I help you?”

You stand, dark root-died robes tied close to your waist. Your tanned, Dewback hide boots mute your movements as you weave through the mud hut.

The first thing Ben Solo realizes is that you’re beautiful. Truly.

(You must be about his age, if not a year or two his younger. There’s something about the quiet calm in your voice -- you hold an air of posture and regality and kindness that falls short on him. You move, too, like a whisper in the wind. You’re quick, a bit like Rey, and far his opposite as he ducks below trinkets daring to clock in him in the forehead.)

The second thing Ben Solo realizes is that you’re dangerous.

Your eyes fall on the lightsabers holstered on either of the hips the moment Rey asks if you’re Kau’i’s daughter. You remember, in that moment, the warnings your mother had nursed you on.

There are people in this world that want you dead for the gift you’ve been given, sweet one. Protect yourself and that gift.

In one swoop, you’ve got a knife to the neck of Ben Solo and a hand raised, stopping the woman with the three buns in her tracks. The Wookie, hurriedly, raises his furry fists in surrender.

The women grits her teeth, muscles locked in a tumultuous state thanks to the force seizing them entirely. Ben is quick to note the control you have over your powers. The knife digs in a bit too much and he winces.

“Who are you?” you ask quickly, calm lost for a terrified look.

Ben raises his hands. “Jedi.”

The first thing you realize about Ben Solo is that he’s handsome. In a rugged, roguish, distrusting sort of way.

You decide, quickly, you don’t like him.

“There are no Jedi,” you spit, grip tightening on the woman as she writhes -- your attention is on the man, with dark eyes and long legs and a handsome face, “The Empire came and killed them. What they left, the First Order finished.”

Rey winces.

“Is that... Is that what happened to your mother?”

We’re not here to hurt you.

Like a rush of cold water, you feel the pass of something along your mind’s consciousness. It’s enough of a distraction to break your hold on the woman who asked -- and it leaves you treading in a sea of panic. It’s an intrusion; a rude prodding of your memories and thoughts that comes like a sideswipe of a pod-racer.

Rey falls to the floor and Ben pushes the blade from his throat.

You step back and raise the knife. Your hands tremble.

“... How do you know about my mother?” you whisper.

"Ben,” she says, “The holocron.”

“... A holocron?”

The tall man digs it from his bag -- the moment it falls into your fingers, the delicate blue crystals interlock backwards, gilded edges rusted from years of hiding away in from age-old temple revealing a data-sequence. A list of names. And your mother’s lay there, highlighted alongside her chain code.

“Only a force user can open it,” says the man -- the one you understand to be Ben -- rather quietly.

You blink. Immediately, the bridge between yourself and the force closes and the holocron snaps shut.

You shove it back his way.

“What do you want?”

That’s when Rey smiles.

And that’s how you find yourself here, six months later, running head on into a thousand year old S’pio tree. The impact itself renders the younglings amused -- the gaggle of them lingering by the upper platform dissolve into laughter as you grip your ribs and groan, rolling into the brush as you swat at the JTR-47 droid nagging at your head incessantly.

“Koi!” it’s a fast bark of your mother’s surname that gathers the attention of everyone on the training course. It comes from Master Ben Solo, swathed in dark robes and perched on the top platform. “Begin again!”

Gritting your teeth and baring the annoyance, you tug the blindfold off your face and begin the hike back to the start of the course.

There’s much work to be done.

And you still don’t like Ben Solo.

[where-dreamers-go]

“Nothing More” Ben Solo x f!Reader

(A/N: Requested by @mykyloren-addiction. Thank you for the request!

So….including fluff was not specified and I went all out Star Wars brain. Also I tweaked it a little. More avoidance. Ben Solo is back and wants to reconcile with an old friend, Reader, but is Reader willing to even look at him?

Warnings: Angst.

Word Count: 2,870 words)

The roaring podracing engine rumbled loudly next door between the joined chatter of travelers. Sitting outside of Docking Bay 7 was never too quiet. Yet it was a doable tradeoff from your racing and invasive thoughts. You needed a few moments to rest your feet and not actively having to check over your shoulder for a patrolling stormtrooper. An old structure wall of sorts shielded your back and one side. Strong meaty scents came upon a breeze from the neighboring Ronto Roasters. It was a place to get away without completely leaving.

Black Spire Outpost had a little bit and a lot of everything. Busy storefronts, unique travelers, varying landscapes, and all sorts of possibilities. That was one reason the Resistance made camp on Batuu. Another reason was to rebuild the Resistance while the First Order was extremely close by. It was unnerving, however not the most surprising.

A little over a week ago, you had returned to camp one day to the buzzing of information revolving around Ben Solo and Rey. It was shocking when you stayed to hear more. Ben found Rey and through learning he left the Dark Side as well as The First Order, she let him join the Resistance. General Leia was reportedly happy, however not planetside. It was a load to grasp onto mentally. No sooner had you heard the news, you avoided the camp and in turn Ben as much as physically possible. Helping batuuans and helping to spread the Resistance’s purpose took up most of your day.

As it should, you thought.

Even as you ventured through the Outpost, Rey had lead the former Kylo Ren into the Resistance encampment. Tensions had been high for at least the first forty-eight hours. Having a former leader of The First Order so close did that.

Yet keeping busy and out of sight didn’t seem to do much good with Force sensitives around. You were surprised when Rey had approached you and asked if you’d speak with Ben. She had learned that yourself and Ben had known one another prior to him donning a new name. Something you weren’t too keen on thinking about.

Yet, here we go.

You let out a long heavy sigh. It had been a long while since you had really thought about your life prior to joining the fight to save the galaxy. You were not the first to do so, but you truly hoped you would be among the last.

You had family in the New Republic’s political system. Some of which were currently on the First Order’s radar. You and Ben had met in a senate building. Family busy with their job and duties. You remembered a time when you would jump at the opportunity to join whichever family member had a senatorial meeting. Back then, you had an entertaining friendship with the young Ben Solo. The two of you would share both bizarre and mundane stories from across the galaxy. Between visits, meetings, and comm conversations, the friendship had grown into something more. There were feelings that were blatant mutual, however never spoken.

Your feelings had changed. Time and experience made you stronger and more aware.

Things change. People change. Some more than others.

Back then, after hearing what happened to Ben—him actually contacting you and asking you to support The First Order—quickly lead into a heated conversation before you just shut off the call on him and threw yourself into fully supporting the Resistance by joining. There was such a heavy rock-feeling in your heart then. One you used to and turned into a fire to help the Resistance.

I don’t want to see his face, you thought. Sitting back on the bench, you stretched out your legs. Didn’t think I’d be disappointed or annoyed with seeing Rey though. Sometimes she’s too kind for her own good. But no. No. She’s not getting me to speak with…him. No. How many times do I have to tell her ‘no’? He can be here all he likes. I’m busy. The Resistance is busy. I don’t need to see him.

The usual stress of being a Resistance member had tripled on top of growing frustration. That was no way to live. You needed air. You needed space. And you needed to venture to other communities on Batuu. A perfect escape.

An escape?

Grumbling lowly, your eyes scanned over the populace. No sign of of Resistance members. Two stormtroopers on patrol, citizens walking between other citizens, and possibly a handful of scoundrels. A typical day.

. . .

Double checking you hadn’t forgotten your credits, you peeked out of your tent. Looking left, right, and back again—the area was free of Ben. As far as you were concerned, you didn’t need to speak to him. You didn’t really want to anyway.

Things to do, food to eat, people to help. Can’t spend my whole day like this. Again. No one’s up this early anyway.

. . .

“I don’t know about this.” Finn murmured to Poe as the two waited for Rey outside.

“I just want to see if (Y/N) uses a blaster on him.” Poe said as he crossed his arms and rose his eyebrows to his friend. “I really wouldn’t be surprised. But I’m hoping.”

“Hey. Rey really wants them to talk it out.”

“If she pushes (Y/N) any farther, there’s going to be a shoot out. Very little talking.”

“Don’t say that.”

“Why not? Let him try something.”

“He wouldn’t dare.” Finn crossed his arms as well.

The two Force sensitives came into view from behind a line of foliage and storage crates. One tall and confident, the other tall and guilty.

“Guess we’ll find out.” Poe leaned his weight to the side.

“Have you kept an eye on her?” Rey asked as she reached the pair.

“She left her tent about ten minutes ago.” Finn said calmly. The calm tone only a thin layer over his wariness. “She headed towards the ships about a minute ago.”

“Good. She couldn’t have gotten too far.” She smiled and turned to Ben. “You two will be able to talk this time. I know you will.”

Ben Solo simply nodded, but a small hint of a smile graced his features. Rey’s smiles were sometimes hard to not share. He hoped she was right.

“Yeah, no. Why don’t we—you two—leave (Y/N) alone. She doesn’t want to see him.” Poe gestured to Ben. “Don’t encourage this. Whatever the hell it is.”

“They were friends.” Rey said, standing firmly.

“Exactly. ‘Were friends’.”

“Why don’t we let (Y/N) decide.”

“Fine.”

Finn sighed quietly to himself. He had no idea how any of this was going to turn out. Holding out hope that everyone he cared about would keep their heads, he walked with the group towards the ships.

It didn’t take long for them to hear the familiar sound of a ship’s engine. The sound only fueled the group to rush over to an A-Wing still grounded. The pilot? You, of course.

Ben swallowed thickly as he made eye contact with you. The recognization in your face only resulted in a heavy curse word easily read on your lips. He could sense your distaste from where he stood. It only added to his vulnerability. He had not expected to be opening up to his past in this way. It frightened him. Would you still have any hidden feelings for him?

. . .

If you did not care or work on your ship, you would had hit a panel with your fist. Reluctantly, you left the sanctuary of your A-Wing and trudged your way across the sand to the group staring at you. There was no way you were going to risk Rey keeping your ship down using the Force when it would hopefully be easier to just get one conversation over with.

I hate this already.

You stopped about two paces from the group. There was no need to guess what they wanted. It was only a matter of time before they tried a different tactic to get you to talk with Ben.

“Hi.” You said flatly, arms crossed under your chest.

Poe and Finn stood off to the side, both pairs of eyes checking on Ben every few seconds.

“You were leaving?” Rey asked, eyebrows raised slightly. She stood next to Ben who still wore dark tones and a guarded expression.

“Yes.”

“Can you stay long enough to talk?”

“I have some time.”

Everyone stood rooted in their spot. The breeze coming through the trees gave noise to the break in conversation.

Here we go, I guess. Remain calm. There is nothing to get entirely aggravated about. Just breathe and listen.

Rey turned to Ben for a moment before saying, “Ben would like to talk with you.”

You nodded.

“It’s…uh…,” Ben began speaking to you. “It’s been a while. You look well.”

Your eyebrows rose on their own accord.

Wow.

Again, you nodded. “Hi.”

“Hi.”

From his side, Rey gave him an encouraging head gesture. Ben’s hands hung loosely at his sides.

“Look, I know that I’ve done terrible things, but I left all of it. I’m not a part of it any more. I want to help.” He said, his tone somewhere between calm and persuasive.

“So you joined the Resistance.” You added to whatever narrative he was saying.

“I did…and I didn’t know you had joined. If I’d had known that I…maybe things would be different.”

“I joined right after we last talked.” You pursed your lips and soon the words started tumbling out. “I’d think that me telling you that I wouldn’t join the First Order would had told you something.” Keeping your voice calm was all you needed to focus on.

Don’t let him get to you.

Ben’s frame deflated, shoulders falling.

“There’s a lot that’s changed over the years. No doubting that. Is there something….else that you wanted to talk about?” You asked. Being taken through memory lane with Ben Solo was not what you had in mind. Especially when those memories brought up were the last ones you had when he decided to join the First Order and he left his Jedi training up in flames.

“I want to be your friend again.”

“What?” The word slipped out from you before you could stop yourself.

“I miss you,” Ben’s voice lowered, almost hushed as the words seemed to tug their way out of him. “I want to be your friend again. I miss spending time with you.”

The kriff?

“I’m sorry for all of the terrible things that I’ve done. I can’t change the past. But I can do what I can now.”

You shook your head.

Dark eyebrows knitted together. It looked as if he had taken a hit to the gut.

“I—wow… Look, I can not promise that I’ll be your friend again. I’m just being realistic here. A true friend would not have done…would not have asked me what you did years ago. I don’t…,” you sighed and uncrossed your arms. “I don’t trust you.”

Ben’s mouth hung open as he stared at you. A strong amount of hurt and confusion colored on his fair face.

Keeping your ground was what you intended to do from the start and you would. There had been too many nights, too many days where his choices effected more than simply him. Forgiveness did not always have to be given. It had taken you so long to forgive yourself for things you never did, for feelings your had for him, and things you had considered doing. What Ben did, you were not obligated to forgive him in any amount.

“(Y/N).” Ben said quietly.

“No.”

No. Can’t do it. I’ve already been through this.

You looked away from him and to the other two men. Poe and Finn. Two people you did trust, especially at that moment. Neither one said a word in favor of either you nor Ben. In fact, Finn looked to be observing from a more calm stand point whereas Poe had his arms firmly crossed across his chest. If there was someone who truly did not like the conversation happening, other than you, it was Poe.

Are we finished now?

Boots shifted the sand as Ben took a more wide stance.

“I’m here now. I’m trying to help.” Ben urged. “If you’d just forgive me, we can start over. I didn’t do anything to you. I’ve said things and asked you to join the First Order when I had, but I never went after you. I would never do that.”

You squared your shoulders. There was only so much a person could take.

Calm. Calm, you thought as you breathed through your nose.

“You made a choice, Ben. You ran off to Snoke instead of your parents. To your mother who would protect you from anyone and anything. You chose The First Order instead of your own family. What the hell for? You are not and were not limited in your choices. You’ve done unspeakable things in The First Order. You hurt Poe, Finn, and Rey.” Your breath came out as hot air through your nose. “Did you really just ask me to forgive you?”

Ben’s throated bopped, “Yes.”

The kriffing hell. He just—

“I cannot pretend that you weren’t Kylo Ren. Words aren’t enough.”

“Ben is with us now.” Rey interjected. “He left The First Order.”

You returned your gaze to Ben’s dark brown eyes. “Did you do anything to help dismantle them? Sabotage their plans besides leaving?”

“(Y/N),” Rey said. “You’re asking too much of him. Give him a chance.”

“I did. Years ago before I dropped the call. The call where he asked me to join the kriffing First Order. No.”

Poe and Finn shifted uncomfortably.

“If what you all want is for me to give him a chance in the Resistance, fine. That’s technically not my call. It’s a group effort. But,” You looked Ben hard in the eyes. “If you’re asking more from me…don’t expect anything.”

His dark eyebrows curved up, a look of hurt returning twice over.

“Wait…,” Poe started to lean closer. “What more could he want?”

Your silent answer and unmasked facial expression gave cause to Poe’s reaction.

“Oh, come on…You can’t be serious.” The pilot groaned.

Ben sent a narrowed gaze to the other man.

“We’re not talking about what never happened.” You added more calmly.

“All in favor of ending this conversation?” Poe asked as he could no longer make eye contact with anyone around him. “Because it needs to.”

“(Y/N),” Ben took a step closer. “I’ll do all that I can to help stop the First Order.”

“That’s what we’re all here doing,” Poe added dryly.

“Finn. Poe.” Rey said in a direct and calm manner. “Let’s give them a moment.”

Both men looked over with incredulous looks.

“Come on,” she gestured with her head as she turned and started walking away.

Finn made eye contact with you and said, “Let us know if you need anything.”

You nodded.

Poe Dameron on the other hand cleared his throat and unmistakably patted the weapon in his holster. Thankfully his messages were never subtle.

The moment that the others were out of earshot, you turned your attention to Ben once more.

“Anything else you’d like to say?”

“Are any of my ‘sorry’s enough?”

“There needs to be action to match. Help us. Show that you changed.”

“My feelings haven’t changed.”

A heavy exhale left you.

“You don’t feel the same?” He asked.

“No. Not for a long time.”

It was easy to recognize the genuine hurt in Ben’s eyes. Yes, you felt empathy, however you no longer held romantic feelings for Ben Solo. There was nothing for you to do.

“I have to get back to work.” You said, giving a general gesture behind you. “We have a Resistance to rebuild.”

“I understand.”

“Best of luck, Ben.”

“…Thanks.”

Giving an awkward wave, you pivoted on the spot and headed back to your A-Wing. A weight was lifted from your shoulders and the need to check your surroundings in a safe area had drastically dwindled down. At least your mind would be in a better place while you went out to other communities.

There was limited choice in how you would be interacting near the newest Resistance member. You would learn to work alongside Ben because saving the galaxy from the overpowering use of the Dark Side did not stop for ruined relationships. One day he might even become a nice partner to have when having to go out in your ship. Ben was a great pilot. Yet, only time would tell. Only the Force knew about what was to come.

You would not stray to far from camp, however you would keep a firm eye on Ben to protect the ones you cared about. You did not have to forgive him and you did not think you ever would at that point. The First Order was still a threat and they were scrapping many corners of Batuu to find their base.

It was time to go to work.

~~~

Best wishes and happy reading.)

(If you love my writings and want to support me, I have a Ko-Fi where you can buy me a coffee. I would be eternally grateful.

coffee

~~~~~

DreamerDragon Tags: @cubedtriangle

Star Wars: @darkenwolfy

**Let me know if you would like to be tagged in insert readers, either through replies, ask, or message.**

[dindjarinbae]

It’s all for You (Ben Solo x Reader)

request from @belovedadam :  hello there, can I request a ben x reader when he comes back from exogol looking for her?? cause it’s always and will always be her??? thank you

listen, this was one of my favorite little things to write, i adore writing ben. he’s just... perfection. anyways, thank you lots for this request, soft lil things like this melt my heart. 

also, requests are literally (until further notice) eternally open. send me anything... i will write whatever your heart desires.

TW: none, it’s just literally softness with a touch of angst

WC: 1923

There were nights that the universe seemed so empty.

Though, this wasn’t true, you couldn’t help but feel this way, and you couldn’t help but feel so abandoned, night after endless night. And tonight was no exception. You couldn’t close your eyes without seeing him, without seeing Ben, without replaying the last time you saw him in your head. The last memory you had of Ben was his disheveled face and messy hair standing in front of you while you begged him not to go, begged him to not give himself to the darkness. But, to your dismay, he didn’t give into you as he so often did.

The two of you grew up together, his parents were practically your own, and yours were practically his as well. It was no surprise when the two of you fell in love. And it really was a love to end all loves. There were times the two of you would do nothing but talk, or run through forests, dance together, and when he began Jedi training with his uncle, you were always sneaking around behind his back just to spend time together. For years, you had loved him, and for you, it was always Ben. Every little thing came back to Ben Solo.

But it seemed as if he wasn’t yours to keep.

The day he left, the day that haunted your nightmares, was the day your Ben died, and the only thing left was Kylo Ren.

You were not born with the force, and time had proven that you weren’t force sensitive many times, so there was no way for you to reach out to him, to try and pull him back to the light. You never saw him after he left, and you didn’t really want more material for your brain to weave its’ nightmares, so you kept it that way. Leia knew this, and thankfully, she accommodated it to the best of her abilities as you traveled around with her and the nomadic rebels.You were hardly on a ship and more times than not you were left on whatever planet a base could be settled upon, far from the action.

Like tonight.

Tonight was worse than the others, because it wasn’t just the pain of losing the love of your life keeping you awake tonight; it was the fact that nearly all the rebels were on the most climatic mission of their fight to destroy the first order, and Leia laid comatose, your only parent figure left, was barely clinging to life.

It was dark, and the stars above you seemed sparse and few, and you felt nothing but cold dread in the pit of your stomach, because you knew full well that everyone on those ships might never come back. You stayed still, sitting on a rock, keeping your eyes on the sky for a sign, for a ship, for some indication that someone would return. If no one else, you prayed despeately, that at least Poe (the bain of your existence) would come back. You were too consumed with your thoughts to hear the footsteps approaching you, and you jumped upon hearing your name.

“y/n.”

You turned around quickly to see a communication technician behind you, and you felt instantly guilty for not remembering his name, “Yeah?” you asked and raised your eyebrow, trying to still your shaking hands.

“We’ve just gotten word that it’s over. The war, I mean. y/n, we’ve won,” he breathed, and his wide smile and joyfully tear-stained cheeks were visible under the few stars, “They’ll be here by morning.”

You slowly rose from the rock and looked at him carefully before daring to ask the questions that came forth into your mind, “The General? How is she?” you asked.

His smile was the first thing to fall, followed by a few more tears, “General Organa might just be our greatest loss. I’m sorry, y/n.” he whispered and grabbed your arm gently, “Come back to the command center with me and I can fill you in.”

The walk back to the base was silent, and you felt numb. You truly had lost everything: Ben, your parents, Han, Leia, even a handful of childhood friends, and you regretted your selfish need to stay away from the fight, to stay away from Kylo. A chilly breeze rustled your hair and by the time you got to the communication center, you realized your teeth were chattering together. Inside, the handful of people there bustled around busily and barked out orders to one another.

It wasn’t until the boy spoke your name again that you remembered the nature of your visit, “I mean, we took extremely heavy losses,” he said and pointed to a holopad with names and numbers of ships and their drivers that did not survive, “But we can’t know the full extent of them until they come back. Would you like to stay here until morning?” he asked.

You shook your head and turned on your heel, leaving the small bunker. Once you were outside, you could see dawn’s faintest light. Nothing was right about this, and it truly began to sink in that Leia was gone. Panic and sadness seemed to replace the blood in your veins as coldness spread through your body and your breaths quickened. You couldn’t think of anything at the moment except for getting as far away from that base as possible.

So you ran.

You ran through trees and through fields until the sun was nearly completely risen, before you fell to your knees. A wailing sound filled your ears and it wasn’t until you were sucking in air that you realized that the sound came from your own mouth. Tears fell steadily down your face and you wanted to chastise yourself for being grateful for winning a war, but you couldn’t help but stay in the dirt, sobbing, begging for some kind of absolution to come and save you from the selfishness that was creating your sadness.

You walked on your knees towards a tree and you leaned your back against it, sobs still shaking your body. The golden sunlight that filled the spaces between the trees and their leaves seemed like it was taunting you with its’ mirthful glow, beaming down on you almost like a reminder that everyone was probably celebrating gratefully, and you were sitting alone in your self-pity. The tears in your eyes blurred the world around you, making everything shift and liquefy, but one thing was clear in your vision, and that was the misshapen form of someone in black moving towards you. You gasped and quickly wiped the tears away from your eyes with your dirt-speckled hands, leaving small smears across your cheeks.

At first, nothing about the man registered in your mind as he stood on the threshold of the cluster of trees you were sat in. But as your eyes made their way up his legs which were clad in ripped pants and his shirt which was torn, your face drained of all color.

With a black eye forming, cuts littering his pale face, and his lip split, hair matted to his forehead, stood Kylo Ren. He took a step forward and you scrambled back, falling onto your hands so you wouldn’t fall on your back, “Don’t- don’t take a step closer to me,” you commanded, but your voice was hardly one with authority or strength in it as you struggled to keep in another sob.

He did not heed your request, and moved forward weakly, silently... timidly. You froze as he sunk down to his knees in front of you and you watched his bottom lip quiver before it mouthed your name.

“y/n.” he said after mouthing your name, “It’s me. It’s Ben.”

You shook your head and closed your eyes, “No. That’s impossible. Ben is gone. Kylo Ren killed him,” you stated and shook your head, half expecting to open your eyes and see that he was never really there. But, when you opened them again, there he was still, kneeling in front of you, a bleeding, wounded mess. You re-positioned yourself on the ground and knelt with him, your eyes searching his battered face.

He lifted a shaking hand and wrapped his long fingers around your small wrist. Every bit of common sense told you to yank your hand away, but you didn’t. You couldn’t. He pulled your wrist up and laid your palm flat against his heartbeat, “y/n, there wasn’t a single day I didn’t think of you,” he whispered and you felt the fast paced vibrations against his chest of his heart through your palm. His hand was warm against your wrist and you sniffled, meeting his eyes, “I wanted the darkness so badly, I wanted all of the most forbidden powers the force could offer me, yet every single time I was ready to completely turn myself over, something pulled me back. I never knew what held me back,” he breathed and you listened in shock.

You stared into his eyes, trying to find that malicious gleam he had when he left years ago, but all you saw was the sincerity that only Ben’s eyes could hold within them, “I thought it was my mother, maybe even Rey.” he continued, and you flinched at her name, remembering the one meeting between you two, the bitterness in your chest, and the sour taste in your mouth as she boasted about being the one thing that could turn Kylo into Ben once more.

“But as I tried to save her, revive her on Exegol... I couldn’t. And then i realized,” he murmured, his voice hoarse, “It was never Rey, never my mother, my father... anyone. But, do you know who it always was?” he asked and reached up with his free hand to wipe the tears away from your cheeks with his thumb. Your silence seemed to bring tears to his eyes and he never took his gaze off of you once, “It was you, y/n. You were always my light. And I’ll never forgive myself for not seeing it earlier, for not staying for you, for not being better... for you.”

Moments passed, and the two of you said nothing until one word passed your lips in his direction.

"Ben?”

He nodded and was quick to move his arms around your waist, pulling you securely against his chest, and you were just as quick to wrap your arms around him in return, “I’m here. It’s me. I’ll never leave your side again,” he promised and pulled back to look down at your tear stained face. His eyes fell upon your lips and he ducked his head down with a slight wince to press his lips fully against yours. You could taste the drying blood from his cut and the salt from the tears rolling down both of your cheeks, you could practically smell the darkness and the death on his skin, but there was no doubt that this was Ben in your arms, your Ben.

The story of how he got so beaten up and bloody could wait, the story of how the resistance won the war could wait.

For you, it was always Ben. Every little thing came back to Ben Solo.

As the sun grew higher in the sky above them, casting shadows across his skin, it seemed he was finally yours to keep.

And in that moment, in his arms, the universe seemed a little less empty.

[damn-stark]

This Town

Chapter 13 of Dark Temptations

A/N- Hehe 🎢

Warning- ANGST, sweet fluff, violence, long chapter, just slight bit of explicit content, but nothing major.

Pairing- Dark!Poe x Skywalker!reader

(Let me know if want to be tagged)

————

“I thought we had more trust in each other, than to be hiding secrets from each other, Ben.” You argue in a sharp distasteful whisper. “Especially things like you talking to Rey through a force connection!”

Ben keeps looking down at the surface of the table and continues to hide his face behind his hair, giving no indication of what he truly was feeling. You hoped it was shame though.

“Because you do trust me right?” You ask in a much softer and hesitant tone, sitting back down in your seat on the booth and turning your head to try and meet his eyes that you notice only widen at your comment. “I know I’ve been absent for the past couple of months, but you still trust me right?”

“I do!” Ben quickly interjects, making you just as quickly press your question.

“Then?”

Ben simply shrugs and that causes your anger to heighten, making you stand from your seat abruptly and storm off to the cockpit of the Falcon. Where the silence is only imaginative and the company brings peace to your mind.

“Hey, junior.” Your uncle Han greets as he looks at you over his shoulder. “Are you doing okay?”

“Yeah,” you nod stiffly. “I’m fine. How much time until we reach Lothal?”

Your uncle Han looks back out to the transparisteel and shrugs. “Not long, now. Why? You excited for the grand meeting?” He asks sarcastically.

You scoff and cross your arms over your chest. “Super, can’t you tell?”

Your uncle Han looks back at the feigned excited expression you managed to express on your face and he laughs. “Well that makes two of us.”

“I told you already, Han that you didn’t have to come, I’m fine with Ben and y/n.” Your aunt Leia argues from the co-pilot seat.

“And what was I supposed to do at base? Sit on my ass and wait for you to return?”

“Exactly.”

You can’t help the genuine smile that grows on your lips at hearing them both bicker so lightheartedly. It has been so long since you’ve seen them both and even longer since you heard them bicker like this. The last time you had seen them it was so little and you were barely in the mood to talk. Not like that has changed much.

“Where’s chewbacca? Why didn’t he come?” You question curiously, from the corner of your eye catching as artoo and Ben joined everyone in the cockpit.

“He had to stay at base,” your uncle Han answers, “but he sends his greetings to the both of you,” he looks over his shoulder again and looks from Ben and you. “He says he misses you both, he says he can’t wait until you two join us out on runs again.”

You quirk your brow and smirk. “He does?”

“Yes.”

You snicker and hide your smile with your hand. “Well when you see him tell him I miss him too. Just like I missed you too uncle Han.”

He instantly spins back around to look away from you and tries to act nonchalant about your comment. “I knew that.”

From the transparisteel, you see your aunt Leia's reflection roll her eyes at the behavior her husband displayed and even after years still couldn’t really take. She tried to comment on it, but he was quick to change the subject as the ship jumped out of hyperspace and saved him from having to hear any more of it. “We’re here kids, get ready.”

Wanting to meet Ben’s gaze as a force of habit to silently pick at his fathers doings, this time you restrain yourself since you were angry he had hid that he was talking to Rey through a weird force connection in the past couple of months. Instead, this time you look out to the incoming scenery of Lothal; noticing that it was unchanging since the last time you had been here with he who shall not be named. The fields were still dry and beige, the sky was grey as if it was going to pour at any moment. The rock spirals were still scattered around the planet, the town was the same and just as old—this time instead of landing in the middle of nowhere, you had the pleasure of arriving on a landing pad by the elegant white castle. This time you were greeted by overdressed guards and droid butlers. It was overwhelming. You wanted to go back home already.

“Artoo, if you could be a friend and hold one of my lightsabers, yeah?”

The old droid reveals a small opening and takes your lightsaber, beeping back an assuring response once the saber has disappeared inside him. You offer him a small smile and then lift your head to watch the scenery painted outside the castle, not being able to help but be in awe at how everything outside looked like from inside the castle; it was clear, you could clearly see the fields, it wasn’t like how you imagined it would look like from so far in the ground. The castle was almost made entirely out of thick glass, which explained why from afar the building looked white and elegant.

Albeit the calmness that such a scenic view brought, was ruined by the sound of the advisor's voice bringing back your realization of where you were, and why in fact you were here. “General Organa, if you could please stay standing here until I announce your presence to Lothals Governor.”

“Of course.” Your aunt Leia agrees sweetly, proceeding to watch as the tiny woman marched into the intended gathering room and did as she said in a loud booming voice that was heard even with the golden doors closed.

“Governor Starwind, may I formally present to you, the General of the resistance and Princess of Alderaan, General Leia Organa! And her Husband General, Han Solo!” The doors swung open and Ben and you were left out on getting presented (not like you would want to anyway), instead you were finally given permission to enter, letting yourself fall behind your aunt and uncle, as Ben walked in first, for just in case. Instantly at that moment the presented couple stepped inside, getting welcomed by another booming voice.

“Welcome, Generals! Please come on in and welcome to Lothal and my humble home.”

Pfft.

Lastly you walk in with Artoo beside you, lifting your gaze and at that instant moment finding amongst the crowd, the person you’ve been dreading, and wishing to every damn star that you wouldn’t see; Poe Dameron, in all his glory. Who just like this town, was unchanging, his choice in black clothes, choice in leaving his helmet over his face and everything else. You couldn’t see his face, but you imagined that too was not different, he probably still had his scar and the same brown eyes, the same face that never left your damned memories.

Curse him and this stupid town.

And just as you imagined he would, Poe's visor found you and followed your every step, not for any second leaving you and only making you squirm and fight the urge not to run and hide beside Ben, like a frightened child. You were the one that had to rip your eyes away and look at who you were here to help protect, being grateful at the fact that you couldn’t see his face.

At least for that you were grateful for. Being here on the other hand not so much, you still had to sit through a long meeting that was of no importance to you really. You were only left to listen and ignore the burning sensation that was caused by someone’s stare.

This was going to be a long day.

——

“I’m unlike my other predecessors, I care for my planet, for my people and their well being, we’ve been mistreated for far too long, I want to see peace fall upon Lothal.” Governor Starwind continued in that formal voice that was beginning to sound so dreadfully monotone in your ears. Any more time inside this elegant glass room and you’d probably die of boredom; it was not fair that Ben got to patrol outside and avoid hearing this meeting.

“And we’ve promised that you will get that with us and only with us, with the Resistance—”

“Commander Nomad, please,” the Governor cuts Poe off, “I will not accept slander of any kind, we are at a formal meeting, I’m sure you’re used to those. I have enjoyed hearing what The First Order has to offer to try and convince Lothal to stay, but let’s keep this professional. Alright?”

You don’t look to Poe, but you figure he nods since you don’t hear his modified voice respond out. All you think about while the meeting drags on is the fact that Poe was addressed as Commander and not General; such a drastic change was strange, and suspicious. It made you wonder too long on how it could’ve happened, why? You wouldn’t get answers, but you could wonder and keep yourself busy until you heard the holy words that woke you up.

“As of now, it’s late, you all must be tired, we will reconvene tomorrow to discuss further,”

You hear your uncle Han groan beside you at the words that made you dread tomorrow as well, it was a mutual feeling that you expressed with a single shared look.

“There's a banquet in the great hall, and some live music if you all would like to visit there to calm your minds.” The governor finishes, making everyone around the long table stand up, stretch their limbs, and start to head out while you beamed at the sound of food and getting to leave.

“Damn, I thought it was never going to end,” your uncle Han says as the three of you walk out and meet up with Ben in the hall. “I felt like I was going to just knock out, or die there.”

Your aunt Leia scoffs and shoots her husband a glare over her shoulder, not having the energy for a quick witty comeback and instead focusing on the great hall you had been welcomed into. Seeing as you did walk in that it was ten times more lively than the meeting, there were more people in fancy attire then there was in the meeting, the music as promised was a live band playing music you would hear at a cantina at times past midnight when everyone was already half wasted. The great hall was great indeed, as it seemed to have an opening that led to two other huge rooms lit by bright, elegant chandeliers.

Overall it was all overwhelming, but you stuck through—“come on kids, let’s present you two to the Governor and try and make a better impression.” Your aunt Leia instantly instructed, already guiding all of you towards the Governor in the back of the room, not waiting for a single argument, or the chance for any of you to explore on your own. Instead pulling you instantly in front of the Governor that looked young and quite charming, not compared to others you’ve met. “Governor Starwind, I would like to introduce my son and my niece accompanying me.” She looks at Ben beside her with a proud smile. “This is my son Ben solo.” She looks at you and keeps her smile, “and my niece, Y/N Skywalker.”

The Governor offers all of you a small charming smile, bowing his head slightly before his eyes drift from Ben and you, unknowingly showing a glimmer in his purple eyes as he stops to focus on you—“I've heard stories of Jedi as a child, and when I heard that not only one, but three Jedi were joining me today, I couldn’t help but feel like a little kid once again. It’s a pleasure having the three of you.” His eyes drift to Ben for a moment, but they end up back on you, shooting you a crooked smile. “And I am confident to say that what I hear of your beauty is not a lie, it must run in the Skywalker family.” His eyes flicker to your aunt Leia and he offers her the charming grin.

“Oh,” you breathe, trying to hide the fact that you were flustered. “Why thank you, but I can’t take all the credit, it seems that what I’ve heard of the Governor of Lothal is all true.”

The Governor chuckles and his face shows how suddenly flustered he felt. “Oh well all good things I hope?”

Before you could answer with a response that would surprise even you, Poe’s familiar voice interrupts you. “Governor Starwind,” he pauses and his head tilts to you, but you avert your gaze. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but I seem to have a message from General Hux that he says is rather significant.”

“Oh,” Starwind looks away from Poe and turns his attention back to you to offer you an apologetic look. “I’m sorry to cut this short, but I do hope I find you later to continue our conversation.”

Your eyes fly to meet his, before briefly flickering to see Poe’s visor already looking at you and you can’t help but smirk and glance back at the Governor and bat your eyelashes. “I’m looking forward to it, Governor Starwind.”

He smiles and nods, letting you and your party walk off, not at all letting yourself have one last look at Poe. Instead hearing Artoo comment on what had happened; something that led your uncle Han to agree with an over exaggerated mannerism. “The droid is right, If the two of you needed a room, all you had to do was ask.”

You choke on your own saliva and slowly drag your eyes to him. “I was simply talking to him.”

Your uncle crosses his arms over his chest and nods slowly. “Sure kid. It’s okay to admit something if you want, I can give you a few pointers since well I wasn’t too bad at—”

“Dad.” Ben cuts him off. “Please leave her alone.”

Your uncle Han lifts his hands as if offended before he counters Ben’s comment. “What did I do?”

You chuckle and just roll your eyes, letting them continue with their unnecessary argument and focusing on the people dancing to the upbeat music, wishing Finn was here so you had someone to dance with, if even just to one song; but no, he had to stay back on the Island to continue with training. Maybe it was a good thing since Rey was there, Finn could watch over her while Ben, nor you couldn’t.

But you still would like the company. Even if you had to remember you weren’t here to mingle, you were here on a mission. So instead you kept yourself busy and walked around the great hall, eyeing the place and enjoying the droid by your side as your company. Unaware of the shadow watching you close and following you as far away as he could as to not be suspicious and spotted. Even if it ached him not to fall by your side, he lingered behind. Also unaware of the other presence searching for you around the feast, and the extra pair of beady eyes watching not only you but every other guest suspiciously.

“You know,” you tell Artoo as you eye the food with your mouth watering. “I’m quite hungry, let’s break away from the patrol and get something to eat, yeah?” You don’t wait for a response from someone who can’t eat and head to the food tables, carefully looking at every piece of food and taking too long to choose something to eat. An action that let the unexpected happen.

“Can we talk?”

You don’t dare look to your side once you recognize Poe’s voice and feel his body beside you, instead you go stiff; even if you had heard his voice before, even if you knew he was here you grew stiff, because for the first time since you left him behind and he said those cruel things, he was finally addressing you personally, he was talking to you. You didn’t know what to do, Ben wasn’t around to help you, nor was anyone else, it was just him and you. That sole fact made you grip onto your plate so hard that it broke in your hand, it made you feel as if your heart was going to rip out of your chest. Your breathing hitched and you parted your lips.

But you didn’t dare acknowledge him. “Come on Artoo, I’ve lost my appetite with that horrendous foul smell that suddenly hit my nose.” You put the broken plate down and turn on your heels with your head held up high, ignoring Poe and trying not to look back, instead paying all your attention to Artoo. “Yeah, of course you can come back home with me, I’m sure my dad would love it too.”

Artoo expresses a happy whir and you try to smile, but can’t manage one, whatever blissful daze you had built to be here and not look so grim had been destroyed by Poe’s interaction. It’s like you went through a glitch that left you with how you were before you left the Island. It was mind numbing and you only broke from your stupor when you joined Ben and your uncle Han.

“So has Luke made you two Jedi Masters yet?” Your uncle Han asks curiously, trying to break the tension that he even felt surround the small group.

“Not yet,” Ben answers, making you scoff and add a witty quip.

“Actually Ben is already Master, uncle Han.”

“Really?”

“What?”

“Yeah,” you smile innocently, “Ben is the master at lying and hiding truths from people.”

Ben scoffs and shakes his head, while your uncle Han is left bewildered at your unexpected remark.

“Come on I said I was sorry, I just didn’t want to worry you.”

You shoot him a raging glare and scoff, folding your arms over your chest and internally trying to calm yourself down. “No, save it Ben. You had all the time in the universe to tell me. And you never did!” Unknowingly you raise your voice to a sharp tone that was beginning to turn heads and worry Ben and his father alike. “After I kept asking if you were okay, you lied! I’m not a child, nor a wounded animal for you to be treating me as such!”

“Hey kid, calm down.” Your uncle Han tries to diffuse the situation, trying to grab your shoulder as you ripped your arm from its folded position and pointed your finger at Ben. When you feel the sudden touch on your shoulder, you snap your gaze away from Ben to look at the sudden touch. “I’m sure whatever Ben did can wait to be discussed for later.”

Feeling as if one word went through one ear and fell out the other you spin your attention back to Ben and continue to snap at Ben. “What if something had happened, and you were gone, huh? I wouldn’t have a clue of where you are because you kept things Ben! I thought we could trust each other.”

Ben’s own anger begins to rise at your claims that you threw at him, but his anger didn’t cloud his mind, he was rational about the situation and knew that adding more fuel to the fire would cause an explosion, so instead he stormed off with nothing to say. Leaving you to stare at the empty space where he once stood. Letting your uncle Han step in to try and check on your sudden outburst. “Kid, are you okay?”

You inhale and exhale deeply, nodding to say yes, but not at all assuring his worry. He wanted to press deeper into the subject, but you cut him off before he could try. “I’m going to get some fresh air, I’ll be back later, or just go to the room.” Without waiting for a response you walk past him, but don’t make it far as Artoo began to follow you. “It’s okay buddy, I’ll be fine, I just need some time to cool off, okay? Stay here and watch after aunt Leia, and uncle Han.”

The droid assures you and rolls back to where he was before, letting you maneuver your way through the crowd until you made it out of the great hall and to some balcony in the far end of the hall. And just as you stepped out you got out your comm and contacted your father. You didn’t have the chance to take a nice breath of air, you just stepped out and instantly contacted him.

He, who didn’t take long to answer. “Hey, kid, I’m surprised you called. I would’ve thought you were having too much fun to check in.”

You laugh softly, but can’t manage a smile even if you wanted to. “I just….It’s night time here already, I just wanted to say good night and check in on the current prisoner.”

There's a moment of silence on the other end, you wait, having no other option and instead rest your hands on the balcony’s railing; hearing him only minutes later. “She’s been good, nothing suspicious has happened and she’s been cooperative. I think she was being sincere when she said she meant no harm. Finn seems to be having more trouble than Rey.”

You scoff lightheartedly and shake your head even if he couldn’t see. “Well, that’s good….you let me know if she acts up, okay?”

“Promise.” He pauses again and talks in a softer, more assuring voice. “Are you doing okay? Do you need me to read you a bedtime story like when you were young, or something?”

You snort. “No. I just wanted to say goodnight and that I can’t wait to go back home.”

“Ah, well goodnight little sun, I love you.”

Tears well up in your eyes at his words, but you restrain yourself from doing so, albeit you let it be known that you were holding back tears when the crack in your voice gave you out. “I love you too.” And just like that the call ended and you were left with an aching throat and a cloudy vision. Left looking at the city below and the town in the distance.

Anger and fear still clouded your mind, but you tried to calm that by putting your head in your hands and talking to yourself. “I’m okay, I’m okay. I’m okay,” you sigh and look back at the sparkling city, drawing in a shaky breath and taking a moment before you slowly released it and rested your head back in your hands to try and avoid the echoing voices in your head. “I’m okay, I’m okay, I’m….” You suddenly pause at the sound of the tinted glass door opening behind you, you don’t lift your head and instead slide your eyes to the corner to see only a pair of black boots a couple feet behind you. You don’t speak and just lift your head from your hands to stand up straight. Instead you slide to the side to try and make it to the second door to leave, but of course, before you could try doing such an attempt you’re stopped by the voice of the man you expected it to be.

“Wait, please.”

You grow stiff and tighten your grip on the railing of the balcony, looking away from him as you saw him come to your side.

“Can we—”

“Leave,” you hiss, “get out and leave me alone.” You keep your eyes away from him and keep them on the raining night sky, hearing no indication of what you had asked. “Just leave,” your voice unwillingly cracks and you grip onto the glass railing harder. “Fine I will.” You push yourself away and try to leave, but a hand instantly catches your wrist and stops you. The unexpected grasp makes you gasp. But still not look back.

“Wait please listen to me.” He tries again, letting you know he removed the helmet off his head by throwing it across the balcony. Revealing a much softer, and less monotone voice. “Just listen for a minute.”

His voice however didn’t give you the serenity he expected, instead it infuriated you even more, causing you to snatch your lightsaber from your side and whip back to ignite it and threaten him with the end of the blade inches from his throat. “I told you to leave me alone!”

Poe’s eyes widen and he lifts his head so no part of his skin would touch the burning blade, he slides his eyes from the green blade and then looks back at you, not recognizing the anger that glazed your eyes. You kept trying not to get a better view of his face. Yet you just knew his dark eyes watched you. You hear the same voice that enraged you seconds ago and calmed you months ago. “If that’s what you want?”

You draw in a breath and hold it, trying to keep the same angry mask on your face. Albeit not maintaining it long as Poe tries to step closer to the end of the blade, and causes you to instinctively deactivate it and step back until your heels touch the railing and your hilt falls out of your hand and down to the castle. You run and hit the edge, throwing your hand out as if that was going to get it back. “NO!” You bellow, wiggling your fingers, feeling those tears that had been itching to fall out, roll down your cheeks. “No.”

Before the lightsaber hilt was out of sight, you see the lights of the castle and the city reflect on it as it comes flying back, albeit not to you (of course) but to Poe’s hand. When you look back at him, again you avoid looking at his face and look at your lightsaber in his hand and take a fearful step back as he tries to hand it out to you.

At your attempt however, you had already gotten to a dangerous edge and when you step back your body loses balance, causing you to almost fall back, but not managing to do so as Poe’s hand wraps around your wrist and pulls you to him. Instantly remarking on your dangerous actions. “Fuck Princess, be careful.”

Your breath hitches and you pull away from him, snatching your lightsaber from his hand and yet staying in your new spot.

“You welcome.” He retorts, not at all getting the answer he wanted. “Will you listen to me now?”

With your eyes still on the ground you shrug, “I guess.”

“Good,” Poe mumbles under his breath, stepping towards you and trying to cup your cheek, but receiving an instant decline. “Right, well, I just wanted to say that I-I I’m sorry.”

You gasp and your eyes fly to his, feeling your eyebrows furrow and your heart race. Your mind couldn’t comprehend what he was saying, or really didn’t want to. It was unexpected for some reason.

“I’m really am sorry, what I said to you before you left, I’m sorry, I didn’t—”

“Why?” You cut him off, fully seeing his face now and realizing that he had grown a beard, that more bags were under his eyes and his eyes expressed that same exhaustion. He looked like he hadn’t slept in months, he looked terrible; yet you wanted nothing more but to feel his face under your fingers, and got lost in his eyes. As much as you wanted to forget what you felt, to replace what you felt with hatred, you couldn’t, your heart still ached for him and made flips the moment you saw just the smallest bit of him; “why are you telling me this? I don’t want to be played again, so if that’s what you’re trying to do, just leave or I’ll call Ben. I’m sure he’d love to have a few words with you.”

Poe parts his lips, but nothing comes out, he just keeps looking at you with that same star struck face. He tries to get close again, but you step back towards a wall this time. Hearing as he managed to find his voice. “No, I don’t want to hurt you again, I promise,” he sighs and you notice his eyes are filled with tears. “I'm just sorry. That day you left, after you asked me to go with you, I said horrible things that I regret every damn day. I didn’t mean them, I didn’t, but I still said them and I’m sorry. I just…” his voice cracks and he pauses to collect himself, not for once breaking away his gaze, instead, taking a step towards you that you let him take while you froze in your spot because of what came out of his mouth. “I just wanted you to leave, and I couldn’t find another way to make you leave. I’m sorry.” His frown deepens and his eyebrows knit together, he swallows back the lump that kept forming in his throat and takes another careful step towards you.

“But why did you say those things, Poe? The things you said, they...they hurt me.” You finally share softly, mirroring the same long expression.

“Because would you have left if I didn’t?” He questions making your eyebrows furrow. “Tell me you would have left if I didn’t. That you wouldn’t have gone back for me.”

Just as you were going to say ‘no’, his last comment caught you off guard because it was true. You would have gone back for him. He knew that.

“I know I broke your heart, I know that I hurt you in more ways than I can ever know, but just know I’m sorry.” He continues softly and sincerely, taking that final step towards you and slowly reaching to cup your cheek, smiling softly as you let him be so near without turning him away. “Knowing I hurt you, hurt me too, deeply. And I thought I was going to forget, forget what I said, the way I saw your heart break through your eyes. And I didn’t, I wanted so badly to forget, forget the way you make me feel, how you would treat me like no one has for a long time. I thought I was going to forget and just return to myself before I saw you again, but my love, you-you took part of my heart along with you that day.” A wobbly smile spreads on his lips and he cups your cheeks with both hands, roaming his eyes all over yours to try and see what you felt. But you hardly knew; you wanted to be angry, but at the same time you felt a light of happiness that had been lacking from your life lately. You simply just let tears show your feelings. You let him continue.

“The other part you took years ago,” he expresses a soft huff of air and tears finally escape from his eyes.

You sigh. “Poe.”

“You don’t have to say anything,” he reveals, “you don’t have to forgive me, I just wanted you to hear me, I just needed to see you.”

A smile finally breaks on your lips and you carefully reach to cup his face, gently stroking his cheek and part of the scar that ended on his cheekbone. “I….I understand why you did it. I do.”

More tears stream down his face, but you're quick to wipe them off. He expresses a sigh of relief and grabs your hand to press a soft kiss on your palm, smiling wider as he sees the bracelet around your wrist. “You’re still wearing it.”

“Everyday.” You assure him.

He stays quiet and his eyes keep roaming your face, he only manages to speak minutes later as if he couldn’t believe he was speaking, or you were here. “I missed you, I missed seeing your face, I missed your touch, I missed kissing you. Stars I just fucking missed you.”

You grin shyly and scoff. “Oh gosh, Poe.”

“What? It’s true.”

You look at your bracelet and then look up at the stars that seem to show a glow that you’ve haven’t seen from them in months. You look back to Poe and see a sort of color return to your view, and a warmth return to your body. A peace. “Truth is Poe, none of my feelings have changed, not since the day I met you, even after years I still feel my heart race just the same. With you everything just makes sense, you...you’re the light to my stars, everything shines brighter when I’m with you.” You smile softly and feel the salt of your tears on your lips, Poe expresses a soft chuckle as his own tears keep slipping from his eyes. “You completely stole my heart the day I met you, and I know I was young and a little naive, but I know that you completely captivated me that day. I’ve never felt the way I feel for you with anyone else. Never.”

Poe expresses another soft chuckle and his eyes fall to your lips just like yours do with his, he leans in but stops and looks back to you. “I really am sorry.”

“It’s okay, you’re okay.” You reassure him, continuing to look down at his lips but not giving in to the temptation. “But you have to know that I can’t leave—”

“Please, don’t. Let’s just not talk about that right now, okay? I just want to be with you for however long I can without getting mad.”

You sigh and nod. “Fine.”

He grins and pulls away. “I should leave you for now then. Can I meet you in your room later?”

You smirk and nod. “Please do.”

Poe grins wider, showing you a child-like grin as he summons his helmet to his hand. “Okay, good, good. Go see your family before they send an army out for you.”

You scoff. “They won’t but okay, I’ll see you later.”

Poe nods, walking back and clumsily hits his back on the door before he pushes it open and nods again. “Later. I’ll see you later.”

——

“No I’m sure, yes,” you assure Artoo, “I am perfectly fine being on my own.” You walk back further and further into the room and just peak your head out of the door, adding an assuring smile big enough so Artoo could leave you alone. “tell Ben I said goodnight, okay!”

Artoo shoots you with an annoyed, sassy answer that you just shrug off. “I know you’re not my messenger, but I’m still mad at him. Soo please do it and annoy him.” With one last feigned smile you finally close the door and face a beautifully moonlit room. An unemotional straight line forms on your lips however, as beautiful as the blue light reflected on the elegant white themed room. You trace your fingers along the dresser before heading to the balcony, quietly shuffling throughout the room and going unaware of the person hidden within the shadow of the room that finally decided to make himself known and sneak up behind you, covering your eyes and instantly making you freeze and hold in your breath.

In the sudden darkness that took over your eyes, you tried to reach your hand towards your lightsaber, or your comm to contact Ben, but you were frozen, feeling the breath of the mystery person behind your ear and feeling their hands slide down to your neck. Without the force you’re unable to detect anyone’s presence, you’re left completely blind.

The first thing that manages to squirm through to your mind is realization and then the signal to feel your arms and legs. So you move your hands to claw your nails onto their arm and attempt to flip them. But before you could, a voice stops you as it registers in your head. “Princess, it’s me, it’s me. I’m sorry.”

Your eyes widen and you rip away from Poe, grabbing onto your chest to exhale out your shaken deep breaths. “Poe! What the hell?!” You exclaim loudly.

Poe rubs his wrist and shrugs, “what do you mean? You told me it was okay to come to your room!” He protests.

Your eyes narrow on him and you scoff. “Yes, but not scare me half to death! I could’ve killed you!”

“I just wanted to surprise you.” He claims in a much lower voice, pulling his sleeve and seeing your nail markings on his skin. “Ow.”

“Oh don’t be such a baby.” You roll your eyes as you move to sit on the corner of the bed to kick off your shoes. “It’s your fault for sneaking up on me.”

Poe sits beside you and just scoffs. “Whatever.”

His comment makes you turn your head to offer him an amused look, scoffing and throwing yourself back on the bed as your boots are successfully off. “So, what do you want to do?”

Poe shrugs as he twists his body to look at you laying there and staring at the ceiling. “I don’t know, you tell me. We could talk.”

“About?”

“About how you’ve been? How…” he hesitates for a moment and looks to the balcony, hiding his pained expression. “How Finn is doing? Or I don’t know we could do something,” he looks back to you and smirks. “We can skip the talking and do something fun, I can finally give you what you want.”

You blink and slowly lift your head to meet his gaze, noticing his smirk. Poe takes off his jacket and throws it on the floor, followed by his shoes, continuing to fully turn around and crawl on the bed with you, examining your body before moving to be on top of you; placing both hands on either side of your head and tilting your head with the tip of his fingers so you’d be facing him. “Stars you’re beautiful.”

Your lips part and your eyes flicker down to his lips before you blink to look back up at him, wrapping your arms around his neck and repeating your previous actions. Wanting to speak, but instead keeping to yourself as your mind raced with so many thoughts—“was this something I want?” “Him?” “Yes.” “But not like this.” “Not here.” “It’s something I wanted before and he fills a void in my heart.” “But is this how I want this to go down?” “No.” “Yes.” “He keeps the voices at bay, yet not the temptation to act out what’s been asked of me.” “I want this. Forget everything and everyone else.” “I love him.”

“Do you want to do this, sweetheart?” Poe asks for assurance.

You let your eyes wander back to his lips and a smile tugs on your lips before you lean in and make the first move by crashing your lips with his. Instantly getting bambered with the feeling of relief and longing, passion and desire. You pull away only to give him a soft clear answer. “Yes, I do.” The answer makes a happy, boyish smile grow on his lips before he leans in to press a kiss on your lips, sliding his tongue on your bottom lip to part them and deepen the kiss, making his lips tug wider as he leans in closer and moves one hand to cup your cheek.

Whatever doubt you had before completely disappeared. Joy replaced the feelings that were missing and more desire burned within you. This moment was truly like no other. You were unmistakably happy with Poe.

Said man pulled away, but stayed close, taking a moment for the both of you to catch your breaths as he began to leave a trial of soft kisses all the way down to your collarbone, taking a bit of skin between his teeth and beginning to gently suck on it before you pushed his intentions away. “Don't you dare do that again. Last time I had to wear anything that had a turtle neck so Ben, nor my father would see the hickey.”

Poe licks his lips and chuckles. “Fine not there then,” his smirk deepens and he slowly slides his hands to the bottom of your shirt to basically rip it off of you. Leaving you shirtless and nude, your bare chest glowing under the moon light that shone inside. Poe’s pupils blew up and his smirk faltered as he went breathless. “Truly beautiful.”

A soft smile grew on your lips and you grabbed his face to pull him in for a passionate kiss, feeling his bulge rub against your thigh and a fluttering feeling in your stomach—yet as much as you didn’t want Poe to stop kissing you, he desperately pulled away to once again press kisses down the premises of your skin, until he stopped on your breast and repeated what he had intended to do on your collarbone.

Causing you to knot your fingers in his hair and gently tug on his hair as he sucked on the skin. You felt at that instant that your heart was going to rip out of your chest, even if so little had happened so far. You ached for him as he was taking his sweet old time, pulling away from you and shooting you a smug grin. You rolled your eyes at his expression, proceeding to move your hands down to his hips to pull his shirt off him, feeling your eyes widen in more desire, and worry as you finally saw his bare chest and torso.

His body was beautifully carved, his abs were perfectly toned and ripped through his skin; his chest and biceps were beautifully tan and glowing with the light of the moon reflecting on his bare skin. You ran your hands over his skin and little goosebumps grew all over his body. He smiled and tilted his head slightly so he could follow your fingers running over the premises of his warm and soft body. His smile however faltered, like yours did in fact, at the moment you stopped at each scar that was littered all over his body. They weren’t big scars, just small ones, like puncture wounds—“Poe,” You whisper, “what happened?”

Poe places his knuckle under your chin and lifts your head so your eyes could meet his, and he could assure your increasing worry. “Just old scars baby, I’m fine.”

Your eyebrows knit together and you part your lips to try and argue, but he cuts you off by pressing his lips on yours and deepening it by the second. Neither of you want to pull away, but you have to express your thought. One he had said first the day before you left, and one he had said today, but one you had yet to express.

“Stars, I missed you.”

Poe smiles softly and leans in to whisper by your ear. “I missed you too, my love.”

You grin like you haven’t done in a long time and can’t help but think in the deepest part of your brain, “this wrong. Being with Poe. Confessing everything and having sex was wrong. But it was a good mistake. Even if I knew it was going to cost me. A lot.”

Your battles that you were pushing aside, were only going to brew deeper after this. But it’s a consequence you’d deal with.

——

“So what? We’re supposed to act like we hate each other now or something?” Poe asks, combing his hair back with his fingers as he hesitated to put his helmet over his head.

You scan the hall you’re walking down and shake your head. “No, we just don’t talk, like yesterday, pretend like we don’t know each other.”

Poe scoffs. “It’s not that easy, you’re tempting.”

You roll your eyes and can’t help the smile that tugs on your lips, you scan the area to make sure no one is near to grab him by the arm and pull him towards a dark dead end hall. An action that Poe snickers to and gets all too cocky about what he thought was going to go down. “Princess, I knew you took risks, but here, really?”

You narrow your gaze on him and slightly tilt your head. “What are you talking about?”

“Well, aren't we going to have a quickie before returning?”

Your eyebrows pinch together and your eyes study him before you chuckle and shake your head. “No, no, I’m too sore and well we’d probably be caught, Ben and Artoo should be looking for me shortly.” You cup Poe’s cheek and smile sweetly, “I just wanted to say that I like the beard.”

Poe smirks and strokes his chin, “really? I thought you would.”

You roll your eyes and hit his shoulder playfully. “It suits you, just like you without one. I like either.”

“Noted.”

Poe’s hands go to your hips and he leans in to take you in for a heated lingering kiss, slowing down only to gently bite your bottom lip before completely parting away and look at you with a lingering look. “I'm going to miss you.”

You smile and stroke his cheek one last time with your thumb. “I’m going to miss you too.” You walk back and look back to the clear main hall, peaking your head past the wall and looking to both sides to check that the ghost was clear for you to walk out without being detected.

“Come with me.”

You grow stiff at Poe’s words and slowly pull away to stand up straight and keep your back faced to him.

“We can be together without having to hide. I can help you.”

You ball your hands into tight fists and look down to talk to the ground. “Help me with what?” And just like that, all color left from your view and darkness took over everything again.

“What you’re dealing with, Supreme leader Snoke can help.”

Kill the spare. Do it now, he’s there. He’s open.

“We can be a good pair, just you and me” Poe continues, making anger begin to boil within you.

“Poe.” You warn softly. “Please stop, or you’re going to ruin everything.”

“Ruin everything? Baby, we make each other happy,” Poe grabs your arm to turn you to face him, cupping your face to lift your head so your eyes could meet. So you could see the desperation behind his eyes. “I can see that, why can’t you? You're struggling but I can help.”

Your gaze doesn’t falter, but your hand does. Slowly you uncurl your fists and discreetly reach for your lightsaber as your mind was overcome with the tempting voice of “your grandfather”. Happiness seeps away from your mind, face and is replaced by nothing but that same numbing blankness that has overcome you entirely in the past months.

“I can correct what I did wrong. If you come, Master Snoke can bring back Jacen. We can overthrow Snoke and we can rule over the First Order, change it to our will and finally win this war. Together. Be with me.”

Kill him. Kill Poe Dameron. Now!

“I’ll kill him,” you whisper under your breath as an unusual evil smirk unknowingly tugs on your lips and that same sinister darkness grows in power within you. You pull your lightsaber from your side and slide your thumb to the activation button, moving your hand to cup Poe’s face and offer him a sweet smile that he couldn’t help but mirror; his filled with joy, unlike yours—“I,” you say out loud, “I will—”

Before you could finish your sentence however, you’re suddenly pulled back forcefully and hitting your ass on the ground with a painful thud. In that quick and sudden action, what had possessed you broke away and you were fully back, looking up to see Ben throwing Poe to the wall and lifting him off his feet with the force, proceeding to slowly close his hand as he began to force choke Poe.

“Ben! Leave him alone!” You exclaim sharply as you stand to your feet and run to Ben to try and pull his hand away, but ultimately getting pushed back by said man. “Ben! Please!” Your eyes water and you try to plead again. You knew you were meant to act like you didn’t care for Poe in front of other people, you knew that the voices inside your head told you to kill him, but seeing his life hang in the balance, watching the fear in his eyes broke you in different ways. “Ben! Leave him alone!”

“No!” He growls, dropping Poe from the death grip and stepping closer towards him to swing his fist over his face. You tried to stop him again, but Ben was physically stronger, without the force you were useless in your attempts. All you could do was try to see if you shouting at the top of your lungs would knock some sense into Ben. Even if you knew it wouldn’t—“we trusted you and you killed him! He loved you, he treated you like family and you betray him by killing him!” Ben exclaims, anger clearly in his voice and actions, the veins on his neck clearly showed as he shouted to Poe with that one single emotion. He was hurt and it was painfully clear. “Then you proceed to break my cousins heart and break her trust too! I should kill you!” Ben throws Poe another punch that makes you wince and Poe groans before looking up to Ben with a wide-stricken expression that he tried to hide his fear and own hurt behind.

“Then do it.” Poe groans, not even trying to fight back.

You take a step closer to the pair and plead again. “Ben, please leave him alone.”

Said man looks over his shoulder for a second before glaring back at Poe and continuing with a surprising comment. “But I won’t because the best punishment is you drowning in your own guilt,” Ben smirks and let’s go of Poe to stand up slowly. “I want you to remember everything you’ve done because I know that’s your weakness. You try to act tough, scary, but I know what you aren’t. You’re nothing, but a child, in a mask.”

Your eyes widen at his insult and Poe stays quiet, parting his lips and just that.

“And if you have any ounce of respect for Jacen, or me, I want you to leave my cousin alone. She’s gone through enough pain because of you. I don’t want to see you close to her again, because if I do, I’ll make sure I’m the last thing you ever see.” Ben finishes, fuming out of ears and pulls his foot back to land one last hard kick on Poe’s side, shooting him one last burning glare before turning around and grabbing your wrists to pull you away without a chance to check on Poe’s wounds.

You part your lips to argue, but Ben catches your before you can. “Don’t you dare try to defend him, or I’ll turn back and actually shove that lightsaber in your hand through his chest.”

You gasp and glance at the lightsaber still in your hand, instantly putting it away and choosing to stay quiet on that matter instead. “When are we going home?”

“Later,” Ben reveals, still bitter. “Theirs one last meeting and after we should be good to go.”

You hum softly and from the corner of your eye you see a masked Poe pass by the both of you. Not daring to even look your way. You want to go after him and talk, but you’d be a fool to do so. You had to watch him from a distance now, leave with many things left unsaid, even if he was only feet away, you had to fight the temptation. You had to pretend he wasn’t here.

“Where’s Artoo?”

“In the great hall with my mother and father, the meeting is taking place there.”

Your eyebrows knit together at his response. “The great hall? Why there?”

Ben shrugs and let’s your wrist go once he sees Poe enter the great hall and not be a threat to you anymore. “I don’t know, but it’s there.”

You both enter the hall yourselves and try to walk towards your family, but in that exact instant something stops Ben, and has you bumping into him. He grows stiff and looks back to the doors as they close, and the windows as the curtains cut off light from beaming in. You want to protest Ben’s actions, but a sudden hologram of an odd masked man in all black cuts you off. “I’ll keep this short. We the people are tired of you. The resistance and the first order, we don’t want to be in this petty fight. We’re tired of getting overworked and not paid enough. We don't want to be ruled, we want to rule. Our own planet.” The curtains swing open again, blinding you with the light, but yet demonstrating something outside; multiple battleships now littering the sky as they come out of hiding—“so I fortunately I report that now, we have to get rid of all of you. For good. No more light or darkness. Just peace.”

And with nothing else to add, the hologram cut off and five soldiers in the same all black outfit came out of hiding from within the walls, all surrounding everyone, even the governor. Ben grabs your hand to try and rush towards his parents, but explosions outside the castle stops him from moving. The castle rumbles and then a blazing and blowing fight breaks between the soldiers and everyone inside. Ben snaps from his stupor and grabs and urges you to follow him, ducking and avoiding blasts and punches from the armored-soldiers.

“Don’t look back and just reach my parents no matter what!” Ben shouts to you, both at the same time activating your lightsabers to deflect blasts and swing at the armored-soldiers.

Your eyes search all over the place and grow desperate to try and feel any spark of force within you. But nothing, you’re left with nothing, just jumping as the castle rumbles again and a window explodes as an explosion hits the side of the castle you were on, causing the building to tilt and your fear, and anger to rise. You slide slightly to the side but firmly grip onto Ben, spotting his mother and Artoo a few feet away. He quickens his pace and pulls you along, reaching his mother and not hesitating to be protective and curious. “Where's dad?”

“I sensed something was off, so I sent him to the ship he should be here soon! One of you help, Artoo break the window to be ready to jump when Han comes.”

You instantly nod and join Artoos side, stabbing your lightsaber through the thick glass and slowly, but surely attempting to melt a circle on the window. You try to avoid turning back at the sound of blasts all over, and screaming echoing in your ears, but you remind yourself that not only will you provide an escape for your family and you, but for these people too. That keeps you motivated to keep trying to cut the window. Albeit, all until another explosion hits the whole wall at your side gets blown in, making you flinch as debris flies past you and the force of the explosion sends the tower to tilt more and for you to almost slide out if it wasn’t for Artoo wrapping a cord around your wrist.

“Thanks bud,” you smile, digging your heels into the floor and picking your lightsaber off the floor; “you’re always there when I need—” you suddenly stop and your eyes widen as they focus on one single scene playing across from you. It takes you a moment to break from your stupor as your face expresses pure fear at what you see, but once you do, you’re slightly bending your knees to begin to run towards Poe getting badly hurt by three of the shadow-like, special all black uniformed soldiers. But before you could take your first step, arms wrap around you and you’re pulled back into a firm chest. When you look back you see no one other but Ben holding you back.

“No! Leave him, the Falcon is here we have to go!”

“No!” You bellow, kicking your feet and trying to break from his hold, feeling angry tears roll down your cheeks. “I need to help him!” The gleam of a vibro-sword catches your attention and that same fear from when you lost Jacen sparks in your brain, that same adrenaline. You feel it makes you stronger. This time you were.

Were you faster though?

Without the force could you save Poe before the blade punctured his body?

“No Ben, Poe needs me!” You cry, wiggling your arm out and throwing your elbow back to hit Ben’s jaw. Causing his grip to loosen, and giving you your chance to escape, instantly breaking into a full sprint towards Poe. Feeling your heart pump wildly in your ears, and your chest heavily heave, tears mixed with sweat, and your attempts to avoid being hit, or shot felt like a breeze. However nothing felt greater than jumping over your last obstacle and jamming your lightsaber on one of the special soldiers back as you landed on the floor.

The two soldiers trying to hold Poe down, stop as they see you throw their comrade to the side and you hear Poe utter your name in a surprised gasp. “Y/N?”

You offer him a faint smile and whisper, “I made it in time.” After one last short lingering look, you take out your other lightsaber from your side, flipping it in your hand so you could swing it and activate it, so the blade could scratch one of the soldiers helmet, making their hold on poe fall and letting him grab his blaster to swiftly shoot their other one at his side.

Leaving Poe ultimately ripping his helmet off and showing you the soft and shocked mixed expression on his face. “You came back for me?”

The corner of your lips tug into a smile, and just before you could speak your thought out loud, another loud, impactful blast hits the castle and this time you’re sliding off the castle that’s now hanging by a thread, while the top floor off you were on, hangs on its side. Before you could fall off the castle and free fall into the sky, you come to a skidding stop and manage to stop yourself on the rubble of the broken wall, staring out at the rubble, broken and tilting ceiling, fire and chaos hundreds of feet below. Poe however didn’t stop himself in time and hung from the side of the castle. Looking up at you with a fear-stricken look.

You instantly reach for his hand to try and pull him up, but in the dark temptation hits again, harder than ever. Kill him. Let him fall and you’ll get your brother back. Your family will be complete. You’ll end this war. Kill him. Let him fall.

“Y/N, pull me up.”

Your gaze snaps to Poe, and you meet his brown eyes, blinking to break from the cloudy daze and using both hands to pull him slightly, ignoring the blinding pain in your head and trying to pull him up with all the strength you could manage. “Poe, you’ve got to help me a little, you’re too heavy.”

Poe nods, heaving as he dares to look down before holding to your arm and helping you pull him up. “Okay, okay.”

“Drop him,” a real voice whispers by your ear, making you jump and snap your head over your shoulder to see one of the shadow-like, special soldiers beside you, it’s helmet caved in by the impact of your lightsaber, and showing a yellow eye.

“What?” You gasp.

“Drop him. I know you want to. You feel it, don’t you, Skywalker.”

Your hold on Poe weakens and your eyes remain wide, unable to blink out of the terror you felt by his words. “Wh-what. Who are you?”

They come closer and lift their helmet to just reveal their pink lips. “Your solution. Drop him.”

“Y/N!”

“To make myself legit, I’ll say this, you’ll find your first key to bring your brother back, in Dagobah.”

You gasp again, feeling your eyes fill with tears. The soldier drops its helmet and steps back, you keep looking over your soldier and let something completely cold take over. In one moment you feel Poe’s hand, the next you feel nothing, but a cold breeze. You’re lost in a dark cloud, and feel nothing but anger.

But it all disappeared in a snap as the sound of your name coming from below snaps you back and out of whatever faze you were stuck in. “Y/N!”

Instantly you fall on your knees and get close to the edge, feeling the heat of the fire below burn your face and the breeze howl in your ears. You throw your hand out and scream for him with the tears streaming down your cheeks, and complete heartbreak expressed in your eyes. “POE! NO!” Again you try with all your will to reconnect to the force.

But nothing. You feel nothing but failure. You see nothing but a disappearing figure as Poe is falling down and covered by the black smoke. Leaving you numb and broken. Leaving you to hear no one but the same soldier return to your side to grab the back of your shirt and pull you to them, proceeding to only whisper in your ear, “long, live, the Dark side.”

Before you could fight back, the soldier hits the side of your head hard and has your concinosess fading to black.

You’re only left to feel the breeze hit your body, see the blue sky above you, feel the sun rays dry your tears and warm your face, hear the wind howl in your ears and the soldiers' words echo in your ears after they throw you out of the broken window.

The last thing you feel is your body crash onto something hard that stops the feeling of yourself falling. You hear Ben's voice echo in your ears, but you block it out as a numbness takes control of every part of your brain. You hadn’t fallen into unconsciousness like you thought you would, so you weren't saved from hearing the soldier's voice in your mind. “Long, live, The dark side.”

You weren’t saved from seeing Poe’s face haunt your mind.

.

.

A/N- haha :)

Tagged- @thescarletknight2014 , @softly-sad @golden-guide​, @abysshaven , @a-dorky-book-keeper @kit-jpg , @zoeyangels, @algenforthewin, @leilei-draws , @throughparisallthroughrome

Permanent taglist- @ms-dont-care​ , @commondazy , @paintballkid711 @dankfarrikdin

[dokoni-mo]

Back Again, Together || Darth Vader x Reader (Chapter 4)

(A/N: have i mentioned how much I love my space husband,,, cuz writing this is only making me love him more and more,,, sorry about how long this took to come out with!! I am proud of the results tho :)) as always, tags open, inbox open, and important links below. enjoy!!!)

Masterlist Link (link to the first part of this series) : [x]

Chapter One : [x]

Chapter Two : [x]

Chapter Three : [x]

WARNINGS: cursing, anger, crowdspeaking, some angst, indirect mentions of death, some fluff, some slight nsfw elements, otherwise none!

Key: (F/N) = first name, (L/N) = last name

Word Count: ~5700

~~~

To say that you and him turned heads was an understatement would have been a lie. 

You and Vader turned everyone's head.

In fact, a large amount of the people had gathered around about 100 feet away from your landing site just to get a glimpse of the two of you. It was kind of awkward to have so many eyes on you, but you tried to pay them no mind. Even so, the feeling of their gazes upon you made your skin crawl. 

You could only imagine how Vader must have felt. Surely people were staring at him far more than they were staring at you. 

Rey had helped you unload your bags off of the millennium falcon and transfer them into a small cargo speeder, manned by a Twi'lek girl and a Rhodian male. Even if they were a good distance away from Vader, you noticed how they were practically shaking in their boots at the sight of him. And when you offered them a handshake to show your thanks, they practically ran away from you, making you look kind of dumb with your empty hand outstretched in front of you and your lips parted. 

Even though you understood why they would be scared, it still stung. It even made you a little sad. You didn’t want them to be scared of you or him. You both were just here to help…

There was no reason to be scared. 

Vee must have sensed your disheartment since he quickly walked over to you, his much taller figure dwarfing your own. Feeling his hand on your shoulder, you turned to look up at him, offering him a small smile. 

You didn’t need to say anything to him. The two of you had been together for a long enough time to just be able to read one another. 

It was a blessing. 

Once Rey was done talking to a few other rebels, she made her way over to the two of you with BB-8 at her heels, her presence grabbing your attention. 

“I’m sorry about the crowd,” she said, “I… I wasn’t quite expecting this.” 

“It's fine.” you said, crossing your arms over your chest, “I kinds thought something like this would happen…” 

A moment of awkward silence falling between the three of you, your gaze dropped to the crowd over yonder. You could see a handful of the other rebels whispering amongst themselves at the sight of you and Vader. 

It made your lips tighten into a firm line. It reminded you of long, long ago, back on the Super Star Destroyer....

Memories. 

The sound of your love’s voice beside you pulled you back to reality, the bass in his voice comforting you as he spoke. 

“I sense their fear.” he said, his head tilting as he spoke to Rey, “Do they know of our purpose here?” 

You noticed how Rey didn’t stiffen as much as she responded to your love. She must be getting more comfortable…

It made you smile. Rey was a lovely girl.

“Erm, not exactly.” she said, “They knew you were coming, but they don’t know why yet. But, don’t worry, they’ll know eventually.” 

Rey smiled softly at the both of you, making a pause in the middle of her speech. 

“There’s a few people who wanted to see you first.” 

You raised your eyebrows in confusion and looked up at Vee, earning a look from him back. After seeing Rey leave with BB-8 in your peripheral, your attention was turned to the parting sea of rebels. Out of the two halves of people came something that you were not at all expecting. 

A R2 series astromech painted blue and white wheeling itself full speed at the two of you.

You were perplexed and looked up at Vader again. You noticed how his gaze was focused on the droid, unwavering and unmoving. 

You didn’t need to force to read him. 

He was in awe. It was as if he was seeing a ghost, or some kind of dream. 

A small smile painted your lips as you spoke. 

“Do you recognize that droid, dear?”

It took him a moment to respond.

“Yes… I do.” 

The droid eventually was able to wheel itself up to the pair of you, it's wheels skirting to a stop before the pair of you. The blue droid beeped happily and excitedly as it rocked itself back and forth, earning a giggle from you. Looking down at the droid, you watched as Vader leaned down in front of the droid, placing one of his large, gloved hands upon its surface. 

You felt like crying, but wasn’t sure why. 

The way Vader was so gentle with this droid…

The way he looked at it like it was but a dream…

You could tell he was overjoyed to see this old, old droid again. 

After another long flurry of beeps from the droid, you heard your love speak, a hint of wonder in his deep voice. 

“I missed you as well, R2.” 

R2. You’ve heard that name before. Your lips parted as the realization hit you like a ton of bricks. 

Vader had told you long ago of the stories of how he fought in the Clone Wars, of how he was the best pilot in the galaxy…

And how he wouldn’t have been able to reach that status without the help of one trust astromech. 

You couldn’t hold back the smile on your face. 

Another flurry of beeps coming out of the droid, you watched as it swiveled it's head to face you, making you stiffen in surprise a bit. 

In response to R2, Vader returned to his standing position and placed a large hand on the small of your back, presenting you proudly to the droid before the pair of you. 

“This is (F/N), R2. She is my love.” 

Smiling down at the droid, you knelt in front of it to get closer to it’s height, placing one of your soft, gentle hands upon its body. 

“It’s nice to meet you, R2-D2. I’ve heard a lot about you.” you said. 

Another string of happy beeps coming out of the droid, you stood back up to your original position. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw what appeared to be a human shuffle quickly over to you, your love, and R2. Upon picking your gaze up and giving the figure a further inspection, you noticed how the outside of it was almost completely gold. 

Another droid. 

You were thankful this one spoke basic, however. No matter how many droids you repaired, you could never quite get how to understand them. 

“Oh, I am so terribly sorry about my friend here.” the droid said, referring to R2-D2, “I just simply could not get him to slow down.” 

You opened your mouth to say something, but the droid cut you off, beginning to go on a long tangent of nagging R2. Getting lost in his rambles, you looked up to Vee, noticing how his attention was on the golden droid. 

You felt that he remembered this other droid. Perhaps this one was more deep-rooted in his memory, but you weren’t sure. 

But, you were sure that you were glad that Vee eventually cut the droid off from it's babbles. 

“It is good to see you too, Threepio.” your love rumbled. 

Threepio…

This must be the droid that Vee had made when he was a boy…

To help his mom. 

...

You wondered if Vader saw his mother when he looked at Threepio. 

Despite the droid having no facial movement capabilities, it looked quite surprised that your love could call him by name and was glad to see him. 

“Oh, my, erm, it’s… thank you, erm, Lord Vader.” Threepio responded. 

You noticed how your love’s fingers twitched at how C-3P0 addressed him. He must not recognize Vader, or remember who he once was…

You wondered if you could change that. 

The droid turning its attention to you, you were snapped out of your pondering trance. 

“Oh, how rude of me. Hello ma’am, I am C-3P0, Human-Cyborg Relations.” the droid said, gesturing with it's stiff arms, “And who might you be?” 

“O-Oh, I’m-” you began to say, but were immediately cut off by a somewhat familiar voice. 

“That’s (F/N), Threepio. I told you she was coming with him today.” 

A shiver ran down you back at the voice. You recognized it, but it was still somewhat fuzzy to you. Looking up to find the source, your lips parted in shock as you saw who it was. 

She was a much older woman now, but still oh so vibrant and strong. Her hair was pulled back in an intricate yet simple braid, and her lips were in a small smile as he gazed at you and your love, her dark eyes crinkled in delight. Her dress flowed with her beautifully, and her overcoat just wrapped her up in a strong package. 

You couldn’t believe your eyes. 

You thought you would never see her again, especially after Endor…

Leia. 

You felt like crying again, but quickly decided against it when you heard your love’s voice again. It was much quieter than his usual tone, and laced with something you couldn’t quite place. But, all the same, it filled you with raw, utter joy. 

“Leia…” was all he said, the face of his mask pointed strictly at her. 

Stepping forward a few more steps, Leia had to look up a great deal to match her father’s gaze, the small smile still held firmly on her wrinkled yet beautiful face. 

“I’m glad to see you too, Dad.” she said, her tone sincere. 

You could tell Vader was besides himself.

You could tell that he was utterly speechless. 

You could tell that he was trying to be as gentle as possible as he rested one of his gloved hands on Leia’s shoulder. 

You could tell that he was trying to be impossibly gentle as he pulled her in for a tight hug. 

You felt like crying again as you watched Leia accept the hug, closing her eyes as she hugged her father back. 

But, all you could do was smile. 

“Leia, I am…” you heard your love begin to say, his voice somewhat strained in his respirator, “I owe you my deepest apologies.” 

“It’s alright,” Leia said as she pulled away from the hug, shooting up a strong, understanding look at Vader, “You’re here now. That’s all I wanted from you. What happened before can stay in the past. It’s all about what happens today.” 

You didn’t think that truer words had ever been spoken. 

It made you want to cry again. 

Giving her father one more soft smile, Leia turned her attention to you. Her smile was quite contagious; it made one appear on your face almost immediately as she started to speak. 

“I’m glad you decided to come too.” She said in a teasing tone. 

 “Hey, someone had to make sure he doesn’t fall off the wagon.” You joked, nodding your head up to Vader. 

Leia’s smile broadened, “You really haven’t aged a day.” she said, referring to your youthful appearance. 

Rey had pointed it out originally, but now that Leia had done so as well, you knew it wasn’t just some prank. You really didn’t look as if you had aged one single day since Endor. You looked exactly the same…

If this was the will of the force, you were all for it. 

“Some time away from politics does good for your health.” You joked, earning a chuckle from Leia. 

The princess then stepped forward with a soft smile, pulling you into a tight embrace of which you happily reciprocated. 

“It’s good to see you, (F/N).” she said. 

“It’s good to see you too, Leia.” you responded. 

After a brief moment, Leia pulled away again, looking from you to her father and the two droids as she spoke. 

“It’s best if we don’t keep the other’s waiting,” she said, gesturing back to the crowd of on-lookers several hundred feet behind her, “I told them not to stare but can’t order them all I guess. Come on, let’s get you settled in.” 

Watching as Leia turned and walked to one of the buildings in the distance, you looked up at your love, a smile on your face as you searched his mask. 

“So far not so bad.” you teased, opening your palm face up to him, offering for him to place his own inside. 

Taking your much smaller hand into his, you felt your heart swell. 

You were glad he wasn’t ashamed to be sweet to you around other people. 

Perhaps it was because he knew no matter what he did, these people would be far too scared of him to do anything. 

Perhaps it was because Leia told them about you and him. 

Perhaps it was luck. 

You didn’t care. 

You were just glad you were able to hold his hand. 

For if you weren’t, you wouldn’t have had the courage to follow behind Leia. 

~~~

The meeting room that Leia took you and your love to was filled to the brim with rebels. 

The only clear space in the entire room was a circle around you, Vader, and Leia, with Leia standing in front of the two of you. There was a table before her, and the soft blue light of it's map illuminated her face as well as yours, Vader’s mask, and the other faces of the other rebels. Rey was on the opposite side of the room from you, and she looked the least frightened out of all the rest. BB-8, R2-D2, and C-3P0 were nearby her, and listened intently with only a few curious beeps. The tension in the air was thick, and you could tell everyone was on edge. 

Hell, some of these poor kids looked like they were about to shit their pants. 

Poor souls. 

You felt nervous and squeezed your love’s hand. Sensing your feelings, he squeezed yours right back, doing little to comfort you as Leia began to address her army. 

“I’m sure all of you know who these two are by now,” she said, gesturing her hand behind her to you and Vader, “And I know neither of them need an introduction. But, I can tell a lot of you are scared, and I understand. But I can assure you both of them are on our side. They have agreed to help us in Luke’s place, and I believe that they can be the push we need to win this war.” 

Leia paused her speech to look back at you, making your eyes widen and your nerves fire off. 

“Would you like to say anything?” 

You felt your lips part in compilation. You did want to say something, but you weren’t sure if it was such a good idea. What if you said the wrong thing? Everyone would just hate you, more importantly him, more than they already did. You briefly thought that he should say something, but quickly decided against it. No matter what he said, they would take it the wrong way. 

Your gaze dropping, you remembered what Rey had said to you before. 

You’re a bit of a legend around the Resistance. 

You swallowed and looked up again to Leia, giving her a firm nod. 

If you were a legend, you hoped it was for good reasons. 

Giving Vee’s hand one last squeeze, you stepped forward, replacing Leia where she stood at the front of the table. Clearing your throat, you dropped your gaze briefly to contemplate what you should say. 

You were so scared. 

One wrong move, and both you and him were done for. 

Glancing back over your shoulder, you looked to your love. 

His gaze locking onto your eyes, he gave you a firm nod, placing his large hands on his belt. 

He didn’t need to speak for you to know what he meant. 

I believe in you, (F/N).

Giving him a small smile, you turned your attention back to the rebels. Their eyes were like spotlights, and it made you take a deep breath, your eyes closed as you searched for your confidence. 

Quickly finding it, you opened your eyes again, looking directly at the rebels with a firm gaze. 

You were ready. 

You had to be ready. 

For your home.

For him. 

“I, umm,” you began, “I just want to thank all of you for having us here. Especially Leia. I…”

Your gaze dropped briefly as you searched for how to phrase what you wanted to say. 

“I, umm,” you continued, “I-I know that you all must be scared. I know that you all must be really frightened. But, I can assure you that none of you have to be scared. Me and Vader are here for the same reason all of you are. To stop Emperor Palpatine, and to end the First Order. I know it may be hard to believe, but both me and him were victims to that man just as much as your ancestors were.” 

You let out a chuckle as you continued, “Hell, we are your ancestors, based on our age. But, with that being said, the force has kept us alive for a reason. And… we believe this is the reason. To fight with all of you.” 

You felt a smile creep onto your face, “So, please, don’t be frightened. We’re here to stand with you, not against you.”

You were relieved when you saw a vast majority of the rebels relax, and even more relieved when some of them began to cheer and clap. A wash of pride coming over you, you looked back to Vee with a large grin on your face, watching him give you another nod of approval. 

The ice was broken and the tension was cut.

You did it. 

Or, at least you thought you did. 

Of course, there were still a few who held onto the tension. 

Stubborn assholes.

One short-haired girl was one of these few, and made it a point to convey to you as such. 

“How can we trust you?” she asked, her voice loud enough to quiet down the other rebels. 

Turning your attention to the girl, you felt your smile fade. 

Oh no. 

With no response from you, the short-haired girl continued on, her voice laced with her fear. 

“W-With all due respects, ma’am, I just… We’ve all heard the stories of… the Empire. We all know them. How do you expect us to trust you aren’t trying to sabotage us? That you aren’t with the First Order? With Palpatine?” 

A curious murmur fell over some of the rebels.

You felt your breath hitch and palms start to sweat. 

This wouldn’t do. 

You couldn’t risk the rebels dividing themselves because of you and him. 

You had to act. 

“I promise you that we are not with the First Order nor Emperor Palpatine.” you said, your tone firm, “We didn’t even know about the First Order or Palpatine’s return until recently. If you don’t trust me, then ask Miss Rey or Leia. Surely their judgements would mean more to you.” 

The short haired girl swallowed before talking again. It made your nerves fire off. 

Keep calm. 

 “I do trust them, ma’am, it’s just…” 

“There’s no reason to be scared, miss.” You said, your tone sympathetic. 

The girl stiffened. 

You felt your jaw clench.

“It’s… It’s not you who we’re scared of, ma’am. It's not you we don’t trust…” 

Silence. 

Utter, raw, silence. 

Your brow was furrowed in confusion, but you were quick to relax it as the realization set in. 

If she didn’t mean you, then…

She meant him. 

How…

Dare she. 

You felt your fist clench as your blood began to boil. You had to stiffen your jaw to hold back your words. 

How dare she think so little of your love. 

He wasn’t the monster everyone made him out to be. 

Why couldn’t they see that?

It made you so…

Angry. 

And her words must have hurt Vee to some degree…

How dare she. 

He was a person too. 

He has feelings and a heart too. 

How dare she think otherwise.

You opened your mouth to say something, but were quickly cut off by a familiar hand on your shoulder. Shooting your gaze up to its source, you were met with the familiar sight of the mask of your love. 

You felt all your anger fade away as you looked into the eyes of his mask, your muscles loosening. 

Reflecting back, you almost felt bad for getting angry. 

It was hard for you to remember what Vader had done while in the Empire sometimes....

A renewed sense of calm, you took a deep breath with your eyes closed. Opening your eyes again, you addressed the girl with a firm yet gentle tone. 

“Look, I know my husband has done some… unforgivable things, but so have all of us. We all make mistakes because we’re people, and so is he. And what do we want most when we do something unforgivable? A second chance.” 

Cue another murmur from the rebels. 

“I know that some of you won’t like us regardless, but please just try to give him a chance to prove himself. We’re all here for the same reason, and this doesn’t exclude anyone in this room. I’m not asking for you to forgive my husband’s actions. I’m asking you to see him for who he is now.” 

You paused for a moment, reaching down and intertwining your fingers with Vader’s. 

“There’s a reason I fell in love with him. It wasn’t based on fear or intimidation. It was because I was able to see the person he truly was. The person behind the mask, behind the shackles of the Empire. I hope all of you can do the same.” 

A long moment of silence hung over the air. 

You felt a lump starting to form in your throat. 

Did you say too much? Did you not say the right thing? 

You were scared you pushed the rebels away further. 

Did you? 

You were met with your answer with a statement from a caramel-skinned man, pushing his way to the front of the crowd. 

“We’re honored to have you here ma’am. Both of you. Welcome to the Resistance.” 

You couldn’t hide your smile at the sound of the rebel’s cheers, as well as the feeling of Vader’s thumb rubbing the back of your knuckles. 

~~~

You didn’t realize just how long that meeting was until you stepped out of that room. 

It was now nighttime on Ajan Kloss, and a cool breeze enveloped the rebel base. The wind made your hair flutter, as well as the fabric of your love’s cape. 

You were exhausted. You wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed and go to sleep for the rest of time. Leia had assigned a young twi'lek boy to lead you and Vader to your quarters, and you were following him hand-in-hand with Vader, eager to put on your pajamas and go to sleep. 

However, someone else had other plans for you. 

“Excuse me, ma’am.” you heard a voice call from behind you. 

You assumed it wasn’t for you and continued on.

Padding along peacefully, you weren’t expecting to feel the feeling of a foreign hand on your shoulder, stopping you in your tracks. Turning to face it’s owner, you were met with a somewhat familiar face staring back at you. 

It was the caramel-skinned man from before, and his dark eyes were boring right into your soul. 

“Yeah?” you asked the man, trying your best not to sound as tired as you felt. 

“I’m sorry to bother you so late ma’am, but could I speak to you real fast? I promise it’ll only take a moment.” the man said. 

You felt your lips part. You really didn’t want to talk to him, but he just looked so…

Hopeful. 

You decided you would hear him out.

Turning to your lover, you noticed how he was staring expectedly at you, waiting for you to come along to bed with him. 

He looked so peeved. You shot him a small smile. 

“Go ahead of me, Vee,” you said, “I’ll be there in a moment.” 

Even though he was still peeved, Vader gave you a firm nod before turning and continuing to follow the escort. 

Watching him go for a moment, you eventually turned back to the man who had stopped you, crossing your arms over your chest.

“What’s on your mind?” you asked him, a small, friendly smile on your face. 

“Thank you for stopping,” he said, holding out his hand for you to shake, “I’m Poe. Poe Dameron. It’s… It’s very nice to finally meet you, ma’am.” 

Eyeing his hand for a moment, you gingerly clasped your hand around Poe’s, giving it a firm shake. 

“It’s nice to meet you too, Poe Dameron.” you responded, “Please, call me (F/N). I… I should be thanking you for earlier. I really thought I had lost everyone back there.” 

“No, I should be thanking you.” Poe retorted, a small smile on his handsome face. 

“Thanking me?” you chuckled, “Why?”

Poe’s gaze dropped for a moment as he licked his bottom lip, “Y-You see, my boyfriend… He used to be a stormtrooper for the First Order. A lot of people didn’t trust him at first because of it, so I really related to what you said about your husband back there. It just… It just means a lot, to see someone sticking up for their person like that. So, thanks. Thank you, ma’am. Thank you so much for being here, and um… yeah.”

You felt your eyes soften at the man before you. What you said really must have touched him, and you felt grateful for that. 

Hell, you were grateful that someone could relate to you, even just a little bit. 

You smiled, “Don’t mention it. You’re a good guy, Poe. Your boyfriend is a lucky man.” 

Poe gave you a smile in return, mumbling out a quiet thanks. 

Giving Poe one last look, you began to turn on your heel to leave. 

“I’ll see you around then, P-”

“W-Wait.” 

You were a bit surprised that Poe wasn’t done with you, but turned back to face him anyway, re-crossing your arms across your chest. 

“I have..” Poe began, “I’m… I’m curious about something.” 

Curious? You definitely weren’t expecting that. 

“Yeah?” you said. 

“How do you, um…” Poe stammered out, shifting his weight and rubbing his chin nervously. 

You raised a brow, “How do I what?” 

“How do, umm… how do you and, um, him, um…” 

You raised your brow higher, “Go on…” 

“Y-You know.” he stammered out, “How do you, umm…” 

Poe lifted up both of his hands. You watched confusedly as he formed one of his hands into an O, and fixed the other so that just his pointer finger was extended. Your brow furrowed deeper as he made eye contact with you, sticking his pointer finger through the O with a sheepish look on his face. 

Both of your eyebrows raised as you connected the dots. 

You were…

Flabbergasted. 

Should you have been offended? Maybe. 

You just found the situation far too funny and Poe far too cute to be mad. 

You shifted your weight in amusement, a goofy smile enveloping your features.

“You're asking me how me and my husband make love?” you finished for him, a giggle rising in your throat.

You noticed how Poe’s cheeks stained pink. 

“I-I mean, it’s just that I know he’s mostly metal a-and injured and can’t come out of the suit and I just-”

Your giggle cut off Poe’s babbles. 

This was just too darn cute to be mad at. 

You smiled broadly at him, “Well, let’s just say…”

Your gaze dropped momentarily as you thought of what to say. 

A smile on our face, you looked Poe dead in the eyes as you continued.

“I’ve made a lot of prosthetics in my lifetime.” 

You held back another laugh as you saw Poe’s face fall. Reaching out to him, you gave him a firm pat on the shoulder before you left. 

“Stay strong out there, Poe Dameron.” you finished, walking off with a smile on your face. 

Poe had a little trouble falling asleep that night. 

~~~

Upon your entrance to your quarters, you were relieved to see three things as you kicked off your boots: a meditation pod, a bacta tank, and him. 

You could tell that he was waiting quite impatiently for you, since he was watching the door intently from his seated position upon the bed, his cape scraping the floor. 

You hadn’t even left for that long, and he made it seem like you were gone for years. 

You loved him so much. 

A smile on your face, you walked over to him and planted a quick kiss upon his armored head. 

“Hey Vee.” you said, walking over to the end of the bed, opening the luggage the escort had helped you bring in. 

“What did that boy wish to converse with you about, darling?” Vader asked you, the face of his mask pointed at you. 

You giggled at his word choice, “That boy just wanted to meet me officially, dear.” 

A half lie, but you didn’t want to explain how you might have traumatized Poe to your love. As much as you loved Vader, he was never really one for jokes. 

You heard a grumble come from your lover as you pulled out your pajamas from your bags, making you giggle again. 

“Don’t tell me you're jealous, Vee.” you teased, pulling your shirt up over your head. 

He scoffed, “I do not get jealous.” 

“Sure you don’t.” you teased again, kicking off your pants and socks. 

Now in nothing but your underwear, you began to pull your pajamas onto your body, noticing in your peripheral how intently Vee was gazing upon you. 

You decided you wouldn’t let him get away with it. 

“You’re staring, love.” you again teased, pulling your pajama shirt over your head and onto your torso. 

“I am aware.” 

Breathing out a giggle, you passed your feet over to the full-length mirror whilst pulling your pajama shorts up your legs, stopping a few feet in front of it. Staring at your reflection, you began to comb through your hair with your fingers, feeling the pressure of the day slowly starting to come off of you. 

After a long bout of silence, you heard the bed creak from across the room, signaling that your love had stood up. Continuing to gaze at your reflection, you heard the familiar sound of Vader’s bootsteps draw closer to you, making a small smile appear on your face. Seeing him in the mirror, you watched as Vader slowly wrapped his strong arms around your waist from behind, pulling you close to his large chest. Your small smile broadening, you rested your arms on top of your love’s, looking at him with soft eyes in the mirror. 

The sound of his respirator so close to you, you felt all your residual stress slowly start to fade away into nothing. You were so, so soothed by Vader…

You hoped you were the same for him. 

He was the one to break the silence between the two of you. 

“Do you see how beautiful you are, my dear?” His deep voice asked you, the face of his mask pointed at the reflection of your own in the mirror. 

You breathed out a smile, “Only if you see how handsome you are, Vee.” 

A rumble of pleasure was all you got from him. 

That was all you needed. 

You felt his arms move so that his large, leather-wrapped hands were firmly around your sides, his thumbs rubbing small circles into the fabric of your shirt. 

You hoped he didn’t notice the blush on your cheeks. 

Even after all these years, he still made you feel like a little love-struck schoolgirl at times. 

“Darling.” he said. 

“Yes, love?” you asked. 

“Did you mean what you said earlier?” 

Your brow furrowed slightly. You said a lot of things earlier…

“About what, dear?” you asked again, requesting that he elaborated. 

“Earlier, you referred to me as your husband. Do you really see me as such?” 

Your lips parted in surprise. Shifting yourself in Vader’s grasp, you turned yourself such that you were facing him, your hands draped against the large expanse of his chest. 

“Of course I do, Vee.” you said quietly but surely, “Of course I do. Do you not see me as your wife?” 

“I do.” he responded quickly, reaching up one of his hands to smooth your hair then cradle your cheek, “I was not certain you saw me as such.” 

“Ani, we’ve been together for decades.” you said, leaning into his touch, “I think it’s safe to say we’re not just dating anymore.” 

Another rumble from him. His version of a laugh, you assumed. 

“I know we were never officially married…” you began, your gaze dropping briefly as you traced circles onto his chest, “And it may be too late now, but maybe it would be nice to do so sometime, like, after all of this is over... “ 

You shrugged, “Just a thought.” 

He pushed a lock of your hair out of your face. 

Maker above, you were the most beautiful, angelic person Vader had ever seen. 

There was not one single doubt in his mind that he didn’t love you. 

He loved you more than anyone or anything in the entire history of the galaxy. 

“Perhaps that would be nice.” he rumbled out, returning his hand to your cheek. 

You smiled warmly up at him, your eyes twinkling in the dim light of the quarters. 

You loved him. 

You loved him so, so much. 

Your husband… 

You couldn’t have asked the galaxy to give you someone better. 

Leaning up on your tip-toes, you pressed a soft kiss to the mouthpiece of his mask, feeling his grip on your sides tighten. 

Your small frame bounced as you returned to your normal standing position. 

“Perhaps it would.”

~~~

TAGS: @spaghetti-666 , @soullesstaco , @arsonistvoyager , @robin-obsessed , @glitter-rian , @captainrexstan , @easterncryptid , @deviatedwinter , @roseangel013bf @danicalifxrnia , @dartheldur , @finest-trashbag , @yeah-boiiiiiiiiiii , @elongatedmusk-rat , @shads121 , @muffinbeliever , @sakuramadae , @padme-parker @khapikat222 , @the-official-memester , @rens-angel , @obiwankenobiness , @yvette1703 , @missmannequin , @breakfastpizzagalaxy , @scarletsinsandsnowwithetragedies , @clearnostolgia , @ahs0ka-skywalker​

[dragonrebelrose]

TROS Reaction 12-20-19. AKA my 6 page long dissertation about why I really disliked TROS.

I didn’t think it would be this bad. I truly thought there would be some gleaming moments of redeemability, but no. It’s one...giant...shit-show. What a horrible blow to the end of not only the sequel trilogy and these characters but to everything that came before. It really takes skill to mess up this badly.

A little something nice though, was the guy I sat next to. Really nice (and cute too ^-^ ) and he offered me some of his candy (Buncha Crunch! My favorite!) before the film started and then throughout the film because he said, “Well this is consolation for having to sit next to me.” Aw I couldn’t have asked for a better seat partner, I didn’t even know him! And then when the film ended he knew I didn’t take it well and I cried and shook through many moments and he offered the rest of his candy and I said, “Thanks, I think I need it.” I asked him what he thought overall and he said, “C-3P0 was pretty funny.” I said, “Yeah I agree. I actually knew everything that happened before I saw it, and I thought it was a mess.” He chuckled and said, “Me too, but I didn’t want to say anything in case you liked it.” I said, “Oh, no, I didn’t really like it. But I gotta be honest, Ben Solo didn’t deserve to die. That’s just my opinion.” I think he was surprised by that but didn’t disagree. He just kinda nodded or something and then we said goodbye and he left with his buddies, who also seemed pretty unenthused by the whole movie. Hopefully I gave him something to think about with my comment, but he was really nice and I’m glad he sat next to me.

Pessimism aside for now, I’ll start by listing the things I liked. I gotta be honest, there’s not much here.

Reylo is canon! But, in my opinion, it was handled pretty badly. Ben’s death is only the start of the problems for it, but more on that later.

C-3P0 is funny I guess. Yes he is annoying sometimes like usual, but not more so than other times.

D-O is freaking adorable. Out of everything good I’ve listed I have no qualms with this one. His manner is cute, his speaking is very funny, and his actions are just precious.

Babu Frik is very cute too, just perfect! Lovely little puppet! Don’t know why he was shoehorned in at the end battle but whatever. We never saw him again.

Maz is a puppet now? Okay, cool. Wish that would’ve been the case since the beginning. You had the technology JJ.

The music is good, when it’s given its own time to shine and be noticed. I feel like I barely noticed it was there because sound effects just drowned it out. Really wasted, but still good nonetheless.

Leia’s death and how it affected Ben. Wow. This was the first moment I truly cried. This was handled very well by Adam Driver, and then Maz saying “Goodbye, Princess.” Ouch, that got me.

Ben talking to the memory of his father! This is something I did not know was in the movie and boy am I glad I wasn’t spoiled for it! THIS is where the really hard tears and sobbing came. I was literally shaking and shivering trying to keep it in so as not to disturb everyone else. This. Part. Was. Perfect. Ben looks at him like he wants to say “I love you,” and Han says out loud “I know.” *crazy screaming and crying* Out of all the things they got wrong for Ben in this film, THIS they got right!

Ben Solo is the Solo boy we always wanted. Running in with a t-shirt, gun slinging, blasting opponents without even looking. THIS is a true son of Solo! But of course they give him no lines except “Ow.” THAT was a bad idea.

And that’s it. Yes those are the only things I even remotely liked, but I have to be honest, each one of these has some kind of problem attached to it which sours the real enjoyment.

On to what I disliked. Strap in lads, this is going to be a long ride.

1. The pacing. OH. MY. GOSH. SLOW. THE. FUCK. DOWN. For fucks sake I couldn’t even process what the hell was happening before we were on to the next thing! This was the biggest problem with the movie, BY FAR. Yes I know the story is terrible, we’ll get to that, but the pacing just completely took me out of the movie. I couldn’t feel invested in anything because it was all in one ear and out the other like ten-fold!

And this is part of the issue I have with how Reylo was handled. It. Felt. So. Rushed. And. Unfinished. There weren’t enough scenes with them and the scenes we did get were so fast and then over with that it felt like no progress was being made at all! It felt, for lack of a better word, unearned. And I know, that’s not really the case since they’ve had plenty of build-up in the last 2 films, but there wasn’t enough time with them spent NOT fighting and hating each other and opposing each other. Yes, I know, Kylo kept trying to get Rey to take his hand, but it doesn’t feel genuine because even Kylo feels out of character, and Rey too, big time. Now this isn’t the actor’s faults, they did what they could with the shitty story they were given, so I put all this blame at JJ’s desk.

In any case the overall film pacing was too fast, too much, too soon, too many things onscreen, too many things happening at once, not enough character, not enough motivation, not enough letting scenes breathe and just play out naturally. Everything felt forced for the sake of the “plot.” Oh we gotta get this thing, and then that thing, to get this thing, so we can defeat these guys! LET. US. BREATHE.

2. The story. My gosh, they couldn’t have picked a worse storyline to follow. Everything truly felt like it was written by a fanboy who wanted to retcon everything in TLJ, even down to the dialogue. Everyone keeps saying to Rey “You’re a Palpatine.” But it sounds SO strange, like nobody says things like this. I get it, it’s a space fantasy, they talk weird mumbo jumbo but it just sounds like a fanboy ghost wrote this. Like we gotta have everyone know now she’s a Palpatine! You’re a Palpatine! You’re a Palpatine! Palpatine heir! All bow down to the Palpatine! Give me a break.

3. Yeah, let’s talk about Palps. The old raisin himself. You know, I never really liked ROTS, but Palps was always a great thing about it. He was sinister, diabolical, he had a plan and knew what to do with it. But this Palps. *le heavy sigh* What a waste this was. For one thing, the lightning effects that lights up his face is really annoying, even for someone who doesn’t get seizures, I can’t even imagine what it’s like for those who do, I’m so sorry. And like, he has this whole legion of Sith followers? The fuck? Where the hell were these guys before? I’m sure they existed BEFORE the last Sith Lord died, right?

I digress. I have a question though: why does he want Rey so much? Why didn’t he try to get his son to take over? Wouldn’t that have been easier? Also, WHO DID HE FUCK TO GET A SON?? HOW DID HIS SON GET AWAY FROM HIM?? WHY DID HIS SON APPARENTLY TURN TO THE LIGHT?? THERE’S TOO MANY QUESTIONS HERE AND NO GOOD EXPLANATIONS. AND NO DISNEY, I DON’T WANT A 10-PART COMIC ON THIS. GO FUCK YOURSELVES.

The only interesting thing about Palps in this film is that his face gets melted off like a Raiders of the Lost Ark knock-off. He better not be coming back. Ever again.

4. And hey, while we’re on the subject, let’s talk about Rey’s parents. So apparently they’re both good people. *le sigh* But what kind of good people leave their daughter alone on a harsh and unforgiving planet with a blubber guy? And don’t tell me they didn’t know he was an abusive asshole, they LIVED on Jakku, they HAD to have known him, ESPECIALLY if they truly were junk traders, they would have DEALT with him. Oh, and apparently the “I’ll come back for you sweetheart, I promise” line is changed up a bit and given to her father after all. No. Screw that. That line was meant for Ben, I don’t care how petty this sounds, this is terrible. So yeah, fuck Rey’s parents, I don’t care how “good” you try to make their intentions, they’re badly shoehorned in and they screw up anyway. Next.

5. Ben’s story and his fate. So yeah, obviously I hate that Ben died, but more than that I hate how his story was handled here. It was so rushed, it didn’t feel as natural as it should have. It needed time to BREATHE. A lot of time! And I feel like they really shafted Kylo/Ben’s story off to the side to give more time to the hereby named GoldenTrio. (You know who I mean...we’ll get to them.) It really seemed like JJ didn’t even care about Ben’s fate anymore, and just kind of put it in as an afterthought. His death scene? Not even given a fucking minute to process because WE GOT TO PARTAY. All in all, his whole story is so terribly sad that I don’t even know if I can watch TFA or TLJ anymore, knowing how it ends.

6. The GoldenTrio. Oh for fucks sake, JJ, you should have killed Poe off when you had the chance, because now the story is all about THEM. Boom! They’re literally front and center in the movie. I don’t even think Reylo gets as much screen time as them. I mean really, Ben’s death scene and Rey’s grieving gets 1.5 minutes, tops. GoldenTrio reunion and threesome hugging? 5 fucking minutes of nothing but them hugging. I’m not even exaggerating. (Okay maybe I am, but it’s given more focus and time to “breathe” than Ben Solo’s fucking death. I’m getting a headache remembering it.)

Hey, remember in ESB and ROTJ where the trio got split up and had their own story lines and own purposes to fulfill without each other hanging around (apart from Han and Leia because their story lines are interconnected)? Yeah, I miss that too.

Also, Rey keeps wandering off being “pulled” to something, and every...single...time, Finn is like “Rey, wait! Poe we gotta get her! rEy CoMe BaCk!!” This happens at least 5 times, pretty consecutively too. It gets old real fast. Boy do I miss the days of TLJ where people got to be away from each other to discover new things without interference.

Which leads me to another point: They tried to shove FinnRey in here while shitting on FinnRose quite literally. What. A. Slap. To. The. Face. This is horrible treatment, and I hope Kelly will never do another interview for Lucasfilm again. She doesn’t deserve this.

7. The Ending™. Wow. What a way to show that your characters haven’t progressed at all by showing them in the same environment that they started in. Let’s do an overview: Rey starts out alone on a desert planet and meets a droid that isn’t hers. Rey ends up alone on a desert planet with a droid that still isn’t hers. PROGRESSION 101!! *slaps forehead* I mean, don’t even get me started on the fact that Ben isn’t there with her and that literally one half of her soul is gone (how is she not in agony right now??), but then to add more salt to the wound she’s just like “oh yeah I must be the rightful successor to the Skywalker name, even tho I’m a Palps...makes sense to me!” Fuck off. You don’t deserve that title after hating Luke for not doing what you wanted him to do and for hating Ben for most of this movie too.

Can we also acknowledge that this is THE ABSOLUTE WORST POSSIBLE WAY TO END A 40 YEAR SAGA AND FAMILY LEGACY? So, Palps had a kid who had a kid. This kid is then deemed a-okay by the family that was affected most by Palps and they welcome her like the sunshine child she is, yet shun their own offspring for being damaged goods because he was being manipulated by said Palps. Okay, it’s official now, everyone’s an asshole...except Ben. He seemed to be the only one to understand his faults and right his wrongs and not be an idiot. Then the kid who was abused and manipulated is killed because “reasons” or “problematic” or whatever and the offspring of Palps lives while the family that Palps manipulated is ultimately gone forever because it’s last descendant wanted to save the offspring of Palps out of the goodness of his heart. Now the offspring of Palps doesn’t even give a flipping thank you and steals their name. wHaT a SaTiSfYiNg EnDiNg!!! Someone gag me.

8. Luke’s X-Wing being raised out of the water and it’s in perfect working condition. What. The. Fuck. I don’t know if you guys realize this, but this completely undermines Luke’s arc in TLJ. That X-Wing was sunk and dead to show that he had no desire to return to the outside world. He was staying on the island. For good. And he buried that thing in water to make sure he couldn’t use it ever again, but it was still visible to him to remind him of his conviction if ever he questioned it. But no. That thing is a-okay and ready to fly. No need for parts, there’s no rust or any sea salt corrosion, ready to go skipper! This was just added for easy call-backs to ESB but boy this had absolutely 0 weight to it. I literally yawned or looked at my watch around this part thinking “oh my gosh isn’t it over yet?” Pretty much sums up my entire experience.

9. Rose got shafted to appease the fanboys. This one needs no further explanation or analysis, it just sucks and has no real reason to exist.

10. Luke was barely in it and offered not that great advice. Poor Mark. His performance really peaked with TLJ and never went back up.

11. Rey is suddenly the Avatar now? You can now talk to all previous Jedi’s who existed? What buffoonery is this? Oh, but Ben doesn’t get a single. fucking. word. from Anakin, the man he looked up to. I’m so tired right now. What’s left?

12. The message changed from “it doesn’t matter if you’re a nobody, you’re a somebody to me” to “you’re a somebody with a bad bloodline, but that doesn’t define you (except when it totally does)”. That sort of message would be fine if it had been the message since TFA, but it wasn’t. The message since TFA was “I’m a nobody, but I can become a somebody regardless of my lineage or my childhood.” Why change the message in the 11th hour? To appease fanboys. Literally anything that makes no sense in this movie can be attributed to fanboys. There’s so much contradiction and hypocrisy in this film from both the narrative and the characters that it’s insulting.

13. Hux was utterly shafted too. What a waste of a well built up and conniving little bastard who in the end gets shot for shock value and laughs. It’s like what TLJ did but way worse because he’s actually killed. Hux as the spy? Just no.

14. Jannah was kind of wasted too, not enough screen time. I get her and Finn kind of bonding over being ex-stormtroopers, but it’s not really delved into. Also the whole “nature vs. machinery” thing kinda briefly shows up at the big battle and feels unearned too, because there was nothing before in this movie or others to suggest there was a war between the two.

15. Poe is treated more as the heir to Leia than Ben is. Poe gets to fly the falcon and gets to wreck it up (dishonoring who it belonged to before), gets to be by Leia’s deathbed, etc. Not earned at all.

16. The pointlessness of random cameos or thrown in references. Not a single person in my theater noticed John Williams as the bartender, nobody pointed out or said anything about any reference from previous movies, it was silent.

17. What the hell was even the point of the whole “Dark Rey” vision? Oh, she shows her scary pointy teeth ala Bilbo style. No thank you.

18. Why the hell does it feel like these characters aren’t the characters from TFA and TLJ? They feel so different and it’s noticeable.

19. Finn is Force sensitive. Literally tacked on like nobody wouldn’t notice. We noticed JJ. We notice everything.

20. Rey and Kylo/Ben fighting for way too much of the film and their interactions. Not enough caring or understanding, not enough longing looks, it feels like their romance was almost cut from the film entirely.

21. Oh yeah, Rey floating at the beginning? Looked stupid as hell. And the “Be with me” line? I thought maybe, just maybe, she meant Ben, but no. She’s trying to reach “her past selves” like the fucking Avatar and she’s even floating rocks around like Aang did. Ugh.

22. Anything else? Oh yeah, this movie sucks completely and wholly...FOR NOT GIVING ONE FUCKING LINE OF DIALOGUE TO BEN SOLO AFTER HE HAD BEEN REDEEMED. HOW HEARTLESS CAN YOU BE THAT YOU LET HIM DIE WITHOUT SAYING ONE FINAL THING?!?! DAMN J.J. YOU’RE STUPID.

And that’s it. Kudos if you read the whole thing. I ramble a lot.

[geminimoonbeamx]

Moon lit Serenades

A/N: Dedicated to the reader, may you find happiness. I am so nervous for TROS, I saw a rumor that Poe dies and lost it. That plus the fact that there is literally no Plus Sized ReaderxPoe community? I had to remedy that. This is porn.

Warnings: This is porn. Serious smut from pretty much start to finish. Please enjoy.

Summary: Poe seeks comfort after a particularly hard mission in the only way he knows how. A Poe x Plus Sized Reader story

I am a moth, who just wants to share your light.

I’m just an insect, trying to get out of the night.

I only stick with you, because there are no other’s.

You we’re all I need.

I’m in the middle of your picture.

Lying in the reeds- Radiohead 

War had finally caught up with Poe Dameron.

Had finally taken it’s toll, and far more then it’s chunk of flesh. Battle wary and blaster shocked, it was hard to think of the resistance these days as just that- a resistance. No, this was more of a bloodbath.

War.

He’d never thought of it like that before, always held his head high, a defiant flame in his eyes. This was fuck the system- fuck the First Order. Fuck anyone who tried to tell him what to do. He was willed, motivated by the sheer rage that anyone would have to live their life in oppression. Under the thumb of Snoke or Phasma, dead and gone now- Hux and Ren hopefully to follow sooner rather than later.

And that fire to see them fall was still there...but it was dimmed.

Had been stomped on, choked out.

Watching people you love die for you, because of you on a daily basis...it wasnt something he’d wish upon anyone. Friends, family. Allies, brothers and sisters in arms. His fleet which had once flourished with dozens of pilot’s was down to a mere handful of lucky ones.

He was willing to breathe and bleed for the cause. It was in his blood- the sticky substance that matted his dark hair to his head as he climbed out of his X-wing. His parents had been the same.

Was he willing to keep watching others die for it though?

He couldn't stop form pondering the question as he and his unit arrive back to the makeshift base, in the middle of nowhere on a planet in the outer rim- the name of it he could barely pronounce. The shabby hut like quarters made the memory of D’quar and its green covered everything throb longingly in his gut.

That seemed so long ago, now.

No matter. No time for getting attached. They’d be on the move again within a fortnight, never staying any one place longer than a month at a time. Rey usually kept them one step ahead, connected to Ren through the force in a way that made Poe’s stomach churn, but that came in handy with them not getting caught.

Thinking about Kylo Ren always made him sour from the inside out. Muscles clenched in memory of the torture he’d endured at the hands of what used to be Leia’s son, but was now just a shell with his dead fathers nose and the mark of his dead uncles betrayal on his black soul.  

Poe would kill him in an instant if he got the chance. He prays to fuck that one day he does.

Clenching his fingers into fists is painful right now- the small mission had gone awry and they’d had to punch their way out of it. Literally. He’s feeling the aftermath of it all over, aching and sore.

He doesn't have it in him to attend the debrief. Can't muster the will, not right now. Maybe after a hot shower, maybe after he gets some food in his stomach and allot’s himself a moment to wallow. He forces himself to stand straight, spine elongated in a way that has his bones and muscle screaming.

Poe tries not to limp, as he scurries away to lick his wounds. He fails.

“Poe, you need to see a medic!” Finn insists, somewhere behind him. Always worried, always caring. Poe has nightmares about the night that he eventually loses him, too.

“Don't worry, I will” Finn wonders how someone who looks like they’re going to keel over at any moment- can manage to sound so cheeky.

Rey, who stands beside Finn, bruised bleeding herself wonders if he realizes that Poe is on the verge of tears. The pilot rippling and vibrating so hard she could feel it, taste it on the air.

Neither of them say anything though. The just watch him disappear into the stormy, starless night.

----

Sleep isn't something that comes easy to you as of late.

Not only did you spend your days(and most hours of your nights, too) in the Med Bay, you had never been the kind of person that could handle big changes, sharp adjustments. This hop forts every couple of weeks trend was killing you.

Your mind couldn't relax, R.E.M. State was always just out of reach.

Especially when he was gone...which also seems to be a trend these days. The missions just kept getting longer and longer- the time that he was on base shorter and farther between.

But it was raining tonight- the soft rhythmic  pitter patter of it on the roof of the hut reminding you of your home planet, you could almost pretend you were there; the smell of petrichor tricking your brain. Making it easier to curl up on the bed that was really more of a cot and cozy into the Resistance standard blanket.

For the first time in two weeks- you sleep. Hard. Like a rock. The exhaustion finally overtaking your body, and putting you out of commission. General Organa was right to send you back to your bunk, physically removing you from your post.

You feel kind of, extremely, guilty for the attitude you’d thrown at her -

“I’m fine, if I don't do my job, who’s going to?”-

aimed her way even though she didn't deserve it. She was right, of course. She tended to be most of the time. Why anyone ever doubted her, why you ever doubted her, you didn't know.

The sleep is dreamless, just the way you prefer it...you hadn't always, but nothing was better then the nightmares. Nothing is far from peace, but close to quiet. A middle ground that could be called purgatory, depending how you looked at it.

So when there's a knock at your door, the wooden one that gave you more privacy then you’d had in months, that wakes you from your much needed slumber, you can't help but feel the irritation surge through you. Your hypothetical feathers bristled as you huff and puff and pull yourself out of bed, yanking a pair of breezy sleep pants up your chubby legs and a robe over your shoulders- not wanting to answer whoever it was in the near nude.

When you pull open the door- well, it was the one person who wouldn't have minded if you had greeted him in your panties.

“Poe?” You question, because your eyes still haven't adjusted, your mind still three fourths asleep and one fourth confused.

“Yeah, it’s me, sweetheart” And oh? Sweetheart? In that gravelly voice, tired and worn and fragile...you're instantly aware of what kind of state he’s in.

When you pull him inside, flipping on the light orb, and are able to see him. Clearly now; all bloody and bruised, you inhale sharply. His eye is blackened on the same side of his face that seems to be saturated in crusted crimson.

“Stars, Poe” You whisper as you crowd him, urging him to sit on the cot that’s still warm from your body heat. Poe frowns, pretty lips pulled down as he takes it, and you in. Your hair rumpled, your robe falling off your shoulder as you gather medical supplies from what seems like all over your small “room”

The first thing you do is take out a small capsule full of neon blue liquid from a jar and hand it to him. He takes it gratefully, tossing it down the hatch before you can even offer him water. Painkillers aren't the easiest to come by since they’ve been on the move.

“I woke you up, didn't I?” He inquires, after he swallows.

“Obviously” You answer as you step back into his orbit, close enough that he can smell your skin. That his eyes can trace each of the freckles that dot across your nose, your cheeks. You put your finger under his chin and tilt his head up, and fuck, isn't that a pretty view?

“I’m sorry” He whispers, hissing between his teeth as you, gently but deftly, begin to clean his head.

“Mmm, it’s fine. I’m awake now,  Kriff Poe, you look like warmed over shit. This gash in your hairline is going to need stitches” You’re focused, wiping and dabbing as you speak.

He didn't realize, until that moment, just how much he missed your voice.

“Your bedside manner is spectacular as ever” He grins as he says it, even though it hurts to do so. His busted lip is next on your itinerary.

“Well when you show up at my bedside and not the other way around, I’m pretty sure that changes up the rules”

“Didn't you miss me...at your bedside, that is?” He pushes on, he wants you soft and sweet for him but he knows from experience it takes a bit to get there. Especially since he’s been gone so long.

“Stop distracting me” You mutter. You're only half pretending to be completely focused on the task at hand, at this point you could probably stitch a wound with your eyes closed.

“M’sorry” He’s not. It’s selfish, but he really isn't. He’s not sorry for barging in on you and waking you up, or for sitting in your bed reeking of blood and days worth of dirt. How can he be, when this feels so good? Your soft little hands working at him, healing with every touch. There’s no hurt when he’s around you- only good.

The painkiller makes the edges fuzzy, makes the fact that your repeatedly pulling a needle through his skin seem mild. It’s not like it’s his first time getting sewn up, and he highly doubts it’ll be his last.

Poe can't stop staring at you, dark eyes hooded. Hungry in a way that he doesn't care to hide. Drinking you in, gulping. It’d been almost a month and he was dying to get his fill. Your round body, nothing but curves and dips that he was itching to touch, is mostly covered, but the robe is still hanging off your shoulder. Satin skin exposed, so pretty and pristine.

It’s almost out of his control when his hand skims up our arm, skin seeking out skin. His palm sears as it settles on your upper arm. The plush flesh so soft under his calloused hands that he’s almost worried that it would give if e pressed down too hard.

In the back of his mind he knows better, though. Recalls just how much you can take.

“Poe” You warn tightly, lashes fluttering as you shoot him a look. One that makes him chuckle, because you're not fooling him.

He’ll play, mostly because he wants to, but he knows you missed him as much as he missed you.

You wonder if he can feel the way that you're trembling, already shaking for him. It’s stupid, you feel stupid, and yet you cant stop it. You have healers hands, medic’s hands- and at least you can get them to stay still as you finish with his head, then his lip.

Going insane from the simplest touch, from the way that he rubs his thumb in circles over and over on your upper arm. You remember when that would have made you uncomfortable, big arms that you wanted covered at all times used to be a big no-no.

But with Poe it was different. He wasn't there to judge. He just wanted to feel.

You don't want to pull away, but you have to. Your brain is torn, but ultimately resorts back to it’s resting state: health driven. Medically inclined.

“You need to go take a shower, wash the rest of the blood out of your hair. The hot water will help to start to bring down the swelling” you instruct, and it would be how you talked to any patient. Except for the way you cradle the side of his face, your voice breathy as you touch is thick locks that are greasy. A bit tangled.

Poe nods, he knows your right. Knows he should have done that before he even came here…

“Can I come back?” It’s hopeful, he spits it quick- desperate.

It feels like someone yanked, hard, on a loose thread inside your chest.

“Always. You know that”

--

While he showers, forced to go a few huts over to the community bathrooms, you’re a flurry of anxious thoughts and movement. Tidying up the small space and yourself the best you can. You’d showered earlier in the evening, using the last of the last of the Obsidian Lily oil that you’d carried with you. You still smelled good, pretty.

Your hair was wild, but not untamable and you end up brushing it smooth. You hadn't shaved since before he had left and curse yourself for not doing so earlier. How were you supposed to know that he was coming back tonight? Growing up on your home planet, there was a moss based soap that everyone used that minimized body hair. But still…

You wished, like you had more than once, that you could be better for him.

You're trying to swallow that horrid ugly little thought back down when your door opens, Poe not bothering to knock this time. Barges in, and he seems a bit more like himself in that moment.

His hair has gone back to his natural curls, thick and bouncing, dripping and the navy, loose materialed sleep clothes hang on him. Dont cling to him with dirt and sweat...all and all, he looks so much better.

Or so you think. Until you see him in the right light, his top falling open and revealing his chest.

“Poe!” You exclaim and his thick brows furrow, he had been drying his hair with one of your spare towels.

“What?”

“Take off your shirt” You demand and one side of his lips pull up- a smirk that doesn't meet his eyes.

“You know if you ask me nicely, sweetheart, I’ll give you whatever you want” It’s a purr, a ploy. Many a person- male, female and Wookiee had fallen for that charm of his. Your own name thrown in that pot.

But he was hurt, had to be in pain, and that thought cut through the others that that coy tone had stirred up.

“I’m serious, that bruising looks deep- why didn't you show me this earlier? You could have internal bleeding! Something could be broken”

Poe would never let it be known, would deny it to the ends of the galaxy...but he loves the way you fret over him. It makes him feel warm.

“Okay- Okay!” He sighs as you start to reach for him demandingly, knowing that you'd pull it off yourself if he didn't. There's a handful of winces as he tugs the fabric up and over his shoulders. You’re silent the whole time, and then for a long moment after.

“Oh...baby”

It’s the first time you've called him that tonight. In weeks. The first time an affectionate name has slipped from your mouth.

You can't help it, can't help the overwhelming feeling of...horror. Of shock and worry. His tanned chest and abdomen are hard, dusted with ebony hair that matches that of which grows from his scalp...and covered in bruises.

Four huge patches of yellow, and black and purple and blue...he looks like a fucking water color painting. You’d seen him in some pretty bad states over the years, and this was up there with some of the worst. The worst? Well you didn't like to think about that particular bloody day.

You reach out, fingertips tracing the purple bloom on his left ribs.

“It’s not so bad” And that’s Poe in a nutshell. Always trying to convince not only the people around him, but himself, that things were going to be okay.

“That one’s a deep tissue bruise” You point out to him, fingers gently probing, trying to detect if anything is broken “It has to hurt like a bitch, it’s going to get worse before it feels better”

“Not so bad” He loves the way you're touching him, and his hand, that big paw, goes to our waist. Holding you. Urging you to keep going “Those painkillers are something else”

You snort through your nose. He’s something else- you tell him of that fact, often.

Poe can only be so patient, can only allow you to touch him, feather light, for so long. Eventually, his impulses win out. Just like the always do.

You’re almost done, checking his bones, when he grabs your hand, envelopes it in his large one. It’s still for a moment- the air sparkling with energy. His eyes are mahogany, dark wood. Deep forests as they stare down at you.

The want in them is raw, unbridled.

“I missed you, so fucking much. Every day. Have I told you that yet?” His words, mixed with the timbre- vehement. Honest. It makes you want to squirm.

“No- you haven't” You wish your voice at that moment wasn't so anxious, weak and almost a whisper. Something about Poe had always brought this out in you. He was so bright, beaming. Everyone around him flocked to him, in hopes of just being able to taste a fraction of his light.

Sometimes, you still couldn't believe that he let you fill your cup, that he sought you out, parted the crowd for you.

You had never been a weak woman; had never let your weight or your too loud opinions or your tendencies to be overly emotional make you feel small, or less then...but being with Poe-- the level of intimacy was suffocating.

You felt burned up. Icarus who flew too close to the sun, who willing allowed himself to be burned up just to feel its warmth for a moment...you could relate.

“I did” Poe continues “I missed the way you feel, the way you taste-”

You close your eyes at that, images of the last time you’d gotten a moment alone with him, of a head of dark curls between your legs, assaulting you. Smacking you right in the face.

“-You taste so good, Y/N. Should've bent you over when you came to say goodbye. You would've let me, huh? Let me get one more taste- you have no idea how bad I want to stick my tongue inside of you. All the time. No one else gets to taste, right?”

Poe is well on his way to being rock hard, already. It had taken all of him to not jerk off in the showers.

“No one, Poe. You know that” you’d meant to tell him to fuck off, that you didn't belong to him. That he couldn't just have you whenever he wanted you. That came out instead.

“I need you” He tells you, roughly “feel how bad I need you, Y/N, fuck” he still has your hand in his grasp, againts his chest. When he begins to slide it downward, you know where its destination will be.

That doesn't stop the thrill, the flip flop of our tummy that comes with Poe pressing your hand to his crotch, hard and hot. The thin pants the only layer between your palm and his erection.

“You’re the only one who gets me like this, I need you to make it better, Y/N”

The switch is flipped then. Hard.

You’re surging forward, and he's meeting you halfway, your mouths slotting together. Lips and tongue, so much tongue. He talks all about how you taste, but stars, the way he tastes is intoxicating. Want to suck the taste of him off his tongue, off his cock.

Its blurry and ferocious. Hands everywhere. Touching, grabbing. While you are gentle with him and his tattered body, he doesn't extend that same sentiment. He’s groping, fingertips bidding into flesh. Groaning into your mouth as he clutches your thick, dimpled thighs. Reaches around to squeeze our ample ass.

Best ass in the galaxy, he'd write fucking sonnets about it, if he was good at anything but flying.

Clothes are shed, way too fast you worn Poe who doesn't listen. Because he never does- and he ends up hissing in pain, and relenting, sitting on the cot and letting you take off his pants. Slowly. You make it up to him by standing over him, grabbing his hands and guiding them to strip you. Slow drags of fabric over supple skin.

You’re so fucking sexy, and he tells you so as he urges you into his lap, you stay on your shins to mind his middle. Poe worships with his words. His fingers and lips do their fair share of praying next.

“Fuck I missed these the most” your breasts are large, heavy globes. Puffy sweet nipples are pebbled and just begging to be sucked on. He licks them messy, wet before he does just that; sucks them into the hot cavern of his mouth.

“Oh, oh, ugh” Your hands are twined in his hair, dripping down onto his thighs already, when Poe feels the wetness drip on him, his fingers go searching, hand pressed in between your thighs. Fingers slipping through sopping, heated flesh. You grasp, a high sound as he presses up and circles your clit, firm and pointed.

It’s so good, pleasure shoots down your legs, all the way to the tips of your toes.

It’s not enough. For either of you.

“Poe, fuck. Please” He’s injured, and you know it hurts him to do, and you should scold him for it, but when he manhandles you, flips you easily onto your back to that he can climb on top and situates himself between your thighs-

It’s just as hot as it always is. You know you have to be dripping down onto the cot, can feel your slick covering your thighs, slipping down your crack.

Kiss, Kiss and Kiss and Kiss and Kiss and…

You get lost in it, caught up in the way his stubble burns. His fingers slide back inside you and he watches your face as he crooks them, pumps them fast. Finger fucks you until you’re sobbing, letting out animal sounds.

“Do you still have the implant” he pants, head swimming. He gets like this when you let him make you feel good- wants to go down on you, but wants to be inside you even more.

“No, I took it out in the last few weeks” You’re cheeky, even with his fingers burried inside you. He loves that about you, “Of course I do, Poe”

You’d be damned before you ever brought a child into this world.

Poe holds your thighs wide, staring between them, your pussy wet and clenching around nothing. You’re so vulnerable for him, it makes you dizzy. He lines himself up, clock head dipping into your slit, resting against your hole, when thrusts inside of you it’s in one fluid movement.

You mewl, so full it’s hard to breathe and Poe makes a punched out sound. Like he’d been shot by a blaster in the chest and his hips start undulating, needing to be deeper. It feels so right inside of you. Feels safe. He wants to tear into your softness, rip you open and nestle inside. Settle himself in your bones.

You let him take what he needs, how ever he needs it. On your back, on your hands and knees. You bounce on his cock when he gets to achy,letting him run his hands all over your tummy, sides, breasts.

He can have it all.

After, the two of you lay spent, cuddled tight to one and other in the small cot. Standard issue thrown over your naked bodies, the sound of the rain starting up again mixed with Poes breathing is a lullaby you hadn't known you needed.

This...thing between you might have started as a way for both of you to numb the pain. To seek support. But it was more now. You were so in love with him that it made your eyes sting if you thought about it for too long.

“You’ll always come back to me, right?” Its so, so timid that he almost doesn't catch it and you almost hope he’d miss it.

Poe does what he always does; tries to convince you both that it’s going to be okay.

“Always”

You let yourself believe him.

Well I wasn't expecting this to turn into pure porn, but here we are lmfao. I loved writing for Poe and there will definitely be more of him coming soon! If you are able- listening to All I Need by Radiohead and the Hot Like Fire cover by the XX really sets the tone for this. I actually dropped a line from hot like fire in this- who can point it out?lol

As usual, I'm going to ask that if you can please give me some feedback. I truly love interacting with my readers and would love to hear your thoughts and opinions.

[mnemehoshiko]

STAR WARS INTO DARKNESS

A (Salt) Review of Star Wars Episode 9: The Rise of Skywalker.

Warning 1: All opinions are mine and no one (sadly) paid me for them.

Warning 2: I’m going to strive to be charitable as possible. Keyword, STRIVE.

It finally came. The conclusion to the Skywalker Saga, a nine film series starting with Shmi Skywalker and her lineage. 

When we left the The Last Jedi; Finn was tenderly checking up on Rose who endangered her life to save him. Steadily finding his place in the Resistance and deciding that it was a cause worth fighting for. Ben Solo, also known to the galaxy as Kylo Ren, has just killed his life long abuser but failed to relinquish himself from the ties of the past. Rey was dealing with detaching herself from the idea that she needed to Be Someone in Order to Do Something only to realise that she, a nobody, was good enough. As Leia Organa said, we have all we need.

Cool right?

Yeah, just forget that movie. Actually, just forget like any development that occurred over the last two movies. Furthermore, turn your brain off. No, really please remove any kind of higher cognitive function and any knowledge of Star Wars beyond “pew, pew, pew” and “wOOO”. That’s literally the only way to truly enjoy this film.

This movie is a quest. A long big-budget multi-step fetch quest. Fetch quests are a common part of RPGs and can be enjoyable! Add to the narrative! Interactive. A movie that is nothing but fetch quest after fetch quest to the point that honestly, the first two thirds of the movie could have been dropped because it was so distressingly nonsensical. 

Loose summary; 

Ben Solo is on a planet. Being very very lorge and murking people left and right. Why? Because reasons. That this planet happens to be Mustafar and that he’s killing Vader Cultists evidently is not considered relevant. Even though Ben Solo introduction in TFA, which JJ wrote (with the assistance of Kasdan and Arndt), is basically as Vader’s #1 fanboy. But who cares about narrative information when you have sweet sweet red lighting and like a flight scene.

Anyway, Ben heads to Exegol because evidently that’s where the fancy schmancy totally Not A Holocron is directing him towards. In which he approaches some goth-esque temple with vats of Snokes. Yes, You Heard Correctly, Vats of Snokes. And Palpatine. Who’s just hanging on a crane. Just chillin’ and gleefully tells Ben Solo that he’s been every voice in his head since birth. So learning your abuser is still alive is totally dope. But hey, PALPATINE IS BACK! REMEMBER PALPATINE? ISN’T THAT COOL, yells JJ Terrio desperately trying to like Hype You Up And Remind You Of The Star Wars of Their Childhood.

Finn and Poe “I Have Literally No Purpose To Any of This Narrative and JJ Terrio is About to Fuck Over My Backstory” Dameron are getting data from a contact. For some reason a glorified dick-shaped Alien is there. Consequently, this is the same alien that replaced Rose Tico on merchandise. A reasonable person with minimal brain function would assume it’s because he plays a critical role in the plot.  Remember what I said about thinking? Stop it. Klaud is there primarily for you to admire that JJ’s tentacle kink is Alive and Well and Thus Everything Is True (tm) Star Wars Again. 

Rey is floating surrounded by rocks because That’s What Cool Jedi Do. Then she does a training course because after two films we have absolutely no proof that she has any fight training, according to Reddit and like JJ Terrio is trying to get Reddit to go to the Star Wars Prom with them. So, we need a training montage and Rey going to robo-Leia and saying that she will “earn [Leia’s] brother’s saber”. Why would she want to earn a grumpy curmudgeon who fucked over his only nephew and hid from his twin sister for years? Well, JJ Terrio dreamed of earning Luke’s saber and like what is the purpose of writing other than Wish Fulfillment.

Palpatine is back! Why? We don’t know and we don’t even know what he said because evidently it was decided that it belonged in Fortnite...instead of the film. Why? Here’s a lollipop and a pew pew to stop thinking sweetie. Either way he’s on Exegol and Rey saw notes scribbled in the margins that you need a Sith Holocro-- I mean ~Sith Wayfinder~ --because JJ has never seen Star Wars since he saw it in the theaters in 1983-- to get there. Which is on Pasaana.

WHICH IS HAVING SPACE BURNING MAN RIGHT NOW! (which happens every forty two years. Which is how long ago Star Wars Episode 4 Premiered. Remember fans! Isn’t that a Cool Thing To Drop? says JJ Terrio deftly skimming Reddit in order to gain fanbros love and affection and nostalgia boners.) LOOK AT ALL THE ALIENS DOING THE SPACE MACARENA! Because WOO DON’T YOU LOVE PARTY SCENES?

The force bond shows up and you can some how transfer stuff between the bond? Which like in the hands of another writer would be fascinating and engaging. Sadly, this is a JJ Terrio production and nuanced storytelling and dialogue is Fake and Not Star Wars.

Either way, Ben knows that they’re there and they are running from stormtroopers RIGHT INTO LANDO CALRISSIAN,-- remember him? goes JJ Terrio. You remember Lando right?. I do, I go. I’ve seen the movies and you’ve given no reason why Finn and Rey would know who the fuck he is seeing how he’s evidently been living as a hermit In The Same Outfit for over a decade. (BUT REMEMBER HIM, whines J.J. Terrio. Yes, I do. I SAW THE FUCKING OT JJ).

Anyway, more exposition occurs because JJ Terrio has no understanding how visual language works and it detracts from Real Star Wars Things Like - Space Chases - Pew Pew - Witty quips! because Witty quips! Are Important for A Star Wars, says JJ Terrio.

Nevermind that stormtroopers could fly since the Clone Wars and there’s literally no reason as to why Finn would not know this but like that would require you to give him

- a character arc - character growth - dialogue beyond “WOOOOO” and “REYYYYYY” (also side notes; it was depressing as fuck seeing Finn’s growth in TLJ to going beyond being Rey-centric to only spend the entire movie yelling a White Lady’s Name. I GO TO THE THEATRE TO NOT SEE REALITY, JJ.)

JJ Terrio: BUT HE’S FORCE SENSITIVE?? me, who’s been on the Finn is Force Sensitive Train since TFA: AND YOU DID ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WITH IT AND IMPLIED THAT IT WAS ONLY REASON HE WAS ABLE TO FIGHT THE STORMTROOPER PROGRAMMING??? (i.e. this is really fucking gross eugenics shit pls stop JJ Terrio and like just stop)

*deep breath*

ANYWAY, where was I? Oh yeah, Star Wars Into Darkness.

Either way, they find the Subtle Knife a Sith dagger? Along with force healing foreshadowing. But they have a dagger! Which They Can’t Read! But Threepio can! But He Can’t Say It Out Loud Because His Programming Forbids It.

And then the KoR, the galatic boy band, and Ben show up because of course. And they capture Chewie and put him on a transport.

Rey, of course, reaches out to Stop The Transport.

Ben, tries to stop her.

They to a back and forth that is similar to TLJ without any of the emotional build up of TLJ but that’s because JJ Terrio believes Emotions Are Not Star Wars.

And she lets loose LIGHTNING and makes the transport blow up and she believes Chewie is dead. Problem: Chewie isn’t dead. Which means she would be able to sense him in the Force. “But Mneme”, you say, “the Force isn’t like a GPS where you just Sense People.” That’s fair! Except....then...she does...when she’s on the Snow Planet. So like???

Either way, we have a Dagger that We Need to Read That Threepio Can’t Say Out Loud.

A Solution That Uses Braincells: well we know that the Millenium Falcon has three droid brains! So like we could just hook up Threepio to like the Falcon and transmit the codes and get some really great Easter eggs re: the Falcon and like the setup of the ship! 

....

JJ Terrio: OR WE COULD GO TO THIS SNOW PLANET me: wha-- JJ Terrio: SNOW PLANET WHERE POE DAMERON RAN SPICE me: did you just make....your Only Latino Character Into A---Drug Runner JJ Terrio: REMEMBER HAN SOLO?? HE’S JUST LIKE HIM!!! me: pls stawp pls, I’m begging you stawp JJ Terrio: ALSO LOOK AT HIM FLIRTING WITH A GIRL SO HE’S LIKE OBVIOUSLY STRAIGHT me: bi....people.....exist...like...that is...a thing JJ TERRIO: ALSO WE’LL SHOW U HER EYES TO SHOW THAT SHE’S HUMAN AND NOT A WEIRD ALIEN BECAUSE POE DAMERON IS A RED BLOODED AMERICAN LIKE REDDIT  me: pls....stop...why....

anyway, he needs a memory wipe in order for it. Which is a really touching scene....or would have been if it wasn’t immediately retconned because like R2 has backups. So like whoo.

So that’s like *two* instances of fakeout death because like Nothing Is Of Consequence Because Star Wars.

Except Leia dying because fuck moms, say JJ Terrio. Moms are Not Star Wars. The Reddit bros have now started to return their text messages.

More busy stuff happens. Hux dies. I wasn’t able to thoroughly enjoy it because by this point I had A Headache from all the Pew Pew and Wooooo~~.

Ben tells Rey that like ~her power is Palpatines power because like How Else Can Rey Be Powerful.” Does this make any sense? Not at all but like Don’t Think Too Hard.

He also finally takes off his stupid helmet that was glued together by ~Sith Alchemy~ that they bought from Space!Michaels.

Rey is vaguely disraught but like She Finally Has A Purpose and the Reddit Bros are Appeased.

More shit happens. Does it matter? Not really.

They meet Jannah! She’s cool and has the exact same backstory as Finn. Because in Star Wars There Are Only (2) Backstories for black characters.  They line up the dagger that is old as fuck with the death star wreckage. Which lines up exactly. Evidently erosion is Not A Thing. 

Finn and Jannah and basically go, Wow Isn’t It Rad That Because We Have The Force We [Finn, Jannah and her crew] Were Able To Reject Brainwashing and Bounce Because We Have The Force.

Rey runs off and Finn yells “REY!!” at some point but at least he knows his best angles while he does it.

Rey meets Dark!Rey who’s a vision....for five seconds. Because Remember if Girls Go Dark They Have Sinned In The Eyes of The Force. Ben shows up and crushes the Holocron because I refuse to call it that stupid-ass name-- dear fucking lord his hand is big--and WELP I GUESS I HAVE THE ONLY ONE.

They fight because We Need A Light Saber Fight Except This One is So Lackluster.

Then Leia reaches out to do something that will use up all her strength says Maz. How does Maz know this? Idk but she’s played by Lupita N’yongo so at least it sounds Deep And Wise because That’s Why You Cast Black People...to sound deep and wise. =_= **deeper breathe**

Anyway, she reaches out to her son! Her son hears her? I think? Either way it distracts him which lets Rey impale him. Except then she heals him?? And is like, I wanted to take your hand, Ben’s hand. which like I’d be fine with if like the movie had like worked for it. But like That Would Involve Actual Conversations Between Characters and We Are Going At 34243242432 pps (parsecs per second) and thus DO NOT HAVE TIme For That.

Ben then has a rehash of the scene from TFA because JJ Terrio is a fucking hack and is unable to create original material and this would have been meaningful if like Any of the Emotions Had Been Earn in The Fucking Film. But hey, I felt .75 of an emotion when Han Solo cradled his cheek so I will accept this. Then he yeets his saber into the ocean. Because. Yeet. Sadly, this movie is Not Over and My Suffering Will Not End

Poe and Finn head back to base with Jannah because I guess that’s what we’re doing? They find out that Leia is dead etc etc etc. The Resistance has a Circle Planning Session for the Final Battle that JJ Terrio lifted straight from ROTJ and the Reddit Bros brought them a corsage for Fanbro Prom. I am reminded that ROTJ was better than this garbage that I Paid Actual Money To Watch. Rey heads to Fish Nun island and decides to pull a Luke Skywalker move even we learned from the Last Movie (TLJ) why that was a Bad Idea but you know WE GET TO SEE LUKE AGAIN IS A GARBAGE WIG BECAUSE REDDIT BROS AMIRITE? We get the most hamfisted performance out of Mark Hamill and I’m just like damn The Last Jedi as a fucking gift and a _Jedi’s weapon is important_ platitude like his dad wasn’t yeeting his saber left and right. But Who Cares About Canon When We Have Pew Pew Pew Pew.

Luke tells her that Yes He And Leia Always Knew She Was A Palpatine which like means - Leia literally did not learn from the Last Time She Obscured Someone’s Parentage and the Fall Out - Actively lied to Rey - Luke actively lied to Rey - jfc this poor girl has been aggressively lied by most of the authority adults in her life??? - HER PARENTS SOLD HER TO PROTECT HER which is such a fucking damning think along with the fact that her parents are idiots and like didn’t think to take her to the new republic and like THERE ARE 23432432 things wrong with this set up but that is a Whole ‘Nother Rant

Also evidently? Leia ended her Jedi Journey (which abbreviated as JJ, coincidence? I THINK NOT.) because she saw her sons demised but evidently....couldn’t sense her son being groomed by Snoke, creation of Palpatine and like this entire movie makes Leia look like an ineffectual idiot?? Like I was really hoping that Leia was going to be able to escape the “Fuck Mom’s” curse of Star Wars BUT I GUESS THAT BECAUSE THAT’S NOT ~true star wars~

Anyway, evidently Leia gave him her saber which I guess she made but no one decided to show that but instead some freakish CGI (that they swore they wouldn’t do) fight scene because like Leia Obviously Isn’t A Real Force User Unless You Use A Lightsaber. The Reddit Bros Nod Sagely. So Rey decides to go to Exegol.....using the Luke’s X-Wing. The Reddit Bros are weeping tears of joy at this point.  The Resistance starts their FINAL ASSAULT! THEY HAVE SPACE HORSES RIDING ON A SHIP BECAUSE DOESN’T THAT LOOK COOL! FINN KIND OF USES THE FORCE. THEY DECIDE TO BLOW UP THE STAR DESTROYERS BECAUSE FUCK CHILD SOLDIERS AMIRITE (rip Finn’s Stormtrooper backstory that JJ constructed that He Couldn’t Even Be Arse To Complete or like Think Of Because Like That Would Be Nuanced Shit but like He Gets to - Jump Over Things! - Run! - Know His Angles - Yell desperately After A White Lady because ahahahahha fuck WOC when there’s white p*ssy on the line AMIRITE?)

Either way they’re in trouble and Poe is dismayed and is like yo i’m sorry we’re doomed. Because...that’s.....what generals do. Give The Fuck Up.  BUT DON’T WORRY LANDO IS HERE TO SAVE THE DAY BECAUSE EVIDENTLY WHILE THE GALAXY IGNORED LEIA ORGANA’S PLEAS, THEY LISTENED TO LANDO

(Crack theory: He hit up all his exes.)

Rey flies to Exegol to confront Grandpalps. Who never wanted her dead but to become Empress after spending 2.5 movies wanting her dead via puppet!Snoke. Also kudos to JJ Terrio to making a Sith Temple be so fucking boring and lackluster. That Took Skill.\

ANYWAY SHE SEES HER FRIENDS IN TROUBLE MUCH LIKE IN TLJ and in ROTJ but JJ Terrio really really loves his nostalgia and ROTJ was very very very formative evidently. She’s about to Strike Him Down In Anger And Absorb Grandpapa’s essence in order to save her friends but WAIT WHO IS THIS IDIOT RUNNING IN WITH NO FUCKING PLAN Yes, it is Ben Solo channeling his father. As carrying the blaster that Lando gifted to him in Aftermath but like we can only suppose that because who Needs Convos When You Have Pew Pew Pew~ His former Knights show up (who have also never spoken because hahahahah dialogue? Sounds fake. Also moment of Silence of Rian who kept them alive and used Praetorian guards in TLJ instead because he assumed that JJ made them for a meaningful reason because he was Unaware That JJ Was A Fucking Hack)

Anyway, Rey senses him! They do a super cool force bond moment that actually Pays Off and Rey hands off her saber to Ben. Through the force. It’s dope.

#BenSoloChallenge happens.

[In spite of like No Speaking At All, Adam Driver successfully channels the aura of Han Solo in spite of JJ Terrio desperately Insisting That Poe Dameron is Obviously Han Look He Even Ran Spice!!! Look!!]

Eventually they both stand before Palpatine Ready To Throw Down except in stand Palps leeches the lifeforce from them and then yeets Ben into a pit and Rey collapses.

THEN ALL THE JEDI FROM THE MOVIES AND CLONE WARS INCLUDE AHSOKA WHICH MAKES NO SENSE GIVEN CLONE WARS BUT WHAT EVER DON’T YOU FEEL VALIDATED!!! FANS!!! SCREAMS JJ TERRIO

me: no.

Rey pulls a Wonder Woman move because all you need to do to redirect Force Lightning is cross your light sabers.  Anyway, that effort kills her (or like maybe not? Says Terrio in multiple interviews because men from Harvard Literally Never Shut Up.)

Ben somehow?? Climbs?? Out of the pit?? Under his own power because The Jedi Still Haven’t Forgiven the Skywalker Line for Anakin. Even though Anakin also reached out to Rey? I’m just assuming the soul of St. Maul of the Pit was yelling angry motivational speeches to get him out of the pit while St. Ventress adding sarcasm commentary comparing Ben and his namesake. 

EITHER WAY HE’S OUT OF THE PIT! And is like in agony because Rey is uh in limp ragdoll mode so probably dead? We’re gonna go with dead.

He limps over to her because uh evidently getting yeeted into a pit is Not Good For Ones Health or Limbs.

Ben cradles her in his arms and at that moment I had to Apologize For Everyone I Dragged for Size Kink because Adam Driver is Fucking Large and His Hand is Fucking Huge and I, Mneme, Was Wrong You Are Valid.

*cough* where was I? Ah yes, he’s cradling her in his arms realizing she’s dead and I guess? Channeling the force to heal her. Which it does.

He’s happy! She’s happy!

She says “Ben” breathlessly. 

AND THEN SHE SNOGS HIM LIKE THE AWKWARD VIRGINS THAT THEY ARE.

The Force realizes that a Male Skywalker is Getting A Boner and Goes Nope. And he just collapses and fades away at the same time that Leia fades away because ~symmetry~.  Was a war going on? Uh maybe but like LETS NOT WORRY ABOUT LOGISTICS BUT INSTEAD CUT TO EWOKS!! WE ALL LOVE EWOKS RIGHT!! Rey flies back to Ajan Kloss. Poe, Finn, and Rey hug because this movie is almost over and they can stop trying to sell a non-existent trio created because JJ didn’t have the balls to let Poe stay dead in TFA.

Commander D’Arcy kisses her wife in the background but no one really notices and it was cut in Singapore but like JJ Terrio are Woke AF Y’ALL but not too woke because else they’ll get dumped by Reddit Bros.

No, we are Sadly Not Done.

LETS GO TO A SAND PLANET. No, it’s not Jakku it’s Tatooine~ DON’T YOU GUYS REMEMBER TATOOINE!! go JJ Terrio.

You mean the planet where Anakin Skywalker was a slave, Luke Skywalker desperately wanted to leave, and Leia Organa was put into that humiliated outfit? Yes. I remember.

REY’S HERE TO BURY LUKE AND LEIA’S SABERS HERE!! At the Lars homestead that is somehow intact....in spite of Jawas. 

What wha-- why??, you may ask.

Well Luke never got to show Leia his home planet, goes JJ Terrio. Literally anyone who saw ROTJ.....they were on it in then?? JJ Terrio: i can’t see mariah carey dot gif

Rey also shows off her new lightsaber that was evidently crafted from her staff but we were not shown that  on screen because like It Was Considered To Emotional for this Film.

Then finally some old woman passes by and is like Who are you? Rey: Rey Old Nosy Lady: Rey who? *Rey stares at the Force Ghosts of Luke and Leia looking like her parents* Rey: Rey Skywalker JJ TERRIO: SEEEEE WE DID REY SKYWALKER!!! AREN’T WE COOL me: she took the name of a grumpy old man who rejected her and whom she bounced off with his shit because he was being a dick....OKAY JAN

(ffs they could have let her take the name Organa but like Fuck Women amirite? *DRINKS*)

and yeah that’s it. Kid that was brainwashed as a child was reduced to going WHOOOOO every 5 seconds with no thought regarding his fellow stormtroopers who are still brainwashed.

Kid that was abandoned under the guise of ~love~ and sold to an abusive guardian and struggled and starved for years returns to a planet of sand and yes I know that she is probably going else where but that was a choice they made to have the last shot of her Alone with a Droid staring at the twin suns because JJ Terrio have been doing nothing but spraying nostalgia in my face for just under 2 and a half hours.

Kid who was actively groomed since childhood and only just now released from said clutches but lol can’t atone because he dead now.

Kid who lost her sister to the machine of war is pushed aside because she dared to exist.

and Poe.

The End of the Skywalker Saga y’all.

Bonus: “Uh, Mneme what about Rose?” She got exactly a 76 seconds that she acted her heart out in but evidently seeing a non-submissive Asian woman in Star Wars was too much for people last film so that uh Essentially Cut Her Out. Don’t worry they made sure to give her a quarter of a page in the visual dictionary and the Merry the Hobbit two page spread. So like Don’t Worry The Asian Girl Will Not Hurt You. “Mneme, what as the point of Poe?” Fuck, if I fucking know.

“Uh Mneme, the Only Reason Finn Didn’t Have An Arc Is Because of KYLE RON!!!!” 

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

Exhibit C

trust me, it really wasn’t.

[ramblings-of-a-mad-cat]

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Re-Write

(Inspired by the fantastic work of @dalekofchaos) 

“Fix it” fics are a thing, yeah? Well, here’s my shot at writing one for the ninth Star Wars film. Contrary to popular opinions, I’m only going to change one or two things about the two movies beforehand, because I unironically loved both of them. But I can admit that there were mistakes, and TLJ tied up most of the loose ends, leaving it difficult to follow-up with a sequel. So, regarding Episodes eight and nine, here’s what changes. 

I have exactly one change for TFA. That random ass stormtrooper who called out Finn as a traitor and inexplicably had a melee weapon that could fight lightsabers? Yeah, just make that Phasma and have done with it. I don’t understand why it wasn’t her in the first place. Also, Finn being able to wield a lightsaber isn’t “evidence” that he’s force-sensitive if you ask me. The films never confirm that non-force sensitives can’t use them. This will be important later.

Moving on to TLJ...replace that stupid milk scene with the deleted scene of Luke reacting to the news of Han’s death. I mean, come on, that’s a given. Another given, Luke uses his green lightsaber in the illusionary duel against Kylo Ren. That’s just common sense. 

After Kylo Ren asserts himself and force-chokes General Hux, and the two of them depart...the camera pans in on the pieces of Snoke’s corpse, onto his face...and his eyes suddenly open. Yes, this will be important later. Somehow, Snoke survived.

I genuinely liked Vice-Admiral Holdo, but they kind of fumbled her role in the story. She was never given a reason for why she did not share her plans with the rest of the Resistance. The most popular theory being that she assumed a mole was on board, but this was never stated in the movie. In my opinion, Poe had every reason to call for mutiny based on what he knew, so the whole message/character arc of him learning to be a leader rather than a hero didn’t quite stick the landing. So how will I fix it? Simple, replace Holdo with Leia. First things first, we don’t get the superman-flying, which is just an objective improvement. We also are more inclined to trust Leia over Poe, because of the legacy the character has. We’re also going with the plot-threat there is indeed a mole. What’s more, Leia is given the sendoff she deserves with the light-speed kamikaze scene. Sure, she may be force-sensitive, but it’s clear that she chose a different path in her life and I think she should go out as a warrior, not a Jedi, because that’s what she was. General Leia. Plus, you avoid the awkward interactions with CGI Leia from the canon episode 9. 

I think we can all agree that Finn deserved better, and he absolutely deserved to have the scene that was deleted, where he called out Phasma in front of her soldiers, telling them what happened in TFA, when Phasma caved so easily. This is the beginning of the Stormtrooper rebellion, and Finn is responsible for igniting the spark. He can definitely duel with Phasma, but he’s not going to win for one simple reason. The mole suddenly reveals herself and puts a blaster to his head. 

Spoiler alert, the mole is Rose. The reason why could vary - perhaps she blames the resistance for the death of her sister. Perhaps the First Order captured her sister alive and is threatening her. Either way, Rose’s efforts help turn the tide and allow her and Phasma to escape. The code-breaker can still be part of the movie, but he doesn’t really matter. The Canto Bight sequence is unchanged, because I honestly don’t dislike it at all. 

So who saves Finn from his attempt to follow General Leia’s example, and give his life for the cause that he now truly cares about? Poe does. This moment already causes their character arcs to intersect, with Poe being in the position Leia was in at the start of Last Jedi, Finn being in Poe’s position. Poe crashes their ships to save Finn, and because I’m #Stormpilot trash, and we deserved an onscreen LGBT relationship between leads, Poe does indeed kiss Finn. However, don’t worry about Rose. I have plans for her. 

That’s about all that changes. But in the grand scene of things, most of these aren’t really issues with the film itself. But they’re necessary to set up for my idea for a Rise of Skywalker re-write. Speaking of...

The Rise of Skywalker - let’s begin with the name. 

I hate this name and everything it represents. I’ve heard rumors of an alternate script where Ben Solo is not redeemed, called “Duel of Fates.” I’m not a fan of Ben not being redeemed, but I like the concept of that film name. So I’m thinking this movie will be called something like “One Last Bout” or “One Last Stand.” Something simple but effective, with the air of finality. I truly doubt Episode 9 is the end of Star Wars forever, but if we think of it as a conclusion to the first two trilogies, this can work. 

The film opens with the funeral of General Leia. With Rey, Finn, and Poe (who are holding hands for sure) all standing together with Chewie, who is in shambles as we can expect. Lando is also present and he gets re-introduced. Luke’s force spirit appears and looks on, but does not reveal himself to everyone else. Likewise, pan the camera over, and we see Kylo Ren observing the service as well, out of sight. Luke makes telepathic contact with Rey, to warn her of danger, at which point both Rey and Ben double over in pain, the sound design giving us an uncomfortable high pitched screech, or something similar. There’s a disturbance in the Force. Something is returning. Something terrible. Ben is spotted, and the main trio open fire with blasters, but Ben escapes. Lando stops Rey from pursuing him, suggesting that it would dishonor Leia’s memory to do it right then and there. 

Ben, on his ship, struggles with horrible pain, a serious headache. Until at last, he is telepathically contacted by a voice we do not hear. But it terrifies him, and he takes off in his ship in pursuit of it. 

A scene similar to the one where the Resistance analyzes Palpatine’s message, but there is no message and there is empathically no Palpatine in this movie, though I won’t get into why that was a horrible idea right now. Never mind, Rey is simply recounting to Finn, Poe, Chewie, and Lando that there’s a disturbance in the Force. Luke’s spirit appears and warns them that a great evil that long predates their time, is returning. He disappears, explaining that he needs to await Leia as she “crosses over” and becomes one with The Force. This is the last we see of Luke in the film, because his story is over. The torch has been passed.

Ben/Kylo Ren arrives at what we saw as Exegol. I don’t mind this planet being Exegol, it was about the only new location I actually remembered from the canon film. He confronts the voice in his head, proclaiming that he will kill any threat to The First Order and it’s Supreme Leader. A familiar voice in the dark chuckles. “You have yet to finish off your predecessor. By what right do you claim his job?” Snoke leans forward, and reveals himself. A similar scene to TROS plays out but with no mention of Rey. Despite Ben’s shock, Snoke is amused. “You are not the first apprentice to try and take my life. You probably won’t be the last. I have fashioned many into tools for the Dark Side, even the Emperor himself learned at my feet. Did you think you were special? So, yes. Snoke is the final Big Bad like he should have been (Andy Serkis was robbed) and he really is Darth Plagueis because he was totally supposed to be. By means of mental torture, Snoke reassumes control of Ben and tells him to gather the Knights of Ren “Wherever you’ve hidden them” and prepare to crush the rebellion once and for all. 

Instead of visiting a random planet for a lead, Lando and Chewie lead the gang back to Endor. Or it could also be Kashyyyk, I suppose. Like before, Lando and Luke were there. They spent years documenting the history of the Jedi and the Sith. This could be contained in “Holocrons” I realize they have meaning behind them in the lore, but I don’t know much, so just consider the “Holocron” to be a storage unit for information. Arriving there, we still have the scene of a local asking for Rey’s family name, but this time she’s going to stay no one like she should have. While researching, Finn expresses the theory, or more like the hope, that he might be Force-Sensitive. Rey tells him that everyone is, to an extent, but Finn clarifies that he means it the same way that Rey is. “Y’know, the way you can push stuff around and sense people’s feelings. Make stuff float.” An echo back to Rey’s line from TLJ. What I’m going for here is that Finn is not force-sensitive in the traditional way. His arc in this movie is going to be about accepting that, and realizing that he doesn’t need that to be a “hero.” He already is one, with everything he’s done. But as of right now, his insistence that he could be leads to bickering between him and Rey.

Things only get worse as Rey uncovers more about the Jedi. Sees some of the ways in which they were not the white knights that history remembers them as. Luke was right, they played no small part in creating Darth Vader. What’s more, she discovers the “Rule of Two” which has been hinted in the films but never discussed outright. The idea that there are only ever two people wielding the Dark Side, a master and an apprentice. And that the apprentice invariably kills the master to succeed them. A tradition dating back for millennia. The Sith, the practitioners of the Dark Side, always betray each other. She’s disheartened, thinking of Ben killing Snoke and how he offered her his hand. What it all would have led to in the end. 

They finally discover what could be the answer - the “great evil” that is returning. A Sith lord called Darth Plaguis, who, when they bring up the hologram of him, strongly resembles Snoke. They put two and two together, reading more about Plagueis’ file. How he vanished without a trace. How he was said to have performed an unspeakable ritual in the Dark Side to allow him to control life and death itself. He could revive those he loved from death, and could not truly he killed, having become an anomaly in the Force. Only another anomaly of equal power would be able to stop him. 

An ambush occurs, with assassins in masks attacking the heroes. They wield melee weapons that are not lightsabers, and they force the group to split up due to simply being outnumbered. The gang realizes that, apart from being here to kill them, they probably want that Holocron, but the Resistance must be the ones to get it. We get a similar scene to the canon film, with Chewie heading to the Millennium Falcon with the Holocron and trying to take off, to blast the assassins from the sky...but then the assassins reveal their ace card. They have force power. And they start to pull the Falcon back down. Rey struggles against them, but she’s outnumbered, still upset from everything that she’s learned, and easily angered when Finn rushes in to try and help, despite not being able to. Rey succumbs to her anger and unleashes Dark-Side lightning. Just like in the canon film. The differences? Number one, this doesn’t foreshadow any lineage for her...but importantly Chewie is actually dead, not just a fake-out. He’s dead, and the Falcon and Holocron are destroyed with him. Seriously, the emotional weight of that scene is completely drained by not having Chewie actually die there. The potential is lost, and I’m going to prove it. 

Rey is appropriately mortified, shocked, and despondent.  The assassins are too - they can’t believe their enemy killed one of their own just to win. Everyone is shocked, but Poe is the quickest to regain his head, dashing in and blasting at the assassins to help cover the heroes while they escape, Finn half-dragging a stunned Rey. So, everyone feels awkward about what just happened and though they believe Rey that it was an accident, it still happened and both Finn and Poe feel distant from her. Lando, understandably, is a lot less patient than them. He knew Chewie for years. His old feelings about losing Han might resurface, and he could say something about how Rey is no better than Kylo Ren, before catching himself and apologizing. At this point, Lando also departs. He needs to get back to the Resistance, because he has been named the Acting General, since Leia’s death. 

Meanwhile, Poe deduces that the assassins were the mythical “Knights of Ren” rumored to be the Supreme Leader’s private army. Rey is shaken from her stupor at this news - it doesn’t make sense, it completely violates the “Rule of Two.” Could Ben still be saved? Or is it too late for him? Is it too late for her, Rey, even? Cue Ben Solo/Kylo Ren opening up the force-bond once again. A similar conversation about how they’re both uncertain of their place in the galaxy, and a confirmation that Snoke is back, and is really Plagueis. Ben reveals that he’s been ordered to kill Rey, and he apologies - he truly doesn’t want to do this, but Snoke once again has control of him, and has proven that killing him won’t matter. Rey senses terrible pain, and gets a taste of what Ben has been put through - think, like, the Cruciatus Curse. Whatever “pain” move Kylo Ren used on Poe in TFA. He learned it from Snoke, of course. Ben closes the force-bond, telling Rey to run. Run as far and as fast as she can, because he’s no longer able to take it easy on her.

Finn and Poe overhear the conversation, or at least Rey’s side of it. They hear enough to deduce who she’s talking to, and this further plants the seeds of doubt in their heads. As we see in Last Jedi, Rey doesn’t really tell people about the force-bond, so we can assume she never told her friends. The family is fracturing more and more. Rey is slipping closer and closer to the Dark Side. And all without needing to give her a bloodline. See? I told you Chewbacca’s death had potential. 

They make a pit stop on Coruscant, because there’s no reason it couldn’t have been Coruscant, hiding from First Order ships. Here is where the character of Zorii originally showed up. As compelling as the performance was, she’s not going to show up here. Let’s be honest, she was only there to no-homo Finn and Poe, as well as give Poe a backstory that is apparently racist? (I’m not knowledgeable enough about this topic to comment, so let’s just throw out the whole idea.) Instead, the team is confronted by none other than Rose, the mole from TLJ. She reveals that more and more stormtroopers have been rebelling since Finn gave his speech. There’s only one faction that she is confident will never turn on the First Order - the Knights of Ren, who “seem to worship the Supreme Leader like a damn god...though, I guess he isn’t the Supreme Leader anymore, is he?” News is spreading of Snoke’s return, and Rose has the heroes cornered with a band of loyalist stormtroopers. 

Finn pleads with Rose, and the other Stormtroopers, to reconsider. Here is where we outline Rose’s character. She despises everything about war. She’s intentionally attacking both sides, seeking to see both the Resistance and The First Order collapse. She has a personal vendetta against Poe and actively tries to kill him, for his role in the battle that killed her sister. Poe likewise despises Rose for having betrayed Finn. Whether Rose’s actions are tactical doesn’t really matter - she’s responding from a place of emotion, not logic. Poe, showing his growth, apologies to Rose and talks her down. Explains the situation, how dire the circumstances are. Rey chimes in and identifies with Rose, having made plenty of mistakes of her own. There’s a moment of solidarity between the team once again. A moment, anyway. Poe makes peace with Rose, and she lets the heroes go. However, her stormtroopers turn on her, and attack everyone. The gang helps Rose escape with them, and after the escape, they realize that those stormtroopers were in fact the Knights of Ren, spying for Kylo Ren, which means Snoke as well. 

Rey, tortured by nightmares about Snoke, leaves in the middle of the night. Finn is awake, and tries to stop her, which leads to a major fight. Finn is having trouble trusting Rey, and it shows. Rey is likewise fed up with Finn trying to insert himself into the story, as it were. However, having been told by Rose the impact that he had on the galaxy, Finn no longer wishes to be a Jedi. He then redirects the question to Rey - does she want to be a Jedi? Like Luke? Honest answer - she doesn’t know. The Jedi of old would never have accepted her. She’d have been expelled and become another Darth Vader. Rey is impulsive, confrontational, she has a short temper. She gives in to the Dark Side too easily, and now it’s gotten someone killed. She feels diseased. Though Finn tries to dissuade such talk, it comes out that he and Poe overheard her conversation with Kylo Ren. Both sides are angry here, because Rey kept this secret, and because her friends spied on her. She cries out in anger, causing several nearby lights to blow out. Rey storms away, seeking to be alone.

This fight scene takes the place of the ESB rip-off with an evil Rey. That just wasn’t necessary. Instead, Rey leaves to confront Snoke, kill him once and for all, and rescue Ben if she can. After that, she isn’t sure what she’ll do. It is at this point that she is captured by the Knights of Ren. However, they don’t kill her, as instructed. They remove their masks - humanizing them as just being people. They reveal that they were the Jedi who followed Ben after he left Luke. When Starkiller Base was finished, Ben told them to go and evacuate their families from their home planets, just in case. The Knights stayed away for a long time, per Ben’s orders, but returned when he bid them too. They love him, seem to look up to him, and they can tell that he loves Rey. That he’s not his own man anymore. And that his best interests don’t align with Snoke’s. They know Snoke has to die, but also realize they aren’t powerful enough to stop him. The only one they can think of who might be - is Rey. They beg for her help, and she agrees.

The movie now offers a montage of Stormtroopers abandoning Phasma and Hux, and turning themselves in to the Resistance, explaining that they want to fight for the light. Meanwhile, Finn talks to Rose and Poe, and they all agree that they can’t just leave Rey, they have to go after her. They regret not trusting her, and conclude that even if she is tempted by the Dark Side, even if she falls...she’s still their friend. They don’t believe that she’s a spy - Rose offers useful tip in this sense. Observing that Rey offers none of the “tells.” Finally, we come to Rey training with the Knights of Ren. The transformation of her staff into a lightsaber pike. And it’s gold, baby. It’s gold. (Oh, since I forgot to mention this, Anakin’s lightsaber never gets repaired. Rey has been using a blaster up to this point.)

Bring us back to Snoke, torturing Ben once again as he can sense the betrayal of the Knights. Ben doesn’t realize that they’re still loyal to him, he thinks they just abandoned him, and his spirit is broken even further. Snoke talks more about his past, and here we can get a philosophical discussion. Perhaps Snoke discovered the midichlorians during his research, and exploited them for more power. He could analyze the Force as being, not a difference between light and darkness, but a shallow body of water that only gets deeper the further you venture. Snoke boasts that he was the first to risk “drowning” himself in it’s depths. Meanwhile, Ben hallucinates seeing Han, encouraging him to get up and fight back. We can also have Leia’s voice here, if we want. Ben fights back in a scene that echoes TFA, the way Rey resisted his own control. “You are no Master, Plagueis. Not of anyone or anything. You act so powerful, but your thoughts betray you. You’re afraid you will never get it right. Your desperation grows with every failure. But Today is not the day you finally succeed.”  snaps free of Snoke’s control and when Snoke attempts to dominate him with Force Lightning, Ben goes full Prince Zuko and redirects it, Yoda style. With that, he escapes, now on his own. 

Finn, Poe, and Rose show up to fight the Knights of Ren. Assuming Rey to be their prisoner. Rey, faced with her ultimate conflict, the symbol of her uncertainty, a literal metaphor between the two sides of her being at war...her loyalty to Ben, and her loyalty to her friends...her desire to be good, but her tendency toward darkness...finally completes her character arc and solves her identity issues. She creates a barrier between both sides, knocking them all down. She explains herself, telling her friends that the Knights want to stop Snoke. That she has joined them freely, for this reason. She apologizes for how distant she’s been. Admits that while she would never support the First Order, she does care for Ben Solo, despite all he’s done. This leads to Rey making up with her friends, and making peace with the Knights, who were already kind-of friends with Rose, once upon a time. This can lead into a bigger discussion about The Force, the concepts of good and evil as a whole. While Finn and Poe contact Lando, to tell him where Snoke is hiding, Rey reaches out to Ben through the force-bond. 

Meanwhile, Ben has returned to the planet where Luke’s old school of Jedi was. He visits the smoldering remains, and unearths Luke’s green lightsaber. He struggles, still feeling that call to the light, and now that he’s alone and able to meditate, he attempts to do what Snoke did, and “drown” himself in the Force, in the hope of stopping him. He doesn’t drown. Instead, he meets a spirit who he had unconsciously blocked out a long time ago. Anakin Skywalker, portrayed by Hayden “The lines were terrible but his acting was actually pretty good” Christensen.  The call to the light that Ben had always resisted had come from Anakin. These two finally talk, and Anakin urges Ben to choose the right side. They find solidarity in understanding that they were both drawn to the Dark Side, and both felt that this meant they “had” to be evil. Anakin doesn’t dissuade Ben from the Dark Side, but advises him to do what is right for the galaxy, defeating Snoke. Ben is helpless, he doesn’t know how. But Anakin tells him that an anomaly of equal power to Snoke could be enough to kill him forever. It’s definitely worth a try. Anakin fades, promising Ben that the answer is closer than he thinks. He can sense it right now...

After Anakin fades, Rey appears. She has succeeded in contacting Ben, and they catch up. Ben learning that The Knights still care about him, and that Rey has joined them. Rey expresses that Ben was right - it’s time to leave the Jedi and the Sith behind. To start something new. They can discuss the Force in greater detail, how being Dark doesn’t always mean one is evil, but the teachings of the Jedi suggest that it is a binary system. They express affection for each other. With everyone around Rey seeing her talk to someone invisible, Rey reaches out her hand...and Ben takes it. Suddenly appearing in the ship with everyone else. 

Rey and The Knights take turns embracing him, and he exchanges awkward nods with the others. With the help of the Knights, the group comes to the conclusion that Rey and Ben are some kind of Dyad in the Force, irrevocably connected. The two that are one. Such a thing has not been seen in millennia. It’s almost like a glitch in the universe. But this anomaly could be what it takes to stop Snoke for good. 

The main team makes their way back to Exegol as we see Lando giving a speech to the Resistance, now much stronger with the added former-Stormtroopers. As much as I love Jannah, she’s just as unnecessary as Zorii. That screen time could have and should have gone to Rose as she re-establishes herself back into the squad, same as Ben. Everyone arrives at Exegol at the same time, and Resistance soldiers move to open fire on Rose and Ben, understandably so, but here come Poe and Finn to talk them down and explain the situation. No one is happy about it, particularly having Ben Solo around, but Lando, with much consternation, accepts the situation and tells the Resistance not to fire on their new allies. However, he also instructs Finn to kill Ben if he steps out of line. We can get a callback when Finn gives the “I’m watching you” look to Ben, and have a line like “Don’t be a traitor.” Or something. 

Final battle time. Another montage. Finn leading the former storm-troopers in the battle against the last of Snoke’s loyalists, led by Phasma. Together with Rose, Finn defeats them and Phasma is left on her knees. She pleads for mercy, and Rose is prepared to kill her, but Finn intervenes. They take her prisoner instead, because killing people who are already defeated and defenseless is the “Stormtrooper” way. 

Rey, Ben, and the Knights are helping out with their Melee weapons. The Knights are also using the Force, because not using it offensively was a Jedi message, and they didn’t always follow it anyway. Though he’s definitively good now, Ben is still wearing his Kylo Ren armor, and wielding the cross-guard saber. I mean, imagine if he showed up to a warzone in day clothes with a blaster, just because his previous weapons were “evil?” How stupid would that be, right? However, at one point the cross-guard saber is destroyed in the right, and left empty-handed, Ben pulls out Luke’s lightsaber, stares at it...and then ignites it to rejoin the fray.

 We likewise get a battle of wits and strategy between Poe and Hux, as Poe commands a legion to take out the forces guarding Snoke’s throne room. In the end, Poe’s armada is saved by another that Lando commands. Hux manages to fatally shoot Lando, but Poe quickly repays him in kind. While everyone crowds around Lando, Hux dies alone, symbolizing the difference between the two causes. Lando expresses pride in how far Poe has come, tells him that Leia would be proud too, and with his dying words, he addresses Poe as “General Dameron.” It’s a truly emotional moment and afterward, Poe simply turns to the loyalist stormtroopers, carrying the poise and energy of a powerful leader. He tells them to drop their weapons. To surrender now, and they won’t be harmed. It’s badass. And the loyalists do as instructed. 

The path is clear for Rey and Ben to rush in to the Throne Room and kill Snoke, with the Resistance following them as backup. Only Snoke is nowhere to be seen. All of a sudden, we hear that high-pitched screech again. Rey and Ben collapse in terrible pain, hearing Snoke’s voice. His physical body no longer matters or plays by the same rules. He has essentially taken the practice of returning as a force-spirit and perverted it to become Dark. We now get Snoke’s final backstory, and the answer to why he’s able to do this. Snoke himself was part of a Dyad, centuries ago. Though exceptionally rare, Rey and Ben’s bond is not unique. However, Snoke murdered his counterpart for his own selfish reasons. A total violation of nature. This is what splintered him and turned him into the unnatural being that he is now. Rey and Ben vanish, to the alarm of Finn and Poe, as they disappear into the Force. 

The three of them - Rey, Ben, and Snoke, all appear to be in some kind of void. Snoke recounts having sensed the awakening of another Dyad (”The Force Awakens”) and that this is what prompted him to return to physical form in the first place. He reveals his final plan. Rey and Ben must now fight to the death - the winner becoming as powerful Snoke himself. He promises that the winner can rule beside him. This is probably a lie, and both of his opponents refuse. But Snoke also warns that without achieving that kind of power, they’ll be hopeless to stop him. He dual wields red lightsabers in the subsequent duel. Notice how Rey and Ben are using sabers of gold and green - the opposite of red and blue, which  have traditionally symbolized the Jedi and the Sith conflict. Snoke tells them that they have no future. They cannot become Jedi, not with the crimes they’ve committed. If they become Sith, well...he cites the “Rule of Two” insisting that Rey and Ben cannot coexist because one will inevitably slay the other. Rey and Ben respond that they are neither, that they simply fight for what they believe in. That they are...knights of Ren. 

Together, they strike back, plunging their sabers through Snoke’s chest. He vanishes, and the void world vanishes. Rey and Ben reappear in the throne room, and Snoke is there too, staggering to his feet. The Resistance takes aim at him, but he pays them no mind. He warns the two heroes that there is no telling what will happen if they choose this path, that the Galaxy needs structure when dealing with an entity as vague and infinite as The Force. Rey responds simply that “The Force is not some stranger or threat. It is not a vice for power. The Force...is us. All of us. The good and the bad, the light and the dark. So long as we stand together, you will never influence The Force again. You will never control us. You will never return again.” With a roar of defeat, Snoke’s body turns to dust, and a shadowy mass is left in it’s place. Finn and Poe fire at at it, to no avail, but Rey and Ben join hands, and as the shadowy mass surges toward them, The Dyad employs it’s full potential, causing Snoke’s bastardized force-spirit to vanish. Not sure how this would be filmed without looking silly, but I swear, it’s compelling. 

The battle is over. Everyone celebrates. When Finn and Poe kiss, it’s earned, not some nameless background characters. The team returns to the Resistance base. Poe has been unanimously voted to be the new General, which is the closest thing they have to an elected leader right now, so he is in charge of the trials for the loyalists, and the Knights of Ren. The people who committed treason or other crimes. But we only see three of these trials. Ben Solo, Rose Tico...and Rey. After all, she did kill Chewie, right? She conspired with the Knights, too. Rey is pardoned almost immediately, Rose not long after, but Ben Solo...after much consideration, Poe charges the Knights of Ren to a path of atonement. To go around, helping fix the Galaxy. Community service. 

Ben and the Knights prepare to leave on their trip, and Rey and Ben say goodbye. How ship-teasy this is, if there’s a final kiss...eh, interpret how you like. I’m a Reylo fan personally, but I know a lot of people aren’t. Ben promises to see Rey again, and they both acknowledge that thanks to the Dyad, they won’t have to go without seeing each other, not really. Likewise, Rey and Finn and Poe and Rose will be helping to fix up the galaxy, so it’s certainly not goodbye. 

I lied, Luke’s force-spirit appears one more time, this time with Leia, though she doesn’t speak much for obvious reasons. Luke is proud of her, and says something to the effect of “Not bad for a scavenger girl with no family from Jakku of all places. Well done, Rey from nowhere.” Rey looks around at everyone - at Finn, Poe, Rose. At Ben and the Knights. At C3PO, R2D2 and BB8 (Who were definitely involved the whole time I just didn’t have much to say about them) she looks back at Luke and replies that she does have a family. She and her friends go to wave goodbye as Ben’s ship takes off, flying into the sunset, and....ENDING CREDITS!

Let me know what y’all think! Hopefully this doesn’t throw out quite as much from Last Jedi, and does the characters justice! 

[victoriareyloficlists]

09/01/2021 Additions to Reylo Angst

These fics have been added to the Angst list located here.

Say it With Sugar by fettuccine_alfreylo (AO3 2016  Rated E Complete, 20 Chapters, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: Ben Solo is the owner of his family’s small chocolate shop. Rey Kenobi is a talented chocolate maker he hires. They both share the same passion for chocolate. Unfortunately, they share the same kind of anxiety, too.) Java Empire And The Rebel Café by fairytalesandfolklore (AO3 2019  Rated T Complete, One-Shot, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: A Reylo Coffeeshop AU. Rey works for the Solo's coffeeshop and finds out their son has gone to work for the competing corporate chain. She tries to get him to reconcile with his parents but a misunderstanding makes him push her away.) Your Half by Celia_and (AO3 2020  Rated E Complete, 4 Chapters, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: Classmates Rey and Kylo get off on the wrong foot. Too bad they’re partners for the whole semester...) Dumpster Dive Into My Heart by commandercrouton (AO3 2019  Rated T Complete, One-Shot, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: Inspried by a tweet from Reylo Prompts: My art professor told us a story about how he hated all his art and threw it out at a dumpster by his campus and then a little while later he went to a girls dorm (who is now his wife) and she had it hanging on the wall :) Love Makes Fools Of Us All by Darkcat18 (AO3 2020  Rated E Complete, 5 Chapters, Victorian AU, Quick Synopsis: Poe Dameron and Armitage Hux take their friend Ben Solo to Madam Natal's high end brothel so that he can be rid of his virginity. Ben, though nearly thirty, has no desire to lose his virginity to a whore. When he sees Rey, laundress and cook, he strikes a deal with Madam Natal to spend the night with her. Rey agrees after he offers her a very large sum of money, to be paid directly to her. What neither realize is that this deal will change the course of their lives.) It Feels Like Christmas by juniorstarcatcher (AO3 2017  Rated G Complete, One-Shot, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: When Rey discovers she’s not the only one staying alone in her dorm during Christmas break, she tries to share the holiday spirit with the intimidating and solitary Ben Solo.) A Scandalous Match by Musickat18 (AO3 2019  Rated T Complete, 18 Chapters, Regency AU, Quick Synopsis: Despite a very poor first impression, Rey has found herself forced to wed the mysterious and intimidating Ben Solo, Duke of Ren. The marriage is deemed highly scandalous by society as Rey is no more than an orphan living on the good graces of Mr. Unkar Plutt. Rey, now Duchess of Ren, finds herself forced into a role for which she has no training, with a husband who does not even seem to like her.) Wash Over Me by Twisted_Mirror (AO3 2021  Rated M Complete, One-Shot, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: This fic was based on a real life inspired prompt where a guy had posted about an experience with his girlfriend of tender intimacy and healing after past unhealthy relationships.) Those We Love by Everren (AO3 2020  Rated E Complete, 6 Chapters, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: Rey and Ben used to be friends, best friends, until one night and some bad news changed everything. Now, after not speaking for months, Rey is about to make the hardest day of Ben's life take a turn he could never have expected.) Off guard by TheReadingNook (AO3 2019  Rated M Complete, One-Shot, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: The last thing Rey is looking for is love. As a single mom, her plate is as full as she wants it to be, but her son seems to think otherwise. And when he sets out to fill that void, they learn some interesting things about life, love, and the bonds of family and friendship.) A Reylo Christmas by Biekewieke (AO3 2018  Rated E Complete, 8 Chapters, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: So when Leia Organa asks her Personal Assistant Rey to join her on a family vacation in Mon Torri for the holidays and highlights a big bonus, what is she to do? Only catch... Leia's son is coming along... Ben Solo is the enfant terrible of the family. Broody, sullen and with a huge chip on his shoulder, the young man is notoriously difficult.) A Dinner For Two by Ayearandaday (AO3 2019  Rated T Complete, 7 Chapters, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: When Finn gets caught while hacking for the information about Rey's parents she agrees to spend an hour every day doing whatever Mr. Ren requests to save her friend from prison. But what could her mysterious employer want from her?) In Sickness And In Health by Theyna_Shipper (AO3 2020  Rated T Complete, 8 Chapters, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: Rey knows it's not an ideal situation, but it's a situation thousands of people are in. It's not like there's much she can do about it right now, anyways. She can go a little while without health insurance. Until she gets breast cancer. The treatment will be simple if she can get it. But she's worried she can't, until her old co-worker Ben offers a solution: "We could get married.") Convergence by kuresoto (AO3 2018  Rated T Complete, One-Shot, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: Not everyone had an Other, and the only way to find your Other was by saying their name. When that happened, memories of their life, where they grew up and the steps that led them to you, would be condensed into a single flashback that passed in a blink of an eye. The fact that someone had said Rey’s name and didn’t bother approaching her hurt, especially since she had a good idea why. Her parents tossed her aside when she was barely five, so she shouldn’t be surprised that her soulmate had done the same.) Chef's (Uns)Table by TheAlchemistsDaughter (AO3 2019  Rated T Complete, One-Shot, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: Kylo Ren is a high-powered chef with an explosive temper. Nevertheless, Rey likes him. To get him to come out of the kitchen, she and her friends try to wind him up. When someone asks for ketchup, it works a little too well.) les amoureux des animaux by reylomami (AO3 2019  Rated T Complete, One-Shot, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: Rey leaves her job in a whim after a quarter-life crisis. With too much time suddenly in her hands to rethink her life and her identity, Rey finds money-making respite in a pet-sitting job from Pawshake. A Reylo Pawshake AU with poor time coordination and fluff out of meet-cutes and mournings.) daylight by sparklylulz (sparklyulz) (AO3 2020  Rated T Complete, 4 Chapters, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: Coffee shop employee Rey has a run in with one of the difficult professors. Thus starts a very turbulent friendship until Ben needs a fake date to go with him to see his parents, the first time he's seen his parents in a while.)

[these-are-the-first-steps]

“The Rise of Skywalker”- A Review from Memory

So it’s been a week since I’ve had to live with this film in front of my eyes, and a week and a half that I’ve had to grapple with the brunt of its sins. With a heavy sigh, I think I’m ready to go through the play-by-play of every plot hole in this film that I can manage from memory without the thing in front of me. And even then, the laundry list is hefty. Keep in mind that this is a FILM-BASED review only- I have tried to refrain from including new information we have learned since its release last Thursday in an effort to keep this as focused and topical as possible.

+The first scene of this film is weird. I’m all for watching Adam Driver wild out on some dudes, but it is never explained who these guys are and if it’s just Kylo ‘committing more slaughter’ (as the casual audience is wont to think) or if there’s something significant here. As the movie goes on and Kylo makes it clear that he’s under no one’s thumb, *and* that the object he was after was Sith, you start to get an idea that maybe those guys at the intro are No Good, but this is never explained or confirmed. To a casual audience with no interest in additional materials, it just looks like Bad Ole Kylo Doing More Bad Ole Stuff. *sigh*

+Exogol and Palpatine’s hideout looks like the Borg Cube from Star Trek: First Contact from 1996. This really smacked me in the face how similar it was.

+Snoke’s significance getting sniped by Palpatine in one fell swoop felt like two five year olds arguing over action figures in the sandbox. “No! He’s dead now! Now the good guys can go on their quest!” “Well if he’s dead now, it’s only because MY guy was the REAL bad guy! DOOSHDOOSHDOOSHDOOSH!!” Like….really? At least Palpatine’s never-spoken-of Snoke manufacturing lab was vaguely interesting. Too bad we never saw anything about that- what a story of intergalactic puppet-masters that would have made! We’re not here for clever storytelling, though, so moving on…

+I don’t think they should have included Leia in this film. It really added to the disjointed nature of this movie with flat audio, crippled dialogue, and CGI where Leia only really had one facial expression for 90% of her appearances. It really wasn’t worth it. I know Star Wars doesn’t do flashbacks (which, frankly, I appreciate a lot), but I think they could have utilized the IDEA of Leia better than her actual self. Leia was forced, it showed, and it wasn’t good. Honestly they did a WAY better job reviving Tarkin in RO.

+An incredibly unnecessary amount of new information for the third act of a series was introduced in this film, starting with Leia suddenly being a well-trained Jedi or something. At least enough to ‘train’ Rey, which…frankly wasn’t believable. Leia having the force was a given. That she distanced herself from active application of the Force as a residual reaction to the bombshell of Darth Vader being her father is what is, and always has, made sense. THAT is a nuanced perspective, but it gets thrown out in favor of not just shoe-horning Leia in to the movie, but also because they had no idea what else to do with her at all in this film. This is also why Leia shouldn’t have been in this movie the way she was.

+Oh, you knew Palpatine was behind all this the whole time, Leia? Really? Always there, huh? When in TFA it was always snoke? Obvious dialogue lift is obvious, but the use of it was just Bad and inconsiderate to the story.

+Poe’s backstory was published on December 18th, 2015 in a book called “Before The Awakening” that details the lives of Poe, Finn, and Rey leading up to TFA. Poe is the son of two famous Rebel fighters and he grows up with a nice quiet life on Yavin 4 learning about ships and loving to fly. He goes straight from his home world to joining the Republic navy. It’s a handful of months before Leia Organa picks up on him and brings him into the Resistance. Now…this is a backstory that is JJ Abrams approved, has been out since 2015, and yet Oscar Isaac said he ‘never knew’ Poe’s backstory, and JJ somehow thinks four years later that there is space in this incredibly concise timeline for him to become a drug runner. What?? This was possibly the BIGGEST wtf moment for me in this film. What in the actual world. WHAT.

+Sidelining old characters to pointlessly introduce new ones does not serve a story, it clogs it up, drags down its rhythm, and confuses the hell out of it. As seen by Zorri and Jannah. And out of those two, only Jannah carried any kind of actual literary weight, because for Finn, he’s found more people like himself. This sort of setup is a typical play to foreshadow where Finn eventually settles down and goes at the end of the war. But this is never expounded on or explained further. It’s just, BOOM, more former troopers and a girl who is suddenly irrationally attached to him at all times.

+Rose gets replaced by Jannah, a brand new character that we only know one single thing about, and who gets to latch on to Finn out of the blue while Rose is left at home or on a ship. It was weird. It was obvious. It was incredibly awkward to watch. There was no point to Jannah clinging to Finn like this. She was reduced from a strong character to a cringy clingy one, while Finn’s love interest was completely ignored.

+The ‘Journey to The Rise of Skywalker’ comics released a couple weeks before the film heavily implied we’d get a lot of great Rose and Rey team time. We received none of it. It felt like someone had jerked a present away from us and it was a gross omission.

+It is only by the very end of the film and after multiple watches that you THINK they are trying to hint that Kylo is spiraling, thus why Leia steps in in death, but it never ever gets shown. Never once are we let in on Kylo’s state of mind. In fact, never once are we let in on *any* of these characters’ states of mind. We never really see what they are feeling or thinking or going through. Kylo is nothing but action when in TFA and TLJ we see him falling apart. This is what bad direction looks like, and it takes a Real Talent to fuck up directing an actor like Adam Driver. Another big sigh…

+There are only two cool things about this movie- The bleeding of reality between Kylo and Rey, and Palpatine’s shadow senate. When Kylo and Rey fight and the red bits go flying on the floor, it screamed serious TLJ aesthetics to me that I had to blink a moment. I think this ‘Bleed-through’ of their realities is the only TLJ hold-over we were allowed. It was a genuinely fascinating touch, which is how you know it didn’t come from *this* film’s production office.

+When you stick three people in a closet together, you expect some sort of progress in two-thirds of the potential relationships in such a cramped space. We received no such thing. Forced Trio Time resulted in no character development and seemed more like an unnecessary comic relief vehicle than anything.

+In ‘Before The Awakening’ and ‘Rey’s Survival Guide’, both publications printed under JJ Abrams’s  blessing, we learn Rey named *herself* after a helmet she found in the desert. How is it Rey’s alleged parents know her fake name? Gross, gross plot-hole.

+Four years was spent emphasizing that you don’t have to come from anywhere ‘special’ to be Important to a big story. Then they threw it out. Post-TROS interview with JJ reveals it was because they ‘couldn’t think of how else to get rey engaged in fighting palpatine’. Because he wasn’t a nasty enough dude on his own? Seriously? This is pure negligence.

+Four years was also spent emphasizing that you also don’t even NEED the force to be important to the big story and make a huge difference to the future. But let’s throw that out, too, and give Finn the force. Clearly regular people are absolutely worthless in the Star Wars Universe, according to JJ Abrams.

+Finn is only used to babysit Rey the entire time they share screen time together. The number of times he shouts her name could be turned into a drinking game. It’s one thing to care about somebody, and another thing entirely to act like you’re their high school chaperone. The whole thing was weird and awkward.

+Zorri Bliss sounds like a stripper name and she served no purpose other than to shoehorn Felicity into a star wars movie. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Babu Frik is the only true-to-star-wars critter in this whole film.

+Leia literally goes and lays down on her own funeral spread? What was that about. And that’s what that was because why would her bed be out in the open like that? That was really, really weird. And the RoTJ medal throwback was just a tacky tether to the past.

+Everyone seems so irrationally tethered to the past in this film. Kylo Ren’s spent two movies desperate to ‘leave the past behind’ and I don’t blame him at this point because it’s getting exhausting.

+As stated previously, it’s only vaguely suspected but Kylo seemed to SUPPOSED to be spiraling. Adam Driver plays Kylo like a man finally free of the voices in his head, but the plot and dialogue point to an entirely different direction saying that REALLY the monsters have allegedly doubled-down and he’s even more unhinged than before. Here is a MAJOR indication of story re-working after the film has already been shot. Adam Driver, and Daisy for that matter, is a PRECISE actor. It seems almost impossible to tell a story with him that you did not originally MEAN to tell. And it shows. JJ tried to U-Turn the story but it absolutely failed- Adam’s Kylo Ren is a calm, free man, focused, who finally knows what his purpose in life is, and that is uniting with his Dyad in the force. When really JJ tried very hard to suggest that he was spiraling so hard and so ‘lost’ in the Dark Side that it took his mother’s last breath to swing him back around. No one is going to see that narrative. The only reason why I see this shoddy attempt is because I’ve been absolutely immersed in this shit since December 2015. But the main audience? This was absolutely not conveyed.

+Seeing Dark Side Rey was nothing but a ‘cool’ moment and actually served zero function to the plot. Rey was always shown as being Grey in the force and someone who struggled to maintain balance. If that whole scene was removed, it wouldn’t change anything.

+Kylo was never in a position to kill Rey on the Death Star, and Rey taking her cheap shot to stab him while he heard his mother’s voice is an attempt to convey how much seeing her Sith self affected her than Kylo’s already very faded aggression in this film but it failed. It was weird and out of character, and even coming to that conclusion took may rewatches to come to because there is NEVER a ramp-up to Rey’s darkside taking over long enough to stab Kylo- there’s no fire, no red eyes, no teeth, none of it, to indicate she was ‘overcome’ so it just looked like bad mischaracterization. Yikes.

+Kylo and Han’s moment on the Death Star is the most moving scene of the entire film. The dialogue starts out rather familiar, and it almost seems like a cop-out, until you realize….how many times has Ben had this conversation with himself?? He doesn’t seem shocked at all that his father is there. Not at all. In fact, that Last Conversation on the bridge of Starkiller comes off as a well-rehearsed dance that Ben puts himself through regularly. And every time he hopes it’ll be affirmation enough that it’s all been worth it. But here, at the last reenactment of the worst day of his life, the script changes. He surrenders. He says dad. And he rejects Kylo Ren forever. Harrison Ford and Adam Driver are two beautifully matched, talented actors and I’d watch a movie with the two of them in it any day. God bless them.

+Hux has been wasted for the past two films. He was Terrifying in TFA and Dom gave him such significant presence that I was genuinely terrified for what he might try in the future. But instead he was lost as comic relief. When it is comically delivered that HE is the spy, every single person in my movie theatre shouted “WHAT??” in a way that was not a Good what, but in a “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me” kind of what, and I will never ever forget that. I hate seeing Star Wars diminished like this.

+Luke rehashing Obi-wan’s speech to him about how Rey MUST confront the Big Bad was an obvious rehash, and way too convenient to what Palpatine wanted. This whole appearance of Luke is very suspect, but that would be crediting them again with clever storytelling, which again this is not.

+Luke claims that Leia saw ‘the death of her son’ at the end of her Jedi Path, which one can assume why she threw it away. But then Luke says something bizarre about ‘hoping someone else would pick up her path someday’. Is that...is that not the same path leading to Ben’s death that she was avoiding in the first place? And if someone else picks it up, is that not no longer Leia’s path but that other person’s? Therefore, is not the outcome automatically going to be different and thus *avoid* Ben’s death? This was an attempt at supposedly clever foreshadowing or Mystical Talk or some shit, but all it was was dialogue that backfired in meaning spectacularly due to looping-in on itself too many times. Luke negates himself at the same time he tries to prove his point...which he then negates in the same breath. What a mess.

+All of Ben Solo’s lines were cut the last act of the film to stuff more pointless exposition at the END of film and to give more screen time to Ian McDiarmid. Ian’s great, but he’s not the main character of this series, and cutting Ben’s lines for this was Gross.  

+Space Horses? Really?? I didn’t like them in TLJ but at least there they had context- they had zero context here. The size of the horses and the ship they came off of was absurdly mismatched. Is that ship the TARDIS? That whole bit was so unnecessary and ridiculous, especially with zero setup. Which is amazing because this film is 90% set-up.

+All those ships at the end? That’s all it took? After books and comics going on about how everyone’s too terrified to help Leia because of FO scorched earth policy? Jesus it was weak, and too obvious a Deus ex Machina with THAT many ships.

+Palpatine’s Shadow Senate is cool. The idea that this guy trapped on an ugly planet stuck on Sith life-support couldn’t go two seconds without attention and praise to the point where he had to recreate the exact same senate he destroyed years ago is a concept I like. Is the Shadow Senate just in the *shape* of the old senate but filled with animated Sith proxies? Or is it actually comprised of the enslaved souls of former Senators now forced to attend the Emperor for eternity? Either way, destroying the Shadow Senate at least either set those souls free or sent them back to wherever they came from. That was actually interesting, and it’s a shame we didn’t get to learn more about such a genuinely creepy thing.

+Palpatine’s ‘we’re family’ routine drops the moment he realizes Ben and Rey are a dyad. This is suspicious, but considering the whole movie so far, it seems incorrect to giver JJ and Torrio credit for a possible mis-direct.

+Rey and Ben’s realities bleeding into each other is experienced again in swapping the light saber. This is cool. This is probably the coolest moment in the film. And then the coolness literally gets thrown into a pit when, instead of the both of them, as a Dyad, defeating Palpatine, Rey is left to carry the burden alone.

+Oh hey look a cop-out to save Rey from being bad- just have her reflect his own power back at him so it’s like he’s killing himself, wow, so original! The second Palpy revealed his gameplan about wanting to die, this became the obvious choice to both kill him and avoid giving him what he wanted. Eh….

+The Star Wars 9-movie series is the story of one man desperately begging anyone within hearing range to kill him, apparently. This is so, so old by the 9th friggin movie. 

+Ben Solo spends his entire life begging for guidance from his ancestors only to be ignored and Rey get all their attention instead. Ben Solo spends his entire life since the womb being a burden to his parents by merely existing and being manipulated by gross sith ghosts. But nah, let’s be parents to Rey and help out Rey. This is not to say she doesn’t deserve any of this, but to say there are priorities here- Rey has had a lonely life, but at least she had her sanity and was self-sufficient. Ben had neither his sanity or any control over his own life whatsoever. And to place Rey above Ben is a literal mess. The two of them were meant by the Force to rise TOGETHER, and it didn’t happen.

+Rey doesn’t disappear when she ‘dies’ after using the last of her life force to both feed Palpatine, fight him, AND defeat him. And yet while Rey has two strikes in her before kicking it, Ben, someone who is RADICALLY more trained in the force, its lore, and mechanics, only has one? This doesn’t make any sense.

+Rey has no reaction to the literal other half of her soul vanishing in front of her. Because this is a mangled JJ Abrams Finale(tm) and why should anyone, let alone his own characters, have any space to Feel? I mean, that’s not what movies are even about, right? Feeling and Telling A Story? It’s not that, right? Right?? JJ Abrams covers up Rey’s reaching-hands scar on her arm for the entire film, doesn’t address it, and apparently hates the shit out of it. I don’t know how the King of Cheese could possibly hate something like that. It was a weird and obvious omission, and frankly disappointing because the scar had come to mean something at the end of TLJ and it, like a lot in this film, got thrown in the trash.

+More forced trio time in the form of a group hug where nothing gets actually expressed because we ran out of space for dialogue 30 pages back.

+Anakin Skywalker viewed Tatooine, his place of enslavement, as the worst place in the galaxy. Luke Skywalker spent his entire youth trying to escape. Leia hated it on principle because it was where Darth Vader came from and where she herself had been enslaved in a gross gold bikini for a giant slug. Rey spent 14 years of her life dreaming of leaving the sand planet she was trapped on. But I guess that’s a fitting place to bury some memories, yeah? The place where nothing good ever, ever happened. That’s a nice spot, right?

+Rey Skywalker isn’t explained, is never led up to, and feels like a gross gimmie after four years of trying to create a Better Message that names don’t matter. HEAVY SIGH.

+Rey watches the two suns set as she is left with little more than she started- alone, on a sand planet, but this time taunted by the Twin Suns of Tatooine that the other half of her soul is literally missing and that she is now left with a gaping wound in her Force signature and her own spirit worse than if she’d just lost a Force Bonded mate.

+Ben Solo is left missing, vanished on a world that is supposedly a thin spot in the force, with no ghost, no presence, and no one to mourn him- not even by the other half of his very soul. THREE GENERATIONS of Skywalkers over NINE FILMS died to try and rescue their future embodied in the form of Ben Solo and it looks like it was for nothing. Instead, the incessant bad guy no one can move on from looks like he ultimately wins the day through an alleged granddaughter, and even that claim is on shaky ground considering the mistakes in the vision and how quickly the family conversation vanished upon the revelation that Ben and Rey are a dyad. Ben is lost, so every family member died for nothing, apparently. But hey, this is a Fun and Hopeful narrative, right?

+While the Final Order fleet is destroyed at the end, the First Order is.....still out there? It’s still out there. Nothing in that department has changed whatsoever. Leaders die. They get replaced. The cycle goes on. We spent three movies batting at a fly we didn’t even kill. Amazing.

Overall this movie is BRUTAL. Every other scene is a plot hole served to us on a silver platter, with the biggest insult being that they are plot points JJ created HIMSELF 4-6 years ago. This man literally shot himself in the face and then said it was fine as he bled out all over the film reels and it shows. If you were anyone who came along for the Additional Materials ride of the past four years, you were greeted by this film with a hard, swift, and REPEATED, backhand to the face. There was no reward here at the end of this road for fans, old and new, who actually paid attention and took an interest in the deeper lore surrounding this sequel trilogy. There was just a big fat Disney-branded middle finger as all your hard work and cash was ripped from you with a trademark villain laugh.

And that is what we’re left with.

This review does not go into detail over what we’ve discovered since the release of the film, either. That it was never finished in the editing room. That a current comic series, Rise of Kylo Ren, and what’s in the new TROS visual dictionary maddeningly contradict themselves. That allegedly SIX different endings were shot for this movie, and in the end the one they chose looks like it was *literally* reverse-engineered to confusingly kill, as JJ once called him, ‘The Other Half of Our Protagonist’. There is no time to go into detail about how Oscar Isaac just told us that noone in the cast knew that Rey Palpatine was going to be endgame except for maybe Adam when they made him do ADR declaring it with a masked face on screen (convenient). There is no room to show you the collective cast reaction they all gave to the end of the movie- none of them good, and John Boyega looking like he was holding back from punching something (he loved Kylo/Ben as much as the audience did and more). And there is no room to include what we will continue to find out as the days roll on about the tangled mess of a film that was edited and reedited, and how word on the street is a cocky director demanded Carte Blanche from Kathleen Kennedy, and I guess the story group too given the state of things, and then promptly self-destructed in the grossest, messiest end to a 40+ year series in cinema history.

There’s just no space.

But there IS a lesson.

And the lesson is this: No matter what, never stop investing in Story. Never stop caring about the details and about plot and about moving a story FORWARD. Never be afraid to move FORWARD. Look at TROS, the mess it is and the potential it had it in itself to be, and then look at the beauty that is TFA and the love that went into TLJ, and study that shit until it burns into your brain- Do not repeat those mistakes. Go out into the world and write better, shoot better, direct better, and BE BETTER. Because these producers and directors? They’re old and they’re on their way out. Just like the stable boy at the end of TLJ who secretly has the Force, know and realize that those of you out there reading this are the next generation of storytellers. YOU. And YOU, and I, and others out there like us who loved this series with our whole heart and who are watching it bleed out now on a floor that doesn’t give two shits about it, have the ability to make sure this NEVER happens again. But in order to do that….we have to pick up that pen. Pick up that pencil. Pick up that camera. Jot down that story idea and share it with likeminded friends. Go out there and CREATE, and create BETTER. Because it’s up to us now- the future of cinema is up to us. And my god, we have so much potential….

[dameronsgalaxygal]

I’ve Been Waiting For You - Chapter 3: Voulez Vous

series masterlist

Pairing: modern!poe x reader

Warnings: language, drinking, mentions and implications of past abusive relationship, light angst, things get steamy.

Word Count: 3176

Song Link: Voulez Vous

A/N: this took a really long time!! @rewritingstarrs and I filled the doc with notes/comments/suggestions and I still feel meh about it but hopefully it doesn’t disappoint!! don’t worry, things will be fine. don't forget to listen to the song! as always, feedback and comments are appreciated! taglist is open!

Summary: A night out in the city with your friends leads to the unexpected with Poe. 

The first few weeks in Florida had been pretty good. Your things were completely unpacked, your room decorated to your liking, and to your surprise, not one missed call from Kyle. Rey and Rose had toured you around Miami Beach, and as promised, Poe sent you the information for his aunt’s bookstore down at the shore.

You were walking down the beach with your roommates when you saw the little store across the street named “Solo Reads”.

“Hey, I’ll catch up with you guys later. I’m gonna go look inside this bookstore” You pointed across the street.

“Sounds good, text me when you’re done.” Rey said before trailing off with Rose.

The bookstore was small and antique-style. It looked as though it had been in this location for hundreds of years, the walls slowly starting to fall apart, but it added to the aesthetic. The smell of polished wood and coffee flooded the room and you couldn’t help but smile. You loved it.

You walked around in admiration until a short older woman peeked from behind an aisle. “Hello, dear. Can I help you find anything?”

Smiling gently, you approached her. “Hi, I was actually wondering if you were hiring. Your nephew is a good friend of my cousins and he referred me to you.”

She smiled back. “Ah, yes. Y/N, is it? Just moved from New York?” You nodded.

“I’m Leia.”

“Pleased to meet you, Leia.” You stuck out your hand to shake hers and she took it, grabbing your hand with both hers, squeezing tightly.

“You as well, Y/N”, she let go of your hand before walking behind the small checkout desk. “So when can you start?”.

“Start?” You were confused. You had just met the woman and you hadn’t even been interviewed yet.

“You know, start working. I need someone to care for the books more than I can. These babies, they’re old. I’d like to make sure they live as long as possible. Some customers aren’t so gentle in handling them. You were an English major, right? I know you’d appreciate all of these as much as I do.” She brushed dust off of a couple books that were stacked on the counter.

You completely understood. You had collected old novels and magazines since you were a child. Your favorite book being Pride and Prejudice. The idea of someone disrespecting a piece of work that an author put so much dedication into made you sad. You looked around the store before turning to face Leia.

“Absolutely. I will make sure that this place and these books are in great shape all the time”. It was true. You loved and adored all forms of literature, so you would work so hard to keep the place organized.

She smiled. “I know we just met, and that I didn’t give you a proper interview, but my nephew has great judgement in people. He told me you were a sweetheart, and I could tell that he was right the moment you introduced yourself. I know you’ll be good here”.

You blushed slightly. Poe called me a sweetheart?

Suddenly a girl, around the same age as you, burst through the door quickly taking off her jacket. “Sorry I’m late, Leia. I got distracted on the bus by this family who had never been to Miami before and their kid was amazed by the beach, so I missed my stop. But it was the cutest thing! You had to be there.” She made her way behind the desk and put her jacket down.

“Yeah, yeah. Tallie, this is Y/N. She’ll be working here soon.”

“Oh thank goodness. It gets lonely around here.” She chuckled.

“Hopefully I’ll be able to provide some sort of company” You smiled before your phone vibrated in your back pocket. You pulled it out to check the message. It was from Poe.

I’m down at the shore right now if you wanted to meet me and I can introduce you to my Aunt Leia!

You smiled before responding quickly:

I’m actually with her now! I got the job:)

You looked back up at Leia and Tallie who were talking and continuing to dust off the old books. “I can start working tomorrow, if that’s alright.”

Leia nodded. “Wonderful! We can discuss a proper work schedule later, but how does 11am work for you?”

“That’s perfect” Your smile widened. “Thank you so much, Leia. Nice to meet you Tallie!”

The two women said their goodbyes as you left the store with the same feeling you had after leaving Finn’s party a few weeks ago. So far, everything seemed to be going well, and you hoped that this was the start to the kind of life you had always wanted.  

You pulled out your phone to call Rey, but just as you were about to dial her number, Poe called you.

“Hello?”

“Hey! Congrats on the job. I mean, I knew she’d hire you, but still!” You could hear the smile in his voice.

“Thank you. For both congratulating me and for putting in a good word.” You, once again, were blushing.

“Of course. Thought I’d help you get a kick start here in the city. You got plans right now?” He asked.

You bit your lip nervously before responding. “Not really.”

Suddenly his voice through the phone sounded closer. “Good. Then can I treat you to lunch?” You jumped to turn around and see him laughing, his phone still pressed to his ear. A sense of deja vu ran over you as you remembered this was the same way Poe approached you at Finn’s party.

You hung up the phone and scoffed playfully. “You need to stop doing that.”

“I’ve only done it twice,” He laughed, putting his phone in his pocket.

You chuckled lightly before looking around. “So where are we going?”

“There’s a nice deli a couple blocks down. You up for sandwiches?”

Your mouth nearly watered at the thought. You hadn’t eaten since early this morning and it was only a couple slices of toast. “That sounds fantastic.”

The afternoon you spent with Poe was familiar. Just how you two talked for hours on his couch at Finns party, you two spent hours in the Deli talking about almost everything under the sun. He told you about his childhood growing up in South Miami, and he also revealed that his mother had passed away due to cancer when he was 18. You appreciated him sharing something so personal with you, and you wish you could do the same and talk to him about your past. But you had met him not too long ago. If you could hardly tell Rey who you have known your entire life, there was no way you could open up to your new friend right away. You had to admit though, every moment you spent time with Poe felt natural. It felt easy.

Over the next few weeks, your friendship with Poe skyrocketed. You had been working at the bookstore, and sometimes Poe would stop by to see Leia. Leia had mentioned that he had never visited this often, which made your heart flutter. You brushed it off though. You were enjoying your friendship with Poe and have someone brand new in your life. A blank slate.

You were sitting on the couch watching a movie with Rey and Rose when your phone buzzed. You smiled when you saw it was a text from Poe.

Hey! Just landed back to Miami and was thinking about going to the club with Finn tonight. We were wondering if you and the girls wanted to join.

“Poe wants to know if we want to go out tonight with him and Finn,” You asked your roommates, who didn’t take their faces off the TV.

“Yeah, I’m down. What time?” Rey asked and Rose nodded in agreement.

Yeah that sounds fun! What time were you thinking?

How bout 8? We can pick you up!

Sounds good. See ya then, Dameron.

Can’t wait :)

Smiling, you put your phone down. “Eight. They’ll pick us up” You reached for a chip from the bowl on the coffee table before returning to watching the movie.

Rose checked her phone. “That’s two and a half hours from now! I need to go get ready.” She stood up and headed to the bathroom to shower.

You laughed. You had gotten used to Rose spending at least an hour in the bathroom making sure she looked, as she liked to call it, “photogenic enough”.

Just as you were about to continue watching the film, Rey pressed pause and looked at you.

You cocked an eyebrow. “What?”

“What’s going on with you and Poe?” She asked with a smirk.

“What are you talking about? He’s my friend.” You chuckled before munching on another chip.

“Oh come on. When he’s not working, you’re with him. You smile every time he texts you. Him and Finn used to come over a lot, but since you’ve moved in, Poe has started coming over without Finn. Even Finn has noticed. He talks to me about it at work. Are you two-”

“No! No, Rey, it’s not like that.” You said sharply. You sighed when she didn’t reply at first, taken aback by your tone. “Look, I like Poe. He’s the first friend I’ve made after moving here. We get along really well and I enjoy being around him. Nothing’s happening between us. Okay?” You were saying this to Rey, but really you were trying to remind yourself of these things. You did like Poe. You were starting to like him in the way you had thought you liked Kyle, and it scared you. From what you had witnessed from the weeks you had spent being around him, you knew Poe wasn’t anything like your ex, but feeling something towards him meant feeling vulnerable. Were you ready for that?

“Besides, I don’t want to jump into anything right now. Not after everything with Kyle. I’m..” You paused to take a breath, your memories rushing back. “I’m still trying to get over that”.

She nodded, knowing that you hated bringing him up. “I’m sorry”.

“It’s okay” You reassured her. “Let’s finish the movie.”

The movie ended about half an hour later, giving you and Rey still enough time to get ready for your night out. You had been to a few bars with Rey since you had gotten to Florida, but not a club, and not with Poe.

You checked the temperature on the weather app, seeing it was going to be 80 degrees and humid. You changed into a pair of shorts and a crop top with a pair of white converse and gold earrings. You curled your hair and put on some light makeup. Your first time at a club, might as well look cute, right? Or were you subconsciously trying to impress Poe?

A few minutes after you had finished getting ready, there was a knock on the front door. “Coming!” You said as you headed towards the door, opening it.

Poe and Finn stood before you, smiling. “You look nice.” Poe smirked.

Your cheeks heated up once again, a familiar feeling around him. “Thanks”.

Finn rolled his eyes before chuckling softly. “You girls ready?”

Both Rey and Rose emerged from their rooms, “Yep!”

You all headed to the car after locking your apartment. You asked if it would be better to uber, but Rey wasn’t a big drinker and was always the designated driver. You trusted her to call an uber to take you all back home if she wasn’t feeling sober.

The club was huge. It was crowded and hot, bright and colorful LED lights that flashed through the entire room. The music was so loud that you could hardly hear your friends talking to you. But after a few drinks in, there was really no talking necessary.

You, Rey and Rose were on the dance floor allowing yourself to let loose. This was the first time you had actually felt a sense of joy. Yes, you were slightly intoxicated, but you had your friends, good music, a job that you enjoyed, and you were in Miami. You had seemed to forget about your past, and it felt so good.

Poe and Finn were getting more drinks at the bar, Poe unable to take his eyes off of you.

“You like her?” Finn yelled over the music for Poe to hear.

Keeping his eyes on you, Poe replied, “Fuck, man. I think so.” He laughed softly.

“Then go get her!” He nudged him, in which Poe smirked before heading to the dance floor.

You smiled as he approached you, reaching your arms out to grab him and pulling him to you. If you were sober, there was a likely chance you wouldn’t have allowed him to be as close as he was right now. But again, your past had seemed to leave you in the moment, and it was Poe.  

You danced together, jumping and spinning each other around until his chest was pressed against your back, hands on your hips. One of your hands was placed on his, the other snaked up to reach around his neck and run through his hair.

You could feel his hot breath on your neck as you grinded your hips against his. There was no denying that the man was getting very, very excited. Your breathing started to pick up, what with the humidity in the club and the alcohol in your system, not to mention the fact that your ass was pressed against the crotch of the guy you were starting to develop a crush for.

You felt Poes lips press against your neck and you gasped at the feeling. They were soft and warm and they provided a sense of comfort even in such an intimate setting. He continued to trace kisses up your neck until he spun you around to face him. You looked up at him to see dark eyes. You bit your lip before wrapping your arms around his neck, tugging on his dark curls as he pulled you closer. Lips nearly brushing over each other, you two continued to dance against one another.

At that moment, nothing else seemed to exist. Your foreheads pressed together, both of you smiling nervously, he leaned in to kiss you. Hesitant at first, you kissed him back. You swore you could hear fireworks going off in the background as you pulled away, music still pounding through your ears. You looked up at Poe as he jerked his head toward the door and whispered in your ear loud enough for you to hear, “Do you want to get out of here?”

With hardly any hesitation, you nodded. “Yes.” You had been drinking, but you were consciously able to respond verbally and process what he was really asking you. Everything you had mentioned to Rey earlier completely left your mind. You wanted Poe.

Poe smirked before grabbing your hand and pulling you out of the crowd. You looked around nervously to see Rey, Rose and Finn glancing at you and Poe as they continued to dance. Rey shot you a look and you nodded, letting her know that it was okay, and she winked at you.

Surprisingly unlocked, Poe opened the back door to his car and pulled you in, immediately latching his lips to yours as you shut it behind you. The kiss was rough and hot, but his lips fit perfectly against yours and you moaned slightly into the kiss as his tongue traced your bottom lip. His hands trailed from your waist up to your stomach and you pulled away for a breath.

Poes hands reached up to cup your cheeks, holding your face close. He leaned up and kissed the corner of your lips. Instantly, it all came back to you.

You were lying on the bed as Kyle hovered over you. Tears in your eyes, you stared at the wall. He leaned down to kiss the corner of your lips.

You had completely sobered up as the memories of Kyle came flooding back. Kyle used to kiss the corner of your mouth. The small gesture had brought back so many terrible memories and you decided that you couldn’t keep going, not tonight. You let out a breath, “Stop, Poe.”

Still in the heat of the moment, Poe responded without thinking. “No, no, no, hey baby, it’s okay.” his voice was calm as he brushed hair out of your face before leaning up to kiss you again.

“No, Poe. Stop!” Your voice was louder than you had intended. He pulled back immediately. “I’m sorry,” you avoided making eye contact, getting off of his lap and sitting in the seat next to him. “I want this. I really do….but I’m just not ready.” You looked down, hands fidgeting. “Uh, I think I’m going to go. Thank you for tonight, Poe….I’ll call you.”

You quickly got out of the car, walking through the parking lot as you opened your phone to call an uber.

“Y/N, wait! I’m sorry!” Poe called after you, but you kept walking. Poe leaned back against the headrest and closed his eyes. He let out a sigh, completely sobering up. “Fuck.”

You texted Rey as your Uber approached.

Got an uber home. Don’t worry, I’m fine. Just tired. I’ll see you when you get home.

It wasn’t a long ride back, but each second felt like hours. You started to wonder if you had just ruined what you had with Poe. If you did, it would mean losing the spark that you felt with him, losing a good friend, and that was the last thing you wanted. You weren’t angry at Poe. He had no idea. You were angry at yourself.

After what seemed like forever, you were home. You thanked and tipped your driver, walking into your apartment. Feeling exhausted, you went to bed right away, or at least tried to. It was difficult to sleep with so many thoughts running through your head. Memories of Kyle, walking away from Poe. Dancing with Poe. Kissing Poe.  

You are pulled from your thoughts when your phone that was resting on your bedside table buzzed.

Hey Y/N. I’m really sorry about earlier. I never intended to make you uncomfortable. I hope this doesn’t affect anything. Let me know if you want to talk. I’ll have my phone next to me all night. If not, no worries and I hope you sleep well.  -Poe

It gave you some relief knowing that Poe wasn’t freaked out by your outburst and that he wanted to talk. You wanted to reply to him, let him know everything would be okay, but you needed to allow yourself to calm down. The night may not have ended the way you intended it to, but there was still a huge chunk of you that still needed to be healed. Poe didn’t deserve to be treated like a rebound. You liked him a lot. You wanted to do this right, but you needed to be ready.

You let out a deep breath before putting your phone back down on the table, closing your eyes before you drifted off.

taglist <open> @twomoonstwosuns​ @rewritingstarrs​ @darksideofclarke​ @writingforhoursonend​ @demigod-dragonrider-schoolidol​ @lanatheawesome​ @fanfiction-trashpile​ @fantasticcopeaglepasta​ @softly-sad​ @aidela​ @yeeintensifies​ @the-cry-of-youth​

[i-write-sometimes-blog]

Cold Eyes (Dark Rey x Reader) [Part 13]

Summary: After spending your first night together, you have to face a new and dangerous threat.

Words: 1,910

A/N: Have I told you how much I enjoy writing this series? Well I do and a lot! Just wanted to thank you for all your love to this little thing. That was all, happy reading!

It was still dark outside when your eyes fluttered slowly open, the strange yet soft orange light slided through the big window turning the room into a warm, comfortable golden tone.

“Hi” you murmured with sleepy voice, a smile forming on your lips as you saw Rey’s hazel eyes darting at you, the warm light of the dawn letting them look warmer than usual.

“Hi” she smiled back at you propping herself on her elbow. She looked beyond beautiful under the golden light, her dark hair was tousled, some strands hanging into her face while a soft content smile adorned her delicate face. She observed you for a moment before she leaned down to capture your lips.

A content hum left your lips when she moved from your lips to your neck pressing light kissed onto your skin there and along your jaw, your mind still trying to realize what had happened last night, you smiled with the memories of her hands dancing over your body, what an incredible night.

“Did you sleep well?” she murmured and you could feel her smiling on your skin.

“Better than ever” you giggled. You felt so peaceful, so free without the nightmares and you felt safe with Rey’s arm wrapped around your body.

Rey took a new look at you, caressing your face softly and pushing some strands of hair away from your face. Her eyes filled with longing and adoration, she couldn’t help but smile at you, it was hard for her to believe you were really there with her.

“I have to go now” she told you reluctantly. “I have a few meetings today”

“Can’t cancel them?” you joked around “I mean, you’re the Supreme Leader after all, you can do whatever you want.” you saw her laugh before she leaned to kiss you again.

“It’s not that simple, Y/N” she murmured inches away from your lips before she finally got out of the big bed. You watched her delicate naked body walking across the room as you stayed in the bed comfort. She caught your gaze when she was sliding into a new black dress that hugged her curves just enough but still perfect for a battle, noticing your gaze she looked at you for an instant, the confident grin was back on her lips.

“You can stay here a bit longer” she told you “Maybe sleep a little more, I’ll send someone for you later” she said fixing the last touches of her clothing, then she came closer to you pressing a short but sweet kiss on your lips.

“See ya” you said before she was gone.

You did take her offer, a good sleep sounded great so you curled up in the big bed alone but knowing there will be no more nightmares, you were sure Rey had somehow make them stop. However you sleep wasn’t as pleasant as you expected.

There was a voice, a very distant voice but it was there, echoing in the back of your head. It called your name one, two, many times. It was different from a nightmare, this voice was familiar and didn’t seemed to want to harm you.

Then you finally recognized it when it grew louder.

“Finn” you murmured snapping your eyes open.

“Y/N!” his voice said entuciastictly. You looked around the big empty room searching and scanning for any sign of your friend but he was nowhere to find, it was impossible, he couldn’t be there. “Y/N, can you hear me? I need you to concentrate, okay?”

“Finn, yes I hear you” you said out loud “Can you… see me?” you asked as you covered yourself with the dark sheets.

“No” he said “It’s just your voice for now, why?”

“No reason” you chuckled searching for your clothes. “Where are you? How’s the Resistance? I- I’m glad to hear your voice”

“We’re hiding, Y/N. We’re weak but I least I found you.” he said “I’ve been trying to contact you somehow with the Force but Leia said I wasn’t ready but we really need your help, the Resistance is smaller every day and the First Order conquered so many planets.” he explained.

“I know” you sighed, you had seen the maps, the holograms, you had been in some of those planets now controlled by the First Order.

You sat on the edge of the bed for a moment. He did it, he had learn how to reach out, a thing you were supposed to do a long time ago to help them but instead you were lying in bed with the enemy.

“Y/N?”

“I’m here” you told him.

“We lost communication after Endor, there was a mission to rescue you, we thought you were there but never found you.” he continued then he paused for a moment. “Where are you, Y/N?” he said in a serious tone, you looked at the ground before answering.

“Mustafar” you said adjusting the last pieces of fabric over your body and already knowing what his next question would be.

“Mustafar!?” he said surprised “But that’s the First Order’s headquarters, how…”

“It’s a long story, Finn” you cut him off, “I’ll tell you later, the only thing that matters now is that I’m still in your side and I’ll find a way to help.”

Just then the heavy metal door opened and you glanced at the man in the doorway.

“Y/N, you’re still there?” Finn asked in the back of your head. “Y/N!”

“General Hux” you greeted the intruder. “She send you to pick me up, right?” you told him serios.

“Exactly” he limited to said before he turned around, an unspoken command for you to follow him. You felt the Finn’s voice fading away as you walked in silence behind the General.

"You're not special" he said without looking at you once you were in a completely desert hallway.

"Excuse me?" You asked confused.

"To her, to Rey" he said, this was the first time he didn't called her Supreme Leader and it seems weird, though you weren't surprised he was a double face man doing whatever to stay alive. "Do you really think she cares about you? No, you're just a toy" he scoffed.

"You're wrong" you told him. "You don't know her like I do, Hux"

Then he stopped his feet and turned to look at you.

"Don't play the fool, girl" he said with satisfied grin on his lips, keeping his posture as he held his hands behind his back. "She's using you. She just wants your connection with the force" he looked you up and down. "And perhaps as a stress reliever" he said, of course he figured out you two were sleeping together when he found you in her quarters.

"It's different with me" you huffed.

"Oh, darling. I thought you were smarter than this" He said smiling "Enjoy your privileges while you can, Y/N. But for your own good I suggest you not to get use to it" he walked closer to you leaning close to you "Because once you're not longer useful to her she's going to get rid of you in an instant, just like she did with Kylo Ren"

You stared at him with fury, you wanted to punch him in the face but you're doubt stopped you.

"You don't know what happened to him, do you?" He said "She didn't tell you everything"

"She killed him, I know that" you said "he probably deserved it, he turned her into a monster"

"No, darling" he told you "He tried to stop her. After he killed Snoke he was free to see the destruction he made him do" Hux explained "Ren tried to convince your precious Rey to go to the light again but it was too late" he added "Becoming the monster was her choice"

He looked at you satisfied to see your face going from anger to horror.

"Now come on, dear" he said already making his way down the hall "They're waiting for us."

Minutes later you found yourself lost in your thoughts sitting in the long table full of commanders and generals, Hux staring across the table to you.

Then an hologram popped out of the holo table revealing a small blue figure with the form of Rey.

"Supreme Leader" Hux greeted the little image.

"Apologies for keeping you waiting" she rushed to speak in a serious way "I'm afraid I won't be able to attend the meeting, I have to take care of other kind of… business" the rest of the people stayed quiet as she spoke "My apprentice Y/N will take my place on the meeting and will report everything to me when it's over"

"Me?"

"Her?" Hux said surprised "Supreme Leader I assure you I can inform you of everything we discuss here."

"I want the report from her and only from her, General Hux" she said strict. You looked across the table and smirked at Hux who seemed to be very offended.

"As you wish, Supreme Leader" he said and moments later the blue figure was gone. Then it was replaced with the same hologram of the system you had seen before that marked the advance of the First Order.

"Commander Benndra, you have the floor" Hux said looking at a woman sitting next to him. She immediately stood up and started to speak with confidence.

"This hologram shows the occupied by the First Order, most of them surrendered and those that didn't were defeated by the Supreme Leader herself" she explained, you felt the fear running in your body again, you could imagined her killing innocent people and it scared you. "Supreme Leader is right now attacking this planet and once we have it under our control Phase One would be finished. We can proceed to Phase Two"

"Thank you Commander Benndra" Hux said and the woman sat back on her seat.

"Phase Two" the man said as he pushed some buttons in the side of the table, zooming to a small planet marked with the First Order's colors. "With this phase we will guarantee the order and peace in our colonies" he explained as he zoomed even more, to the surface of the planet where a big structure was visible. "This is how we bring order to the galaxy"

The audience applauded him for a moment and then get back to silence again.

"Cannons with technology from our ships are being installed in this precise moment" He continued "Cannons that destroyed planets like Jakku in a matter of second. We will have more options if our fleets gets damaged" he looked at you "Or if the civilians rebel against us. I just have to press a button and the planet would be gone."

You listened his words carefully, the fear growing bigger with every new sentence. How could they do a thing like that? It was monstrous, terrifying, really really bad. You felt sick when the hologram showed again the conquer of the First Order, there were lots of planets forced to live now in fear.

And then you felt pain, how could Rey allow this? how could she be possibly okay with this? Maybe Hux was right, maybe it was her choice to become the monster after all.

You had to find a way out, a way to stop this now more than ever, before it was too late for all the galaxy.

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