Serendipity (Poe Dameron Fanfic)

19. His Return

I stood there next to Leia at the new Resistance base, the remaining command staff surrounding us. My arms were crossed as I focused on the conversation. I was one of the remaining few left of Black and Blue Squadron and few officers as well. They needed me to stay at the base most of the time, with few missions to gather more people to join the Resistance. There were so few of us left and we couldn't fight the First Order with the low numbers we had.

Once the meeting was over, I was sent to send transmissions to contacts we once had. We were all hoping that someone, anyone, would answer our call for help. We needed the help. We needed hope. Desperately.

I looked up when I heard cheers. The Millennium Falcon was landing, which meant Poe and Finn, a stormtrooper I met briefly in the hectic commotion of things, were back. Jumping to my feet, I jogged over to their landing spot. I noticed the damage as I got closer. As soon as Poe came out, I called his name and he came jogging over, hugging me tightly. I hugged back, burying a hand in his unkempt hair.

"Naaraa, I missed you," Poe mumbled into my shoulder.

My grip tightened on him. "I know. I did too. I worried about you though. The damage on that ship meant you got in the amount of trouble I expected."

Poe pulled away, a mock look of confusion on his face. "I would never get in trouble."

I rolled my eyes. "You're impossible."

"I love you too."

Rey came over to see if Poe had any information, causing an argument, but Poe couldn't keep his eyes off me. As soon as he was done with Rey, he grabbed my arm and started off towards a quiet part of the camp.

As soon as we were alone, Poe turned to me. "Is there something wrong between us?"

I looked at him with confusion. "No. Why do you ask?"

"Why won't you say that you love me?" Poe questioned.

"Poe . . ."

"It's a valid question, Naa," Poe said. "You never say it. Why?"

"Because I'm scared, Poe!" I exclaimed, flinging my arms out. "I'm scared you won't love me back. Or that you'll leave me or die because you're reckless and absolutely stupid. You'll get yourself killed acting the way you do. Everyone I've ever loved has died or left me so I'm scared you'll be one of them. I'm scared because -" My voice broke, almost too fearful of saying what I needed to say. "I'm a Jedi, Poe. I was trained Luke when I was young but was sent away before Ben - Kylo Ren - did what he did. If too many people know, Kylo may find out about me. He thinks I'm dead so my identity needs to stay a secret. Those are why I'm too scared to say that I love you because it's speaking it into existence and that I could lose someone close to me. Someone I care very deeply about."

Poe had a sadness in his eyes. "I didn't know, Naaraa, but I'm sorry. I didn't know you were a Jedi either but I understand why you kept it a secret. Does General Leia know? Or Rey?"

I kept my eyes on the ground. "They both know. And I kept my abilities hidden because of what Kylo did to the other students I was with or what he's done to force sensitive children. I needed to protect myself so that myself and those around me wouldn't get hurt. I hope you understand why I didn't tell you and why I couldn't say that I love you. But I do. I really truly do."

Poe came to me, pulling me close. I held onto him, holding on as tight as I could. Poe must have sensed that I needed a hug because he held me tighter.

"Everything is going to be okay, Naa," Poe murmured to me. "We'll get through this. We always do."

I buried my face into his shoulder. "There's so few of us left and hope is dwindling."

Poe started rubbing my back softly. "Don't lose hope, my dear. We'll find people and we'll find hope. Don't you worry."

I started crying. I was having a hard time finding a good way out of everything. Even finding the hope in the whole situation was hard. I had to stay strong for everyone around me. Especially Poe. He was one of the most important people in my life and I had to stay strong for him. But every day was getting harder.

Poe pulled away and held my face in his hands. "I know it's hard, my love, but we'll make it through alive. I promise."

A little smile grew on my face. "Okay. Let's go back. I don't want to miss anything important. Did you get the information you needed from the informant?"

"Yes, but we damaged the Millennium Falcon," Poe replied. "Rey is going to mad about it though."

I placed my hands on the side of his face. "It's going to be okay. I'm glad you're safe."

Poe smiled. "I'm glad you're safe too and that you trusted me enough to tell me you were a Jedi."

I returned his smile. "Of course. Just don't go off dying or anything because then I'll have to kill you myself."

"Now I have more of a reason to be scared of you," Poe said. "I love you, though."

"I do too. Let's head back, my dear."

I took his hand and we walked back to the main part of the camp. Poe went to talk with General Leia while I joined Finn and Rey. I talked with them, listening to what each of them had to say. Fynn told a story of being attacked by the First Order and how they successfully got the information from the informant.

Rey gave me a brief update on her training. I knew how she was doing as I was with her most of the time. We had grown close and could almost read each other's movements by now. She was getting better by each day but doubted herself sometimes. I wished at moments that Rey wouldn't doubt herself. She was a good Jedi and had a lot of talent but just wasn't seeing it. I just couldn't see a way to help her with that.