Ephemeral ⟶ POE DAMERON

i

"This way," the lady said softly, a sweet voice that made the young orphan feel safer. She led her down a hallway and out to a yard, one filled with people talking and playing. The noise only made the girl cower behind the lady's leg, clutching her pants and putting her face into her back.

"Aurora, sweetie, it's alright," the lady says, taking her hand. Aurora reluctantly lets herself get pulled in front of the general, the one and only Leia Organa Solo.

Someone picks Aurora up, making her squeal and letting a grin slip through as Han lifts her onto his shoulders. "What's up?" he asks, looking up at her as she holds onto his forehead. She shrugs, not one to usually talk, and he just grins as he looks around for Ben. When he sees him on a bench with a book, his smile softens and his chest loosens.

"Do you wanna go meet some people?" Leia asks the girl, who is quick to shake her head.

"Oh, come on," Han says. "I'm sure you'll make friends easily!" She remains quiet, looking at her hands as she shakes her head again. Han reaches up and lowers her to the ground, kneeling in front of her with a smile. "What's there to lose, Ari?"

"I dunno," she says quietly, almost unheard over the noise of the park.

"Why don't you go sit with Ben?" Leia asks.

"I think he doesn't like me," she says shyly, looking at her.

"That's crazy!" Han says with a laugh. "No one could dislike such a pretty gal like yourself." This makes the girl smile, ducking her head and looking at her feet. Leia smiles at Han, glad that he can lower some of her walls.

"Go on," he says, standing and patting her back. "Meet some kids." She looks fearfully up at Leia, who nods with reassurance. With that, she takes a step onto the grass and towards the other kids who play different games.

"Tag!" a boy yells as he taps her arm, a kid just a few years older than her. But when he realizes she looks unfamiliar, he stops. He smiles at her, wiping a line of sweat form his forehead and scanning her up and down. "I haven't seen you around here before."

"I just got here last week," she tells him, standing taller to feel more confident.

The boy nods, smiling wider. "Say, what's your name?"

"Aurora," she answers.

"That's a silly name," he says with a chuckle. "Ain't ever heard that before." She rolls her eyes, making his smile grow as his white teeth begin to show. "I'm Poe."

"Well, that's a stupid name," she snaps, and Poe just stares. "Sounds like a food dish."

"Better than sounding like a fevered disease," he says, crossing his arms as she scrunches her nose. She pushes his shoulder and he laughs, pushing her back.

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"Aurora?" an all too familiar voice shouts throughout the mechanic's bay. She rolls her eyes, rolling out from under a T-70 X-Wing fighter, oil on her hands and sweat on her face.

"Over here," she shouts back, and Poe emerges form around the corner with a smile, wearing his orange flight suit and white work vest. "You know I'm working," she scolds him, but he just stands in front of her.

"Yeah, I know."

"Then why are you here?"

"Little droid here got banged up when he took a roll down the stairs this morning," Poe explains, BB-8 coming from behind him with his small bot head hanging slightly. Aurora can't help but smile, wiping her hands on the black jumper that suits her so well.

"Come 'ere," she says lightly to the droid, and he rolls over to her. She runs her fingers over his bent antennas and his dented body, making her chuckle. She grabs a screwdriver and begins taking out the screws to his frame, Poe leaning against the wall and watching her work. 

He notices how long her hair has gotten, even when pinned up in a braid. He loves to look at her eyes, a bright blue like a piece of the sky had become trapped in them. He admires her freckles, how carefully she works on BB-8 and how well she works with tools.

She takes his shell off and grabs a hammer, carefully banging the dents out. Poe crosses his arms, BB-8 looking back at him as she puts it back on.

"Oh, you embarrassed?" Poe asks.

I feel naked, he beeps back, and Aurora laughs as she takes off his antennas.

"Maybe you should watch where you're going next time," she says and the droid stays silent, letting them both know that he feels ashamed for the stupid mistake. Aurora looks over at Poe as she screws the antennas back on, scanning him up and down. "You going somewhere?" she asks, turning to him.

"I might be," he answers with a shrug, making her roll her eyes as she stands slowly. "I'm headed to Jakku, and I want you to tag along," he says, uncrossing his arms.

She tilts her head, furrowing her eyebrows. "Why me?" she asks. "And why Jakku?"

"Because why not?" he says. "And because we have intel on the map to Skywalker." This makes her eyes go wide with a certain excitement, one that makes Poe glad he told her. "It'd be nice to have some back-up, you know."

"Yeah, I'll go," she says as she nods quickly.

"Well, I was making you go either way," he says as they walk out, and she punches his shoulder as he laughs loudly.