Serendipity (Poe Dameron Fanfic)

07. Sent Away

I rolled out of bed with sleepiness still filling my eyes. BB-40 chirped a good morning and reminded me of what was to be done for the day. I grumbled a reply and got dressed, yawning widely I was still yawning when I got to the cafeteria. I spotted Poe and Tallie sitting together, bags under their eyes. I joined them after grabbing my food.

"Hey," Poe mumbled. "How'd you sleep?"

I yawned. "Well. I'm still tired though."

"That's expected," Tallie said. "How's your wound?"

I absentmindedly rubbed my injury. "It's doing great. It doesn't hurt very much."

"That's good," Tallie remarked. "We're doing some drills today. Are you up for it?"

I nodded. "Of course. I'll be in the hangers after breakfast. I just need to run to my room real quick."

"Yeah, sure, go ahead," Tallie said. "We aren't in a hurry today."

Again, I yawned. "Yes, ma'am."

"Get a lot of sleep tonight too, okay?" Tallie said.

I smiled. "Yes, ma'am."

After the meal, I went to my room. BB-40 was waiting patiently waiting for me. Once I grabbed what I needed, she followed me out. We went straight to the hangers and found most of Blue Squadron by Tallie's A-wing. I joined them, BB-40 leaning against my ankle. Tallie walked us through the drill. Blue Squadron was split between Tallie and me. We were the only lieutenants in Blue Squadron. Why there were two lieutenants in one squadron, I wasn't sure. But I enjoyed being with my crew. They were solid and had my back whenever I needed them.

We split up into groups and I instructed my crew what to do when we got into the air. Once I was done talking, we split up to our ships. BB-40 was already in her spot in my x-wing. After confirming that everyone was ready, I took off, everyone falling after me. We drilled for hours until I was confident that everyone had it down.

We returned to base. Tallie had returned with her group shortly before I arrived. We met up as a group after and talked about what had happened. When it was all over, I went straight to the dining hall. Poe joined me halfway there, a goofy grin on his face.

"What?" I asked, a smile starting to grow on my face. 

"Nothing," Poe replied. "Just thinking about something."

"Are you going to tell me what that something is?"

"Nope, absolutely not."

I snorted, grinning. "Of course you aren't. Heading to dinner?"

"Yeah," Poe replied. "Need some company?"

"If that company is with your dumbass, then sure, why not?"

"You flatter me," Poe said. 

I laughed. "Only for you."

I met his gaze, a goofy grin spread across his handsome face. We made it to the mess hall and found a place to eat with our group of friends. It was constant laughter and joking around. As I laughed at someone's joke, my gaze came to a rest on Poe. He had a stupidly handsome smile on his stupidly handsome face. It was then did I realize that I may have found him attractive. I never knew I could find someone as reckless and idiotic as Poe attractive but there I was, staring at him with my heart beating faster.

I looked away before Poe could catch me. I let myself get lost in thought, weighing the pros and cons of falling in love with Poe. He was reckless, jumping into things he shouldn't have jumped into. He wouldn't give me a second thought when he was in a dogfight. I would be right there with him.

After dinner, I got up and threw away my stuff, Poe right behind me. He bumped into me, a little smirk growing on his face. I shoved him away, smiling in return. We ended up screwing around, pushing and shoving as we laughed. Poe suddenly stopped, his arm gripping mine. I looked in the direction that he was looking only to see General Leia Organa. There was a soft smile on her face, an almost knowing look in her eyes.

"Naaraa, Poe," Leia greeted.

We both stood straighter, greeting the general. "General Leia."

"Poe, I need to talk to you in my office," Leia stated. "It won't take too long."

"Yes, ma'am." He looked at me. "See you later, Naaraa."

I smiled a little. "See you around. General."

"Naaraa."

I stepped away, heading towards my room. When I got there, BB-40 was my only company, though she remained mostly quiet. I wrote some reports for Tallie and dinked around until I heard a knock on my door. Opening the door, I saw Poe standing outside my door, a sad look on his face.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"I'm being sent on a mission," Poe replied. "By myself."

"Really? When?"

"Tomorrow morning. I'll be gone for a few days."

"What are you being sent to do?" I asked.

"You know the map to Luke Skywalker?" Poe said. "There's a guy on Jakku who has the missing piece. General Leia is sending me to get it."

"Are you going to need backup?"

Poe shook his head. "Leia doesn't want to put anyone else in danger. Besides, I'm the best damn pilot in the galaxy."

I rolled my eyes. "Okay, flyboy. Be safe, okay?"

"Anything for you, Naaraa." Poe glanced down for a second. "Hey, do you want to go for a walk for a little bit? I don't want to be alone right."

"Sure," I said, stepping out of my room.

We were silent on our way out of the compound. We only started talking when we got close to the forest's edge. We stumbled along a darkened trail, laughing loudly and acting like fools. We ended up by the river and found a log to sit down on. I had a smile on my face the entire time that we were out. When the conversation finally died down, I stared out towards the river, too lost in thought to pay attention. I was pulled away when I felt Poe staring at me. I looked at him, finding him with a smile on his face. 

"What?" I asked. 

"Nothing," Poe replied. "Just admiring your beauty. The moonlight shines nicely on your skin."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, okay, whatever. You're just trying to make me feel better about you leaving."

"You're anxious about me leaving?" Poe asked. "Aw, Naaraa!"

I smacked his shoulder. "Shut up. I won't miss you one bit."

Poe leaned close, a teasing smirk on his face. "Yes, you will. You'll miss me the entire time I'm gone."

I pushed him away. "I won't because you're a reckless idiot. I don't worry about reckless idiots."

"But I'm you're reckless idiot," Poe said. "It's your job."

"My job," I reminded, "is to be one of the best pilots around. Now excuse you."

"I mean, if you want me to leave, I can," Poe said.

"No, you idiot, stay," I said. "The whole point of coming out here was to have a moment to ourselves."

"So you wanted me all to yourself?" Poe asked, his grin growing wider. "If you only wanted that, you could have just said something instead of dragging me out here."

I shoved him, making him almost fall over. "Don't get any stupid ideas in your head, idiot. We're just friends."

Poe's smile dropped as he sat up straight. "Okay, then. That's good to know."

"I didn't mean like that, Poe," I said. "I mean, like, we're friends right now."

"Then is there a possibility for more?"

I smiled a little. "Maybe one day."

Poe's hand traced over mine. "That's good enough for me. Gives me hope for the mission."

I gave him a half-smile. "Rebellions are built on hope."

"As they should be."