CHAPTER III

REY'S DAY OFF

Rey ran as fast as she could through the woods of Yavin IV, feeling the weight of her master has put on her back. She was not carrying her master physically, but he used the force to make her feel like she was. Her master was there in the woods somewhere. She just needed to find the exact spot.

She was running out of time. Her small braids were almost giving up on her short hair. She paused her steps, catching her breath while she looked around. She was in the middle of nowhere.

'Focus, Rey,' she heard her master speak in her mind. She sensed him. But she was feeling too frantic to think straight.

'You can get nothing out of your anxiousness.'

Feeling a little calmer, Rey breathed deeply and evenly. She closed her eyes and felt the force flow everywhere. She felt the leaves get winded, the current of the water a few miles ahead. But her master was nowhere to be found. So, she meditated a little deeper, the weight of her master getting more and more unnoticed.

And there he was. She opened her eyes and ran the opposite direction. She found him in time.

That night, Rey, Finn and Poe were seated together during dinner in the mess hall. Most of the rebels in the day shift were there, making the hall quite noisy and full of life. Rey noted that only General Organa and other high officials were present in their table. Master Skywalker was nowhere to be found. So, Rey just shrugged it off and thought that maybe he was not hungry, or that he was going to eat a little later.

"So, how was your training today?" Finn asked, his mouth full of food. He looked at Rey while he was chewing. Rey and Poe would have found the sight to be a little comical. But they shrugged it off, continuing to eat their food in a slow pace.

"I don't know. Master Skywalker was a little… off today," Rey said, contemplating while picking at her food. She knew she had no right to be playing with food because of its scarcity while she grew up. But the thought of her master bothered her more than her past at the moment.

"Off? Off how?" Finn asked before shoving more rice into his mouth.

"Like there was a lot in his head. We usually meditate together before the training proper starts. But I sensed that he wasn't focused on the Force as I was."

"You feel each other meditating in the Force?" Poe asked, looking up from his food.

"Yeah," Rey replied before eating a spoonful of rice.

"Do you like, bump into each other's souls along the way or something?" Finn asked, this time his mouth void of food. Rey paused and stared at him, making him say, "Okay, stupid question, I know-"

"Yeah."

Finn and Poe blinked before returning to their meals. They will never understand the way of the Jedi.

Meanwhile, Rey just shrugged the thought of her master off. He was probably just having an off day.

Five weeks later, Luke decided to give Rey a day off, which Rey found to be odd, but she shook it off just like the night before. So, the younger Jedi decided to wander around the base.

Despite being around a lot of people—creatures—already for more than a month, Rey was still amazed at the feeling of someone being friendly to her. Whether it was a "good morning, Miss Rey," or a simple nod of recognition of her presence, it always gave Rey's day a ray of sunshine. Back in Jakku, she was no one. She was a scavenger with no importance. Who was left there to die. But here, she was someone. Some people even found it very odd that she had no last name.

It was after dinner that Poe found Rey in the balcony of the Mess Hall one night. Nobody tended to go to that place. For most of the Resistance people, the ocean was just a normal sight to be seen. But for Rey it was different. The amount of water in the planet was intriguing to her. So she was just standing there, looking over the ocean.

Poe entered the balcony, purposefully clearing his throat before he continued to approach her. She turned her head to glance at him, and offer a small smile. He went to stand next to her.

"The water's calm, isn't it?" Poe asked rhetorically, just wanting to start a conversation. He held a small smile on his face, being the friendly person that he was. Rey tilted her head a little and chuckled.

"I hope it stays that way," she replied, remembering the beautiful ocean of Acht-To, where she and the Jedi Grand Master met.

The two fell in silence for a few moments, before Rey decided to break it.

"Is it always like this here? The people, I mean," she asked, earning a confused look from Poe.

"What about the people?"

Rey paused a little, like she was still thinking about what to say. "Are you all always so… friendly?" Like they were all part of a family.

"Friendly?" Poe contemplated for a while before smiling. "Yes, we always are."

Rey nodded, fascinated by the culture they have. A tiny part of her wished that she could have it, too.

"You know, you're already a part of this community, Rey. You don't need to feel left out, if that's really how you feel."

She looked at him, amazed by his kind smile and easygoing look. It was very unlike the looks that Jakku creatures gave her. Finn already gave her a preview of kindness. Then there was Han and Chewie. Leia and Luke exuded it. She felt it when Leia hugged her at their first meeting, and when Luke agreed to train her, and offered her huge amounts of food and comfortable shelter, even more comfortable than his. And here, Poe looked at her with no malice, almost like he liked her company.

"I mean, Finn adjusted quite eagerly. I think that there's-"

"Thank you so much, Poe," she blurted out, giving him a small smile. Poe raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"What for?"

Rey just smiled a little wider, not really knowing what to say. Instead, she just shrugged and looked back to the ocean. Poe just shrugged it off, too, and continued to smile.

"Say, Rey," he started after a few moments of silence again. "Do you have a last name?" Inside, Poe kicked himself after her said that. He realized that it sounded like a beginning of a pick-up line. He thanked the gods that Rey did not know those things and answered the question properly.

"No," she said, a hint of sadness lacing her voice. Poe immediately started feeling guilty, but Rey continued, "I don't know who my parents are. But it's okay. I'm here now. I think it's all that matters."

Poe looked at her, and then nodded. "Yup, that's right. And because of that, would you like to learn how to fly an X-Wing someday?"

Rey looked at him swiftly, excitement taking over her. "Of course! But-"

"Just swing by the docks anytime then."

And that was the reason Rey decided to go to the said docks. She marveled at the shiny units that the Resistance had. All new, properly functioning, none needed any repairs. It was everything a mechanic like Rey wanted to see.

"Rey!"

She turned around to see Poe running towards her, clad in his bright orange flight suit and BB-8 rolling beside him. She started jogging towards them and soon after, she stopped right in front of them. BB-8 bumped at her legs and beeped something that sounded like a greeting.

Rey laughed, bent down and said, "Well, hello there, Beebee."

Poe chuckled at the droid. "He's been going on and on about you, you know. 'Where's Miss Rey?', 'Can we go see Miss Rey?', 'My antenna got bent, let's go see Miss Rey.'"

Rey laughed again and patted the droid's head fondly. "I missed you, too, Beebee. I'm sorry, I've been preoccupied lately."

Still, the droid beeped excitedly, saying things to her in binary.

"Where's Finn?" Rey asked the pilot, prying a strand of her hair away from her mouth.

"General Organa called him up just a while ago. We're assuming he got assigned for a mission." Poe answered, enjoying the wind and the sunlight.

"Oh," Rey said, slightly disappointed that her friend was not available. She had very little free time, and her friend just had to be absent during the time when she was finally there to hang out.

Poe, feeling her disappointment, decided to distract her. He smiled and said, "But I'm free for today. Want to fly an X-Wing?"

Rey smiled, very eager but she was a little shy. She rarely ever got timid, and she considered the fact that she and Poe talked to each other a lot, and he has been nothing but friendly to her. She did not exactly know the reason for her timidity. "Aren't all these units owned in this side by your Squadron?"

Poe let out a mischievous chuckle and said, "You'll use Jess's then."

"She won't mind?"

"What she doesn't know won't kill her," he answered, a cheeky smile on his face. Rey smiled brightly at him, making Poe feel like he had butterflies in his stomach.

Wait, what?

Poe shook his head to clear out his rather odd thoughts and said, "What do you say? Race to the next island?"

Rey's eyes widened at the challenge. "Y—You won't even teach me first?"

He laughed heartily and signaled her to follow him. Rey got the message and followed the pilot towards the line of X-Wings parked neatly at the dock. "You said you can fly anything, right?"

"But the X-Wing isn't even yours!"

And so that day, Rey finally got to fly an X-Wing. Maybe she was really destined to be something bigger than a scavenger left on Jakku.

So, that night, Poe and Rey met with Finn for dinner. Right after they finished eating, they just stayed there and Finn explained that he was called in for a mission, where he had to leave early the next morning with the Red Squadron.

"But you're not fully healed already!" Rey interjected, slamming her fork on the table. People turned their heads at her, and she shrunk when she saw Master Skywalker also turned to look at her. She sent a message through the force saying 'I'm sorry.' Luke just chuckled and went back to eating his food.

"I am! See, I can walk properly now, and the doctor said I'm totally fine," Finn said, his hands flailing around.

Poe scratched the back of his head. "But Finn just last week, you were on crutches."

"But I'm fine, guys, don't worry about me," Finn reassured his friends, feeling a little drowsy. So, he yawned and stretched his arms, much to the amusement of his tablemates. Rey opened her mouth to say something, but Finn started to stand up.

"Hey, guys, I'm really sleepy now. I'll go to bed early, alright?" Finn said, patting them both on their backs.

"What, aren't you going to have some chocolate cake with us like we talked about?" Poe asked. Rey nodded in agreement, wanting to have Finn's company a little longer.

"Nah, I snuck here before dinner for some Crème Brule anyway. I'm stuffed. I gotta get some shut eye now."

The two nodded and bid him good night. When Finn was out of sight, they turned back to face each other again. It was then that they realized it was just them again. BB-8 was not even there. Luke and Leia were not there at their table anymore, and the Mess Hall was almost empty.

"Well," Poe started, looking sheepish. "We could still get that chocolate cake if you want."

Rey smiled at him and started to stand. "Race to the kitchens then."

"You're on."

And later that night, Poe offered to walk Rey to her quarters. No, he did not offer. He insisted. Deep down, it was okay with Rey. She did not have to be alone… walking to her quarters, which were only a few meters away. She enjoyed his company, much like she enjoyed Finn's.

Poe was a very friendly and approachable man. Everybody liked him; everybody wanted to be his friend. Everybody was also wondering why he was still single. Some people thought he liked men; some just thought that he was just not looking for relationships. And the latter was true. Poe was so busy fighting for the resistance that, just like most of the other pilots in his squadron, he had no time for those things. Sure, there were many available women in his team, but maybe it really was just not the time for his love life to take place.

He recognizes that Rey was a woman, too. And she was very strong, kind, smart… and very pretty.

Poe caught himself in his thoughts when Rey suddenly spoke, "This is it." He looked at the room number above the threshold then looked at Rey.

"Oh. There you go then," he stammered, still looking at her. Was he nervous?

Rey nodded and smiled. "I had fun today, Poe. Thank you so much," she said, almost sounding nervous herself. "For the flight lessons, I mean."

Poe smiled back. "Anytime, Rey."

"I better get inside then," Rey said, not taking her eyes off him, and as the door slid open for her to enter.

"Yeah," he replied, feeling sheepish again. So, he waved at Rey and said, "Good night, then."

Rey started to walk inside and said, "Good night, Poe." And the door slid shut.

Rey thought it was a pleasantly odd day.

Back in Poe and Finn's room, BB-8 beeped something to Finn in binary. "Good job, friend Finn."

Finn laughed and patted the droid. "Yup, Beebee. We did a good job indeed."