Poe opened his eyes with a sigh. It was late at night and he had just awakened from the best dream he'd ever had. He closed his eyes again, wishing he could go back to the dream. It had been so damn good...

He had never dreamed about Rey before. In the dream, he kissed her, first on her cheek and then on the lips. It was only a chaste kiss, but if felt amazing…

Poe sat on the bed and ran a hand through his hair. This dream had come as a complete surprise, and made no sense at all. Rey was just a friend to him, a very good friend, nothing more… or so he thought, until now. He tried to shake that feeling away and go back to sleep.

Only he couldn't.

Actually, he didn't want to.

In fact, he wished he could go to her right now and kiss her for real, but: one, he wasn't crazy enough to simply knock on her door and kiss her out of nowhere; and two, even if he was that crazy, he wouldn't be able to. They weren't even in the same system right now.

Rey had been sent after Luke Skywalker three weeks ago. Chewbacca and R2-D2 had gone with her aboard the Millennium Falcon, and now the Resistance base was filled with expectation for their upcoming return.

Poe missed her, he had been aware of that since the first time he visited Finn alone, without her company. But he hadn't realized how much he missed her until now.

He laid down again, with his arms crossed behind his head, and stared at the ceiling, thinking back on how he came to know her…

The first time Poe heard about Rey, she had just been captured by the First Order. Finn had ran into her in Jakku, after the crash of their TIE fighter. She had already met BB-8 and was taking care of the droid, who ended up growing fond of her. Poe learned from Finn that Rey was a skilled pilot and a pretty good fighter, which didn't stop him from being worried of what might happen to her. Poe had already experienced being tortured by Kylo Ren, and even though he didn't know Rey yet by that time, the merely thought of this girl, who meant so much already for both Finn and BB-8, in the hands of that monster scared him...

It wasn't until after destroying the Starkiller Base that he actually met her. Their first encounter had been very brief, as he rushed to the medical center with a severely injured Finn. Rey seemed to be well enough despite all she had gone through, and he felt quite relieved.

By the time he gathered with General Organa, Rey and other officers at the Resistance's conference room to decide their next step, he was already aware of everything that had happened at the Starkiller Base. He eyed Rey every now and then, trying not to stare too much, but he couldn't help being extremely impressed by her. She was not only an exceptional pilot and fighter, but she was also a user of the Force and had left Kylo Ren quite damaged.

Poe had never met a Jedi before. He knew that General Organa was Force sensitive and that her brother was a Jedi himself, but Luke Skywalker had already vanished when Poe joined the Resistance.

When R2-D2 and BB-8 revealed the whole map that led to the legendary Jedi Master, joy erupted in the conference room, everyone exchanging excited hugs and high fives. Suddenly Poe found himself wrapping Rey into a warm embrace. When they parted, there was a little awkward moment, and Poe decided it was a good time to introduce himself properly to her.

"Uh, hi. I'm Poe."

She nodded slowly.

"I recognize the name," she said, a hint of a smile forming on her lips. "So you're Poe. Poe Dameron, the X-wing pilot. I'm Rey."

"I know." He smiled back, a little more at ease. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too. BB-8 told me you're the best pilot in the Resistance," she said, her eyes now shining.

"I try my best," he said, shyly. Poe never had problems in recognizing his own abilities, but for some reason he didn't want to risk sounding pretentious to her. "I heard you're an excellent pilot too," he said, and he could swear he saw her blush a little bit.

"I love to fly! I would like to fly an X-wing one of these days."

"You can fly mine anytime," he offered.

"Thank you," she grinned. "I'll be looking forward to it."

Poe and Rey fell into an easy friendship. They found they had a lot in common, their love for piloting being one of them. Also, the fact that both of them looked forward to Finn's recovery allowed them to spend a good amount of time together. In addition, BB-8 seemed to love Rey's company, and more often than not Poe would look for his droid only to find him with her. He couldn't really blame him…

Several weeks passed by in the blink of an eye, and suddenly it was time for Rey to leave. Neither of them had any idea of how long it would take to bring Luke Skywalker back. Poe secretly hoped General Organa would assign him to go with Rey, but it never happened. In the end, all he could do was to wish her good luck.

Now here he was, thinking about her in a way he's never thought he would. He never imagined he would miss her so much, to the point of dreaming she had returned from her mission – the kiss had been a 'welcome back' kiss. That dream had unlocked feelings he didn't even know he was nurturing…

Poe sighed. He knew he was in trouble. Rey was most likely going to train to become a Jedi, and he knew that a Jedi was not supposed to have romantic relationships with anyone. He knew it had happened before, and he knew the consequences had been terrible.

He closed his eyes and tried not to think about Rey, but he couldn't help; he ended up replaying the dream again and again in his mind, eventually falling back to sleep.

Two more weeks passed by until the news came that the Millennium Falcon had just entered the orbit of D'Qar.

When the Millennium Falcon landed, the whole base was frantic and Poe could barely contain his anxiety. For the past two weeks, he couldn't stop thinking about Rey, and he missed her more and more each day. Now that he was about to see her again, he was quite nervous.

The first one to leave the ship was Chewbacca, followed by the one and only Luke Skywalker. All the Resistance members were in complete awe when the Jedi Master stepped out of the ship, being immediately welcomed by General Organa with a heartfelt embrace.

The scene touched Poe, but his attention soon turned to Rey, who was now leaving the Falcon, smiling at the sight of the long awaited reunion. It didn't take long for her eyes to meet Poe's and she walked towards him, the smile still on her lips.

"Welcome back, Rey," he said with a tender voice, more tender than he had intended. "And congratulations. You definitely did a good job," he continued, trying to ignore the fact that his heart was beating quite fast at her presence.

"I had great help. Chewbacca was there to guide me and support me. He's a fantastic co-pilot," she said, and then she paused. When she made to speak again, she was interrupted by a loud beep.

"BB-8!" Rey exclaimed with a grin, getting down on one knee while the droid rolled happily towards her. He let out a series of excited beeps and chirps.

"I missed you too, my friend! No, I'm not leaving anymore. Master Luke will teach me how to use the Force properly so I can fight with the Resistance against the First Order."

BB-8 squealed in excitement, and Poe chuckled; if he wasn't a droid, Poe was pretty sure the little guy would have fainted already.

Then General Organa approached them, asking Rey to follow her and Luke inside the base. Rey immediately obeyed, casting a final glance to Poe.

"See you later," she smiled.

Poe nodded, smiling back.

Poe didn't see Rey for the rest of the day. He supposed she would have a lot to discuss with General Organa and Luke.

When Poe went to his quarters at night, he noticed BB-8 wasn't there. He must be with Rey, that little traitor, he thought, smiling nonetheless.

Poe was too alert to sleep though, so he decided to head out for a walk after taking a quick shower. When he was ready to leave, there was a soft knock on his door.

He opened it at once, and his heart raced. Rey was standing right in front of him.

"Uh… Hi, Rey," he said, trying to sound casual.

"Hi… Hum... I was wondering if you wouldn't like to join me for a walk?"

"Oh, sure!" He felt more than happy for the unexpected company. "Is everything okay? Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine. I just want to relax a little bit, but I'd like some good company," she smiled, and Poe almost lost himself on her smile. She didn't seem to realize it, but she was beautiful.

"Thanks for choosing me," he smiled back. "Let's go then," he said, closing the door behind him.

They ended up above one of the grassy mounds that hid the hangars. Rey immediately made herself comfortable, lying on the grass with her arms crossed behind her head, looking at the stars.

Poe sat down beside her, crossing his legs and leaning back on his hands.

Rey closed her eyes when she felt the soft breeze of the night. Poe gazed at her, taking in her lovely features. When her lips parted slightly, his heart lurched.

"So... Are you allowed to share anything of what you discussed with General Organa and Luke today?" he asked, looking away before she could catch him staring. "You spent all day with them."

"Well, I suppose I can share a couple things," Rey teased him. "Luke will start training me soon. But first we're going to move the base to another system. The First Order knows we're here after all. Leia guessed that the damage we did them would buy us some time, at least until my return. But we can't stay much longer now."

"Yeah, I know. I was worried about this, about remaining here for so long, but General Organa was certain nothing bad would happen until your return. Are you excited to start training?"

"Actually, we already did a bit of training at the Jedi temple, but only the basics. He began to teach me how to control the few Jedi abilities I already have," she explained. "He's impressive. I didn't need to tell him a lot of things."

"Like what?"

"When he first saw me he knew who I was, he had felt the awakening of my powers. He also sensed when Han died..." Rey said, her voice trailing off. She paused for a moment. "He trained Kylo Ren – Ben Solo – before he turned to the dark side. That's why he disappeared for so long, he felt responsible for what happened. But he decided it was time to come back, and he agreed to train me."

"So you're really becoming a Jedi..."

"Yes."

Poe sighed and laid down on the ground beside Rey, keeping his eyes on the stars above him, his face serious.

They remained silent for a bit.

"Master Luke said I don't need to follow the old Jedi ways though."

"The old Jedi ways? What do you mean?" he asked, turning his head to look at her.

"I can have a relationship if I want to."

Poe's eyes widened and his heart sped up.

"Not that I asked him about it," Rey continued. "I didn't need to. He read my feelings."

"Are you in love with someone?" Poe inquired, regretting it right away. "Wait, sorry. I shouldn't ask you that. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

Even though he had a little hope that she might, maybe, possibly, be talking about him, he thought Finn would be much more likely. They've gone through a lot together after all, and he knew that she cared very much about Finn. Poe suddenly felt like a stupid teenager, afraid of a heartbreak.What the hell is happening to me?

"Actually, I-"

Rey couldn't finish her sentence; she was interrupted by the characteristic excited noises of a certain droid, that somehow had found his way towards them.

"BB-8, where have you been?" Poe asked, pushing himself into a sitting position.

The little droid didn't answer Poe's question though, for he had much more interesting news to break.

As soon as she heard BB-8's news, Rey got immediately on her feet.

"WHAT?! FINN IS AWAKE?"

"That's great news, buddy!"

"Let's go see him! NOW!" Rey said, grinning from ear to ear, and they all ran towards the base.

Poe and Rey spent nearly the whole night chatting with Finn, only leaving when he started giving signs of tiredness and Dr. Kalonia entered the room, saying it was time for him to rest; Finn was still weak after all.

Finn had a lot to catch up to, but Rey and Poe had covered almost everything already. Poe had eyed her intently from time to time, his heart sinking bit by bit as he noticed how Rey's eyes softened when she asked how Finn was feeling, and when she said how she was sorry and how she felt responsible for what happened to him.

When they were walking back to the sleeping quarters, Poe tried to reason with her about her feeling guilty. Finn had tried to remove this notion from her head, but Rey was stubborn.

"Finn is right, Rey. Kylo Ren is the only one to blame. Finn will be fully recovered soon enough, and we all will get our chance to make that monster pay for everything he did."

"I know…" she said, stopping as they reached her room's door. "It's just…"

"I know, Rey."

She stared at him, looking confused.

"What do you know?"

"I know how you feel about him," he said, trying to hide the sadness in his voice. "Well, I should go. You must be tired. See you tomorrow," he said and turned around to take his leave, but then he felt Rey's hand on his wrist. He turned to look at her, confusion all over his face. And when he was about to ask her what was going on, she closed the space between them and planted a kiss on his lips.

It was a brief kiss, but it was enough to send Poe's heart into a fluttering frenzy. When Rey broke the kiss, he stared at her in a kind of confused joy.

"I do love Finn… That's what you're thinking, isn't it?" Poe blinked in confusion. "But I love him like a brother. He's the brother I never had. What Luke sensed back at the Jedi temple were my feelings for you," she said softly. Her cheeks had turned into a lovely shade of pink, but she held his gaze firmly.

Poe bit his lower lip before bringing his hands to both sides of her face, his lips meeting hers again. He parted his lips slightly, inviting Rey to deepen the kiss, and so she did. He wrapped his arms around her, and when their tongues met, he felt like Rey was melting into his arms. She buried her hands into his hair and moaned against his lips, causing a spark of desire to run through his entire body.

They eventually broke the kiss for air, resting their foreheads on each other's.

"Do you need to be up early tomorrow?" Rey asked, her voice merely a whisper.

"No, I have the morning off."

"Good," she said with a grin.

Then she grabbed his hand and, without breaking eye contact, pulled him towards her room.

Poe followed her without protest; he could see the determination and the boldness in her voice and in the way she looked at him, and he didn't dare questioning her actions.

The reality turned out to be far better than his dream after all.