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Pulling down the sleeve of your jacket, you sighed as you made your way through the docking bay. Looking around, you saw plenty of couples that were walking hand in hand, glancing lovingly at one another; couples who were deemed soulmates from the day they were born. Smiling in admiration, you continued walking through the bay as you walked your way up to General Organa.
Almost every being in the galaxy that was born had a soulmate. According to many tales, two beings are pulled together by no other than the Force, binding them together for eternity and making it so that any mark that was put upon ones skin would appear on the other’s skin. Whether it be a tattoo, a scratch, or a simple drawing, it would appear on the skin of one’s soulmate and stay until it was either healed or washed off. Sometimes it took longer for one to find out about their soulmate and be able to show their markings upon their skin. In some cases, one would be able to see the markings that their soulmate left when they become teenagers or, in other cases, they wouldn’t be able to until they get older.
It was a beautiful thing to hear about, finding one’s soulmate. You have heard of many wonderful stories about how they would find one another, your favorite being that of your parents. How they lived worlds away from each other and had no business ever finding one another. They would write little notes to each other every day to get to know everything about each other—from their favorite foods, favorite stories, to the secrets no one else knew.
Your parents didn’t meet until years later and that was the part that always used to confuse you. If you knew that you could find your soulmate so easily, why wouldn’t you immediately fly your way across the galaxy to find them? Your mother told you that somewhere in their hearts, they knew that they weren’t supposed to meet until years after they found out about each other.
All was as the Force willed it, your mother said.
You always knew that you had a soulmate; you could feel it deep down inside of you, but you were always scared to write any note or drawing in fear of no one replying and no marks had appeared on your skin yet. In fact, the way you found out who your soulmate was happened completely by accident.
----
It was a particularly quiet day on base as you made your way to find your usual table during lunch. For some reason you didn’t know, the back of your neck had a burning sensation that you tried to ignore, but could not. You thought maybe a bug had bit you, but the pain continued to bother you as you reached a hand back and tried to rub it away.
“Hey, Y/N!” Your friend, Iylla, called out. She, along with your other friend Zoe, took their usual seats across from you. Giving them a small smile, you waved with your other hand,
“Hey, guys, how was the mission?” Zoe picked at her plate, grabbing a piece of fruit and observing it before taking a bite,
“Oh, you know, same ol’ same ol’. Go in, get the information, try not to die.” You chuckled but quickly hissed in pain as a sharper pain hit your neck once more, causing you to grimace.
“Hey, Y/N, are you alright?”
“Yeah, I believe so. I think I may have gotten bit by a bug or something, but I can’t feel a bump. Can you check?” Iylla nodded and got up to walk behind you. She gasped and you watched as Zoe looked up at her and quickly got up from her seat and gasp as well.
“Guys, what’s wrong? Is it that bad?”
“Y/N, when did you get a tattoo?” You turned to look back at your friends, furrowing your brows in the process,
“I don’t have a tattoo, Zoe, what are you talking about?” Both Iylla and Zoe looked at each other, then back at you, and you watched as Zoe grabbed her holopad while Iylla sat down next to you.
“Y/N, you may want to sit down for this—“
“I’m already sitting down, Iylla.” Before she could say another word, Zoe placed her holopad in your hands and there in front of you was a holo of the back of someone’s neck—your neck— with a fresh tattoo of the Resistance sign.
Your mouth fell slightly agape and you quickly turned to look back at your friends and then back to the holopad.
“I didn’t… I don’t...This isn’t… What?”
“So you said you don’t have a tattoo, Y/N. You know what this means, right?” Of course you knew. It meant that whoever your soulmate was got one. And they were here on the Resistance base with you.
“Who do you think it is?”
“I wonder if they are cute?”
“Could it be a pilot?” Before you could yell at your two friends, their attention went towards the entrance of the dining hall as a group of people huddled around someone. You, Iylla, and Zoe all glanced at one another before standing up from your table and making your way towards the group only to find your other friend, Poe Dameron, at the center.
“Wow, Poe! You really are dedicated to the cause.”
“Yeah, did it hurt?” Poe smirked at the two people while he sat down at a table and shook his head,
“Nah, but it didn’t tickle either.”
“Do you think your soulmate might have been in pain?” Poe scoffed and shook his head,
“Soulmate? I think by now I would have found out if I had a soulmate. I haven’t gotten any type of markings to suggest otherwise. Either I don’t have a soulmate, or maybe they just aren’t worth my time if they aren’t going to bother showing me they exist.” As Poe turned his back towards you, your eyes widened as you saw the same exact Resistance symbol like the one on your neck.
“More like is it the pilot?” Iylla whispered and you let out a shaky breath as you reached your hand behind your neck and pushed your way out of the crowd to run out of the dining hall with Poe’s harsh words still racing through your mind.
----
It had been a two months since that incident and you haven’t told Poe anything. Deciding to keep your distance, you spent most of your time with Zoe and Iylla, both of which decided to bug you every minute in order to get you to talk to him about what you knew. It wasn’t that you were necessarily scared of him, more like you were scared of rejection. There were a couple of cases on the Resistance base that you heard of people being rejected by their soulmate, and the thought of Poe doing that to you would probably wreck you.
You and Poe had been good friends since you first appeared on base training to be a pilot. Poe was assigned to train you and that was when the two of you became close. The two of you would always be seen walking around base, training, and sparring together. You both worked extremely well together, which led General Organa to partnering the two of you together on many missions.
As you searched for General Organa, the familiar voice of someone shouting your name caused you to turn around only to find Poe dressed in clad in his uniform, with BB-8 alongside him, running straight for you. Your heart skipped a beat as he stopped in front of you, his signature smirk donned on his face.
“Oh, hi Poe,” you uttered quietly as you shifted awkwardly in place, “I was just looking for—“
“General Organa? I just finished talking with her and she told me to find you. We are both assigned to go on a mission.” Your eyes widened as you froze in place,
“Oh, okay. Where exactly are we going?”
“Dunno, General Organa told me she would send me the coordinates as soon as we took off. Guess it’s a top secret location. Do you think you’ll be ready to leave soon?”
“Uh, yeah. Just give me ten minutes and I’ll meet you at the hangar?” Poe smiled and nodded while BB-8 chirped happily. Before you could turn and make your way towards your room, Poe reached for you and pulled you close to his chest. You hesitated a bit before wrapping your arms around his back.
“I’ve missed you, Y/N/N. I feel like we haven’t seen each other in a while. Is everything okay?” Sighing deeply, you pulled away and forced a smile,
“Yeah, everything is fine, Poe. I’ve just been busy is all.”
“Well, if you need anything, you know I’m here for you.” You nodded and told Poe and BB-8 that you would see them both at the hangar before you took off to your room.
----
The mission went smooth, a little too smooth in your opinion. All you and Poe had to do was go in, grab a holodisk that contained secret information from the First Order, and left with no problems. Although there were no problems, something in the back of your mind told you to be wary as you and Poe made your way back to D’Qar.
You sat towards the back of the ship as you looked out of the window of the U-wing and stared in awe at the stars. Despite how many times you had flown in space, it still amazed you how beautiful and ongoing it was. BB-8 chirped next to you and you smiled down at the droid, nodding in agreement.
“You’re right BB-8, it is amazing.” Poe looked back at you and smiled in admiration as he placed the ship on autopilot, making his way to sit next to you. His knee brushed up against yours and you hoped he didn’t feel your muscles tense up.
“It never gets old,” Poe broke the silence and you quickly turned to face him, only to find him staring down at you.
“What does?”
“The way your face lights up any time we fly up here. It’s one of my favorite things to see when we go on missions together.” You felt the heat in your cheeks rise and looked down at your hands, which were seated in your lap as you said nothing.
“I’ve really missed you, Y/N/N. I’m really glad that we got put on this mission together.”
“I’ve missed you too, Poe.” Silence lingered once more and Poe gently placed his hand on top of your thigh.
“You sure you’re okay, Y/N?” You felt a lump go to the back of your throat as you thought about the harsh words Poe had said two months ago. Looking up at him, you gave him a tight lipped smile and nodded.
“Yeah, I’m fine Poe.”
“You sure? You know you can talk to me about anything, sweetheart.”
“Yeah, I’m sure Poe. You don’t need to worry about me.” Poe reached up and brushed your hair behind your ear,
“I’ll always worry about you, Y/N.” Your cheeks felt like they were on fire and you turned away to look back out of the window again as the silence creeped over and Poe continued to brush your hair with his fingers.
You felt Poe’s fingers stop brushing your hair as he grabbed a handful of it and moved it to the side; his fingers gently traced the back of your neck.
“Y/N… when did you get a tattoo?” You immediately froze and reached a hand to cover your neck as you looked at Poe, whose brows were furrowed in confusion.
“I, uh… You see—“
Poe slowly rose up from his seat and stared down at you,
“Y/N, when did you get a tattoo?” He asked more firmly and you looked down at your lap.
“I didn’t…” You mumbled quietly. Poe began to pace back and forth, running his hands through his hair.
“So if you didn’t get that tattoo, which is oddly the same exact one that I got, that means that—“
“I’m your soulmate.” Poe stopped in front of you and you looked up to find him staring wide-eyed at you. BB-8 glanced between the two of you and you watched as Poe clenched his jaw, fire burning in his eyes.
“BB-8, can you shut down and give us a minute, please?” The droid hesitated, but gave a sad beep and rolled to the back of the ship. It was quiet once more and you continued to watch as Poe ran a hand down his face.
“How long have you known?” You bit your lip as you looked away from Poe,
“Since you first got the tattoo.”
“And you didn’t think to tell me?”
“I-I was going to, but—“
“But what? What could have possibly happened that you couldn’t tell me that we are soulmates?” You looked back up at Poe to find him standing there, his hands placed on his hips with his lips pursed. Releasing a deep breath, you finally spoke.
“I was just scared because you said that whoever was your soulmate wasn’t worth your time and—“
“But I still had a right to know!” Poe yelled, causing you to flinch.
“I know… and I’m sorry Poe. I didn’t mean to- I was just scared.”
“I don’t care if you were scared! You still should have told me. Do you know how fucked up this is, Y/N?” Your eyes widened at the harsh words that came out of Poe’s mouth and felt as if he stabbed you in the chest. While you didn’t know if he was talking about the situation itself or the fact that you were his soulmate, you couldn’t stop the stray tear that fell down your cheek. Poe continued to stand there, his chest heaving and his eyes still fueled with the same fire as he turned away from you.
Just as you were about to speak, an alarm sounded and both you and Poe made your way to the front of the ship. Poe sat in the pilot’s seat and quickly pulled the headset on as he analyzed the screen.
“What’s happening?” You asked as Poe began to flip switches, but he ignored you as he began to speak into the headset,
“Hello? This is Black Leader. Our ship has been tampered with and we will need to make an emergency crash landing. I have sent the coordinates to a small, desert moon. Please send help immediately.” The ship suddenly jerked and you reached to grab ahold of the co-pilot chair.
“Fuck,” Poe began to put the safety straps on, “Y/N, you need to—“
Before he could finish, the ship suddenly lurched forward and you were dangling on the edge of the seat, holding on as tight as you could. You cried out for Poe and you heard him curse just as he reached back and grabbed onto your hand while his other one gripped onto the controls. You let go of the chair and gripped hard onto Poe’s hand, your feet dangling behind you. Poe groaned as he tried to lift you up and you could slowly feel your hands start to slip from his grip.
“Y/N! Just hold on, you’ll be alright.” Your hands were becoming slick from the sweat and you looked up at Poe, the tears stinging your eyes as you saw him clenching his jaw.
“Poe,” he looked into your eyes, “I’m sorry that I—“
Your hands slipped just before he reached his other hand back to grab yours and you felt yourself falling towards the back of the ship. Your back hit the wall of the ship and before you could react, your head jerked backwards, causing the world around you to spin. For a moment, you thought you heard Poe yell out your name before darkness took over your senses.
----
Do you know how fucked up this is, Y/N?
Fucked up.
Y/N?
Y/N!
You startled awake and fluttered your eyes as you took in your surroundings. It was somewhat dark, with little light shining through the windows, but your vision was still blurry. You tried to push yourself to sit up, only for a sharp pain to shoot up your back. As you cried out in pain, a pair of hands gently grabbed your shoulders and tried to lay you back down while you tried struggling out of their grip.
“Y/N, stop, it’s me, it’s Poe. Your safe.” You tried to steady your breathing as you stared up at Poe, who you could see was now donning a small cut surrounded by yellowing of a bruise. Reaching a hand up, you gently touched your cheek, hissing in pain as you felt the scratch on your own cheek.
“Yeah, sorry. When we landed, my head sort of jerked forward and I hit the control pad.”
“It’s fine, Poe.” You mumbled and waved Poe’s hands off of you as you slowly sat up and pushed yourself against the wall of the ship.
The back of your head felt somewhat wet and warm as your head rested against the back of the wall and you reached back to gently touch your hair, only to feel your fingers become sticky. Quickly pulling your hand away, you watched from the corner of your eye how Poe did the same exact thing and pull his hand back to find blood on the tips of his fingers.
Poe swore to himself and asked if he could check your head to see how deep the cut was. When you agreed, Poe gently pulled you forward and examined the wound. You felt Poe softly place one hand upon your head, brushing the hair away, while the other hand ghosted on the back of your neck. The warmth of Poe’s hands caused you to draw out a breath of comfort and close your eyes.
Poe finally pulled away and you almost immediately missed the comfort of his hands on you as you leaned your head back. He mumbled something about a medpac and stood up quickly, leaving you to stare down at your hands in your lap.
The sound of a concerned beeping caused you to jump slightly, and you turned your head to find BB-8 roll up next to you. Smiling slightly at the droid, you nodded back,
“Yeah, I’m okay, BB-8. Thanks for checking on me.” The droid stared at you for a moment before beeping contentedly and rolling out of Poe’s way as he came back, medpac in tow.
Poe kneeled down in front of you and set the medpac on the floor as he began to dig through the contents. He pulled out a small flashlight and gently pulled back your eyelids as he shined the light between your eyes.
“Your pupils are slightly dilated, you probably have a small concussion,” he turned the flashlight off and turned back to the medpac, grabbing some antiseptic and a bacta patch, before turning back to you, “I’m going to clean your wound, okay sweetheart?” You nodded and he gently shifted you so that you were now sitting between his legs.
You could hear him fidgeting with the antiseptic spray bottle and before you knew it, a burning pain shot from your head and trickled down your spine. A small whimper escaped your lips and tears began to pool your eyes as your entire body began to shake.
“I know, baby, I know. I’m almost done,” Poe said hurriedly as he ripped open the bacta patch and placed it gently on the back of your head.
As soon as he discarded the items, he turned you to your side and pulled you tightly against him on his lap, shushing you while rubbing one hand up and down your arm. Poe placed his cheek on the top of your head and you clenched your fists together hard, your fingernails cutting into your palms, as you waited for the pain to end.
When the pain subsided, you began to match your breathing to Poe’s, following the rise and fall of his chest. Silence overtook the cabin of the ship and you tried to focus on something other than the events that had happened. As you thought of your injuries, you remembered how you and Poe both had the same cut and bruise on your cheeks, so that meant one thing.
You shot up from Poe’s chest and looked up at him to find his hair messy and bags under his eyes, which you tried to avoid staring at.
“Uh… I should check your head too. See if there’s a cute.” Poe swallowed and nodded before turning so his back was now facing you.
You gently brushed his hair away and you tried not to cringe at the cut and amount of blood that was in sight.
“I’ll have to clean it,” you mumbled as you reached for the antiseptic spray and the second bacta patch, “this is gonna sting, Poe.” Before Poe could respond, you sprayed the antiseptic, trying to work fast as Poe let out a hiss.
“Are you okay, Poe?” You asked quickly and he nodded,
“Yeah, but it sure doesn’t tickle,” An uneasy feeling settled in your stomach as you recalled those similar words, causing you to fiddle with the bacta patch before placing it on Poe’s head.
Your gaze lingered to the back of Poe’s head before you let out a shaky breath,
“I’m so sorry Poe,” Poe’s back straightened and you lowered your head, “I should have told you about… us.” Poe turned so he was now looking up at you, but you were too focused on a loose string on your jacket. You heard him sigh,
“No, Y/N, if anyone’s sorry, it’s me. I shouldn’t have yelled at you like that. I should have let you explain why you did what you did instead of getting angry.”
“But I still should have told you. I shouldn’t have been such a coward, you deserved to know and I let you believe that you didn’t have a soulmate. I was just scared that you…”
“That I would what, Y/N?” Closing your eyes, you took a deep breath,
“That you would… be disappointed that I was your soulmate.”
You heard shuffling as Poe stood up and you refrained from making eye contact—too afraid to see the same anger that was in his eyes not too long ago. Both of Poe’s hands cupped both sides of your face, causing you to lean forward out of habit.
“Sweetheart look at me.” Hesitating, you lifted your head and gazed into Poe’s eyes—the fire that once lingered in them was now replaced by a softer, loving gaze and the nauseous feeling in your stomach went away.
“I could never, ever , be disappointed that you are my soulmate. In fact, I am the complete opposite. I am more than excited to be able that you are my soulmate,” you immediately felt the heat rise in your cheeks and Poe seemed to have noticed as he shot you a small smile.
“And I’m not just saying that, Y/N. I have liked you from the moment I first met you. The way you smile is just so genuinely sweet and I find myself becoming lost in your eyes.” He was leaning forward now and, as if something was pulling you towards him, you were too.
“You are the sweetest person I have ever met and I only wish that I could be as kind as you are. If we are being completely honest, I had always hoped that if I never had a soulmate, that there was some way that you didn’t have one either. I know that is selfish to say but it’s true. I… I love you, Y/N.” Your mouth was slightly open and you began to glance between Poe’s lips and eyes before finally speaking.
“Are you sure?” Poe let out a belly laugh that sent warmth through your entire body. Poe’s laughter died down, but a wide grin was still plastered on his face,
“Yes I’m sure, Y/N, why do you think I always asked the General if we could be partnered on missions together?”
“I don’t know… I always just… maybe you… that I—“
Poe’s lips were on yours before you could finish and you stood there frozen before you realized what was happening. You closed your eyes and began to kiss back, a jolt of excitement going through your body as Poe began to run his tongue along your bottom lip, begging for entrance. As you opened your mouth, you and Poe both fought for dominance while Poe’s hands trailed from your cheeks down to your waist. You gripped a handful of Poe’s jacket and pulled him even closer, taking in the scent of oil and pine.
The kiss finally broke as BB-8 began to chirp excitedly, saying something about help arriving and you fluttered your eyes open. As you glancing up at Poe, you noticed the way that his eyes shined as he looked down at you—brighter than any star in the galaxy. Realizing you were staring, you let out a cough,
“I, uh, we should get going. Don’t want to keep them waiting.” Poe shot you that wonderful smile and if it wasn’t for his tight grip on your hips, you were sure you would have fallen.
“I love you, Y/N.”
“I love you too, Poe.”