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Healing is an art.
It takes time, it takes practice.
It takes love.
- Maza-Dohta
It’s been a few months since the Final Order was ultimately defeated, along with the last remnants of the Sith and the Dark Lord. The New Republic is restoring peace and freedom throughout the galaxy once again.
Yet, it takes time to heal pain and reestablish dignity after a war.
At the Monument Plaza in the metropolis of Coruscant, a memorial service is held to commemorate the fallen heroes and victims of the First Order-Resistance War.
During a moment of silence, as the peal of the bell tolls slowly at the top of the Grand Tower and reverberates throughout the square, General Poe Dameron, in a fine Resistance uniform, stands with Commander Larma D’Acy, General Caluan Ematt, and other officers. Behind them are the Army and the Navy troops standing in formation. They salute while listening to a very sonorous and mournful echoed chime, honoring the dead of every region of the Colonies, even the destroyed Hosnian Prime and Kijimi.
Poe’s eyes carry a look of remoteness, and he accepts that he has sadly missed the opportunity to make the precious memories he’d hoped for while healing.
From his perspective, all of his friends and allies are lost—from Temmin 'Snap' Wexley, one of Poe’s closest friends since their heyday years since at the Naval Academy, to the Rebel Alliance veteran Nien Numb, who fought the Empire at Endor but ultimately met his death by under the Dark Lord’s Force lightning at Exegol. And then Leia, his general and second mother. The one who initially sparked the fire against the Empire, who has passed the torch to her most trusted operative—the spark must burn against the Final Order. She is finally at peace, as the Force is in her and her brother. And so is her son; Ben Solo has finally returned to the good within him after renouncing himself as the monster behind the mask.
Among those who have survived and started a new life after the service, his most important one is Finn, who, along with his fellow ex-stormtrooper Jannah and her comrades, is still searching for his family. Then Chewie—facing life without Han, he is building a partnership, as well as a friendship, with Lando, as they continue their path across the skies and space, as Han did a decade ago.
Poe doesn’t see Rey at the service. Only after she had ultimately defeated her Sith grandfather at Exegol did she return to Ajan Kloss for a victory celebration, reuniting with him and Finn, and they shared on a joyful but poignant embrace.
And thus, his spark has been burning since the night when his injuries were healed by the Jedi and they grasp their brief moment together.
The group spent an evening at the ceremonial pyre in honor of General Organa and others, and then attended a simple celebration before they preparing to depart the next day. Then the acting general and the young Jedi came face to face as they secretly met on the outskirts of the base, where she ‘visited’ him in the clearing.
She looked down at his injured arm held in a triangular bandage and placed on her hand on it as she closed her eyes serenely, full of the healing powers of the Force. Poe tried to stop her, afraid that she might waste her strength like she did when she healed an injured serpent at Pasaana and Ben after the duel at Kef Bir. But Rey carried on—determinedly and carefully.
After his arm was finally healed, Poe sat silently lost for words, looking longingly at Rey. She trembled, tears running down her cheeks. He gave a gratifying smile as he brushed her tears away with his thumb and placed a soft kiss on her temple.
Then, he took her hand and led her into the deep forest. There, near the stream, they slowly undressed while kissing lingeringly and passionately. Their bodies embraced at last, and he laid her down onto the soft moss.
It was Poe’s turn to heal her in need. From the sweetness of her soft mouth to the coolness of her naked body, as he savored her, moving his hot mouth all over her skin, over the bruises and wounds from the battle. Rey gasped, cried, and moaned as her body arched as if his touch burned her, healing it deliberately as a memory.
Her innocence was finally broken as Poe took her completely. He moved as he thrust her slowly and carefully, focusing on the serene but agonizing features of Rey’s face. He wanted to heal her so much—and more than anything he loved her right between her teary eyes. He understood as he whispered her real name again, but she shut him up with a slow, intense, and passionate kiss.
Thankfully, desire is the true blessedness of the Force that has already roused their emotions, and they'll genuinely cherish this valuable gift forever.
An hour later, descending from the throes of passion, the calm Rey ley on Poe's bare shoulder as he delicately stroked the softness of her hair. He felt feels something cold against his skin as he looked over her and touched a small silver ring. It was his mother’s ring, around Rey’s neck, and he smiled and pressed his lips gently on her forehead. For a while, he felt sad and lost, as he knows that the bond between him and the Jedi in his arms would be a temporary one.
And so, as Rey began her first journey across the galaxy, she was the new hope of the Force and its balance. As the last Jedi, she allowed herself to be reborn after the ending the legacy of the Sith. She disowned herself as a Palpatine, and she later assumed the surname that would become a legend after being intertwined with the stories of the two people who had wisely trained her.
Poe misses Rey—he loves her so intensely. The way she fights—she’s one of the best fighters, and she came when he needed her. He misses the way she smiles, vexed, or how she sobs when she loses someone while he comforts her; even the way they bickered and reconciled before they fell for each other in their first and last yearning moment.
As time passes, he wonders if he will ever see her again; maybe he will find her or wait for her, whatever she may be. And despite the Force-sensitive abilities that he and Rey had shared.
Poe smiles calmly. Someday, he believes, that she'll come back to him...