2A/N: Hello all! This is my first time posting in the Star Wars archive, though this is definitely not the first idea I've had for it. I dreamed up this little ficlet while I was trying to sleep one night, and I just had to write it down. After some lengthening and polishing, here it is! Please leave a review if you like it! Thanks!
-Mellpen00
"Rey! I need that back!" Poe broke into a brisk jog and headed for the corridor where the scavenger had just disappeared with BB-8's new antenna. Rounding the corner, he nearly crashed into Rey, who had decided to stop barely two feet from the hallway's entrance. Poe recovered himself and looked up to see her standing inches away from him with one hand behind her back, her face slightly flushed as she grinned at him. Poe stared at her for a moment and then, hyper-aware of just how close his face was to hers, he took a step back.
"You can have it back, but for a price," she said.
Poe's traitorous mind nearly wandered, but he snapped it back under control and managed to show a merely friendly grin. "And what's the price?"
"You have to promise me that you'll get back safely."
Poe's brow wrinkled slightly in confusion. "What, from the mission?"
Rey nodded.
"Oh, well it's just basic recon. Nothing I haven't done a few dozen times before." He held out his hand for the antenna.
"So that's a promise?"
Poe's smile faltered for a moment, and he wondered if she was joking. One look into those innocent brown eyes told him that she was in earnest, and he laughed, trying to keep his tone light.
"Sorry, Sunshine. No can do." Rey's smile fell.
"Why not?" she asked, all playfulness gone from her manner. "You said yourself that you've done this lots of times with no trouble."
He shifted uncomfortably, "Yeah... But I still can't promise. It's bad luck."
"Ah, just a superstition," she stated, relaxing a bit.
"No. I mean, yeah, but," Poe's brow knit together as he tried to piece together what exactly this tradition was. Rey waited, her confused expression mirroring his own.
"It is a superstition, and it isn't..."
"Well it can't be both."
"It's tradition! Like," he tried to find a good example, "like not telling anyone a wish you've made or else it won't come true." This just seemed to confuse her further.
"That doesn't even make any sense. It's just a silly habit." Her smile returned, "Just tell me that you'll come back in one piece and then the antenna is all yours!"
Poe gave her an exasperated look, "Rey, I can't!"
Now she was beginning to get frustrated as well. "Yes you can! It's not like it's going to actually change anything."
"But that's not the point!"
"Well then what is?" she demanded. Poe growled and turned away from her, pacing a couple of steps. Couldn't she just leave it? Why was she stuck on this? Apparently she couldn't just let it go, and there was a note of desperation in her voice when she asked:
"Why can't you just say that you'll come back?"
Poe whirled back around to face her. "Because it's not up to me!" he nearly shouted, loud enough to startle Rey into her defensive mode, hands ready and eyes guarded. Poe immediately regretted his outburst.
"Rey, I'm sorry, I didn't mean that to come out so... angry." He sighed, rubbing a hand across his eyes. She relaxed again as Poe gathered his thoughts.
"The real reason," he started slowly, wanting to get it right, "that pilots, or any soldiers for that matter, never make that promise is because it's out of our control. There are so many factors at play when you're out in the field that there's no way of knowing who's going to come back and who isn't. And I, personally, don't want to make a promise that I can't keep." He paused. "Does that make sense?"
Rey gave a minute nod of her head, but her eyes were fixed on the floor. Poe approached her again and put out his hand.
"Can I have my antenna now?"
Rey's head shot up and Poe was taken aback both by the defiance and the mist in her eyes.
"Ask me for it when you get back." Then she turned and sprinted down the corridor, leaving Poe there alone, wondering who exactly this girl that he had gotten himself mixed up with was.