The galaxy celebrated the end of a regime. The First Order was no more. There was nothing but small clusters of loyalists spread throughout the galaxy.
But hope spread just as far. It reached into the Outer Rim, into the Unknowns until every planet knew of its purpose.
The First Order was no more.
Balance was restored.
Serena felt it as she walked off the Millennium Falcon with Finn. Ajan Kloss of blooming with life and celebration. The Resistance flourished as those who survived hugged and danced with one another. The birds chirped a happy melody in the trees. The wind rustled the leaves along to a heavenly tune only Serena could hear.
Finn gently patted Serena's shoulder as he moved to find Rey.
She had her own mission as she looked from smiling face to smiling face. She clutched at her bleeding ribs and limped through the party. The weight of the fight hung heavy on her shoulders. It weighed on her soul until a firm imprint stained her.
She had experienced death before. She had sensed it even. But nothing could prepare her for the feeling of Ben Solo's soul leaving their plane.
The party moved around her. It ebbed and flowed with a life of its own. She held onto that life as she tried to join their celebrations.
Through the crowd, she spotted a burly, gigantic man who stood taller than the rest. He had brown waves that fell to his shoulders and a large, infectious smile.
Serena stopped in her spot. The sight of him made her heart lurch. "Jeb?" She weaved through the crowd as she kept her eyes glued to him. His cheeks rosied as he laughed and danced with some of the others. "Jeb!" She shouted for him.
He heard her call and turned. At the sight of her, his smile widened until his cheeks fattened and eyes squinted. He moved through the people until he reached her. As soon as he was able, he wrapped his arms around her small frame and picked her up.
She laughed as she threw her arms around his shoulders. She closed her eyes and let him hold her off the ground. "Jeb, how'd you-"
"You think I'd let you fight alone?" He set her gently on the ground and hand a hand to her shoulder until she found sure footing. "Csilla heard your transmission. We heard what you did. You fed hope back into a galaxy that was hopeless. When your friends came, I knew what I had to do."
She clasped a hand over his. "You fought on Exegol?"
He nodded. "I might be a better hunter on land, but I know my way around a cockpit."
She smiled in utter astonishment. "Did-" She looked around for any sign of Elijah. "Did anyone else come?"
"He stayed behind, Serena."
The words caused her to sag. She swallowed and looked up at him. "Oh."
He gently squeezed her shoulder. "I am so proud of you. I know your parents would be too."
The mention of her family made her heart clench. "Thank you, Jeb. I know this fight was not yours-"
"This was the galaxy's fight," he corrected her. "I would do it again and again if it meant keeping everyone safe."
She plucked his hand from her shoulder to kiss his knuckles. "You are a good man, Jeb."
His green eyes squinted with admiration. "I'm trying to be. You're setting an example of what good looks like."
She let a cheap breath go.
A presence wrapped lovingly around her shoulders. She turned to see Poe in his orange jumpsuit. His deep eyes scoured the base, hoping from face to face in search of her.
"Go," Jeb urged. His knuckles pressed lightly into her shoulder. "Loverboy is looking for you."
She threw a grin his way, then pushed through the crowd to get to Poe. The sight of his flushed cheeks and and flattened curls excited her heart. The sharp ache left behind by Ben's death softened as she looked into Poe's eyes.
Serena may no long have Ben Solo, but she still has Poe Dameron.
"Poe!"
He turned at his name. At the sight of her, he smiled, then he saw the cut over her cheek and dried blood. His smile fell as he shoved his way to get to her. The moment he was close enough, he palmed her untouched cheek. He looked at the bruising cut, then down to her bloodied hand. "What happened? I tried to contact you but there was no response. Then Rose said you and Finn never boarded the lander."
She rested her bloodied hand over his. "We're okay," she assured him. "We had to take the Star Destroyer down."
His eyes honed in on her cheek. "And that?"
She pulled her dry bottom lip between her teeth. "The Final Order sent the Knights of Ren my way."
The name caused his eyebrows to raise. He had heard the horror stories everyone else had heard. But more so, he heard the stories she had from her time training under them.
"They-"
"I killed them," she told him before he got any ideas. "I-" she dropped her head in shame. "I lost my lightsaber. They broke it."
His thumb pressed into the apple of her cheek. "You're alive. There are other lightsabers, but there is only one you."
She lifted her head to peer at him through her silver eyelashes. "Finn saved me."
His bushy eyebrows rose with intrigue.
"I was dying, Poe. I could feel my Life Force going out into the galaxy. I felt peace then..." Her hand tightened over his. "Finn brought me back. He gave me a piece of his own Life Force so I could live past the war."
Poe's head slowly shook in disbelief. "How... how could he do that? He isn't-"
"He is," she assured him. "He's Force-sensitive. What lives in my blood, lives in him as well. He was able to manipulate the Force enough to bring me back. He gave me another chance- he gave us another chance." Her amber eyes flitted between his. They brimmed with promise that added a sparkle as bright as the sun above head.
Poe let out a breath. Before it dissipated, he bent down to kiss her. He poured his worries and triumphs into her mouth and she drank it up like a fine wine until she was drunk on it.
The celebration moved on around them, and with Poe's lips on hers, she finally felt the celebrating spirit.
***
Nightfall came, but the Resistance partied as though it was midday.
Serena and Poe found their way to the top of the Millennium Falcon where they could enjoy the festivities without fear of being sucked into the party.
Poe sat against the top hatch as he watched the fireworks they set off in honor of all those who sacrificed themselves for a cause way bigger than any of them.
Serena laid perpendicular to Poe with her head in his lap. She looked up at him to admire the strong curve of his jaw. The exploding fireworks painted his entire face until she saw him in hues of greens and blues and yellows. The sparks etched a depth to his eyes that entranced her and pulled her in until she saw nothing but Poe with exploding life.
His hand methodically moved around her face, tracing the curve of her nose, the height of her eyebrow, the vein lining her temple. He took his time tracing every part of her until she knew nothing but the grace of his touch.
Despite the thrilling show above, he looked down at Serena to admire the way the moon reflected in her hair. It seemed to glow under the night sky's influence. Her eyes always held the sun, but in the dead of night when there was nothing but the moon for light, her hair glowed with an angelic vibrance.
"What do you want to do now?" He asked her.
She chewed on her cheek as she thought it over. "I want to try lemonade again." She noticed the memory light his eyes until they resembled the fireworks above. "I want to see if it's as sour as I remember."
He grinned as he traced her cheek with the back of his index finger. "Okay. We'll try lemonade again."
"I want to learn to swim."
"I'll teach you."
"I want to search for the rainest planet in the galaxy. I want to feel the storm in my bones, like-like I felt the waterfall. I want to feel its power."
His grin stretched out. "Rainy planet. I can manage that." He looked over her face. "Do you want to rebuild your lightsaber? Rey mentioned searching for her own Kyber Crystal. You could go with her."
She sighed and looked up at the stars. She focused on the spaces between the stars, the empty voids that had no expectation to be, they just were. Now, she imagined bits of Ben and Leia in them. She imagined all those who lost their lives to the war were in the voids, having no obligations, no worries, no stress. They filled the sky like the stars dotting across the galaxy and just were. They just were. "I don't think so."
His smile dimmed. "You don't want a new lightsaber? But... you always said you feel naked without it. It's an extension of you."
"It was an extension of me during a time of war." She looked between his eyes as she tried to explain it. "I killed so many people with it, Poe. I'm done killing people. I just want to live my life in peace."
His smile returned with all its brilliance.
She looked back to the stars. "There's something else."
His finger stopped along her jawline. "What is it?"
She pulled in a breath to try and calm her nerves. "I've always..." her fingers tapped along her stomach. "I've always wanted a family." She peered up at him. "I want to be a mother and love them like my family loved me. I want to teach them to love and laugh. I want to cuddle with them at night like my family did."
Poe's finger went back to tracing her jawline. "You want kids."
"Two of them," she decided on the spot. "A girl and a boy."
"With your eyes."
"And your curls-" she lifted her right hand to brush her fingers through his hairline. Her palm was wrapped several times to protect the cuts she gained from her broken lightsaber. But the pain wasn't too bad anymore, not when she had more to focus on- like the feeling of his feathery locks brushing between her fingers.
He grabbed her hand to kiss the side of her wrist. He placed another kiss on the bone of her wrist before lacing each of her knuckles with tender kisses. When he was done, he pressed her hand against his chest. "What if we do more than move in together?"
Her thin eyebrows rose. "Like, instead of a room we get an apartment?" She considered it as she looked back to the stars. "Perhaps the embassy will have apartments when we rebuild the Republic."
Poe hummed lowly. His fingers moved from his jawline to her hairline. He pushed his fingers back into her hair. "I was thinking more than an apartment."
She lifted an intrigued brow. "A house, then?"
"Marriage," he proposed instead.
Her breath stalled in her lungs. She looked starkly at him to find a soft smile filling his lips. His brown eyes exploded in hues of soft honey and adoration. "W-what?" She pushed herself up to a sitting position to face him head-on. "Marriage?"
He looked between her amber eyes with the certainty of a man who knew exactly what he wanted. "I want to marry you, Serena. I want to spend the rest of my days loving you and watching you experience the life you've always wanted."
She laughed and quickly bit into her lower lip to keep it from trembling. Her teeth dug into the sensitive tissue until she was sure she would draw blood. Before she could, she released it to say, "what if you get tired of me?"
His smile widened until his eyes shined with a profound devotion. "When I am old and on my dying breath, it would still not be enough time with you."
She smiled and lifted a hand to palm his cheek. Her thumb pressed into the highest point of his cheek, just hard enough to assure him of her unwavering presence. "I love you, Poe Dameron."
He grabbed her wrist carefully. "Then marry me."
Tears brimmed in her eyes. "Yes," she breathed out and felt the conviction fill the air between them. "Yes, I'll marry you."
He laughed and pulled her toward him. He kissed her hard enough to block out the cheering crowd below. Her head dizzied as she suddenly became consumed by him.
She knew, when the time came for her soul to leave her body, it would still not be enough time with Poe Dameron. Her love for him would carry on, filling the cracks of the galaxy until their love spread into every corner.
He pulled away from her to lift his necklace above his head.
She watched and frowned. "Wait-" she stopped before he could pull it over his head. "That's your mother's."
He smiled as he looked at her. "It was her wedding ring. I always knew I would want my wife to wear it."
She swallowed and looked down at the worn band. "It takes a great deal of love and attachment to latch your soul onto something. That ring will always be your mother's, Poe. I don't want to take that from her." She looked into his eyes. "If it means enough to you, I'll wear the necklace, but I don't want to affect your mother's imprint on it."
He slowly fitted the chain around his neck. "Then... what will we do for rings?"
Her smile returned as she grabbed his hand. She looked down at the fourth finger on his left hand. "On Csilla, it's far too cold for people to wear rings. They shrink and cut off blood flow in the fingers. Instead, on the night of the wedding, the bride and groom get bands tattooed on their fingers. They choose a color significant to them and have it permanently etched into their skin. The tattoo is a symbol of their love. It cannot be removed. It cannot fade. It stands the test of time." Her eyes lifted to his. "I choose black, to signify your time with Black Squadron. You've said that you feel you've done your best work with them. You became the hero your parents always dreamed you would be."
He lifted their hands to look at her left hand. His index finger wove a circle around the base of her ring finger. "I choose orange," he decided. "To stand for your strength and perseverance. Even when you were surrounded by The Dark, you did not let it corrupt you." His brown eyes found hers.
She wove her fingers between his. She smiled as she looked from his eyes to his mouth. She leaned forward to kiss him sweetly. Her lips pressed into his slowly, kissing him as though she had the rest of her life to do so.
She did.
She's been orbiting a dark star for far too long, caught in his deadly gravity. But now she's finally free, setting out on a new trajectory. Heading for a place where her Light won't be stolen...
-John Mark Green
(I changed one word in the poem. It was supposed to be shine instead of light but I felt as though light fit better.)