"Tatooine is just as stupid as Jakku is," you said, kicking the thick layer of dust off of your boots. "And Pasaana."

Poe chuckled. "We won't be here too long, princess. Jeez. Don't you complain enough?"

"You're one to talk, Dameron" you said. He dodged the playful elbow you through at his ribs. "You hate those planets as much as I do."

"But do you hear me complaining about it?" he asked innocently, hand on his chest. "I don't think so. Are you ready, Rey?"

"Ready," she said. She slid the two lightsabers into her bag and put the bag over her shoulder. "Make sure Finn knows that I'll be back soon."

"We will. And you're sure you want to go alone?" 

"I'm sure." She smiled. "I won't be long. There's just something I'd like to do."

You nodded. "Be safe," you told her, watching as she got off the Falcon with yours and Poe's droid right behind her. "You be safe too, BB-8." The droid chirped in response, rolling back to bump against your leg, which you decided was a hug of some kind. "Uh-huh, we will see you soon buddy." You smiled and watched him go. 

"So I take it Tatooine isn't one of your dream places to honeymoon," Poe said. 

"No," you said. He laughed at your nose, scrunched in disgust. "But I do think I want somewhere warm. Someplace warm like... like a beach."

"A beach," he repeated, eyebrows raised. 

You nodded before he could start making fun of you again for picking another technically hot place. "Well, I've never been to one." 

His eyebrows raised further. "Never?"

"I've only ever seen bases and wherever you've taken me, which I must admit hasn't been that many places," you said. You sighed and shook your head. "You're really slacking on showing me the world, Dameron."

"The war has been over for two weeks," he laughed. "We haven't even gotten married yet."

"Three days," you said in a sing-song voice. The reminder made him smile and he nodded. "You nervous yet?"

"No way." He walked over and hooked his arm around your waist, pulling you in close. "You know I don't get nervous that easily. And I can swear to you right now that I will never be anything even close to nervous when it comes to my future with you, ___ Dameron."

You smiled. You didn't want your father's last name, especially after the war was won. You wanted nothing to do with your past with the First Order, and so you decided that you would be a Dameron even before your wedding was official. Whatever what you were a part of was, it wasn't a family. This was. You were a Dameron. You belonged with Poe. You belonged with all of your friends. You would spend the rest of your life alongside them and never leave them.

You moved your arms around his neck. "So you'll take me to a beach for our honeymoon?"

He looked down at you for a moment and then nodded. "Yeah, I'll take you to a beach."

"What's that look for? What are you planning?" 

"Nothin' yet, sweetheart." He smirked. "Have you ever thought about where you wanted us to live?"

*  *  *

In a year's time, you and Poe would settle on a warm planet that you both took your time to choose. You would build a home out of nothing. A small home on the edge of a cliff, where the sweet ocean air was always there, where the sound of the waves was all that could be heard, and where Finn and Rey lived together not so far away, and Chewie visited often. It was you and him and BB-8. Poe worked on ships that he built himself. You would work alongside him, race against one another in the pods he built in his free time. You would fish, you would swim, you would dance in your small living room, your face against his shoulder, his body swaying you gently.

"So this is what a normal life is like," he would murmur against your hair. You'd been dancing for almost an hour now, just enjoying the quiet life with his arms around you. "No fighting, no death... just you and me here." 

You would hum happily. "Is this what you always dreamed of, Dameron?"

"Sweetheart, ever since I met you, all I've ever dreamed of was a place where you could be safe and sound," he said. "Preferably with me right there with you, because a selfish part of me knew I could never let you go. So yeah, this is straight out of my dreams."

"I couldn't imagine a better life than this one right here, with you," you said. You kissed his jaw and he stared down at you lovingly. "You make all of the pain of my past worth it. I would go through it all again if it meant that I could meet you and fall in love for a second time."

"We don't have to think about the past anymore." His voice was soft, as soft as the kiss he placed on your nose. "None of it matters right now. Let's focus on his. On me, on you, on us."

You nodded in agreement, and you lay your head back on his shoulder, where you were safe. Often the nightmares plagued you and Poe. He would wake up sweating and gasping, horrified by the memories of being tortured by Kylo Ren. You would wake up screaming as Hux turned a blaster on Poe and fired. Often you would lay awake at night, holding onto him, staring at the ceiling. Neither of you would say anything, you would just hold one another. But in his arms you were safe. Loved. At peace. There were so many good words you could use to describe this feeling of home.

And this life --- this quiet life --- was far more than enough for you for now. There was only you and Poe. Half a decade would go by before you and Poe would discuss growing your family. 

But you knew that one day you would have children. You were sure of it. And you knew that you would tell them the stories of what you and their father fought through, because they couldn't be hidden from the truth of their family. You would tell them where you came from; Poe's beautiful, loving parents and your cold father. 

You would tell them about the wars; all of them that helped change the family you grew out of. About the pain of facing your fears and leaving the First Order and fighting Kylo Ren and risking your life time and time again for the cause. 

You would share with them the loss of Leia Organa and Han Solo and Luke Skywalker, but how they led you through life even after their deaths.

You would teach them about the Jedi and the Sith. Palpatine and their Aunt Rey. Their Uncle Finn. Kylo Ren turning back to Ben Solo. And perhaps, if they were Force sensitive, their aunt and uncle could teach them the ways of the Force and raise a new Jedi. 

And you would tell them about how you found their father and chose to save him and then he chose to save you over and over again. You would tell them about the selfless acts he performed on Jakku, the eagerness to give you a place in the Resistance, your first tearful goodbye, when you stayed alongside him and the war was almost lost on the Battle of Crait, when he asked you to marry him, and when you won the war.

They would know that you met your friends and made a family and realized that family wasn't blood. It was love.

And you loved yours.

And there would come a time when you would curl up in the bed with your two sons, breathing in the scent of their sweet freshly washed head of dark curls as you read them a bedtime story. A story that they would think was a work of fiction for a long time, but soon they would know that it was a story of their Uncle Finn and his decision to help rescue their mother and father. Poe would stand in the doorway, cradling the newborn baby girl that was small enough to fit in the palm of his hands. He couldn't help but smile as you finished the story and your eyes met his across the room. The boys would yawn, rubbing their eyes with their little fists, and they would gratefully except the sweet kisses from their mama and papa right on their lips and foreheads, and then you would tuck them into bed. And you would hum a song to them before you would pull away, taking your baby girl from Poe and letting yourself lean against his chest for a moment. 

Love. This was love. And for the first time in your life, you could finally live and be loved.

*  *  *

author's note:

thank u all for reading this story!! i appreciate all the support and love i got bc of this <3 i appreciate you all so much! i'm really going to miss writing this story, but i am very happy to announce my next x reader story, a Peter Quill x Reader story! it'll be published at the beginning of July and i'll have more info on that later, but it'll follow GOTG vol 1 and 2, infinity war, and endgame! 

thank you all for reading <3