Archive of Our Own ^beta

"Rey!"

The sudden whisper jolted Rey from her dreamless sleep. Her eyes snapped open in a panic, and she quickly realised she had fallen asleep at her work station, face down in a pile of ancient Jedi texts. She lifted her head up from the delicate pages to see Rose, looking down at her, hands clasped over her mouth.

"I'm sorry!" she exclaimed softly, taking a few steps back. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's alright, Rose," Rey mumbled, rubbing her eyes sleepily. She shook her head, trying to banish the remaining weariness that still clung to her. "What's wrong? Did something happen? Am I needed on a mission?"

Rose's eyes widened and she shook her head. "Oh, no, nothing's wrong," she said through a smile. "Nothing bad. No mission. I woke you up, because... well, actually, it's better if you just come see for yourself. It's a good thing. I promise!" She started towards the exit of the cave, and Rey couldn't help but notice the excited bounce in the young woman's step. "Come on!" she called out, and gestured for Rey to follow.

Rey sighed. She stood up from her work station and followed Rose out into the open air.

It was after nightfall. Darkness blanketed the vast, lively jungle. The air felt warm and wet, as usual, and a symphony of rustles, chirps, and buzzes erupted from the vegetation surrounding them. Rey followed Rose through the trees, deeper and into deeper into the jungle. She trusted Rose, but the idea of venturing into the depths of the jungle, without knowing why or where they were going, set her slightly on edge. She began to wish she had brought her staff with her.

"Rose, where are we going?" she asked, nerves rising in her stomach.

"You'll see," Rose replied cheerfully. "We're almost there."

Rey frowned. She was about to insist more strongly that Rose tell her where they were going when she heard strange sounds coming from up ahead. As they trekked towards the sounds, Rey caught a glimpse of dimmed light shining through the trees. She could make out the sounds of familiar laughter and a distorted melodic tune. It wasn't until she followed Rose through the last of the trees into a small clearing that the sounds finally made sense.

Music pulsed from a box-like machine hooked up to a power pack. Lights of various shapes and sizes, many of which looked like they had been pulled from old ships or salvaged from a scrap heap, adorned the trees, hanging amongst webs of wires, chords, and vines, and providing just enough light to softly illuminate the clearing. Rey could see the smiling faces of several Resistance members: Finn, Poe, Chewbacca, Kaydel, Beaumont, Jessika, Suralinda, Snap, Karé, Zay, Shriv, and a few others whose names she did not know. Even BB-8 was there, rolling around, beeping in delight. The gathering radiated a feeling of joy that energised something inside of Rey and made her heart swell in her chest. She allowed herself to soak in the feeling for a moment, as she gazed wide-eyed in awe at the lights sparkling like stars in the darkness, and the joyful smiles of her fellow Resistance members. She had never seen or felt anything quite like it before.

"It was Poe's idea." Rose's voice pulled Rey out of her mesmerised state. "He said he thought we all deserved a bit of fun." She looked up at Rey with keen, shining eyes and a wide smile. "Come dance!"

Rey felt the excitement inside of her dip, and an uneasiness rose to take its place. "Oh," she stammered. "I don't really know how –" But before she could finish, Rose had already skipped off to join Kaydel and Beaumont in the centre of the clearing.

Great, she thought. Now what am I supposed to do?

She stepped into the clearing, feeling rather awkward and tense, and glanced at the people around her, laughing heartily and moving fluidly to the rhythm of the music. A deep longing tugged in her chest, a longing to be a part of it.

But I don't really know how...

"Rey! Over here!"

Turning her head in the direction of the familiar voice, Rey caught sight of Finn, waving his arms in the air and calling her over. She rushed over to meet him, cautiously trying to avoid bumping into anyone.

Finn greeted her with a bright smile. "So, you finally decided to take a break from all that Jedi stuff," he said in a teasing tone.

"Uh... yeah," she replied, deciding not to mention that she had actually been sleeping, not working, when Rose had approached her. "This place is nice," she commented, glancing again around the clearing. "Poe did a good job."

Finn nodded. "Yeah, he did. Don't give him all the credit though. He made me climb a few trees to get those lights up."

Silence fell between them for a moment, and Rey's mind focussed in on the chorus of upbeat music and boisterous laughter filling the space around her. The more the sounds filled her ears, her desire to be a part of it grew stronger. "Finn," she said at last. "Do you know how to dance?"

Finn's eyes widened in a way that made Rey think perhaps they had been thinking the same thing. He shook his head. "Not really," he said. "The First Order isn't big on dance parties. Not really their style. You?"

Rey shook her head. "I haven't really danced much before either," she admitted. "I don't really know how you're supposed to do it."

Finn shrugged. "Maybe it's a bit like the Force," he said. "Maybe you've just got to feel it and move with it." He stepped out a few paces in time with the music and began to move his arms in a strange, jerking motion that instantly reminded Rey of C-3PO. "That's how the Force works, right?"

Rey laughed. Finn was sort of right, she supposed. Maybe dancing was a bit like the Force. She listened closely to the music and tried to concentrate on its rhythm. She could feel it, like a pulsing energy flowing through her, the same way she felt the Force, and she began to move her body instinctively to the music. She felt a bit ridiculous, moving her body and waving her arms about in such a pointless way, using up energy for no good reason. But it also felt kind of good.

"Woah!" cheered Finn as Rey danced her way over to him. "Look at us! We're dancing!"

Rey grinned, and a warm, tingling feeling spread throughout her body, a surging rush of joy and excitement. She could not remember feeling anything quite like it before.

...

Finn was almost certain that their lack of previous dance experience was obvious to everyone around them, but he and Rey were enjoying themselves nonetheless. Every few seconds, either he or Rey would erupt into a bout of uncontrollable giggling at the sight of each other's bizarre dance moves, and the other would immediately follow suit.

But when Finn caught sight of Snap and Karé, holding onto each other closely as they danced about smoothly, an idea struck him.

"Hey, let's try that," he suggested to Rey, pointing at Snap and Karé.

Rey's eyes followed in the direction of his pointed finger and, after watching the dancing couple for a moment, she nodded in agreement. "Okay."

They analysed Snap and Karé carefully and tried to assemble themselves into a similar position. Finn rested his right hand on Rey's back, while holding her right hand with his left, and Rey placed her left hand on his right shoulder. To Finn's suprise, the position felt comfortable.

"Now what do we do?" Rey asked.

Finn hesitated, unsure. He hadn't really thought this through. "Um... I guess we start moving."

The second they attempted to move, Finn felt Rey's foot press down hard on his toes. He stumbled backwards, still clutching on to Rey, and fell back onto the ground, dragging her down on top of him. With a series of groans, grumbles, and curses, they slowly pulled themselves to their feet.

"We're not getting any better at this, are we?" laughed Finn, brushing the dirt from the back of his trousers.

As he turned his head, he caught a glimpse of Poe. The man was dancing, smoothly and naturally, as if the music somehow spoke to his body and told it what to do.

"Poe seems to really know what he's doing," said Rey, her eyes following in the direction of Finn's glance. "Maybe he can teach us."

Maybe he can, thought Finn keenly. Poe had taught him and Rey loads of things since the three of them had become friends. Surely he could teach them to dance too.

They began making their way through the small crowd over to Poe, but Poe noticed them first and began dancing towards them. "Hey!" he exclaimed, clapping them both on the shoulder. "You guys having fun?"

Finn smiled. "Of course."

"Except, we don't really know how to dance," Rey admitted.

Poe's brow creased in confusion. "What? What do you mean?"

"Well, neither of us have really danced much before," Finn explained. "We don't have a lot of experience with it."

"But I saw you both dancing before," said Poe, and Finn wasn't sure if the man was genuinely confused, or feigning confusion for the sake of protecting his friends' self-esteem. "You looked like you were doing alright."

Finn snorted. "You clearly missed when we fell on the ground."

"You fell," Rey insisted. "I was pulled to the ground."

"I only tripped because you stepped on my foot!" he argued, unwillingly to take full responsibility for the dancing disaster.

"You could have let go of my hand instead of pulling me down with you," Rey snapped back in her usual playful yet stubborn manner.

"Alright you two, break it up," said Poe, coming between them. "Listen, dancing is easy. There's no right or wrong way to do it, at least not in a situation like this. You've just got to listen to the music, feel it, and have fun."

Finn shot Rey a look of satisfaction. "See, I told you."

Rey rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I know. Like the Force."

Poe shook his head and laughed. "Come on," he said. "I'll show you a few moves."

...

It was the happiest Poe had felt in a long time. The lively music and warm presence of his friends temporarily washed away his worries. He couldn't help but smile as he held out his arms, Rey and Finn each gripping onto one of his hands, and his two friends twirled back into him, giggling like children. It warmed his heart to see them both so happy.

They deserve it, he thought. We all deserve it.

"This is so much fun!" exclaimed Rey, her eyes shining. "I love dancing."

"Yeah, me too," Finn agreed. "We should do this more often."

Just as Poe was about the speak, he noticed a figure standing amongst the trees around the outside of the clearing. When he paused and examined the figure for a moment, he realised it was Leia.

Uh oh.

"You guys keep dancing," he told Rey and Finn. "I'll be back in a minute. You're doing great!"

He strolled over to where the general stood, trying to seem as casual as possible.

"Dameron, what is the meaning of this?" she asked sternly, before he even had the chance to open his mouth.

I'm in trouble, he thought.

"Uh, just a bit of fun," he said. "You know, to boost morale, lighten the mood, take our minds off things for a while. Thought it was a good idea."

"And you didn't think to invite me?"

Poe's eyes widened. Though he had encouraged his friends to spread the word, he had only really invited people he knew didn't have any urgent responsibilities to attend to that night, and people he thought would be keen on the idea of nighttime dancing. He had assumed, wrongfully, it seemed, that Leia would have been either too busy or too exhausted to attend. She always had such heavy responsibilities to bear. He now saw the error of his judgement. Perhaps an evening of laid-back enjoyment was exactly what the hard-working general needed. Struck by guilt, he prepared to explain himself and apologise profusely. "Oh, I, uh... sorry, General, I didn't think you would –"

He soon noticed that Leia's expression had softened. She smiled, apparently not mad or hurt by his incorrect assumptions. "I'll have you know I danced quite a bit in my younger days," she told him.

A wave of relief washed over Poe. "Well in that case," he said, bowing his head and extending his hand to the general, "may I have this dance?"

Leia rolled her eyes and laughed, but graciously accepted his hand. "Very well then, Dameron," she said. "Lead the way."