InsaneJournal

When she had first found herself on the Enterprise, Jaina had felt lost and confused. She had barely walked into her apartment when Rey had told her that she was Leia’s daughter in another timeline. The rest of the story had been difficult to hear and Jaina had kept it to herself for some time before she finally told her brothers. By then Rey had left but now she was back and not only that but Kylo Ren was back and that was a completely different story.

She’d suggested the arboretum to Poe since it was relatively private and it was also peaceful. Jaina’s favorite spot was under a tree called a weeping willow, the branches touched the ground and no one could see who was sitting on the benches underneath unless they walked through the leaves. She was sitting there waiting for him and when she sensed him come in, she stepped out so that he could see her. Without saying a word, she met him halfway and put her arms around him, holding him tight. Poe had told her about his experience with Kylo and Jaina was worried about him. Her own troubles were nothing compared to how he was feeling. “How are you?” she asked when she stepped back enough to take a good look at him.

Poe was fine with Rey returning of course, perhaps this time he would get a chance to know his half sister more. It hadn’t been the easiest thing to learn of course but that was more about his father and Leia than Rey, she was as much in the dark as he had been.

But Kylo Ren was another thing altogether, while Poe liked to think he could handle anything when Kylo had pulled the details of the map and BB8 from his head he’d never experienced anything quite like it. Entering the arboretum and seeing Jaina he felt himself relax for the first time since reading the arrivals list and wrapped his own arms around her, “Hey” he said softly, giving her a small smile, “I’m great, it’s always fun when your torturer arrives” he tried to joke but it came out flat. He shook his head, “I’ll be fine. How are you?” he asked instead.

***
Jaina took his hand and led him under the tree and pulled him down next to her on the bench. They were completely hidden from anyone who might come in so this was the perfect place for a private conversation. “You know you can’t lie to me, right?” she looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “I can sense if you’re trying to put one over on me. You’re not okay and you don’t have to pretend that you are.” she gave his hand a squeeze. “There are some things that I wanted to talk to you about though. Some of them might be hard and I’m sorry.”

Taking a deep breath, she looked at him. “We can help you, Anakin, Tahiri, and me, we can help you be able to resist Kylo Ren if he tries to get into your head again. I know you’re not Force sensitive but you have a better understanding of it than a lot of people do. Also you and I have a Force bond because of our relationship. I’m not sure how it works but when two people are intimate even if one of them isn’t Force sensitive, there’s a connection and they can communicate to a certain extent. I learned that from my parents. In order to help you though, I need to know exactly what he did, how did he get inside your head? That will help me understand what I can do to help you keep him out.” She leaned in and kissed him softly. “I am not going to let him hurt you. Neither are Anakin or Tahiri. You’re one of us now and we won’t let anything happen to you.”

***

It wasn’t that Poe was trying to lie exactly, it just wasn’t a topic he wanted to focus on too much. He tried to put it out of his mind as much as possible, though he couldn’t deny it came back vividly sometimes when he was asleep and struggled to escape.

Hearing Jaina talk he knew what was being offered to him was something incredible, he’d never thought there would be a way to resist. Kylo Ren was a powerful jedi and Poe while being a talented pilot was not in any way gifted in the ways of the force. Yet if Jaina and the others thought it was possible then it must be so.

“Thank you” he said, pressing another kiss to her lips, “I’ll tell you what I can” he promised, though he wasn’t sure he knew exactly what Kylo had done. “They spent a long time trying different ways to get me to talk, none of them worked of course. I’d been trained for that” Having the crap kicked out of him and the various others things they’d tried would never have worked, Poe would have died before betraying the resistance. He’d told Leia as much when he’d apologised for not being strong enough to resist Kylo’s interrogation. “But Ren, he never touched me but my head felt like it was going to explode. I felt pressure all over my entire skull, like he was squeezing it. I resisted, I tried but then it felt like he was inside my head. Pushing through my memories, like they were files to him and he was searching them for what he wanted and I could only watch. It was like I was looking at myself unable to do anything” he shook his head, he’d felt powerless and it wasn’t a feeling Poe liked.

***
Jaina took in his words, recognizing many of the qualities of a Dark Side user yet there were things that Poe said that made her wonder just how in control Kylo Ren was. “All that you’re telling me fits with what I know and what I saw when we had to bring Jacen back but..” she squeezed his hand. “I don’t think he’s as powerful in the Dark Side, from what I understand there are no Jedi in your world except for Uncle Luke and no one knew where he was for a long time. It’s almost as if Kylo learned about the Dark Side on his own. That’s not important though. The important thing is that he stays away from you. I’d say that chances are pretty good that he will, I can’t think of anything that you’d have here that he would want. You don’t know any more about how we all came to be here than anyone else does.” She shook her head. “But just in case, I want to see if this works the way I think It will.”

She moved slightly away from Poe and moved her hand so that they weren’t touching. Then she closed her eyes. “Close your eyes,” she said to him, her voice soft. “Don’t think about anything, just empty your mind then concentrate on me, reach out to me with your mind, your feelings. Tell me if you feel anything.” Jaina was taking a chance, she had no idea if their intimate relationship had bound them together in the way that two Force sensitives were bound together but he grew up in the shadow of a Force tree so there was a good chance he had enough sensitivity to communicate with Jaina even if he couldn’t with anyone else.

***
Poe listened and nodded his agreement, “Yeah, I think you’re right. Leia thinks a guy called Snoke encouraged his power but as far as we know he holds little to none himself. Nobody has really seen the guy” But Poe definitely didn’t think Ren was controlled, he raged too much. Was taunted too easily.

“I’ll try” he promised taking a deep breath before closing his eyes, focusing on only Jaina wasn’t too hard, she filled his thoughts a lot anyway. He tried to relax, letting his hands rest on his crossed legs, as he did his best to reach Jaina. He wasn’t expecting much but then almost at the edges of his mind he felt a...warmth? “I think I felt something” he said softly.

***
She felt it when he touched her mind and tried to hide her smile. It was a very small, tentative touch but it was there at the edge of her consciousness. “I felt it too,” she replied. “It’s a good start. Open your eyes.” Jaina opened her own eyes and looked at him. “We won’t push too hard at first but I felt it so I think we’ll be able to do this but it might take some time.” She wanted to help him, she didn’t want to think about what he had gone through and she certainly didn’t want him to have to go through it again.

Reaching out, she took his hand and leaned in to kiss him. “I promise you that nothing is going to happen. I won’t let him hurt you, Poe. I promise.”


***

Opening his eyes he had to admit he was more pleased than he’d thought he’d be to realise it had worked, it was something they could practice and hopefully build up. Letting Jaina into his mind wasn’t anywhere near as daunting as having Ren force his way in, something he was glad for. It could quite easily have become a bad trigger for him, it pleased him to know he was stronger that that.

He wasn’t too vain to be grateful for Jaina’s help and protection, it was something he’d never be able to fight alone. He’d tried and failed terribly. If she could help him, he would accept it without question. It was part of what made him a good team leader. “Thank you” he told her, squeezing her hand before kissing her again, his gratitude and affection obvious.

***
“You’re welcome,” she said resting her forehead against his. “I don’t like it when someone tries to hurt someone I love.” It took her a second to realize what she’d just said and it might not be the way she wanted to tell him but it was true. Maybe they hadn’t known each other that long but Jaina knew she loved him. She’d never felt so connected to anyone else, so absolutely right and hopefully she hadn’t just scared him off with her oblique confession.

***
Poe had been positive he’d be the one to say it first, but it seemed he’d been wrong. Not that it mattered, they both felt the same which was the important part. He smiled, taking both her hands in his as their gazes locked, “I love you Jaina” he told her taking the cue from her admission to tell her how he felt.

***
She didn’t answer him with words at first. Instead she reached out and traced his lips with her fingers as if she never wanted to forget how he looked in this moment. This was a complete surprise to her, how quickly she’d fallen but she knew that this was right. “I love you too,” she said and leaned in to kiss him once more.