"We all set?" Kara boarded the freighter
Every fiber in her body was telling her to go back and be with Poe. To tell him the truth about how she felt, to tell him her fears. She knew it would all work out in the end, but she couldn't bring herself to chance it. She didn't know if he would feel the same way, or even settle down. She didn't have that kind of trust in him.
Tig sat in the co-pilots chair and nodded flipping the switches with a knowing grin, "ready when you are" he said "you say goodbye to your boyfriend?"
Kara sat in the chair and took a breath ignoring his comment "prepare the doors" she flipped a switch, "engine check"
She looked out of the window to find her mother on the tarmac seeing them off. She gave a small wave as the freighter slowly raised from the ground. But Kara knew Leia knew what was going on. Her daughter was running.
Poe awoke with a smile on his face; he reached his hand over but felt nothing. He opened his eyes to find he was alone in Kara's room. As he got dressed he snuck out and down the hall. "Poe" he heard behind him
He knew the voice, "Good morning General Organa" he turned with a small smile
Leia watched him, "You're off to a late start" she noticed Kara's room wasn't far
Poe scratched the back of his head, "No ma'am I've been up for hours" he lied, he actually had one of the best sleeps in what felt like years.
"Well Admiral Ackbar will be rounding up your squadron in a few hours, looks like you're shipping out tomorrow" Leia hoped he'd gotten to say goodbye to Kara, but she didn't see him on the tarmac.
Poe tried to hide the disappointment as he nodded, "You haven't seen Kara, by any chance? Thought id say goodbye" he stumbled "That's why I was over here, thought I'd try and find her"
Leia got her answer and gave the man a sympathetic look, "She left this morning on a supply run"
Poe shifted and rested his hands on his hips, he looked down and nodded, "Thank you General" he turned and took off for his room
Leia watched Poe go disappointed in Kara. She shook her head. "That girl is too much like her father"
Kara landed the ship on Tatooine and radioed in to the base to check in. "This is the Jubilee, Captain Solo here, we've landed on Tatooine, over"
"Copy Jubilee" the radio spoke. Kara sat back at the familiar voice, "Mother?"
Leia took a breath, "Admiral Ackbar and the black squadron are preparing to leave Yavin tomorrow morning Captain Solo, I thought you would want to know, over"
Kara glanced at Tig as he got up from the chair not wanting to intrude, but gave a knowing smile. The girl was caught he thought. Kara stared t the radio and found herself loss for words. "Copy that" she turned off the radio. Leia shook her head.
Kara got up and headed out to the haul to get set up wiping the tears from her eyes.
1 year later:
Hosnian Prime:
"Council you have seen the proof, the activity in the outer rim can no longer be ignored. We must take action and commission the republic army" Leia urged
Senator Diro sighed "Princess, the activity in the outer rim is too far fetched to ever be considered the workings of the Empire"
Leia threw up her hands, "Then what is the harm in checking?"
Senator shook his head, "We can't spare the resources to send a squadron out there"
Leia sighed, "Because you're afraid of getting caught in a fire fight?" She was loosing her patience, "Last year you sent out Admiral Ackbar's squadron on a scouting run and they came back with a full report on the activity stating that they believed the workings were not of smugglers and independent trade dealers"
"Princess" The Senator started, "You must not live in the past, the New Republic has been maintaining peace over the galaxy for decades now. We have absolutely no reason to believe there is activity from the crumbled Empire"
"Then how do you explain Admiral Ackbar's scouting reports, the countless missions his squadron's been on that report unusual activity in the outer rims, the massive expansion of private factories building and selling off arms to the black markets"
"Those we believe, after extensive research are no more than greedy iron mongers trying to make a penny off of radicals" The senator said, "We can assure you our republic is safe"
Leia lowered her head "Senator, with all due respect, you are only exhausting your resources by sending them out on useless diplomatic missions trying to barter with these arms dealers, there are verified reports of where those products are going to" Leia pleaded "Please take another look"
The Senator gave an exhausted sigh, "If that's what will make this meeting conclude, Princess, you have my word" he said bored "We shall reconvene at our next meeting"
Leia gave a tight smile "Thank you Senator"
Kara walked through the hanger and stopped short "Chewie?" she saw the Wookie across the way next to the freighter. Chewie turned and roared walking over and lifting Kara into his hairy arms. Kara smiled "What are you doing here? And whose ship is that?" The freighter he was working on wasn't the familiar ship he had flown Kara's entire life. This was something else, something worse. And Kara didn't think anything could be worse than the Millennium falcon.
"It's ours" Han came over as Chewie put her down. Han didn't think much of the freighter as he looked at it following Kara's stare
Kara stepped back unimpressed at the sight of her father. "What happened to the Millennium Falcon?"
Han sighed, "Something we'd like to know too" he walked up to his daughter "It's good to see you kid"
Kara looked at Han with a tight expression; "Is it?" she nodded at the ship, "Too busy with your new ship to come see your family?"
Han rested his hands on his hips and looked at his feet. Chewie growled in agreement with Kara. Han turned to his friend and pointed, "Watch it"
Kara walked away "Even ignoring Chewie's warning to come visit says a lot dad" she turned back to her ship, "I take it your going to leave before seeing mom as well"
Han jogged after her; "Just a minute" he held her arm
Kara stopped not wanting to hear any of it "I've explained time and time again, my place isn't there, I don't belong in that world" he looked at Kara with pleading eyes "I do best at this" he pointed to the ship, "Doing jobs, smuggling" he said with a crooked grin
Kara understood her fathers feelings, but it wasn't good enough as she rolled her eyes, "Dad, that may be so, but you made a choice to spend your life with mom, you and her made that commitment, and she needs you" she said, "She might be too proud to admit it and try to pretend that she's fine doing all of this on her own, but she isn't"
Han sighed running his hand down his face, "please stay to see her" Kara pleaded one more time
Han sighed as he watched Kara walk back to the ship.
She passed by and heard the familiar voice. "Admiral Ackbar" she saw him next to a fleet of X-wings
"Hello Kara, how are the meetings going with the Senate?" he said
"We'll see in time" she shrugged, "the General is still in there"
"Chancellor Mothma is here, we will be meeting with your mother shortly" Kara nodded
"I take it the Senate is still dragging their feet on the activity in the outer rim" she started with a shrug, "Hopefully for the galaxy's sake they will come around"
Ackbar nodded with his whole body, "They cannot turn their backs forever, they will come to realize that the Empire isn't dead soon enough"
"Any word on your squadron?" she hadn't realized the words escaped her mouth
"I'm waiting for them to return from a reconnaissance mission in the Western regions" Ackbar said, "There have been rumors of children going missing, children of families no one would miss or think to investigate" he said shaking his head at the thought, "the team went to investigate"
Kara nodded trying to look neutral. Her mother never mentioned the rumor, but the thought was unsettling. "I'm sure I will see you very soon Admiral" she turned back to the ship
"What's got you so on edge" she heard from the boarding ramp
Kara looked around and found her brother Ben sitting with a small grin. The one person Kara saw today that brought her joy. "Ben" she jumped into his arms, "Oh I missed you little brother"
He'd grown almost a foot and a half and towered over her. She looked up at his thick black hair and narrow face, "When did you grow up huh" she nudged him
Ben smiled, "Maybe you can give Uncle Luke the news" he said, "He still thinks I'm a little 10 year old"
Kara patted his shoulder, "I highly doubt that when I hear your helping him teach the young Jedi's"
Ben sighed, "That I am, where's mother?"
"Still in the Senate meeting" she looked around "And Luke?"
"Meeting with some council members reporting on our progress" he picked up a tool and spun it in his fingers, "This is the first time he's been brought out, must be serious"
Kara shrugged trying to give an even expression, "A lot seems to be going on but no one is actually talking about anything"
"They think another war is looming?" he asked
Kara shrugged, "What do your feelings tell you" she raised an eyebrow
Ben shook his head looking down, "My feelings tell me I should be in those meetings with Luke, not sitting around waiting like some dog"
Kara looked at her brother surprised, "Ben.." she took the tool out of his hands that seemed to take his attention, "Just because you're not in a meeting doesn't mean Luke doesn't appreciate you, or think you're useful" she read him "He's a Jedi master, don't you think he has the experience in training you in your own time?"
"Says the pilot who is a full fledged chauffer for mother" Ben snapped. Kara furrowed her brows but before she could respond she heard her father.
"Ben" Han called. Both Ben and Kara saw their father approach. Kara flashed Ben a hurt look before walking into the Senate building.
Leia caught Kara in the hallway "Kara, there you are" Leia said
"How'd the Senate meeting go?" Kara asked
Leia could tell something was wrong, "They still are digging their heels into the sand on the matter" she brushed Kara's hair away, "What's wrong?"
Kara ignored the question "Admiral Ackbar mentioned something about Children going missing, did you bring that up?"
Leia shook her head, "It's too early to tell" she tilted her head, 'You talked to Admiral Ackbar" she stated, "You'll know then Captain Dameron's team is headed back here any minute"
Kara avoided Leia's gaze, "I need to go get a few things for the ship, I'll be back soon" Kara turned, "Dad and Ben are in the hanger" she mentioned taking off
Leia sighed
Kara walked through the junkyard in the village with a list in hand. She needed a few spare parts for the Tantive. The truth was she didn't actually need anything for the ship. The ship had plenty of spare parts, Kara just needed to get away from everything. Never had she seen Ben so angry and hurtful. That anger he was holding in scared her. She could feel it. And her father, she shook her head at his stubbornness. She couldn't understand how selfish he was being by running from his family. And the last year she'd tried everyday to try and forget about Poe Dameron, when in truth she'd wake in the middle of the night with that ache for him, but every day she tried harder and harder to move on. But she couldn't even though she knew he could never forgive her for leaving the way she did.
Kara had been walking in a daze, not focusing on anything as she walked. Suddenly her should came into contact with another. "Sorry" Kara came out of it to find the blonde woman she had seen a year ago with Poe. It was Mag.
Mag stopped short holding her shoulder, "It's you" she said
Kara gave an apologetic look, "I'm sorry I wasn't paying attention" she reached for her shoulder "Are you ok?"
Mag gave a thin smile "It's fine" she looked at Kara, she hadn't seen her in a year, she looked down embarrassed. She never had formally met Kara, but she knew her. She heard the stories about her, Poe had told her everything after they left Yavin. Mag finally stood in front of the girl who was worth it to Poe.
Kara gave a relieved expression before realizing "You're" she stopped realizing there never was any introduction, "Why aren't you with your squadron"
Mag smiled appreciating Kara's memory, "I transferred, after we left Yavin we headed to Wobani for 5 months for recon but Ares, Poe, Gage and I ended up getting caught, we sat in an internment camp for 6 weeks before we escaped" she looked down, "Well, Poe and I escaped, we lost Ares and Gage" she said with a heavy sigh, "After that I couldn't think about going out again, not when the Senate is sitting by ignoring the reports" she said defeated
Kara watched with an empathetic look, 'I'm so sorry Mag, I didn't know" she shook her head
Mag looked at her feet and nodded knowing, "he left heartbroken" she said looking at her, "He almost didn't make it either" she turned to leave her. There wasn't anything else Mag could say to Kara, she didn't want to say anything else, "He can't picture a life with anyone else Kara" Mag said "No matter how hard I tried, he just couldn't" she said walking away
Kara watched feeling awful at what she heard. What happened to Poe's team, and what Kara had done to him
Kara sauntered back to the hanger when she noticed Chewie working on her ship, "Hey fuzz ball, stay away from my ship" she came over
Chewie growled that she didn't fasted the bolts tight enough on the motors and let her have it "I would have noticed on my preflight check list" she defended
Chewie nodded not buying it, "He does worry about you as much as your father does" Kara heard Luke
Kara smiled relived to see her uncle "Uncle Luke" she hugged her uncle tight
Luke sensed her distress as she hugged him longer, Luke held on to his niece and gave a comforting smile "What is troubling you"
Kara gave a small chuckle, "Just the normal things, the state of the galaxy that sort of thing" she let go finally
Luke grinned, "You've been busy on Yavin I heard" Kara nodded, "You're doing a great service by helping your mother Kara" he rubbed her shoulder
Kara's smile was thin. "How's Ben?" she dared ask
Luke nodded, "He's strong, as strong as I could ever imagine, like my father" he said with a hint of worry
Kara heard the words she was dreading hearing. What she suspected. Her grandfather was powerful Jedi, but the darkness to hold of him. Kara feared Ben would live with the same temptation that tempted their grandfather. Luke brushed Kara's cheek, "But Ben is full of light, Kara"
Kara tried to take comfort in Luke's words but was brought out of it when she heard a fleet come in. Luke noticed as well, "Well I should be heading back, Ben is waiting"
Kara nodded "Good bye Uncle" she gave him one more hug
"Good bye Kara, take care of yourself" he smiled walking away proud of his niece.
Leia passed Luke giving him a hug before heading onto the ship "Find what you need?" she asked her daughter
Kara looked out onto the base once more, hoping she'd catch a glimpse of the black jet. She let out a sigh, "Not exactly, but enough" she nodded "If you're ready mother" she followed her into the ship.
As the ship took off her heart skipped a beat at the sight. There it was. The X-Wing made it's landing and there he sat in the cockpit watching the Tantive. Kara wanted to say something that she forgot something down in the hanger. But her mother was already focused at the task at hand, what needed to be done once they got back to Yavin.
All she could do was look out of the window as she pulled out of the hanger and away from Poe.
Poe watched as the ship took off, BB8 beeped informing him whoes ship I was. "I know pal" he said sad, "too late"