Author's Note: And that's the end for this. I had fun with this, but wow, it got a lot longer than I thought it would! Thanks for all of the reviews and favorites!

Disclaimer per usual – I do not own Star Wars or any aspect of the SW universe; just a fan with an idea. No profit here, just fun for me.

Waking up this time hurts a lot less than last time, though he has no idea where he is or how he got here. That's the first clear thought Poe has as he blinks his eyes open, eyes that feel like they're full of sand, but while he still has a mild headache, it's nothing like the screaming pain from before. He's also aware of a familiar weight on his right side and draped across his torso, and he peers down to see the top of Rey's head.

Some things are unfamiliar, though. The ceiling above him and the moderately comfortable bunk are new to him, but he guesses, in his slowly clearing head, that he is in a bunk on the Falcon. He also feels a line in his left arm, making him peer down and frown at it. A soft voice to his right makes him jump. "You were dehydrated."

He turns his head to see his dad there in a chair next to the bed. He becomes aware that in addition to Rey draped across his right side, his dad's hand rests on his lower leg. "Hey, Dad. Where are we?" He keeps his voice quiet to try to let Rey sleep.

"Hyperspace. Maybe six hours out from Felucia. We're going to drop out in another hour, just so we can check on Rose and Finn." Kes smiles. "And the Little Jedi promised BB-8 that you would talk to him when we drop, if you were awake yet, that is."

Poe runs his left hand through his hair, frowning again at the line in his arm. Kes rolls his eyes, standing up to get a bandage. Poe smiles gratefully, holding his arm out so that Kes can lean over Rey and pull it. He does, covering it with a fiber pad and the bandage to keep it from bleeding. "Thank you. I hate those things." He feels Rey shift slightly. He knows she woke up, but he leaves her be as she appears to not want them to know.

Kes grabs the fluid bag and tosses it and the line kit in the waste bin. "You and everyone else I know." He sits back down. "How is your head?"

Poe closes his eyes and sighs. "Mostly back to normal – not foggy, not dizzy. Slight headache, but nothing like before. That was blindingly painful," he pauses, "Dad, I don't know what the hell happened."

Motioning to Rey with his hand, Kes says, "She does. Or at least she has an idea based on something Luke told her."

"Luke?" Poe blinks in surprise. "So, it's Force-related?"

"Seems to be. I'll let the Little Jedi explain it, though." Kes looks down at his hands, now folded in his lap. "You scared the hell out of me, kid. When we pulled you out of your mom's A-Wing, you looked bad."

"How did I land, Dad?" Kes shoots him a confused look, and he explains, "I don't remember anything after starting the jump to Felucia. It's all blank. You and I talked, I called myself Green One and jumped, then I woke up here." Rey tenses against him, and he squeezes her gently.

"Kriff, Poe." Kes shakes his head and stands up. "She landed you. You didn't land. It's a damned good thing she guessed that you couldn't do it." He moves up, brushing Poe's hair back and then cupping his face in his palm. "I'm really glad you're all right, kid."

Poe reaches up his left hand and wraps it around Kes's wrist. "Me too. And I'm really glad you're here."

"I was coming no matter what. Just in case you feel bad about it, stop." He smiles and pulls his hand back. "I need to go check on Chewie. And by the way, I sent Leia a message before we jumped to Felucia. I just wanted her to know what happened and that we were on our way."

"Thanks, Dad." Kes nods and heads for the cockpit.

Rey shifts slightly when Kes leaves, and Poe squeezes her to him. "You landed me?" When she doesn't reply, Poe says, "Beautiful, you've been awake since Dad took my line out."

She sighs and asks quietly, "Are you really all right?"

"As far as I can tell." He rolls to his side and moves down so that they're face to face. "What happened to me, Rey?"

Opening her eyes to meet his, she feels weak at how good it is to see his eyes and to see his color returned to normal. She leans in, pressing her lips to his. She clings to him as she deepens the kiss, and he wraps his arms around her in response, pulling her flush to his body. After a minute or so, she pulls back, pressing her forehead to his. He takes a breath and says, "Guess I scared the hell out of you, too."

"I kept calling to you. I could feel the pain you were in, but I couldn't…" She swallows a sob. "And then, to realize that I may have been making it worse by calling over and over. And if I hadn't guessed that you needed help, made your dad let me land first, you'd probably be dead." She gasps on another sob.

"Shh, Rey. I'm sorry. I didn't hear you calling me. It took that hyperspace alarm to wake me up." He smooths her hair back, looping it behind her ears. "How did you land me?"

She sniffles, composing herself. "I landed the X-Wing, jumped out, and used the Force to slow your descent. You were coming down way too fast. I brought your ship down slowly and got the hatch open. Your dad powered her down. You really don't remember?"

"Nothing at all after the jump to Felucia."

Her voice is barely a whisper when she replies, "You talked to both of us, me and Kes, right after the jump and before you started down."

"Kriff. Rey, I really don't remember anything." He shakes his head and hugs her to him. She dips her head into the crook of his neck, and he goes on, "Beautiful, what happened to me? Dad mentioned Luke?"

She nods. "He thinks it was how much you used the Force. His words, 'Too much, too fast.'"

"So, I can't use it anymore? What about talking to you, feeling you in my head? I can't lose that."

He sounds almost panicked, and she pulls back to see his face. "No, we can work on it. We just need to slow down. Luke actually said we should start with the connection again first. He noted that it's something we both need – that it, his words, 'balances and feeds you both.'"

Poe breathes out a sigh of relief. "All right. But I assume, for now, I should maybe not try much of anything?"

Rey nods again. "I'd like a doctor at the base to check you out before we try anything again." He frowns at that, but she just pins him with a look. "I'll not let you hurt yourself, Poe. This was not something I can deal with very often. I know you don't like spending time in medical, but I need them to confirm that you're all right for my own peace of mind."

"All right, Beautiful. Dad'll bug me about it, too. So, I'll let them check me out." He pulls her close again, just holding her to him. They both relax into the bunk, enjoying the quiet and the proximity. After a while, though, Poe grins and says, "It was really awesome, though. I still can't believe it worked." She just laughs at that and nuzzles her face back into his neck. Another few moments pass, and then he says ruefully, "As nice as this is, I need to go to the refresher. And if there's a shower, that'd be nice, too."

"There is." She pulls back from him and moves with almost impossible grace to the floor, standing up. "I'll show you, and then I'm going to go check on Kes and Chewie."

"Or you can stay with me, and then we can check on them together. By the time we drop out of hyperspace, Chewie will have a lot of hours in the pilot's seat. We can give him a break."

She arches an eyebrow at him. "We? Poe, you just woke up from being unconscious for over six hours. You can shower and then go back to bed."

He swings his legs off of the bed and stands. He's very stiff, but he's otherwise completely steady. "Rey, look at me. I'm all right. Steady on my feet, head clear. You can pilot. I just want…" He swallows hard. "I have you blocked, because it hurt earlier to even feel you through the Force. But when you're not in my head, I need you nearby. At least right now." He looks at her, an anxious expression on his face. "Please?"

She blinks in surprise at the emotion behind the request. Even if he has his normal defenses up, she can still feel his emotions when they're strong, and in this case, it's fear. It's a fear she recognizes easily, because it's a fear of being alone. She knows that particular fear quite well, respects it, and because of that, she relents.

Holding out a hand, she says, "All right, Flyboy. But if the headache comes back, or you start to get too tired or fuzzy again, you have to promise me you'll come back here," she motions to the bunk, "And rest some more."

He takes her hand and kisses it. "I promise, Beautiful."

"All right." She keeps his hand in hers, and she pulls him slowly towards the Falcon's small refresher, moving carefully just in case, despite his assertion that he's steady, he loses his balance.

He tugs on her hand. "I can walk, Rey. We don't have to shuffle all the way."

She blushes but teases him, "You're too heavy to catch if you go down."

Rolling his eyes, he says, "Says the woman who landed an A-Wing without touching it."

She giggles and keeps pulling him towards the refresher, him laughing and her scolding him when he keeps pulling back against her. From the shadows, having come back to get some water and a snack for himself and Chewie Kes leans against the wall, smiling as he watches them, relief washing over him at the fact that Poe is clearly all right. He quickly grabs what he came for once they're in the refresher and then turns back towards the cockpit, giving them some privacy until they come to check on him and Chewie.

About half an hour later, Poe and Rey make their way to the cockpit. Poe had tried (and failed) to coax Rey into the shower with him, but they're both dressed in clean clothes, Poe with the binary beacon on his wrist and Rey with her hair done, though more simply than usual. Poe's hair is still damp, and he feels considerably better. Rey feels better too, in part because of the clean clothes, but also because he's fine. He'd even been singing in the shower.

They enter the cockpit holding hands, and Kes looks up at them with a smile. "Well, you both look a lot better."

Releasing Rey's hand, Poe rolls his eyes and, after shooing two porgs away, drops into the chair behind Kes. Rey starts to sit in the seat behind Chewie, but Kes shakes his head and gives her the pilot's seat, taking the one behind Chewie himself, also evicting a porg. Poe looks at his dad. "And you look tired."

Kes shrugs. "I didn't sleep for six hours like you did."

Lifting an eyebrow, Poe retorts, "Rey slept. I was unconscious, Dad. Not exactly the same thing."

"I'm also old."

Poe chuckles at that. "Sure, Dad."

Rey asks, "How old were you when Poe was born?"

"Older than you, Little Jedi, but younger than him." Kes smiles and motions to Poe.

"You mentioned the 'Pathfinders' earlier. What kind of unit were you?" Rey looks back at him, suddenly curious after his earlier reference to them and his ability to provide medical care.

"Special Forces, ground mostly, specialized in going in first. Got to blow a lot of stuff up, too." He grins.

Rey smirks and turns in her seat to look back at Poe. "So, it appears that you come by that honestly."

Poe just laughs, and Kes does the same as he insists, "His mom liked blowing stuff up, too, so it may have been pre-ordained."

Chewie calls something, making Kes reach up and grip the Wookie's shoulder. "Too true, Chewie. Shara was far better at it than I was. She was pretty much better at everything."

"Not true, Dad," Poe interjects with a lifted eyebrow, "Mom couldn't cook worth a damn."

Kes snorts. "Good point. Your mother could burn water."

"Do you remember that time, I think I was maybe 6, that she set the stove on fire trying to cook an egg?" Poe grins.

Kes returns the grin. "Remember? I had to put it out, and the house smelled like smoke and burnt egg for a solid month. I banned her from the kitchen after that."

Rey and Chewie exchange an amused glance at the conversation behind them, and then the hyperspace alert goes off. A minute later, they drop out of hyperspace, a safe distance from any inhabited system or habitable planets. Rose and Finn are already there, chatting over the comms. Rey puts on a headset, and knowing they'll ask to talk to him, she passes a second one to Poe. As he gets his on, Rey calls, "Rose, Finn, how are you both doing?"

Rose answers first. "Good! I like this little ship!"

Poe and Rey both laugh, and Poe replies, "My mom would be glad to hear it, Rose."

"Poe?" Finn breaks in. "Are you all right?"

Poe rubs the back of his neck with one hand. "Yeah, Finn. I'm a lot better. Thanks to you and Rose for taking the fighters."

Before Finn or Rose can respond, a series of happy sounding beeps comes across, and Poe smiles fondly. "Yes, Buddy. I promise I'm fine." BB-8 beeps more, this time sounding stern, if that's possible. Poe grins and replies patiently, "Yes, I know I scared you. I'm sorry."

An alert sounds from inside the Falcon's cockpit, and Kes says, "Incoming message. I sent one to Leia before we jumped to Felucia. Maybe that's her getting back to us."

Rey says to Finn and Rose, "Hold on a moment, you two. We have a long-range message coming in."

A moment later, a recorded message pops up. Poe looks over Rey's shoulder and frowns. "It's encrypted, and it's a pattern I don't know."

Kes leans forward, and he grins. He says to Rey, "May I?"

She hands him the communication unit, and he taps in a code. The message immediately begins to run while Poe looks at Kes in surprise. Leia's gravelly voice fills the cockpit. "Kes Dameron, never in a million years did I expect to hear from you. We're on our way to you. We managed to procure a new small cruiser, and we can meet you at Chewie's home. I hope one of you has Poe's binary beacon, that'll make this easier. I hope he's all right, but we're bringing a doctor just in case. See you soon, old friend."

With that, the message ends. Rey looks confused. "Chewie's home?"

In unison, with accompaniment from Chewie, Kes and Poe say, "Kashyyk."

Poe adds, "The Wookie homeworld."

They send jump coordinates to Rose and Finn. Rey tells them, "It's only a few more hours. Are you both sure you're doing all right?"

After they both confirm that they're fine, they watch the two little ships make the jump, and Chewie follows. Poe looks at Chewie and then Kes. "Now both of you go get some rest. Rey will fly us, and I'm going to get the binary beacon," he flashes the little blinking object on his wrist, "Hooked up for when we get there."

Chewie agrees readily, telling Rey just how tired he is. He pats Rey on the shoulder, and then, surprising all of them, he hugs Poe, calling out something before releasing him and heading to his bunk. Poe turns a questioning look to Rey, who explains, "He said he's glad you're all right."

Before he leaves, Kes hugs Poe tight, too. This hug was more expected, and Poe returns it just as tightly. His Dad says softly, "I'm glad, too, kid."

Kes releases him a moment later, going to the common area to grab some sleep in one of the vacant bunks. Poe watches him go, a thoughtful look on his face. He turns and settles into the co-pilot's seat, and he stares out the window at the streaks of light through the glass. After a while, Rey says, "What are you thinking about?"

He jumps a little, and he gives her a sheepish smile when she's clearly amused. "I was thinking that I really hope that Kylo didn't destroy the house. I figure he probably damaged or even destroyed the tree, but I hope he left the house alone." He runs his right hand through his hair, now dry and falling in its normal curls and waves.

His left hand sits on a console between them, so she reaches over and entwines their fingers. "I hope so, too. It took all of five minutes for me to decide that when people ask me where 'home' is, I was going to start saying Yavin 4 instead of Jakku."

She looks at him shyly, giving him a small smile. He blinks in surprise but then his expression softens, and he raises their joined hands, pressing a soft kiss to the back of hers. "I'm really happy to hear that, Beautiful. Dad would love it, too."

They ride in silence for a while, joined hands resting on the console between them. Eventually, she sighs. "I miss you."

"What?" He looks at her, confused.

"In my head. I'll be glad once you see the doctor. I don't like not having you in the back of my head. I just…miss you."

"I miss you, too. I forgot how quiet it can get in my own head." He frowns. "But you could feel me back before we connected. Is that gone, too?"

She shakes her head. "Not entirely. You're far better at blocking now than you were. But when you wanted me to come with you to the shower earlier, I could feel anxiety, fear, pretty strongly from you."

He nods. "I really, really didn't want you away from me, Beautiful." He squeezes her hand with his. "Still don't. Never really will."

"Same here, Flyboy." She pauses, smiling. "So, your mother couldn't cook?"

He laughs and remembers that he needs to connect the binary beacon, pulling it from his wrist. "Oh, Force no. She was so bad in the kitchen." As he hooks up the beacon, he goes on to tell Rey stories about his mom, some about her cooking misadventures, others about more serious things. It has always been hard for him to talk about his mom, but suddenly, with Rey, it's incredibly important to him that she know about the woman he still idolizes in his heart but who he had far too little time with.

A few hours later, the hyperspace alarm sounds again, and they drop out of hyperspace. "Rose, Finn, stand by. We've got the beacon going."

Finn and Rose both acknowledge, sounding pretty tired. The beacon begins flashing quickly, and Rey follows the signal, saying. "Rose, Finn, follow us."

At that moment, Chewie and Kes appear in the doorway to the cockpit. Poe starts to get up to give Chewie the co-pilot's seat, but much to Poe's surprise, the Wookie motions to him to stay put, taking the seat behind him. Kes takes the seat behind Rey, catching Poe's eye and shrugging. Poe is about to say something, when the comms panel beeps and the voice of Lieutenant Connix comes over the line. "This is Cruiser Holdo. Do you copy?"

Poe gets a lump in his throat at the name, but then he smiles and taps the comm on. "We copy, Cruiser Holdo, this is Commander Dameron on the Falcon."

"Commander," Leia's voice comes on the comm, "I was told that you were not well. It's good to hear you sounding all right."

"It's good to be all right, General. I was a lot less all right about ten hours ago, but it's a long story."

"I imagine it is, Commander. So, is the Sergeant there as well?" Poe can almost hear the smile in her voice, something he hasn't heard in a while, and he tosses his dad a comm set.

"The General would like to say hello, Sergeant." Poe grins at Kes as Rey and Chewie laugh.

Kes rolls his eyes and puts the comm set on. Without any preamble, he just drawls, "I'm retired, General."

Leia laughs over the comm. "Well, then it's Leia, Kes."

"I knew that, Leia. And no matter how all right my son claims to be, he needs to go to medical when we land."

Poe shoots Kes an irritated look, and Rey chimes in, "Yes, General. He's much better, but they need to do a scan. We'll explain when we land."

"Overprotective." Poe grouses for a moment, but then he looks at the beacon and asks, "General, looks like we're nearing your location. What kind of space is there for us to land? It's the Falcon, my X-Wing and Mom's, er, an A-Wing."

He hears Leia take a quick breath in surprise. Kes must notice too, because he quietly says, "It was just sitting there, Leia. She'd want it put to good use."

"Agreed, Kes. Thank you. And Poe, we have the cruiser parked in a large clearing. The fighters will fit inside the cruiser, but the Falcon won't. There's ample room in the clearing, though."

"Understood. Rose, Finn?" When they both reply that they're there, Poe goes on, "Land the fighters in the clearing. Neither of you have ever tried to land in a cruiser bay, so we'll get them inside for you."

"Copy that, Poe!" Rose replies.

"Got it, Poe," Finn also responds, accompanied by a beeping BB-8.

Moments later, Rey spies the cruiser. It's not new, but it looks battle-tested and well-armed. She gets near, and she carefully lands the Falcon next to the new ship. Close behind, Rose and Finn set down their respective fighters. They are just opening their hatches as Rey, Poe, Chewie, and Kes are descending the ramp of the Falcon.

Poe laughs when BB-8 drops out of Black One the moment she's shut down and barrels towards him. He crouches down to greet the little droid, mainly because if he didn't, BB-8 would likely crash into his legs, and that would hurt like hell. Rey watches fondly as Poe talks to the droid, reassuring him that he's fine. Kes stands next to Rey, amused. "I can't decide if it's endearing or weird."

Rey chuckles. "Endearing. As droids go, he's hard not to love."

They hear a noise from the cruiser, and they all look over to see Leia emerge, followed by Lieutenant Connix and the same doctor who looked at Poe's leg when he was injured on the moon. Poe stands up, rolling his eyes. Cutting off any complaining that Poe might be about to start with, Kes walks over to meet the approaching party, wrapping Leia up in a tight hug. Leia returns the hug, and Poe hears her sigh and say, "It's damned good to see you, old friend."

They stay that way for a while, and Rey comes over to Poe, linking her arm through his and resting her head on his shoulder. "I didn't realize they were close."

"She was closer to Mom, but yeah, she knew them both well. She's lost so much lately. It didn't occur to me how good it might be to see someone who understands." He turns and presses a kiss to the top of Rey's head. "Do you want to go take the fighters inside?"

She looks up at him. "Are you sure…"

"Rey. Yes. I'm fine."

"Let me be the judge of that." They look up to see the doctor standing there. "Tell me what happened."

Leia and Kes join them while Rose and Finn go to the Falcon to get their things and then inside the cruiser with Connix to get some rest. Chewie heads back onto the Falcon after patting Leia on the shoulder.

There are some rocks nearby, so the four of them remaining plus the doctor go sit while Rey does most of the explaining, taking care to mention the weapons they found and will unload later. When she gets to Kylo Ren's arrival at Yavin 4, Leia sighs heavily, and Kes reaches over and squeezes her shoulder. Her eyes widen, though, at the news of how Poe was able to use the Force.

When they turn to what happened, the doctor begins to pepper Poe with questions, coming over and checking his heart rate, his eyes, and blood pressure, as well as doing some simple cognitive tests as Rey finishes the story. When Rey is done, the doctor says, "Commander, you appear to be fine, though I do want to do a quick scan of your head to be sure. But," she looks at Leia, "He should be fine to help move the fighters." With a nod to all of them, the doctor heads back inside.

Before Poe and Rey can start moving towards the fighters, though, Poe looks at Leia. "General, why were you here? There's no way you had enough time to get Dad's message and get here from the base."

"First Order scouts found the base. We're on the move again. We have a place in mind, but we happened to get Kes's message when we weren't too far from here. It was just luck." She shrugs. "We knew the other base was likely temporary. Connix got help, and they got the things from your room for you. They're in your assigned quarters on the cruiser, other than Rey's workbench, which we have in a corner of the hangar. Kes, we have some space. We'll get you quarters, too."

"We're going to have to figure out what to do with me, Leia. I'm going to be bored out of my mind inside of a week." Kes grimaces at the thought of sitting around. At least at home, he had his orchard of trees to tend to and the house to keep up.

Poe feels a pang of sympathy for him, but Leia gives Kes a smile. "It's funny you say that, Sergeant. I happen to have a whole slew of ground troop recruits but very few experienced people to train them, and no one with infiltration, front line experience. Certainly no one who was a Pathfinder."

"Is that so?" Kes begins to smile.

"It is. If you might be interested, I'll give you a field commission and promotion to Captain. You'd both train them and be in base command. You'll have to report to this one," she motions to Poe, "Which will be awfully fun for me to watch."

Rey laughs out loud, and Poe bumps her with his hip, shushing her. Kes just rolls his eyes again and says, "Can I think about it?"

"Of course. Let me know when you're ready to say yes." Leia smirks at him and heads back to the cruiser.

Kes shakes his head, laughing. Poe grins. "I promise I'll go easy on you, Dad."

"Nah, I'll be a pain in your ass. Actually, she's right. It'll be fun." Kes turns and yells at Leia's retreating form, "Consider me un-retired, General." She just holds up her cane, waving it in response, and keeps going.

It's Poe's turn to roll his eyes as Rey stands next to him, still laughing. She composes herself a moment later. "I'm going to go move the A-Wing. I've been wanting to fly it."

Poe knew that was inevitable, so he waves her off. "Once you have it parked – and yes, I know you're going to fly it around a bit first – come help us get the stuff off of the Falcon."

Kes calls, "Have fun, Little Jedi!"

She gives them a cheeky salute worthy of the ones Poe likes to give Leia, and she heads for the A-Wing. Poe shakes his head and turns to his dad, expression going serious. "Dad, I can talk to Leia. Maybe you can report to her instead."

Kes puts his hand on Poe's shoulder. "Kid, it's all right. If you're uncomfortable, that's fine. Otherwise, it's good by me. I'm not worried about it." The A-Wing lifts off, zipping away faster than even Poe might've taken it. Poe watches, a look of pride and adoration in his eyes. Kes notices and says, "I'm really glad you found her, Poe. She's going to keep you on your toes."

"That she will, Dad. She already does." He looks over and arches an eyebrow at Kes. "So, Captain Dameron, training recruits?"

Shrugging, Kes says, "Beats sitting around and being annoying until Leia stuns me."

"She'll do it, too. Ask me how I know." Poe smiles ruefully. "I'm going to go move Black One inside, then I'll come back and help you get our stuff from the Falcon. Rey won't be back for a while."

"I'll get it all gathered up." Kes agrees, and he heads for the Falcon.

Poe watches him go, suddenly struck by how surreal it is to have his dad here. Turning and walking towards Black One with BB-8 on his heels, he mutters, "Surreal, but good."

An hour-and-a-half later, Poe has gotten the fighter moved, their stuff moved in from the Falcon, his dad settled in a nearby room, and his head scanned in medical. He'd been given a clean bill of health, making him and his dad breathe a sigh of relief. In the room he and Rey were assigned, he changes into sleep clothes, and he sits reading a report on a tablet and waiting for Rey to come back from flying the A-Wing.

Despite hours of unconsciousness, he's far more tired than he expected to be. When he was getting scanned, the doctor had warned him that would probably be the case. Luckily, though, she hadn't put any limitations on his activities, just admonished him to take it easy for a day or two.

BB-8 is off with R2 and C3PO, bored by Poe's desire to just relax in the room. Poe desperately wants to send a thought to Rey, but he's still nervous about their connection. After his recent experience with the Force, he's not ashamed that it makes him a little anxious. He looks across the room, his eyes landing on three buckets of damp dirt, each with a piece of the Force tree in it. His dad found the bag with the tree fragments on the Falcon, and he helped Poe get the buckets and dirt.

He mainly did it to make Rey happy, but Kes liked it too. Poe even offered to let Kes take one of the buckets to his quarters, but Kes declined, citing that Rey was the best person for the tree pieces to be near. Kes also had found Rey's lightsaber and staff near the bunk on the Falcon; the saber now sits on the shelf near the bed and the staff leans against the wall near the tree pieces. Given his position as 2IC, he and Rey have fairly nice quarters here, a space with a private refresher and a window. To Kes's consternation, his quarters are similar. He'd protested, but he was overruled by both Poe and Leia.

Poe sighs, setting the tablet aside, placing it next to the lightsaber. "Kriff it," he says. He sits up in a cross-legged position, and he tries to completely clear his mind. He carefully removes the barriers he had put up in his mind, and he's almost immediately overwhelmed by the buzz of Rey that returns. He tenses slightly, fearing the pain that might follow their connection, but nothing happens other than the pleasant buzz of Rey in his head.

He sits quietly, eyes closed, thinking about the events of the past few days. He also notices that the air feels different to him, almost alive, and he wonders if it's due to his current proximity to Force tree shards. If so, he's happy to note that the nearness of the tree pieces doesn't seem to be over-taxing him.

A moment later, he jumps at the sound of someone at the door. Out of habit, his hand is halfway to Rey's lightsaber, the closest weapon, when the door slides open to reveal Rey, hair askew and a cautious smile on her face. "I can feel you again." She comes in the room, the door sliding shut behind her.

He straightens his legs, rising to meet her. "Doc says my head is fine." He speaks the words, still wary of using the Force.

She crosses the room in a few strides to wrap him up in a tight hug. She repeats her words from the doorway, but instead of surprise, they're said with relief this time. "I can feel you again."

He hugs her even closer. Now that she's here, he finds himself willing to try talking to her through the connection. He thinks, "And I can feel you again."

She pulls back, a look of pure happiness on her face. She leans into him, pressing her lips to his. The kiss becomes heated quite rapidly, and in moments, he's lifting her and placing her on the bed. She laughs and sits up, shedding her boots, vest, and belt before he can go turn off the room's overhead lights, lock the door, and come back. He sheds his shirt before climbing into the bed with her, noting with a thought, "I'm supposed to be taking it easy."

Despite his words, he helps her take off her tunic and pushes her down onto the bed, following and caging her with his body. She traces her hands along the defined muscles of his upper arms and shoulders, gives him a sly smile, and thinks, "Well, we'll just have to take it slow, then. Can you manage that, Flyboy?"

He leans down, bumping her nose with his, thinking, "I can manage anything, Beautiful," before pressing his lips to hers.