The pilots were ready to go in record time, nobody willing to waste the time with the unnecessary.
Poe ran to Hirani and pulled her close, pouring all his hope and love into one deep, lingering kiss that she returned fervently, and then he released her, stepping back.
"What was that for?" She asked breathlessly.
"For luck." He replied before turning to head back to his X-wing.
He set one foot on the ladder and turned to face her once more, she was directly on his heels and he cupped her jaw tenderly, stroking his thumb over her cheek as she cradled his hand to her face with one smaller one, turning into his touch.
"I love you my angel." He said by way of farewell.
"Be safe Poe." She pleaded softly. When Hirani released him he practically flew up the ladder and slid into the cockpit.
The fighters lifted off almost as one and left the atmosphere of D'Qar, the chatter serving to remind him that they had his back, and he had theirs.
Poe knew not all of them would return from this mission, but he would do everything in his power to ensure as many as possible would live to fight another day.
They jumped to light speed, one after the other.
~/~/~/~/~/~/~
Hirani watched them go, waiting to see the hail of incandescent streaks that indicated the X-wings making the jump before she turned and hurried to her shuttle.
She hurriedly ran through the pre-flight check and boarded, running the start up sequence, pausing to transmit a brief, coded message to Leia.
She left the planet hurriedly, jumping to hyperspace once she was safely beyond the atmosphere.
~/~/~/~/~/~
Poe and the remaining pilots returned from star killer base, sharing in their subdued exultation, this was an undeniable victory against the First Order that would be sure to bring new hope to the galaxy.
When Poe looked around at all the people who had rushed out to greet them he caught Leia's eye as she walked over briskly.
"Where's Hirani?" He asked the woman, scanning the crowd for his wife.
"She left directly after you made the jump to hyperspace." the general replied quietly. "She told me she was doing it right before she left."
Poe scraped a hand through his hair and looked anywhere but at the general.
"Doing what?" Poe asked then.
"I presume she meant leaving." Leia replied. "She told me she left something for you with BB8 to be given to you once she was gone."
Poe nodded and looked at the droid between their feet.
"What did she give you buddy?" He asked the droid then.
A small draw opened and there was a series of beeps and whistles as Poe retrieved the cloaked binary beacon that was offered to him.
Hi guys, final chapter! Yay! I will be continuing the story, but right now my son needs my focus and the next installment, Ghost, is just in note form, hardly cohesive at the moment, I'll be working on it again at my pace.
Let me know what you thought of it, I live for the feedback from you guys.
Á bientôt