Rosella ran a hand along her side, feeling the bruises from her broken bones. Poe had hardly left her side. He had stayed with her, even though she had insisted that she would be fine. It was almost as though he was worried she would disappear again. His hand held hers, his other hand playing with the ring that sat on her finger. Rosella had smiled at the motion.

"It isn't going anywhere," she said to him and he moved to rake a hand through his hair. "I am still going to marry you one day…I promise."

"I know," Poe said. "I just…a part of me thought that I had lost you, Rose. I genuinely thought that you had gone…been taken from me and I…I broke down. I sat in the corner of the airbase and I broke down because I can't imagine being with you. I don't want you snatched away from me so soon. We haven't had time to be together. We haven't had time to have a normal life like we deserve."

"Hey," Rosella said as she sensed him growing emotional. Her hand went up to his cheek and she stroked it gently, the blanket falling into her lap as she made the movement. She wore a long blue nightgown, her hair a mess on top of her head as she hadn't washed it in days. "Nothing happened, Poe. I'm fine. We're together. That is all that matters."

"I know," Poe said in a soft whisper, "but I still worry."

"Same," she said back to him. "But there is nothing that we can do, Poe. We…things are a mess…but we have to have hope that they will work out eventually. We have to keep going."

"I know," Poe told her.

"And Katrine needs us too," Rosella said and she smiled warmly at him. "You know, you're really good with her. You're…well…you treat her like she is your own flesh and blood…like she is your own daughter."

Poe shrugged at hearing her. "I guess I kind of see her as something like that," Poe admitted. "She's a great kid and I care for her a lot. She needs us. I can see that and I think we need her too."

"You know," Rosella said in a gentle tone, her fingers running along the back of his knuckles, "when I grew up I always imagine having a traditional family. You know, becoming a mother and having two kids. I had them imagined in my mind…my husband…doting on them…but this…what we have and what we have with Katrine, this is better than what I imagined."

"You know," Poe said to her, "if we're counting Katrine as one of our kids, then that means you still need the second one."

Rosella laughed softly then, the noise echoing through the small room they sat in as she arched her brow and tilted her head to the side. "Is that an offer, Poe Dameron?"

"Well," Poe drawled, leaning back in his chair by her bed, "can you imagine how good looking our kids would be? If they inherited my looks and your brains…they'd be unstoppable."

"So long as they didn't inherit your hot headedness," she said and Poe chuckled, running a hand along his chin and nodding at that.

"You've got a point there," he said to her.

There was a moment of silence between them before Rosella dared to speak, chewing down on the inside of her cheek as she mumbled, feeling slightly apprehensive.

"Is it something you've thought about?" she wondered of him.

"What?" he asked. "Having kids?"

"Yeah."

"I mean," Poe began, searching for the right words as he adjusted one leg over the other. He took his time in considering his answer, not entirely certain what he should say to her. He knew exactly what he had thought about. He had thought about it, but it had been a dream. It had to be at that moment in time. "I guess, I have," he said, "You know, whenever we just sit down and get a moment, I think about the future. I guess it always includes you and a family…you know, a little tot I can teach how to fly like my parents taught me."

"I think about it too," Rosella admitted. "It's the only thing that keeps me going sometimes: the thought that there is life after this."

"There is," he promised her. "There has to be."

"I just sometimes don't like thinking about it," Rosella said to him. "It can be cruel because we both know that I can be snatched from us. We have seen too many people die, yet we are still here, Poe. We are still going."

"And we will always keep going," Poe told her, his hand going to squeeze hers. "We will keep going and we will settle down. It will be you, me and Katrine…in a small house by a lake. I can teach her to fly and you can teach her everything else. We will have that. I promise you."

Rosella gave him a sad smile. "What have I told you about making promises?"

"I know," Poe said and she moved her thumb over the back of his hand. "But I mean it, Rose."

"Let's just focus on getting out of this mess, okay?"

Poe nodded at her. "Okay," he responded and moved to his feet, bending down to kiss her on the forehead as he swept a strand of her hair behind her ear. "I have to go for a meeting with the General. I will be back as soon as it is over."

"Do you think that you can arrange for me to use a shower when you get back?" Rosella asked him. "I need to wash my hair and freshen up, but I might need help getting there."

"Of course," Poe promised her. "I'll be back soon."

"Hey," Rosella said, moving to grab hold of his hand before he went as she arched her brow at him. "Is that how you say goodbye?"

Poe chuckled and turned back around, cupping her cheek and bending down to kiss her chastely. He pulled back after a second and looked her in the eye as he smirked. "That better?"

"Slightly," she teased him and he chuckled and kissed her once more before moving away, leaving her with a soft grin on her face.

….

Poe had to admit that he was tired of running now. They had been running from base to base for what seemed like years. As he sat outside, he looked up as the sun slowly set and night came down. Katrine plopped herself down next to him on the wooden crate he was perched on.

"Rosella is sleeping," Katrine told him.

Poe turned to look down to her and nodded. "She was tired," he said to her.

"She smells better though," the little girl replied and Poe chuckled, leaning forward and clasping his hands together. He nodded at hearing that.

"Yeah, she does," he agreed with her, remembering how she had sighed with relief once she had finished showering. Poe had helped her back to the bed and she had told him that she might have a nap before dinner. He had left her to it and gone to check on his ship before sitting outside where Katrine found him.

"The General told me that when this is finished then we can go home," Katrine said and tugged on the dress she wore, folding one leg over the other.

"And we will," Poe said with a nod.

"But I don't have a home," Katrine said, chewing down on the inside of her cheek.

"What do you mean, kid?" Poe asked, looking down at her.

"My parents are dead."

"I know."

"So where do I go?" she asked him. "Do I have to go to an orphanage?"

"Of course not, kid," Poe replied and moved a hand to her arm, holding it gently as he watched her with intrigue, hoping that she wouldn't be apprehensive about what he was going to say. "You know that you have me and Rosella. Do you think that we will let you go into an orphanage?"

"But don't you want your own children? Why would you want me?" Katrine asked him and he moved to turn to the side so that he could look down to her, his gaze gentle as she watched him, her eyes watering.

"Katrine, do not think like that," he urged her, "We might not be your parents and we don't want to be your parents…you had your own parents…but we…Rosella and I…we want you to stay with us. You could never get in the way. You could never do that. We love you, both of us love you and we will look after you."

Katrine continued to watch him as her eyes widened. "Do you mean that?"

"Yeah," Poe said to her. "I mean it."

"But what if you don't want me if you have a baby with Rosella?"

"That would never happen," Poe assured her. "Besides, if we did have a baby then we would need help, wouldn't we?"

"I guess," Katrine said and scratched her arm. "So you really mean it?"

"I do," Poe assured her. "I mean it. You're special to us, kid."

"Okay," Katrine said and Poe moved to his feet and offered her his hand.

"You coming?" he asked her. "I need some help checking my ship."

He didn't. He had already done that, but he wanted to do something to distract Katrine and make her understand that she was important to both of them. She always would be.

…

"What do you think we should do?" Katrine asked Poe as she walked with him through the field the following morning, bending down and picking up flowers. She bunched them into her hands as Poe stood and watched, hands clasped on his hips.

"What do you mean?" Poe asked her.

"If this is your anniversary then you need to do something for her," Katrine said to Poe.

Poe chuckled. It was exactly a year since he had told Rosella his feelings for her, since he had asked her to be with him. She had agreed and that had given him so much joy. He wanted to do something special for her. He wanted her to forget everything that was going on, even if it was only just for a few moments.

"What do you mean?" Poe asked her. "I am picking her flowers."

"No, I am picking her flowers," Katrine counteracted. "You have to do something nice for her."

"Aren't flowers nice?"

"But something else!" Katrine protested.

"There's not much to do around here," Poe said.

"There is always something," she said. "I have an idea."

"What idea would this be?"

"Come with me," Katrine said and handed him the flowers before leading him away.

….

Rosella wondered what was going on as she followed Katrine outside. She was doing her best not to be too curious, but she wondered what was happening. The little girl had been excited, but she had kept silent. She stood still on top of the grass covered hill and Rosella arched a brow at the sight in front of her. She let out a soft laugh and Poe looked down at himself. He was dressed smarter than usual. Where had he even gotten a dinner suit from? His hair was slicked back and he was holding a bottle of some fancy looking alcohol in his grip.

"What is this?" Rosella enquired as Katrine dropped her hand.

"It has been a year since you two told each how you felt," Katrine said.

"Yeah, I had just picked you flowers, but apparently that wasn't enough," Poe said and gestured to the dinner suit as Rosella stifled a chuckle and saw the blanket with the picnic set up on it. It was another moment before Rosella heard another voice enter her ears.

"Looking sharper than ever, Dameron."

Turning around, she saw Finn and Rey moving towards them and Poe almost swore at them, but he refrained.

"Shut up," Poe demanded from them. "And keep Katrine entertained for the night."

"Oh, we will," Rey said and looked to the little girl. "I was thinking I can show you some pretty cool Jedi mind tricks."

"Awesome," Katrine said and moved to stand besides her.

"Yeah, you two enjoy your evening," Finn said with a smirk and the three of them walked away.

Rosella went closer to Poe as he poured her a glass of wine and she took a seat on the blanket he had laid out. Handing it down to her, he let her take a sip before he sat down next to her and she moved a hand over his shoulder, feeling the material of his suit.

"Very fancy," she commented to him.

"Well, Katrine insisted I make an effort. I found this old thing in the back of my trunk," he said to her. "And the food…well…I stole whatever I could find that looked tasty. So we have a delicacy of chocolate and other sweet things. Nothing substantial."

Rosella smiled and tore a piece of chocolate from the bar and bit down on it. "This is good enough," she promised him and moved to kiss him. "I wasn't expecting anything. I didn't even know if you'd have remembered what today was."

"I might not be great with romance, but I remember things," he promised her and she went to rest her head against his shoulder as she took another sip of her drink.

The two of them enjoyed each other's company, talking about everything and nothing. There were laughs and serious conversations and by the end of the night, Rosella had moved in between Poe's legs, leaning back against his chest as he kept his arms around her, one hand holding his glass while she held hers. He had kissed her neck slowly and his hands had moved over her stomach. She didn't know if it was the alcohol, but a part of her long for more. She didn't get a chance to suggest that as they were soon interrupted, Rey awkwardly making her presence known with a cough in her first. Poe's lips moved from Rosella's neck and his chin dropped to her shoulder.

"Is everything alright?" Rosella asked. "Is it Katrine?"

"No, she is fine," Rey said. "We've had a message…it's for you, Rosella…it's…General Hux."

Poe groaned. "What does he want now?"

"He claims he wants to help," Rey said, "but he will only talk to Rosella."

"He's tricking us."

"That's the thing," Rey said with a shrug, "we thought that but then he gave us a piece of information…he told us what Kylo Ren was doing. We need to know if he is serious. Only one person knows him best."

"You don't need to do this," Poe said to Rosella and she turned to look to him.

"That's the problem," she said. "I do."

….

A/N: Do let me know what you think!