Title: Trepidation
author: Cindy Ryan
notes and summary: See part one
Poe was in one of the larger caves Leia had used as a war room/office. It'd taken him weeks to feel comfortable enough to use the space he still thought of as hers. Now Poe was grateful for the setup. He hadn't had to move computer equipment or furniture. Leia had everything where it needed to be. It was nearing dusk and Poe's stomach rumbled reminding him he had skipped the mid-day meal. He was too busy now to go get food. They'd had more intel come in from the scouts. Poe had only gotten through the first two reports and he wasn't liking what those had told him. Footsteps drew his attention to the front of the cave. Relief washed over Poe when he saw who his visitor was.
"Rey!"Poe exclaimed.
Rey smiled at him and Poe knew then that things between them would be okay. He'd always known that. But he'd be lying if he'd said her leaving hadn't worried him. Poe reached his fiance quickly and lifted Rey off her feet in an embrace. Then he kissed her deeply. He felt Rey link her arms around his neck. Reluctantly Poe set Rey on her feet and rested his forehead against hers.
"I'm glad you're home."Poe said softly.
"I am too, but I have to tell you of the vision I had. I saw a system with a fleet of First Order ships!"Rey explained anxiously.
"We've been getting intel and rumors about splinter groups of the First Order trying to put things back together."Poe said grimly as he gestured to the computer screens."Finn's out on one of the scout runs as we speak."
Rey moved to the computers and Poe watched as she scanned the information.
"The Force didn't happen to give you a name of this system, did it?"Poe asked hopefully.
"No. The vision had a lot of short flashes of images."Rey replied grimly as she turned to face him. "I saw the ships by a water planet with three moons close together. That should narrow it down."
"If they're still there."Poe countered with a shake of his head. "I can think of half a dozen systems that have a water planet that are near the outer rim."
"I can narrow it down and we can rendezvous with Finn."Rey suggested.
"Good idea."Poe agreed as he turned to look down at his droid. "BB8 send Finn a message and get coordinates for a meet."
The orange and white droid beeped in confirmation along with a worried whistle. A few moments later BB8 indicated he had the reply from the former storm trooper.
"Let's pack a few thing. We can leave in thirty minutes."Poe stated as he began to power down the computers.
Dinner would have to wait. Poe thought as he and Rey left.
Poe gathered a crew of five including Rey and himself. Rose and two pilots they'd picked up after Lando's recruitment. One was a blond human male named Daniel Yoan. He was about ten years older than Poe. The other was a green skinned Drabatan who was almost as good as Rose with fixing things.
"Wish we had the Falcon."Poe grumbled as they reached the medium sized ship they were using.
"Lando and Chewie needed it."Rey pointed out. "Besides Chewie still hasn't forgiven you for the damage."
"I got it back in one piece, didn't I?"Poe countered good naturedly as they walked up the ramp.
"Barely."Rey replied with a smile.
The ship named Gold Luck was square and about a third of the size of the Falcon. Still Poe had been working on it in what little spare time he'd had. The engines were top of the line. Or as top of the line as they could get right now. All the mechanical were in good condition. The interior had been cleaned and repaired. Poe had repainted the ship to a more true gold color. When they'd acquired it the ship was a very pale awful yellow. Now it resembled Leia's protocol droid though not quite as shiny.
Poe let Yoam and M'lein the Drabatan handle the piloting and navigating for this trip. He gave Rose a mission to get some special ammunition ready. Which left he and Rey alone in the small main area an hour later. The area was more of a lounge than a cargo hold. It had several seats and a large rectangle table to the left of the room. Poe had coaxed Rey to sit at the table ten minutes before and now stood gathering a meal out of the rations.
"I know you have to be hungry."Poe commented as he hit one of the self heating packs. "I'm starved all I had was breakfast."
"I didn't feel well this morning so I haven't eaten much either."Rey confessed quietly.
"Doc said the sickness will pass as things progress."Poe said gently as he placed a meal of soup and bread in front of Rey.
"I know."Rey acknowledged. "Just taking some getting used too."
Poe sat down across from Rey but didn't pick up his fork. He reached across and took her free hand in his squeezing it.
"Did you get what you needed with the time away?"Poe inquired trying to keep the worry out of his voice.
"Yes, but I'm still nervous and scared."Rey responded looking down at their hands. "Plus being a Jedi what if I make a wrong choice that endangers both of you?"
"I'm scared and nervous too."Poe confessed as he stood and walked to Rey pulling her to her feet and into an embrace. "But I promise you we're stronger together and we'll figure this out. I love you, Rey."
"I love you too."Rey said softly.
Poe rested his head on top of Rey's holding her close for a few more minutes. This kid of theirs was going to be incredible and Poe couldn't wait. Though like Rey he was terrified he'd do something to put them in harm's way. Though with the state of things right now in the galaxy there was never truly a safe place. They'd just have to lean on each other; it was what families did.
