Rosella had to admit that she was feeling particularly tired as she sat on the Millennium Falcon next to Poe. Closing her eyes, she leant against his side as he turned to look down to her and pecked her on the top of her head. He was quiet, content with just holding her in his arms as he told her to try and get some sleep. They were on their way to the Endor system, finding the wayfinder that they needed to take them there. They hoped that when they arrived, they would be able to find Exegol.

On the flight there, Rosella knew that she had to find out what had happened to Armitage. Was he safe? Had he managed to find a way out? She didn't know, but she knew that she had to find out somehow. Once the Falcon had landed on the moon planet in Endor, she looked to Poe and watched him for a few moments.

"You should go with them," she said as Finn and Rey prepared to leave with Chewie, C3-PO, BB-8 and another droid that Rosella had never seen before. She moved to pat BB-8 on the head as she remained where she was on the ship, looking onto the grass beneath her and Poe watched her back. His brows knitted together.

"You're not coming with us?" Poe asked, hands holding onto her upper arms and running up and down them.

She had gotten changed into a blue jumpsuit, Poe's jacket around her shoulders to keep her warm. He had his sleeves rolled up to his elbows and his hands were covered in gloves.

"I don't think I'd be any use," Rosella said to him. "Besides, someone needs to work on fixing this ship. It's not exactly ready to fly again, is it? The landing was pretty bumpy."

"And you know how to do that?"

"Not a clue," Rosella said and Poe's lips turned upwards at hearing her. "But I know my way around enough to figure out what needs fixing, not how to fix it."

Poe continued smiling at hearing her and he shook his head, chuckling as he knew he had to go and catch up with the rest of them. He bent down and kissed her chastely on the cheek, not wanting to rush her into anything. And then Rosella knew she felt bad. She knew that she was lying to Poe and she didn't want to do that. Their relationship had to be built on more than that. He had to trust her. Sighing, she looked down and Poe moved a hand to brush her hair behind her ear.

"What is it?" he asked, knowing when Rosella was keeping something from her. He had seen it enough times. He had seen her bottle things up when all he wanted her to do was talk to him.

But he should have known what it was. There was always one thing, or more accurately, one person, who always seemed to be in their relationship.

"I just need to know he's safe," Rosella said to Poe and he wanted to groan loudly. He wanted to tell her to remember who her husband was and what he had done. She had ran away from him. She had been scared of him. "I know that it's illogical and I know that you don't understand, Poe, and I'm not asking you to understand…but Armitage is still my husband and he protected me. They were going to kill me and he saved me."

Poe didn't want to argue with her over this. He knew that it would do him no good. Besides, he knew that this might give her closure. This might give her the closure that she needed to move on from him because Poe knew that things were coming to a head. Things would soon end and he didn't know how they would end, but he knew that Rosella couldn't go back to the First Order again.

"Fine," Poe said and Rosella's eyes widened.

"Fine?" she checked with him.

"I don't pretend that it doesn't hurt me, Rose," Poe said. "The thought that I worry that you still love your husband-"

"-It isn't love," Rosella said to Poe. She needed him to know that. Taking hold of his cheeks in her hands, she held onto him tightly. "Poe, I don't love him like I love you. You need to believe me. There was a time when I loved him and I can't pretend that there wasn't…when we were first married…but I was young. I didn't truly know what love was and I thought that we had it. I thought that we loved each other, but it's nothing like what I feel for you. You need to believe me when I tell you that."

Poe sighed, a hand going to his forehead and running along it. He nodded his head, his eyes meeting hers as he saw the desperation there. She needed him to believe her. "I do," he promised her. "It's just hard not to feel…insecure…when he's constantly there."

"I understand that," Rosella said. "And I don't want you to feel that way, ever, because I will always choose you, Poe. I had my chance to go back and be with him, but that's not what I want. What I want is you, Katrine and a quiet life somewhere."

Poe nodded. "That's what I want too."

"And it's what we've been fighting for," Rosella said to him. "And it's what I hope we have, but I just need to know…I need to know if he is alive…for my peace of mind."

"Fine," Poe said and Rosella moved on her toes to kiss him, her lips pressing against his firmly as his arms wrapped tightly around her waist. He tangled a hand into her hair, holding her firmly to him as she took hold of his neck, arms wrapping around it.

He didn't know how long had gone before he heard Finn shout for him.

"Put her down, you spice runner, we need to go."

Poe pulled back from her as Rosella pressed a hand to his chest. "Spice runner?" she questioned from him.

"It was a long time ago when I was going through a rebellious phase. It didn't last long," he said to her and he saw her lips arch into a playful smile as he toyed with a strand of her hair, curling it around his finger.

"We're talking about this," she said to him.

"Nothing to talk about," he denied to her.

"I disagree," she said. "Now go and help them and I'll use the secure channel to check on Armitage. I'll catch you up when I can."

Poe nodded, knowing that she would want to do this on her own. He left her alone and she turned back to the control panel in the middle of the room, looking at the communication panel and dialling in the number for Armitage's private rooms. Sitting down on a stool, she looked to the table and waited for his hologram to appear. Folding one leg over the other, she pulled Poe's jacket tighter around her body before an image appeared. But it wasn't Armitage.

"Mrs Hux."

Pryde. She looked at him as he stood there, hands behind his back and Rosella instantly feared the worst.

"Where's Armitage?"

"He's here," Pryde said and a moment later he appeared next to him. His leg was bandaged up and he had a cane in his hands. His gaze settled on his wife as she looked to him and she instantly knew that something was wrong. She placed her sweating palms on her thighs, looking between the two men.

"I suspected we had a spy in our midst and it seems I have been proven right," Pryde said. "You managed to escape before we could worm it out of you, however, but don't worry, our plans are still going ahead."

"Good luck with that," Rosella said in a dry tone.

"But I do wonder why you called," Pryde said. "I suspect it might be to enquire about your dear husband."

Rosella felt her mouth dry out before she spoke, trying to sound confident with her words. "I know that he was shot," she said. "I wanted to make sure that he was fine…turns out that he is and I have nothing to worry about."

"I wouldn't say that," Pryde replied.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm no fool," Pryde said. "I know that he has been working with you as the spy. I know that he was he one who helped you escape-"

"-No," Rosella interrupted. "He didn't know any of it."

"Of course he did," Pryde snapped back. "And the ironic thing is that I would never have done this if you were still here because it would have been your life that I would have taken, but now I know for certain he was involved, he cannot be allowed to live."

"No, you can't do that, he's-"

Rosella stopped speaking as soon as she heard the phaser sound around the room. Her breath caught in her throat and she sat up straight as she watched Pryde shoot Armitage straight in the stomach. He fell down to the ground without another word as Rosella looked at him. Her eyes met his as the life drained out of him and he took his final breath. Moving a hand over her mouth, her eyes watered as she continued to look at her husband.

"I'm sure I will see you again soon, Rosella Hux," Pryde said and he ended the call.

Rosella gasped for breath then, doubling over and folding her arms over her stomach, clinging tightly onto herself as she tried to compose herself. She failed, however, the image of Armitage's dead body engrained in her mind. Standing up on shaky legs, she left the Falcon and stumbled along the grass outside until she came to a rock. Holding onto it, she bent over and was sick, coughing and spluttering as she shook her head. This was her fault. He was dead because he had saved her. He had risked his life for her.

"Rosella!"

She didn't turn around as she heard him shout for her. She could make out his footsteps in the distance as they grew louder. He finally was behind her, an arm going around her waist as he looked at her.

"What is it? What happened?" he fretted as she shook her head, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

"He…he knew…he knew that Armitage was a spy…" Rosella garbled and Poe did his best to make out what she was telling him. He watched her as she sunk against him and he wrapped his arms around her, holding onto her as she pressed her cheek to his chest. "He killed him…he killed him right in front of me, Poe."

Nodding, Poe finally understood and he kissed the top of her head, holding onto her for as long as he needed to.

…

Poe had held Rosella to him as the others fixed the Falcon. They had sat on the rock, his arm around her and her head resting on his shoulder. Finn had managed to deduce what had happened and had told everyone else before going to fix the ship. They had met other former Stormtroopers who had escaped the First Order on the moon and Finn had bonded with them, grateful to find out that there were others just like him. It made him feel as though they could overthrow the First Order if enough people were brave enough to turn again them.

But then Rey had ran off. She had gone to the Death Star that had been in the water and left them all, despite the fact that it had been dangerous due to the high tide. Finn had chased after her and Poe had followed him, wondering just what Rey was playing at as Rosella told him to go for her, sniffing and promising him that she would be fine.

But then she had disappeared. She had left them and claimed that she had somewhere she had to go and needed to do something. So, Poe had returned back to the Resistance base in the Falcon with Finn and the others. Landing back there, he had watched Rosella step out of the Falcon, her eyes immediately scanning around for any sign of Katrine.

She soon found the little girl when she screeched her name. "Rosella!"

Her eyes fell on Katrine as she pushed through the people in front of her to get to her. Dropping down to her knees, Rosella let Katrine move into her arms, holding onto her tightly and refusing to let go as the girl buried her face against the crook of her neck.

"Katrine," Rosella whispered her name. "It's alright…I'm here…"

Chewie and Finn continued walking as Poe stood behind Rosella and looked on as Commander D'Acy moved towards them, her face one of sorrow.

"Dameron, you have to come with me," she said to him but he looked down to Rosella and Katrine, seeing the two of them hold each other as Rosella smiled at her, tears in her eyes and her hands running down her cheeks and drinking in her features, never wanting to let her go again.

"Can you give me a minute?" Poe asked, wanting to languish in the scene in front of him.

"It's important," D'Acy continued to speak as Finn and Chewie looked to her from where they stood.

"I know, but I just-"

"-She's gone," D'Acy interrupted and Poe's eyes widened as he understood exactly what she was telling him. Leia was gone.

…

"Are you alright?"

Rosella had found Poe later on that evening after she had spent time with Katrine. They had all sat around in the base, Katrine on Rosella's lap despite her age. But she didn't want to let her go. They had discussed what it was they should do now that Leia was gone and had heard about how the new Star Destroyer had destroyed Kijmi. Poe knew that meant that every ship in the fleet now had planet-destroying weapons.

"This is how the First Order wins," Poe said to her as she sat down next to him on top of the hill. "The Sith have risen…the Resistance…we don't have enough power…and I now have everyone looking towards me. They look to me because I am acting General and I don't know how to do it."

"You know how to do it," Rosella said to him, moving to place a hand on his arm as he kept them dangled over his bent knees. "You have people with you, Poe. You have people who want to work with you…who want the same thing that you want…Rey…Finn…all the others. You need to trust that they will follow you."

"And you think they will?"

"I think they will," Rosella echoed back. "I don't think any of us are ever ready to step up and do things that scare us, but we do them because it's right. We do them because we have to fight for what is right. You know that."

Poe nodded. He did know that. Looking to her, he noticed the chain around her neck and he pulled it out from underneath her jumpsuit, looking at his mother's ring. Rosella looked down to it as he toyed with the chain in his fingers.

"Katrine told me you gave it to her for safe keeping, but she wanted me to have it back. She said she was just looking after it for me."

"She did a good job," Poe said.

"I like to think so," Rosella said. "I can give you it back if you-"

"-No," he interrupted, not even entertaining the notion. "I want you to have them."

"And I want them," she said to him with a nod of her head. "Just like I want you and I'll stand beside you, whatever is coming our way."

Poe looked to her and moved his hand to her cheek, letting the necklace drop down to her chest. He moved closer to her and kissed her slowly as she closed her eyes and let herself relish the feeling of his lips moving over hers. She doubted that she would ever get tired of that feeling. Poe pulled back after a moment and looked over her face as she kept her eyes closed, fingers sitting in the base of his neck softly and feeling his soft skin.

"Are you alright?" Poe asked from her, knowing that she would still be thinking about her husband. Nodding her head, she opened her eyes and looked to him.

"I've got you and Katrine. I'll be fine," she said and kissed him again as he let her lose herself in him for as long as she needed.

...

A/N: Not sure if anyone is reading but this story is nearing the end so would love to know what you think/want to see!