"There you are," Poe said, relieved. He had gone to the med bay when he hadn't seen her in a while but she wasn't with Ben and Kalonia said that she had left.

He went to find Rose first, but Kat wasn't there despite everyone else she would be with being there. Chewbacca and Finn sat around the bonfire with Rose, Jannah, the remainder of his squadron, Lando, Wedge, and a man he didn't recognize. He congratulated Jannah on a job well done and then Rose introduced him to Wes, the man he didn't know before. Poe wasn't entirely sure who he was to Kat, all he knew was that they had known each other during her time on Naboo and he didn't like how the other man acted like he knew how to find her. Thankfully Rose stepped in and Poe went on to continue his search.

He tried Leia's room first but she wasn't there. He thought about checking her A-Wing next but he would have heard if anyone had left so to the Millenium Falcon he went.

She sat in the cockpit, feet up on the control panel, looking completely at home. At the sound of footsteps, she turned around and smiled softly. "Hey, sorry if I worried you. I just needed to think."

Shaking his head, he took a seat in the co-pilot chair. "We are supposed to be celebrating."

She gave him a pointed look. "You know as well as I do that I can't celebrate. They want answers and I don't know if I can give them yet."

He shrugged. "Then don't answer them."

"I can't do that."

"Why not?"

"You don't have questions you'd like me to answer?"

"Yeah, I just asked you one."

Kat rolled her eyes. "Not what I meant."

Poe took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "I told you before that I'm going to support you with this. I may challenge you on some things but that's only because I don't trust him and I want to look out for you too. So the only questions I have are, what's your plan and how can I help?"

She couldn't believe it. She expected more of a fight, more explaining herself. Instead, she got his continual support and a warm, fuzzy feeling that she didn't know a lot about. Not only was it a rare feeling for her, but she also allowed herself not to feel it for years. "Even after everything?"

"Even after everything," Poe confirmed.

She lowered her feet back to the floor and leaned over to kiss him. "Thank you."

He smiled before kissing her again, tugging her towards him. Straddling his lap, she settled against him and deepened the kiss. Her fingers tangled in his hair as his delved into her braid, loosening it. His hand wrapped in the sling gripped her hip, holding her against him.

"Does this mean that I can steal you away now?" He asked as he kissed along her jaw.

She pulled back and unzipped her jumpsuit enough for her to remove her arms from the sleeves. "No stealing necessary." She smirked as she reached over and pressed the button that raised the loading ramp.

His smirk easily matched hers but before he could do anything to show just how much he liked the idea, Kat stood and walked away, pulling off her tank top as she went. He watched her, confused until she stopped in the doorway and turned to give him a coy smile.

"Are you coming, General?"

Poe scrambled after her as she led him to the captain's quarters where they remained for the rest of the evening.

She shouldn't have been surprised when Poe wrapped his arms around her middle. She saw him coming into the fresher in the reflection of the mirror as she focused on braiding her hair intricately before twirling it into a bun. There was plenty of work to be done and she didn't feel like dealing with her hair eventually sticking to her neck from the humidity so up it went.

"Good morning to you too." She said as he did his best to bury his face into her neck with her arms raised.

"Come back to bed." He mumbled, trying to persuade her with light kisses.

She let out a sigh and lowered her hands to rest on his arms after finishing the last braid before completing the look she was going for. "I wish I could but there's too much to be done that I wouldn't be the best company."

Poe rested his chin on her shoulder, looking at her through the reflection. "Didn't you know that bed is the best place to plan things?" He asked with a slight smirk.

Kat turned to look at him as best she could, a smile on her lips. "Is that so?"

"Oh yeah. All the best plans are made there." He let her go but took her hand leading her back out to the bed.

When he felt his calves hit the bed, he tugged her forward. One hand moved to her waist and the other went up to cup her jaw. Her hands landed on his chest and the moment he kissed her, they slid up to cross behind his neck.

She sighed into the kiss, letting him deepen it and have complete control. She wanted nothing more than to get lost in his kisses, to forget about all the decisions that awaited her outside of the Millenium Falcon. Not only did she have to figure out an exact plan on what to do with Ben, but she also had to figure out what to do with the remaining First Order bases, and how she was to approach the galaxy with a way to create a new, new Republic.

His hand slid under his shirt that she currently wore but before he could push the shirt off, Kat took his wrists in her hands and stopped his movement. Giving him an apologetic look, she gave him a kiss as she pulled his hands away from her body. "There's just too much to do." She said as an explanation.

Poe let out a sigh but nodded, before kissing her forehead. "Then we'll work through things over breakfast because everyone else is going to be too hungover to help out."

Kat laughed. "I'll go see what I can find in the galley then."

She kissed him one last time before they went their separate ways to get ready for the day. Once she was dressed, Kat made her way to the kitchen to see what she could rummage up for breakfast. She didn't want to leave the small bubble that the Falcon created yet. Besides, she doubted that those who worked in the Mess Hall were even up and making breakfast.

Leia probably would have shaken her head if she knew that Kat missed out on the festivities going on outside of the Falcon. Maybe more so at the fact that she didn't let herself truly celebrate with everyone even if she and Poe had their own celebration away from the rest of the Resistance. Kat let out a shaky breath, pushing her tears back as she climbed up onto the counter to look for the secret stash since there really wasn't a whole lot in the cupboards.

Pulling out the box, she tucked it into her side so she could lower herself back down. With her feet back on the floor, Kat began to look through it, trying to find something suitable for breakfast. She pulled out the bags of cereal, hoping they wouldn't have to eat them dry when she noticed a datapad.

Kat gingerly brought the datapad out, looking at it as if it was the most precious thing in the world. She didn't know why a datapad had been stashed away but knowing Leia, it had to be important. Turning it on, she nearly cried when the first thing she saw was a letter from her mom.

My darling daughter,

If you are reading this, Then I'm no longer physically with you. I'm sure I passed on some great wisdom but I wanted to give you one more thing. The following files are all about how each Republic ran their government so that you can see all that worked, all that didn't work, and make this third new Republic something great. I know you talked about wanting to create something that would allow for peace to truly last throughout the Galaxy so I hope that these will help. I also would just like to remind you that even though I am not physically with you any longer, that I will always be with you. Never forget how much I love you, Katerina. You have made me so proud and so lucky that I get to call you daughter and I know that you will continue to do so.

All my love,

Mom

Poe found her hunched over the counter, shoulders shaking as she silently cried. His heart broke at the sight. They may have won the war but they had lost so much. He laid a hand on her shoulder and soon his arms were full of Kat. He noticed the datapad on the counter and wondered what could have possibly been on it to get Kat into such a state.

She knew she needed to give him an explanation. Sure with all she's been through it wouldn't be too much of a surprise that she would just be randomly crying but this time something had triggered it. Kat let herself be held, enjoying his comforting caresses and kisses placed on her hair. It all allowed her to catch her breath from her cries, knowing that if she tried to talk now, it would be broken and hard to understand.

"She, she left a datapad full of information on each of the old Republic's bodies of government to help with figuring out how to get things going again." Kat sniffled as she pulled back.

"Still full of surprises I see." Poe chuckled as he wiped Kat's tears away.

Kat nodded. "I thought I was going to have to wait until I got back to Chandrila to look at my old theory holos to really dive into plans but she gave me files to get things kickstarted."

"Theory holos?"

"You know I did actually go to school despite what people read. I now finally get to put it to use."

A smirk appeared on his lips, brown eyes sparkling with mirth. Kat knew some ridiculous comment was about to happen and she gave him a warning look. "Be careful of your next words, Dameron."

He gave her a look, trying to act completely innocent. "What? I was just going to say how lucky I was to be with the most beautiful soon to be senator."

She rolled her eyes, shoving at his shoulder playfully. "Shut up. Get out of my galley." She said all with a smile.

Poe laughed and pulled her closer, giving her a cheeky grin before placing a playful kiss on her cheek.

Kat couldn't help but laugh along, shaking her head. "You're ridiculous."

"And yet, here you are." He smiled. If this small snapshot was going to be how things with Kat were going to be post Resistance. He couldn't wait to truly get started on creating a life together with her.

"Here I am." She smiled back before she kissed him. If this was going to be life with Poe, she could certainly get used to it.

They sat around the Dejarik table, datapad between them as they ate their breakfast. Kat marked places she would need to revisit and even started typing up notes in between bites. As Poe listened to her talk through things he couldn't help but just look at her in awe. He knew she was good at strategizing, some of the plans she had made for various missions over the years had been successful. Now that she was planning out everything for the latest version of the Republic, it was obvious she was even more in her element.

After they finished reading through the files, Kat sighed and leaned back into the booth. "Now just to figure out what to do with Ben and the rest of the First Order."

"I think Finn might have an idea about that second problem but what are you thinking about that first one?" Poe asked, turning to face her, tucking some hair behind her ear.

"I'm definitely not going to stand up and pardon him for everything. I just, I can't." Her voice cracked as she thought of everything that was stacked against Ben. "I know Snoke manipulated him in the beginning. I don't know the extent but I know that's initially why he turned. I'll have to talk to him about it. So I don't want to lock him up."

"What about some kind of assessment or maybe an apology tour?"

Kat thought about it, working through various possibilities when a full idea began to form. "So mom said that he has to listen to me so what if I promise to keep a close eye on him, he has bi-monthly check-ins that are like an assessment to see if he's ready to re-enter society maybe something similar to any Stormtroopers that might now defect and then he has to give us all information on old bases and help us fully end the First Order."

"You're going to test those that now defect?"

"I'm not about to have someone say that they defect and then try to rebuild the First Order up from the inside of all of our hard work. Basically trying to keep what happened with the first Republic from happening again. I'd have Finn and Jannah work on it if Jannah still wants to stick around of course. On top of that, there's the matter of reuniting families, helping them get back into society, and being their own person."

Poe nodded. "I'm sure it's part of what Finn would want to do."

"What are your thoughts on the other part of the plan?" She fidgeted with her fingers as she waited for his response.

"It's a good start. Could use a little tweaking. You're not going to be able to watch him all the time when you're trying to restart the Republic."

"Then I'll get help. Or maybe even do house arrest." Her eyes then lit up at another idea. "Yeah, a house arrest type situation. He won't be able to fly and he won't be able to practice the force on top of everything else and if he continues to improve then he gets those things back. Until he can live on his own."

"You're going to live with him?" Poe asked, not entirely liking the idea. Sure they hadn't talked about what they would be doing once they got off Ajan Kloss but he assumed they would be together.

Kat shrugged. "If that's what it takes."

Sighing, Poe moved so he could rest back against the booth.

"What?" Kat asked as she took over Poe's old position so she could look at him.

"I just," he bit his bottom lip, "I just thought that maybe you and I would find somewhere together?"

Reality came crashing in at his suggestion. Sure she had just thought about what life could potentially be like with Poe but moving in together so soon after they finally made it official, scared her. He didn't know what she was like outside of the Resistance. She wasn't that different but he could wind up tired of her and leave. He could be like her ex and use how much she worked as an excuse to crush her. She didn't know what their relationship would look like outside of the boundaries of war and that scared her. She needed to get off the ship and think, think about everything, not just her relationship with Poe but everything she was about to take on.

"I'm going to see if there's anyone up. We need to get started." Kat said, grabbing the datapad and hurrying off the Falcon.

Poe noticed the moment she froze up beside him. Her eyes widened and it looked like she even stopped breathing for a moment. Her hand shot out and grabbed the datapad and before he could even say anything she was gone. Groaning he lowered his head onto the table with a soft thud. He had hoped that he, them, no longer scared her. But even after they finally made things official, they still kept their separate space on base. Did they spend the night in each other's rooms when they could? Sure, but they didn't move in together.

He let out a frustrated sigh as he sat back up. He couldn't believe she truly ran from him when he mentioned what seemed like a logical next step. Not only would they continue to work together to rebuild things, but there was also the bit of the unknown of if there would even be adequate housing for everyone returning. Wouldn't it just make sense for them to only take up one option instead of two?

They needed to talk things through. She was going to absolutely hate, possibly even yell at him for it, but he was fully prepared to interrupt whatever sort of meeting she probably already got together. He wasn't entirely sure of what he needed to reassure her about but he also knew that he did not like that she kept running away from him when she got scared. He'd have to talk to her about that too and maybe ask her to promise him that she wouldn't do it anymore. If she needed to think things through on her own, he understood, but he'd like a little heads up at least, not this guessing game he was now playing on whether or not she would come to him or if he would actually have to force the conversation.

Poe let out a huff as he stood from the table, fully planning on finding Kat. He didn't want to come off too hot-headed about her leaving him but he did need an answer. Did she need time to think or was she running away from him for good? He didn't want to ask that second question. The potential answer to that tore him up inside, not wanting to lose her at all. She had easily grown into someone he needed in his life always so he hoped that she wasn't truly running away. He really hoped she wasn't truly running away.