Chapter 1: President's Fiancée

Poe Dameron felt the little ring box burning a hole in his back pocket as he waited in the hangar bay. At the edges of the expansive space, hidden in the shadows, was his Stormtrooper detail - half a dozen white-plated men tasked with his safety. As President of the Final Republic, Poe was a man weighed with heavy responsibility. He had risen far and high from the little boy on Yavin IV who dreamed of becoming a pilot. Spice runner to pilot to General to Senator to President, his career had taken him to places he had never dreamed.

A sleek, stainless steel cruiser now swooped into the hangar bay, whipping up a sharp breeze as it touched down in the otherwise gentle night. To Poe's right, one of the troopers raised his hand in signal, and his men kept their weapons trained all around the ship, keeping a sharp watch. The hydraulic ramp lowered with a hiss, and down the gangplank strode a statuesque, beautiful woman in gold and purple armor, wearing a chrome helmet. Poe grinned in relief and strode forward. Catching the striking bounty hunter in a hug, he picked her up and spun her around. Once the visor of the helmet fell away, the woman's deep blue eyes sparkled.

Still grinning, Poe playfully pressed his lips to the chrome metal where her lips would be underneath. He felt her chuckle against him.

"Wait, wait, fly boy. Let me get the rest of this off..." Zorii Bliss had barely unclipped the rest of the helmet from her face and tossed it aside before Poe's lips were capturing her lips in a deep kiss. She swayed and swooned against him with a plaintive moan, her jaw falling open to let his tongue squirm and urge against hers. After several moments, the couple broke apart, their arms now around each other. Poe radiantly beamed at her. Weakly, Zorii smiled back.

The pair had come so far since they were on the same crew running spice around Kijimi and the other Colonies. And they had certainly come far since even the end of the war against the First Order. Estranged at first, Zorii's intercession at the Battle of Exogol had reconnected the pair. Once back on Ajan Kloss, she hadn't wanted to talk to him, at first, but Poe Dameron was nothing if not persistent. Slowly, they had worked on building back trust with each other, culminating in Zorii agreeing to the resuming of a romantic relationship. They spent plenty of time seeing each other long-distance, what with Zorii's bounty hunting missions and the steady progression of Poe's career, but they had made it work.

In the last few years especially, Poe and Zorii had seen each other in secret, hooking up in rendezvouses like this one, only under the discretionary eyes of President Dameron's Stormtrooper security detail. The secrecy was something Poe tolerated; he didn't give a damn what his constituents would think of him being involved with a bounty hunter.

And, should all go well, he was about to prove that to himself, to Zorii and the all his people whom he served.

"Did you get your payout?" Poe murmured, touching his forehead to hers.

"Mm-hmm," Zorii nodded against him.

"Where'd you take him down?"

"On Wobani. In its black market district. He certainly hid himself well."

"Not well enough to avoid my girl, though," Poe exclaimed proudly, looping his arm through hers. "Well, you're safe now, back on good old Chandrila."

"Hmm," Zorii purred, resting her head on his shoulder. "Back to your condo apartment then? To sleep?"

"Actually, I was thinking you could stay over at the Presidential Mansion with me," Poe stated.

She lifted her head off his shoulder to peer at him. "Poe... what about your...?"

"I don't care what my staff or any else in Congress will think," Poe cut across her resolutely.

He had planned to segway into the big moment differently. He had written an entire speech, treating its composition with the same care as he would any one of his political addresses. But now that he was organically here in the moment, Poe couldn't think of a better time or place, as he quite abruptly dropped to one knee, keeping Zorii's hand tight in his. His girlfriend froze, eyeing him in wary confusion.

"Poe...?"

"Zorii, honey... I love you. Not even being President will change that. I want us to be able to love openly. I know I hurt you in the past, and I don't take your forgiveness for granted. Coming to help me on Exogol made me realize how much I love you. What a wonderful person you are. I want the whole galaxy to know how much I love you. And I want you to be with me for the rest of our days. Zorii, my love... will you marry me?"

Her pretty little mouth had fallen open in utter shock. Then her lips pressed into a thin line as she peered at him, amused. Slowly kneeling across from him, Zorii ran her fingers through Poe's curly dark hair, playing with the strands, sizing him up. Finally, she murmured softly:

"OK... Yes."

Jubilant, Poe pulled Zorii into a long, lingering kiss, which she held with a happy groan. The normally hardened woman actually held back tears as Poe pulled out the box and slipped the ring on her finger. Another soft kiss, chaste this time.

"I love you, my beautiful bounty hunter."

Zorii smirked, pleased. "I know." Standing, she helped her fiancé to his feet. "Well, I know one step we can already skip. Telling our families. Not that my parents would have cared; they never gave a kriff about me."

Poe nodded, looking wistful. "I wish my parents were around too," he sighed sadly. Then he brightened. "But I do have some family to introduce you to."

She eyed him, bemused. "Who?"

Poe's eyes just gleamed. "Keep your bags packed, sweetheart. We're going to Nakadia."