Hello all! I have to apologize for the delay in the update. Things have been absolutely crazy in Mistro's world, so I hope they're a bit more steady in your own. Please enjoy this chapter and don't forget to comment!

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Mara woke up with the taste of sand in her mouth. Her fingers reacted before her eyes did, pressing themselves uncomfortably against her soft lips.

She knew it was daylight without having to open her eyes. The bright, unforgiving sun of Jakku was shifting her vision into a delicate orange. When she did finally allow her vision to come through, the time of day was not the first thing she noticed. Poe Dameron was not beside her.

Sitting up quickly, Mara began to look around. Audio senses took control as the familiar sound of a wrench flew to her ears. She stood up to the cranking of the tool, making her way to the yellow backyard.

Not far from the back shed wall was a landspeeder. Underneath its thin flat surface, Poe was working away to repair it. Mara took a few steps towards him when he finally noticed her.

"Morning, sunshine." His grin was brighter than the sand as he stood up to greet her. "You seem like you slept well."

Mara's shaky breath slipped from her lips. Her mind instantly replayed the night before: the way that he had touched her and the sweet words he had danced into her ear. It was difficult to process how normal it was beginning to feel. Her arms instantly wound themselves around his waist, her head pressing flat against his warm chest.

Poe was taken aback by the gesture. His heart had still not slowed its pace from the night before, but Mara appeared to feel the same way. "Are you alright?" He mumbled into her hair.

"I'm fine." Her eyes were closed. "I just wanted to make sure you were real."

His lips found her hairline. "I'm real, and we're getting ready to leave. Gos gave me the ship this morning."

Mara passed it a glare. "Hunk of junk."

"That hunk of junk will get us to Yavin 4."

Her hands instinctively found her hips. "You bypassed the control system to alter its hover rate?"

Poe raised a brow. His hands tossed the wrench back and forth between them. "You think I wouldn't?"

Mara crawled beneath the vehicle, her back warm against the soft ground. Her fingers turned black as soon as she began to fiddle with the wiring, her trust instincts perhaps not completely developed. "These ground transportation vehicles can be a real piece of work if you try and alter their systems. I wish Gos had something better."

Poe tapped the hood playfully. "You should be grateful that Gos had anything." He leaned down to look at her. "I did everything as you taught me, teacher. I think I deserve a reward."

Mara smiled against her will. "We're not going to be doing that."

"The hell we aren't."

Mara followed his instructions, crawling from beneath the ship and meeting his lips. She pulled away from him somewhat carefully, as if she were holding a glass vase worth more than she could ever afford. "We should get ready to leave." He understood her subtext: Before trouble comes.

"Hop in when you're ready." He gestured dramatically. "It's not like we have many bags."

Mara climbed into the compact speeder, the tight cabin rather unfriendly for their long journey. Poe followed suit, making his way into the piloting chair without a drop of hesitation. He glanced at her to make sure this action was acceptable, to which she gave him a small nod.

"You seem nervous," she mumbled as he stared blankly the control board.

"I haven't seen my old man in a while. It will be hard to say goodbye again."

Mara thought back to Kes. She hadn't told Poe that she met his father. Something unexplainable put her off from doing so. Perhaps it was because it reminded her of what lovers did when things were getting serious, albeit meeting Kes Dameron had been somewhat of an accident. The two men's eyes were similar in their gentleness, their jaws as sharp as knives. Mara's hand reached out to Poe's thigh, where her fingers left a small squeeze. "Goodbyes are only temporary."

He flashed her a smile before punching in the coordinates. "Then yours better be as well."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Yavin 4's outline was strikingly more familiar to Mara than Coruscant. She felt her chest tighten at the idea that her parents may still be there, safe under Alok's protection. The fear that they had somehow not made it had been playing on her mind for days, but her parents were certainly safer there than Starkiller Base. It would be a difficult conversation to urge them to leave Coco Town, but after their recent shortcomings, she doubted they would refuse.

"Now you're the one being quiet." Poe's voice rang into her head. "Are you worried about your parents?"

Mara's hands began to sweat as they approached the landing strip. "It's never been something I've had to worry about."

Poe's fingers found hers. She watched as he traced the insides of them, pressing gently where her knuckles were. "It won't be something you have to worry about again."

"You don't blame yourself, do you?"

Poe wouldn't have answered even if he had the time. He was beginning to land his ship into the loading area, an assistant heading their way. But of course, the thought of regret had been on his mind since he was shoved onto Starkiller Base. Had it not been for his strong attachment to Mara, her constant image playing on loop in his mind, Kylo Ren would not have seen her face or heard her name. He would not have been able to track down her parents and put their lives in danger. He wished he could pull himself away from her for the sake of her safety, but admittedly was not brave enough to cut the ties.

"Poe-"

"Let's head out." His words were short as he began to climb to stable ground. "Your parents need to see you." Although he was clearly aiming to avoid the conversation, his hand reached out for her. She took it hesitantly, the sensation of his fingers on her body still echoing from the night before.

The two of them began to walk down the runway, their minds far away from the lush surroundings of the planet. The sky was inexplicably blue, its puffy white clouds distracting Mara from the fact that she was in a functioning war zone.

Poe's free hand was dug far into his pockets. His mind continued to swarm with waves of guilt, none of which he could express to Mara. How was he supposed to keep her safe and close at the same time? It was an anomaly that he couldn't seem to crack. The only couple that he had for influence were his parents and Leia Organa, neither of which had ended particularly well.

"Oh, Mister Dameron."

Poe heard Mara's voice before he saw the approaching pair of boots. He also felt her hand fall away. Poe snapped his head at the horizon, where his father's tall figure was standing only a few feet away.

A wide smile broke out across the older man's face. Mara's stomach twisted at how similar the two suddenly looked, although she had not thought that upon first meeting. "Well, I'll be damned. Two years without a visit and here you are on my doorstep." His smile redirected itself. "And with a girl at your hip."

Poe thought his heart was breaking, but he felt nothing but joy. "Dad," he said as he brought himself into his father's arms. Mara watched with a blush as Poe's body sunk into the chest of his father. He was only slightly shorter than Kes, but in that moment he seemed like a toddler. It made her heartbeat pound for any news of her parents.

Kes kissed the crown of his son's head. "I missed you, Poe. It's good to have you back." He tilted his chin upwards. "What's going on with your face?"

"Long story."

"We've got time." He motioned for the duo to follow. "Come back to the house and get comfortable. We can send word to General Organa that you'll be heading back to the base tomorrow, should that be her wish." He chuckled. "And it likely is."

Mara watched the pair of them walk off towards the main gate. Something kept her feet situated to the hot pavement, the image of a reunited family unable to register in her mind. "Are my parents here?" Kes Dameron turned around, his eyes squinting against the sun. "Alok Lokesh was supposed to bring them back." Tears danced at the corners of her eyes. "He said they would be here and that-"

"Come with me, Mara. Everything will be explained."

Poe snapped his head between the two. "You two know each other?"

Kes smiled. "Like I said; everything will be explained."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Poe Dameron's childhood home was smaller than Mara had expected. With their high status in the Alliance, she had had a gut feeling that their lives would be surrounded by images of luxury and wealth. This was not the case, yet somehow it seemed more fitting. Their sharply angular home was not much bigger than Mara's on Coruscant, but the lush forest life that surrounded it certainly was. She could smell citrus in the air mixed with something burning.

She noted the wide, circular open window of their living room. It opened up to a gorgeous sunset view where a powerful tree distracted Mara's attention.

"That's the tree that was planted from a Force sensitive seed." Poe whispered. "Luke Skywalker gave it to my mother, saying that it came from the heart of the Jedi Temple. Just like the one I gave you."

Mara caught her breath at the infamous name. "Have you ever…"

"Felt anything? Maybe in my imagination. Sometimes there's a tight pull towards it, but if I didn't know what sort of tree it was, I might not have felt it." He seemed sad when he shrugged. "Maybe it's my mind playing tricks on me."

Mara brushed his elbow subtly. "You don't need the Force to be a great fighter, Poe. You already are one."

"And you're a great liar." His tanned face looked fitting in the weather of Yavin 4, whereas it had looked burned on Jakku. "Why didn't you tell me that you met my father already?"

Her cheeks flushed pink. "There wasn't much time to-"

"Mara!"

Both of their heads shot up towards the doorway. It was Alok that Mara had coincidentally noticed first, despite her mother and father standing just beside him. When she caught their watery gazes, her eyes scanned them from head to toe to make sure nothing was out of order. They were safe, just as Alok had promised. Perhaps it had been his First Order uniform that made her unsure of his promise in the first place.

"Mom…" Mara rushed towards them with her arms already open, the softness of her family engulfing her in seconds. She wondered if this was what Poe had felt. Her lips found her father's cheek. "Dad… I was so worried about you two."

"About us?" Hari sniffed. "We saw your plane get shot down! We wanted to go back to find you, but Alok insisted that we wait. He seems to have more faith in you than we do." Hari's wrinkled hands could not release themselves from her daughter's hair. "I'm so sorry, darling."

Mara couldn't help but laugh in the midst of their happy reunion. "You have Poe to thank for that. I suppose I should have known the risk of going into a battlefield behind the clutch of a TIE fighter." Her parents glanced at Poe with wide eyes, confused as to why she spoke of him with such obvious affection.

"She's right; that was my fault. I was trying to save myself when things got out of hand." He outstretched his hand towards them, which they both hesitantly took. After all, the man had just admitted to shooting at their daughter. "My name is Poe Dameron and I'm the son of Kes and Shara Dameron. Mara and I have been working together in the Resistance for a while now and we've become…" He batted his long lashes, stuck on a word that they already knew.

"Friends," Mara finished. "Poe is Commander of the Black Squadron. He's also been training me to properly fly ships instead of hiding beneath them."

Dex looked pleased. "Oh, Mara. That's wonderful." He pumped Poe's hand a bit more strongly. "It's very nice to meet you, Commander. Your father has told us about your many accomplishments."

Hari smiled at her daughter. "And we've told him about yours."

Mara's hand rubbed at her neck. "Not much to say." Without thinking, Poe pulled her fingers away from their familiar spot. The four elders watched the gesture with raised brows, unsure of what sort of bond was truly developing between the two. Alok, however, was less blind than the others and quickly ushered everyone indoors before things became more obvious.

"I was just cooking dinner," Hari explained as she headed into the kitchen. "I hadn't intended to make it for six, but what's a bit of sacrifice when our two kids are home?" She kissed Mara on the head once more.

Poe's eyes stretched out to his wide backyard, the sound of an unfamiliar chirp slipping through the open glass door. He hadn't been home for many years. Sometimes he wasn't even sure if it was really his home anymore.

"Do you want to wash up before we eat?" Kes muttered in his ear. "Perhaps Mara would like to as well. The guest bedroom is clean." He nudged his son subtly enough for the others to miss it. "You can show her the way."

Poe's mind fluttered back to present day. He nodded and signalled for Mara to follow him. The house was warm from natural sunlight as they made their way down the corridor into a spacious bedroom. It was simple, the white bedding looking soft. Mara fell back onto it lazily. "I could get used to this."

"You won't be able to." Poe clicked the door shut. "We'll have to leave tomorrow. My father is probably sending a message to the General as we speak." His body fell beside her, his dry hands playing with the ends of her hair. He kissed a strand absent-mindedly. It was a nice habit, he thought, to be able to kiss her without a reason.

"Where's your mind at? You don't seem too thrilled to be home."

Poe stood up with a long stretch. "That's because I don't really feel as if this is my home. Of course I'm happy to see my father again, but he wasn't ever around when I was growing up." Poe crossed the room to the back window. He thought it smelled too strongly of lilacs, just like his mother had. "My parents were always on missions, and so my grandmother raised me. She died a long time ago."

"You were born two years before the Battle of Endor, right?" Mara flipped onto her stomach. "I can see how that would cause a bit of a struggle between family and duty."

Poe smiled over his shoulder. "Now you see why I've always been so hesitant."

"About what?"

Apparently she had not seen. He looked back outside, afraid to meet her gaze. "Hesitant about getting serious with someone. About starting a family."

Mara felt an invisible 'Oh' slip from her lips. Raising a family of her own was not something she had thought about for several years. "Don't worry; you're not the only one who's afraid."

Poe had foolishly forgotten about the scar on her stomach. He had mulled it over as she slept the night before, wondering what circumstances she had to be in in order to lose her child. It had to be Leo's, which would explain her hostility towards his disappearance. He didn't think it was possible to dislike the man even more, but now those feelings were confirmed on the border of hate. "I'm sorry, Mara. That was selfish of me."

She shook her head. "You're never selfish."

"Now that's not entirely true, is it?" He returned to her, slowly pulling her shirt over her head. "The second I heard about your relationship with Leo, I thought I was going crazy with jealousy."

Mara laughed as he flung her shirt over the bed railing. "I suppose that's not a feeling you have very often."

Poe kissed the indent at the bottom of her neck. "I wanted you for myself."

Mara kissed his temple in return, pushing him off the bed. "You can't touch me like that here. Nobody knows about us. If they did, I have a feeling they would be very strongly opposed." Poe winced at her honesty. "So, if you were planning on taking a shower with me, you'd better rethink your next move."

Poe wanted to frown, but he couldn't help but grin at her confidence. "Alright, Miss Crescent. If those are your orders, I'm obliged to follow them."

She batted him towards the threshold. When he grabbed the handle, her lips caught his so quickly that he wasn't sure if it had even happened. "I'll be out soon," she whispered before the inevitable click of the door.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Dinner was more food than Poe and Mara had managed to eat in weeks, although their parents continued to persist about how guilty they felt eating half of it. Hari and Dex were exhausted from the joy they felt at the arrival of their daughter and therefore headed to bed early. Mara hadn't gotten the chance to talk to them about staying on Yavin 4. It would be an uncomfortable discussion better saved for the morning.

Alok also headed back to his own residence, wishing them well "until the next time he saved them". Mara felt a twinge of sadness about seeing him leave without the ability to properly express her gratitude, but she knew that it was certainly not the last time.

Kes Dameron, however, was not particularly tired. He sat in the living room with Mara and Poe, recalling old memories of his days as a pilot and fighter. She could see the wrinkles appear beside his eyes when he smiled, reminding herself that one day she would wear those marks too. She hoped she wore them as proudly as him.

"Poe was six years old when he flew Shara's RZ-1 A-wing interceptor. I told her she was insane for letting someone as scatterbrained as our son fly that thing." He sipped his cold beer with a chuckle. "It wasn't the only time I was wrong about her decisions."

"Six years old," Mara repeated with wonder. She gazed at Poe, hoping he could see the admiration in her eyes. "I think I was still eating dirt."

"Must have done you some good." Poe mimicked his father, pressing the rim of the glass to his lips. "You turned out okay."

Mara hit his knee, feeling at home after only a few sips of wine.

"I would sit in my mom's lap while she flew. She would usually pretend that it was me steering, despite her hands being wrapped around the controls."

Mara leaned back into the couch, her lips still spread in a smile. "Where is your mother? Is she away on business?"

An uncomfortable silence spread across the house. Mara knew the answer as soon as she saw their faces drop, her own heart falling along with them.

"She died when Poe was eight." Kes's words were hardly louder than the crickets outside. "It was unexpected, but we healed."

"Death is a natural part of life," Poe recited the great Master Yoda. "Rejoice for those around you who transform into the Force."

Poe had always spoken about his mother in present form. There was no evidence in the way he acted that she had left him at such a young age. It made Mara stop and question how much she had spoken of her own loss, about the heartache that it had stitched into the fabric of her soul. She had never even asked Poe about his own story, unaware that someone could feel as sad as she felt every morning. Although it had been decades since Shara's passing, the darkness crossing Poe's face made Mara quite aware that he had not moved on.

"The pain of losing someone without expectation is something we can't prepare ourselves for." Mara glanced to the trees outside. "In fact, even if we can see it coming, it's never something we can fully accept. The only comfort I seem to get is when people tell me that they wouldn't have wanted me to be sad. Sometimes I don't know if that's true."

Kes nodded slowly. "Wise words, Miss Crescent. We all learn to heal, don't we?" He raised his empty glass. "That's what it means to be human."

Kes did not know of Mara's own story, and so he could not understand how much his words impacted her. "Yes. We all learn to heal."

"In our own time." Poe's words were obviously for Mara. It was then that Kes could see the sharp way his son took notice of the woman sitting on the couch. He thought he saw Poe's fingers twitch in the desire to reach for her. His body was so open to her presence, so fixated on her every word, that it was impossible to dismiss it as unfamiliar. He had been that way many years ago with the one woman who would never leave his heart.

"Your old man needs some rest," Kes muttered with his mind still latched onto Shara. "Get some rest. I suspect Leia will have a lot for you to do when you return." He was heading down the hallway, but they could still hear his slurred words. "Don't stay up too late."

Poe laughed at the parental order. He didn't hesitate, however, to crawl next to Mara on the couch as soon as Kes was out of sight. He curled into the crux of her arm, eventually resting his head on her crossed legs. She looked beautiful when she glanced down at him, her hair falling around her face like a dark frame.

"What are you doing?" She mumbled. "What if someone wakes up?"

"Let them see." His fingers traced her lips. "I don't know how often I'll be able to do this when we go back."

Mara's frown deepened. "I hadn't thought about that."

"Don't think about it." He tapped the communicator on her wrist. "You know where to find me."

"6733." Mara spoke from memory.

"And as far as I recall, you still don't have your own bedroom."

Mara reached for the back of her head. "Knowing the doctors, they'll keep me in the hospital ward for a couple of days. I can't imagine what a nightmare it looks like back there."

"It's pretty bad." Poe mockingly scrunched up his face. "You look like you're transforming into a Vuvrian."

Mara slapped him on the stomach. "You've gone too far!"

Poe sat up, pressing his lips to her cheek. Her eyelids flickered shut at the sudden intimate gesture, making her wonder if she would ever get used to it. He moved her chin towards him, pressing his lips against hers. His tongue broke the space between them, a heavy sigh escaping him without will.

"You really won't stay with me tonight?"

Mara's smile was sad. "I think my parents would never let me live it down."

Poe nodded, understanding her viewpoint. "If you ever feel lonely, just come and find me. I'm on the opposite side of the kitchen in the room with an X-wing sketch on the door." He pressed his fingers over her lips. "Don't laugh."

She kissed his hand before he could take it back. She loved being able to kiss him everywhere. Now she wanted to kiss him at any time. He was so good to her, perhaps too good if one had to measure it, that she had the sinking feeling he would leave her. Her parents were the only people in her life who hadn't.

"I'll laugh at you in the morning, then."