A/N: May I just add that before you start reading you might want to check out the last chapter since they are both being uploaded at the same time? Enjoy!

Epilogue

It was raining again. Sitting in the small alcove at the window, Poe watched little Mia's face as she stared at the water droplets sliding down the window, her tiny hands holding on tightly to Kes' arm. Her dark brown eyes seemed huge in that little face and her slightly parted lips and the obvious trust she had placed in her adopted grandfather ever since he had arrived about three months ago, made Poe grin. Mia and Kes had been inseparable from the time they had first laid eyes on each other, when Poe and Finn had gone to Yavin 4. It had been Finn's first weekend off after they had returned from Birken Six and a long time before they had even fully realized what had happened to them. All three of them had taken some time getting used to one another, especially Finn, who had never had an infant as a constant in his life. Poe himself had been more than insecure with handling Mia himself, though he'd had at least some experience holding babies. Changing them and preparing formula were both new to him and he had begged the one medic on Birken Six also trained in child care to show him all he needed to know, while Finn had been busy with the injured. Somehow, it had fallen to Poe to care for Mia from the start and he had never complained or regretted it even for a moment. After he had learned the basics, things had become easier, though the child's fate was still gnawing away at him. For a couple of hours, he had expected someone from Mia's family to turn up and take her with them, but no one had come. No one but him and Finn seemed to even care. No one but them was even concerned about the little orphan and it had made staying on Birken Six almost unbearable to Poe. These people had been a community and yet they voluntarily gave up one of their own, a helpless baby, to the care of strangers. No. If they had only given Mia to Poe or Finn… but they hadn't even asked why they were taking the baby to their shuttle to familiarize themselves with the whole idea of being parents… because that was exactly what they had become the moment Alma had died.

Staying on Birken Six, that forsaken planet in the middle of nowhere, had been painful for the both of them, especially the mass funeral they had attended two days after the death of Finn's grandmother. Watching the flames envelop the thirty or so bodies, knowing that two of them were of Finn's family, had broken Poe's heart all over again. At this point a lot of people had found one way or other off Birken Six and everyone who had been treated by the Republic's medics had been cleared for transport if they wished to get away. Only three families had decided to stay on Birken Six, probably hoping to rebuild part of the mining operation, but not saying that out loud. Poe didn't have much hope for their success or their survival, since the next smuggler ring was probably only waiting to set up another operation on that planet in case the Republic didn't show any interest in it.

Poe and Finn had only been able to take one couple to a space station near Sullust, where the two women wanted to settle down, though they were unwilling to talk about any further plans. Seeing the community break apart like that, with only a few people showing any sign of distress at this, still made Poe squirm with unease today. Even six months later, he couldn't bear to think of all that had been lost and how little those people had cared. They hadn't been able to keep tabs on anyone. Their passengers and everyone else they had talked to had made it perfectly clear that they didn't want to have anything to do either with the Republic or Poe and Finn for that matter.

When they had finally arrived back on Chandrila, Poe had reached out to his old contacts from his time with the Resistance to inform them of the refugee's situation and what he and Finn had encountered during their trip, but since not one of the refugees could be found or had expressed any desire to live in the Republic, their attempts to get them to speak up in court against Bendar or any of his followers, had proven to be futile.

After that Poe had taken to caring for Mia and Mia alone. Now he had only one week of scheduled parental leave left until he had to start taking Mia to the day-care centre before going back to work every day. These last couple of months hadn't been easy exactly. At first he had thought that half a year was plenty of time to spend taking care and getting to know a baby, though today he thought back with a grin to the knowing smile on his commanding officer's face, when Poe had requested his leave. Half a year, he knew now, wasn't nearly enough. Not even remotely. Especially when parenthood had come as a bit of a shock to both parents and none of them were prepared for it even in the slightest. The first couple of nights Poe hadn't been able to sleep properly for fear of not waking up when Mia needed him or Finn. They had both known that taking care of a baby meant a lot of work and responsibility, of course, but it had been Poe who had volunteered to shoulder most of that straight away since Finn had not even started work at the medcenter when they had gotten home and was more reserved with Mia than Poe was anyway. The first reason had been the one they had talked about openly. The other had been obvious and in a way understandable to Poe, who had never even started discussing it. The fact that Finn simply couldn't afford to go on leave was as good an official reason as any, while Poe was not only perfectly entitled to parental leave, but had had also no desire of going back to working for the Republic at that point in time. They were both fed up with the system they had fought so hard for, losing many friends in the process. The events on Birken Six in connection with the diplomatic upheaval that had followed and the ensuing inability of the Republic's justice system to do anything about Bendar's followers had been hard to watch. Back in the day, Poe would have spoken up against this nonsense, but nowadays he felt tired. Way too tired to even concern himself with political matters.

Bendar's family, his wife and two sons, were here on Chandrila in one of the many cities, though their exact whereabouts were unknown to both Poe and Finn. At least Meelan Bendar had been put on trial, while most of his followers had been set free, since, thanks to absent evidence, they hadn't committed any crime in the Republic, or against any of its citizens. Bendar alone was being held responsible for anything he had done.

A couple of weeks ago Poe and Finn had been asked to give evidence concerning Bendar and they had done it without hesitation. Poe had been asked by Bendar's lawyer to tell the jury to retell the story of when he had been Bendar's prisoner over ten years before and how Bendar had helped him escape the First Order. Poe had been honest and told things exactly as they had been, but he was afraid that what he had said might be weighed in Bendar's favour and reduce his sentence. Still Poe hadn't followed up on the trial, which was nothing but a game of charades in Poe's eyes, since the press, undoubtedly thanks to some contacts Bendar had high up in the Republic's senate, was keeping weirdly quiet about it. He would have expected this trial to come up more often in the media than it did, but still he had of course heard what had been going on in court and which sentence was most likely to be passed today and it made him angry beyond reason. The feeling that this whole thing was being hushed up was infuriating and the fact that not a lot of people seemed to even care about the First Order officer on trial, such a long time after the war had ended, was depressing. Staying far away from the holo and watching Mia interact with his father was the only thing that could keep his mind off the rage slowly eating away at him.

His father had joined them three months ago to pay them a short visit for their wedding, as he had said, but it had only been too obvious that Kes Dameron had come to stay, even if he insisted on going back to Yavin 4 every other day, he never made preparations to leave and Poe could see him struggle to get up the courage to ask him if he could stay after all. His father's condition had worsened considerably and that too had been hard to watch. Kes Dameron, who had always been full of energy and focused on his daily tasks, had become tired. He didn't seem to be in pain, but it was obvious that he was growing weaker by the day and that there was nothing to be done. Somehow, over the last couple of weeks, Poe had begun to accept his father's fate. He was going to lose him too. The only thing that made watching the process bearable was seeing Mia on his father's lap and he was grateful that his father had the chance to meet his grandchild. Because that was exactly what she was, or rather, what she had become. Mia had started out as someone being flung into his and Finn's arms, a stranger they somehow had to help survive, but over time, as Poe had watched her grow and thrive, she had become more. She was his daughter now. His and Finn's child and though it still tore him apart thinking of the family she had lost; he was grateful for having her in his life. And his father, who had been just as surprised at this new addition to the family, hadn't even taken as long to accept her as his grandchild and Mia had done what nothing had been able to achieve before. Finn and Kes were getting along better now than ever before and Kes even let Finn help him occasionally, whereas Poe still wasn't allowed to do any more than prepare his father's meals.

Kes was more or less chained to his repulsor chair and needed a medical droid's assistance in almost each and every task, since he was never willing to accept Poe's help and Finn wasn't home a lot of the time. He slept most day, only getting up for a couple of hours each day and already his eyelids were drooping again, but he was solely focused on Mia and keeping her on his lap, so Poe let him be for now. Leaning back against the window, Poe had to admit that despite everything, his father looked younger with Mia on his lap. Seeing the two of them together made him almost forget that his father's hands were shaking and had been doing so for the last couple of days.

"I'm glad I got the chance to meet her," Kes said, not for the first time and Poe nodded, unable to return his father's smile now. The way Kes had said it reminded Poe of what the doctor had said the week before. That is father didn't have a whole lot oftime left and the only reason he wasn't in pain was the fact that he simply wasn't able to experience the pain anymore. Poe even doubted whether his father could actually feel Mia's warmth or just the pressure of her body weight and her tiny hands.

"Me too," Poe answered and hesitantly reached out to touch his father's arm. "Stay with us." It was obvious by now that Kes didn't have a whole lot of choice anyhow, but actually asking his father to stay meant that he wanted him here with them. Permanently. To take care of him as well as Mia. And he also knew what that entailed.

Kes looked for a moment like he wanted to shake his head and Poe knew exactly why. Kes wanted to die in the same house as his wife, wanted to be in the same room and feel her presence. But his eyes told an entirely different story. Kes Dameron was helpless. As helpless as he had never been in his life and that was scary to him. Asking his son for help was just as frightening. "I'll think about it," Kes mumbled, his eyes on the lake which the house overlooked and which was growing darker as night set in. Soon it wouldn't be visible anymore. Soon it would be as if it had never been there. As if this entire house was surrounded by nothing at all. "I think I'm going to bed," he said and Poe didn't hesitate to pick up his daughter, whose face showed only too plainly that she didn't want to be transferred to anyone else's lap. Not even Poe's.

"Alright. Do you need help?" As usual his father shook his head, but he was smiling now. "Good night. You too, Mia."

Mia was watching her grandfather retreat and Poe pulled her closer to his chest. Looking at the chronometer on the wall told him that it was high time for Mia to get her last bottle of the day and only half an hour before Finn got home from work. He could hear the medical droid following his father into the guest room, which had been meant for Kes from the start and was going to be his for the rest of his life. Poe shuddered thinking about the time when that day would come, which was probably not that far away by the looks of it. He buried his nose in Mia's jet black curls and breathed in the soft and sweet smell. "You're doing a great job with grandpa, Mia Shara Dameron," he whispered and, getting up, carried her with him to the kitchen unit.

Preparing Mia's formula had become routine. So routine in fact, that he barely registered what he was doing anymore and was able to prepare it even in a sleep deprived state. Today he was listening for the sounds coming from Kes' bedroom and thinking about the time to come. When the door to Kes' room opened and shut again, he knew that, as usual, Kes had sent out the medical droid as usual. It was only too obvious that their plans for the foreseeable future had changed, and the most incredible thing about that was probably that Poe wasn't at all concerned about it. The only thing that worried him was the emotional turmoil it would throw him in and he was grateful for having both Mia and Finn at his side to be there for him when the worst day came.

Mia was wriggling in his arms, making sounds that only too vividly expressed her displeasure of being kept away from sustenance. "I know, Beanie-baby… hang on a sec…" The bottle was ready and he took it with him to the alcove where they had sat before. As usual night had set in fast and he couldn't really see out the window. As usual at this time of day, Beebee-Ate was already waiting for them in his usual spot by the seat where Poe sat down with Mia almost every night. "You helping me again, buddy?" Poe asked and at the affirmative beeping he couldn't help but laugh. "Alright, you know what to do." Settling down with both Mia in his arm and the bottle took quite a bit of concentration and balance, so he held out the bottle for Beebee-Ate to hold and sat down with Mia.

Mia didn't take her eyes off either the droid or the bottle, as Poe leaned up against the window, put his leg up on the seat and settled Mia down for her supper. On cue Beebee-Ate stuck out the gripper arm holding the bottle and started humming in a soft, low binary melody, which made Poe smile months and months after he had heard it first. It was strangely touching that an astromech droid knew how to recreate a melody. When Poe had first heard it the very day they had returned from Birken Six, exhausted and fed up with everything but Mia, Poe had started crying and shaking uncontrollably at the sound of it. Only Beebee-Ate stopping abruptly and Finn's presence had managed to calm him down. The tune Beebee-Ate was humming (there didn't seem to be another word for what the droid was doing) had been Morap's favourite song and with tears streaming down his face, Poe had asked the droid to start over, while Finn was holding Mia, feeding her. Somehow, Beebee-Ate had stored that melody on his hard drive to dig it up just at this moment of reunion and Poe had felt like he was falling apart the first couple of times he heard it. Poe had gotten used to it, and he appreciated Morap being there with them in some way. He knew it was stupid, but it made Poe feel like Morap approved of Poe's new life and Finn didn't mind the music at all. On the contrary. Whenever he was present for Mia's supper, he insisted on Beebee-Ate playing that music and he always was very observant of Poe's reactions, but never pressured him to talk about it. Just Finn being there, looking out for him, was enough for Poe.

As Mia drank, her hands slowly reached out to the bottle and held on to it. Her warmth, in combination with Beebee's light melody, made Poe sleepy himself and he almost jumped, when he heard the front door open. Seconds later Finn walked in, looking tired but calm. He stood there for a moment, just looking at them sitting there. Poe returned his gaze, transfixed. And then a sudden shift seemed to go through Finn and he smiled slightly and a sudden wave of warmth rushed over Poe. Rey had been here over the weekend to help Finn get used to his powers. It had been nice to watch them getting along again and to see how Finn had started to learn how to improve and control his powers, while settling in at his new job and life at the same time. The first time Rey had come here, had been for the wedding ceremony three months ago with Kes and a week after the wedding Rey had started helping out Finn. The strange healing powers Finn had displayed back on Bendar's ship hadn't shown themselves again, but according to Rey an untrained Force user sometimes acted out on impulse, not really knowing what he was doing. Maybe, just maybe, those strange powers might return to Finn one day.

Poe helped Mia get the bottle out of her mouth, so she could let out a short sound of pleasure at seeing Finn. "Hey, you guys!", Finn said, letting his bag slide off his shoulder and bending over to kiss first Mia and then Poe. Beebee-Ate had stopped humming but gently nudged Finn to sit down as well, so the feeding could resume. The droid had become increasingly protective of Mia and he was the one making sure her feeding and sleeping schedule was kept.

"When are you getting rid of that horrible beard, Poe? It's scratchy!"

"Good evening, breadwinner," Poe said smiling, as Finn sat down next to him and reached out a hand to help Mia get back at the bottle. Shaving hadn't been Poe's number one priority when Mia had joined their family and by now he had grown used to and even rather fond of the short beard. Finn however complained on a regular basis. "How was your day?"

Finn's face darkened slightly. "Work was fine…", he said, as Beebee-Ate picked up the melody again. "Did you hear about Bendar?"

Poe stiffened. Of course he had expected Finn to bring the news home, but for a few precious minutes he had been able to forget all about it. Shaking his head, he looked down at Mia in his arms and held the bottle for her, though she was doing her best holding it up herself. "Tell me."

"He got ten years."

Poe's throat was parched all of a sudden and he had to force himself to look up and face Finn, whose eyes told him that he was feeling the same. "Fine…" Poe muttered, fighting down searing hot anger. "Fine…" He pressed his lips together and took a deep breath. Ten years… that wasn't nearly enough for what Bendar had done to the people on Birken Six or to those countless prisoners he had tortured in the name of the First Order. But of course he should have expected this to happen. Bendar had only been charged with what he had done to Poe and Finn six months before and since he had given them up willingly, ten years was more than Poe could have hoped for. But still… Finn's presence surrounded him. Warm and comforting, but he knew that Finn was angry as well.

Nodding, Poe heaved a heavy sigh. "Fine." Saying it for the third time felt like a full stop. A full stop finishing a long chapter of his life. "I quit."

Finn raised an eyebrow and Poe looked down at Mia again, who was happily sucking the formula out of the bottle. Beebee-Ate had fallen silent again. "You what?", Finn asked and Poe shook his head.

"I'm retiring." He had been toying with the idea for quite some time now and he felt like now was the time to take some action. Even if action meant stepping down. "I won't continue serving a government, which I can't support… that doesn't mean I want to fight it or anything, I believe in the Republic's ideas and I know they have the potential to better themselves, but right now… I can't do it anymore Finn." He swallowed, pausing to find the right words and Finn didn't interrupt his thought process. "I'm old enough. I have every right to retire and I'll be getting almost full pay. More than I am getting now, I expect. Plus, I have Mia here and my father… I couldn't go back to work as it is anyway." He shuddered, thinking of the enormity of his decision, but his gut feeling had never been wrong and right now it was telling him that leaving military service was the right thing to do.

Finn was silent for a moment, though that silence didn't diminish Poe's feeling that Finn understood perfectly well what saying those things meant to him. "Okay…", Finn said after a while, putting a hand on Poe's knee. "I don't want to hear any complaints from you though." He wasn't looking at Poe anymore, but at the droid sitting at Poe's feet. Laughing, but still dreading what the future was holding for him and his heart light at the same time, Poe put his free hand on Finn's.

THE END

A/N: Where do I even start? Thank you for reading this! Thanks for sticking with us! Every reader made us want to work more! We are currently working on the third part, but that may take a while to upload on here. Stay tuned! I'm going to announce the third chapter of Unknown Limits on my tumblr sourlander and probably also on my instagram and twitter (both chrizzy0789)

Thanks to flausengut for reading this thing even though you weren't into Stormpilot in the beginning. From what I heard you enjoyed reading this and I really loved the voice messages you sent me telling me where I put a comma before "that". It was a really nice game of hide and seek. Thank you so much for helping me/us out!

Thanks to WeirdBlanche for reading everything I throw at you!

And THANKS (!) to my friend AuroraLynne who did the most amazing drawings to keep me going! You managed to make me cry almost every time you sent one over! They mean the world to me and if you could see my room, you'd know that I don't only enjoy your drawings digitally! They are everywhere! I'm so glad we're working on this thing together!

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