Poe's new squad of x-wing pilots were now much better than they had been to begin with. He would actually come back to base from manoeuvres happy, and on good terms with the other pilots. He was starting to make friends with them. He was doing better with his promise to himself that he wouldn't think about Dara. He was getting quite close t Finn, who would come back from combat training aching all over, but with a smile on his face. He definitely liked the man. He was a little bit sweet on him, but he felt like it wouldn't go anywhere, not while Finn's head was filled with Rey. Poe was okay with that. He wasn't really the sort of person to get absolute obsessions. He was patient. He could enjoy their friendship in the meantime. He was feeling happy in himself, he was sleeping better, he hardly thought of the mental and physical torture he was put through on Star Killer Base. He still had nightmares every now and then, of course, but things were looking up for him.
He was tending to his x-wing, Black One, with BB-8, making sure things were fine tuned. His x-wing was always in perfect nick. This ship was his baby. It was a pleasantly warm day on the base. The sun was shining, there was a bit of a breeze, hardly any cloud cover. Poe had hung his leather jacket up on one of the wingtips, and he had his sleeves rolled up. His hands were covered in engine grease. He was feeling right at home. BB-8 pointed out Dara walking right past him. Poe turned to look, and sure enough she was walking out across the landing bay, clad head to toe in black, not even a bit of red to liven her up. She looked ferocious, intimidating, and just very sad. He noticed that she didn't have a single friend on base. She only had her mother, but nobody knew they were related and they kept it that way. She sure as hell didn't make herself approachable.
"Princess!" he shouted, before he even had time to think about what he was doing. She stopped in her tracks and turned around to glare at him. Her face softened when she saw him, but none the less, she still had a steely gaze. She walked over to him and stood in front of him in silence. "I know I probably should have said this sooner, but… I'm real sorry about what I said. Honestly. I didn't mean it. I care about you, Dara. I don't like seeing you so sad. If I can do anything to cheer you up I will. I'll even stop being such an ass towards you." He idly wiped his hands on an already filthy rag and waited to see if she could forgive him.
"Poe…" Her voice was just as delicate and feminine as he remembered. "I realise now that I've really just been really inconsiderate. I mean, you have emotions, your human, and I think somewhere along the line, I must have forgotten that, because I've just treated you abysmally. I shouldn't have toyed with you like that. I'm sorry." This was obviously a speech she had been thinking about and rehearsing for a while. It still took him by surprise. So she realised what she had been doing to him? Finally.
"It's okay." he blurted. No. It really wasn't. He was confused and hurt, and generally disappointed by the whole thing. "Can we just be friends again?" He was worried about her. Yes she'd done some pretty dumb and hurtful things to him, but was still a little bit invested in her. He decided to take care of her, and he had to see that through. He saw her smile for what was probably the first time in weeks. "That's what I like to see." he said, jokingly. She smiled all the more at him.
"Thanks. For not giving up on me."
"No problem." he said with a shrug. But that meant a lot to him. Maybe there was hope for them yet.
"Poe… My mother doesn't know everything that's been going on. But she's going to ask you to take me to Uncle Luke… You can say no, if you want to. I told her to let you say no if you wanted to." She looked quite innocent and nervous again. He got the distinct impression that Dara was a young woman who had been forced to grow up very quickly in her childhood. Sometimes that innocence that had to be ignored for a while shone through.
"I can't say no to the General." He thought about it for a while. He honestly wouldn't mind. Somebody needed to keep an eye on her, and it might as well be him. He'd also get to meet the famous Luke Skywalker. And he'd get to see Rey again. Rey…
"Can Finn come? He needs to see Rey." Dara crinkled her brow and thought about it.
"I don't see why not. I've seen the good in him. He's not their thrall, he's not their spy. He's on our side." Okay so maybe he wasn't ready to part from Finn again, but he genuinely wanted him to see Rey again. He was very into her, and he needed to see if anything would come of them.
"Thanks Dara. I'll throw some things together. Will I just be dropping you off, or will you need me to stay for a while?" He could see her cheeks redden.
"Mother would like for you to stay for a time. To make sure I'm okay. I'm not a pilot or anything. And I don't know how Uncle Luke will greet me. I'm sure things will be okay." He nodded. He didn't really know what to say to that. Uncle Luke. It sounded very strange to hear THE Luke Skywalker referred to as Uncle. And he didn't want to get caught up in any Skywalker family drama.
"I've been meaning to ask you… Why is your name Varana and not Solo?" He really hoped he wasn't being really insensitive, but he had been very curious since he had found out who she was.
"It is. Varana is my middle name. I just dropped the Solo bit so people wouldn't know who I was." She gave him a smile then she continued to walk wherever she was going. Poe watched her walk away. He tried his best to keep his eyes from gluing themselves to her backside. But he did notice she had more of a bounce in her step. He was glad they had finally talked.