Poe snoozed pleasantly on a soft bed, that cushioned him and made him feel so well rested. He felt like he was lying on a cloud. Everything was okay. All was good with Poe's world. He smiled happily as he cuddled into the blanket he lay upon. He felt a hand on his shoulder shaking him gently.
"Mom… five more minutes." he muttered, unintelligibly. The hand shook him again, and the past few days came flying back to him. He shot upright with the blaster pointed at the door. "I'll kill you!" he shouted, in a slurred tired yelp. He blinked his eyes and tried to wake himself up and realise what was going on. BB-8 beeped at him frantically.
"She's awake?" There was nobody coming in the door and he looked behind her and sure enough Dara was awake, and had moved away from Poe when he jumped. She gazed up at him with her gorgeous hazel eyes.
"I'm awake." she said sarcastically. He sat on the bed again and took her hands and kissed them both.
"Are you okay?" He cuddled her hands to his face and felt great joy to see her awake and smiling tiredly at him.
"I imagine I must be a hideous sight." she said, trying to laugh, but there were tears in her eyes. Poe knelt next to bed, and stroked her hair as he held her hand.
"You know I think you're the most beautiful person in the galaxy, Dara Varana." She sat up and looked quite insecure.
"Thank you…" she said, a vulnerable tone to her gentle voice. "You stayed with me. Through it all. Thank you. Thank you so much." Dara was on the verge of tears. Poe frowned, sad to see her distraught. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close, stroking her hair. And then she started to cry.
"My life is going to pieces. My father is dead, my brother wants to kill me, he had someone throw acid in my face. I look like a ruin. How am I meant to be the gracious Princess of Alderaan when my face looks like this?!" She dissolved into tears. He held her all the tighter.
"When your face is beautiful? When your face shows the incredible, strong woman that you are? When your actions and personality far outshine your beautiful outward appearance." Poe was crazy about her, and her physical beauty wasn't even the leading factor in his attraction to her. And she was an incredible person, who many were fond of, despite her coming across as standoffish at first. He wished he could make her see herself the way he saw her. He wished he could make her understand what an incredible woman she was.
"Poe…"
"What?" She looked as though she wanted to argue, and was going to get up into a tirade in disagreement, but it seemed that at the last second, her argument died, and she smiled instead.
"You're too kind." He lay down beside her in her bed and held her close, in a warm embrace.
"I'm as kind as you deserve, and you still deserve more."
Weeks had passed in a quiet solitude. Dara and Poe remained within the palace with the safety of a royal guard. They ate and drank, and explored the large palace together. All the while, Poe was getting updates from base command. He had informed the General about Dara's condition. Of course she was deeply worried, but Poe assured her that Dara was okay, and that the culprit had been caught. He had not told her what the scum had said. Plans were being formed with new information mined from Sullust by cleverly placed spies. A battle would take place eventually. They were building something. Poe shuddered to think that they were preparing to make another Star Killer base. Poe would be recalled sooner or later. He kept this information from Dara for now. She was happy with him. Staying in the palace suited her for now. He wondered if she wasn't afraid of going outside. He wouldn't blame her. A horrible thing had happened to her. But the galaxy needed her. He held her hand as she examined her reflection in a large mirror in front of a vanity table. Her eyes were soft with sorrow. Poe leaned down and gently kissed the top of her head.
"Everything will be okay." She nodded before she stood
"I need to see her." Dara said quietly, dressed in regal finery with a stern look on her face. Poe didn't approve of this idea, but Dara was a grown woman, and the monarch of this planet.
"You won't like what you hear." Dara shook her head.
"I don't want to hear anything that falls out of her mouth. I will look into her mind. I need to know if Ben has connected the dots. I need to be safe. He never paid attention to the reformation of Alderaan, or the politics our mother taught us, but he is in the company of smarter people now. They will put two and two together at some point." Poe still didn't like the idea. Poe had met the woman, and he didn't need the force to know that she was psycho. But he supposed that Dara needed to see that with her own eyes.
"I'm staying with you."
"Poe."
"You can't argue with me on this one. It's my job to keep you safe and I failed-"
"Poe. It's okay. I want you with me." Poe closed his mouth and looked at her reflection. He squeezed her shoulder gently. He could hardly wait to come face to face with the psychopath that had hurt his Princess so badly. It was going to be the absolute highlight of his day.