The lush green forests of Yavin 4 stretched out as far as the eye could see. Poe swept the ship in gently, a mixture of feelings welling up inside of him. It had been some time since he had been home. Since he had seen the aged trees, with the pyramids cropping up from their midst. The cloying mist that clung to the trees in the early hours. His homeworld was beautiful, and flying over, touching the tops of the trees with the wings of his ship, it hit him really hard.
"Wow. Awesome view." He looked up at Finn. He tried to speak, but he had a frog in his throat. He coughed and tried again.
"I have someone I need to see. He might be able to help out. He tends to know what's going on." Finn nodded. His face was right next to Poe's, gazing out the window. Poe glanced up at his face. Finn wasn't looking at him, and he decided that was all for the better. Being so close to Finn was becoming more difficult with time. Every time he looked at Finn, he was struck by how adorable he was. How pleasing his face was. The memories of the nights they'd spent together. Thinking about Finn that way made Poe's heart thunder.
"Can we trust this guy?" Finn said, stepping back and straightening up. He wasn't making this easy for him. Poe almost laughed.
"We can definitely trust him. He was in the Rebel Alliance. Old friends with Han Solo." Poe realised with a jolt that he was going to have to tell his dad that his old friend was dead. That seemed to be enough to convince Finn. Poe flew to the very familiar co-ordinates of his childhood home. He set down outside a house he hadn't seen in at least five years. The vines had grown up a bit high. With a jolt of guilt, Poe felt he should have visited his father, he should have cut those vines for him. A grizzled man with silver hair came jogging out of the house, a blaster in his hand. Poe's heart nearly exploded with joy when he saw his father. He looked very similar to Poe, or that was his opinion. Poe may have had his mother's eyes and nose, but his chin and ears and cheekbones were his father's. Poe ran from the ship, passing by a bemused looking Finn, with BB-8 hot on his heels.
When he emerged from the ship, his father was pointing his blaster at him, but soon dropped it at the sight of Poe. Poe couldn't have stopped the smile that split his face even if he had wanted to. Finn ducked out of the ship and looked at the scene unfolding before him. Poe made a dead run towards the man.
"Dad!" he shouted, feeling like a child all over again, running to jump into the arms of his hero dad. If his mother had been here… She had been quite the hero herself. Poe supposed he was a big goddam hero now too. His dad folded his arms around Poe as he hurtled into him.
"Poe! POE!" His dad was hugging him tightly and almost crying. He held his son at arm's length and looked him up and down. "I've been hearing stories about the great Poe Dameron. Son… I'm so proud of you! Your mother. She's definitely smiling down on you, boy." Poe beamed at his father, and felt himself swell with pride at all he had done. His dad was always proud of him, but even so it made it all seem more real for Poe when his dad told him he was great for doing what he did. "Who's your friend, son? You bring home your boyfriend, that why you've come home?" Poe's father peered around his son's shoulders. Poe was just that little bit taller than his father, which was a miracle considering Poe wasn't the tallest of men.
"Uh… Uh. No. He's my friend. We. We work together. Dad stop staring at him."
"God son, the way he's looking at you…"
"Dad please…" Poe had time to give his father one last warning look before Finn approached with BB-8.
"Little BB-8! It's been a long time!" The little droid beeped happily at their master's father.
Poe turned to Finn.
"Uh… Finn. This is Kes Dameron. My dad." Finn looked between the two of them, apparently surprised. "Dad. This is Finn. He's with the Resistance." Kes shook Finn's hand and pulled him into a hug. Finn blustered but awkwardly hugged him back.
"Anyone who's in the Resistance is welcome in my home. We'll go inside, and you can tell me why you're here."
"Can't I just visit my father?" Poe glanced sideways at his father, who subsequently laughed.
"If you're anything like your mother, and you definitely are, you wouldn't take time for yourself when the galaxy needs saving." Poe, his father, Finn, and BB-8 headed towards the overgrown house. Inside it was a different story of course. It was a little dark, but it was immaculately clean and orderly. It was just as Poe remembered. Their house had never changed when he was growing up. He always loved coming home. There was no place like it. There were no chairs as comfortable, no beds he slept as well in. No food as delicious as his dad's.
When the door closed, and Kes had them all seated, he looked at Poe expecting answers.
"Dad… I need to tell you a bit of bad news to start off with." His father's face creased with anticipation of bad news. "Dad… Han Solo is dead." The impact was instant. His father looked completely distraught.
"No! No… I thought that old bastard would live forever! Dammit! We used to be in the Path Finders together, you know…" Poe knew he said this for Finn's benefit. He never liked telling his father which one of his friends was dead. Every time they spoke it seemed as though there was a fresh death to report. Finn looked a little bit uncomfortable, but overall he matched the distraught look on Kes' face. He gave his father a moment.
"How's Leia holding up?" His father had known the General well enough, but Poe's mother Shara had been close to her.
"She's trooping on as always. Devastated I imagine." Poe remembered the first time he had ever met the General. It had been in this very house after his mother had died. He had been a little boy then, gazing up at her with wide tear-filled eyes. He snapped his mind back to the present. "Dad… She sent me to find her daughter who's run away. Her daughter was on her way here. I have no idea where to even begin to look for her." Poe's dad laced his fingers together and gazed at his son.
"It's… uh. It's a big planet, sir. But if you knew anything, we'd appreciate it." Poe was surprised to hear Finn speak, and even more surprised to hear him call his dad sir. Kes looked just as surprised. He gave his son a significant look.
"Son… Look out the window into the back garden. Tell me what's different." Poe glanced at Finn for a second before getting up and looking out the large window to the back. Poe peered out. It all looked a bit like a beautiful meadow still. Poe thought he had been lucky to have been brought up in a beautiful home like this.
"WHO CUT MOM'S TREE?!" he yelled, suddenly feeling angry. Poe knew his father wouldn't ever change the tree. Shara had let the thing grow naturally. But there was a branch that had clearly been cut.
"Was your friend a Jedi?" Poe returned to his father. He nodded, still livid that his mother's tree had been damaged. "She took the branch, and I know where she's going." Poe stared down at his father, incredulous. "That's no ordinary tree, son. Your mother got it from Luke Skywalker." Poe sat and stared some more, not quite comprehending what was going. He had had to search through Republic records to get any information about his mother. What sort of life had she led at all? Poe waited for his father to tell his story with baited breath.
"Poe, put on a kettle for tea. This one might take a while."