Close to Me {Poe Dameron}

thirty-one

He nodded. "They are good listeners."

They sat in silence for a while, just watching the stars. Contemplating what they needed to contemplate before they could let sleep find them. Akiva was yet another jungle planet with a hot climate. The blanket wrapped around Kat's shoulders was thin enough though and was more of a barrier between herself and the bugs flying around. Kat honestly would be thrilled to never see another tree ever again. She had enough of jungle planets and couldn't wait to get back to the concrete jungles she was used to. She just hoped that what she was doing was the right thing to do.

"You know, when Lando told me I had a distant relative leading this fight, I was pretty shocked. Then he told me what side of the family tree you were from and then I wasn't so shocked." Wedge said, breaking the silence, causing Kat to laugh.

"Growing up, before Leia took me in, it was just me and my parents. My dad came from Alderaan and well you know their fate and then my mom never really talked about her family. So imagine my surprise to know that I'm related to the Wedge Antilles and get all these people who suddenly care about me when Leia and Han took me in. I got a new set of parents, three uncles, two droids that are practically family, and a brother."

"Can I ask what happened to your birth parents?"

Kat nodded. "Imperial sympathizers killed them."

Wedge placed a hand on her shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze. "I'm sorry to hear that."

She flashed him a sad smile. "Thanks. I'm hoping that some of our rebuilding efforts will keep other families from knowing that pain, well, at least now that the war is over."

"You're doing even more than that. You're bringing hope back to the galaxy." He smiled. "Now, you should probably get to bed. Big day for you tomorrow."

Kat chuckled as she stood. "I would just like to point out that I'm only going because I hear a worried droid coming to check on me."

They turned to see D-O approaching the door. Kat smiled sweetly at the droid. "I'm coming, Dio. Everything okay?"

"J-just w-worried. Not in b-bed."

"Wedge and I just lost track of time. Let's get to bed, shall we?"

When D-O agreed, Kat turned to Wedge. "Good night, Wedge."

"Sleep well, Kat."

✧☆✧

Ever since they arrived on GH-531, a remaining First Order communications base, things had not gone as easy as Dantooine. They were greeted by a few TIE Fighters which Finn easily took care of with the help of both Poe and Chewie's flying. The Falcon took some hits but nothing that Rey couldn't easily fix, which she did.

When they landed, they were greeted by blaster fire. They needed to get the transport following them to a safe location or they wouldn't be transporting anyone back to Ajan Kloss to await trial. The base clearly had become a refuge for some of the remaining members of the First Order for it seemed like the troopers never ended until finally, finally some of the blaster fire turned on themselves.

With the bodies of the troopers now littering the floor, the few troopers that were helping Poe and his team ripped off their helmets. "Sorry, we took so long. We should get to the command center though before they realize what's happened." They motioned for the group to follow.

Poe looked to Finn for confirmation on if they could trust them. Finn took in the scene before them. He knew there really wasn't another choice for them. They hadn't received any communication from the base so he wasn't sure about how loyal those who had helped them were. Not to mention they needed to get to that command center before anything could get destroyed. So he nodded.