A/n: Would you like me to add in time markers so you can watch along with the scene? For example, this chapter starts at 1:09:00 In The Rise of Skywalker.
Our excursion was interrupted by the sound of hooves galloping up behind us.
"Heads up," said Poe, turning around and raising his blaster.
I raised my rifle defensively.
A woman on horseback stopped before us in the tall yellow grass. "Rough landing?" she asked.
"I've seen worse," Poe said, blaster still raised.
"I've seen better," the woman countered. "Are you Resistance?"
"That depends," Poe responded.
"We've picked up a transmission from someone named Babu Frick," the woman said.
"Babu Frick, oh he's one of my oldest friends," C3-PO said.
Poe and I lowered our weapons slowly in realization.
"He said you'd come," she continued. The others on horseback shifted uneasily. "He said you were the last hope."
"We have to get to that wreck," Rey began. "There's something inside there we need."
"I can take you there by water," said the woman.
"Have you seen the water?" Finn butt in.
"Not now," the stranger explained, "too dangerous. We can go first light tomorrow."
"We can't wait that long," Rey pressed. "We don't have the time."
"Or the choice . . ." Poe countered. "Let's get that ship fixed." He started up the hill and I followed after him.
"Do you have any spare parts?" I asked throwing my rifle back over my shoulder.
"Some," the woman responded. "I'm Jannah."
"Poe," he introduced himself.
"Kai," I said after a moment. It was strange to no longer be just a number.
Back on the Falcon with replacement parts from Jannah, the lot of us got to work on repairs. Poe, Chewy, 3-PO, and I were in the cockpit working on the control panels. Rey and Finn were towards the rear helping Jannah bring in and install parts.
"What a dreadful situation," C3-PO began. "Is every day like this for you people? Madness."
"Did we ever find his volume control?" Poe called after pulling a screwdriver from his mouth.
I couldn't help but smile even though I was knee-deep in rewiring the landing gear.
"What about yours?" I mumbled, a smirk sliding across my lips.
"Watch it . . ." Poe grunted, a tool between his teeth.
BB-8 rolled into the cockpit beeping anxiously.
"What is it, buddy?" Poe asked, stooping down to the droid's level. "What do you mean, you 'haven't seen her'?"
Poe looked down the hall to Finn and shared a knowing, worried look. I grabbed the binoculars off the dashboard and tossed them to Finn.
As we exited the Falcon and reached the top of the ridge, Finn scanned the dark waters.
Angry with Rey's actions, he wordlessly passed the binoculars to Poe and turned back up the hill towards the ship.
"She took a skimmer?" Jannah asked.
Poe passed the binoculars to me and went after Finn. "What the hell was she thinking?" he cursed.
As I looked out into the tumultuous sea, Rey was riding on a rickey ship, barely managing to climb over waves ten times her size.
I turned and followed after Poe and Finn.
"Poe, we gotta go after her," Finn said.
"Get the Falcon fixed and get out there as fast as we can," Poe ordered.
"No," Finn pressed back. "We'll lose her."
"Look, she left us!" Poe argued. "What do you wanna do? Swim?"
"She's not herself," Finn began. "You have no idea what she's fighting."
Poe stopped and turned around suddenly. "And you do?" he asked harshly.
I put myself between them before one of them could swing a fist.
"Yeah. I do," Finn said. "And so does Leia."
"Stop," I ordered.
"Well, I'm not Leia," Poe said, pressing against me.
Finn pulled the binoculars from my hand. "That's for damn sure," he finished then turned around back towards the water.
As soon as Finn reached the top of the hill and was out of earshot, I began, "Hey, hey, what was that?"
Poe wouldn't make eye contact.
"Poe, look at me," I said. "What're you doing?"
"I don't know!" he burst out.
I was taken aback.
"I just . . ." he took a deep breath, "am flying by the seat of my pants half the time. I don't know what I'm doing . . . Finn's right; I'm not Leia. She knows what to do, always."
He tried to turn and head back to the ship but I caught his arm.
"What?" he asked, anger still in his voice.
"Poe," I began softly. "You don't always have to know what you're doing. Hell—"
I leaned in and kissed his cheek. "I have no idea."