InsaneJournal

It seemed as if she had known him forever even though it had only been a few months. Jaina wasn’t complaining though since it was a very nice feeling. They had been growing closer since their time in Hawaii and now that they were back on the ship and in flight training together, things were settling into a nice pattern. Despite the fact that they spend most of their days together, Jaina didn’t mind which was a change for her. She usually got bored with someone before now but there was also the fact that at home, everyone knew who her family was and were more impressed with that then they were with getting to know Jaina. That wasn’t a problem with Poe and she loved it.

Tonight he had surprised her by showing up at her door with a picnic basket. Her first thought had been that he was taking her to the holodeck but instead he took her to the observation deck which was deserted since most everyone was either at dinner or in their quarters. He’d set up a place for them and when Jaina saw it she smiled and reached up to kiss him. “This is great,” she said when she pulled away. “Dinner under the stars. Almost close enough to touch them. It’s perfect.”

***

Finding a kind of routine and accepting their relationship as a more defined official thing had allowed Poe to relax a little and simply enjoy his time with Jaina. She was a special person and he very much enjoyed her company, pretty much all the time. He knew her family of course, in a way anyway, but that wasn’t of any concern to him. He’d worked with Leia for years and while she naturally impressed him it was very different and had no bearing on his involvement with Jaina.

“Almost as good as dinner in an X-Wing” he told her with a smile, he knew they both missed flying out there so he figured this was the next best thing. Until they trained enough and were trusted to take out a shuttle. Then he’d be whisking her away far more often and possibly for more cheeky times. Not that their evening wouldn’t end that way tonight.

***
“Well the only problem with dinner in an X-Wing is that there isn’t room for both of us in the cockpit. I suppose we could manage though if we put it on auto pilot. It would pretty cozy.” That wouldn’t be a problem at all. If Jaina had to pick someone to get cozy iin a cockpit with, Poe would be at the top of the list.

She sat down and looked out the viewport. “I love it in here. I’m always surprised that more people don’t come in here. I nearly always have it to myself but maybe the passengers who haven’t spent their life in space aren’t that interested in seeing the stars. That’s hard to imagine, isn’t it?” Even if she hadn’t been born into a family where flying was as natural as breathing, Jaina couldn’t imagine not loving the stars.

***

“It would be a tight squeeze, but I am sure we could work something out” Poe told her with an amused smile, getting cozy in a cockpit with Jaina was definitely not something Poe would mind at all.

Sitting with her he unpacked their picnic for them before sitting back and looking out at the expanse of space in front of them. “Very” he nodded, “I can’t imagine being who I am without the love of the stars I have. It’s been that way since I was a kid” Just like Jaina he’d been born into a family who had spent a long time among the stars. His mother had taken him up in her ship before he could walk.

***

“I can’t either. I still remember the first time we went up on the Falcon. My mom kept giving my dad a hard time saying that the thing was going to fall apart. I thought she was going to kill him when she found out he let me fly it,” Jaina laughed. “I don’t remember how old I was when I did that but it was an incredible feeling.” They all loved the rickety old ship and she always wondered how it could still fly but it did.

She reached for some food and put it on one of the plates that she took out of the basket. “My goodness, you’ve even got pineapple in here.” Jaina had fallen in love with the fruit while they were in Hawaii. She popped a piece in her mouth. “Almost as good as the real thing. I’m impressed with the replicators.” Once she’d swallowed the fruit, she leaned over and dropped a kiss on Poe’s lips. “Thank you for remembering.” It was sweet and something that she enjoyed about him, he remembered the little things.

***

Poe chuckled, “I can imagine. Full respect to your dad but even I have no idea how he keeps the Falcon going” he told her with a smile, “She’s an incredible ship though, I can’t deny that” He may prefer his X-Wing but he had a healthy respect for good workmanship.

Smiling he returned the kiss, “Of course” he said, “I remember everything” And it was the honest truth, everything she’d told him he remembered. Even things he’d noticed himself were filed away, knowing what the person you were dating liked was important and when it came to Jaina he wanted to know everything. He was interested in her in every way and this was just his own way of showing it. “And when I don’t BB8 reminds me” he added with a wink, the little droid had been very pleased when Poe had introduced him to Jaina which he was very relieved about.

***
“Droids can come in handy. If it hadn’t been for Artoo, we might have won the Rebellion since he carried the Death Star plans to Yavin IV.” she smiled. “BB8 is cute, if you can call a droid cute. I like round shape. And he probably fits a lot better in the astromech cockpit.” She would love to see Poe’s ship, he’d described it to her and it seemed as if there had been a lot of improvements in the design over the years.

“So if I want to know all your deep, dark secrets, I just need to ask BB8 huh?” she said and took another bite, her tone teasing.

***

“He’s my buddy, I can’t tell you the number of times he’s saved my ass” which BB8 did like to remind him of. Mostly when he was about to do something stupid. “Fits perfectly in mine with the adjustments I’ve made” it was part of why he missed his own X-Wing so much, he’d customised it perfectly. It was his and his alone, he could fly it better than anybody.

“He’d probably tell you. He’s already very fond of you” Poe said with a smile, “Not that I can blame him. If there were any secrets to tell of course, I’m a pretty open book” Which wasn’t really a lie, Poe wasn’t the most complicated of guys when it came down to it.

***
“And I like that about you,” she said, leaning over to give him a kiss.. “My family has enough secrets for all of us although I’m pretty sure we’ve got them all out in the open now. Although the fact that there are at least three different timelines out there that we exist in, who the kriff know? I can just tell you that you know pretty much all there is to know about me.” Even if she’d had some secrets hidden away, she would have ended up telling them to Poe. He was just that kind of person, someone that you knew you could trust and Jaina loved that. There was one thing she wanted to say to him though and she at back and gazed out the window for a moment before she spoke.

“I talked to Leia….your Leia….a couple of weeks ago. I’m glad I did, we both had some things we needed to talk about.” she turned away from the window and looked back at him. “My mother and I have a rather complicated relationship at home, or we did, it’s a lot better now than it was when I was younger. In a lot of ways, this Leia and my mom are nothing alike but in some ways they are. It’s just going to take us both some time to figure out exactly how we fit in each other’s lives but we’ll get there.”

***
Poe was a loyal kind of person, he believed in honesty and doing what was right. Generally that didn’t lead to being a liar, he would of course should a mission call for it but with his friends and family he was truthful. He was open and friendly and didn’t really see why he shouldn’t be. Perhaps he did wear his heart on his sleeve sometimes but that was just how he was.

“I’m glad you talked” he said taking Jaina’s hand and entwining their fingers, “You’re both incredible women, strong and brave and stubborn” he gave her a grin, “I know it must be strange having her here when she’s not truly the mother you knew but I’m sure you’ll find a way to fit together. And if there’s anything I can do to help know that I will”

***

She leaned over and kissed him, her lips lingering on his for a moment. “Thank you,” she said. “And I think we’ll be able to find some common ground now that we’ve talked. It’s different for Anakin and Jacen, a daughter and mother just have a different type of relationship. Anakin and my dad had some rough times when Chewie died but they finally worked it out.” It had been difficult for all of them but they’d come through it and she was grateful.

Jaina shifted and rested her head on his shoulder. This felt right, she thought, even though she hadn’t been looking for anything of the sort when she’d talked to him that night. “I’m not very good sometimes with expressing my feelings,” she said. “But I want you know that this...you and me….I wouldn’t trade it for anything. It’s the best thing that’s happened to me in a long time.”

***

“That first step is the hardest” he nodded, he knew that from the talk Leia and he had when he’d learnt Rey was his sister. But it had needed to be done, everybody knew the truth and it had cleared the air a little. He couldn’t imagine how hard it had been for Leia to live with the knowledge alone for so long.

Poe slipped an arm around her waist when she lay her head on his shoulder, he still couldn’t get over how well they fit together. In all ways. He really had a lot to be grateful for. He gave her a little squeeze, “You know that goes for me too right? I’ve never really met anybody I felt so comfortable with so quickly. You’re an incredibly special woman Jaina”

***

She smiled at him and kissed his cheek. “I do know. It’s funny that we exist in two different worlds yet we’re part of the same universe. I’m just glad that we ended up in the same one.” While it was confusing sometimes, this whole multiverse thing, it was also wonderful and Jaina had met some interesting people on the ship that she would have never known otherwise. “I’d say we’re about done with dinner,” she finally said after they’d sat there for a little bit. “We should probably clean up and then…..” Jaina knew what she wanted but she didn’t want to seem pushy especially if Poe wasn’t ready to take that next step. Deciding that there was only one way to find out, she took his face in her hands and gave him a long, lingering kiss, making it it last as long as she could until she had to pull away and catch her breath. “Maybe more of that with fewer clothes on?”

***

“So am I. Maybe meeting each other was part of the reason we were brought here, I’d like to think that’s the case anyway” Poe said, always a bit of a romantic. His head hurt if he tried to work out the time and dimension travel so he tended to just ignore it.

Poe was definitely ready, he’d checked with BB8 before leaving who told him his roommate had plans and likely would not be back until late. When Jaina kissed him, Poe took the hint and pulled her close to return it. “Definitely more of that with fewer clothes on” he grinned, “My quarters should be empty for awhile” he added, since he knew hers were far more crowded, “And BB8 is a great guard droid” he winked at her before they cleared away the picnic things and walked hand in hand to the room Poe had been assigned to.

***

“Then I think that’s settled,” she replied with a big grin. To Jaina’s surprise, she felt a little bit nervous. It wasn’t her first time by any means but considering she was 31, she probably wasn’t as experienced as a lot of women her age. The life she led didn’t lend itself to forming long term attachments and most of her relationships had been short lived. She hoped that this wouldn’t be the case with Poe because even though she hadn’t known him all that long, it felt as if she had and they meshed perfectly which was a rare thing.

When they got to his room, she laughed when BB8 greeted them at the door. “Well hello there,” she said. “Did you think we’d be back sooner?” Jaina had grown up around droids and talking to them as if they were human was second nature. Truthfully there were some dropids that she’d rather be around instead of people.

***
Poe would have been reassured to know Jaina was nervous, not because she should be or anything but because he felt a little nervous too. Which was truly ridiculous but there was something about this relationship, something that felt far more important than anything he’d experienced before and he didn’t want anything ruining what they had together.

Laughing Poe rubbed the back of his neck as BB8 answered, telling Poe he expected him to be smoother and not take as long wooing her as he had done, “Thanks buddy” he said with a roll of his eyes as BB8 cheerily told him he was welcome, rolling close enough to his leg to bump it so Poe could reach down and pat him.

“Let’s get some privacy” Poe suggested to Jaina, giving her hand a squeeze. BB8 would be their lookout.

***
When the door shut behind them, Jaina turned around and smiled. “Why do I have a feeling that whatever he just said was something along the lines of ‘about time.’ she laughed. Some people didn’t believe that it was possible but if you spent enough time with an astromech, you could easily know what they were saying even if they weren’t plugged into a translator. Her uncle could understand Artoo without any problem at all after all their years together. Truth be told, the whole family could.

Stepping closer to Poe, she wrapped her arms around his waist and looked up at him. “Well I know we’re in good hands. No one is going to come barging in on us. Although you are lucky enough to have a Jedi Master in your clutches so I could tell you if someone was coming.”

***
“Pretty much yeah” he admitted, “He likes to offer his opinion any chance he can” But it was said with obvious affection. BB8 was Poe’s best friend and he listened to his advice whenever it was offered. After the time they’d spent together Poe had no trouble understanding BB8 and he had to admit sometimes he forgot others couldn’t.

“Double detection, that is handy” Poe told her, wrapping his own arms around her and stroking her back before he leaned in to kiss her properly.

***

Much later, naked, sated, and tangled in the sheets, Jaina found herself wondering what to do next. She didn’t want to leave, she was perfectly happy to stay where she was and from what she could sense, Poe seemed pretty content as well. Yet it was the first time they’d been together this way and she didn’t want to assume anything. Maybe he didn’t like sleeping with another person having been used to always being ready in case he had to jump up and go. She was that way, it was force of habit. But this wasn’t home and neither of them had any reason to feel there was danger.

Deciding she’d just come out with it, Jaina shifted and rested her elbows on Poe’s chest and looked at him. She couldn’t help but grin at the state his hair was in or the contented smirk on his face. “Okay, so I’m going to be honest. I really don’t want to leave. If you want to kick me out you can but I think if you did, BB8 would override the lock and push me back in here. So what do you say?’

***
Poe was most definitely content, in fact content did not convey quite how ridiculously happy he was right now. Jaina was amazing and he was wondering how he could convince her to stay when she rolled over and spoke.

His smile brightened and he let his fingers stroke up and down her back, “I say that you read my mind. Though I was just going to keep hold of you so you couldn’t go anywhere” he told her, pressing a kiss to her lips, “I would never ever want to kick you out. I can’t imagine anything better than going to sleep and waking up with you”

***
“I knew I liked you for a reason,” she said and rested her head on her chest. “That sounds really good to me even if I’m not sleepy at the moment.” Jaina raised an eyebrow and leaned in to kiss him. “Besides it’s still early and I’m not going anywhere.”

***
“Well in that case let’s see if we can wear each other out a little” he smirked before kissing her back and letting his hands roam over her body, still not quite believing his luck in finding such an incredible woman.