Chewbacca helped you limb through the woods. You hated having to run, but you needed to get there. You wanted to get there. You needed to be safe, you needed Chewie to be safe.

You couldn't help but sob as you ran, your right arm tucked underneath your ribcage. You felt like if you didn't hold yourself up, you'd fall apart; split in two.

You felt as if you'd never get there. 

* * *

"We just lost R-1."

Poe's hands clenched tightly around the thruster. He bit down on his lip hard, out of habit, as he took out another TIE Fighter. But it wasn't enough. 

"We're overwhelmed. What do we do? It isn't working." 

Poe shook his head. He didn't want to feel helpless, but with two minutes until the weapon was fully ready to fire, it was hard. They were racing against the clock here, and the confidence felt in the plan had all but completely dwindled away.

"Black Leader, there's a brand new hole in that oscillator. Looks like our friends got in."

Poe's eyebrows raised. He knew you were a part of doing that. If you were still fighting, then who were they do give up?

"Red four, Red six --- cover us!" he ordered. 

"I'm on it!" 

"Roger."

"Everybody else, hit the target hard. Give it everything you got!" He shook his head. 

He took the lead, dipping down towards the oscillator, where black smoke was rising out of it. It was an opening, deep and clear; an opportunity. 

"I need some help here!" he said. 

"I'm on it. Coming in!" 

"No, watch out---!" 

Poe's eyes widened as the X-WING to his right was hit and exploded against the wall. He shook it off quickly. 

"All teams," he said, breathless. "I'm going in. Pull up and cover me." 

"Copy that, Black Leader. Good luck, Poe."

He swallowed hard. Time was ticking down fast.

* * *

"Weapon fully charged in thirty seconds." 

Hux grinned. "Prepare to fire." 

* * *

There it was, with nothing to stand in his way. Poe turned his X-WING to the side and wedged his ship through the space between. He fired twice, filling his vision with flames for a brief moment. 

Then he was inside, firing at the walls and ceiling of the oscillator, exploding each segment in a rush or orange flames. 

Now he had half a second to get out of there before it blew.

He gnawed down on his lip as he flipped the ship around and aimed towards the crevice ---

And he shot forward, back into the outside air. The explosion rose into the air behind him, shooting off like fireworks. 

* * *

The ground shook. You looked around in fear as you watched a crack in the ground behind you. You fell backwards and yelped, landing on your back. 

Chewie grabbed your arms and yanked you back up. Holding onto his arm tight, you both ran through the rest of the trees and out into the clearing, which was littered with destroyed ships. You didn't stop until you made it to the Falcon. 

As soon as you were on, Chewie sat in the pilot's seat. 

"Find Finn and Rey," you commanded breathlessly, falling into the seat next to him, hand still tucked under your ribs. 

* * *

Hux couldn't believe that they had lost. The weapon would no longer fire. The Resistance had beaten all odds and destroyed the entirety of their base. They were doomed now. 

He ran inside the throne room of Snoke. "Supreme Leader!" he shouted to the hologram. "The fuel cells have been ruptured. The collapse of the planet has begun."

"Leave the base at once and come to me with Kylo Ren," he said. "It is time to complete his training." 

Hux nodded. "Yes, sir. Yes, I will go---"

"She was here, General," Snoke said.

Hux froze. "She was..."

"She is responsible for this," he said. "If you find her, kill her."

Hux's jaw hardened. His stomach soured. "Yes, Supreme Leader. Right away." 

* * *

"There!" you cried. 

Chewie found a clearing in the trees to land in. He got off the ship to carry Finn, who was unconscious, inside. Rey followed him. 

He placed him down and then got back in the pilot's seat. You gave Rey your seat and limped to the back of the ship, where you sat next to Finn, a hand on his. 

As the planet fell apart around you, Chewbacca took off towards the sky. 

You collapsed against the wall of the ship, whimpering as you pressed against your ribs.

* * *

As Poe flew out off the planet, he looked around for the Falcon. He held his breath as he scanned for it.

When he saw it, he grinned wide. "All teams --- I got eyes on them." 

"Yes!" 

"Our job's done here," he said, eyes on the blue light of the Falcon. "Let's go home." 

* * *

You'd never felt so relieved as you did when you landed on base. Right away, you were sitting up, helping pick up Finn as much as you could. Chewie took him from you and hurried off the ship. 

You watched Rey follow, eyes full of pain and fear. 

"Careful! He's hurt. We've got a heartbeat." 

Finn was given to the medics, who carried him off right away. You waited until they were gone to get off of the Falcon. You didn't want to go to the medical wing just yet. You needed to see a familiar face. 

You stumbled off of the ship and limped a few steps. Tears continuously streaked down your face. Your hand was still tucked under your ribs, body bent slightly forward, every step agony to the entirety of your body. 

Poe was already right there, watching Finn be whisked off to the infirmary. When he turned around and saw you, his eyes widened. 

"___," he breathed. 

You sobbed, "Poe---"

He ran to close the distance between you and cupped your face in his hands. He looked you over, seeing the way you were standing, and he hurriedly wrapped his arm around you and held tight onto your arm. You swayed on your feet. 

"I need to get you some help," he said.

You cried, your head falling against his chest. 

"Can someone help me over here?!" he shouted. 

You felt the ground disappear beneath your feet. At first, you feared you were falling, but you felt the arm underneath your knees. You cried out as your body was shifted.

"I got you," he said. "Just hang in there, princess."

* * *

You were taken to the infirmary and given medicine to stop the pain in your ribs. Two of them had been cracked. You were wrapped up and told to move as little as possible. As for the rest of your wounds, nothing could be done. 

You were sent away so they could focus on those with more life threatening injuries. As you walked out of the infirmary, you saw everyone gathered around the map of Luke Skywalker's location that R2D2 was showing. 

BB-8 was chirping to Poe, who was on his knee listening to his droid. 

"All right, buddy. Hold on." He nodded and stood up, then turned, and he stopped. 

You were already there, holding exactly what he needed. The piece of the map needed to find Luke's location.

You gave him a small, close-lipped smile, and he took it from you, staring at you in a way you couldn't define. 

He turned away and gave BB-8 the piece of the map. BB-8 rolled away to stand across from R2D2. He projected the map and then rolled slowly until it fit perfectly with the rest, like a puzzle. 

"Oh! The map!" C3PO said. "It is complete!"

"Luke," Leia breathed out in relief.

"Oh, my dear friend," C3PO said to R2D2. "How I've missed you." 

You were smiling as you looked from them, to the back of Poe's head. He turned to look at you and you felt your face heat up. You walked away.

* * *

As the sun set that evening, everyone prepared to see Rey off as she took the Falcon to find Luke. It would be her and Chewbacca going. You hugged your two new friends goodbye and then stood behind Leia as the ship took off.

Poe was standing next to you now, dressed in a brown colored uniform. "What's the damage, jacket-stealer?"

You smirked. "Finn gave it to me, for the record. And the damage is two cracked ribs, a cracked tooth, a blaster shot to the arm, and probably some internal bleeding, but not too serious." 

He snorted and nodded. "So not too bad."

"Not too bad," you agreed. "What about you, Captain Dameron?"

"Not a scratch on me."

"Oh, well, not all of us had to face Kylo Ren," you said. 

"Hey, I have before, I have before." He nodded.

You laughed. "And don't I recall saving you from that, too?" 

He shook his head, scratching his forehead before putting his hands on his hips. "I guess I don't really need to fight hard battles like that. Not when I've got you."

Your face heated up again and your stomach fluttered. You laughed it off, saying, "Are you going to keep talking like an idiot, or are you going to kiss me?" 

"Oh, I'm going to kiss you," he said, nodding. "I'm definitely going to do that." 

He stepped closer and his hands grabbed your waist. He dipped his head down and captured your lips with his. Despite the protest in your ribs, you raised your arms up to wrap them around his neck. You squeezed your eyes shut and held on tight to him. 

In this touch alone, you felt more loved, more seen, and more appreciated than you ever had in your years as Hux's fiancee. When he kissed you, his lips were stiff, pressing against yours and never allowing you to move. You felt drowned, you felt smothered, you felt like an object being forced to stand there and take it.

But now, with Poe kissing you, you'd never felt more in control. The second you stopped kissing him, he broke apart, his forehead nudging yours, his eyes closed, his mouth stretched in his huge, goofy grin. His hands left your waist and they went straight to your hands, where he intertwined your fingers. 

"Do me a favor?" he asked. 

"What?" you breathed, opening your eyes. 

"Never stop wearing my jacket."

You shook your head and smiled before you pushed your body upward to kiss him one more time.