"It's good to have you on board," you said to Lando. "It's an honor, sir. Would you like to pilot?"

"You have to ask?" he chuckled. He took the pilot's seat without another word. "Not much of a pilot, are you?"

"I can be a pilot," you said, "or I can be on the ground. Wherever I'm most useful." Chewie nodded from the co-pilot seat and said something along the lines of, She's most useful with us. You smiled and patted his back. 

Lando smiled. "Where to first then?"

*  *  *

"I know it's a rough ride, but stay locked on Rey's course," Poe said. Flying to Exegol was proving to be the most difficult flight of Poe's entire career, and the fear only increased when they arrived through lightspeed and saw the horrifying scene of what had to be hundreds of planet-killing ships and weapons prepared to destroy the entire galaxy. He gritted his teeth. "Look at that fleet..."

And the fleet was prepared. Ion cannons blasted straight towards them. Poe cursed and hurriedly adapted. Now was the time to fight. There wasn't any time to wait. 

"Welcome to Exegol," he said. "Get to their altitude! They can't fire on us without hitting each other. Don't give up! Help is coming!" In just a few minutes, you would be coming in through lightspeed with a fleet of your own; they only had to buy some time. 

Through the com, Poe heard Finn's voice. "There it is. Poe. I see it. I've got visual on the tower."

Perfect, Poe thought. Now all they had to do was get those that would be on the ground there safely. 

"Incoming TIEs!" 

"I see 'em," Poe said, turning his ship around and preparing to fire. "I got you, Finn."

"The navigation tower has been deactivated!"

Poe couldn't believe what he was hearing. Finn asked, "What?"

"Those ships need that signal. It's gotta be coming from somewhere!"

He shook his head. All at once, the plan seemed dim. "They figured out what we're doing. Call off the ground invasion."

"The nav signal's coming from that command ship," Finn said. "That's our drop zone."

"You wanna launch a ground invasion on a Star Destroyer?!"

"I don't want to, but we can't take out that ship's nav system from the air. Get us cover. We gotta keep that fleet there 'til help arrives."

Poe nodded. "You heard the General! All wings cover that lander!" Hopefully hope would arrive --- and hopefully it would soon. "Those thrusters are hot," he said nervously. "How are we doing?"

"We're gonna blow our way in and take out that nav tower!" 

Poe watched as Finn and Jannah worked with BB-8 on top of the Star Destroyer. He grinned as a ball of flames stretched up the side of the Destroyer, wiping out the nav tower and powering it down. "Nice one, Finn! Nav signal's down, but not for long!"

"Still no Falcon or backup."

"She's coming," Poe said. "She said she would bring help---"

"It isn't looking like it's possible."

R2 beeped from the side of his X-WING. Poe shook his head and finally accepted that there was a chance that maybe you couldn't find any help. Just because you were searching doesn't mean that you could find anyone that would be willing to save the galaxy. 

"I don't know, Artoo. Maybe no one else is coming," he admitted.

"What do we do, General?"

"We gotta hit 'em ourselves," he decided. 

"What can we do against these things?" 

He thought of his promise. He thought of you. You were what was going to get him through this. He couldn't give up, he couldn't let himself die --- because you were out there, probably thinking the same as you searched to the far corner of the galaxy in search for anyone willing to help. "Just stay alive!"

But all around Poe was death and destruction. He watched his friends die, helpless against the weapons of the Sith and the First Order. They were outnumbered, outgunned. Their weapons weren't strong enough. This wasn't going to be a war won.

"Snap, they're on your tail!" he shouted. 

"Yeah, I see 'em!"

But he didn't see all of them, and Poe was forced to watch his friend die as he screamed, "No, Snap! Snap! No!"

"Alpha Three is down!"

"Help, I can't---"

"They're everywhere!" 

"Losing altitude!" 

"General, what's our next move?"

"Poe! What now!?"

Poe dropped his head. He choked out, "My friends... I'm sorry. I thought we had a shot. But there's just too many of them."

"But there are more of us, Poe. There are more of us," Lando's voice said in his ear. 

Poe gasped out in relief. "You guys made it? You... ___? Babe, are you there?"

"I'm here, Dameron," you said. He closed his eyes for a brief moment; hearing you was a new ray of hope in itself. You were here. He wasn't alone. "And don't count us out. How about you look at the group we gathered up?"

Poe's eyes widened as he moved his ship and surveyed the Resistance army led by the Falcon. "I can' t believe this. Look at this!"

"I told you people believed in Leia, and so they believe in us," you said. "Tell us what you need from us, General."

"Hit those underbelly cannons," he ordered. "Every one we knock out is world saved!"

The entire fight had flipped around. Now the Resistance was on top. 

"So long, Star-Trash!" a new voice said. 

"Who's that flyer?" he mumbled. 

"Take a guess, spice runner," Zorii said. 

"Ha! Zorii, you made it!" he cheered. 

"Thank your girlfriend," she said. "She made sure I was informed first. Special treatment, I guess."

"I figured you needed all your friends here," you said. 

"That's not my girlfriend, that's my fiancee," he said, unable to wipe his grin off his face. "And I love that girl!"

"Ugh, please. No more flirting with her," Zorii said. "We're trying to win a war here."

But all at once, the screens in the X-WING started to flicker. Before Poe could comprehend what was happening, everything was crashing down. "Artoo, my systems are failing!" R2 screeched in agony, sparks of electricity igniting the droid. His ship was going down. "Does anyone copy!?"

There was no answer. Poe couldn't see the Falcon. He couldn't see you. 

But then everything was back on, and his ship was soaring again. "I'm back on! We gotta hit those cannons now!" And then only moments later, a power that wasn't from the rebel fleet caused the main ship to blow up. 

"Poe! The command ship!" 

"Their fleet is stuck here. They're toast!" Poe yelled. "Come on! Finn, you seein' this?"

"Finn didn't load the lander," Rose said. 

"They're still on that command ship?" he mumbled. "___, do you see them?" No answer. Panic rose up inside of Poe; but there wasn't any time to focus on it. He had to find Finn first. He spotted them hanging onto the Star Destroyer, gripping onto almost nothing to keep from falling to their deaths. "I see them. I'm going to get them!" 

"General, you won't make it!" 

"Trust me, I'm fast!" 

"Not as fast as this ship, Dameron," you said. Lando piloted the ship close enough to the falling Star Destroyer. As he got near enough for Jannah and Finn to climb onto the side, you ran to the door to let them in.

As you pulled them inside, you caught Finn. You both beamed at one another and held onto one another as you limped inside of the Falcon. And then he stopped. A look of pain crossed his face and then you felt it too. 

"No," he choked out. "Rey."

On top of your own grief, on top of her heart stopping, you felt his overwhelming wave of heartbreak. He fell against you and you held onto him. How, you weren't sure. You couldn't even let yourself cry, but it took everything inside of you not to scream out in agony. 

"Come on," you managed. "We have to..."

"Rey," he wailed, trembling now. You held onto him tightly. "She's..."

"I know," you said. "I know--- Lando. Take us home. The fight's over."

You sat down and strapped yourself in. Silent moments passed as you thought of all the lives lost, all the fights over, and you finally let yourself realize that you had survived. You'd done it. It was over. 

Finn took the seat next to you, and then he stared at a place on the wall. "___?" You looked at him. And then you felt it. 

"Rey's alive."

"I see her," Poe said. 

"We did it," you murmured. Tears slipped down your cheeks as you looked at Finn. "Finn, we did it?"

"Yeah," Finn said. "We won. It's over." He grinned and hugged you tightly. "We can go home."

*  *  *

Base was buzzing with excitement, emotion, love, and reunions. You stayed by Finn's side, your arm linked with his. Ending your journey with the Rebellion as you had started it. You and Finn were given pats on the back, hugs, praises, and you simply nodded and smiled. You were too overcome with emotion to say anything at all. Besides, there was someone you wanted to see more than anyone else in the world. 

"I don't see him," you murmured to Finn. 

"Don't worry, he's here," he said, turning around and looking. He stopped and smiled. "There."

You followed his gaze until you saw Poe, standing fifteen feet away in an orange jumpsuit, his arm in a sling, his face slightly bruised, covered in sweat and grime. But you swore he'd never looked so beautiful before. His eyes locked on yours and he was moving forward, his lips mouthing your name again and again and again. You let go of Finn and ran, stumbling over your own feet, over the soft underbrush of the mossy floor, over droids and people and creatures and then you launched yourself off of the floor. Colliding into Poe, your arms locked around him, your feet lifting off of the ground. A sob and a laugh combined broke out of you and your lips found his. His hands locked around your waist and he kissed you back passionately, putting you on the ground so he could hold your face close to his but then picking you right back up in a tight embrace as you both cried and laughed and kissed and finally you put your forehead against his and shut your eyes, taking in his scent and the feeling of his skin and the warmth of his breath. 

"I love you," was all you could think to say, even though there were a million things you wanted to say to him. 

"I love you, princess," he said, and he opened his dark brown eyes. "My girl."

"Poe!" You and Poe turned and Finn was embracing Rey, his lips close to hers as they sobbed and held onto one another, his hands on her face, her hands on his. You smiled at the sight of your two best friends, in love with one another in a way that only the Force could create. Their souls were the same; they had risen out of darkness, out of despair, and out of loneliness. Their stories had intertwined in a way that yours and Poe's had, and they were meant to be together. 

Hand in hand, you and Poe approached them. They glanced you over with tear-filled eyes and then the four of you fell against one another, gripping one another tightly, sobbing into shoulders and chests, holding hands, kissing cheeks and forming an embrace so tight that nothing could break it. 

Home. Family. That was all you could think of to describe this feeling. Love.