"We only have eight hours left," Poe said. 

As the minutes had passed, it became clear that things were at a standstill. Tension was high. You sat beside Rey, one hand on the small of her back, offering a small gesture of comfort to your friend, who was so full of grief and regret that she couldn't even look at anyone.

"So what are you gonna do?" Finn asked. "We gotta go back to base."

"We don't have time to go back! We are not giving up." Poe shook his head. "If we give up, then Chewie died for nothing!" 

"Poe, Chewie had the dagger," Finn said. 

"Well then we gotta find another way!" 

"Well, there isn't," Finn said. "That was the only clue to the wayfinder thing, and it's gone."

C-3PO shook his head. "So true. The inscription lives only in my memory now." 

Everyone looked at the droid slowly. 

"Hold on," Poe said. "The inscription that was on the dagger is in your memory?"

"Yes, Master Poe," he said. "But the translation from a forbidden language cannot be retrieved. That is short of a complete redacted memory bypass."

"A complete what?" Finn asked. 

"It's a terribly dangerous and sinful act performed on unwitting droids by dregs and criminals."

Finn lit up. "Let's do that!" 

"I know a black market droidsmith," Poe said. 

"Black market droidsmith!?" C-3PO cried. 

"But he's on Kijimi," he said, tipping his head back. 

"What's wrong with Kijimi?" 

"I had a little... bad luck on Kijimi." Poe shook his head and sighed. "But if this mission fails, it's all been for nothing. All we've done, all this time."

"We're all in this," Finn said. "Until the end."

He looked to Rey, and Poe looked to you. You both stood at the same time, your hands finding one another's. You took Poe's other hand, and he took Finn's. Rey spoke aloud for the first time, "For Chewie."

"For Chewie," you agreed, and you looked at Poe. 

He nodded. "For Chewie." 

C-3PO scurried over and wedged himself between you and Poe. You couldn't help but smile and stifle a laugh, but Poe just looked annoyed as the droid grabbed his hand and pulled it away from yours. 

He pulled away quickly. "Kijimi."

Finn was Poe's co-pilot for the time, so that gave you free reign to look around the ship. Everything was dusty after years of being abandoned on the desert. You were surprised the ship had never been scavenged. You walked along the wall and let your finger drag across the cool metal. A thick layer of tan dust stuck to your fingertip. 

You heard a chirp behind a pile of crates. "BB-8?" He peeked out of the crates, making you laugh. "What are you doing, silly?" As he rolled into the open, a small droid followed him. You jumped slightly. "Oh. Hello."

"Hello," the droid said. 

You slowly lowered yourself to the floor and held out your hand. The droid rolled back, but then paused. You offered a gentle smile and he inched closer a little more. "My name is ___. What's yours?" 

"D-O," he told you. 

You nodded. "BB-8 is my droid. Well, he is all of ours, but he belongs to Poe and me. You can be one of us too. Come on, let's go meet Rey."

Rey was still seated, a sad look permanently on her face. As BB-8 rolled up to her, her eyes lit up only slightly. D-O followed the happy droid and said, "Hello."

"Hello," Rey said. She reached for him, and he rolled back. 

"N-No thank you!" he said. 

She pulled her hand back. "I think someone must've treated him badly," you told her. She nodded in agreement. 

"Well he won't have to worry about being treated badly ever again," she said. And to him, she said, "It's all right. You're with us now."

You got on your knees again and spoke to the droid softly, "I was new once too. Before I was treated badly, but now... this is my family. You'll fit in perfectly here." 

* * *

Kijimi was a harsh change from Pasaana. The air was frigid cold, with flurries of snow constantly falling down from the deep blue sky. It was a city, tightly packed and under strict order from the First Order themselves. They pounded on doors, took people into custody, and beat them in the streets. You wondered if it was always like this here, or if it had something to do with your group freely traveling around the galaxy. 

Underneath Poe's jacket and a black hat, you still shivered harshly as the wind blew. As you crept around with Poe, your hand locked in his, you let him block you from the wind and from unwanted eyes. 

"I have to admit," you said softly, your voice softer than the wind, "I like Pasaana a little better."

"I might have to agree with you there, sweetheart," he whispered, pressing his back against a wall for a brief moment before hurrying over to Finn and Rey. "They're everywhere. All right, I know what we should do."

"So do I," C-3PO said. "We should leave."

"Clam it, Threepio," he threatened. "Follow me." 

The snow crunched under your boots. You pulled the collar of Poe's jacket up higher on your neck. You wished it had a hood. Your hat wasn't nearly enough, and your face was hardly covered. 

Breathless, Poe paused by the wall of an alleyway. He glanced to the left. "All right, let's head down this way---"

You heard her before you saw her. "Heard you were spotted at Monk's Gate. Thought he's not stupid enough to come back here." 

But then you did see her, with a strange gun pointed right at Poe's head. Your hand dropped his automatically and you pulled out your blaster. You pointed it directly at her face. 

"Drop it and get away from him," you hissed between clenched teeth. 

"___," he said, holding his hand out. "It's okay."

"Who is this?" Rey asked. 

Poe sighed, "Guys, this is Zorii. Zorii, this is Rey, Finn, and the chick threatening to blow your head off is ___."

You stared at her, unforgiving. Zorii. You couldn't see her beneath her strange helmet. "I could pull this trigger right now."

"Do it and I'll blow your head clean off," you threatened. Your hands were steady, but they felt like they should be trembling. 

"I've seen you do worse," Poe said, swallowing. 

"For a lot less," she finished. 

"Can we just, uh..." Poe lowered his hood. "Talk about this?"

"I wanna see your brains in the snow," she said. 

"So you're still mad?" he asked, as calm as ever. "Zorii, we could use your help. We've got to crack this droid's head open and fast." 

"Pardon me!" C-3PO exclaimed. 

"We're trying to find Babu Frik," Poe said. 

"Babu? Babu only works for the crew," she said. "That's not you anymore."

"What crew?" Rey asked. 

"Oh, funny he never mentioned it," she said. "Your friend's old job was running spice."

This didn't phase you; you didn't care at all what Poe did beforehand. Whatever he did that seemed so wrong in the eyes of others was nothing compared to what you had done from birth. You were raised to be a cold, heartless, ruthless killer. The Force made you seek something different. And you knew this, as Poe had mentioned it briefly. He wasn't one for very long. He was a born and raised pilot, just like his father. A Resistance fighter, just like this mother. Sometimes people make mistakes, he had told you. And they find their way right back.

"You were a spice runner?" Finn asked. 

"You were a stormtrooper?" he retorted. 

"Were you a spice runner?" Rey said.

"Were you a scavenger? We could do this all night!" 

"You don't have all night," Zorii said. "You know, I'm still digging out of the hole you put me in when you left to rejoin the Resistance." She walked around Poe, who raised his arms. You stepped directly in front of him, ready to shoot her right now. You were going to kill her, but then she said, "You. You're the ones they're looking for." And she was looking from you to Rey. "Bounty for them just might cover us."

And suddenly you realized that you were surrounded, with everyone's weapons on you or on Rey.

"Djak'kankah!" she cried. 

Poe shook his head. "Don't Djak'kankah---"

And she went to shoot, and you were firing at one of them men behind her. Then you grabbed your staff off of your arm and swung it. You knocked her underneath the chin and spun, hitting one of the others that attempted to grab Poe. Between you and Rey, neither Finn or Poe needed to lift a finger. The fight was over in seconds. 

Zorii sat up and pointed her blaster at Rey. You and Rey spun, with her lightsaber igniting and pointing right at her face, and your staff hanging over her head. Breathlessly, Rey said, "We could really use your help. Please."

"Not that you care," panted Zorii, "but I think you're okay." 

"I care," Rey said. 

You didn't respond. You didn't care, and quite frankly, you weren't so sure that applied to you either. Rey held out her hand for Zorii, who took it and stood up. She didn't look at you as she walked alongside Rey. You pulled the strap of your staff on and felt the weight of Poe's arm on your shoulders. You looked at him. 

"Come on," he said, "everything's okay now."

As he spoke, a wave of calmness rushed over you. Like it always did. You smiled. "Why am I always saving your life, Dameron?"

He sighed, "I guess I just got lucky that way."