Chapter Forty-One: Cataalda Base: Partners

Poe flipped a few switches from the co-pilot seat of the Ghost. He glanced next to him at Kaila.

"You're cleared for takeoff, Ghost," Kaydel said. "But if anyone asks, you did this without General Organa's say so."

"Thanks, Kayko," Poe replied. "We'll try to be back in two days."

He turned off the comm and looked to Kaila. "So... Captain... Lothal. I haven't been there in a long time. It'll be nice to see it again."

"Would be nice if we were going under better circumstances." Kaila's knuckles paled as she gripped the controls. She grimaced. "But no... We have to go because my brother is a complete moron."

The ship rose off the ground, fly into the sky and threw the atmosphere. Kaila pressed some buttons.

"What do you think..."

Kaila held up a hand and continued to press buttons. After a few minutes, space blurred into hyperspace. She then looked to Poe. "He's thinking that the Resistance doesn't have a hope in hell of beating the First Order. Maybe he was around Grandpa too much. He's more worried about Lothal than the rest of the galaxy."

Poe shook his head, sneering. "I've known your brother for my whole life. We were in flight school together. I was his wingman before he got married! He believed in the New Republic."

"The New Republic is gone," Kaila replied. "And as far as Jacen can see, everyone he cared about was lost to the Rebellion. Dad died before we were born. And the last time I saw him..." She sighed, shaking her head sadly. "...He wasn't too hopeful about Mom and the others. They've been gone a long time. If I didn't have a connection to Ezra, I don't know if I'd still hold out hope they were okay." She looked down. "As it is, I'm still not even sure about them."

Poe reached over and took a hold of Kaila's hand, squeezing it tightly. "We'll find out what happened to Wraith Squadron. I promise."

Kaila nudged their joined hands. "You want to tell me what this is about? Before Kaydel came to get us, we were fighting."

Poe hesitated before he squeezed Kaila's hand. He groaned softly. "Can't we just forget that? We've got other things to worry about now."

"We've got all night before we get to Lothal." Kaila glowered at Poe and let go of his hand. He straightened up at her glare. "You were in the middle of telling me how you don't trust me."

"I trust you!" Poe exclaimed. "I just know how you felt about Master Kenobi."

"You mean had a vague admiration of the physical appearance of a guy who was died literally the day before I was born?"

Poe got out of his seat and knelt down beside Kaila's seat. "He was looking at you and I got a little possessive. I saw that look in his eyes."

Kaila reached to Poe and stroked her fingers over his beard. "A look of longing, you mean? He was longing for what we have . The Jedi in his time never got that. He thought we looked happy ."

Poe closed his eyes and leaned into Kaila's caress. He felt guilty at the revelation. Of course. A Jedi Master wasn't going to be trying to lure his girlfriend away. "I don't want to fight." Poe looked up at Kaila. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been an ass to Obi-Wan. I'm just not very good at this boyfriend thing." He scooped Kaila up and slipped into the pilot's seat, setting her down in his lap.

Kaila leaned against him. "What's the longest relationship you've had?"

Poe kissed her jaw. "You."

Kaila sighed, her lekku twitching. "I didn't mean that fifteen year runaround we did. I mean actually being with someone."

"I'm not talking about that," Poe replied. He wrapped his arms around Kaila. "We've been together for... What? Two months now? That's the longest I've been in a relationship with anyone. It isn't exactly my forte. What about you?"

Kaila smiled ruefully. "We are rapidly approaching my personal best. Neither of us have been too good at this, have we?"

"Maybe we were just waiting. Kai, this feels right to me. That's why I got so freaked out about Obi-Wan." He pressed his forehead to her shoulder, inhaling her scent. "All of this scares the hell out of me. I don't know how to be a good boyfriend... But I want to be." He reached up and touched his fingers to his mother's ring. "I need to be."

"You are," Kaila assured him. "When you're not treating me like personal property that you need to protect from invaders."

"Forgive me?" Poe asked.

Kaila crinkled her nose before she cupped Poe's face. "You're so lucky you're cute." She leaned in and kissed him softly. "Yes. But don't do it again."

Poe smiled in relief. He sighed deeply. "So... We won't get to Lothal until morning and there's no one on the ship except the droids and they're charging..."

Kaila shook her head. "You are absolutely shameless."

"I am a man ridiculously in love with a beautiful woman." Poe grinned. "One who is just amazingly good at sex. You can't blame me for wanting to take advantage of that any opportunity I can."

That made Kaila laugh uproariously. "So we're just going to be blunt with each other now?"

"Oh believe me... I could be more blunt." Poe swept Kaila up in his arms. "I want to have sex with the woman I'm going to marry just as soon as she decides to settle for my fool ass for all eternity."

Kaila smiled softly at him. She touched his cheek. "There's no settling. That fool ass is mine, Poe Dameron. I'm not letting you go."

"What are you doing?" Rose frowned down at the large figure curled up on the floor of Skywalker.

Ben sat up, shaking his head to sort out his long hair. "I'm trying to sleep."

Rose knelt down next to Ben. She frowned deeply and cocked her head. "Why are you sleeping on the floor of a ship?"

Ben groaned, rubbing the back of his head. He yawned. "I live on the Ghost. And Kaila and Poe had to take the Ghost to Lothal. So I don't have anywhere to sleep."

Rose pointed behind her, smiling in amusement. She shook her head. "There is an entire base with beds and everything."

Ben looked warily towards where Rose was pointing. He then shook his head slowly. "I don't think that's the best idea. I should... Yeah, I should stay away from the base right now. There are some issues."

"Issues," Rose repeated. She then remembered Finn stewing in silent rage. That was the reason why she'd come to Skywalker to do some repair work. She wanted to give him some time to calm down. Since she wasn't going to get any sleep, she might as well gone to work. "You're the reason Finn is in a mood, aren't you?"

Ben scowled, but nodded.

"I thought that might be it. He's in a really bad mood. I haven't seen him like this since... Well, ever."

"He found out about me and Rey."

Rose felt her breath catch. She knew that Finn had a crush on Rey before she'd met him. It had been plainly obvious by how much he talked about her. But in the months since then, Rose thought he'd gotten over it. He seemed happy with Rose. The idea that he would be jealous of Ben and Rey together...

Ben reached out and grabbed Rose's wrist as she began to recoil. "No, it's not like that. It's not because he wants to be with Rey. He likes you. He likes you a lot. But he really, really doesn't like me."

Rose swallowed hard. She wasn't entirely sure she believed that. She bit her lip. "Why does Finn hate you so much? He hardly knows you."

"That's not entirely true." Ben let go of Rose's wrist. "Finn and I knew each other. Before. When we were..."

"When you were in the First Order." Rose sat down on the hard, metal floor. She felt her stomach churning. She had gotten used to the idea of Ben being with the First Order, but it was still a lot to take. She didn't really know anything about his time there. "So were you two... Stormtroopers together?"

Ben shook his head slowly.

Rose's stomach churned more. It seemed too good to be true that Ben's story would be so close to Finn's. A Stormtrooper who had never killed a single person and abandoned them right after his first mission. No, there would be something more with Ben.

"I was an officer," Ben explained. "I sent people like Finn into battle. I sent Finn into battle. He has every right to hate me. And he's right. I'm not good enough for Rey. Everyone knows that except for Rey. And I'm selfish and I can't turn her away."

Rose reached out and touched Ben's hand. He seemed surprised by the gesture, even if he had just taken her wrist. She squeezed it gently. "You're not with someone because you deserve it. You're with someone because they like you. I've seen Rey look at you. I know how she feels about you. If she wants to be with you and you want to be with her, then you two should be together. Who cares what Finn thinks? Rey is a grown woman and can make her own decisions."

Ben smiled softly. "You shouldn't have so much faith in me, Rose."

"You're a good person." Rose smiled back at him. "I can tell. Finn has his issues, but you just have to give him a chance to get to know you for real. He needs time. What happened with the First Order... He's still working through that."

"That's why I'm not going in the base until he has a chance to cool down." Ben grimaced. "He has every right to be there. I don't. I don't mind staying on Skywalker . Once the Ghost is back, I'll have my bunk back. I would've gone with Kaila, but if she and Poe are on the ship alone..."

"Probably a good call," Rose laughed. "Well you can stay here if you want. I was just coming in to do some work while Finn is stomping around our quarters."

Ben's brows rose. "Our quarters?"

Rose's cheeks felt hot and she looked away. "Well, after we stayed on the Ghost together, we got sort of used to sharing a bed. It's nice. Having someone to keep you warm at night. And there's not a whole lot of room on the base."

Ben fixed her with a look. "I already know they're getting the barracks prepared for Clones... And there's a lot of them..."

"I can stay with Finn if I want," Rose replied, fighting her blush. "I'm a grown woman. But we're not... Not yet." She grimaced. "Honestly, I don't think he's ready yet."

"Are you ready?"

Rose blinked at Ben. She never thought she'd get into this sort of conversation with Ben. He seemed so shy and bashful around Rey. "Well, if I'm ready and he's not, it doesn't really matter, does it? I'm not going to push him into anything." She smiled slyly. "What about you and Rey? Why are you sleeping on Skywalker rather than her bunk?"

Ben looked away. "I already told you I'm giving Finn the base. I'm going to stay away from there..."

"But where are you and Rey?"

Ben cleared his throat and ran a hand through his hair. "Rey and I are taking things slow. I don't want to rush into anything. After what happened on Coruscant..."

Rose laughed and leaned in conspiratorially. "What happened on Coruscant?"

Ben straightened up. "I-"

Rose continued to laugh. "I knew you two were acting differently. But I think going slow is good. I mean, you two only met on the mission. Sure, you can get swept up in the adventure of it all, but it's good to get to know each other."

Ben nodded quickly- a little too quickly. "Yeah... On the mission..." He laid back on his makeshift bed. "You can get to work. Ship is big enough I won't hear you."

Rose got to her feet. "All right. Sleep well, Ben. I'll talk to you in the morning."

With that, she left her friend to get to sleep while she went to work.