Disclaimer: Characters contained within do not belong to me.

Author's Notes: To follow.

Little Star

by Kristen Elizabeth

"Where thou art, that is home."

- Emily Dickinson

At the end of a journey that seemed like it might never be over, all Poe wanted to do was to go home. After landing at the space yard, he rushed through his post-flight checks, grabbed the speeder he'd left in the yard four days earlier, and sped off with only a wave of his hand at anyone who called out to him.

Spring was in full bloom and the tropical forest around their house was full and lush. When he arrived, Poe grabbed his bag and leaped off his speeder. On his way into the house, he plucked a vivid, purple blossom off the yeerta bush that guarded the entrance.

"Rey?" he called out. "l'm home!"

"In here, Poe." Dropping his bag, but not the flower, he followed the sound of his wife's voice down the hall and into the nursery.

BB-8 stood guard in the corner of the room, but Poe focused on the window where Rey sat in a wide chair, holding their four month-old daughter to her breast. She looked up and gave him the smile that still made his stomach flop. "Look who's home, Bria."

Poe crossed the room and knelt down next to the chair. He touched Bria's petal soft cheek as she nursed. "Has she gotten bigger?"

"I don't think so," Rey laughed. After he'd given her kiss, she asked, "How was it?"

"It was..." He shook his head. "Is it okay if that waits for a bit?" Rey frowned. "Nothing bad," he assured her. "Just a bigger conversation."

"All right," she agreed. Together, they both watched Bria as her eyes began to droop. "I think she's done. Can you...?"

She didn't need to ask twice. Poe lifted his daughter up and held her to his shoulder while Rey redressed. "You might not be bigger," he told her, rubbing her tiny back. "But you are prettier."

Rey quickly draped a soft cloth on his shoulder, under the baby's chin. "Just in case." Stepping back, she watched them with misty eyes. Dr. Kalonia had once said that Poe would take to fatherhood like a fish to water. As with so many things, the older woman had been absolutely right.

From the moment they'd brought Bria home from the medical centre, Poe had dedicated himself to taking care of Bria and Rey. He woke when Bria woke, sat with Rey while she and Bria struggled to get the hang of breastfeeding, changed diapers, made whatever food struck Rey's fancy, and somehow managed to keep their life, which had completely turned upside down, running smoothly.

But a week earlier, the strangest thing had happened. Poe had been summoned to the community centre, a makeshift building that was home to the burgeoning government of Yavin 4. With the population growing every month, the colony was starting to become an actual world and basic structures like laws and law enforcement had become necessary.

Poe expected they would ask him, as a former Resistance general, to head the new enforcement squad. What the colony's governors wanted, however, was much more complicated.

"Is she asleep?" Poe whispered.

Rey checked and smiled. "Just about. Want me to take her?"

Her husband shook his head. "No, I'm good." Kissing the baby's soft head, he added, "I've missed this." Their eyes met; there was a question in Rey's eyes, unspoken because he'd asked for a moment, but still there. Unable to deny her anything, Poe gave in. "Yeah, it's what we thought."

Letting out a breath she'd been holding for days, Rey nodded. "And?"

"You know I wouldn't make any decisions until I talked to you."

"I appreciate that," she assured him. "But I don't believe for a moment that you haven't already thought about it."

"Yeah, sure, maybe a little," her husband acquiesced. With a sigh, he walked to the crib and gently placed Bria down onto the soft mattress. After watching her for a moment to make sure she was really asleep, Poe looked back at his wife. "You haven't?"

"I've been a little busy the past few days."

Approaching her, Poe cupped her face in his hands and gave her a long, slow, much more satisfying kiss. "Sorry, honey."

"Don't be," she said, playing with the collar of his shirt. "Maybe I was glad to be busy so I wouldn't have to think about it."

"Yeah." Pulling her to his chest, he wrapped his arms around her. "It's a lot to process."

With her cheek on his shoulder and his chin on her head, they stood like that for a long time, just happy to be together again, with their daughter sleeping peacefully beside them.

Finally, Poe spoke. "Let me take a shower and get us some dinner. Then, I'll tell you all about Coruscant."

Fresh from his shower, his dark hair drying in gentle curls, Poe fixed Rey's favorite dinner and watched her eat, a smile on his face. One of his greatest joys in life was watching his wife, who had spent most of her life working to get quarter portions of tasteless rations, thoroughly enjoying food he had made for her.

"So, I stayed in this tower of apartments," Poe said, forking up a bite of stew. "Three hundred floors, Rey. I was right near the top and the view was incredible." He chewed and swallowed. "It was so high up that even the traffic was below me."

Rey's eyes were wide. "That's amazing. Like living in the sky!"

"Of course, it's not all glamorous like that," he went on. "The lower levels are...well...not much better than Mos Eisely, except darker, colder and actually less clean, if you can believe that."

"I hear there are some levels that are off limits entirely because of how bad they are," Rey said, a hint of excitement at the possibility of a no-man's land deep in the bowels of the galaxy's glittering jewel planet.

"Yeah, but we'd probably live at a much higher level. Maybe not as high as that hotel, but I think they were trying to win me..." Poe stopped when he realized that Rey had set down her fork. Looking up from his plate, he cleared his throat. "Okay," he confessed. "I might have thought a lot about it."

The corner of Rey's lips turned up in a wry smile. "Senator Dameron."

He pointed his fork at her. "I haven't said yes."

"But you want to." Rey tilted her head to the side, studying him. "I can feel it."

"Mind trick?"

"Wifely instinct."

Dropping his fork, Poe reached across the table for her hand. "I don't give a damn about the title or all the perks that come with it. You know that, right?"

Rey laced her fingers through his. "I know." She paused. "But..."

"But..." He shook his head. "I keep thinking of something Admiral Holdo said."

"We are the spark that'll light the fire that'll burn the First Order down?" Rey repeated from the stories she'd heard him tell her about the brave woman who'd given her life to save the Resistance.

"Actually...that was me embellishing a bit."

Rey's eyebrow arched. "That's not like you." He snorted. "So, what did she actually..."

He cut her off. "'We are the spark that will light the fire that will restore the Republic.' Restore..." He paused, staring into space. "I didn't really listen to her back then. I was so focused on the fight, on finding a way to not just survive, but to win. She talked about a fire and I thought...fires destroy. And I want to destroy the First Order." Blinking, Poe looked back at Rey. "But she was thinking bigger than just a battle or even the war itself. She meant fire, like, something that brings light. That sustains. That's what the Republic was. What it needs to be again." Shaking his head, Poe sighed. "I'm not making any sense."

Before he could pull his hand away, Rey tightened her grip, holding onto him. "You are making perfect sense."

His chin touched his chest for a long moment. "I want to do this, Rey. For Bria." He lifted his head. "My parents fought...we fought..." The muscles in his jaw tightened as he vowed, "I'm gonna make damn sure that our daughter doesn't have to fight. And I can't do that here, working in the space yard where a sudden wind and a badly built roof might wipe me out."

With her free hand, Rey brushed a tear away. "I understand."

"But this is our home," he continued. "We built this house together, we made Bria here. My father, all of our friends are close by. " Poe shook his head again. "Coruscant isn't home."

BB-8, who had an open comm channel with the nursey, beeped just then and amplified the sound of Bria waking with a whimper that slowly turned into a cry.

Poe stood up just as Rey started to. "I'll go." He kissed her fingers before letting her hand go. "Finish your dinner before it gets cold."

When he was gone, Rey put her hand to her mouth, collecting her thoughts. It didn't surprise her that the leaders had asked her husband to represent them in the new Senate. He was one of the few people in the colony who had actually been born on Yavin 4 and could claim to be native to the planet. Plus, Poe was a natural leader. People wanted to follow him, whether that was because the stories of his antics in the war were rapidly becoming legend or just because of the way he smiled, so full of confidence, bravado and charm. Whatever it was, Poe would be a good addition to the Senate.

But while he was helping to rebuild the government and ensure that their daughter had a bright future, free of oppression and war, what would she be doing?

It wasn't a question she'd been able to ask for nine months, while waiting to give birth. But now, in the scattered moments where Bria was asleep and Rey wasn't, she couldn't not think about it anymore.

Over BB-8's comm channel, she heard Poe's voice over the sounds of Bria's cries. "Hey, Bria-bear," he soothed. "What's all the fuss about? Ah...yeah, I smell it now. All right, let's get you cleaned up, precious."

Abandoning the table, Rey made her way into the nursery. Stopping in the doorway, she watched as her husband expertly swapped a dirty diaper for a clean one.

Poe lifted Bria up from the changing table and held her out to Rey who moved forward in order to take her while Poe cleaned up. In her arms, Bria cooed as she grabbed a hank of Rey's hair and stuffed it in her mouth.

"Coruscant will be our home," Rey said, easing her hair out of the baby's grip. He looked up. "Because we'll be there together. All of us."

He dumped the dirty diaper and cleaning cloth into the chute that led to the laundry processing unit and leaned against the changing table, folding his arms. "I feel like I'm dragging you away from everything."

"No, it's my choice." Rey looked down at Bria as she gummed her fist in the absence of her mother's hair. "Plus...I have my own reasons, too." He frowned until she continued, "I'm not a leader, not like you are. But I am a teacher. A guardian."

"A Jedi," he said with no small amount of pride.

"Luke was wrong. The universe needs the Jedi. The Force is the balance, but the Jedi play a part in that." She put her cheek on Bria's soft head. "I already know she'll need training."

Poe's arms fell to his sides as he stood up straighter. "You're sure?"

She held their daughter tighter as she nodded, a tear escaping her eye. "And she isn't alone. There are people out there who need guidance. Coruscant was the home of the Jedi-and it could be again."

"It will be again," Poe said firmly.

Rey smiled through her tears. "You build Bria a better world. And I'll protect it."

Walking to his wife, Poe captured her lips in a kiss that left them both breathless. Between their bodies, Bria reached out and grabbed at her mother's shirt, tugging hard enough to break the kiss that was distracting her parents.

"Hungry again?" Poe guessed.

Rey nodded. Stepping back, she headed for the rocking chair by the window, already loosening her top. Poe backed up to the door, but Rey called to him. "Stick around, Senator, and you might get lucky when she's asleep again."

Poe walked to the wide windowsill and sat down. "Dishes can definitely wait."

Once Bria was settled at her breast, Rey reached for his hand and Poe took it, clasping it between his own as the sun disappeared for another night and the stars came out to watch over them all.

Fin

Thank you so much for reading and a special thanks to those who left comments.

Also, there is another story in this series coming. Yeah...they're not through talking to me yet...