A year later, nine and a half years since Kylo Ren had destroyed the village, Poe and Pát went to visit Jasper and Afren, and their little Pandora.

They'd left the base, and now lived about a ten minute walk from it, in a large treehouse, not dissimilar from the one Poe had stayed in when he met the Bendal family for he first time.

Pandora was nearly two years old, and didn't remember Poe at all. She clung to her mother's lose pants, poking her head out occasionally.

To Poe's disappointment, she warmed up to Pát before she did him.

As they were sitting in the treehouse, Pandora on Pát's knee, Afren asked, only half joking, "So Poe, when's the wedding?"

Both he and Pát blushed.  "What do you mean?"

"You've been together for a while now, and you're almost 30 years old."

"We aren't planning on it, not yet," Pát said, laughing awkwardly.

"I'm going to the base," Jasper said, standing. "Poe?"

The pilot gratefully followed him out of the treehouse.  BB-8, who had been at the bottom of the ladder, whistled in greeting

Poe swung playfully at the droid's antenna, and it rolled back.

The three went down the well-worn trail in the twilight.  The sounds of Ewoks settling down for bed echoed around the forest.

"Any more transmissions since the one Geo betrayed?" Jasper asked, holding back a branch for Poe.

"No, not yet.  But we could expect one any day now."

The base was being run by a female Twi'lek named Gria'yon.

Unlike Onya, her skin was an earthy orange, not dissimilar from human skin.  She preferred to wear dark colors instead of the orange uniform, as her skin and the suit clashed.

She met Poe with a polite smile, shaking his hand and giving him a tour of the base.  The pilots and ground troops were lounging about in the training room, killing time before lights out.  They'd tipped over burned dummies and made them into a structure, which they climbed over, some resting in nooks and crannies all over.

Poe grinned at the sight, but a sideways glance at Jasper and Gria'yon told him that this was not something usually allowed.

Gria'yon snapped out orders to clean up and get ready for lights out, or else they could expect to have extra workouts the next night instead of free time.  With some grumbling, the pilots and troops obeyed.

They didn't give Poe much more than a quick glance as they passed, either ashamed that the General's favorite pilot had seen their scolding, or else not caring much about him anyway.

The next day, Pát and Poe left for Dantooine.

They wanted to see a monument that had been erected in the honor of the padawans and Jedi who were killed, nine years earlier.  It was a new monument, only made a few months before, but the couple had been too busy to visit.

It sat on top of the hill covering the base, a huge slab of silvery-white stone, their names carved in and illuminated with glowing stones the color of their lightsabers.

Poe ran his hand down the list.

Onya.

Ilia.

Averann.

Kilya.

Anina.

Aaron.

Mei.

What if he'd stayed?  Would his name be on the list?  Or would this have never happened?

Could he have stopped Ben?  Detected his betrayal, countered him?  Even if it meant killing him?

No.  He hadn't sensed a bit of darkness when he'd visited the day Ben had massacred everyone in the academy.

He was a failure.  He could have saved all of these people's lives and he didn't.  He was selfish, he went to pursue his dream, cutting off all of theirs in the long run.

Poe felt a hand on his shoulder and realized that he'd been crying.

Pát rubbed his back slowly.  "It isn't your fault, you know.  You weren't trained in the Force anymore then.  And if you hadn't left, I never would have met you."

She turned him around, and hugged him tightly.   As they embraced, Poe composed himself.

By the time she let him go, the only traces of grief were in his red-rimmed eyes.

He smiled faintly at her.  "Thank you, Pát.  I love you, you know?"

She grinned.  "I know."  Pát leaned up and kissed him quickly.

"Now, we need to go back to base," she said, taking his arm and walking him down.

"We shouldn't stretch out our leave, or else the general won't trust us."

Pát smiled and pulled on her helmet.   "Exactly.  Cmon, doofus."

"Careful, Pátriciá," he said playfully.

She scowled at her full name.  "Oh shut up, Dameron.  Let's go."

Poe smiled as he followed her into the sky.