It had been a hard day not in terms of danger, but in strenuous work loads. Adali had spent the early morning hours before the sun had arisen over the horizon getting ahead on her work orders before the rest of the day was spent training Rey in the humid jungle of Yavin 4. Poe Dameron had spent his day training up the new Red Squadron of x-wing pilots. The two hadn’t run into one another until Poe found Adali resting under a tree with her carving materials in hand while enjoying the orange hue of the sunset.

Poe had leaned against a nearby tree watching the young woman until the sun was nearly completely hidden over the horizon. The warm dimming light made Adali’s blue eyes almost look purple, and her hair (which was down for once instead of pulled back in some elaborate braid Poe didn’t know how to manage), looked shiny and almost strawberry blonde instead of dirty blonde.

 He would’ve been blind not to notice how absolutely stunning she looked in that moment. Not that she wasn’t always beautiful, he found, but in that moment he found it harder to breathe and his chest a fraction tighter than normal when he found himself lost gazing at the young woman. The thought of someday losing the chance to bask in her warm air, which she most likey would’ve said was her Force signature, was nearly debilitating for him to think about.

Someday the war with the First Order would be over, and he would follow General Organa or return to the New Republic and continue to fly. Or maybe he would take a page out of his father’s book and retire there to Yavin 4. It hadn’t been what he wanted as a child, but he’d seen so much death and destruction for one lifetime. As long as he could still fly, Poe didn’t really care where he went.

But Adali would most likely try to reopen the Jedi Temple to train future Jedi. Or, as Poe refused to think, would be dead by the hands of her cousin. There were even chances for either outcome, and the more favorable one still left Poe wondering if he’d ever get to see the young woman again. It was something he didn’t like to think about, and he tried not to accept that it was there. But if there was something he could do about it, he definitely would.

Adali was one of the kindest people he’d ever known despite all of the horrors that had been done to her, and everything she’d been forced to do with the war invading into every aspect of their lives. She always went out of her way to make others feel better and to help solve their problems before ever trying to fix her own even if it put her in a bad place mentally, or physically. She’d arrived from Coruscant in a very bad way, but it was cleaner now, especially to Poe as he looked at her whenever she wasn’t looking, that she was still troubled, but she was much happier than she’d arrived. That sweet girl that smiled with her eyes, and loved with ever fiber of her being was not afraid to stick up for those unable to do so for themselves, and she definitely wasn’t afraid to put people (namely Poe) in their place when they stepped out of line.

“Are you going to just stand there all night, or are you going to join me?” Adali asked without looking up from her carving. It looked like she was carving some sort of blossom, but he was no expert on plant life.

“Sometimes it still freaks me out how you do that,” Poe admitted as he made his way over to join her under the tree to enjoy the rest of the evening in the hot jungle.

“It didn’t freak you out when I was able to find you on Jakku,” Adali pointed out, glancing up through her lashes with a coy smirk on her lips before going back to her work. The Force Bond that had somehow managed to connect them together despite Poe’s lack of Force Sensitivity had perplexed them for quite some time after they’d discovered it, but it was far easier to handle now. “Nor do you seem to complain when you drew me into your dreams and tried to have s-”

Poe cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck as he interrupted the woman. “Yeah, still don’t know why you went along with those,” Poe muttered, though not regretting where his dreams often took him. After all, his dreams just gave him what he wished he had in the real world.

“I was just as confused as you were,” Adali said. “But it’s perfectly natural to dream about such things, I’m told. Dreams are perfectly normal.”

“Except for Jedi.”

“Except for Jedi,” Adali agreed.

“What else is unusual for a Jedi to do?” Poe asked.

“Depends on when you’re asking,” Adali clarified. “Are you talking about the Old Republic when the Jedi Council existed, or do you mean now with only me and Rey actively living and practicing as Jedi?”

“Let’s go with the first one?”

Adali just chuckled at his hesitance to pick. “Well, Jedi weren’t allowed to form attachments, but it was expected of us to have compassion for all living things. Relations weren’t forbidden, but many refrained from them as relations often would lead to emotions and attachment. It just made things too complicated.”

“What about now?” Poe asked. “I mean, your dad married your mother, and Leia had Han. Where do you stand?”

“Emotions and attachment are perfectly natural and normal for anybody,” Adali said. “The issue that the old ways did not understand was that fear and loss, anger, depression, and all other negative emotions are also natural. Everyone, not just Jedi, had to work through them and learn to deal with them in healthy ways. Just because you can have one doesn’t mean you’ll always have the other, but sometimes it does and that’s normal. We have to accept that pain and loss is as much a part of life as love and hope and pleasure.”

“So if you were to, I don’t know, fall in love, then you’d be willing to get married and have the whole family experience?” Poe asked.

Love. Love. Love was an emotion that was not a stranger to Adali. She supposed she may have felt too much and too deeply, but she wouldn't have it any other way. She would not change herself because love was the best feeling of all. Love was happiness, serenity, peace, and joy. All she felt she needed ever was love.

But at the same time, love still caused her grief. She loved her family, and though they were falling apart, she still loved them which many didn’t understand. Kylo Ren wasn’t just Kylo Ren, he was Ben Solo, the sweet boy that used to laugh and play with her in the flowering fields and place Force Ball with. And it wasn't just familial love either.

Romantic love was tricky. Often she found herself stammering, flustered, and utterly confused on what was going on or how she felt with the man sitting beside her. These questions were not exempt from this either. When inquiring of it personally towards her, Adali’s heart skipped a beat, and the fluttering in the pit of her stomach seemed to nauseate her. The man always threw her curveballs and she wasn’t sure how to deal with those emotions.

Usually the casual flirtations they’d fallen into were something she could easily handle now. In the beginning, however, that was a very different story. But now, she looked forward to their playful banters and sweet words. Just the thought of the man and his warm brown eyes and his goofy smile warmed her, and brought a smile to her lips. But when things got more serious, like with the question he was asking her now, Adali didn’t know what to think. Was he being serious? Was he asking for himself? Was this all just friendly and innocent, or was Poe actually interested in her. Poe was a flirt and had a reputation, but she knew he’d never intentionally hurt her. But where they really stood with one another, Adali didn’t know.

“I would,” Adali finally admitted after a long while of silence. “A husband, kids, maybe some animals around for them to play with and teach responsibility. At least two,” Adali went on to clarify. “I want my kids to have a sibling like I had with Ben. Nobody should feel alone growing up.”

“Yeah, I would’ve liked a sibling to grow up with,” Poe admitted. “Two is a good number, to start and if we decide more than all the better.”

“We?” Adali squeaked and gaped, her carving tool slipping to jab into the metal finger on her left hand. Thankfully the prosthetic was more durable and was simple scratched ever so slightly. Nothing that couldn’t just be buffed out.

“Yes, we,” Poe said, smirking at how adorable Adali looked when she was utterly flushed in the cheeks. “I’m going to marry you one day.”

“Oh, you sound very sure of this!” Adali huffed. His casual tone was hard to figure out. Either he really did believe this and was casual because he knew he’d make it happen, or because he was joking and that option did not please her one bit.

“I am. You know we’re meant to be,” he declared.

“Poe, we’re not even dating! How could you possibly know th-”

“What, you’ve never thought about us?” Poe retorted, reaching over to stop her from working more. If she was going to keep using that sharp tool with how distracted she was, she was going to end up nicking her flesh and dealing with blood right now wasn’t what he wanted. Plus, by doing this he could hold her hand, something that never happened quite enough for his taste.

“What us?” Adali asked. “Poe, you’re my friend, and sure, we may flirt some but-

“Then why is your hand sweating so much?” Poe interrupted.

This is nothing to aid in rectifying her flustered self. Pulling her hands away, Adali rubbed them against her pants in an attempt to dry them. “It’s hot and humid and we’re in a jungle, I was working so of course my hands would be sweaty! Give me one good reason. Why should we date?”

“Because we’re attracted to each other,” Poe said.

Now that was hard to deny, at least on Adali’s part. While the orange and white jumpsuits the pilots wore were highly attractive, that didn’t mean Poe was. She’d seen him on many occasions in nothing more than his underthings thanks to those forsaken dreams they shared, and the man, despite not working out, was incredibly toned and tan. It had to be all those hours of picking up and working with BB-8, she assumed. But it should’ve been illegal just how delicious that man looked.

“That’s not how you build a lasting, healthy relationship, Poe,” Adali sighed.

“How about this? You’re my best friend,” Poe said. “And just seeing you makes my heart flutter, and thinking about you makes me smile. The thought of losing you scares me more than I’ll ever admit to anybody else. And I’m not just talking about losing you in this war…”

Now those words hadn’t been expected. Those words ruined her insides, and caused her breath to catch in her throat painfully. With much caution, Adali looked up into his warm eyes as the sky really started to turn dark. The sun was gone and the beautiful colors of the temporary painting in the sky was now just a memory, but somehow that just made his words ring more true. It wasn’t just some temporary, flowery thing to say to someone to flirt with. This wasn’t just some casual, playful thing.

His words were close to the definition she had in her own heart for love. Subconsciously Adali’s flesh hand moved to her prosthetic and fiddled with the wedding ring that had belonged to her mother. She’d have to replace it with something else, something that was hanging around Poe’s neck if this were true. But while she could simply move that ring to another finger, the fact that there would still be something so meaningful there in it’s place, like how her mother and father never took their rings off until their deaths, meant so much to Adali. More than she could’ve ever put into words.

“Tell me again,” Adali whispered.

Not that Ami was allowed to express these thoughts outside of the company of her immediate family when any guests were present. Ami, though displeased and bored with the rules of societal mingling for women and men, would not dare bring dishonor to herself, her family, or the crown. If she could possibly change the way things worked when she had that despicably heavy piece of jeweled metal atop her head, then she would gladly do it, but for now she would be the picture of perfection in the eyes of everyone around her. 

After all, though she detested the title, it was a rather accurate depiction of her when in such situations as this. The “Porcelain Princess” was well aware of the name given to her, and though she hated that she had to remain in such a way, she was to remain the perfectly pretty, civilized little doll.

So Ami smiled and made polite conversation with anybody she came in contact with, making sure not to accidentally or purposefully cut anybody while making her rounds by the accompaniment of her father, Luke, or with her grandfather, Anakin, or even her cousin, Ben. While the attention was often on her and her family because of who they were, tonight was even worse in regards to eyes on her for the social event was specifically for Ami’s entry into society as an eligible young woman. 

This meant that every eligible man with a title considered “worthy” of her own approached her and though typically there were only a certain number of dances she was socially allowed to partake in, she was expected to give each man at least one dance in order to become better acquainted with someone that could possibly become a candidate for her husband. The conversations were boring and formal, with nothing intellectually stimulating for her whatsoever. The dances were repetitive, and the corset doned of her traditional Nabooian styled dress (which she was expected to wear instead of the more modern straight line dresses with the capped sleeves that Adali detested) was pulled too tight and making it hard to catch her breath. 

While it was perfectly acceptable for any woman there in attendance to faint, Ami took pride in the fact that she’d never done so. While it may have hindered her reputation if she was in the presence of an individual that used uncivilized language or said something crude and didn’t “faint” she didn’t particularly care. She’d heard far worse, and she knew she’d have to deal with far darker topics as Queen of a country someday. She found that it would've been far more unacceptable if a queen fainted because of a single swear word. 

Finally, Ami was allotted a few moments of respite with Rey to catch her breathe and rest her feet after seven straight dances. It wasn’t expected of Rey to socialize to the extent of Ami due to her marriage to the Prince, and in her condition. Ami almost longed for the day where she could bask in the perks of such a state. It was resting there that Rey pulled Ami’s attention to Ben reentering the ballroom with a new guest, one that Ami had not been introduced to yet. 

The tanned skin man was the epitome of “tall, dark, and handsome,” Ami thought. It was just as her novels described. Even from across the room Ami could see his dark, warm brown eyes, the quirk of his smirk occasionally growing into a full fledged white toothed smile that reached his eyes. His dark hair was slicked and pulled back tightly, though by the looks of it, if it wasn’t done so neatly it would’ve been a bit curly. His broad shoulders and tight fit of his navy blue flock coat with silver edges and matching buttons, and his tight trousers showing the tone and muscle of his legs show that he was, beyond a doubt, physically fit. 

“Perhaps you should avert your eyes from Captain Dameron, sister,” Rey insisted. 

“This is Captain Dameron?” Ami inquired, turning her head towards Rey, but her eyes lingering several longer moments to the man across the room. 

“I did mention he was aesthetically pleasing,” Rey said, refraining from chuckling as it would’ve been impolite and inappropriate of her to do. “But I reiterate, perhaps you should avert your gaze. It may appear too informal of you to stare much longer.” 

Ami blinked and shifted back into her typical façade. Rey was right. There was a time and place for lingering gazes, and though Ami was not necessarily practiced in such a technique, she was trained to do so, she knew this was not the correct situation to utilize such a tool. “You are correct,” Ami said, her polite smile not quite reaching her eyes like it did when in private. “How rude of me.” 

Rey’s smile turned into more of a smirk, and that mischievous glint in her eye sparked concern in the pit of Ami’s stomach. “Would you care for an introduction?” 

“An introduction with Captain Dameron?” Ami asked. “To be polite, perhaps if my brother should insist. He did trek all the way here for the occasion. Otherwise it may not be so wise with the words you’ve exchanged with me.” 

“We, of all people, know the effect of false words,” Rey reminded her. 

The rumors of Ami were hard enough, but she was far from scandal. Rey and Ben, on the other hand, had been quite the topic a few years back when news of the engagement between the brings and the lady’s maid reached the ears of the other nobles. It had been so difficult for them, but the struggle had been well worth it, for the two had never been happier, and were blessed with the sweetest os son’s, with another child on the way. Just seeing the turmoil it had wreaked on some of the people she cared most about had not been easy, though. 

“I do suppose this to be true,” Ami admitted, her gaze shifting back to the man across the room. 

It was then that the dark eyed man glanced over towards the royals, his eyes examining them down the line one by one until they reached Ami, sitting with her ankles crossed tucked under the seat, her back straight, dull yet polite smile on her lips. The smile faltered just slightly as his eyes narrowed a fraction to study the young woman. While her head tilted slightly as she too, curiously looked back to see his reaction. 

Poe Dameron raised his chin slightly, but nothing within his expression seemed to change as he took in a deep breath. It was evident that he was studying her with some objective she was not privy to, but she assumed as such would have been considered improper. While he was certainly handsome with his serious knitted brows, it held nothing against just how attractive he appeared when his lips turned upward, with a glint of mischievousness glazing over his warm eyes.

“It does seem you’ve caught the Captain’s attention,” Rey pointed out. “Perhaps the evening shall be more interesting than we initially suspected, wouldn’t you say, sister?” 

Ami gasped and turned to Rey, breaking her gaze from the stranger. “I do suppose it is something different, yes,” she muttered. “Whether it be good, or otherwise, is yet to be seen.”