The Bird and the Flame -- Poe Dameron

XIV

Tatoni sat in the white polished medical ward, nurses working around her. Everyone neat and put together. Just like her mom.

"Tatoni Dajia, right?" a girl with soft blond hair and slim grey eyes walked toward her with a comforting smile.

"That's me," she nodded her head as the nurse stopped directly in front of her, checking her datapad.

"So I'll just be cleaning out your bandage. Checking to see if you'll need new stitches." she put down her datapad on the nearby desk before looking back to Tatoni. "I'm Dia. I work under your mom. She's a great teacher." her professional aura seemed to fade slightly.

Dia gently pulled off the bandage before slowly dabbing something against the stitch, making Tatoni flinch away from her. "Sorry. I'll try to be as gentle as I can."

"Thanks." Tatoni sighed before looking down at her lap, trying hard not to react to the stinging.

"So you went out on a mission with Poe Dameron?" Dia asked as she examined the stitching on Tatoni's forehead.

"Yeah. I was lucky to return." She didn't want to think about Poe right now, much less talk about him.

"I heard you guys got caught by the First Order," Dia shivered as she thought of the idea. "I'm glad you both got out. Too many people have been lost in this war. That's why I became a nurse. To save lives." she said with a faint smile before looking down at Tatoni. "I suppose that's what we're all doing."

Tatoni nodded her head slowly. "I hope this all ends soon."

"One day it will. And people will be free." Dia resumed cleaning Tatoni's wound, making small talk before finishing. "Well, it's all clean now. We don't have to redo the stitching. It's likely to leave a scar, but not a big one."

"Thank you, Dia." Tatoni said, standing up "It was nice to meet you."

"Pleasure's all mine." Dia smiled down at her datapad, likely looking at her next assignment, before she looked back at Tatoni, "I heard you're a great mechanic. My brother is glad to be working under you."

"Your brother?" Tatoni asked with sudden interest. She always cared about the people she worked with on a day-to-day basis.

"Yeah, Rusk. He has a tendency of not doing so well..." she paused, looking down at her feet "But you gave him a chance. Thank you for that."

"Everyone deserves a chance. Rusk has been getting better, hasn't blown anything up since I left. That I know of." Tatoni reminded herself that she should probably get back to work and see how everything had been going.

"Thank you again. It's been a while since anyone gave Rusk a chance." Dia pulled Tatoni into a quick warm hug. Making Tatoni's face heat up when she realized her face was in Dia's chest but Dia didn't seem to notice because when she pulled away she got back to work. Kindness seemed to float in the air around her.

Pulling herself together, Tatoni walked towards the hangar, eager to get back to work. Flashes of Poe kept rushing across her mind. She hated it and as she passed by people, they seemed to notice she was upset as they stepped out of her way. Tatoni however, didn't realize anyone she passed, stuck in her mind. 

She stopped at her desk, picking up her datapad and flopping down into the seat before scrolling through everything that had gotten done in the time she was out. According to the logs written into the datapad, Jampa had started working on Tatoni's ships when she was out. Rusk had kept supervision over everything going on and logged it all in. So everything was still in order. Slightly behind schedule, but it was still fixable.

"Boss?" Tatoni looked up from her datapad as Rusk walked toward her desk with a concerned looked.

"You know I don't like being called that."

"I meant Tatoni." Rusk rubbed the back of his head as he looked around. "So you're back from the mission."

Tatoni nodded her head, looking back down at the datapad. "I see you and Jampa kept things in order." 

Rusk adjusted his stance before leaning against the desk. "Yeah. I kept things logged in and Jampa fixed your ships. I tried helping but after I made a mistake he said he didn't need the help. I tried doing more but-"

"You did well." Tatoni interrupted him, knowing he'd keep explaining what had happened in an un-needed detail. 

"What?" He looked surprised. Like he'd just been asked out by Leia Organa.

"You kept things in order. You stepped up and did my job pretty well. You did well." She leaned back in her seat with a small smile as Rusk's face lit up.

"R-really? Thank you. I felt like I was helping. It was fun to check in on everyone. Although some were a little uncertain of what I was doing."

"Than you should keep doing it." a rough voice croaked from behind Tatoni.

She turned around in her seat to see Jampa leaned over his cane, the wrinkles on his face twisting up as he smiled at Tatoni.

"Jampa." She got up from her seat and ushered him to sit. "Thank you for doing my ships. I know it must have been a lot."

He chuckled as he sat in the seat, shaking his head. "It was a lot. Although it's about as much as I used to do. I now know why my job is so much easier, you took away half my ships and spread them out upon the rest."

Tatoni sighed, knowing what he was getting at. "I know, I know. I just didn't want you to be overworked."

"I know you meant the best," Jampa said as he leaned back in the seat. He'd always been there for Tatoni. Especially since her father had gone. "I want my ships back though. You put so much work on your back. Honestly, since you'd been gone I felt like my young self again. Overworking."

"I can handle fine. It's what I've been doing for a while." Tatoni breathed in as she sat on the desk, next to Rusk.

"You work too much." Jampa protested but he knew he wouldn't get through to Tatoni so he looked to Rusk.

"At least spread out your work," Rusk spoke up, earning a surprised look from Tatoni. He barely ever talked against anyone. "I could log in everyone's work so you can spend your workday on your ships. It also won't make you work after everyone else is done." Rusk looked down at his hands, waiting for reassurance.

"We all know you work after hours," Jamie said as she stopped by Tatoni's station, toolbox in hand.

The three looked at Tatoni with knowing looks. "Fine." she took a deep breath before shaking her head and crossing her arms "You got me. I'll give Jampa more ships and Rusk will log in on the ships and help others."

Jamie nodded her head before walking on, Rusk smiled at Tatoni as Jampa began to stand from his seat with a wide smile.

"I knew you would agree." Jampa gave Tatoni a hug, "I'm glad you made it back, kiddo."

"Glad to be back." she wrapped her arms around Jampa, resting her head on his shoulder before pulling away, a smile on her face "Now get to work. You just got more ships to finish."

Jampa chuckled as he walked away and Tatoni turned back to Rusk. 

"Speak up more often." she said as she handed him a Datapad "It fits you well."

He smiled proudly as he walked back to work, a new pep in his step. 

And so Tatoni was left alone to her thoughts. Her small side felt relieved that she wouldn't have to work as much, yet a bigger side of her didn't like the idea of having more time on her hands, especially when a certain brown-eyed pilot walked around the place as if he owned the place.

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