Solo ➵ Poe Dameron

ONE

TAKING FLIGHT PART 1

AGED 14

"Jamie Padmé Solo!" She heard her mother shout from the house. "Get down from there and come inside, your brothers home!"

Jamie rolled her eyes and climbed out of the tree in her back garden. Well, if you could call the large expanse of a planet her back garden. Her mother was calling from a bunker they called home and she had been sitting in a tree watching the older recruits fly x-wings. They were three years older than her and had been flying since they were 10, so whenever her mother told her she was too young to fly she had to bite her tongue so she didn't call out the bullshit.

Jamie didn't see why Ben got all the attention. Sure, he was force sensitive, and sure, he was a talented little shit, but he was also two years younger than her and was annoying. Jamie stuck her hands in her pockets and kicked at the ground as she approached the bunker. She could hear her mother's light voice and the deep tone of her father coming from inside. When she strained, she could hear the soft words her brother spoke. She felt like an outsider.

"Jamie, honestly, I don't see why that took so long." Her mother, General Leia Organa, said shaking her head. Jamie bit her tongue, wanting to avoid the lecture she got from her father the last time he heard her talk back to Leia. They stood in a converted kitchen, which was rather big considering where they were.

"I'm sorry, Mother." She said, forcing a smile into her face when she saw Ben look at her. "I was watching the X-Wings and I was wondering-."

"Get your head out of the clouds, Jamie." Her Mother cut her off, earning a slight glare from the older Solo child. "Ben's back with Luke for a few days before they head off to Jedha, isn't that nice? We can finally have that family meal I've been planning."

Leia turned her back on the two, and Han moved to help her get the food out. Jamie glanced at Ben, her eyebrows raised. He shrugged nonchalantly and moved to help their parents, who between them couldn't reach a packet of potatoes on the top shelf. Ben raised his right arm, his eyes narrowing as he focused on the bag. It lifted, and slowly floated down onto the counter.

"Show off." Jamie muttered under her breath. Leia turned around sharply and looked at her accusingly. Han slowly followed, he obviously didn't hear her talk.

"What did you say, Jamie?" Leia said casually. Jamie's eyes narrowed to the size that Ben's had when he made the potato bag float. Leia shook her head disapprovingly. "We will talk later, young lady."

Jamie rolled her eyes again when Leia turned around, earning her a warning look for her father. She decided to leave the three to play happy family and return to watching the x-wings. She got to the tree she was in before and noticed the x-wings had finished their drills. She climbed to the top branch and stared at the horizon longingly.

"You alright up there, Solo?" A voice said from below her. Jamie looked down between the branches and with held another eye roll when she saw who it was. Poe Dameron, The Resistance's latest nuisance.

"Do you even know my first name, Flyboy?" Jamie shot back, smiling at the older boy. He was 16, almost 17, and the two rarely spoke but when they did, it was like Leia and Han when they first met. A dog and a cat, at each others throats. (Although Poe never told anyone, because his reputation would be ruined if it came out that a 14 year old could out sass him).

"Don't need to know it, Solo, I know other things." He smirked at her, he really didn't know her name and really didn't care. "I know that your Dad's Han Solo but you've never flown a ship, I know you hate blue milk and your favourite colour is yellow, and I know that you've dreamed of flying an x-wing and owning a blaster."

Jamie glared at him, wishing she had the force so she could choke that shit eating grin off of his face. Her eyes softened when she thought of the force, her heart breaking a little at the realisation she'd never be able to use it.

"What, no sarcastic reply? No 'please Dameron, I know you're amazing and fantastic in every single way, please stop ruining my self esteem.'" He mimicked her voice terribly. She stifled a laugh and shook her head. Poe was still grinning at her, but quickly looked away when the two heard the bunker door open. "Uh oh, mother's calling."

Poe smirked and gave a mock salut before turning and walking away, rejoining the older group of recruits with his helmet tucked under his arm. Jamie sighed, she was jealous he got to fly. He was right, how could she be Han Solo's daughter if, by the age of 14, she'd never flown a ship?

"Jamie, food's ready." Her mother called from the bunker door, grimacing slightly when Jamie basically jumped from the top of the tree. The older Solo child wrapped her jacket around her, suddenly noticing the cold, and jogged to the bunker.

Leia, Han, Luke, and Ben were all engaged in a conversation within a few minutes of the food being set out. They were talking about Ben's training, and not a sentence went by without Leia repeating how proud she was of him. Jamie gripped her fork, and Luke looked at her with a look that seemed to scream unease.

"Have you done anything exciting since I've been gone, Jay?" Ben asked politely, his eye twitching slightly when he noticed the nickname cause Jamie to grip her fork even tighter. Jamie looked at her knuckles, which were white, and slowly unclenched her hand.

"Not much," she shrugged. "I disassembled 3PO because he was annoying Mom." That earned a soft laugh from Luke, diffusing the uneasy tension that had been between them for a while. The dinner continued and Jamie was left out of the conversation, as per usual. At the end, after Ben went downstairs to his room and Luke said goodbye and headed God knows where, Jamie went to leave the table, but was created by both her parents which was an odd sight.

"Not so fast, missy." Han said, a frown playing on his usually neutral or happy face. Jamie looked at the two, and it clicked she was in trouble. "You've been nothing but miserable since you found out Ben was coming back, what's up?"

"Nothing, it's just," Jamie stopped mid sentence, really hoping neither of the heard her. "Nothing. I'm fine."

"You don't seem fine." Leia noted with a sad smile. "Is it about that Poe boy? Or the fact I won't let you fly an X-Wing?" Jamie heard the floor board creak behind her, and realised Ben was listening into their conversation. Her parents, on the other hand, didn't notice.

"Yeah, I guess it is." Jamie said, hostility creeping into her voice. "I'm not five anymore, and you Dad said the next time he came home I would be old enough to learn to fly. Dad's home conveniently at the same time as Ben and all of a sudden I'm too young again, or you're too busy. Ben is twelve and has flying lessons, it's seriously unfair." She vented, getting progressively angrier.

Leia looked at her, shocked at her outbreak. Han put a hand on Leia's arm, a silent gesture to stay calm. Jamie waited for them to say something, anything but it never came.

"Because Ben's so special with his overrated force powers, plain old Jamie isn't good enough for you anymore." She said, fuming. She heard Ben's breath hitch behind her and smiled, her words had had the desired effect. She barged through the middle of her parents and rushed out the door. She heard her mother shout out after her, and ignored her, silently acknowledging the punishment she'd get for that later. She made a b-line for the Millennium Falcon, and climbed onto the top of it.

Gazing at the setting sun, she felt the cold seep into her skin, regretting not grabbing her coat as she ran out. She pulled her baggy jumper down over her knees and crossed her arms, waiting for a shooting star or something to wish on, and she'd wish a way out of this life.