Every Once in a While

We sat on the far side of the resistance base, where it was secluded and fairly quiet. The grass on the knoll we were sitting on was nice and cool. I stretched my legs out and leaned back on both my hands, relishing on how satisfying it was to be outside. I was going to take my break inside the med bay just like I did every other day, but this was much more enjoyable. We had ate in silence, but nothing about the silence was awkward.

"So," Poe said, leaning back so the he was propped up on his elbows. "What's with that guy?" I made an 'I don't know' noise, shrugging my shoulders. Poe was looking up at me, squinting due to the sunlight.

"He's either somewhat of an authoritarian," Poe sat up, running his hands through his already disheveled hair "Or, he has a secret crush on you." He chuckled at the last part.

I marveled at the thought, "No, no way." I shook my head slowly. Why would Noa have a crush on me? He barely knew me. The idea of him liking me was highly doubtful, or at least I thought so.

Why do you think Poe makes you nervous? You barely know him, and you obviously have a crush.

Does that mean that is was possible that Noa could like me? Maybe instead of secretly liking me, he secretly disliked me. That's why he wouldn't leave me alone, he wanted to make my life difficult. No. That sounded a little silly. Noa wasn't vicious, he was just a tiny bit exasperating.
"Ugh." I said out loud, not even realizing I had done so. Poe was watching me with an amused look on his face,

"What?" He asked, smiling, "Girls dream for guys like him to notice them."

"Well, I'm not a girl." I argued, rolling my eyes. I was bothered by what Poe had said, what was he trying to imply?

"Isla." He wasn't smiling anymore, instead he quickly looked me over, from head to toe. "I know you're not."

"I should head back." I stood up as fast as I could, not bothering to look at Poe. I could see him getting up in my peripheral vision. I had started to walk away from the peaceful knoll, Poe intervened. He was grabbing my wrist, pulling at me softly.

"Isla, don't be mad." He pleaded, "I didn't mean any harm."

"I'm not mad." Which wasn't entirely a lie, I might have been irritated but I wasn't exactly mad. I pulled on my arm, indicating that I wanted him to let go. "I have to get back to Noa." I said sarcastically. Poe's apologetic features changed, now he looked irked.

"I'm sure he wants to discuss what I've been up to on my break." I added. I pulled my wrist out of his grasp, turning away from and making my way back to work. I was glad he didn't try to stop me again, I didn't dare look back. I just wanted to forget that whole conversation. Well, I was definitely right about one thing, Noa did want to discuss what I was up to during my break. He looked sincere, as if he was actually interested. I was sitting at the front counter, sorting through some papers when he walked in. Flashing his pearly whites, he made his way behind the counter, stopping to stand right beside me.

"What have you been up to?" Straight to the point.

"Paperwork." I tapped the papers I was currently looking through. He laughed, shaking his head.

"I know that, Isla," He was still laughing, I stared at him, furrowing my eyebrows, "What did you do on your break?" I thought for a moment, going over my options. He already knew I spent my break with Poe, there was no use in lying to him.

"I had lunch." I responded shortly. Droids came to my rescue once more, I sighed inwardly. I blocked out their conversation, focusing on the papers in front of me. I found I couldn't focus, not until Noa was gone.

"Doctor duties." He sighed playfully. He walked past me, patting my arm. "I'll see you around." Duh, I rolled my eyes as he walked away.

Seeing Noa 'around' was starting to become more bothersome than the unchanging conversations with the medic droids. He was super busy, but he always found time to come and talk to me. That gesture might have been sweet if I actually liked him. I was conflicted, I didn't know if I liked or disliked him. I knew that I could do without the constant questioning from him. I had been in the recovery room, checking in on the little patients who were housed there for the moment. The med bay was big, but it wasn't big enough to avoid Noa. I felt as if everywhere I went, he would magically appear. I had to keep reminding myself that seeing him almost everywhere was just a coincidence.
It had been a couple days since I last seen Poe, maybe a week, I was losing track. The last I saw him I was irritated but now I was lamely missing his presence. I also wasn't making any effort to bump into him, I stayed cooped up in the med bay up until it was dark and I could retreat to my room. I was apprehensive about seeing him again, thinking that maybe I acted harsh towards him. Whatever the reason may be, I knew I'd seem him eventually.

I was currently staring out the large glass doors, watching as various people went about their day. A figure popped up, blocking my view. They were waving excitedly.

I laughed, checking the time. A nearby FX droid gave me the okay to head out. "I haven't seen you in ages!" The tall, blonde exclaimed, engulfing me in a hug.

"Well, you've been a busy bee." I laughed, giving her a tight squeeze. Jules was my only friend on the base, she was part of the crew for the blue squadron. She probably knew everything there was to know about ships, it was her job. If you were having trouble with your craft, Jules could definitely fix it. She was my very first patient when I got to the base, so I was a bit of a nervous wreck when I was the one who had to stop the bleeding on her arm as the medic droids prepared for surgery. Jules spent a lot of time in the med bay recovering from an injury that almost took her arm off. She had gotten her arm stuck a little too close to one the ships engines. She had confided in the recovery room that she was afraid she wouldn't be able to work on ships if her arm didn't regain all it's feeling. Lucky for her, she was out of the med bay in three short months. I hadn't seen her in almost two weeks, that was normal for us. Jules was a much busier person than I was.

"I know, " She flipped her long blonde hair over her shoulder, "I just got back, I had to meet with General Organa and then decided to come annoy you." Just got back? From where?
I was dying to know what she was talking about, where she had come back from. When Jules pulled at my arm, leading me over to her room I knew I was about to find out. I had some things to tell her also, mostly about Noa.

"Commander." Jules greeted excitedly, Jules was mostly always excited and beaming it was who she was. I did sense that this was not regular Jules, she sounded a little too happy. It didn't surprise me that we bumped into Poe, Jules' room was located in the same quarters as the pilots. I allowed myself to look at him, he was looking at Jules. It gave me a chance to take in his features, not that I hadn't done so before. He's so handsome, it isn't fair. I gulped, happy that no one here could read thoughts.

"Jules, you did a great job out there." He congratulated her. What were they talking about? I looked from both of them, waiting to be filled in.

"That's what I so excited to tell you about, Isla." Jules turned to me, beaming, "I'm part of the blue squadron now, not just as crew either. I'm a pilot." She smiled, looking thoroughly proud of herself.

"Jules, wow!" I exclaimed, maybe a little too loudly. I was proud of my friend, I couldn't contain it. "That's wonderful." So that's why she's been gone, she was on a mission. A mission she returned from safely. I felt a knot in my stomach at the thought of Jules getting hurt. I didn't dwindle on it, instead I hugged her, congratulating her once again.

"Poe." I was still hugging Jules, we were swaying from side to side happily. I could tell who the voice belonged to, little miss death glare.

"Let's catch up." I said, nudging her towards her room. She nodded, leading the way. I walked normally, not wanting to make it seem as if I was in a hurry to get away from Poe.
Jules told me all she was allowed to tell me, I knew her missions were classified so I respected it and tried not to pry. She was so delighted, it was written all over her face. I decided telling her about Noa could wait. I thought bringing him up would sour her happy energy. We talked for hours, and I didn't mind one bit. I didn't know when Jules would have to up and go, so I enjoyed every minute of our sometimes meaningless conversation.

It was late when I finally decided to call it night and head back to my room. There wasn't anyone out, except for one person. It just had to be Poe, he was making his way to his room, holding a stack of papers. His back was towards me so if I was lucky, he wouldn't even notice I was there. I slowed down, trying to be as quiet as possible.

You're being a little childish, don't you think? You can't avoid him forever.

I went back to walking at my regular pace, but I decided that I would keep my head down. Maybe then he would think that I hadn't noticed him first.

"Isla." I looked up slowly, pretending to be surprised. Oh, Isla, you're ridiculous.

"Commander." I nodded.

"Are you mad at me?" He asked, the question caught me off guard.

I shook my head, "No, why?"

"Thought we were on a first name basis." He replied slowly, watching me, waiting for my reaction.

"Sorry, just habit, I guess."

"No," He shook his head, "I'm sorry. You looked upset the last time we spoke-"

"Hey, you left your jacket-" Both Poe and I turned in the direction of the voice. Lorelie was standing in her doorway, holding Poe's jacket in one hand. She wasn't looking at me, for once. She was staring at Poe with an accusing look.

"You left your jacket here last night." She finished, she glanced at me. She looked at me patiently, waiting for me to say something. She raised an eyebrow and bit her lip, not looking away from me. She was taunting me.

"It's late, Commander. You'll have to excuse me." I mumbled, walking past him.