Will of the Many~ Poe Dameron

The Resistance

Serena left the bathroom after her shower, thankful that she had a pair of clothes stocked on the Falcon. She walked out in a pair of charcoal gray pants and a long-sleeved black t-shirt with two buttons clasped over her throat. 

She stopped short as Poe and Finn were in the hallway waiting for her.

"We need to know," Finn told her solemnly. "We have a right to know."

She nodded her understanding. She led the way into the personal quarters and set her wet clothes on the foot of her bed, then she turned to sit on it. Poe and Finn stood in front of her. Poe had his arms folded over his chest while Finn kept his fists clenched by his sides. 

She let out a shaky breath as she looked between them. "Kylo Ren and Rey were fighting." She didn't know who to focus on more. "They were trying to kill each other. You saw it-" she looked at Finn who nodded. At his confirmation, she went on. "When I got to them, Rey lost her lightsaber. She was down and Ren had the opportunity to kill her. He was going to kill her." She nodded and looked down at her hands. No matter how much she scrubbed, there was still blood under her fingernails. She quickly averted her eyes to Poe's crossed arms. "I jumped between them and blocked his shot. We fought a bit, then I got the upper hand." She imagined her orange blade piercing through his stomach, the sound of his gasp, him wheezing as his own blood filled his lungs. "I stabbed him." Her eyes lifted the few inches to Poe's eyes. "I stabbed him. I did. I drove my lightsaber through his stomach and pierced his lung. I know I did. It was a fatal hit."

"Okay," Poe told her. 

She needed him to know she fulfilled her promise. She didn't hold back. Not this time. 

She cleared her throat and lowered her gaze back to his arms. "I held him as he was dying. He told me... he told me he loved me, and that he didn't want to ever let me go."

Poe's arms dropped uncomfortably. Without them to focus on, she looked up to the ceiling. She found comfort in the exposed wires and rusting metal. "Rey joined us. She didn't believe it. Then... then we felt Leia's presence. It was comforting and guiding." She let out a breath as she remembered Leia's presence fleeing their world. She looked down at Poe as she tried to figure out how to tell him. "When- It was too much for Rey. She took him from me and healed him like she healed the serpent in the tunnels." She looked starkly at Finn to catch the surprise in his eyes. "I watched him heal. He stood and I- I was so angry at her. I had finally killed him." She dropped her head to her lap. Tears began to fill her eyes again. She thought she shed them all in the shower. "But I looked at him and I didn't see Kylo Ren." Her chin wobbled. She looked up at Poe with desperation. "I saw Ben Solo."

Poe's thick brows rose in question. "How?"

She shook her head. "I don't know, Poe. I don't know how it happened but... but I did kill Kylo Ren."

"Why... why would Rey heal him?"

She looked at Finn softly. "I don't know."

He shook his head in disbelief. "That doesn't make sense! Everything she's worked for has been to kill him- to end The First Order's control over the galaxy!"

"I'm just telling you what happened, Finn," she told him gently. 

Finn turned away from her and Poe. He rubbed his face, then let his head fall. 

Serena's frown deepened as she watched the sorrow take place among him. "Rey is conflicted. You might be able to understand confliction because of your time with The First Order, but you can't understand her confliction. You can't understand what she is going through."

He turned roughly back to her. "I can."

"No," she refuted him lowly. "Only she knows what she is going through. We might know our own conflict and problems, but we'll never know hers." She stood to take a meek step toward him. "She left because what she was feeling was too much for her. She left because she thought that was her only option. But we don't have that option, Finn."