Will of the Many~ Poe Dameron

The night Kylo Ren died

Serena sat on her own bed inside the Millennium Falcon. Her legs were crossed in front of her and her hands placed face up on her knees. Her fingers were slightly curved so her thumb and middle finger touched. She kept her eyes closed and focused on her breathing. 

With every inhale, she thought of the Force moving through the air like a steady stream. It touched and moved through everything, like a gentle river carving its own path. On her exhale, she imagined bits of herself leaving to join the universe. Every part of her deconstructed until she became the same stream moving through the galaxy. 

She and the Force were one. 

She exhaled a breath and called out to it, "Come back to me."

With her inhale, the Force flowed through it. It tangled itself with her muscles, nestled in with her blood cells, and found home in her heart. 

Her shoulders lifted. The ache in her chest lessened to a dull throb. Everything fell into place. 

She and the Force were one. 

Her eyes fluttered open. The room around her was brighter, somehow. She could sense Poe in the cockpit, and Rey in the hub of the Falcon. Their presences were comforting and warm, like an old, favored coat. 

She smiled and let her head fall back. She took in a long breath and imagined the galaxy moving through her lungs. It filled her until she was nearly brimming with it. She held onto it for as long as she could, then she carefully released it and gave a piece of herself back to it. 

When she was ready, she stood from her bed and moved through the Falcon. Her steps were slow as she savored the peace and quiet. She knew it would be the last moments they had before everything turned. 

They had the dagger and the location. Once they had the Sith Wayfinder, it would lead to war. They would find Exegol and finish what they started- what Kylo Ren started. 

She found the hub and saw Rey alone inside of it. She looked for Finn but couldn't find him. 

"He's in the cockpit," Rey answered her unasked question. 

She nodded and entered the hub. "You're distraught." She sat in the booth opposite of Rey and looked her over. She was worn, that much was obvious. The air around her swelled with conflict- more than Serena ever felt from her before. "Ren told you something, didn't he? He said something to change you." 

She let out a breath as her head hung. She looked at her hands on her lap. "He told me about my parents. About who I am."

"Who you are?" She shook her head. "Ren doesn't know who you are, Rey. He wants to. He wants to know you and have you believe he knows you better than anyone else. But doesn't. He's fleeting."

Rey's eyes lifted to hers. "How do you know?"

Serena's eyelashes fluttered against her cheeks. She leaned forward to place her arms on the table. She tapped the metal delicately. "He knew me for years. We were best friends, joined at the hip all throughout our Jedi training. I loved him. I thought I would marry him one day if Luke forgave the old Jedi ways. Then he turned dark and brought me with him. He made me do things that I never would have done. I let him do it. I let him change me until I was someone I didn't recognize. 

"He thought he knew me. But he knew what he wanted to know, and that was enough for him. He thinks he knows you now, but he only knows what he wants to know. You are more than just your parents, and what happened to them. You are more than he thinks of you. You are more than what Leia thinks of you, or Finn, or even me." She looked between Rey's green eyes and tried to will them to understand. "People might think they know us, but only we know who we are inside. That has to be enough for you, Rey. If not... you'll let people change you. I let Ren change me and I regret it with every breath."