Charisma~ Poe Dameron

Bring War to the Final Order

Her eyes shined with true, undiluted hope. 

"We can do this." She stressed as she turned to face Poe. "What do you say, General?" Her mouth quirked up into half of a smirk. It reminded Poe of their early days together, when she was so wrapped up in her self-loathing she barely trusted anyone. Grief had a funny way of bringing back up bad habits. But he helped her once. He could do it again. 

"I say we go for it. We end this war. Once and for all." His head ticked as he felt her hope seeping in to reach his very soul. 

"I'll gather the troops, relay the plan." Finn slapped Aria's shoulder as he passed by her. Rose, D'Acy and Kaydel followed after him. 

Aria began to take up the end, but Poe reached out for her hand and gently pulled her back to him. 

She looked up at his eyes expectantly. 

"Aria, you don't have to hide your grief. Not from me." He whispered as the others still had the chance of overhearing. 

"I'm not," she explained to him. "I..." She gulped as her eyes flicked down to the chain around his neck. "I felt her leave, Poe. I know what she felt in her last seconds on this plane..." Her eyes fluttered as she peered up at him under her lashes. "I know why she did what she did- she sacrificed herself to give us a real chance at winning this." Aria lifted Poe's hand so their palms laid flush together, then she carefully laced her fingers between his. "What we do next... is all for her." Her eyes started to glisten with fresh tears. "After everything she's done for us, it's the least we can do."

Poe reached his hand up to cup her tender cheek. She leaned into the touch instinctively. His palm was rough from over use and sticky with sweat, but she wouldn't trade his gentle touch for anything. 

Poe found it hard to keep his own grief to himself. "Kijimi is gone." His voice cracked on the last word. 

Aria opened her eyes at his pain. She gulped and slowly raised her wrapped hand to lay on top of his. "I'm sorry. Zorii and Babu... have you-" She stopped as he gave a grave shake of his head. "They were good." She ran her thumb over his knuckles to soothe him. "This war has taken a lot from both of us." Poe's grief fueled Aria's anger. She knew how to handle her own pain, but when it was Poe who was on the verge of crumbling in front of her... she couldn't reign in the heat any longer. "I want to watch the Final Order burn to the ground." A growl crept through her words that perfectly encapsulated her bubbling anger. "I will not let them hurt any more people." 

Poe took in a careful breath at the hatred in her words. "Okay." He turned his palm away from her face to grab her hand. He made sure to be careful of the wrap as he brought her knuckles to his lip. "But no matter what happens, promise me we will both make it out of this."

Aria's breath stopped in her throat. Her knuckles tensed under his lips. "Poe..."

"Just.." Poe closed his eyes as he let his lips drag along her middle knuckle. "Lie to me, please." The desperation in his words was enough to shatter Aria's heart. 

"Okay." She caved in to his plea. "We will both be fine." The lie burned her tongue. As the divot between Poe's eyebrows deepened Aria leaned forward and pressed her forehead to his. "I promise I will try my hardest to stay alive." She whispered to him as she let her eyes close. "I want a life with you, Poe Dameron, free of war and pain. I will not let anything take that away from me." She raised her index finger to rub her second knuckle against his chin. 

Poe let out a content breath at her touch. "You're a great liar."

Aria let herself laugh at his attempted joke. "I meant every word of it." She opened her eyes to stare cross-eyed at him. "Now let's go rally the troops and finish this thing."