Poe's P.O.V.
"The Chair recognizes the motion of a poll to disband the Resistance."
The Supreme chancellor announces in the center of the dome. I sit beside Evangeline on one of many circle platforms, glancing around the Galactic Senate chamber. Eva stares directly at the Republic chancellor with an expression I've never seen her wear.
Her expression is unnervingly tense and stiff, with no emotions; the look on her face is unreadable to me. I've been very good at understanding how Eva feels from her expressions, but this is the first time I don't know what she's feeling. Turning away from her and letting out a breath, I listen as the chancellor releases to every senator.
"We apprehend the developments in the First Order's influence and see your suit to no longer demand to subsidize the Resistance."
Hearing his words, I frown and think; what the blazes does that mean? I'm supposed to announce Eva before she speaks, but if he keeps talking like that, I won't know when to do that. Peeking over at Eva to see if she understands what the Chancellor's saying, I hear her mumble under her breath as if she's reading my thoughts.
"He saying because we destroy Starkiller, they will allow a vote to be made to defund the Resistance."
"Oh..." I mumble, feeling ten times dumber than a second ago. "Right."
"Therefor, we will grant an act of vote to-"
"Announce me." Eva then blurts out hastily while sending me a panic look. "Now. Hurry."
I raise my eyebrows, unsure of how it's the time for her to speak, but I won't question it. This is not my territory and do not know what I'm doing; besides being the protector of the acting representative of the Resistance, Evangeline Solo. Doing as we rehearsed earlier in her room, I stand up and move the front desk of the round platform we're in.
"Supreme Chancellor, delegates of the Senate." I announce onto a mic while flying our platform into the air towards the Supreme chair's podium. "The Resistance requests a testament before you make a settlement for recent circumstances."
"The Chair will recognize the Resistance's appeal."
"To represent the Resistance on their behalf..." I speak up through the mic and notice Eva stand up out of the corner of my eye. "I present to you, Jedi Knight Evangeline Solo."
The moment her name leaves my lips, I hear gasps and murmurs in the dome from the senators. Taking a step back from the mic, I meet Eva's gaze and send her an encouraging smile. Though she only nods to me politely and comes to stand at the desk on our platform.
"Honorable Representative of the Republic." Eva speaks up loud and clear into the mic with utter confidence. Sitting back down in my chair, I watch her as she announces to the senate. "I come to you under the troubling of circumstances. This act to disband the Resistance is nothing short of ludicrous. Which is why I have come to prevent the motion and maintain the Rebellion as it is-"
"I object! She may not be allowed to prevent this ballot." A senator from the Banking Clan declares while bringing their platform up to us and the Supreme chancellor. "The Resistance subsidized by the Galactic Republic, they must not be allowed to plead."
"The chair does not recognize the Banking Clan at this moment."
The Supreme Chancellor argues while waving a hand to halt the Senator from speaking any further. Frowning, I glance from Eva to the chancellor, unsure of how any of this makes sense. Maybe this is the reason the Republic isn't winning; they speak in riddles and fancy words.
"I perceive I do not hold any substantial authority to halt the vote." Eva announces in a harsher tone than before. "However, I come before you speaking for the voices of thousands this vote will affect in hope to influence its outcome."
"You may proceed."
"Representatives, Senators, Supreme Chancellor... I caution you that even if you disperse the Resistance, the First Order will not adhere to your demands."
Eva announces in a voice that makes me gulp on nothing; this is not the woman I knew a few hours ago. This is someone I never met before, as if this is who Eva was before the First Order. Watching Eva take the air from the room, I listen to her plead in a warning tone.
"The First Order is a dictatorship that ascended from the Empire... It will not bend to our democracy. If you expect the First Order to bestow freedom to the people, you are misleading yourselves. By dispersing the Resistance, you are turning over everything to the Empire we once fought so hard to eradicate."
"Mighty words for a Jedi who abandoned this war. This rebellion." A senator from Scipio declares while bringing his platform into the air. "When the galaxy needed you most... When this Republic needed a Jedi... Where were you? How are you suitable to extend your judgement on demobilizing the Resistance when you were the first to withdraw from it?"
My heart sinks from vaguely understanding what the senator is insinuating. However, he is right; how can Evangeline argue to save the Resistance when she was the first one to reject it? When the Jedi temple was destroyed and the First Order rose to power, Eva was nowhere to be found.
When the Rebellion needed her, she wasn't there to help; she fled and went into hiding. Evangeline Solo was the first to give up on the Republic and Rebellion when war came knocking at the galaxy's door. Looking at Eva, I see no doubt or fear in her eyes from the senator's honest words.
"Mistakes were made on my behalf. I will not advocate or exalt them... But..."
Eva confesses before halting her words and glancing around the senate. For a second and only a second, I see her clench her jaw and glance at the mic in front of her. Peering back up at the representatives, she declares in a stern and empowering voice.
"I come before you, recognizing my past mistakes and making amends for the sovereignty of this galaxy. Though I have forsaken the war prior to this, I have returned with commitments to never withdraw from it again for the sake of preserving the Resistance."
"Jedi... Jedi Knight Evangeline Solo." The Supreme Chancellor stutters, with her accusations in awe. "Are you affirming allegiance to the Galactic Republic until the war's resolved?"
"I am. Supreme Chancellor." Evangeline answers, making the room fill with murmurs from every representative. "Under the condition that the Senate sustains the Resistance survival."
My mouth slacks when realizing Eva's giving up her free will to keep the Resistance alive. Evangeline's offering herself to persuade the Senate to keep funding the Resistance. She's putting all the responsibilities, obligations, and the outcome of this war on herself.
Now, if the senate keeps subsidizing the Resistance, they will look to Evangeline and expect her to uphold the fate of the Resistance. The one thing Eva didn't want when joining the Resistance is people expecting her to save the galaxy, and that is literally what she's allowing the Republic to do to her.
"If you forsake the Resistance as I had done in the past, you will condone this galaxy into serving another Empire. The First Order will not stop until it becomes the next Empire. You must understand this before it's too late." Eva shouts to the senate and scans around the room with utter determination. "We must keep resisting the rise of the First Order until the people's democracy is secure. We must not bend to a dictatorship out of fear. The First Order will not adhere to the Republic-"
"I object! I object!" The Banking Clan announces frantically as the senate roars in talk. "We recommend a commission to be sent to the First Order to ascertain the accuracy of Jedi Solo's accusations."
"We concede the point." The Supreme Chancellor declares while shushing the chatter in the senate. "We submit a commission to be made to the First Order before a motion to vote on the Resistance's fate. Will the representative of the Resistance defer for a commission to validity their accusations?"
"I will not defer. I come before you to resolve the Resistance's future now." Evangeline states without hesitation, making the whispers in the dome grow louder. "I was not appointed as the Resistance's representative to watch the First Order gain power while you discuss this war in a committee."
Rubbing my jaw, I glance around to see people gasping and flying into the center of the dome. I have the feeling Evangeline offended them, but I'm still not sure how. Honestly, I'm not sure half of what's being said, but I can tell Eva's putting her mark in this decision.
"I have sworn my loyalty and my obligation as a Jedi Knight to the rebellion... And see fit to have the Resistance outcome resolved now." Evangeline declares while glancing around the room. "I profess... To disband the Resistance is to disband the Jedi Order... And with my claim, I move for a vote on the Rebellion and Jedi Order's fate."
The room goes insane with shouts and hollers; senators call for a vote as the Banking Clan continues to move for a commission. With the dome going into chaos, Eva moves our platform back to where it was originally. When she connects it back into the wall, she back away from the desk and goes to sit down.
Glancing between the shouting senators and the Jedi sitting down, I wonder the hell is going on. Did Eva persuade the Senate to keep the Resistance alive? Are they going to defund the rebellion still?
Eva's staring at the Supreme Chancellor with a thin expression as he tries to calm down the senate. She's not blinking or moving a muscle, just simply watching the chaos she created. Frowning at the woman I no longer can understand, I blurt out, trying to make sense of all this.
"What's going on?" I watch Eva carefully, and when she doesn't answer me, I mumble in worry. "Sweetheart?"
"The Senate will vote to keeping the Resistance alive." Eva mumbles without taking her eyes off the Chancellor. Shaking my head and smirking at her, I ask, still not understanding what has happened. "How do you know? They haven't announced-"
"I know they will because they won't dare lose their alliance with the Jedi Order."
"Sweetheart... I still don't understand what you are saying."
"Poe. I'm the last person affiliated with the Jedi Order, besides my uncle, and he is nowhere to be found. So by default, I speak for him."
Evangeline explains, and I finally see the corner of her lips curl up since we've entered the Senate building. Tilting her head, she smirks at me with that familiar amused smirk and she's suddenly turns back into the woman I've spent months knowing. Leaning back in her seat, she raises an eyebrow at me while saying in better detail.
"I basically said if they stop funding the Resistance, they lose the loyalty of the Jedi Order. The Republic may fear the First Order, but the Senate will never vote on a breach of trust with the Jedi Order. I'm the last Jedi, Dameron... And as the only Jedi left... I can speak for the Jedi Order."
"Wait... But..." I let out a shocked laugh before pointing out something to her. "You told the Supreme Chancellor you only came here as the representative for the Resistance."
"Yes. I came here as a representative on my mother's behalf." Eva grins at me before shaking her head and glancing at our surroundings. "... But I am the Jedi Order. What's left of it... That is."
Bitting her bottom lip, Eva lets out a faint laugh as if she realized something. She's staring at me with this giddy expression, like she figured something out she couldn't before she came here. The look on her face makes a crooked smile form on my face and I hear her whisper to herself.
"As much as I tried to run away from it... I can't."
Eva's P.O.V.
"What's easier?"
My brother suddenly blurts out, making me glance over at him. Setting my eyes on Ben, I find him staring at his hands with an expression that says a million words. He's in sorrow, shame and pain from what happened.
We went on a mission together with our family friend, Rex. It was just the three of us on this mission and only two came out alive. Rex, a commander clone from the clone wars, died as my twin brother and I escaped from our mission.
We're going to have to go back home and tell Ahsoka Tano what happened. The two of us will go home to the Temple without Rex. Ben and I are in a meadow; we just barred Rex's body, and the dirt is still fresh on our hands and on the grave.
Ben and I have just recently started going on mission without our uncle. This will be our fifth solo mission without our family. Yet, this is the first time things didn't go as planned.
"What's easier, Evangeline?" My brother repeats while looking up to face the grave. "Dying for a good cause... Or living your whole life without a cause?"
Letting out a breath, I frown and glance away from my brother in shame. I know exactly what Ben is insinuating, and it's something I never try to dwell on since a padawan can't afford to think that way. Though Rex went his whole life fighting for a cause and just died for it; he died without having a normal life without a cause.
"I... I don't know." While resting a hand on Ben's shoulder, I admit honestly. "... But, the life we live... Well, it's always going to be for a cause. At least we get to pick the cause. Just like Rex did."
"Is the life we... He lived worth it, though?"
"You were right."
Poe speaks up while walking into my livingroom while packing our things. We leave in a few hours to go back to the resistance's base. From hearing Dameron's words, I assume the vote has been confirmed.
Putting on my boots and grabbing my blue cloak, I open the bathroom door. I've changed into a more suitable outfit to wearing; it's nothing like the get up I wore for the senate. Wandering into the living room, I grab my saber and dart my eyes to Poe.
"The vote was unanimous..." Poe blurts out while staring at the live recording of the Senate. He watches as the Supreme Chancellor talks to the Republic and mumbles in surprise. "They will keep supporting the Resistance."
"Told you." I mumble and hold back a smirk while clipping my light saber to my belt. Putting my blue cloak over my shoulders, I admit in a low tone. "They'll do anything to keep the Jedi Order alive."
"It's just... It just amazes me..." Poe grins while peeking over at me, but his words die on his tongue when seeing my attire. Frowning at me, studying my clothes, and suddenly giving me all his attention, he asks, confused. "Where do you think you're going?"
Letting out a breath and sending him an amused smile, I grab my blaster and put it in my holster. I'm in a blue fitted long sleeve shirt and matching blue tight pants; they have silver markings on the ends of the clothes. My boots and belt are gray while my hair is in two braids that have a matching gray band entwined with it.
I know the only reason Poe can tell I'm planning to leave is from my blue cloak and how it's over my head now. However, lately, I sense he gets worried whenever I leave somewhere by myself. As if he thinks I plan on running away and going into hiding again or to wreak havoc somewhere.
"Don't worry, I'll come back. I'll meet you at the hangar." I answer while fixing my cloak to cover my weapons on my belt. Shuffling to stand in front of Poe and I answer truthfully. "I just have to do something before we leave."
"... And what's that, sweetheart?" Poe hums while raising a curious eyebrow at me. He messes with one of my braids while I mumble. "Something my mother asked of me... Something I should have done a long time ago."
"Hm... You don't want me to go with you?" Poe tilts his head and leans closer to me as if he's attempting to get me to say yes. Smiling at him and shaking my head, I pat his chest and whisper. "No. This is Jedi business."
Poe nods slowly with a pouty face from not knowing what that means but respecting it, nonetheless. Winking at him, I drop my hand from his chest and turn around. Heading to the door, I take in a deep breath and mentally prepare myself.
This may be the first and last time I visit the old Jedi Temple.