"What is the point of all this if we can't blow up three tiny cruisers?"

"Well, they're faster and lighter, sir. They can't lose us, but they can keep at a range where our cannons are ineffective against their shields."

Hux shook his head slowly as he paced. "Well, keep up the barrage. I want the Resistance dead, and I want her dead along with them." 

"Her, sir?" 

"Never mind," he said. "Let's at least remind them that we're still here."

"Very good, sir."

He smiled. "They won't last long burning fuel like this. It's just a matter of time." 

* * *

Your palms pressed against the viewport. Tears filled your eyes. General Organa was floating out there among the debris, among the dust, among the stars.

Poe's voice was pained as he said, "There's nothing we can do---"

"No!" you said. "I can feel her. She's alive."

He looked at you, confused. 

You kept one hand pressed against the glass. "Leia."

Her eyes opened. Her hand outstretched. And she slowly started to move towards the ship.

"Leia!" Poe screamed, turning and running so he could command the doors to be opened.

They were as soon as her hand touched them.

Right away, the General was whisked away on a stretcher. A machine was put on her face and you kept one hand on Poe's back as he ran after the bed and medics. 

"Life signs are weak, but she's fighting!" 

You stopped halfway down the hall, letting him go. He'd want time on his own with her.

"Do you think she'll be okay, Finn---?" You turned. "Finn?"

He was gone. Your eyebrows furrowed. 

* * *

"General Organa... Leia --- is unconscious, but recovering. That's the only good news I have." 

Poe's face fell. You reached over and put a hand on his shoulder. He didn't respond to it, but you squeezed anyway, showing him that you were right there. 

"Admiral Ackbar, all our leadership --- they're gone." 

Another crushing blow. You shut your eyes as the murmurs of grief rose from the small crowd. 

"Leia was the sole survivor on the bridge. If she were here, she'd say save your sorrow for after the fight. To that end, the chain of command is clear as to who should take her place." 

Poe's head lifted and your eyes opened. 

"Vice Admiral Holdo of the cruiser, Ninka."

"Thank you, Commander," Holdo said. You watched as she stepped forward. Her purple hair matched her glittering purple gown. She looked like she didn't fit in. "Four hundred of us on three ships. We're the very last of the Resistance. But we're not alone. In every corner of the galaxy, the downtrodden and oppressed know our symbol, and they put their hope in it. We are the spark that will light the fire that will restore the Republic. That spark, this Resistance, must survive. That is our mission. Now, to your stations. And may the Force be with us." 

Everyone stood up, murmuring to themselves as they did. You sighed and looked at Poe. "That's Admiral Holdo?"

You shrugged. "I guess so."

"Battle of Chyron Belt Admiral Holdo?" he asked. "Not what I expected."

He stood up. "Hey, Poe---" you started, but he slipped away from you, leaving you sitting alone. 

"Uh, Vice Admiral? Commander Dameron," he greeted. "With our current fuel consumption, there's a very limited time that we can stay out of range of those Star Destroyers."

"Very kind of you to make me aware," she said.

"And we need to shake 'em before we can find a new base, so, what's our plan?" he asked. 

"Our plan, Captain?" she asked. "Not Commander, right? Wasn't it Leia's last official act to demote you for your dreadnought plan where we lost our entire bombing fleet?" She walked away. 

He followed her. "Captain, Commander... you can call me whatever you'd like. I just wanna know what's going on."

"Of course you do. I understand. I've dealt with plenty of trigger-happy flyboys like you," she said, smiling. "You're impulsive, dangerous... and the last thing that we need right now. So stick to your post and follow my orders."

Poe tried to hide his anger and hurt at her words beneath a blank face. When she walked away, he scratched the center of his forehead, then walked around. His eyes glanced right over you before he stomped off.

"Poe!" you said. You grabbed his wrist, and he sighed. "Poe, what is it?"

"Holdo," he said. "She's... basically, I have been told to shut up."

You frowned. "So what are we gonna do?" 

"I don't know," he sighed. "There's no way the General would've wanted her to command us this way."

"Guys!" You and Poe jumped slightly at the sight of an out of breath Finn, who had a woman trailing behind him. "Hey --- we have a plan that may just get us out of this."

* * *

"Just give it to us one more time. Simpler." 

You were sitting next to Poe at a table while Finn and Rose broke up their extremely elaborate plan. You nodded along as they spoke. 

"So the First Order's only tracking us from one Destroyer, the lead one."

"So we blow that one up?" Poe asked. 

"I like where your head's at, but no," Finn said. "They'd only start tracking us from another Destroyer." 

"Exactly," you said. "But if you---"

Finn nodded. "If we sneak on board the lead Destroyer and disable the tracker without them realizing, then we can---"

"They won't realize it's off for one system cycle," Rose interjected. "About six minutes."

"Sneak on board. Disable the tracker. Our fleet escapes before they realize."

"Hm." He stood up. "How'd you two meet?"

Rose smiled, "Just luck."

"Yeah? Good luck?" he asked. He walked over to where the General's body was being held in a coma. 

"Not sure yet." 

"Poe, we gotta do this," Finn said. "It'll save the fleet and it'll save Rey." 

Poe touched Leia's hand. You couldn't see his face, but you could imagine how pained and determined he was. He wanted to make things right for her again. He wanted to make everything right again.

"If I must be the sole voice of reason, Admiral Holdo will never agree to this plan," C-3PO said. 

Poe nodded. "Yeah. You're right, Threepio. It's a "need-to-know" plan, and she doesn't.

"That wasn't exactly what I---"

"Alright," he said. "You guys shut down that tracker, and we," he nodded to you, "will be here to jump us to lightspeed. The question is how do we sneak the two of you onto Snoke's Destroyer?" 

"We'll steal clearance codes!" Rose said. 

"No, they're bio-hexacrypt and rescrambled every hour," Finn said. "We can't get through their security shields undetected. Nobody can."

"I probably could," you said. They all looked at you. 

"But they'd kill you," Finn said. "You're the first one they look for during every attack. You know that."

You swallowed. "We don't have many options---"

"You're right," Poe said. "And this isn't one. Let's call Maz Kanata." 

You did, and a holographic image of her popped up. The footage was shaky; she was in the middle of a battle. After explaining the plan to her, the four of you --- plus an anxious C-3PO awaited her response. 

"Could I do it?" she asked. "Of course I could do it. But I can't do it. I'm a little tied down right now." 

"Maz, what is happening?" 

"Union dispute. You do not want to hear about it." She fired her gun. "But, lucky for you, there's exactly one guy I trust who can crack that kind of security! He's a master codebreaker, an ace pilot, a poet with a blaster."

"Oh, my!" C-3PO said. "It sounds like this codebreaker can do everything." 

"Oh, yes," Maz said. "He can. You'll find him with a red plom bloom on his lapel rolling at a high stakes table in the casino on Canto Bight."

Poe sighed. "Canto Bight? No, no, Maz, that's--- Maz. Is there anyway that we can take care of this ourselves?"

"Sorry, kiddo. This is rarefied cracking. You wanna get on that Destroyer, I only know one option. Find the Master Codebreaker."

The call cut. Poe sighed again, hands on his hips as he gnawed on his bottom lip. Finn wordlessly held out the beacon --- a small object that Leia had so that Rey could find her way back home. Poe took it.

The group dismantled. You took one glance at them and then walked towards the doors. You were vaguely aware of Poe's eyes on you as you went to leave. 

"Hey, can I talk to you for just a minute?" he murmured. "Just me and you?"

"Uh, sure," you said. You crossed your arms. "What about?"

"I just wanted to say that I'm really sorry about earlier I--- I can't believe I said what I said. The last thing I ever want to do is hurt you and I know that I did hurt you. I'm just so sorry." He shook his head. "I was a huge jerk. I'm sorry."

"I-It's okay," you whispered, nodding. 

"Really?" He looked unsure. "Just like that it's okay?" 

"It is," you said. "Poe, you're the only person who's ever apologized to me and meant it."

"How can you tell I mean it?" 

You shrugged and smiled a little. "I don't know. It's a feeling." 

He nodded and sighed. "I don't mean to try to make up excuses for my behavior but I think that since knowing you, I take this whole war thing a little more personal. Especially knowing about your past on the other side. I just, I don't know."

You frowned. "Poe, you can't hold your friends above your position----"

He blinked and held up a hand. "Wait, wait, wait. Friends?"

You stopped. "U-uh---"

"Is that all we are? Because I've been telling people we're together, you know."

You felt your face heat up and your stomach flutter. Together. But all you could think to ask was, "You talk about me?" 

"Yeah. You don't talk about me?" 

"I-I guess I do to Connix but... but I didn't want to assume that we were like, a thing, you know, because I... because... why are you laughing at me?" you stammered.

"You're cute," he said, shrugging. 

"Stop, Poe. I'm just not sure how to do this because I've never had anyone ever want to be with me just to be with me because Hux was just..." He laughed and you rolled your eyes. "Ugh, whatever. I'm done talking."

His laugh made your stomach flutter. You made a move to leave, but he stopped you by putting his hands on your shoulders.  "Wait, wait, wait. I'm just messing with you." 

"I didn't want to just assume we were something and feel like a complete idiot for thinking that later on---"

"I get it. I get it, I really do. Can I kiss you now?"

You raised your eyebrows. "Wow."

"Wow what? At least I asked!"

You shook your head and laughed. You were just happy Poe was in a good mood now. Now that there was hope, you felt like you could be your usual self with him. 

"Yeah, you can kiss me," you said. "As if you even had to ever ask me."

He leaned in and mumbled, "Well, since you didn't know if we were together..."

Against his hips, you let out a breathy-laugh. "Shut it, Dameron."

"Shutting up now, princess."

He kissed you softly. You held onto his arms while he did and pushed yourself forward against him. This was your favorite thing in the universe, you decided. It was so unlike when you would kiss Hux. This was warm and bright and you felt so alive and real, and everything seemed to be perfect for just that moment at least. 

You were starting to completely fall head over heels for this Resistance pilot, who managed to save your life again and again and again.