In numerous other occasions when my dark instinct took over my body, it was him that brought me back. His voice, his words, his smile-- him.

When I continued to strangle Finn, Poe's lips split. He, as I, had never seen those words not bring me back. Nevertheless, he had a power over me. He held the power to stop my darkness, with his words, or if all else failed, his actions.

So, he spoke softly to the part of me he knew was listening: "You're still in there, pretty girl. I know that. If I wasn't, you would have killed him already," he said. A cocky smirk lifted his lips. "Pretty lucky I'm still alive, am I right?"

"Not helping!" choked Finn.

Poe rapidly blinked, reminded of the time limit. "Uh... I-I need you to fight for this, pretty girl. Fight to take control. Hear my voice, know that I'm still here to help you. Know that the hesitation you feel means you're human, and feeling means that you're still good."

Although my grip hadn't loosened, my mind had. Poe's voice running through my ears was chipping away at my dark side.

A little while longer, I begged him silently, You can see I've gotten worse, but please... Don't give up on me...

"You once believed your destiny was with the dark side. You thought you were granted these powers, and that you had them for one reason: destruction. Then, I swung into you on a vine in the jungle, and within five minutes of meeting you for the first time, I saw you, Enna. I saw the good inside of your heart. It hasn't left you," he whispered brokenly.

Through his speech, quiet footsteps had been approaching the scene. Neither of us had taken no notice until a hard voice called out, "Dameron, step away from the girl."

Our heads snapped to General Leia Organa. A trio of armed men standing behind her pointed their blasters at my forehead. For different reasons, the action lit rage within our souls.

"Lower your weapons! She isn't aggressive!" shouted Poe.

General Organa raised her brow. "I'll say."

Poe was desperate to protect those innocent people. His broken tone was forced to change to one of urgency. "You listen to me, Enna, and you answer this: why did you leave your parents?"

To protect them from this.

"Please, listen, pretty girl. Why did you join the Resistance?" he asked.

I wanted to live up to your expectation. To do what you said I was capable of: saving people.

"What caused us to get separated on Jakku?" he asked. "And, no, it wasn't the First Order. Enna, you know it wasn't."

All this time, I believed my hesitation to leave the village caused his death, our separation, and the return of my dark side. It was true, it had done of those things, but that wasn't what he saw. He saw my hesitation as a sign of the light inside of me. He wanted me to understand that no matter how far into the dark side I thought I was, I wasn't, if part of me held the urge to help strangers from certain death.

Although Poe was entranced in my existence, he hadn't noticed the minute movement of my fingers loosen around Finn's throat.

Unaware of the fight, he kept speaking, desperate to see me again. "The good I've seen in you all along, it's there. You can see it. Act on it. Can you do that for me, En? Just, please... Please. Prove to me that you're not too far gone."

Finn took advantage of the noticeable falter within my hands. He pushed me to the ground. Hands rubbing at his throat, coughing wildly, he bumped into Poe.

"Good to see you again, Finn. Although the circumstances were not the greates--" Poe stopped. "Is... Is that my jacket?"

Finn's eyes almost fell from his head. "Your girlfriend just tried to murder me."

"But she didn't," said Poe thoughtfully. "I think you should go. And take the unnecessary army with you."

"You shouldn't be left alone with her," said General Organa. "She's dangerous, Dameron. Let us handle this."

"I can't let you do that," insisted Poe. "You don't know her like I do."

"I know the important thing," said Organa. "She's a threat to the people on this base. Boys, bring her to the cell block."

Cockily, Poe sang, "I wouldn't touch her."

He warned them, because I was unable to. Occurrences of the dark side taking my mind and body over meant losing control within a majority of my body. Only wisps of energy remained in the moment, as I was in the midst of regaining feeling in my entire body.

I understood I needed to move away from the approaching soldiers. I tried. I couldn't. Traces of the dark side were still present at the surface. Hands roughly grabbed my arms. Lightning bolts shot from the surface of my skin. Unlike the stormtrooper incident, the lightning was a simple shock, enough to make the men distance themselves.

"What did I tell you?" asked Poe. He sauntered in my direction, nose in the air. His voice lowered significantly when he approached me. "Lightning. That's new. A little frightening, but nothing we can't fix, right?"

"Dameron," warned Organa, for the last time.

"En, do me a favor and don't zap me. We can't have me me looking bad here," whispered Poe as he crouched in front of me. Our eyes met.

Through my watery eyes, I begged him not to touch me. Lightning as a defense was something unknown to both him and I. I didn't understand why it was happening, much less if the defense would exclude him from harm. I didn't want to take the chance. Tears cascaded down my pink tinted face, my knuckles turned white, my entire body tensed, trying to hold in my power for him.

Poe's fingers inched closer and closer to my cheek. I stared into his calm eyes, wondering how he could trust me, when I didn't have faith in myself. I was a balloon filled to the brim with water, waiting to explode.

But Poe's hand caressed my cheek, and the tenseness in my trembling body went still. I fell to peace, and with peace, I fell unconscious.