The casual threat made Poe narrow his eyes and tighten his grip on his blaster. That was somewhat reflexive too. He'd been fighting to protect the Resistance -- protect Leia -- for so long that even the hint of a threat tended to overrule anything else in his mind.
But Kylo kept talking and it wasn't long before that focus was shattered by surprise and shock.
His knee-jerk reaction should have been a snappy remark and some foolish-but-valiant last ditch effort to be defiant. Months ago it would have been. Before his time on the Finalizer, before Jakku, before he'd even heard of Kylo Ren he would have simply engaged combat and not bothered with conversation. There was no debating or compromising with the Dark. It couldn't be allowed to extinguish hope or to shrink the flame by trying to compromise. There was always a catch, always strings attached, always a blade waiting to stab in the back.
Staring somewhat wide-eyed at the other man, Poe swallowed hard as debate raged within him. The problem was there shouldn't have been a debate at all.
"You'll call them off? You swear it?"
He thought about the Resistance and all they had sacrificed, all they'd lost to the fight. Thought about the cause it felt like he'd been fighting all his life for. Wouldn't it be nice to stop fighting? You've given so much but what have you gotten in return? He didn't need anything in return. Doing what was best for the greater good of the galaxy was more important than one life, than his life. And when you die in battle, what then? The Resistance will die and no one will even remember your name.
His thoughts went to Leia then. He recalled the moment they all thought she was gone. How he'd stared out into space and wished there was a way he could get out there and give her his air, his anything if it meant she would live. The intense surge of relief that completely drowned out shock when she seemed to come back to life and he couldn't run fast enough to get to the door and help her to safety.
Something twisted hard in his chest, in his heart, to the point he almost wanted to rub his hand at it. Poe would do anything if it meant protecting her.
Anything.
The blaster slowly lowered to his side and he looked at the outstretched hand. He could save Leia. Save his friends. They wouldn't understand... but did they now? Did any of them understand anything he had gone through? Anything he felt? Could they even comprehend the feeling that had been growing inside him? They certainly couldn't help him. No one here could.
Poe lifted his eyes to meet Kylo's. Could he really trust the other man?
"Okay." His own hand was surprisingly steady as he reached out to take the offered hand. There was a tiny protest in the back of his mind, barely noted. A warning that there was no going back. But that was a lie. Poe had already crossed that line somewhere over the previous months. This choice was only further confirmation.
welp this turned out longer than expected :x
But Kylo kept talking and it wasn't long before that focus was shattered by surprise and shock.
His knee-jerk reaction should have been a snappy remark and some foolish-but-valiant last ditch effort to be defiant. Months ago it would have been. Before his time on the Finalizer, before Jakku, before he'd even heard of Kylo Ren he would have simply engaged combat and not bothered with conversation. There was no debating or compromising with the Dark. It couldn't be allowed to extinguish hope or to shrink the flame by trying to compromise. There was always a catch, always strings attached, always a blade waiting to stab in the back.
Staring somewhat wide-eyed at the other man, Poe swallowed hard as debate raged within him. The problem was there shouldn't have been a debate at all.
"You'll call them off? You swear it?"
He thought about the Resistance and all they had sacrificed, all they'd lost to the fight. Thought about the cause it felt like he'd been fighting all his life for. Wouldn't it be nice to stop fighting? You've given so much but what have you gotten in return? He didn't need anything in return. Doing what was best for the greater good of the galaxy was more important than one life, than his life. And when you die in battle, what then? The Resistance will die and no one will even remember your name.
His thoughts went to Leia then. He recalled the moment they all thought she was gone. How he'd stared out into space and wished there was a way he could get out there and give her his air, his anything if it meant she would live. The intense surge of relief that completely drowned out shock when she seemed to come back to life and he couldn't run fast enough to get to the door and help her to safety.
Something twisted hard in his chest, in his heart, to the point he almost wanted to rub his hand at it. Poe would do anything if it meant protecting her.
Anything.
The blaster slowly lowered to his side and he looked at the outstretched hand. He could save Leia. Save his friends. They wouldn't understand... but did they now? Did any of them understand anything he had gone through? Anything he felt? Could they even comprehend the feeling that had been growing inside him? They certainly couldn't help him. No one here could.
Poe lifted his eyes to meet Kylo's. Could he really trust the other man?
"Okay." His own hand was surprisingly steady as he reached out to take the offered hand. There was a tiny protest in the back of his mind, barely noted. A warning that there was no going back. But that was a lie. Poe had already crossed that line somewhere over the previous months. This choice was only further confirmation.