Kylo Ren

XVII

Poe felt when his mother died.

Fortunately, he had both feet on the ground.

He was sitting with Afren and Jess when he felt it, a rocking in the Force that made his stomach drop.

"What is it?" Jess asked as he suddenly swayed.

"My mother."

Afren looked up from the motivator she was assembling for her droid. "What about her?"

He didn't want to say it out loud. Poe shook his head slowly.

Jess caught the meaning. "She's dead?"

Hearing it out loud made the tears come.  Only one or two, which he wiped away quickly.

"Maybe she's not dead," said Afren.

He shook his head again.  "No, she is."

"How do you know?  You could be misinterpreting it!  Perhaps she's merely in danger!"

"I'm not!  I know the difference between death and danger.  Excuse me."

They watched as he left and entered the control room.

Just as he came in, a transmission came in.

"Transmission from an unknown source, General," Lieutenant Connix called.

The General hurried over.  "Is it Luke?"

"I don't know."

Lieutenant Connix played the transmission.

A tall man with ginger hair stood before them.

"Greetings to the Resistance, from the First Order.  Your pilot Aura Dameron was captured two nights ago on the planet Dantooine, in the village of Ina, and unfortunate, died in custody.  We will leave her body with a neutral group on Tatooine, in Mos Eisley."

The transmission bleeped out.

Poe growled low in his throat.  Lieutenant Connix turned, noticing him.

She walked towards him and hugged him tightly.  He stood stiffly as she did so.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

He stepped away quickly, and she went to her post again.

"Poe, I can send another pilot--" General Organa started.

"No.  I want to do it."

She watched his face for a moment.  "Alright then.  I'll find a ship you can use."

General Organa looked for a second like she would try to comfort him with a hug, but thought better of it, turning away to request a ship from the hangar.

When the ship was ready, Poe flew it to Tatooine.

The "neutral party" was the cantina, and he had to pay a handsome sum for his mother's body.

Once he had her on board the little ship Leia had given him, he sat in his seat, not wanting to fly just yet.

His hands on the controls, he pressed his forehead to their backs.

"I'm sorry, Mother," he said, his voice cracking. "I should have gone. I should have followed you. I should have insisted." He got faster and faster, eventually breaking off in a silent, open mouthed sob.

He sat that way for a while, until someone began to tap on the door.

It was some sort of creature he didn't recognize, chattering at him.

He gathered that the thing wanted him to leave.

"Alright, alright. I'll get out of here," he said, closing the door and letting out a puff of air in annoyance.

His eyes fell on his mother, under an elaborate cloth, and his stomach dropped. His aggravation left and he merely went back to his seat and flew away numbly.

They buried Aura Dameron on the top of a hill, overlooking the base. It was raining lightly, easily disguising any and all tears.

Lieutenant Grisal caught up to him as they walked down the hill. "Captain Dameron, did you ever consider that the First Order planted a homing beacon in her body?  You might have just brought our demise straight to us."

Poe didn't respond.

"You need to talk to General Organa, you know, just in case.  I don't think she'll be happy, but she ought to know."

The pilot swung around and boxed him, straight on the chin.  He dropped.

Poe stood over him.  "Get up, you coward."

A hand landed on his arm.  "Poe..."

He shook it off.  "Not even the First Order would dare deface a body like that, and definitely not Ben."

Jacen Grisal rubbed the blood from his split lip.  "He's not Ben anymore.  Unless you've forgotten who killed her."

The communications officer cried out as Poe's boot fell upon his arm.

Before he could kick the man again, he was pulled backwards by Jess and Geo.  "No!"

"Poe, you can't attack him!" Jess said desperately.

"He's insulted all of us," Poe growled.

She slammed him into the wall of one of the barrack buildings.  "Listen to me, Dameron."  She only ever called him that when she was very angry.  "You have every right to be upset, but you can't let it control you.  Don't you remember a single thing from the academy?  Anger leads--"

"To the Dark Side," he finished, shaking her off.

"They're going to make you stay in a cell for a few days, despite your position.  You've assaulted an officer."

Poe scowled and tried to leave, heading to the hangar for his X-Wing.  Maybe he could fly for a bit while this all blew over.

But no such luck.  Two of the on-ground fighters seized him.  A third stood before him.  "Captain Poe Dameron, you have been charged of assault of an officer, and have been sentenced to three days in the holding cells until you appear before General Organa.  You may come peacefully or we can make you."

Poe chose peacefully, and was thrown into a cell.

Resting his head in his hands, he finally wept.