[ There was, he mentally corrects himself, his stomach twisting. But they agreed, they all agreed: Cassian and Jyn will never know about Starkiller Base. ]
[statue implies he's died, but he doesn't even want to ask how or when right now. thirty years is a long time, with a lot of possibilities.]
That suits him. [he always hoped to bring back the senate, always participated even when draven thought it stupid.] I am not surprised his daughter would follow in his footsteps.
[it's just upsetting that she had to, in two separate wars. is it better to be in one long continuous battle until you die, or to experience and lose peace as an interim between two?]
[ Poe couldn't be prouder to serve Leia Organa, and as usual, there's absolutely no disguising that. ] She has. Leia Organa is and will always be a hero. She's the best leader we could ask for.
[he saw signs of her fire in their few and brief interactions, but leia was so young. he supposes that doesn't make much of a difference. she was what, eighteen or so the last time he saw her? he was already killing people at that age.]
It's good to know the resistance remains in capable hands.
[there are always things he wants to ask, always things he wants to know. it's a compulsion that lives even outside spy stuff. maybe he would rather be ignorant to details so he can pretend he didn't die for no fucking reason, but he knows that would drive him crazy to just run on assumptions.]
How long? [he pauses. he should be more specific.] How long have they been a threat? How long have you been fighting?
It hurts, to answer this question. It hurts to admit how deeply the New Republic failed those it was meant to protect. ]
The General has been fighting them outside the bounds of the New Republic since she discovered their existence six years ago. They started operating openly about five years ago. We've been at open war with them for... [ Poe smiles bitterly. ] About a week.
[six years feels like a long time in theory. he supposes it would be, when you're used to peace, but cassian doesn't really remember existing in a space that wasn't wrapped up in empires or fighting, so six years is... almost a relief. open war has only just begun. only six years in the shadows, not twenty.]
She got a head start then. [the rebellion as most people think of it hadn't really started until after the empire was made official. sure there were mumblings, separatists who never stopped, but the alliance took a very long time to build.]
[he can see how bitter it makes poe though.] Something like the Empire, if not stomped out completely, can fester in the embers. I hope your war does not last as long as mine did.
She didn't. [ If she'd gotten a head start, Finn and thousands like him never would have been taken and turned into cannon fodder. If she'd gotten a head start, there would be more than four hundred-odd Resistance fighters facing down legions. If she'd gotten a head start the twelve billion souls in the Hosnian System might still be alive.
"What're you afraid of now?"
"That it was all for nothing."
He flags the bartender and pushes his half-finished glass lightly across the polished wood. ] I'll take some gin in that, actually.
[ She gives him a sharp look, and smiles at her. ] Just a little.
[she didn't. it raises more questions. he wants to ask immediately, that old instinct to just know know know.]
[but he's already dealing with a massive sense of failure and waste and he's not sure he wants to add any more right now. he wants to go back home and talk to jyn, but he also doesn't want to put this on her too. he will, of course, because he can't fathom keeping it from her, but everything just happens so much, and they can't catch a break.]
[the bartender brings back over both their new drinks and cassian immediately swallows down at least a third of it.]
Well. Rebellions are built on hope. [he manages to make it sound both genuinely hopeful and a little bitter at the same time.] It can go a long way.
They are. [ There's something in that, in spite of the bitterness, that lifts and steadies Poe's heart. Maybe it's the fact that it's someone from his parents' war saying it. Maybe it's because he has a promise to keep to Cassian, now, too. ]
[weirdly, hearing poe confirm it just makes him think of the way jyn repeated him to the council. it fell on a lot of deaf ears, but people kept fighting. maybe hope is enough.]
[he drains more of his drink, sighing after.]
It's the one constant you need. We went to Scarif on hope. [just casually finishes the rest of his drink, because he is definitely not in a good mood now ayyy. he throws down some money and climbs to his feet.] I hope you win too.
[he pauses for a second, giving poe a nod, because he really, really wants and needs to believe the resistance will win.]
[but in the meantime that nod will also serve as a goodbye as cassian slips out of the bar to go home and tell jyn and keep drinking because how the fuck else are they supposed to deal with this information ok!! time 2 get drunk.]
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[ There was, he mentally corrects himself, his stomach twisting. But they agreed, they all agreed: Cassian and Jyn will never know about Starkiller Base. ]
Right outside the Senate building.
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That suits him. [he always hoped to bring back the senate, always participated even when draven thought it stupid.] I am not surprised his daughter would follow in his footsteps.
[it's just upsetting that she had to, in two separate wars. is it better to be in one long continuous battle until you die, or to experience and lose peace as an interim between two?]
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It's good to know the resistance remains in capable hands.
[there is that much good news, at least.]
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Is there anything you want to ask?
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How long? [he pauses. he should be more specific.] How long have they been a threat? How long have you been fighting?
[when did this new war begin?]
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It hurts, to answer this question. It hurts to admit how deeply the New Republic failed those it was meant to protect. ]
The General has been fighting them outside the bounds of the New Republic since she discovered their existence six years ago. They started operating openly about five years ago. We've been at open war with them for... [ Poe smiles bitterly. ] About a week.
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She got a head start then. [the rebellion as most people think of it hadn't really started until after the empire was made official. sure there were mumblings, separatists who never stopped, but the alliance took a very long time to build.]
[he can see how bitter it makes poe though.] Something like the Empire, if not stomped out completely, can fester in the embers. I hope your war does not last as long as mine did.
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"What're you afraid of now?"
"That it was all for nothing."
He flags the bartender and pushes his half-finished glass lightly across the polished wood. ] I'll take some gin in that, actually.
[ She gives him a sharp look, and smiles at her. ] Just a little.
[ To Cassian, he says: ] I hope so, too.
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[but he's already dealing with a massive sense of failure and waste and he's not sure he wants to add any more right now. he wants to go back home and talk to jyn, but he also doesn't want to put this on her too. he will, of course, because he can't fathom keeping it from her, but everything just happens so much, and they can't catch a break.]
[the bartender brings back over both their new drinks and cassian immediately swallows down at least a third of it.]
Well. Rebellions are built on hope. [he manages to make it sound both genuinely hopeful and a little bitter at the same time.] It can go a long way.
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We won't let them win.
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[he drains more of his drink, sighing after.]
It's the one constant you need. We went to Scarif on hope. [just casually finishes the rest of his drink, because he is definitely not in a good mood now ayyy. he throws down some money and climbs to his feet.] I hope you win too.
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[but in the meantime that nod will also serve as a goodbye as cassian slips out of the bar to go home and tell jyn and keep drinking because how the fuck else are they supposed to deal with this information ok!! time 2 get drunk.]