The stars shown beautiful in the sky was Poe walked forward with Jemina right beside him. She sniffled and continued to wipe at her eyes with the back of her hand, hiccuping in grief. Poe tried to comfort her as well as possibly, but it wasn't in Poe's nature much. All he could do was stand there and offer silent support.
Tas led the vigil, as he always did. Leia was at his side since she usually said a few words as well. Everyone else could chime in if they wanted, but Poe couldn't remember a time where anyone had. They usually just listened to Tas and Leia and that was enough. They had these vigils quite often.
Everyone held small candles as they stood in a circle around the landing platform. Everyone was practically silent since Xander wasn't the only one to be killed. There were quite a few pilots that Poe didn't know personally. He had passed them a million times in the corridors and at the mess hall, but he certainly couldn't pick them out of line up and that depressed him.
"These brave men and women gave their lives for the Resistance. Their loyalty and bravery will not be forgotten as they are remembered through the galaxies. Don't let this dishearten you. Hold your heads high! Serve the Resistance with pride and dignity, just as they did. Don't let this bring you down. Let the Resistance rise!"
"Resistance!"
"Resistance!"
Tas's message lifted Poe's spirits a bit. He would've wished that maybe they could've spoken about Xander more, but not everyone knew who Xander was. That was the only downside to having so many fighters. You didn't get to know everyone and it was hard to get to know everyone.
There was soft sobbing beside Poe and when he turned he saw tears streaming down Jemina's face. She gasped a bit as she cried heavily. Her head bowed and tears dropped from her face. He candle was forgotten and completely burned out. She dropped the candle before she crumpled on the ground, lifting her hands to her face and sobbing.
Poe kneeled besides Jemina and rested a hand on her back in an effort to comfort her. He grabbed one of her hands and sighed heavily. "It's alright. It's going to be alright."
They continued the vigil for a while before Tas came up to Poe. He kneeled beside him. His shoulders slightly slumped as he looked at the small fire that represented the lives that had been lost a few hours ago.
"I think that it's time to get some rest. We have a big day tomorrow," Tas whispered with his tusk like appendages moving ever so slightly.
Poe was reluctant to leave, but he knew that Tas was right. If he was to fight then he had to be ready for it. He just prayed that it wasn't a false alarm like before. He didn't think that he could deal with another one.
Poe rubbed at his face blearily with his hand before he made his way back to the infirmary. He was sure that this would be his last night there, hopefully.
He crept in and turned on the light to his room. It was made up real nice, just like it always was when he left the room. It was like the force itself always made sure that his room was nice and tidy. There were budget cuts, so he knew tat it was probably Tas.
Poe saw sleepwear folded neatly on the bed. He grasped it and smiled at the softness of it. Not a lot was soft in the Resistance, but Tas seemed to know exactly what was pleasing.
He headed into the bathroom and changed quickly, brushing his teeth at the end. He hung up his clothes and came into the room to see Tas writing somethings down. He nodded ever so slightly before Poe cleared his throat. He wasn't sure if Tas even knew that he was there.
"Oh, Poe, I didn't see you there," murmured Tas as he twiddled his pen in his long fingers.
Poe nodded ever so slightly as he came over to the bed and sighed heavily, sitting down on the bed with his hands on his knees. "What's it like being a Jedi healer?"
Tas raised an eyebrow. "I don't believe that I'm a 'Jedi healer'. I'm more just a healer."
"Fine then. How is it like being a healer," inquired Poe. He secretly didn't want to go to sleep. Sleep brought the nightmares of war and he wanted some peace first.
Tas came over and sat besides Poe. The bed slightly slumped as Tas leaned back ever so slightly. "Well, it's interesting, I'll tell you that. I enjoy my job very much, but it's difficult too. The respect isn't great and neither is the pay. The food sucks, but it's worth it to help pilots like you."
"I certainly think that you're important. I mean without you who would patch idiots like me up," questioned Poe with a shrug.
Tas slugged his shoulder, causing Poe to fall backwards a bit. "That's true! Idiots like you do need patching up like every single day!" Both of them bust out laughing until their sides started to hurt. Tas composed himself first, but Poe was still laughing so hard that he was crying.
When Poe finally composed himself and straightened he wiped the tears from his eyes. "I haven't laughed that hard in forever."
"Me either," agreed Tas. He would've liked to take off his mask to wipe his tears away, but he only did that when he ate since it did burn. Instead he took in a few heavy breaths and bowed his head. "Contrary to popular belief, healers don't have a very humorous job."
"I would believe that," Poe agreed as he stretched out with his back arching in a long stretch.
"Well, I'll leave you to sleep. You have a long day and I hopefully I will not, but I know that I won't be that lucky," muttered Tas as he rose to his feet and stretched himself.
"Thanks for all of this, Tas," Poe murmured as Tas rolled up his sleeve. "What are you doing?"
"A little IV can't hurt," Tas pointed out with a flicker of his eyes behind his mask. He inserted the needle and pushed the IV ever so slightly. Poe felt the rush of the liquid in his veins and he sighed heavily as he laid back, tired as his eyelids started to droop.
Once Tas knew that he had done all that he could he headed out and closed the door behind him, sighing and smiling as he headed back to his own room for some much needed rest.
