The Flight Before Us | FanFic/Damarey/ Before Ep 9

Chapter 6- The Dark

"Try again," Leia said.

In fact, that was all she seemed to say the last hour.

Poe stared in the middle distance, wondering why he couldn't learn to be a jedi while flying, something he was easy at.

The sweat was nearly in his eyes now. His jaw shook with concentration.

He put the helmet back on, wincing as if anticipating the pain.

The lightsaber in his hand hummed, mocking any of his efforts against the little droid that hovered above him now.

Nevertheless, he raised the blade to meet the first blast.

Then the second.

The third hit his knee.

He pushed back against the doubt in his mind.

He blocked the next one.

And the next one.

And then three quick blasts took out his knee, his shoulder - he moved- and then his other knee.

"Enough!" he was about to pull off the helmet, but it blasted again.

He was angry.

The anger made the blast louder, longer, and yet slow enough for him to block.

He blocked it, moved forward, and sliced the droid in two.

"There!" he pulled off the helmet. "Stupid thing can't hit me anymore, is that the point of this?"

But when he took his helmet off, he saw Rey looking like she had looked earlier that day when looking at the orphans, telling them they'd be okay but barely believing it.

And the look on Leia's face was worse than anger: it was the deepest disappointment.

"You used anger, Poe, to amplify the force, with your feelings-"

"It's a stupid droid, and-"

"Yes!" Leia shot back, not used to anyone interrupting her. "It is! And if you lose your temper, if you lose yourself to the dark at all... at all..."

she trailed off, her last words breathless. She took a breath and continued. "This is supposed to teach you awareness. Patience. Foresight."

He stared at her, feeling a worse failure and embarrassment as when the blasts had hit him.

"Poe, do you think it's going to be easier to keep your temper when it's Kylo? It's not. And you're still trying to blow something up... and trust me, I appreciate that more than I let on, but this is the time to train your mind to see the force. Not to win every little thing. You will lose."

He stared at the droid, cut in half.

He felt it, the anger of his failure, the emotions she had mentioned.

He stared at the droid, parts of it still sparking.

It had made a fool of him, even now mocking him. What if it was Kylo?

He thought of Kylo breifly.

The droid stopped sparking. All power left it.

The lights in the room dimmed.

It shocked him. He lost focus, Kylo's face in his mind fading.

"What was that?" he said. '

But Leia shook her head. "You, ignoring everything I just told you."