Poe had woken up very early in the morning, apparently Bakuran citizens didn't pay much mind on blocking the sun light from the windows, he stood up and looked around the place for any possible wires or suspicious artifacts, he might have looked a bit ridiculous but it was always better to be completely sure they were safe, the bedroom seemed to be clear so he slowly opened his door and walked outside trying to make as little sound as possible in case Rey was still sleeping.

He saw her curled up on the couch looking peaceful and almost smiled, he knew she would sometimes have nightmares, Finn had mentioned it once or twice and he had payed more attention to when she looked somehow disturbed during the day. Poe felt terrible just thinking about her going through all of that, she didn't deserve it, he still had occasional bad dreams about his interrogation with Kylo Ren, he couldn't even begin to imagine what she must feel, so it was nice to see her resting.

Carefully he made his way around the place inspecting every little detail, to be honest he had forgotten to do it yesterday and it hadn't been exactly necessary, they hadn't spoken about any detail about the Resistance or its members.

Just as he was done he heard a gentle knock on the door, he turned to Rey and when he saw she was still sleeping he opened the door slowly.

Malinaza stood outside and was surprised he had actually answered, Poe stepped outside and closed the door behind him.

"I apologize for disturbing you so early in the morning" she told him

"It's alright" he answered "how can I help you?"

Just then he had a chance of actually looking at her, everything had happened so fast he hadn't even payed much attention to her face and for some strange reason she seemed familiar, her eyes each had a different color grey and green, it was completely unusual but he had to admit she was beautiful, she had long black her pulled back in a ponytail and a curtsy smile on her lips, only then it hit him, for some reason he saw a small resemblance to his own mother in her, Malinaza didn't actually look like Shara Bey but the way she held someone's gaze with confidence made him remember her.

She cleared her throat "I have made contact with the sympathizers, they will arrive today and we will held the meeting here at night. I have just made contact with them but supposed you would want to know right away"

"That's perfect" be answered suddenly relieved by the way this was turning out to be "thank you"

When he thought she might turn and leave she fixed her gaze on him, a stern yet diplomatic face took over her small smile, she spoke even more confident than she had been doing

"I was talking with the Bakuran gabinet and we came to the agreement that it would be best if you two would share the Resistance conditions with us before taking them to tonight's meeting" then added "it's just a way to guarantee that both interests lead to the same end"

He changed his expression as well, he was now a representative of the Resistance itself "I will speak to General Organa herself" he told her "but I'm almost sure we have the same interests"

Her face went emotionless and she simply nodded then changing the subject said "We will wait for you downstairs for breakfast in an hour" and with that she was gone.

Poe returned to the room and sighed

"What are you doing?" Rey asked groggily, she was already sitting in the couch "did something happen?"

He then explained what the girl had told him and what she expected them to do.

Rey crossed her arms "So what will we do?"

He scratched the back of his head "We'll call Leia, I mean it's obvious that they need to know what we will ask of them but I need to make sure that she thinks it's what we should do, there's a risk the Bakurans might want to tell us that we should change a few things of our request and it might affect the Resistance"

She nodded understanding and so on Poe installed his comlink and the hologram console, a few moments later the figure of Leia Organa appeared in front of them.

"Hello General" he saluted

"Dameron, Rey" she spoke with a small smile "how is the progress?"

"The meeting will be held tonight" he answered and taking a deep breath explained what she had asked of them

The General remained still the whole time and once he had finished she simply asked "What would you do?"

She was telling him it should be his decision, right after he had lost half of the Resistance for a bad strategy she was trusting him their political position.

"I would tell her our requests, just like you said we are in no place to demand anything but if I can be honest with you General, they expected you to have come here, we need to show them stability, we need to show them hope... maybe I shouldn't have come here in your place"

Leia almost smiled "On the contrary Poe, you are there to give them a new picture in which there will be a new Republic that will stand again and will spread throughout the Galaxy, what could I do to achieve that? I'm just an old woman, but you, you are the new generation that will make things right" then turning to Rey she added "and you Rey, you are hope itself, I know it's difficult for you to open up again to the force but we need you to show them there is something they can believe in, I know it's too much to ask but please, be the Jedi they need you to be"

Poe turned to Rey, the girl lifted her chin and nodded "Yes General"

Leia smiled "I will leave you know, I trust you both, we all do, all that's left is that you do too"

And with that the transmission ended.

Rey took a deep breath and sat back down on the couch, her gaze distant.

Poe sat next to her and without thinking too much about it he took her hand "Hey, are you alright?"

She turned to him and pressed her lips "I... I'm fine, it's only that I'm not sure being a Jedi is what I should be, Luke was very clear about it"

"Maybe you don't have to be a Jedi"

She frowned a bit "Then what would I be?"

Then smiling he said "Hope, be their hope Rey, they need to see for themselves that there is more than darkness in the Galaxy, they need to see balance, who needs a hermit? You don't need to be a follower of the Jedi, you just need to be a carrier of the force, the good kind of force"

She laughed despite herself and pressed his hand "Thank you"

He smiled at her and said "Time to let your lightsaber shine"