Poe opened his eyes slowly as his parents slipped through his arms. After a moment of holding nothing, Poe lowered his arms into the grass. He looked around and realized that there was a small circle of fresh, living grass around his knees. He stood, and the circle faded.

"There's still more for me to do, isn't there?" Poe said aloud, turning to his dying tree.

The flight is long, but the bird must not tire.

"I guess that's a good answer." Cautiously, Poe touched the trunk again. "I'm sorry that I did this to you."

All life must end.

"Not before it has to." Placing his palms flat on the trunk, Poe closed his eyes and reached deep inside himself, to the healing energies inside. The Force link between him and the tree opened, their life forces connecting to each other. Poe's muscles tensed. Let me help you.

All life must end.

Poe was suddenly imbued with a new energy, as if a warm wave of water had just washed over him. He felt like a child again, falling from the branches anew. He felt the break in his back again, not as a wound, but as a reminder. Ben's arms were around him again, his boyish voice calling for help. The wind rushed through his hair as though it wanted to carry him along with its wild current. Small points of light flickered like fireflies from the roots of the tree - his tree.

All life must end, but this one is just beginning.

Something left Poe as he received his tree's final gift. A weight seemed to lift from his shoulders, and his breathing softened. All at once, the tree's branches perked up, and the trunk straightened. Decaying brown leaves fell like rain, replaced with new, young buds. Poe's own body seemed lighter - he felt like he could run a marathon without breaking a sweat. Old scars on his arms faded into clean tan skin. Poe tore open the collar of his shirt and looked at the thin mark over his collarbone, where Ben's lightsaber had fallen too close, too soon - nothing. Only that scar remained unchanged.

What's happening?

No answer. Poe frowned and reached out, searching for the presence that he'd known and felt since childhood. Nothing. The tree stood tall and young, its branches waving high above his head. Poe touched the trunk, calling for an answer. Still nothing. The tree was just a tree.

And I was just a boy, before any of this happened, Poe realized. He hadn't been born with the Force, he'd just had it given to him. It seemed that the tree was leaving everything behind as its final gift.

"Thank you," Poe said softly. He looked skyward, where he imagined his parents looking down on him. "All of you. I won't waste this chance."

Poe turned and headed back the way he'd come. A few more TIE fighters screamed overhead, but Poe felt no malevolence from them. Fellow renegades, looking for a new purpose. He came upon the clearing again, and Zeroes jogged up to him from a small group of black-clad figures. Most of them had shed their armor and were chatting casually.

"Hey, Dameron, we were wondering where you'd run off to," he greeted Poe.

Poe made an ambiguous gesture. "Just had to check on something."

"Well, that's good," said Zeroes. "We were worried you'd try to leave without us."

Poe shook his head and pointed to the Falcon. "Not leaving without that old rust bucket. Speaking of which, I'd better tell Le - er, General Organa, what's going on."

Zeroes nodded. "Sounds like a plan. Do you mind if a few others and I come with you?"

Poe shrugged. "You're welcome to."

Zeroes inclined his head, and two troopers broke from the group. Poe recognized the red-haired Wings, but the other, a rather tall male with impeccably slicked-back salt-and-pepper hair, was a newcomer. Zeroes gestured to each of them in turn. "You know Wings already. The tall one's Acklay."

"Aptly named," Poe commented, almost leaning back to look Acklay in the face. He was willing to bet that the trooper was taller than Ben.

Acklay smiled warmly. "It's okay. I don't bite. And I don't stab, either."

"Good to know. I'm Poe. Uh, but you probably already knew that."

Acklay nodded. "Yeah. Sorry to hear about Eight-Sev - er, Finn."

Poe managed a small smile, a fresh wave of grief crashing over him at the mention of Finn's name. "Thanks."

Wings gestured in the Falcon's direction. "Shall we?"

Poe nodded. "We shall."

He led the way up the ramp and into the cockpit. The three troopers accompanying him stared in awe at the interior of the famed ship as he settled into the pilot's seat and powered the communications radio. He opened a channel to the Resistance, giving it the necessary encryptions.

Static greeted him. Then, a voice. "Please identify."

"Comm - er, ex-Commander Poe Dameron, hailing from the Millennium Falcon, authorization codes peth-dora-three-one-seven."

"It's good to hear from you, sir." The voice on the other end lightened. "We were getting nervous, well, I was - I was starting to wonder when you'd be coming back."

Poe couldn't help a smile. "Good to hear, buddy. Who am I talking to?"

"Sergeant Jek Hughes, sir. Should I call in the General?"

"That would be nice. Thanks."

"No problem, sir - "

"Drop the sir, Sergeant," Poe interrupted gently. "You've got the higher rank now, remember?"

"Yes, sir - I mean, of course - uh, I'll just call General Organa over."

"You do that." Poe could imagine Hughes grinning on the other end, and the thought lightened his mood. People still needed him and wanted him back at the Resistance. Static ensued again.

Zeroes leaned over. "Ex-commander?"

Poe hesitated. "It's been kinda rough the past few days. But don't worry - things should work themselves out."

"We'll still be able to get in, right?" Wings piped up, crossing her arms nervously.

Poe nodded. "Things'll work themselves out."

It was then that Leia's voice came over the radio. "Poe, what's happened?"

"It's a bit of a long story." Poe ran a hand through his hair and filled her in, leaving out the parts about his surreal encounter with Ben in the midst of the fire. Instead, he talked about the unfortunate arrival of the First Order and separation from Luke and Rey, then about the stormtrooper insurection.

"We've heard a bit about that," Leia said. "Some of our intelligence picked up reports of renegades leading small strikes and breaking away from the First Order."

"I've got some here with me," Poe said quickly. "This is Zeroes. He helped me escape my execution. I'm putting him on now."

Poe nodded at Zeroes, who mouthed panickedly, What do I say?

Poe mouthed back, Whatever sounds good.

Zeroes halfway rolled his eyes, then cleared his throat. "General Organa? I'm Zeroes. Uh, like Dameron, er, Poe, said, I'm leading a small faction of rebel troopers. We were wondering if there was the possibility that we might be able to meet and join our forces. Uh, we understand that there might have been recent losses with the destruction of both the Hosnian system and Starkiller Base, and we'd like to help where we can."

"Excellent." To an untrained ear, Leia might have souned uncaring, but Poe could sense the hidden excitement under her cool exterior. "Perhaps something can be arranged. Are you in contact with any of the other rebel factions?"

"Sort of," said Zeroes. "We started out all together after the Battle of Starkiller, when the First Order was rallying its troops. Then we got split up and reassigned. My group's mostly pilots and gunners. I know of some others that are more ground-troop focused, though."

"We could use all the pilots we can get," Leia said, and Poe echoed agreement. "You're at Yavin Four now?"

"Yes," Poe answered. Dropping his voice slightly, he added, "Sun shining bright today."

"Clear skies above D'Qar," Leia replied. "We'll send you coordinates."

"Copy," said Poe, his hands moving across the transmission receiver, subtly changing the frequencies. "We'll see you soon."

"We'll be waiting."

Static again. Zeroes peered at Poe inquisitively as the pilot coded in new decryptions for the coordinates. "D'Qar?"

"Not quite," said Poe. " 'Clear skies.' That means the fleet's moved out. We packed up and left right after the First Order attacked us."

"So where are they now?" asked Acklay.

"Just a moment," Poe murmured as he let the old craft do its work. Leia had sent in coordinates, but he needed to invert them and then find the centroid planet between D'Qar, Yavin IV, and the new coordinates. Even then, that would just be a meeting point. They would be escorted to the real Resistance base afterwards. Poe himself wasn't sure about the mathematical process, but it kept others from finding Resistance locations, and he had a computer to do it for him.

"Gotcha," Poe said triumphantly as their final, decrypted and calculated coordinates appeared. Zeroes, Wings, and Acklay peered over his shoulder to see.

"Gentlemen and lady," Poe announced, "Looks like we're headed for Eamus."