A/N: Hello again! I'd like to thank again all of my readers, those leaving reviews or not (I see you anyway), and I hope that you will still enjoy this chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or any of its characters. I only own my OCs Cas Andé, Tani Kenobi, Niobé Skywalker and Sehr, as well as the plot surrounding them.

8. Mutiny

As soon as Poe had been led out of the com-room, Vice-Admiral Holdo turned to Cas, a severe look on her face.

"Care to explain to me what just happened?"

Cas forced herself to look strong and resolute, even if a part of her wanted to cower in fear. She had betrayed their trust, she knew that, and for what? For a silly crush she had on a pilot. It was her through and through… "I informed Captain Dameron of our current situation."

"Because…?"

"Because I felt like he needed to be informed. I apologize if I have not correctly anticipated his reaction. I thought he'd want to help."

"Obviously not." Holdo looked at her with something strange in her gaze that contrasted with the way she had looked at her all day. It was almost judging. "Are you and Captain Dameron involved, Padawan Andé?"

Cas felt herself blush, although she had no reason to feel ashamed. Granted, she had kissed him in the middle of the hangar the day prior, and everyone must have been aware at that point, but it was none of their business.

Not that she knew what her relationship with Poe really was…

"My judgment concerning our proceedings have nothing to do with Poe, Vice-Admiral. My feelings are not interfering with my actions, I assure you." It was a lie, but she'd stick to it all the same. "I agree with your plan to evacuate, and will help where I can. I am just sorry that I misjudged his reaction."

There was a long silence during which Holdo held her gaze, seemingly pondering if she could trust Cas' words or not, until she turned back to the screens. "Very well, incident over."

Cas could have sighed in relief.

After a brief meditation – or what she intended to be meditation, during which she could not summon any particle of the peace she sought – Cas was assigned to checking the transports' general conditions, and to oversee the first phase of evacuation.

That she was being trusted with this truly meant that her little earlier speech had moved the Admiralty enough that she was given some responsibilities.

That, or Vice-Admiral Amalyn Holdo was a better liar than she had imagined, and was testing her.

All the same, she found herself in the secondary hangar, overseeing the conditions of each transport, nodding and checking things on a pad and giving orders around when she found something to say. One transport in particular didn't seem fit to fly, and she ordered the fuel it held to be redirected to another pod, or better still, to the other pods.

She had noticed Poe, C'ai and Lieutenant Connix standing not far from the entrance to the hangar, and when her curiosity was peaked, she approached them.

"What are you all planning?" she asked bluntly.

Poe turned to her, a smirk on his lips. "Mutiny."

Cas' purple eyes widened. "Muti-? Are you insane? You could be court-martialled for this!"

He rolled his eyes. "I wouldn't count on it, not if I manage to save us all. Then Holdo and her flock of idiotic followers will have to stare the truth in the face: their plan was stupid; mine was better."

Something itched Cas at the back of her mind. "Are you trying to prove yourself to her?"

His dark eyes narrowed. "No. I don't need to."

"Then it's a question of ego pure and simple." She tapped her pad to switch it off, and stared at him dead-on. In that moment, despite their difference in age, Cas felt as if she was older than Poe, as if she had matured quicker than him and was staring at a petulant child. It had never happened before. She had always looked upon him with respect, knowing who he was and what he'd done, but now…

He didn't answer, and seemed about to lose his temper, which would also have been a first, when another thought occurred to Cas.

She placed a hand on his arm, and while he still flinched away, she smiled kindly at him, now fully understanding why he was doing what he was doing. "You are blaming yourself, aren't you? For what happened with the Dreadnought?"

Poe didn't answer, and out of the corner of her eye, Cas saw the highest-ranking members of their Resistance approach the hangar.

Vice-Admiral Holdo was swift in asking Poe what he was doing there, eyeing Cas only a fraction of a second before his gun, and that of C'ai, Connix and a few others, were pulled and pointed at her, D'Acy, and their other followers.

Cas was staring at the scene, frozen. If she still stood next to Poe, she did not agree to his plan at all. It was far too dangerous to just wait for Finn and Rose to succeed – if they succeeded – and to jump to an unknown location.

Apparently, Holdo got the message when she stared at her next. Poe sent Connix ahead of him to the com-room to relieve the other members of command of their post, and he turned to Cas. "Are you with me?"

She stared at Holdo instead of him, trying to convey how torn she felt, and when she saw an almost imperceptible nod, she looked at her handsome and stupid pilot, and nodded to him, tight-lipped and ashamed.

Poe took her hand, and pulled her forward.

Cas' mind was buzzing with thoughts as he pulled her towards the com room where Kaydel was waiting. She did not know what Poe would ask of her, she only knew that her conscience was telling her that whatever plan he had under his sleeve, it would end badly.

They passed a high-window and Cas made Poe stop. From there, she could see the Supremacy, and an immense twitch in the Force made her stare at it with a blank look in her eyes. What was it that disturbed the balance in all things?

"Cas? What is it, we have to go!" Poe tried to pull her forward again.

Her purple eyes turned to him, and she gasped, filled with fear, "Rey is on that ship. And she's in danger."

Poe's dark eyes widened for a moment, then he pursed his lips. "I'm sure she'll be alright. Finn has her transmitter. He'll know if she's close. They'd arrived by now, which is why…"

Cas shook her head. "Which is why you want to go."

Poe stopped pulling at her, realising the struggle she was in. He faced her suddenly, and asked "Cas, if you had had the choice, would you have come with me? Or stayed with Holdo?" He paused, and his gaze turned harsh. "Would you have been with me, or against me?"

Cas shook her head, feeling tears prickle her eyes. "I could never be against you, Poe…"

She didn't have time to voice that she wasn't with him either on this that he had grabbed her face and tenderly put his lips over hers in a gentle kiss that felt awfully like a thank you. Cas felt even more torn than before, because now, her stomach was fluttering and her heart was beating faster, and she knew that she could never be against that man.

Poe pulled away, and pulled her forward again. This time, she followed.

C-3PO was the only one that had remained behind, but then again, the cowardly droid was always in the wrong place at the wrong time, so it wasn't really surprising. Despite his initial rebuff at the mutiny that had taken place, he stayed with the group, especially when one of the sealed doors began to be attacked by some sort of laser that ate at the steel.

Poe moved to the command pod, and started conversing with someone that sounded like Finn, although his voice was far away.

Cas didn't know what to do, so she stared at the melting door, praying, perhaps, that it all didn't end as badly as she had foreseen.

Something at the back of her mind made her reach out for her mother for the first time in what felt like ages. It was eerily easier than the previous time she had tried to reach Tani, and when she did, she was assaulted by worry, and no little amount of anger.

She immediately realised that Tani was having a fight with her husband.

When she noticed Cas' presence, though, the anger subsided, and Cas could almost feel her mother's embrace. "Cas, what is it? I can feel your fear! Has something happened?"

"Ma, where is Rey?" She needed it voiced, needed to know that the younger woman was indeed in danger.

"She left. Luke refused to train her after realising that she was linked in the Force with Ben." Cas' surprise seeped through their bond, and Tani felt it. "Do not judge her. I am sure she will explain next time you see her." She paused. "Now, I can feel that you need to focus. Whatever is happening on your side is far too important to waste your time talking to me. Go. And do not fear anymore. You are strong."

Tani's voice faded at the same time as she heard Poe utter a desperate 'They didn't make it' that made dread fill her veins, and then, Cas witnessed the door being shoved aside by a surge of power, and a figure erupting in the ensuing smoke.

Poe fired at the figure twice, then realised who it was. "Leia?!"

The General was up and about, but her face was severe, and she raised a blaster before firing a stunning shot at Poe, who fell backwards, knocked out.

Cas stared at her aunt in a daze, and when Leia looked at her, a smile forming on her lips, she felt like crying.

She approached, and sheepishly asked "Permission to hug my aunt, General?"

Leia smiled back. "Permission granted."