Zorii shook her head when Poe made a gesture that she could only
understand as an offer to pick up where they had left off. How dared he
ask? Too much had happened. She was still in a mess because of what he
had done years ago. Before he left the crew and joined the Resistance.
Now the spice smuggler had mutated into a war hero. But nothing had
changed for Zorii. She moved away from those celebrating the victory
over Palpatine’s fleet on Exegol and settled down by a tree.
She drew her blaster when she heard footsteps. Poe gave her a lopsided grin.
“Still that fast with a blaster, Zorii?”
The young woman opened the visor of her helmet and glared at him.
“Better
safe than sorry, Poe. You were pretty brave to ask for a kiss on Kijimi
after what you pulled before you joined the Resistance. Do you have any
idea what happened after you left?”
Dameron shook his head, staring at the muzzle of the blaster still pointed at him.
“Could you put that thing aside, Zorii? It's kind of making me nervous.”
The spice smuggler chuckled and holstered her weapon. Poe breathed a
sigh of relief and pointed to a spot at Zorii’s side.
“May I sit down?”
Zorii Bliss shook her head.
“You can sit across from me, Dameron.”
Poe raised an eyebrow.
“Dameron? There was a time when you had other names for me.”
The young woman took off her helmet and scowled.
“That was when I didn't know you would leave me to follow an idealistic crusade.”
“Idealistic crusade? I wouldn’t call it that, Zorii.”
The Resistance pilot settled down across from the woman.
“I thought you were dead after I learned of Kijimi's annihilation.”
Zorii played with a strand of her blonde hair.
“I wasn’t there.”
Dameron
nodded thoughtfully, stretching his legs as he crossed his arms in
front of his chest before leaning back against the tree he was sitting
in front of.
“I didn't like the idea of you dying in the inferno caused by the destroyer.”
She looked him in the eye.
“You didn’t care what happened to me when you left the crew.”
“That
was a different case, Zorii. It was the right thing for me to do, just
like it was the right thing for my parents to join the Rebellion decades
ago. You know me. I always couldn’t stand injustice.”
“I know, Poe,” the woman said, smiling at Dameron, who noticed the subtle change in Zorii’s demeanor.
The pilot smiled at her and moved a little closer.
“It's
the same as with you. I realized that when you talked about the
children the First Order pressed into service on Kijimi. I know you have
a good heart. Otherwise you wouldn't have come with this ragtag fleet
to help us along with General Calrissian. We know each other so well.”
This
time it was Zorii Bliss who came closer as Poe Dameron spoke, closing
the distance between them. She took his hand with a smile. The pilot's
heart skipped a beat.
“The galaxy is on the brink of a new
beginning.” The Spice smuggler hesitated for a split second before
continuing. “What about us? Do you think that's possible for us too,
Flyboy?”
Dameron put an arm around Zorii's shoulders before answering.
“We can give it a try.”
