"Poe, this is together." Leia means it, and she just watches him for a moment, fighting not to feel his hurt, his pain at this. Sometimes there aren't good decisions, just bad ones, and this one is one of those. "And I know he tortured you. Do you think that I can forget that? Do you think I forgot going to the remains of the jedi temple and seeing what he'd done. I haven't. I didn't. I don't. Finn is right and no one here is collateral. Not any of us from our universe, and not anyone else."
She means it, and she doesn't flinch away from Finn's stare. She doesn't flinch away from the sentiment, or the feeling in the room. Leia doesn't flinch away from how hard this choice is, and how angry they are for Rey making it and Leia backing them up. Maybe if it was someone other than Ben, she wouldn't be fighting them so hard on this. But she's not going to give him up. She's not going to give them up either, even though she knows that they don't understand this.
"This is a way of keeping tabs on him, on making sure that the people that we care for don't end up facing his wrath. Would you rather we just let him alone without having someone watching him? Without having a way to stop him in case he does try and do something else? Rey believes that she can prevent that from happening. I believe that she can too."
A pause. "But I also know that you have your reasons for not wanting this. I'm not going to force you to do something that you don't want to do. But looking at all of our options with a city that doesn't know him and filled with people haven't needed to deal with a war like we have, this feels like the best plan we have. I know you're disappointed in me, Poe. But sometimes the only option that you have is a bad one."
no subject
She means it, and she doesn't flinch away from Finn's stare. She doesn't flinch away from the sentiment, or the feeling in the room. Leia doesn't flinch away from how hard this choice is, and how angry they are for Rey making it and Leia backing them up. Maybe if it was someone other than Ben, she wouldn't be fighting them so hard on this. But she's not going to give him up. She's not going to give them up either, even though she knows that they don't understand this.
"This is a way of keeping tabs on him, on making sure that the people that we care for don't end up facing his wrath. Would you rather we just let him alone without having someone watching him? Without having a way to stop him in case he does try and do something else? Rey believes that she can prevent that from happening. I believe that she can too."
A pause. "But I also know that you have your reasons for not wanting this. I'm not going to force you to do something that you don't want to do. But looking at all of our options with a city that doesn't know him and filled with people haven't needed to deal with a war like we have, this feels like the best plan we have. I know you're disappointed in me, Poe. But sometimes the only option that you have is a bad one."