Rey is 12 at this point.
Ben is significantly older than Rey.
I own nothing.
Han meets Rey
The man did not look rich, but Rey knew how rich men walked. He was older and his hair was turning grey. He wore a leather jacket, a simple white shirt, and brown pants. Rey could see that he kept his wallet in his back pocket - it would be an easy steal.
Rey grabbed her baseball hat on her head and made sure that all of her hair was hidden before she moved forward. She kept a good distance behind him until he walked into a big crowd of people - people would just assume she was his son despite her torn clothes and dirty appearance. People in Jakku were oblivious or just didn't care what was happening around them.
She got so close to the old man that, when she looked up, she could see a mole on the back of his neck and a tattoo on his ankle when his pant leg lifted as she looked down. She reached her hand slowly forward. She could see the tip of the wallet sticking out of the pocket and her fingertip brushed it when out of seemingly nowhere, he turned around and his large hand gripped her wrist.
"What the hell you doing, kid?"
She looked up and she saw his dark brown eyes staring at her. He was a handsome older man she would reflect later, but at the moment, Rey did one thing - she screamed.
"Help me!" She yelled at the top of her lungs. She saw a couple people pause or turn their heads to stare, but then they kept walking. "The man is trying to kidnap me!"
The man's other hand covered her mouth and her screams were muffled.
"Shut up, boy."
Rey kicked him hard in the shin.
"Shit!" the man let go of her and Rey turned around to run. The only problem was, there was a gigantic man standing in her way. The enormous man put his hands on her forearms and lifted her in the air. She was brought eye level to his face. He had a very impressive beard and a very large mouth that went with it. Rey's eyes widened and she stopped breathing for a moment. Was he going to eat her?
"Put him down, Chewie."
The large man named Chewie dropped her and she fell straight on her ass.
"Ow," she groaned.
The large man did something with his hands and the older man replied to his gestures with, "No shit."
Rey felt a couple of her hairs rip out of her scalp as the older man pulled her hat off her head.
"Hey!" Rey stood up quickly and jumped to get her hat back, but the older man kept her hat of reach.
"You're right, Chewie," the man laughed and there was a kindness in his eyes that made Rey stop jumping. Rey never heard a more pleasant laugh in her life. "She is a girl!"
Rey's mouth dropped in shock and she looked back up at the gigantic man. He did his weird hand gestures again.
The older man's laugh stopped as he glared at the big man.
"My eyesight is just fine," he grabbed Rey by the shoulder and leaned down to her level, but then turned back to Chewie and pointed his finger, "and I'm not getting old." The big man silently laughed. This had to be the weirdest day Rey had ever experienced.
The older man was staring at her as if he knew exactly who she was. Rey could tell he could see the dirt on her nose and under her fingernails, the bruise under her eye where Plutt had hit her last, the bruises that were slowly healing on her ribs, and how skinny she was. She could tell he could hear her stomach growl and she could see the sadness in his eyes. Rey felt her cheeks redden and she looked to the ground. She saw a bug crawl past his feet and she heard him sigh,
"Were you trying to steal my wallet, kid?"
Rey looked back up at him and huffed.
"I was trying to swat a bee that was on your ass, sir."
The older man's face became a smile again and Rey had to fight really hard not to smile back.
The older man straightened and pulled his wallet out of his back pocket - he threw it at her and she caught it easily. She looked up at him in disbelief.
"What the hell are you doing?" She asked.
"Watch your language kid," he said with a rough voice and she raised an eyebrow at him, "You shouldn't cuss until you're at least my age," he amended.
He itched his the back of his neck with his right hand and pointed at her with his left.
"Open the damn wallet."
Rey looked up at the gigantic man and saw him nod. She turned back to the wallet and opened it. Inside was a picture of a beautiful woman and a picture of a gangly boy with the older man, but in the picture he had brown hair instead of grey. Rey grew confused when she saw nothing else but more pictures. She flipped through the pockets almost frantically and saw no money or credit cards. She looked up at him and saw that he fighting a smile.
"I thought you were rich," she accused. It was his turn to look confused.
"Why the hell would you think that?"
She waved the wallet up and down at him and she stuttered with incredibility and almost felt ridiculous as she said, "You walk rich."
She could see the gigantic man shaking from laughter.
"My wife is rich," the older man folded his arms across his chest. "I was once like you."
Rey scoffed, "You were a girl once?"
The older man unfolded his arms and put his hands on his hips, "You're cheeky."
Rey reached out his wallet towards him as an apology. She'd be damned if she said it.
The man grabbed it almost reverently, "Even though the people in this wallet mean more to me than a thousand Lamborghinis," he looked at her seriously, "their pictures wouldn't have gotten you a damn thing." Rey would have been moved by his speech if he hadn't compared his family to a Lamborghini - BMWs were much nicer.
The man put Rey's hat back on her head and waved his hand at her, beckoning her to follow, as he started to walk. He pulled out a second wallet from his jacket pocket, "But this will buy you some dinner."
"Why - " Rey began to ask and she felt the big man, Chewie, put his hand on her back and push her forward. She was asking two questions with her why: Why did he keep two wallets and why was he going to buy her dinner? The man answered both with the shrug of his shoulders and with,
"Like I said, kid. I was once like you."
The man and Chewie took Rey to a nice diner that sold burgers, pie, shakes, salads, pancakes, and anything Rey could ever want. Her mouth watered the moment she walked in. The people in the shop were nice and good folk. This diner, even though it wasn't anything like some of the rich restaurants Rey envied before and dreamed of eating at, was the most special place Rey had ever been to. It felt like a home she never had.
Rey ate the burger on her plate without breathing. She almost choked on one bite but, thought death would be worth it if it was by an amazingly juicy, tender, dripping with ketchup, food goodness.
"Slow down, kid."
Rey looked up at the older man and the man named Chewie. They weren't eating and didn't order any food. Rey wiped her face with the back of her sleeve. Chewie grabbed a napkin and handed it to her. She felt her cheeks redden for the second time that day.
"Thank you."
Chewie smiled at her in reply.
"Why can't you talk, Chewie?" Rey asked him.
The old man replied for the gigantic man, "He's a mute."
Rey must have looked confused because Chewie opened his mouth. It took Rey just two seconds before she realized he had no tongue. Rey dropped her burger and leaned closer.
"You have no tongue!" It was about the coolest thing Rey had ever seen.
Chewie closed his mouth and nabbed one of her fries. The older man laughed and said,
"Some man cut it out of his mouth on one of our many adventures." He slapped Chewie on the back and Chewie dropped the fry that he almost put in his huge mouth. It rolled on the floor and Chewie glared at him. The older man quickly snatched another of Rey's fries and handed it to the large man.
Rey took a sip of her drink with a loud slurping noise and imagined what the men did for a living. She imagined them sailing the sea as pirates or fighting bad guys or smuggling drugs or working in an office. Either way, they had to be some of the coolest men she had ever met - the coolest. So far, Rey could tell that they expected nothing in return for their kindness. Rey hardly ever met good people and she thinks that's why she can tell that they are.
"Han Solo!"
The older man turned his head and looked towards the counter. Rey followed him and looked towards the direction that the big voice came from. Rey was surprised to see that the voice came from a very tiny old lady. She had the biggest and thickest glasses Rey had ever seen - and she was still squinting as she looked towards the man she now knew as Han Solo. She was wearing the same outfit that every other waitress was wearing, but she had a tag that said: The Boss and with "The Boss" was the name Maz Kanata - Kanata was the same name as the diner and Rey knew that this tiny woman owned the place.
The tiny old woman, Maz, squeezed into the booth next to Rey.
"Hello, handsome." Rey thought she was talking about Han but then the old woman leaned over the table, practically standing on the booth seat - Chewie only had to lower his upper torso - and started to kiss the gigantic man. Like kiss. Rey felt a little bit nauseous watching them and she could tell Mr. Solo felt the same way. He looked green and stared at Rey. He rolled his eyes and Rey giggled a little.
Maz broke away from Chewie and there was a big sucking noise like a vacuum - Rey felt a little sicker as she saw spit fly - and looked at Rey. She leaned in real close.
"Who's the girl?"
Maz asked the two men while staring at Rey.
"We actually don't know her name." Han Solo looked pointedly at Rey. Rey felt her hands grow clammy, but she knew she could trust these people even though she didn't know them.
"Rey," she told them all and looked towards Han shyly. He smiled and said,
"Rey. That's a good name."
Rey spent hours in that diner with the men and Maz. Even though they all must have had things to do, they decided to spend time with Rey. They talked and Rey laughed. She didn't once say where she came from or what her home like was like - everyone already knew. Rey learned that Han and Chewie traveled the world and found items to sell. Rey also learned that Han had a wife named Leia and a son named Ben - he looked sad when he talked about Ben. Rey knew not to ask though kind of how Han knew not to ask Rey about her scars and bruises.
When it was time to go, Han pulled out a checkbook. Rey tried to look to see the price of the food, but he kept it hidden from her view.
"You know you don't have to pay, Han." Maz tutted at him.
Han ripped the check out of the book and handed it to Maz. Maz's eyes widened as she looked at it.
"Han," Maz sounded choked up and Rey thought she saw a tear roll down her cheek. She felt very confused.
Han looked uncomfortable and coughed slightly, "It's Leia's money anyway and she is into this shit."
He looked at Rey and said, "Make sure you come here everyday for breakfast, lunch, and dinner," he looked at the floor, "You won't starve on my watch, kid."
Rey felt very confused and she looked towards the check in Maz's hands.
"Wha - "
Han Solo and Chewie scooted out of their seats and started to walk towards the door.
"Just do what I say, kid." He was almost out of the door when he turned back and said, "See you later."
The next morning, Rey went back to the diner. Maz was there and had pancakes ready for her. Every day for years Rey went to the diner for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and there was food waiting for her - every time.
End Notes:
I watched this movie (it was nothing like this - it was the Dragon movie going around Tumblr) and my creative juices told me to write this. I love this story and I love Han Solo. Next chapter will be soon and there is a major character death - I'm sorry. Kylo Ren (the vigilante) will make an appearance. Next chapter I will have more world info too. Jakku is a apart of a major city (kinda of how LA and Gotham is). It's based on Gotham and of course Star Wars. Kylo Ren is like batman -he's rich- but a whole lot darker and twisted. I'm excited for you guys to meet him! Let me know what you think:)