Title: Tales From Jakku
Category: Movies ยป Star Wars
Author: Ziggurat Rolsovitch
Language: English
Rating: M
A/N: A series of AU oneshots.

Day 1

It was a clever way to get rid of him. He was sure of it. His uncle had sent him to this back water planet by the name of Jakku with the little girl to keep her from the hands a Sith.

He had hated it. Despised the duty his uncle had left him with almost as much as he hated and despised his parents for having sent him away. They never cared about him. His family never thought about anything other than their own goals and needs.

Watching his uncle's ship leave him here at Nimma Outpost's shipyard he slowly clenched his fist tighter and tighter around his lightsaber before he lost his temper and tossed it hard across the shipyard and it slammed into a random pile of junk. It startled the poor girl and for some reason it made him smile faintly. She was the reason he was here after all. It shouldn't matter if he scared her, but then... it did. It slowly began to bother him. He shouldn't even care about how the stupid kid felt.

He didn't have much more time to think about it before he realized that his outburst had drawn attention. He called his saber back to him and attached it back to his belt before he scowled and picked up their bag and slung it over his shoulder.

"Let's go, kid. I've got to find some place to stash you." He may never have wanted this assignment, but he had it and he was going to get the job done one way or another. He knew that staying near a shipyard was the worst thing he could do for them.

So he decided to head out into the desert. It was an unpleasant journey, but one that was necessary for survival. They passed huge ships. He knew his history well enough that he recalled the details of the battle. They passed The Ravager and Freedom's Dawn. Two of the largest ships out here, but he kept going. Two of the first places he'd look if he were a Sith.

Unfortunately Rey was too small to even keep up with him or keep going in the heat of this desert for that matter. Still she was a tough little thing. She had not complained even once about their situation. Stopping he let out a sigh and glanced back at her. It was going to be a stupid and risky move, but he knew that he had to carry her if they were going to find shelter before the night came. He turned back and swept her up into his arms.

"Hey! I'm a grown up! I can walk by myself thank you very much." She insisted and he might be able to take her seriously if she hadn't crossed her arms and pouted the way she had.

"You're six. I think you've got a few more years to go." Carrying this extra weight was an easy way to overheat, but he didn't want her to pass out either. He had to take the risk. The longer they stayed in the open the higher the risk level went.

The more time went by the darker it got and he was well aware that the desert got cold at night. Finally he came across the remains of a ship. An Imperial II-class Star Destroyer completely split in two. The front had slid some distance down the dunes, but the back end was completely level and sunken securely into the sand.

The ship was named The Punishment. A very fitting name.

Perhaps that was the reason that he chose this as their temporary home... or perhaps it was something more. Something that called to him. Whatever it was he decided that the bridge of the ship was the perfect place. It was high up enough that they would be able to see anyone coming and the windows were still intact. Much of it was well preserved. It was the ideal set up. Or at least the best one could get out here in the middle of nowhere.

"Alright, Rey... all we have to do is take the stairs up to the bridge and we can rest." He knew that she had to be exhausted even if she was too stubborn to admit to it.

He lifted his head and glanced up the stairs and let out a breath. This was going to take some time. He started up the steps and decided he was glad that Luke had made him work so hard because he physically would never have been able to make it this far without said training.

Upon reaching the top he set Rey and the bag of supplies down and doubled over to try to catch his breath. He was exhausted. The first thing that he did was find a place to sit down where he could lean his back against the wall. Now he took in the shape of the bridge. It was filled with sand... a little rusted, but other than that it was in good shape. He would find the cracks where the sand had found it's way in and seal them up. That wouldn't be too hard.

He reached for the supply bag and Rey noticed and shoved the bag closer with all her might so that he wouldn't have to get up and get it. He appreciated her efforts and the fact that it provided a little humor for him to watch her try so hard. At least at her age she liked helping out instead of complaining about it.

The first thing he dug out was the water. He needed a drink and once he had some he handed it over to Rey.

"Try not to spill." He dug through the bag again and pulled out the sleep sacks. They were going to have to make due with what they had here until he could get something better set up. He laid one out over the sand because it would be a lot softer than the cold, hard metal and the other would have to be a blanket.

Standing he made his way over to the viewport and placed a hand against the smooth surface as he looked outside. The sun was just over the horizon and it was about to get very cold. He had wanted to get things set up a bit more, but there was no time for that now.

He would have to start first thing in the morning.

"Come here. Lights out."

"But I don't wanna." Rey pouted, but suddenly his arm was around her and he was dragging her into the bed and tucking her in.

"Well it's getting dark and it's about to get really cold. So that's just too bad, kid." He crawled under the covers as well and turned the lights out.

He watched the ceiling and how the small red/purple beams of light were slowly fading away and the darkness was over taking the room. Rey was on her side kicking and tossing and turning. Angry at him no doubt.

Though while the room became nearly pitch black save for the tiny blue light on the datapad setting on top of their pack he started to feel an uncomfortable sinking feeling in his gut. He was exhausted and he had nothing to focus on now. Nothing to distract him from his thoughts.

After a moment or two he made a little sound and then he turned over towards Rey, tried to get a bit closer, draped an arm over her.

Rey on the other hand was having none of those and she growled like a tiny kitten and shoved his heavy arm off and turned away. He didn't move or do anything for a moment after that, but then he shifted closer and she turned around to shove tiny hands at his chest.

"Get off." She wasn't tired, but she was never going to fall asleep if he kept being a brat. And here this over grown baby told her to act her age. When he tried again she only grew even more irritated. "Get off, Ben!"

Letting out a frustrated groan he turned and finally faced away from her, but now Rey noted that she could sense something off about him... she tried to reach out to it like Luke taught her and that was when she realized it... he wasn't cold... Ben was scared. He had been dropped off and left on this planet with a child to take care of and it terrified him.

He had been seeking some sort of comfort. With that in mind Rey scooted up against his back. His only reaction was to scoff, but... Rey knew that deep down he was grateful for the little bit of comfort it brought him even if he was still scared.

But now Rey was afraid, because if a grown up like Ben was scared... what was she going to do and didn't that mean she had to be afraid too?

The future seemed very unclear.

End Day 1