1.
To live on Jakku meant to be lonely. Few of the inhabitants of the planet had real friends or lovers. There were no children, at least not in the Goazon Badlands. Most relationships were mutually beneficial in some form or another. Adept scavengers attracted the attention of those less skilled. They formed groups with life forms who had something to offer.
In the early days of her life, Rey had been someone the scavengers crowded around. She was a natural at finding working parts worth a decent amount of rations. At the time she had needed adults to survive, and they needed her to get more rations from Unkar Plutt. Kind words and easy smiles were sent her way. She'd thought they cared about her. For a brief period of time Rey thought perhaps she didn't need her family to return.
She'd grown up quickly. Rey saw through the scavengers' flattery and realized they were trying to keep her around. They were manipulating her to stay so they could continue to get the survival rations they needed. No one cared about Rey.
That startling realization had stung. Ten year old Rey had grabbed her few belongings and scrambled out of the wooden hut. She sprinted into the desert. It didn't matter that the heat of the sun burned her skin, or that her canteen was half empty. Rey had no one, and that hurt the most.
The sun was setting over the horizon when Rey stopped her speeder beside the leg of the AT-AT. Hopping off she landed with both feet in the sand. She grabbed her satchel of tools, quarterstaff, and packet of rations. Certain that nothing was left behind, the nineteen year old entered the fallen transport.
She shivered upon entering the metal shelter. As always, Rey stopped at the makeshift table where her spinebarrel flower waited for her. Unhooking the canteen from her belt, Rey poured a few drops onto the dirt and watched as the plant absorbed the moisture. A rare smile graced her lips. She held a red leaf between her thumb and forefinger. It was beautiful.
Rey peeled open the food rations packet and grimaced. She thought about real food as she poured the powder into the tiny metal tin and mixed in water from her canteen. Fruit... vegetables... bread... meat. Ages had passed since she'd last savored a fresh slice of hot bread. The last time had been when she lived with her family. Before they had abandoned her.
"No," the words came out harsh and loud, breaking the silence. She squeezed her eyes shut and breathed, trying to steady herself. She was not abandoned. They were going to come back for her. She knew it.
Her heart ached.
She paid no attention to the pale green pseudo-cake ready in the tin. Instead she grabbed her driver and walked with purpose to the Wall. Kneeling down, she scratched roughly at the panel of metal. The screeching sound forced a shiver down her spine. Her skin erupted in goose-pimples.
"They'll be back." The whisper lingered.
Frigid air assaulted her body when she stepped outside, but Rey didn't mind. It was nice to have a break from the heat. That, and she preferred to eat out in the open. The AT-AT wasn't her home, and she didn't like staying inside it any longer than she had to.
Rey stared up at the sky as she chewed her tasteless food. Stars dull and bright dotted the inky black expanse of the heavens. She wondered what her family was doing right now. Were they stuck on some outer rim planet with no way to get back to her? Were they just as distraught about the separation as Rey was?
Were they still alive?
Did they give up on her?
Bright red light flashed. Rey gasped and covered her eyes with a hand. It came from a few feet ahead of her. Even with her hand shielding her eyes she could see the blood red light. It irritated her eyes and made them water.
Then it stopped.
There was a blood curdling scream. Rey's heart leapt in her chest. She scrambled up on her feet. Several feet away was a human writhing in the sand, screaming in pain. She felt a wave of nausea. There was blood staining the sand around them.
"HEY!" She sprinted to the human - it was a man! - and knelt by his side. There was a hole in his abdomen and blood stained his white clothes. He was squeezing his eyes shut and his nostrils flared. "What happened?!"
At the sound of her voice, the man's eyelids opened. Bright blue eyes darted around wildly before settling on Rey.
"I-I don't... B-ben, he - he." His eyes squeezed shut again. Rey's hands shook.
"Shush," she placed a trembling hand on his shoulder. Looking at the wound Rey realized that this boy - he was much too young to be older than seventeen! - needed immediate medical attention. Her heart pounded at a rapid pace. Where was she going to find a medical droid or healer around these parts? They only had Niima Outpost nearby. And now that she realized how bad his injury was she couldn't leave him - he could bleed out.
Her mind went blank. The severity of the situation made it hard for Rey to breathe. She'd never had to deal with anything like this her whole life. Sure, she'd fought Plutt's thugs and defended herself against aggressive rival scavengers. But this was someone else's life on the line. A young boy's life. He could die.
Pressure. She had to put pressure on the wound. The thought struck her like a bolt of lightning. Hands shaking like a leaf, she ripped off a piece of the boy's tunic. It was no easy task, but the adrenaline pumping through her body did wonders to quicken the job. She folded it and pressed it hard against his side.
"AGHHH," his body jolted in shock. Then he let out a long groan.
"I'm sorry," Rey looked at the boy. The tendons in his neck were visible and his jaw clenched tight. He appeared to be restraining himself. "But if I don't do this you'll bleed out." Her voice quavered at the end.
Now what? She glanced at the boy. His skin was glistening with sweat and his eyes were dull. Rey needed to get him to a medic right away. Not releasing any pressure from his side, she raised her head and looked around.
There was no one in sight. Not a single life form among the sand dunes. She was this boy's only hope. Gathering herself, Rey looked back at the stranger.
"I need to get you on my speeder." She forced her voice to stay calm. His head lolled to the side. "There's no one here who can help you. I need to drive you to Niima Outpost. You can get help there. Do you understand?"
"Yes." His voice was rough. He swallowed thickly. "I do."
"Good." Rey glanced at the cloth she held and winced.
Underneath her hands the make-shift bandage was soaked with warm, bright red blood. She cursed.
"Put your hand here." When the boy didn't move, Rey took his hand and placed it on the bandage. "Please. You have to put pressure on it. I know it'll hurt, but I need to make more bandages."
"O-okay." Once Rey felt satisfied that he was following her directions, she went to work. The sound of cloth tearing filled the air. Every now and again Rey scanned the area. The foul scent of fresh blood permeated the air and the last thing they needed was for a predator to strike.
It took a few minutes but she managed to make three more bandages from his tunic.
No time to waste, Rey folded two of the clothes into squares and placed one of them on top of the soaked bandage. The other she stored in her pocket in case she needed it. Then came the last strip of cloth.
"I need to tie this around you. But to do that you'll need to sit up. Can you do that?" She tried her best to sound soothing, but it wasn't a tone she had experience with. Not once did Rey need to soothe any of the scavengers or inhabitants of Niima Outpost.
Instead of speaking, the golden haired boy nodded. His hand pressed tightly against the bandages on his abdomen. With Rey's help, he managed to sit upright. For a second he started falling forward but Rey caught him by the shoulders. Once she was sure he wouldn't fall over again, she tied the strip of cloth around his midsection and made a tight knot.
"Alright," Rey made sure none of the bandages would fall off. "Now-" He mumbled something that made her pause.
Rey looked at the boy. "What was that?"
He lifted his head up. His face was pallid and sweat beaded on his forehead. Blue eyes were clouded as they stared at her. "I said," he rasped. "What's your name?"
"I'm Rey." She paused. "And you?"
"'m Luke."
"Okay Luke. We need to get you on the speeder. On the count of three you're going to try and stand and I'm going to lift you. Okay?"
Luke nodded. "'Kay."
"Alright." Rey got off her knees and onto her feet. She squatted down in front of him and wrapped her arms around his back. "One... two... THREE."
With a grunt Rey pushed herself up and used all her strength to lift Luke up. It was working until he shouted out in pain. His cry startled her and the teen fell back on his backside.
"'m sorry, so sorry. Can't. I can't." Luke moaned, his face even whiter than earlier.
Rey huffed in frustration, fists clenched at her sides. "Sorry's not going to get you to Niima Outpost." Seeing Luke's head hanging down she swore at herself. "I'm sorry, Luke. I'm just worried is all."
"'s okay." The reply was almost silent.
It took two more tries until Rey was able to lift Luke into a standing position. Relief washed over her at that moment. Perhaps she could actually save this boy. They only needed to walk four steps to get to the speeder. Luke leaned heavily against the vehicle one they stopped, one arm gripping the cool metal with a white knuckled grasp. The other hand was pressing hard against his wound.
After a minute of thinking, and another minute of positioning Luke in the right stance, Rey managed to get the teenager onto her speeder. They took a moment to breath. Luke didn't seem to be getting worse - his color hadn't changed and his breathing was steady.
Anxious to get going, Rey reached her arms around Luke and put her hands on the steering wheel. She turned the key in the ignition and the engine rumbled to life. Putting her hands on the controls, she whispered, "Hold on, Luke," and took off.
It was perhaps the most stressful ride that Rey ever had. If there were speed limits imposed on them, then she would've broken the law ten times over. Thankfully she lived in a semi-lawless desert.
Luke leaned heavily against Rey's chest and moaned in pain. Ever now and again he slipped to the side and Rey had to nudge him back in place with her shoulders. One time he nearly fell off the speeder. Never had her stomach performed such an impressive somersault then at that moment.
It seemed like light years before the two made it to Niima Outpost. As Rey drove straight to the medical droid's station she felt a wave of calm. They made it. The droid would take care of Luke. He would be fine.
The speeder stopped flush against the wall. Rey's head was right beside the window. She glanced inside the hut and squinted when a bright white light flashed at her from within.
"WE NEED HELP OUT HERE," Rey bellowed. From inside the hut she caught a glimpse of the droid. "PLEASE. HELP."
In a flash the front door swung open and the rusted medical droid made it's way to them. Its lights flickered up at her.
"What is the emergency?" A soothing mechanical voice said over the sound of the rumbling engine.
"He's got a wound on his abdomen. I'm not sure what caused it. When I found him he was losing a lot of blood."
Rey tried to lift Luke again but found her strength was gone. It seemed that the adrenaline finally wore off. She motioned toward the droid. "Can I get some assistance PLEASE?"
"Certainly, miss." Rey scowled at the droid's cool and collected tone.
With the medical droid's help Rey managed to help Luke into a standing position and get him walking into the GH-7's hut.
Rey had only been inside once, all those years ago when she was first dropped off on Jakku. Chills went up her spine at the thought. She shoved the memory out of her mind and focused on Luke. He was struggling to stay upright. With the droid on one side and Rey on the other they managed to set Luke down on the medical bed.
"He appears to be stable." The droid turned his head to acknowledge her. "You needn't stay any longer." It scuttled about the hut, grabbing gauze and picking up bottles of medication. "You ought to get some rest, miss."
Rey nodded and yawned. She couldn't help it. As much as she wanted to stay, she was exhausted. If she wanted to eat tomorrow she'd need her rest. The last thing she wanted was to go without food for a fourth day this month.
"Rey.." the brunette looked up sharply at the sound of her name. Luke's head was turned toward her and his eyes half-closed. "... Thank... you..." a small smile graced his face and he closed his eyes. For reasons unknown to her the sight tugged at her heartstrings.
"Get better soon, Luke." Rey whispered. Giving the teen one last look, she turned and walked out of the medical droid's hut.
Her brain appeared to be shutting down, for the moment she parked her speeder outside the AT-AT she realized she couldn't recall leaving Niima Outpost. Another yawn threatened to escape her. Bringing her hand up to her mouth to cover it, her eyes widened. Dried blood caked her palms and fingernails.
Her heart ached, but for the first time it was not at the thought of her family. Instead the thought of Luke, bleeding and in pain, made her chest hurt. No one on Jakku ever wormed their way into her heart the way the blond managed to.
Feeling tired, both physically and emotionally, Rey cleaned off her hands with a splash of water and the cloth she saved. After finishing the water in her canteen Rey collapsed into her hammock and fell fast asleep.
She woke with her chest heaving and drenched in sweat. Fear clutched at her heart, but she didn't know why. Rey took steadying breaths. It must have been a nightmare. Feeling wide awake, she maneuvered out of the hammock and stood.
Luke! She remembered with a start. The memories of the night before flooded to the forefront of her mind. A strong urge to travel to Niima Outpost right away and visit him overwhelmed her. It was disconcerting. She'd never felt such a feeling before.
As much as she wanted to go, she didn't have the luxury to visit him. Unkar Plutt didn't hand out rations for nothing. Rey had to go scavenging.
When was the last time she worried about something other than survival, or her family?
Yet, it seemed that the universe wanted Rey to be near Luke. After only an hour of exploring a fallen starship she came upon something unexpected. A maintenance droid. She couldn't remember the last time she'd found part of a droid, let alone an intact one. It didn't work, of course - it had to be decades old. But its parts could be salvaged and used.
A few hours later found Rey at the Concession Stand at Niima Outpost. She was anxious as she waited in line. A feeling of dread was welling up inside her, and made her uneasy. It didn't make sense. She had no reason to feel this way.
"Next!"
Rey stepped forward and dropped the small maintenance droid onto the counter. Unkar Plutt stared at it and his eyes narrowed. "Salvaged this, did you?" He met her eyes.
"I did," Rey tilted her chin up, a look of defiance on her face.
He grumbled something and slapped packets of rations onto the counter. Rey counted them. Three portions. She slid them off the counter and into her bag before Plutt could change his mind. He had a bad habit of doing so.
Unkar Plutt dismissed her and bellowed, "Next!"
With her rations safe on her person, Rey walked away from the Concession Stand, her quarterstaff firmly in hand. The last thing she needed was Plutt's goons catching her unaware. It hadn't happened to her in ages, but that didn't mean she could let her guard down.
Rey found herself with some time now that business was taken care of. That didn't happen often. She usually spent most of the day scavenging and exploring the starships in hopes of getting enough scrap for a quarter portion of rations. She found her mind inexplicably going back to Luke. Rey could still picture the boy twisting and turning in the desert, his blood staining the sand. Seeing it that morning had startled her.
Her concern for him wasn't logical and confused her. Why did she care what happened to the boy? So what if he passed from his injuries? Life on Jakku was rough. It's inhabitants died all the time. It wasn't news and it wasn't tragic - it was reality. Rey faced danger and the possibility of death every day.
Yet the thought of Luke dying made her chest hurt. She couldn't help but feel that if something happened to him... bad things would happen. It was nonsensical.
She stopped in her tracks. Other life forms grumbled at her sudden stop as they walked around her. A few bumped into her. One even bared its teeth and hissed.
That urge to visit Luke returned even stronger than before. This time, Rey gave into it.
Wrote this 4/2016 and forgot about it.