It was supposed to be temporary. At least, that's what Luke kept telling himself as he piloted the cruiser ship to Jakku with Rey, his seven year old daughter, asleep in the co-pilot chair. She'd been so excited at the prospect of seeing a new planet, of seeing the stars, and practicing her piloting skills. Even though she wasn't a Skywalker by blood, she sure picked up the skills the family was known for easily enough. It even made some people doubt whether or not she was actually adopted or Luke's accidental offspring that he was too ashamed to own up to.

Looking over at his daughter, he felt a twinge of guilt flare up in his heart followed by a spike of fear that struck down his spine. He didn't want to do this. He didn't want to be separated from Rey, but it was for her own good, especially if what he'd been sensing in the Force was right. He'd sensed a disturbance lately, sensed that the Dark Side was growing stronger again and would strike soon. If Luke was being honest with himself, he worried that the Dark Side would once again rise up in the form of a Skywalker, and that it was his own nephew, Ben, that was in danger of turning from the Light. The thought terrified him. Hopefully he'd have time to properly assess the situation, and pull Ben back from the brink, once he returned to Lothal.

Luke feared what would happen if Ben turned to the Dark Side. Not only for his, Ben's, sake, but for Rey's as well. It was the reason behind this journey, after all. They had grown so attached to one another, so dependent. Too dependent, really. It'd been worrying Luke for some time now. They hated being apart from one another for more than a day. It was a wonder that he'd even been able to persuade Rey to come along on the trip. Then again, Ben had been gone from the Academy for almost a whole Lothalian day already—something about going on a meditative retreat—so maybe the situation wasn't as dire as Luke feared.

Better to be safe than sorry, though. If Ben was to fall to the Dark Side, Luke didn't want Rey falling along with him. She was too good, too pure, too Light. The fall would destroy her. So Luke took Rey off Lothal and flew off to one of the most overlooked and remote planets in the galaxy. He planned on leaving her there—hiding her there—for a few days—weeks, maybe—at most. Just until he got everything under control.

Soon their intended destination came into view and Luke reached over to wake his daughter. "Rey," he said softly and gently shook her shoulder, "Rey, dear, it's time to wake up."

Rey mumbled a bit before rubbing her eyes awake. After a few blinks, she noticed what was outside the ship and sprung to life. Readjusting so she was sitting on her knees, Rey began to bounce with undiluted excitement. "Is that it? Is that it?" She asked, rapidly turning her head between looking at the planet and her father.

Luke laughed, "Yes, Rey, that's it. That's Jakku." He flipped a few switches, turned a few knobs, and pressed a few buttons to engage the ship's autopilot. "Now come over here, dear," he patted to his lap, "I need to fix your hair."

Rey hopped off her own seat and jumped onto Luke's lap, situating herself so he'd have easy access to her hair. "Ben's gonna be so jealous!" She exclaimed, glancing at Jakku out of the corner of her eye. Luke merely hummed, and pulled out one of her buns and began to re-twist and tie it. "He's always talking about seeing other parts of the galaxy! He said grandfather saw a whole bunch a planets when he was a Jedi. That back then the Jedi used to be really, really spread out in the galaxy."

"That's true," Luke agreed, finishing with the second bun. Rey always wore three buns in her hair, ever since she came to live at the Jedi Academy three years ago. Leia was the one who gave the youngling her signature look. It was a simple style—for which Luke was forever thankful, considering how he was the one usually doing Rey's hair—that kept her hair out of her face when she trained with practice sabers and Luke suspected it was an homage to her, Leia's, hair style from way back when they first met on the Death Star.

"And Ben really, really wants to be like grandfather! He says he'll get strong, just like him, so that he can protect us. And that together, we'll be even more powerful!" Rey finished with a nod that almost undid all of Luke's efforts in tying the last bun.

"I'm sure Ben will be a very powerful Jedi, dear one, as will you," he squeezed her shoulders. "But what dangers does he need to protect you from?" He asked, curious.

"I don't know," Rey told him, her nose scrunching up in thought. "Bad guys, I guess," she decided with a shrug.

Shaking his head at her innocence, Luke picked her up and placed her back in the co-pilot seat, "Well I hope that works out for the two of you," he said off-handedly, "but in the meantime would you like to help me land this ship?"

Rey nodded vigorously and immediately set her attention to the task at hand. Luke guided her through the steps, telling her what to do and when to do it. Like most things, Rey picked it up like she'd been landing ships for centuries, and after a few minutes even began pre-empting Luke's instructions and completing them with no prompting at all. Landing just outside the Niima Outpost, Luke powered the ship down and asked, "Ready?"

"Yup!" Rey chirped and led their way out of the ship and down to the sand. "Whoa!" She exclaimed, bending over to pile some sand into her hands and watch as it seeped through the cracks. Laughing, she turned to her father and raised the still leaking sand up high for him to see. "Look, father! Isn't this amazing? I've never seen so much sand in my life!"

Smiling, Luke patted her on the head, "Yes, it has that in common with Tatooine. Now, hurry up, Rey, or we'll be late for our appointment."

Following immediately, Rey asked, "Do you miss it?"

"Miss what?"

"Tatooine? It's your home planet, right?"

"Sometimes," Luke said slowly. "I miss the people more, though," he told her sadly.

Feeling his melancholy through the Force, Rey pursued her lips and grabbed onto his hand, hoping that might cheer him up. Luke looked down at their hands and smiled, but to Rey he didn't seem any happier. If anything, he seemed even sadder. Assuming it was something adults claimed she'd 'understand later', Rey let the matter drop and focused instead on her legs which were walking awkwardly in the sand.

Luke squeezed his daughter's hand tightly as they approached the hut where Unkar Plutt doled out rations to the scavengers. The Blobfish gave them a suspicious stare, but with a nod of Luke's head, closed up shop and walked out to speak face to face. "What's the likes of you doing all the way out here, Jedi? Thought you were teaching some younglings," he gazed down at Rey and sneered. "What'd you bring one of them here for?"

"This is my daughter, Rey. Rey this ahh—man's name is Unkar Plutt. He'll be looking after you for a little while."

"What?" Rey asked, her brows furrowing with confusion. "Where are you going?"

Bending down so Luke was on eye level with her, he placed his hands on her shoulders, "I've got to take care of a few things, Rey, but I'll be back. I promise."

"No, No! Don't go!" She begged, panic shining bright behind her eyes.

"Rey," he tried again, "there's something important I've got to do, and I can't do it without knowing you're safe."

"What makes you think I'll take care of her?" Unkar spat out, rubbing one of his chins with a meaty hand.

Standing back up and ignoring Rey's small cries, Luke waved his hand in front of Unkar's face, "You will take care of Rey. You will make sure she survives." Luke pulled out a small bag from the folds of his cloak and placed it into Unkar's hand. "That will be enough to cover her expenses for a year, Unkar, and believe me, she will not be here that long."

Unkar repeated the instructions slowly. His eyes had glazed over and it took some time, and several blinks, before he seemed himself again. "Suit yourself, Jedi," he growled before waddling to the side. "Best get your goodbyes over and done with, then."

Luke pulled Rey to the side, bent down again and enveloped her in a hug, "Listen to me, Rey. I will return for you, I promise, but before then you have to be a good girl for me, okay? Be a good girl and wait for me. Be patient, and I promise I'll come back." Pulling back, Luke gave her a wobbly smile and wiped away some of her tears. He pressed his hand against the side of her cheek and felt his guilt rise up again with the knowledge of what he was about to do next.

"I'm sorry," he whispered before pushing into her mind and trapping away all her memories of the Jedi Academy, all memories of her training, all memories of the Force, everyone's names, even. Still, he couldn't take everything away from her, he just couldn't do it, so he left the stories. Stories that would be like a small seed of hope within her mind. He was crippling her, he knew, but he also knew how easy it would be for Ben to find her if her force signature was left unchecked. And what would be the point of taking Rey out here, of leaving her on this desolate planet all alone, if Ben could track her down as easily as he could find his own leg? It'd all be for naught, then.

Rey had screamed at first, drawing very little attention within the Jakku community, but had tapered off to whimpering after just a few seconds. "Shh, shh," Luke tried to comfort her by pulling her into another hug. "It'll all be okay. I promise."

Standing up again, Luke waved a hand before Unkar once more and said, "You will never speak to her about the Jedi."

"I will never speak to her about the Jedi," Unkar repeated slowly, then shook his head and placed a giant hand on Rey's small shoulder. "Well go on then," he jeered, "if you really are leaving her here, you'd better get to it."

Luke's breath caught in his chest, but he knew Unkar was right. He had to leave now or he never would. He'd undo all his planning and bring Rey home with him. Nodding once to steel himself, Luke turned and began to walk back to his ship.

"No!" He heard Rey scream behind him. His steps faltered. "No, don't leave!"

"Be quiet, girl," Unkar snapped.

"No! Come back!" She yelled again, but Luke had steeled his heart and continued on. His mouth was dry and grainy and his body felt sick, like some disease had invaded it, but he refused to stop moving. He made it all the way back to the cock pit of his ship, started it back up, and flew it into space before he realized he was crying, but by then it was too late to change his mind. What was done was done, and Luke could only hope that he was wrong about Ben and that the two of them would mend their broken bridge and return for Rey. Together.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed! Please review! I'm loving writing for this fandom rn so you can bet there will be more to come!