chapter one
"This is not how I thought this day was gonna go."


Jakku is a world that destroys the weak.


Rey was having a bad day.

Granted, most days were bad in the dunes. She didn't know a time she hadn't lived on Jakku - maybe she'd never lived anywhere else at all - and every rotation of the desert planet shaded between 'didn't go to bed hungry' and 'might not live 'til morning'. The best day of her life so far (at least, that she could remember) had been when she found a working neutron pulse filament tucked inside the cockpit of a rusted-out X-Wing; she'd eaten herself sick on extra portions and even traded for upgraded speeder parts.

(The worst day had been when her family disappeared. Most of it was only flashes, now; she couldn't remember why they left her, or even picture their faces, but that was okay. They had a good reason. They would explain it all when they returned.)

But on the whole, any day that ended with a meal was all right.

Today hadn't.

Which was not at all Rey's fault. Rey was very, very meticulous about how she managed her time; up before sunrise, into the Graveyard of Giants by mid-morning, loaded up by mid-afternoon, bartering in Niima by early evening. Home and eating by sunset.

(Repeat. Forever.)

Except today had not gone according to plan. A funny feeling on the back of her neck had told Rey to haul her scrap out of the Ravager a few minutes early, which was why she caught him: a Teedo, elbow-deep in her speeder's turbojet. A few well-placed whacks to the thief's skull drove him off before anything was stolen, but the resonance flux chamber had been destabilized by his meddling. Two precious hours spent on repair.

Which meant that by the time Rey finally made it to the outpost, Unkar Plutt had closed up for the night. No trade. No portions.

No supper.

So Rey was hungry, tired, sore, and in a bad mood as she etched her daily mark into the AT-AT's side. "Stupid Teedos," she grumbled. "Stupid Unkar." She glared at the wall of scratches - years of them. Years of her life, alone and starving. "Stupid family."

No.

She couldn't say things like that.

Not even on days like today.

"I'm sorry," Rey said quickly, horror at her own treasonous thoughts burning along with her empty stomach. She pressed her palm against the wall. Then her forehead. "I didn't mean it."

They'll make it up to me when they get back.

"I'm sorry," she repeated. Maybe they could hear her, wherever they were. You never knew. "I'm right here. I'm here. I promise."

Her family would come for her. Her parents. Maybe even a sibling - she could be someone's sister. Someone's niece. Someone's granddaughter. Someone who missed her as much as she missed them, someone who was even now - right now! - searching for a way to return to Jakku and find their lost girl.

They'd be surprised to find her all grown up. They'd be so proud of how she'd taken care of herself. They'd be so relieved that she'd stayed right where they left her.

All she had to do was wait.

Rey knew all about waiting.

It's because I'm hungry. I wouldn't think such awful things if I'd eaten. Skipping a meal always made her cranky. Unfortunately, she didn't have any spare portions right now; she tried to set aside a little whenever she could, but Rey hadn't had a big score for awhile. Everything was day-to-day.

(Life was day-to-day.)

Well. Night time or not, Rey needed dinner. She had plenty of scrap; enough to get her some calories and stop her from being infected by ridiculous, poisonous doubt.

She slid out of the AT-AT into the rapidly-cooling night air. The Outpost would be closed down, but every now and then she could catch Unkar at the right moment. A little cajoling, a little reminding of their history… maybe he'd soften up and do an after-hours trade. And if being nice didn't work, Rey could always bang her staff against his door until he finally got sick of the racket. Unkar liked his sleep.

It'll be fine, she told herself as she started up her speeder and pointed the nose towards Niima. I just need something to eat. Then I'll come right back.

It would be fine.


"Quiet, girl," he says to her the first day. She is four and can't stop crying. "You sleep over there, in the corner. Those little hands are good for polishing parts. In the morning you have work to do."

"Quiet, girl," he says to her the two thousandth day. She is nine and shaking like a leaf. "That's the last time I'm saving you from some drunk off-worlder. And if you break your fingers fighting again I won't have them fixed. Then you'll be of no use to me or anyone else."

"Quiet, girl," he says to her the three thousandth day. She is twelve and scowling mutinously. "You think you're so smart? Get out and try making it on your own. Bring me scrap or you don't eat. You're too expensive to keep now anyway."

"Quiet, girl," he says to her on the five thousandth day. She is seventeen and knows he's cheating her. "You want real money, you'll go off-world and find me some ships. I gave you those simulators. I know you can fly. But if you're too good to steal, keep taking half-portions."

After that, she is quiet.


The Spilling Stars of the Western Reaches were smeared across the sky by the time Rey pulled in at the Outpost. The off-worlders always complained about how dark Jakku was, but residents could see as well by night as by day. Not everyone needed a bunch of fancy lights to make their way around.

The lack of guiding bulbs, though, did make landing ships after sundown risky. Even locals rarely tried that.

Which is why Rey was surprised to see a Hawk Series freighter parked right next to the main trading tent. Right next to it. A stiff breeze would have put the loading ramp on top of Unkar Plutt's sleeping quarters.

That didn't bode well for Unkar being in a trading sort of mood.

Still. She'd come all this way.

Leaving her scrap behind - risky, but something told her this wasn't the time to pull around a net full of clanking metal - Rey slunk along the edges of the freighter, keeping to the darker shadows and holding her staff at the ready. I am quiet, she told herself. I am silent and invisible. No one can see me. Childish, maybe, but she'd been doing that for years - imagining herself a stealthy hunter, or a mythical sand wraith - and it always helped keep her cool and concentrated.

Plus, a little superstition seemed to work. She never got caught.

"Look, I sell a lot of ships." Unkar had never been a quiet person - especially not when stressed. Rey could hear him before she'd even gotten close. "You can't expect me to remember all of them."

"It was a YT freighter."

"Like I said - I sell a lot of ships. D'you have any idea how many YTs there are out there?"

"Yes. I do."

I am quiet. I am silent and invisible. No one can see me. Rey's good luck held as she crept out from under the Hawk's ramp. Eight feet away, and no one had noticed her.

Which was good, because walking into a standoff where one person is pointing a blaster at another person's head was rarely a good thing.

Hell.

Unkar stood in the doorway of his quarters, his usual blubbery self. She didn't recognize the man holding the blaster. Definitely an off-worlder; she'd remember someone that tall. And no one around here was stupid enough to wear such dark clothing.

The man in black sighed dramatically. "I've had a long several days," he said. "I'm tired and I missed dinner. So if you don't tell me what I want to know, I'm going to shoot you on principle." Rey saw him thumb the blaster's setting from 'stun' to 'kill'. "The Millennium Falcon. Where. Is. It."

"I told you! I don't remember!"

Rey couldn't remember a time she hadn't despised Unkar Plutt. He'd worked her like a slave. He'd cheated her, used her, belittled her. She owed him nothing. Absolutely nothing.

But that didn't mean she wanted him dead.

I am quiet. I am silent and invisible. No one can see me.

It almost didn't work. The man in black paused, tilted his head to the side - like he'd heard something from far away - and then Rey found herself face to face with dark eyes, dark hair, and a very confused scowl. "What the hell-"

-he swung the blaster to point at her-

-and Rey cracked him across the head with her staff.

And as the man in black dropped, Unkar Plutt, the creature that had more or less raised her, the creature whose life she had just saved, slammed his door shut.

That figured.

Rey was still hungry, tired, sore, and in a bad mood. And now she had an unconscious two-hundred-and-fifty pound lump of murderous dark hair and muscle at her feet. In short, it remained a bad day.

Wait.

Frowning, Rey toed the body in the sand. "What was that," she said, "about the Millennium Falcon?"


Light-years away - though not as many light-years as some would prefer - a stormtrooper delivered a message to his superior. "Captain-" he saluted smartly "-the information has been confirmed. He is heading for the planet Jakku. He may have already arrived."

Finally. "Set the course," said Phasma. "Ready the troops. And alert General Hux."

"Yes, Captain."


Light-years away - though not as many light-years as some would prefer - a pilot delivered a message to his superior. "General-" he saluted, though perhaps less smartly than his counterpart "-looks like our source was correct. He's on his way to Jakku. Might even be there now. Permission to retrieve his ungrateful ass?"

Finally. "Thank you, Poe. Permission granted." Leia Organa smiled. "Please, bring my son home."