Chapter Three: Green Milk
Note: set after Chapter One
It wasn't a very long trip from Ach-to to the Resistance fleet but it was long enough for withdrawal symptoms to kick in. It wasn't pretty.
Luke cursed and flailed and lashed out with the Force so much he had to be sedated while R2-D2 kept watch over him. Rey wished she'd received enough Jedi training so that sedation wasn't necessary; who knew how the drugs were interacting with whatever he'd been hooked on.
To be honest, she wished she'd received any training at all. They hadn't even been there a day. If she'd had longer, maybe she could have convinced Master Skywalker to train her, even if he refused to leave the island.
If she had training she might even be able to use the Force to heal him. Rey had heard all the stories about the Jedi and as much as she wished a Jedi would come through and clear out the scum she lived amongst on Jakku, the ability to heal had a lot of value to a girl who had raised herself.
She could even use it to heal Finn out of his coma.
Rey wondered what Master Skywalker could have possibly been exposed to on that tiny island. Chewbacca's theory was that it was some sort of food or drink that the local's offered him. Why Luke hadn't done the usual tests one did to food when travelling, he couldn't say, but R2-D2 and the instruments on the Falcon hadn't detected anything in the atmosphere. Maybe the water he'd bathed in was contaminated?
Fortunately for all of them, Luke Skywalker was a Jedi Master and as soon as the withdrawal faded enough to cut back on his sedation he entered a Jedi healing trance, clearing the entire problem up in hours.
Rey sat beside R2-D2 and watched Luke enviously. How often could she have used that skill while growing up on Jakku? Medical aid and supplies were scarce and expensive when available. It was sheer luck she hadn't died, living on her own.
"Green milk," Luke suddenly declared, opening his eyes and making Rey jump from fright. A moment ago he'd looked like the dead and now he was ordering beverages?
"Master Skywalker!" Rey cried. R2-D2 added his own excited binary greeting, laced with several curses as was his wont. Rey often wondered if BB8 was going to pick up the older droid's bad habits and how Poe would react to that.
During her brief time with resistance, she'd finally met the resistance pilot Finn had told her about. What a pity it had been that Finn had not been able to introduce them.
Rey pushed back her melancholy thought and focused on Master Skywalker. What was he going on about?
"It was the green milk," Luke repeated, sitting up and pushing the blanket aside. R2-D2 rolled forward with a curious whistle and Luke rested his hand atop the droid affectionately. "I know R2, never drink with the locals unless you know what's in it. Han will never let me hear the end of it…"
Rey fidgeted as the Jedi trailed off sadly. Well this was awkward. Thankfully Chewbacca arrived from the cockpit before she could open her mouth and say something inappropriate. Living a life of solitude on Jakku hadn't made her the best in social situations. It surprised her how well she had done so far, out in the larger galaxy. Perhaps that childhood before Jakku was helping her, even if she couldn't consciously remember it.
Rey desperately wanted to find her family or at least find out what happened to them, why they'd left her behind. Did they love her? But it wasn't time for personal crusades. The Republic, the galaxy needed help. Even with Starkiller base destroyed the First Order must have a few ships left and the Republic had lost the entire Hosnian system, so their leadership was in disarray.
Surely the Resistance was fine, but Rey had a bad feeling and wanted to get back as quickly as possible.
Meanwhile, the more Chewbacca and R2-D2 explained what had happened during his absence, the more sombre Master Skywalker looked.
"I was on Ach-to for how long?"
R2-D2's precise answer had him lowering his face into his hands. He muttered some unkind things about green milk.
"I know," he said to Chewbacca's chiding growl, "I shouldn't have even tried it, even if the locals insisted it was part of the ritual to visit the ruins." Chewbacca nodded. "But why didn't Leia come looking for me when I went missing?"
R2-D2's shrill and somehow offended whistle explained that Leia had been unable to sense him; his force presence muted beyond the knowledge that he still lived.
"How did you find me?" he asked the Wookiee, glancing over at Rey. "Oh, I'm sorry, who are you again?"
"I'm Rey," she said, then scrambled to her feet and reached for her pack. "I – uh – saved the lightsaber," she offered it to him again.
Luke gently shifted her hold so that she wouldn't impale him on the blade if she accidentally switched it on, before accepting the weapon.
"I haven't seen this since…" he trailed off as he weighed the hilt in his hands. Unlike Rey he angled it away from everyone, so when he ignited it a moment later there were no injuries. Luke made a mental note that if she was suited for Jedi training (he could sense she was strong enough but especially after Ben, he knew it took more than strength in the force to make a Jedi) she was getting extra lightsaber safety lessons.
There was no room for practice swings with everyone huddled so close, so Luke simply gazed at the pale blue blade for a long moment before deactivating it.
"Where did you find it?" he asked, then quickly added, "No, tell me later, that's probably a long story and we-"
"Maz Kanata had it in her storeroom," Rey blurted.
Luke paused. "Not so long after all," he muttered. "You can tell me details later, but Chewie – how did you find me?"
Chewbacca explained about Lor San Tekka, the map and R2-D2 having the rest of it.
"I didn't leave a map," Luke frowned. That also wasn't how space navigation worked. "Why didn't you tell Leia earlier if you knew where I was, R2?"
The droid replied with an expletive laden explanation that while R2-D2 had known where Ach-to was (because he was Luke's droid and added the information to his databanks as soon as Luke told him) he hadn't known that was where Luke had gone until BB8 had told him Lor San Tekka believed that was where Luke was.
Luke sighed; of course. He didn't bother to chide R2-D2 on his language. He felt like swearing himself. "Leia's going to kill me."
Regardless, he closed his eyes and reached out to his twin sister through the Force. Her emotions were a mess. Grief from Ben's fall, Han's death, her son murdering his father, the destruction of the Hosnian system, the loss of lives from their attack on Starkiller base…
Her initial reaction to feeling his presence was relief. Anger came a moment later but she hadn't survived as a senator under the empire without learning to control her temper. Words weren't necessary with their Force bond and they quickly caught up. The minor details could wait.
"Leia's in trouble," Luke said as he opened his eyes. "The Resistance is in trouble. They're being chased by what's left of the First Order."
Chewbacca growled.
"They tried going to lightspeed but the First Order tracked them," Luke explained.
R2-D2 beeped.
Luke shrugged. "A traitor or a tracking device planted in the Resistance sounds more likely than tracking through hyperspace but what do I know, I was stuck on an island for half a decade."
"Why don't they lure the First Order into a trap?" Rey suggested, "jump to where the Republic fleet are waiting for them?" She'd heard how the Resistance was just a tiny fraction of the official Republic military because the politicians in power didn't believe the First Order was a threat and felt their forces were needed elsewhere.
That or they were First Order sympathisers.
Rey hoped that with Leia as the last leader standing, she would be able to whip the Republic back into shape and clean up what was left of the First Order.
"Excellent idea, Rey," Luke said. "We need to contact the fleet. I should still have some influence," he paused and looked down at himself. Still in his worn robes marked with the grime of Ach-to, hair wild and beard shaggy. "Right after I clean up."
He rooted through the makeshift sack Rey had packed his belongings into then headed off to do just that.
Chewbacca went back to the cockpit to start setting up the secure communications. R2-D2 turned his dome to face Rey and beeped reassuringly.
"So that's a Jedi," Rey nodded thoughtfully, buoyed by hope as she hadn't been in so long. It wasn't the powers, which she hadn't really seen him demonstrate; it was the attitude of kindness, perseverance and optimism. There had been too much cynicism in her life; Rey was ready to start believing in something better.
