Author's Note: Thank you enormously to Robinbird79 and sakurita-kiut for their reviews for Chapter 10! The email alerts made my day :-) Thanks also to those who have put an alert on my story, to those who have favourited it, and all those who have even made it this far to read this note!

I suppose I could have ended this whole thing with Chapter 10, with the testimony of a very silly supervisor and his belching friend, but... well, the end was always a little bit further along. You see, growing up with fairy tales, I always wondered what 'they lived happily ever after' actually consisted of. Isn't fanfiction the exploration of the 'ever after' bit?

At this point I do have a confession. There were some obvious cameos in Chapter 10, living characters that had actual names. The remainder, well, they hold something in common. Here are the notes I had for them.

- The Pilot died on Alderaan, after being dispatched to the planet to support Bail Organa's retinue.
- The Nurse was killed sometimes between the evacuation of Yavin IV and the establishment of Echo Base on Hoth, when the ship she was serving on was caught and destroyed by the Imperial Fleet.
- Big Sister died on Hoth when Echo Base was invaded by Darth Vader's forces. The Keeper was also killed whilst defending the base, one of the many in the trenches.
- The Major met her end on Sullust, not long after transferring Captain Andor to the Redemption. She would have met Lieutenant Bax May, and K-9RO, before being killed in action.
- The Sentry took part in the Battle of Endor, one of the unnamed members of the Rebel crew who took out the shield generator. He was shot and killed by Stormtroopers.
- The Bartender died of injuries sustained trying to break up a fight between New Republic supporters and splintering Imperialists. In the end, no one left his bar alive that night.
- And as for the Ground/Hangar Control Supervisor... dumb bastard would have lived until he was a daft old man, and then die of liver failure a week before Starkiller Base went into operation.

So, having killed quite a lot of people in my own head, here's what they died for...

MOTHER

"Come on, Jyn!"

I was trying… something was wrong… the medibot said there were complications… the pain… I couldn't hear through the pain…

Cassian… my... Cassian… he was holding my hand, my left hand so tight… Mama's kyber crystal kept catching the light round his neck…

I wasn't strong enough… it hurt too much… I was tired… so tired…

My baby… Force, help us…

My right hand was seized.

The pain vanished instantly. Cassian's voice called to me like an echo, like he was on the other side of a great canyon. I turned to my right…

Mama held my hand, her grip strong, strong. She looked so beautiful, like when I was a little girl. Her hair, her skin, her eyes shone, as did her smile.

Trust the Force.

At her side was Papa, smiling so wide it would almost split his handsome face.

I'm so proud of you, Stardust.

Behind him was Bohdi, nodding emphatically, his lip quivering, tears streaming down his joyous face. Chirrut stared right back at me, his white eyes all-seeing. Baze smiled serenely down at me.

Look… Bohdi started to say, croaking on his tears. Oh Bohdi… Look to the Force, and you will always find us.

At the foot of my bed, K-9RO was helping the medibot. His blue markings round his arm-sockets glowed yellow, and his expressionless head raised, looked right at me, nodded, and then returned to the task at hand of bringing my daughter safely into the world.

I squeezed my Mama's hands in mine. Thank you for being here, for watching over me. For watching over us. I love you all so much...

There was movement to my left - Cassian - and my parents both looked across at him, smiled all the more deeply… and were gone.

My husband tugged the crystal from his neck, pushed it into my fingers, and squeezed his hand round mine, the kyber strong and warm in my palm. "Jyn, come on, keep pushing, she's almost here -"

She… our daughter… our family…

I pushed. And pushed. And pushed. And cried when I heard her cries too. And then she was in my arms, in our arms. Our little creation of joy, with lots of her father's near-black hair, and my green eyes.

We had talked about what to call her. Lyra, after my mother, or Liana, after my former self. With a pang, I realised that my daughter didn't look like a Lyra or a Kestral or a Liana or a Tanith or a Nari. She didn't look like someone long gone.

I had fallen asleep, and woke to the breathtaking sight of my husband holding our daughter in his arms, singing quietly in Festian. He saw me wake, smiled that smile I love so much, kept on singing. When he ran out of lyrics I reached out, took one of her little hands with my little finger. "What were you singing?" I asked.

He chuckled. "Something I remember from when I was little. Feliz, I think it was called. 'Porque soy feliz - da palmas si te sientes como una habitacion sin tejado'."

She didn't look like a Feliz either. She looked like it needed to be shorter… Fel.

DAUGHTER

"I spy, with my little photoreceptors, something beginning with... oh!"

"Daddy, a ship!"

K-9, Anzen and I were bored. Mummy was working, and K-9 agreed that I had done enough studying today. He had been teaching me about all the planets in the Galaxy, and why Jakku was the most Force-forsaken planet of them all. Anzen, who was only a few months old, just cooed at the pictures, and giggled when we played I Spy: S for Sand, D for Destroyed Destroyer, L for Luggabeast... K-9 said he wasn't bored but I didn't believe him.

Daddy came out, smiled when he saw Anzen and I, then squinted up at the ship I was pointing at. It looked different to the ships we get on Jakku. It was smaller. The ships that came to Jakku were all big, because of the things they brought. Cargo ships, K-9 said they were, and they brought all sorts to Jakku. Medicine, tools, parts to make big machines that could do all sorts. Mummy took me with her to work a couple of times to show me, but there was a grumpy Crolute there, who wasn't very nice, and he made Mummy very angry. She called the grumpy Crolute some words that she didn't want Daddy to know she'd said in front of me, and said that it was best that I didn't see him again. The Crolute, obviously not Daddy.

"Cassian," K-9 said as Daddy knelt down to see where I was pointing. "That's Draven's ship."

"Who's Draven?" I asked. Daddy didn't say, but he didn't look very happy. Maybe Draven was like the grumpy Crolute. Daddy gave a big sigh, like he was tired, but it wasn't even lunch time yet. He then looked back at me, smiled and poked my cheeks so I would stop frowning - he looked worried, I always frown when Daddy's worried, and he always pokes my cheeks so we both stop worrying - and picked up Anzen, who gurgled happily.

"Come on, Fel, let's go inside, it's getting too hot out here."

I followed him into our home. We had moved here before Mummy and Daddy told me Anzen was coming. We live in one of the Star Destroyers, a really big ship that had crashed into the sand a few years ago. A lot of people lived in the ship too; there were no houses, and Mummy said it wasn't like Jedha, where we lived before. It was more difficult to build homes for people, she said. So we all lived in the ship, but Daddy said we probably wouldn't stay here, because people kept stealing bits of the ship.

I missed Jedha sometimes. It was colder there, but too cold. People were nicer there; everyone shared more, and smiled more. On Jakku everyone seems grumpy or sad. I'm glad I have Mummy and Daddy, and K-9 and Anzen. Anzen is always happy, except when he's hungry or needing changing or wants a cuddle. K-9 said he preferred Jedha too; here on Jakku the sand gets in his joints, and people try to steal him sometimes. Someone did try to steal him when I was there once; I got very angry and started screaming, and Daddy came and brought us both back home. I don't want K-9 to be stolen. I'd miss him; other than Anzen, he's my only friend, and Anzen can't even talk yet.

"Who's Draven?" I asked again, looking way up at K-9. K-9 thought for a moment, searching. I waited. Whenever K-9 didn't answer straight away it was always because the answer was really long and complicated, so he had to figure out how to explain it to me so I would understand. Sometimes I didn't understand anyway, but that was okay.

"General Draven is... someone Cassian used to work for," K-9 said.

"Like a boss?"

"Yes."

"Is he nice?"

K-9 was searching again. "He is... agreeable to some."

I frowned at him. I didn't understand that. K-9 raised his arms up and down. He can't move his shoulders, so he shrugs by just moving his arms. I do that sometimes too; it makes Mummy and Daddy laugh. "Does Daddy like him?"

K-9 looked at Daddy. Daddy was babbling back at Anzen. K-9 looked back at me and shook his head. "Not really, no."

"Oh. Does Mummy like him?"

Daddy laughed. I think he overheard. "Definitely not," K-9 said, much more sure this time.

"Does he like Mummy and Daddy?"

K-9 stood up a little straighter, his photoreceptors focusing and refocusing. He always did this when he realised he didn't know something at all. Then he looked down at me again. "The General has never intimated to me his regard for either your mother or father. Does it concern you whether he likes your parents?"

Oh. Yes... I thought so. If he was a clever man - and generals are meant to be clever, aren't they? - he would have liked my Mummy and Daddy. I like Mummy and Daddy, and I'm not just saying that because they are my parents. If I didn't like them, I'd say that instead. No, he should have liked Mummy and Daddy. Both Mummy and Daddy worked a lot with all the ships that came in, and the people who needed what came off the ships, but whenever they were with me they always looked after me. They'd play with me, read my holo-encyclopaedias with me, tickle me and hug me and kiss me. They were fun, and whenever they couldn't have fun with me they made sure that K-9 was there, and he would teach me anything about everything. K-9 was funny, even though he didn't mean to be. He told me when Anzen was born that he had calculated the percentage of attention that he should bestow on me and the baby to ensure that I or the baby did not feel neglected. I didn't quite understand what he meant, but Mummy forbade him from telling me what the percentage was, and he hung his head with disappointment at not being able to show off his work. I forgot that I tried guessing for a while, but he told me that there were lots of very long numbers involved, longer than the ones I was guessing. He was very pleased that I made sure that all of my numbers added up though.

"Yes," I told K-9 honestly.

Daddy frowned, came over and kissed my hair. "Why would you be worried about that, Fel?"

I shrugged. "I don't know, I guess..." I didn't know. Other than the grumpy Crolute, who I think didn't like anyone, no one didn't like me. Mummy and Daddy and K-9 liked me. I liked me. I didn't know what it was like to not be liked, but it is important, isn't it? When we lived on Jedha, people were nice, and I liked them, and I think they liked me and Mummy and Daddy and even K-9. I think on Jakku... liking people isn't something that they do here. That wasn't so fun... I don't know what I'm trying to say. Never mind.

"I used to work with General Draven, during the war," Daddy told me. I nodded. I knew that Mummy and Daddy used to fight the Empire - on Jedha if anyone mentioned the Empire or the Emperor they would spit, I think that meant they thought that both were really bad - but they said that they would tell me more about it when I was older. "He's... he's a good man, but he's not..." And Daddy poked my cheeks again. "He's not a lot of fun."

"Oh." That's a shame. Sometimes when new people come off the ships they are fun, and play before they go again. "Is it okay that he's coming?"

"Yeah, it's fine," Daddy said. Then he turned to K-9. "I wonder why he's coming here..."

K-9 didn't know, and shrugged. Daddy gave a quiet laugh when I copied K-9, and then kissed me again. "Go on, go and have a shower - yes, don't look at me like that, you've got sand in your hair again - and then come give Daddy a hand making lunch. K-9, go with her - you know what to do - and then please message Jyn, tell her about our unexpected guest."

I ran along to the bathroom. Mummy and Daddy always gets K-9 to help me wash my hair because they know it's funny. K-9's fingers are always too scratchy and cold to massage the shampoo in for me, so he demonstrates on his own head what I should do. He doesn't use the shampoo too, because it's bad for his hull, but he makes these circular motions with his hands, and it makes him look silly. The first time he ever did it Mummy laughed really hard, so hard she said her sides hurt. Daddy said, "K-2 would never have done that," and he laughed too.

They'd told me a bit about K-2SO. I never met K-2, but he used to work with Daddy, was a friend. He looked the same as K-9, although he had yellow bands round his arm-sockets instead of blue ones, and Mummy said he was ruder. I thought she meant that she didn't like him, but she said that she did, they just didn't get along at first. Daddy just shrugged at that. "Neither did I," he admitted, "K-2 just... kind of grew on me."

Daddy said once that he missed K-2SO sometimes, that having K-9 around was strange at first because they looked and sounded the same, but that K-2 would have been a terrible babysitter. "At least K-9 thinks about whatever comes into his circuits before saying them."

That's very true. K-9 is very careful about what he says. He always tries to make sure I understand him, and he works really hard to help Mummy and Daddy with their work and things at home. When Mummy and Daddy are both busy he takes me up to the hydroponics lab on the roof, where he grows some of the things we eat. It's nice, playing up there, pretending that Big Sister - my tauntaun toy that Mummy made for me - is on a jungle planet like Dagobar.

When I was done with the shower and K-9 was satisfied that I had washed all the sand away General Draven was sitting at the table with Daddy. He stood up when I came in, running to Daddy to tell him that K-9 had detangled my hair for me and it didn't hurt that much. Daddy smiled at me, but I think he actually wanted to frown at General Draven.

General Draven - he told me to call him Davits, but I didn't want to - was very tall, taller than Daddy but not as tall as K-9, though no one is taller than K-9 except a Wookie. He was older than Daddy too. He frowned a lot, and he tried to smile at me but it just looked a bit wrong, like he was out of practice. Daddy smiled properly at me and asked me to help K-9 make tea, so I did. But I listened too.

"I'm glad to see you put the droid to good use," General Draven said, although he didn't sound like he was glad of anything, and he sat down again. His chair creaked under him. It was the one that Mummy had asked Daddy to fix. I think Daddy must have offered the chair to him on purpose, none of the others creak. "Brushing hair and making tea."

I didn't like his tone, and I looked over my shoulder. I saw Daddy shrug, like he didn't care. "It was his choice to come, he didn't have to. I did tell K-9RO that any time he wants to leave he may."

"It's a droid, Andor," General Grumpy said, like Daddy was an idiot. I didn't like that either. Daddy's the smartest man I know.

Daddy didn't say anything for quite some time, making General Grumpy fidget in his seat, frowning as it creaked. I saw Daddy try not to smirk. I giggled.

I helped K-9 pour the tea for Daddy and General Grumpy. I should call him Davits I suppose; he'd brought cookies from Chandrila. They were tasty. I sat at the table with Daddy. K-9 looked like he wasn't sure what he should do with himself for a moment, and then he decided to sit down too, and also listened to their conversation. General Draven looked a bit confused when he did that, but he didn't say anything.

"What have you come here for, General?" Daddy asked. I looked at him. He was sitting very straight in his seat, with Anzen fast asleep on his lap, and though he had taken a cookie it sat on the edge of his mug of tea, and he didn't move at all.

"That's a good question."

Mummy! She grinned at me as she came in, putting down her bag by the door. She ignored General Draven for a moment so she could kiss the top of my head, kiss Daddy properly, and thanked K-9 as he offered her tea too. She then took a cookie, and ate it as she waited for General Draven to answer.

"Umm... I'm not sure if..." And he looked at me quickly.

"If you have come to talk about the past, then I don't think any of us would stay at the table," Mummy said sternly, the way she talked to the Crolute a lot.

"Otherwise I think it's up to us what we say in front of our children," Daddy continued.

General Grumpy stared at me, as though hoping I would leave anyway. I took another cookie. I think I saw Daddy try not to laugh. General Grumpy gave up, and took a pad out of his bag from the floor and passed it to Daddy. "I have a... proposition for you."

I looked at K-9. 'Proposition'? What did that mean? "I'll tell you later," he promised, knowing immediately that it was not a word in my vocabulary, as he likes to say. I nodded and looked back at Grumpy and Mummy and Daddy.

"Right..." Mummy said, like she didn't believe what she was hearing. "Okay... well, what is it?"

Grumpy glanced at me again, and then pointed to the pad on the table. "Please read that first. It'll be... easier to talk."

Mummy narrowed her eyes, but she nodded at Daddy, who carefully leant forward, trying not to disturb Anzen, and picked up the pad. I watched him read whatever was on it. He glanced at me too, a bit different from the way that Grumpy did, and then he passed the pad to Mummy. By the time she was done, they were both... no, I'm sure I was wrong. I thought that they had looked... well... scared.

"It never really ends, does it?" Mummy said quietly, and she put a hand on Daddy's shoulder, and he reached up to hold her fingers.

"Mummy?" I... they were scaring me. Why were they scared? What was scaring them? What had this horrible man shown them? "Daddy?"

They shared a look, nodded to each other. Then Daddy turned to me and smiled, but it wasn't a good smile. It was like Grumpy's smile, like he was trying and it was too difficult. "Fel, could you take Anzen with you, and help K-9 make lunch for all of us?" He then turned to K-9. "Is any of the eruca leaf ready?" K-9 calculated, and nodded. "Alright to take the kids up with you to the 'ponics lab? I think we'll need a few minutes."

"Of course," K-9 said, and stood to take Anzen from Daddy. Anzen woke briefly, pulling a face, but K-9 quickly rocked him back to sleep, ensuring the blankets were wrapped round him so he wasn't directly against the cool metal of K-9's torso. I didn't want to go, but I nodded and followed K-9. We went back up to the roof, where I helped K-9 pick the eruca leaves that were ready to eat, but we were both very quiet. Anzen made more noise than we did, playing with his planet mobile now that he was awake.

"K-9?"

"Yes, Fel?"

"What did Daddy mean when he said it was your choice to come?"

I didn't like how General Grumpy spoke about K-9. It was the way he said that K-9 was a droid. I didn't understand why he thought that meant something. We know that K-9 is a droid. I saw a few on Jedha, though not many on Jakku, and I know that droids can look very different to each other, just like people do. They all talk differently as well, and some are a lot smarter than others. Some are very basic, they don't even talk, they just do things. But K-9 wasn't like one of those. He was very, very clever, could do many, many things. He didn't just brush my hair and make tea. He taught Mummy and Daddy how to teach me to read, teaches me lots of things every day. He grows food in this hydroponics lab, and tried to teach me how he balances all the things needed to make things grow (there were too many numbers involved, I got confused trying to calculate them all together). He plays games with me, looks after me and Anzen when Mummy and Daddy aren't around. He... he was important.

"He was referring to an occasion shortly after the Battle of Endor," K-9 said carefully, after a moment to think. "When Cassian and Jyn decided that they would go to Jedha to help with the refugee camps, they asked me if I wanted to join them. I said that would be most agreeable."

"Do you ever want to leave?" I started to cry. I... "I don't want you to leave, you're family..."

K-9 is never very good when I cry. He never knows what to do. He didn't know what to do then either. At first he put his hand on the top of my head, then removed it. Then he bent down, and copied Daddy. He extended a finger, and gently poked my cheeks, the left and then the right. I stopped. He had never done that before.

"I know," he said. "That is why it has never been agreeable to leave."

I hugged him then. It is always odd, hugging K-9. He's too tall to reach, even if I was as tall as Daddy, and he's too wide to get my arms around. So I just leant against his bent legs, and wrapped my arms round his knee, resting my head on the top of it. He put his hand back on top of my head, and his fingers gently patted my hair, so close to my ear I could hear the whirr of the joints.

When we went back down, Mummy was unpacking her day bag, and she frowned when she saw me. K-9 had let me stand on his feet as he walked, and I was holding on to his leg carefully, something I hadn't done in some time because I was getting too big. As K-9 imitated the noises various shuttles and fighters make when they're flying, holding Anzen out so he could pretend he was a U-Wing, Mummy bent down and gave me a hug. "Hey, what's wrong, Stardust?" I shook my head, hugging her back, but I didn't say anything. I was hoping nothing was wrong. Daddy was still talking to General Grumpy, speaking quietly so I couldn't hear, talking about things on the pad.

Mummy helped me and K-9 with lunch - our own salad with fresh maguro that Grumpy had brought with him too. I handed K-9 the eruca leaves so he could wash them properly, whilst Mummy sliced the maguro into small chunks.

"Fel, do you... do you like it here?" Mummy asked me, seriously. "On Jakku, I mean."

I thought for a moment. Did I like it on Jakku? Well... no. It was very hot and very dry, whereas Jedha had been cold, but it was easier to warm up on Jedha than it was to cool down on Jakku. And people were nicer on Jedha. The people here on Jakku were... they didn't want to be nice. They had to be told to be nice. Things were more comfortable here on Jakku, I guess. Living in the star destroyer meant we didn't live in the tents, like in the camps on Jedha, or sometimes in caves when there were windstorms. Towards the end of our time on Jedha we moved to a house in the new Kyber City, in the crater of the old Jedha City. One day Mummy and Daddy were asked to go to Jakku to help build houses there too. But I don't think Mummy and Daddy were happy here. We were happier back on Jedha. But...

"I don't mind, Mummy," I said. "As long as I have you and Daddy and K-9 and Anzen, I like Jakku just fine."

Mummy smiled. "Fel... is that a 'no'?"

I blushed. Mummy always knew when I was trying not to say I didn't like something. She tossed the maguro on to the leaves K-9 had ready. "What about you, K-9? Do you like it here?"

"No," came the immediate answer. Both Mummy and I looked surprised. "The heat is playing havoc with my internal cooling systems, and two days ago a Teedo tried to detach and make off with my head. I shoved him down the garbage chute."

I giggled. Mummy pursed her lips. I think she was trying not to laugh. "I... see. Thank you for sharing that. Umm..." And she tried very hard to look serious. "There is a chance to move away from Jakku, to another planet. Has K-9 told you about a place called Takodana?"

Yes, he had. Though he neglected to describe to me exactly how beautiful the place that would become our home was.