I always thought that house shopping was supposed to be easy. Yep. Not when you're a wanted criminal. I've checked every housing complex, but there are too many Imperial patrols, and I'm too well known. Fantastic. The moment I find a planet to hide on, I'm immediately discovered.

Well, if I'm gonna be treated like a criminal, may as well start thinking like one. Now that the normal living complexes are ruled out, the only thing left to do is use common sense. There are a lot of Loth-rats on this planet, and I'm not just talking about the animal. If all these street orphans can live out of homes and under the radar, why can't I?

I just need to think like a street rat. So, I begin looking in all the corners of Capital. The dark, abandoned, filthy, but undiscovered corners that will surely make a cozy home. But none suit my needs. Some are too easy to discover, some are too unprotected from weather, some are too small for even a slim teenager like me to live in, and some are just nasty. I'm not desperate enough to live in the polluted, gunky, toxic riverside next to the Sienar factory. Not yet, at least.

I finally come across one place that seems to fit my needs. It's out of the way, relatively clean, and has about enough room for me to live. It's a small little pocket through an old ventilation shaft in the wall of a rundown store, much like the one I'd been captured in not too long ago. The only way I found it is because the cover was hanging off by one screw. The vent, thankfully, is just wide enough to fit my slender frame through.

If you keep crawling through it for about a minute, you'll reach the end where lies a wide box-shaped room made of metal. On one end, there's another square hole for the air to travel through. This box was clearly used as a maintenance duct back when the building was operational. Now that the building's abandoned, there's no electricity, so no ventilation either. The idea of a full grown maintenance worker fitting through that shaft is crazy in my eyes.

But when I enter the room, it isn't empty like I expected. A lone little boy sits across the room with a piece of flatbread in his hands, carefully nibbling away at the edges as if savoring every bite. He's pale, and small, and looks quite fragile, with prominent ribs and thin, twig-like arms. He has a mop of raven black hair, a common hair color on Lothal, I've noticed, and the usual native golden-tanned skin tone. He is young, likely no more than thirteen.

The boy looks up at me, and I see his eyes go wide. They are a bright, alive color of turquoise. He recognizes me. I recognize him. The Loth-rat from the market.

He drops his flatbread in surprise and scrambles towards the second opening in the wall as I enter, but he turns back and hesitates. He looks at his flatbread, then at me, then at the bread again. I understand. He's starving, but he thinks I'll kill him.

I shake my head, suddenly feeling pity. I had threatened to kill him, because he stole my bag. But he's starving, and has no other way to get food. I'm not saying I regret my earlier actions, but I could have done things a little differently.

"Wait." I say in a quiet tone, reaching out a hesitant hand. "I'm not gonna hurt you."

He doesn't appear to believe me. I sigh, taking a step forward, he scrambles back. But I pick up the flatbread and hold it out to him. I can see the ravenous hunger in those turquoise eyes, and clearly, it triumphs over his better judgement. He takes the flatbread from my hands before returning to the second duct, curling up in the mouth of the shaft.

Just like a Loth-rat. I step a little further into the room, a thought coming to me. This kid's a street rat. Perhaps he can help me find a place to stay. If only I can get him to trust me...

"I'm..." I begin, trying to find the right words. "I'm sorry about the market, but... I don't have any money either." The boy doesn't respond. I step closer again. "I'm Sabine."

The boy peeks over his bread at me. He purses his lips, but says quietly. "I'm Raku..."

I smile, taking yet another step. "Good to know your name." Now I get right to the point. "I need your help. I need a place to live, so I can stay under the Imperial radar. Can you help me?"

He looks hesitant, but nods all the same. He glances over his shoulder. "Down there is another one of these rooms. You could live down there if you like."

I nod. "That's perfect."

He steps aside to let me through, but as I crawl into the opening, I pause. I look back to see he's nibbling on the bread again. I frown, sitting down on the ledge. "How long have you lived alone?"

He once more looks up at me, but looks down a moment later, his face contorts into a grimace. "Eight years."

An orphan since the age of five... I frown. "What happened to your parents?"

He scowls down at his bread. "The Empire."

I nod. "Same here."

And for the next little while, I do my best to form a connection to the little street rat. He eventually opens up when I begin to explain my story.

"The Academy?"

I nod. "Yep. Level five student."

He stares at me so intensely, I know he's listening to everything I say. "Why did you leave?"

I hesitate, looking down. Maybe I shouldn't be sharing my whole life story with a kid. But the memory is too painful not to say aloud. "The Empire took them away." I try to hide my emotions, but the sparkling wetness in my eyes gives me away. "Because of me."

The boy - Raku - purses his lips, approaching me carefully. "I'm... I'm sure they're fine." He says.

I nod, unconvincingly. "Yeah."

He looks to the little doorway. "Imperial patrols usually don't patrol down here. You should be safe."

I smile. "Thanks."

I turn, crawling along until I reach the next maintenance area the boy mentioned. It will make a cozy little home. Maybe a little too unventilated to paint with my usual tags, but it will make a safe, happy hideout until I can get back on my feet.

I sit down, resting my head against my bag as a pillow. I need sleep badly. But from down the hall, I hear a little voice call.

"Goodnight, Sabine."

I smile, letting my eyes close. And for the first time in a long time, I feel at home.