Title: Tales From Jakku
Category: Movies ยป Star Wars
Author: Ziggurat Rolsovitch
Language: English
Rating: M


Day 5,001

Things had changed between the two of them drastically. She noticed the difference almost immediately. It wasn't a bad change, but she was still getting used to the fact that sleeping in the same bed together and physical intimacy were the normal thing now. Not the cold nights on alone in her own bed. She like that she could just turn over and curl into him when she got too cold. He tended to run hot like her own personal heater.

And Ben himself had changed. He didn't seem as angry or as tense as he had been before all of this. Loving someone. Having someone to love him back... she wondered if that was what he had really needed most of all. She only wished she'd had the courage to say something sooner, but Luke was right. Good things came out of bad sometimes. Without that bad situation this never would have happened. They'd have both become Jedi. No chance of a relationship. No attachments.

He woke early that morning as usual, but she had been awake early as well thinking. With a little sigh and a shuffle of blankets he turned towards her to drape an arm over her. She knew he was awake, but sometimes he liked to pretend he was asleep and just drape himself over her like a big, friendly lothcat.

"Ben?"

"Mmm?"

"I'm glad we ended up stranded here together." She told him and then heard him snort as if it was the most ridiculous thing he'd ever heard.

"Why?"

"If we'd become Jedi... you and I... this never would have been possible."

"I-..." He went silent then as he thought about it because it was true. "So am I."

He buried his face further into her neck and sighed. There was a time that he desperately wanted to be a Jedi, but he knew Luke saw darkness in him and the only thing his family could ever see when they looked at him was Vader. So he had been sent away here where he couldn't harm anyone.

"Are you going to stay for breakfast?"

"No... I have to head out early to trade in some things for a few parts to keep everything up and running around here."

"Can I come along."

"Not this time. I need you here to watch over things. I don't want us to get raided again." He knew that she could handle fighting off raiders. She was one of the best fighters that he'd ever seen. She had a certain natural ability and he trusted her to be able to take care of things while he was gone.

With a low groan he forced himself up and out of bed. He felt her arms around his waist as he sat up and her kisses against his shoulder and smiled slightly. If she was trying to get him to stay she was doing a good job, but no. He absolutely had to go.

"If you come back quick... I'll give you a really long shoulder massage."

"Oh... please do..." That had him getting up and getting dressed, because he very much wanted to hurry back for that.

While he was goal oriented and she couldn't stop him from leaving she knew that she could at least get him to return home soon and nothing could do that like working the sore muscles of his back. It made him feel better and she was able to admire. A win for them both in her opinion.

She watched him walk out the door and then sighed. She was going to have to keep herself entertained while he was gone. She'd never much liked being left alone, but he was right of course. Someone had to stay behind and make sure nobody stole from them again, because they really couldn't afford another incident.

For the time being she read a few books that had been downloaded onto the datapad. Old books that Ben liked to read. Long, fancy classics with big words. Poetry. She read an entire book and then checked the time.

But Ben still wasn't back. That was odd. She was sure that he would have rushed back as quickly as he could to make sure she kept her promise, but he wasn't. Sighing she opened up another book and read a chapter or two.

And still he wasn't back.

Now Rey was becoming worried. It was starting to get dark. Ben would never stay out long enough to get caught at night in the desert. He knew the dangers and so did she. She sighed and stood up to make her way over to the windows. She didn't see him on his way back. He wasn't on the horizon at all.

She waited for half an hour long and when he still did not arrive she made up her mind to go look for him. Forget guarding their supplies. They replaced them once and they could do it again. His life was more important.

Grabbing her gear Rey rushed out the door and uncovered the speeder she'd built, climbed up onto it and prayed the engine was going to start. It was luck that it sputtered, but then rumbled to life and she was suddenly flying across the sand in a hurry to check along the path that lead to the outpost.

Her biggest fear was that if she didn't hurry while she had some light that she wouldn't be able to find him in the darkness.

As she continued along the path she didn't see him on his way back still. There was nothing out here. Absolutely nothing and then suddenly there was something off to the side of the path against the wreckage of someone's old X-34 landspeeder.

Bodies she realized. There had been a fight that'd ended in bloodshed. It had her slamming the brakes on her speeder and then leaping off to check over them.

They were Dead-enders Rey realized. She wasn't sure what they were doing here, because they tended to stay in the canyons of Carbon Ridge. She turned over several of the bodies and found that fortunately none of them were Ben. She made her way around the side of the broken down speeder only to have her worst fear confirmed.

He was there. Leaned with his back up against the side of the busted down landspeeder. His hand was off to the side completely limp and she feared the worst. She very slowly approached him and noted he was breathing. Thankfully.

"Ben?" At her words he slowly lifted his head and his face was nothing but a picture of misery and pain. Her gaze lowered from his face down to where the most blood was and she kneeled in front of him to pull back the clothing from it. The cloth peeled back and he made a pained sound. The moment she saw the wound she had to suppress the horrified sound she wanted to make for his sake.

They'd tried to eviscerate him. If they had gone just a bit deeper she was sure that they would have and he would surely have been dead by the time she found him. He must have been in the heat for so long... burning up... losing blood with no water.

She reached around for the canteen and pulled it up to place against his mouth so that he could drink and it took a moment for him to register that she was holding up the water for him, but he started to drink deeply the moment he realized it was there. He'd been dying of thirst for hours it seemed and no words could describe how good the water tasted.

As much as she hated to do it she had to take it away from him. Too much too fast wasn't good for him.

"Can you move at all?" She asked softly, about to reach up and touch his face, but she stopped short because she wasn't sure how badly he was hurt.

She watched the way he licked his lips as he tried to work up the words. It seemed even speaking was a struggle for him.

"I can't..."

"If I help you?"

"I can't." He said again. A little more forcefully. "I tried... I can't..."

"Okay... just... stay here... I'm going to... figure something out." Rey looked around the area and knew that if he couldn't move she was going to have to find a way to transport him back safely. With an injury like that he wouldn't be able to ride along with her.

There was a large piece of durasteel wedged in the sand and she thought for sure she could rig up a sort of stretcher for him. She grabbed some of the ropes from her speeder and tied up the piece of durasteel securely to it. She gave it a good tug to make sure it was going to stay on and once she was satisfied it wasn't going anywhere the hard part came.

She searched for the best way to move him and settled for sliding her arms underneath his and trying to shift him around, but as she moved him he cried out and weakly shoved at her to get her away.

"Stop! Stop... I can't... I can't... please..." He pleaded, but it was no use. He was in far too much pain. There was no relief in sight.

"I'm sorry, Ben, but I have to." She hated causing him pain, but this was for the best. She had to get him out of here and back home where she could get a better look at his injury. Get him back home where he wouldn't freeze in the cold night air.

She started to drag him towards the durasteel and had to ignore the cries of agony from him no matter how much it pained her to hear. She manged to get him onto her makeshift stretcher after much effort and she struggled to secure him. It wasn't easy. She had to try not to hurt him anymore than she already had in moving him.

Once she was sure he wasn't going anywhere she climbed into the seat and started the speeder up and started going slowly. She checked back to make sure he was doing alright and then sped up a bit. It hurt him. Of course it hurt him. Every little bump they hit along the road was excruciating for him and she had no choice. She had to put him through it. She had to keep reminding herself that he was going to die if she left him out here.

The trip back must have been hell for him, but once they arrived she was quick to drag him into the elevator shaft despite his protests.

"Aren't you glad we repaired the lift?" She asked, trying to maybe say something to humor him, but it was clear by the way that he turned his head to the side with a grimace there was no humor to be had. Once it came to a stop she let out a breath. "Just a little further okay?"

She dragged him the last of the way to the bed where he could at least be a little more comfortable. She was exhausted having moved his massive form as far as she did, but she knew that she couldn't stop. He needed immediate medical care and she couldn't stop to rest now. At least now that he'd stopped moving he wasn't in quite as much pain.

Snatching up the medical kit she peeled off his upper robes and when she really got a good look at his wound it shocked her. It wasn't like a holofilm. It wasn't some thin little wound after a slash from a knife. No. This wound split his skin apart enough that she could faintly see the whitish, yellow tissues under his skin and blood.

Taking a breath to steady herself Rey grabbed a bottle and washed out the wound with water to try and flush out any sand that might have gotten into it. From there she opened up the medical box and retrieved some bacta and gathered up as much on her fingers as she could and carefully pressed it into the wound. He jerked and tried to shove her hands away. As could be expected, but she had to get as much of the healing gel into his wound as possible.

Next she grabbed a needle and thread and inched closer to him to star to stitch him up. It was crude compared to the technology they had now, but they didn't have access to that technology here on this planet and she needed to use what she had. She knew it was beyond painful to him. The stitching. The way he twitched and struggled to squirm away, but didn't have the strength to. He'd lost too much blood.

Once she was sure he was securely closed up she bandaged him up to keep anymore sand out of his wound. He gave no reaction. Clearly worn out by everything tat he had gone through in the span of a fear hours. He just didn't have the strength anymore.

"I'm done. Okay? You're going to be fine now." She glanced down at her hands covered in his blood and quickly washed it away and then dried her hands. "Are you thirsty?"

He slowly shook his head in response. She wasn't sure what to do from here. She had done really all that she could. All they had to do now was to wait for him to heal up and everything would be back to normal. He'd killed those Dead-enders that'd attacked him. They wouldn't be a problem anymore.

Now that he was was tended to he tried to sleep that night, but the pain that he was in was just too much. Sleep was impossible at that point. It kept him groaning and shifting, desperate to find a position that may be less painful, but one didn't exist for him.

Rey stayed up with him for hours throughout the night, but he seemed to be getting worse instead of better. She couldn't tell if his pain was getting more intense or he had just bared it for so long he couldn't stand much more. Whatever the case... it was clear that he wasn't getting better and Rey was beginning to fear for his life.