A/N: Okay, I totally had no intention to bring back Sienna, but one of the reviewers asked to see a scene with her friends where she gets her points, and I just loved the idea of it. I promise, she's not going to be a recurring character, but I thought it would be fun to tie up that loose end.
The Long Way Home
Chapter Fourteen
Alone Again
The sun was just barely beginning to shine on Jakku, but Niima Outpost was already alive with the activities of Unkar Plutt and his minions. Crowding around the concession stand, they waited for Roke to return with his report.
"Well?" Unkar Plutt demanded as Roke approached.
"Confirmed," Roke reported. "Tinadar didn't come home last night. He gave the girl a ride and spent the night with her."
"And Kymeri gave her food?"
"A ration packet. Tinadar probably cooked it for the kid."
"Well, then, it seems we have a problem to deal with. Roke, take a few of the men to the walker to deal with Tinadar," Plutt ordered.
"And the doctor?" Roke asked.
"I'll deal with her myself," Plutt grinned. "And when you're done with Tinadar, bring him to the doctor's. I think it's time we three had a chat."
Quom Tinadar was aware of the figure standing over him before he had even fully woken up. It took him a few moments to remember why he was sleeping on a piece of panelling in Rey Erso's walker, but when he opened his eyes and saw Roke, it all came rushing back.
"Good morning," Roke grinned, backed by four others of Unkar Plutt's goons.
Panicked, Quom tried to jump to his feet, only for Roke to step on his chest, pinning him to the ground.
"There's no rush, Tinadar," Roke chuckled. "It's barely morning. You rest easy."
"Mister Quom?" a whimper came from Rey's hammock. She was clutching her pilot doll, curled up, making the tiniest ball she could. Rey whispered as if she could magically make only Quom hear her words, "What's going on?"
"And good morning to you, too," Roke turned to Rey with a smile she knew meant no good. "Did you sleep well with Tinadar here last night?"
Rey gave a reluctant nod.
"Good," Roke's toothy grin was truly terrifying. "Now get a move on! Dirk's taking you to the Outpost to have breakfast this morning."
"What about Mister Quom?" Rey dared to ask.
"We have some… business to take care of."
Quom didn't like the look in Roke's eyes.
Rey looked fearfully at Quom, "But-"
"MOVE!" Roke roared.
Rey clumsily scampered out of the hammock and hid herself behind Dirk's legs.
"Dirk," Roke shot a look at the goon.
Dirk grabbed Rey's hand and lead her out of the tent, "I really like your doll. Where'd you get it?"
"Mommy made it," Rey answered.
"That's so cool! Do you think she could make me something?"
"I can ask her when she gets back."
"Cool! I want an acklay."
Pinned down by Roke, Quom listened nervously as a speeder started up and Rey and Dirk's voices became more distant. No one said a word, the tension inside the walker building as Roke stared at the entrance of the walker… waiting.
And then the voices were gone.
"Take him!"
Quom didn't have time to get away. The second Roke moved his foot, two goons grabbed Quom under his armpits and hauled him up. Quom tried to jerk from their grasp but the third goon slammed a fist into Quom's face. Going limp in their arms, the goons forcibly dragged him out of the walker into the lonely desert.
Roke followed them, observing the situation clinically like he was a member of corporate upper management in Unkar Plutt Rations Incorporated. He was willing to let the other goons do the dirty work… until they threw Quom on the ground.
They beat him. A flurry of fists and kicks pounding his flesh. Eight arms and nine legs – Plutt's goons were a diverse set of creatures – doing all they could to inflict as much pain on Quom as possible.
He tried to fight back, but there were four of them, each with at least a hundred pounds of muscle on him. Quom didn't stand a chance. All he saw was hate, limbs, and spots of black. And he felt was unbelievable, unending pain. All he tasted was blood, dust, and sand. All he heard were his own screams. And all he smelt was… well, he was getting beaten in a desert, there honestly wasn't much to smell.
It felt like it went on for hours, though admittedly Quom's beating probably only lasted sixty minutes at the most. But it did cease, and when it did, Quom lay before them, a mess, unable to move, unable to do anything but moan in pain looking pathetic.
After an embarrassing stretch of time as the goons mocked and watched his humiliation, Roke gave a chuckle.
"Don't get too comfortable, Tinadar," Roke warned. "We're not done yet."
Quom was suddenly hoisted up by two of the goons. They dragged Quom to his own speeder – theirs having been taken by Dirk and Rey – and threw Quom into the backseat.
"Come on, Tinadar," Roke climbed into the pilot's seat. "We have to go see the doctor."
Aletha was doing her weekly inventory when Unkar Plutt and a few of his goons walked into her tent. She tensed at the sight of them. It wasn't their appearance that surprised her – she had been waiting for this since she and Quom dared to defy Plutt – but she was surprised when they starting hauling into her tent brand new, extremely expensive medical equipment.
"What's this?" Aletha demanded. She was standing straight and slightly puffing out her chest to show she was standing her ground and that Plutt didn't scare her.
"I've thought very hard about the offer Rey's mother made you, and thought I'd help out," Plutt explained. "I got you everything needed to replace what the First Order destroyed, so when her father comes he can just pay me for it rather than you having to go through all that hassle."
"Is that so?" Aletha arched a brow. Observing her new equipment, she knew Plutt had bought many things she hadn't originally possessed.
"I bought all the best equipment-"
"You mean the most expensive.
Plutt grinned, "Is there a difference?"
Aletha didn't dignify a response, "I appreciate the gesture, Plutt, but I'm afraid this isn't necessary. I can deal with her father myself, and besides, I've already obtained most of what I need."
"Yeah… about that."
Plutt snapped his fingers.
Aletha shrieked when one goon grabbed her by the waist, restraining her as the rest began smashing and destroying her old inventory.
"No! Stop!" Aletha screamed, struggling in the goon's grasp. She cried out as the goon suddenly threw her to the ground and started beating her.
"That's enough," Plutt ordered after several minutes, though Aletha's beating did not endure nearly as long as Quom's. "The doctor has a patient to attend to."
Four of Plutt's men entered the tent, and Quom was suddenly thrown next to Aletha. Both of them were beaten and bloody, but Quom looked like he could barely move.
"Doc," Quom moaned. "You okay?"
"It's okay, Quom," Aletha assured him. "We both knew what we were signing up for."
"I know. And you know what's funny?"
"What?"
"I'd do it again in a heartbeat."
Aletha smiled and grabbed Quom's hand, "Me too."
Both were met with a swift kick to the face.
"Worth it," Quom grinned.
The goons grabbed Quom and Aletha and sat them on Aletha's cot. Plutt pulled up a chair across from them, his bulbous mass threatening to fracture it into kindling. His goons lined up behind him, forming a menacing wall of muscle.
"We have a problem," Plutt began. "And that problem is the girl."
Aletha sighed, "Plutt-"
"Quiet!" Plutt snapped. "I think you two misunderstand the situation. That girl is not yours to take care of. Sure, entertain her, keep an eye on her, give her lessons, give her free medical care even. But you do not give her food."
Plutt's burning eyes locked with Aletha's.
She did not look away.
"You do not give her rides," Plutt looked to Quom.
Quom did not look away.
"You don't give her clothing. You don't give her water. And you sure as hell don't sleep at her feet like a hothead dog!"
"Hey!" Quom snapped at the Vrogem slur.
"In case you forget, her mother made a deal with me. Me!" Plutt roared. "Not either of you. I am her protector and provider! I am the one to watch out for her! I am the one to keep her alive!"
"And what about comfortable?" Aletha challenged. "What about happy? That girl is heartbroken and lonely!"
"I don't give a damn," Plutt replied. "Her mother told me to keep her fed, clothed, hydrated, safe, and distracted. I didn't agree to entertained or happy or wipe her tears at night. It is not my fault that the girl is heartbroken and lonely. It's the fault of the mother who abandoned her."
"Hey!" Quom snapped.
A ripple of indignation shot through Quom and Aletha. Plutt may have witnessed the moment Felicity Erso left her child, but they had been witnesses to how destroyed she had been by that decision.
"How dare you?" Aletha whispered, unable to say anything more.
"We all know that her mother is dead," Plutt continued. "No doubt the First Order put a bolt through her temple the first chance they had. But you know who isn't dead? Her father. Now, if you haven't guessed yet, her father is a very rich man. One whom I plan to take full advantage of. If I have to take care of his brat, I'm going to get my money's worth. But imagine what will happen if he comes here and the girl tells him, 'No, Unkar Plutt didn't take care of me. Aletha Kymeri and Quom Tinadar did.' Well… then we'll have a problem."
Aletha and Quom said nothing as Plutt let the tent fill with silence.
"But if you two continue to overstep your bounds and assume the role of caretaker, we're going to have an even bigger problem. Don't you think it would be so tragic if Rey's father were to finally get here, only to be told that his daughter… well, his daughter had an accident."
Quom's head snapped up.
"You wouldn't," Aletha gasped.
"You both know I would," Plutt smirked. "If that girl is going to be worth nothing to me, then she's going to be worth nothing to you. Since these beatings have proven that you're willing to endure violence for the girl, then maybe violence against her will make you behave."
Quom's eyes burned with hatred, "And what is going to stop me from telling her father about your threats?"
"Because from this moment on, the girl will always be within arm's reach of my men," Plutt answered. "The second you tell her father what I said, my man snaps her neck. If her father is going to kill me over something, I'm going to make sure it's for a damn good reason."
The hate coming off of Aletha and Quom in that moment was palpable.
"You disgust me," Aletha whispered.
"Here's how things are going to work from now on," Plutt said. "You are going to graciously accept my gift of medical equipment and let me charge her father for the cost. We'll just pretend that the items you originally gathered were the ones destroyed by the First Order, and the items they destroyed were actually destroyed by me. You replaced the items I destroyed, and the husband follows through on Rhiaon's promise. Everything's fair then."
Aletha let out a mirthless chuckle.
Plutt ignored her, "Now when it comes to Rey, you can continue to watch her during the day, but if I catch you overstepping your bounds again then I'll consider that as you deciding to take over the role of her caretaker. And we all know what that means. Do you understand?"
"Yes," Aletha hissed through gritted teeth.
If looks could kill, the ones Quom and Aletha were giving Plutt would have killed him ten times over.
"Good," Plutt smiled. "Come on, boys. We're done here."
The group thundered out the tent one by one, darkly joking among themselves about what just happened.
"Oh, Doctor?" Roke turned as he reached the tent flap. He was the final one to exit. He gestured to the broken glass and machinery on the floor as well as their bloody wounds "You might want to clean this place up. It's hardly professional."
Quom had to physically restrain Aletha from tearing out Roke's throat.
Rey slipped away from Dirk the first moment she could. She had been scared for Mister Quom since Roke had pinned him to the ground. Then Plutt, Roke, and the other goons returned to the concession stand with bloody knuckles and joking about Mister Quom and Doctor Aletha. Rey knew she had get to them.
She was aware that one of the goons was tailing her, but she ran as fast as her little legs could carry her. Reaching Aletha's tent, Rey would have thrown open the flap when she felt something jolt through the Force.
"Stop!" a ghostly voice ordered.
Rey failed to recognize the voice of Obi-Wan Kenobi, although unbeknownst to anyone, she had heard him, Yoda, and her grandfather through the Force before. Rey knew that she could trust the voices. The voices had always only said things that protected her, though she hadn't yet figured out to have a conversation with them.
She didn't find the phenomena of hearing them weird, having witnessed her own father talking to them through the Force. Rey had even secretly seen the blue outline of Anakin Skywalker talking to Daddy once.
Following Obi-Wan's instructions, Rey paused at the tent flap and listened as Quom and Aletha spoke inside.
"We can't just stop taking care of her, Doc," Quom said.
"I know, but we need to figure out a way to do this without anyone getting hurt," Aletha replied. "I'm willing to take as many beatings as possible, but if they go after Rey-"
A barrage of images filled Rey's head. The Force revealed to her the events of that morning. Quom's beating. Aletha's attack. Plutt's threat. Graciously, the Force spared Plutt's discussion of Felicity's likely death.
Rey hesitated outside the tent. She knew what she would see if she entered the tent: Aletha's equipment destroyed and Quom and Aletha injured from their beatings. Beatings they had happily endured to protect her.
Rey was young and naïve, misunderstanding jokes about curses as literal, and unable to use common sense to find her way to Unkar Plutt without Quom's help. But she did understand the concept of selflessly putting yourself in harm's way to protect someone else. It was a complicated lesson she had learned a year previous from Uncle Han.
Uncle Han had shown up at their front door unannounced, as he usually did. Rey had been happy to greet him, racing forward to tackle him in a hug, but Mommy and Daddy had been very unhappy. Uncle Han was bruised and bloody, fresh from one of his many adventures.
Rey watched as Uncle Han had greeted Ben with an air of surprise, almost like he had forgotten the living location of his own son. The tension was increased when Han pulled Ben into an awkward hug, almost like an afterthought, only to quickly push him away when Ben hurt one of his bruised ribs. Ben had made a cold comment about how Uncle Han never bothered to visit him without getting beaten up, and Daddy told Ben to take Rey and go his room.
Ben had spent a long time with Rey in his room, ranting about how much he didn't like his father. He then got frustrated when Rey failed to understand how someone couldn't like their daddy, especially since it was Fun Uncle Han, and going on about how much she loved hers.
Eventually Ben decided to start beating the punching bag Mommy got him for his fifteenth birthday (the only time Felicity and Ben had actually genuinely gotten along.) Rey watched as Ben did the weird thing where he started muttering to himself like he was having a conversation with a person only he could hear. Rey always thought he must be speaking to Grandfather Skywalker as Ben talked about him a lot.
With Ben distracted, Rey took the opportunity to sneak downstairs.
Hiding behind the couch, Rey tried with all her might to block her Force Signature from her father. It was the very first thing Daddy taught his students as it was the first line of defence they had. An enemy can't hurt you if they can't find you.
"When are you going to stop all of this, Han?" Daddy sounded very unhappy as he helped clean up Uncle Han.
"Kid, if I wanted a passive aggressive lecture from a Skywalker, I would have gone home to Leia," Uncle Han chuckled.
Daddy let out a noise that Rey didn't think sounded happy.
"Don't you give me that look, Kid," Uncle Han said. "You get in as much trouble as I do."
"That's because people seek me out for trouble," Daddy replied. "I don't go and find it like you."
"Oh please. Don't make me laugh, Kid. You absolutely do go looking for trouble."
"Do not."
"Do too."
"Do not."
"Do too."
"Knock it off, Boys!" Mommy's voice called from the kitchen, "It's really sad when Rey and Ben have more intellectual arguments than you two. And he's right, Luke. Both you and Loud Mouth Solo go looking for trouble."
Rey giggled at Mommy's nickname for Uncle Han.
"Fine, but I've definitely cut back after Rey was born," said Daddy. "I mean, honestly, don't you think you're getting too old for this? You're forty-eight and have a fifteen-year-old son."
"You say that as if Ben actually cares what I get up to."
"Well, maybe if you tried spending a little less time getting into scrapes and more time at home with him-"
"Last time I checked his home was here with you," Uncle Han snapped. "Maybe if you and Leia hadn't insisted on sending him to live with you and Fliss when he was eleven I wouldn't have messed up this whole father thing. I mean honestly, he thinks I didn't want him, that I'm unworthy because I don't have the Force, and that my closest female friend who I sent him to live with, is the devil."
"Hey!" Mommy yelled from the kitchen.
"Look me in the eye and tell me he doesn't think that, Rhiaon!" Uncle Han yelled back.
Rey didn't need to see Daddy to know he was shaking his head.
"So what happened this time?" Daddy asked. "Promise me it wasn't a gang."
"Come on, Luke, you know I promised no more gangs as long as you're around to keep me in line," Uncle Han laughed.
"That does explain those four months I was on Malaita and you ended up dealing with Kanjiklub."
"Oh no, I'm never messing around with Kanjiklub again. Believe you me."
"So what was it then?"
"A buddy from my former smuggling days-"
"Former?"
"Earlier smuggling days," Uncle Han corrected. "Think circa the time I won the Falcon from Lando. Chewie was away on Kashyyyk for a few months and I teamed up with a guy named Marklin. We were hired by some seedy characters to move some merchandise… Merchandise to be delivered to Zygerria."
"Slaves," Daddy said with no question in his voice.
"When we figured out what was going on, we refused to go to the pickup site, gave back the payment advance, and reported the operation to Imperials. I heard that there was a raid, the slaves were freed, and the slavers were personally executed by Vader… who had a surprisingly strict anti-slavery policy. For a man who did a magnitude of horrible things, I will admit that Vader did have morals when it came to the slave trade."
"Benefits of being a former slave."
"I'm still not sure I believe that story."
"Han, there's plenty of evidence to prove it."
"I'm sorry, it's just the part where you claim that he built Threepio that you lose me."
Mommy once again called from the kitchen, "You have to admit that it only makes sense for Threepio to have been built by someone as evil as Vader."
"Felicity, I don't mind you eavesdropping while making lunch, but could you please stop calling my father evil?" Daddy sounded very annoyed. "I don't want Rey to overhear and develop preconceived notions."
"I make no promises."
Daddy sighed and Rey giggled again from behind the couch.
Uncle Han shifted in his seat.
"Go on," Daddy urged.
"Marklin and I went our separate ways," Uncle Han continued. "Marklin reformed himself, settled down, and had a few kids. We ran into each other a few years back and exchanged numbers in case either of us needed a favor."
"And he needed a favor."
"The guys we turned in were part of a larger operation who wanted revenge for what we did. Marklin disappeared off their radar, but they've given me trouble a few times over the years. They even threatened to go after Ben once, but dropped that notion when I reminded them if they did that, they would be hunted down not only by me, but by a Far Too Happy to Tap into the Dark Side Mama Nexu Senator, a Jedi Grandmaster Who Has Literally Murdered Millions, a Wookie With a Life Debt to Ben's Father and a Hell of a Crossbow, a Strangely Protective Astro Droid You Don't Want to Upset, and a Trigger Happy Emissary Who May Hate Ben but Will Shoot You in the Face If You Mess With Her Family."
"We are not a family you want to cross. So what happened then?"
"They left me alone, but they found Marklin, kidnapped his seventeen-year-old daughter, and sold her into slavery. Marklin called me and we've spent the past six weeks tracking her down and rescuing her."
"So you got these wounds by helping free a former smuggling buddy's daughter from slavery?"
"You say that like it's a bad thing," Uncle Han accused. "Oh, don't give me that look. I would have done it if it were Rey."
Daddy sighed, "It's different if it was Rey-"
"Are you actually going to continue that train of thought?"
"No. You're right. I'm not." Daddy sighed again, "It's just, Han… I don't know how many more times I can handle you showing up unannounced, beaten and bloody on my doorstep. It sets a bad example for Rey… and Leia yells at me."
"Honestly I like it when she yells at me. It kind of makes me-"
"Are you actually going to continue that train of thought?"
"No. You're right. I'm not," Uncle Han chuckled. "Alright, fine, for Rey I'll stop showing up uninvited like this. But in all fairness, corrupting her is in my job description as Fun Uncle Han."
"I know," Daddy said dryly. "Rey hasn't stopped making fun of me for power convertors since your last visit."
"It's your own fault for telling me that story."
"I didn't tell you. Artoo showed you footage of it."
"I always did like that droid."
Daddy groaned, "There, you're all fixed up."
There was a bunch of clattering that must have meant Daddy was packing up the first aid kit.
"Come on," Daddy ordered. "If you're joining us for lunch, you at least are going to set the table."
"Can I do the dishes instead and use this time to go visit that girl who is far too adorable to be your kid?" Uncle Han suggested.
"Step in this kitchen after doubting my fidelity, Solo, and I will slap you," Mommy angrily called.
"I'll say that's a yes," Daddy laughed.
Rey heard a set of footsteps leading away to the kitchen. Then Daddy's voice sounded distantly in the kitchen, exchanging some words with Mommy who sounded mock-angry, but after a few words from Daddy, she laughed and Rey knew they probably had started kissing.
Uncle Han chuckled, and Rey was suddenly aware of the fact he was about to go looking for her. She was going to be in a lot of trouble if she got caught spying.
Rey was busy thinking about how to get upstairs before Uncle Han when he casually lifted his arms and stretched. Suddenly his arms came down, and scooped up Rey, plopping her on the couch in front of him.
Uncle Han grinned at her, "You may be able to use the Force to hide from your dad, Kiddo, but I would recognize that little giggle anywhere. Especially if it's coming from right behind me."
Rey giggled and launched herself at Uncle Han, "I missed you, Uncle Han."
"I missed you too. Ow!" Uncle Han winced and gently pried off her arms from his torso. "Sorry, Sweetie. Uncle Han's ribs hurt too much for that."
"Sorry," Rey looked down. "… Uncle Han?"
"What's up, Kiddo?"
"Did you really get hurt saving that girl from slavery?"
"Yep."
"Slavery's the bad thing that happened to Masters Alyla and Gavyn and the others, right?"
"Right again," Uncle Han nodded.
"What is slavery?" Rey asked.
"Uh… Ask your parents."
"But it's a bad thing, right?"
"One of the worst things in the world," Han nodded.
"Did getting beat up hurt?"
"A lot."
"How much did your friend pay you?"
Uncle Han looked surprised, "He didn't pay me, Sweetie."
Rey frowned, "Why not?"
"Because saving people is not something you pay someone to do."
"Daddy pays the Jedi to save people."
"That's different. That's their job. I did this out of the kindness of my heart."
Rey looked suspiciously at her uncle, "How close are you with this girl?"
Uncle Han burst out laughing, "Don't worry, Kiddo, you're still my Number Two Girl."
"Number Two?"
"Aunt Leia would get really mad at me if she wasn't my Number One. But don't worry." Han looked around conspiratorially, "It's a very close race."
Rey giggled, "You're funny, Uncle Han."
"I try my best. To answer your earlier, though, I never met Marklin's daughter before this."
"Why did you save her then? If there's no reward and you don't know her, why would you save her?"
Han wrapped an arm around his niece's shoulder, "Rey, Sweetheart, I'm going to teach you something that it took me too long to learn. It's something really vital in life, but I didn't do until your dad showed me the importance of it."
"What's that?"
"It's called being selfless."
Rey rolled her eyes, "I know what selfish means, Uncle Han."
"Not selfish," Uncle Han chuckled. "Selfless. It means doing something for other people without any benefit to yourself. You remember the story of how I met your dad and brought the Death Star plans to Yavin?"
"Uh huh."
"Remember how I was going to run away after I got my reward?"
"Yeah, and then you came back and saved Daddy."
"Well, that was me being selfless," Uncle Han explained. "There are going to be times in your life when people need help. People are going to be at risk of getting hurt, and only you can stop it. Now, sometimes there's not going to be a reward or benefit for doing it, but it will help the other people. Rey, when that happens, I want you to promise me something."
"What's that?" Rey leaned forward eagerly.
Uncle Han looked her in the eye and without a trace of humour said, "If you can ever help someone and stop them from getting hurt, and in no way can you get hurt by helping them, I want you to promise me that you'll do it."
"Why?"
"Because it's the right thing. It's what good people do. And sometimes just making someone else smile is the best reward. But you never know what's going to end up happening because you chose to be selfless. Think about the Death Star. If I hadn't come back and saved your dad, he would have been killed in that battle, I never would have had my best friend, your mom would be lonely having never met your dad, Aunt Leia would have been killed when the planet was blown up, Ben wouldn't exist, Vader never would have turned back to the Light Side, the Empire would still reign, and worst of all, you wouldn't exist. All that because I chose to be selfless and save that naïve farm kid I picked up on Tatooine. Promise me, Rey. Promise me you'll be selfless."
Rey nodded, amazed by Uncle Han's words, "I promise, Uncle Han."
"Good." Uncle Han grinned and ruffled her hair, "Now, let's go make fun of your dad."
Rey giggled and followed Uncle Han into the kitchen.
As she came to the end of her memory, Rey was surprised to feel a tear running down her face. She missed Uncle Han, Daddy, and Mommy. What was taking them so long to get back to her?
Rey looked back at the tent and remembered what had triggered the memory. Mister Quom and Doctor Aletha had gotten beat up for taking care of her. And Plutt was going to hurt them even more if she continued to stay around them.
But if she didn't…
Uncle Han's words echoed in her head.
"If you can ever help someone and stop them from getting hurt, and in no way can you get hurt by helping them, I want you to promise me that you'll do it."
If she left them alone, no one would get hurt. It would be like the days before they found her. She would be sad and lonely, but no one would get hurt.
But she didn't want to be sad and lonely. She had spent so many nights crying herself to sleep, afraid that the bad people were going to drag her out of bed again. That she would get hot and hungry and woozy and things would get dark like when Mommy got scared. She didn't want to be lonely, desperate to sleep, and waiting for her family. Rey wanted to sleep the way she had last night with Quom there to protect her.
She wouldn't do it. She would be selfish and keep Mister Quom and Doctor Aletha around and not be lonely. Rey sent a mental apology to Uncle Han, and with the confidence of her parents walking into danger, Rey opened the flap of the tent.
Rey stopped dead. She saw the broken glass and equipment on the ground. She saw the pile of already used bandages soaked with Quom's blood. She saw the bruises on Quom and Aletha's faces. It was one thing to see the visions in the Force, but it was different when it was right in front of her.
This was the price of selfishness.
And it wasn't a price Rey wanted to pay.
"Rey," Aletha looked up in surprise. Worry etched across her face as her eyes flicked around at the mess left by Plutt's goons. "Are you alright?"
"Uh huh," Rey looked at the ground. "Is Mister Quom going to be okay?"
"They can't keep me down that easily, MG," Quom grinned.
But Rey couldn't return the smile.
"I'm sorry that my place is such a disaster right now, Sunshine," Aletha said as she began picking up the pile of bandages. "Give me a few seconds to finish up with Quom and he'll take you to his place-"
"No," Rey interrupted.
Aletha froze.
"What?" Quom blurted out.
"I'm not going to Mister Quom's anymore," Rey firmly said. "And I'm not staying with you, Doctor Aletha. Mister Plutt hurts you for taking care of me, and I don't want you to get hurt anymore. So I came to say goodbye."
Aletha and Quom shared a disbelieving look.
"Rey," Aletha started in a coaxing voice, "you don't have to-"
But Rey ran out the tent, refusing to let herself be swayed. She heard Aletha and Quom calling after her, but Rey pushed into the crowd and soon enough lost them.
She would stay away from that part of the outpost for a while. If she saw them, she would run and hide. Rey couldn't trust herself not to break down and go back to them. The first few days Aletha and Quom tried to find her, but Rey hid until they gave up and stopped. It may have hurt all three of them for Rey to avoid them, but it would hurt so much more if she allowed anything to happen to them.
So Rey banished herself from their friendship. She followed her promise to Uncle Han and selflessly avoided putting Quom and Aletha in anymore danger.
And she had never felt more alone in her life.
"I don't believe you," Eran Kestral declared. "There's no way you actually met Luke Skywalker. That picture's got to be something you made on the computer."
Sienna frowned at her friend, "Why would I make a fake picture that has him looking almost nothing like he usually looks?"
"She's right," Pollix Octhar agreed. "What's the point of the beard?"
"Besides, we all know little Sienna here can't use a computer to save her life," Zeven Ruellis laughed as he perched himself on the arm of the couch next to Sienna.
Sienna rolled her eyes, and pushed Zeven off the couch.
"Ignore Eran," Tendra Kestral playfully shoved her husband. "He's just bitter you scored so many points."
"Yeah, about that," Zeven said, using the couch arm to pull himself off the floor. "Now that, you know, Rhiaon's dead, should we revaluate score values? I mean, none of us can arrange a photo with her anymore unless we do something very illegal like dig up her body."
"Don't the Jedi practice cremation?" Sienna asked.
"They do, but she wasn't a Jedi," Tendra answered. "I don't know if they burned her, or buried her, or whatever else there is."
"I heard there wasn't even a body to bring home," Pollix said.
"Hey, maybe she's alive," Zeven suggested.
"Don't be ridiculous," Tendra chastised.
"Fine, but I'll be the one laughing when she makes her miraculous return."
"You do that."
"I just felt so bad for him," Sienna admitted. "I actually met him on the night of Felicity's birthday. He was so heartbroken."
"Losing his wife must have been hard on him," Tendra sadly shook her head. "How did he deal with meeting someone who looked so much like her?"
"Uh… It wasn't his finest moment."
Her friends or not, there was no way Sienna was about to admit that she and Luke had gotten near alcohol poisoning levels of drunk and then she offered to slept with him while pretending to be his dead wife.
In fact, Sienna was a little disappointed that the mass amounts of alcohol she had consumed hadn't killed the brain cells containing that humiliating memory.
"I heard he's taken it pretty badly, basically vanishing from even his own family," Pollix said.
"Can you blame him?" Tendra asked. "I mean, we all know what happened to his little girl. And then with his wife's death, well…"
"You gotta wonder what happened to her body," Pollix mused.
"Frankly, considering how torn apart he was, I don't think I want to know the answer," Sienna shook her head.
Silence filled the room as the group imagined a thousand horrifying possibilities of what had been done to Felicity Rhiaon.
"… I still don't believe you met him," Evan suddenly declared.
Sienna just sighed.
He shouldn't be there. Luke knew that he had no business returning to Rornian after running away like a coward. And yet somehow he found himself back in the place where everything went wrong.
His heart broke at the sight of Temple Village: it had been abandoned. All reconstruction stopped, the buildings boarded up, and the weeds overgrown. After his disappearance it appeared that the world had moved on from the Jedi Order. It was frightening how quickly people gave up on the notion of hope and greater purpose in the face of tragedy.
Then again, who was he to judge anyone for that?
Luke had had no idea what he would find when he returned to Rornian, but he was slightly relieved to find himself alone.
He had come to see them: the graves of those he had failed. With a heavy heart, Luke walked through the graveyard where the ashes of his fallen pupils had been buried. Every grave marker sent a stab of pain into his heart as he read the names of his friends.
While the graves were clearly cleaned up by someone every so often, there was one grave that stood out from the rest. The grave of Coria Pellis was extensively adorned with fresh flowers, Holos, thoroughly burnt candles, and other such mementos. Luke had no doubt who had been furbishing Coria's grave. Queen Nerissa Scintel's extraction of Zygerria from the New Republic had not been purely politically motivated. Nerissa and Coria had been lovers for almost two decades, a difficult long-distance relationship that they struggled to make work. Luke remembered Nerissa's heartbroken reaction when he informed her of Coria's death. In fact, Nerissa had been the first person Luke called after the massacre. At the time, he couldn't imagine how it would feel to hear second hand of his wife's death long past any opportunity to save her.
He wished he still didn't know how it felt.
There was another grave that appeared to be tended more frequently than the rest. Blue morning glories had been planted at Alyla Kene's grave. The flower's dual meaning of love and mortality was a sad testament to the story of Alyla Kene, blooming in the morning but dead before the afternoon. Luke remembered how Lando Calrissian struggled to withhold tears, dirt caking his fingers as he planted them with nothing more than his own two hands. Luke had never truly understood the relationship between Lando and Alyla, but as Luke and Gavyn had watched Lando plant the flowers at her grave, he knew that whatever it was they felt, it was real.
Luke had done his best to comfort Lando after Alyla's passing with Lando latching onto spending as much time with Rey as possible due to associating Rey with Alyla's love of caring for young children. It had been hard for Luke to help Lando, for although he had lost many people in his life, he hadn't lost someone who he loved like Lando loved Alyla.
But now that he had lost Felicity, Luke understood it far too well.
Luke sighed, looking up from Alyla's grave at the large glowing tree that resided at the top of Burial Hill (the name of the graveyard as it was on a hill.) She had been their first loss on Rornian, and the Jedi had been unsure where exactly to bury her ashes. It had been Miri who suggested they bury her aunt under the large Force Sensitive tree that was planted at the top of the hill. It had been the very same tree that Shara Bey helped Luke steal from the Empire. Luke and Reine had planted it on Rornian two months later as a symbol of their start to rebuilding the Jedi Order.
It was a small hill the tree sat on, so Felicity had voiced concerns regarding its ability to provide enough space for the burials of the future generation. Luke had waved off the concern, saying that the hill would be for them as a memorial for the first generation of the New Jedi Order, and that the next generation would find somewhere else to put themselves.
Luke never imagined that it would become a memorial three months later when he buried his entire Jedi Order.
His eyes painfully scanned the names etched on the gravestones. Alyla Kene was buried next to her brother, Gavyn Kene, who was buried next to his daughter, Miri Halcorr-Kene, who was buried next to her mother, Zena Halcorr. Luke's second-in-command, Reine Agim was buried at the top of the hill next to her husband, Obik Kenu. Tyla Kinall was near the bottom of the hill near Genko, and the husband and wife pair of Jafan Typhe, and Eline Typhe-Korden. Dozens more Jedi graves littered the hill, but it was the two graves directly under the tree that broke Luke's heart.
Slowly approaching the graves, Luke placed a hand on each of the headstones. His eyes filled with tears as they read the inscriptions Luke never wanted to live to see.
Felicity Rhiaon Skywalker
Fighter, Mother, Lover.
Rogue One
21 BBY – 20 ABY
Rey Rhiaon Skywalker
Daughter, Niece, Friend.
A Light in the Dark
15 ABY – 20 ABY
Luke fell to his knees and sobbed. How could this have happened? Of course, the graves of his wife and child did not actually contain their bodies. Both had been cruelly lost to fate, but Luke had been unable to let them go without a memorial.
The most heart wrenching part of the grave inscriptions by far were Rey's dates. Five years. Five years. Her life had only begun and her parents had wanted her so much. Why did the Force see no other option but to bring her life to such a quick end?
When Rey was born, Luke and Felicity weren't exactly at their peak fertilities. They had become new parents at the ages of thirty-four and thirty-six. Of course that was due to the fact that they had already been twenty-nine and thirty-one when they met, then thirty-three and thirty-five when they married.
That said, Rey wasn't the result of years of struggle in conceiving. In fact, Rey had been semi-unplanned. Recognizing the dangers of a later pregnancy, Luke and Felicity agreed to go off birth control for a year and see what happened. If nothing happened, then they would start making a serious effort, but of course during the year, Rey happened. Then after Felicity's bout of Postpartum Depression, she decided that due to her age and fear of going through PPD again, she refused to ever get pregnant again. Luke and Felicity had actually started looking into the process of adopting their next child, but Ben Solo had thrown it all out of the window.
They were gone. Luke would never see his precious wife and child again, and there was nothing he could do about it.
"I'm sorry," Luke whispered to his family's graves. Getting to his feet, Luke looked back at the graves and his pupils and proclaimed, "I'm so sorry."
It was a cruel irony that the graves were located underneath the Force Sensitive tree, which Luke had dubbed the Heart Tree. It had been ten years ago that he stood underneath that very tree and proclaimed Temple Village open for operation.
Luke stood proudly at the top of the hill, immaculate in his formal, black Jedi robes. Reine stood proudly at his left (Luke had always referred to her as his "Left Hand" because his dominant hand was the left instead of the right) and Ben stood to his right as a representative of the future generation who the Order would one day be passed to. The Jedi made up the first rows of the assembled audience, but Luke's friends and family had been given a spot near the front.
As the crowd chattered and waited for Luke to give his speech, Luke's eyes found Felicity's in the crowd. She waved at him, and he gave her a large, goofy grin.
Though their attraction to each other was – unbeknownst to them – budding, both had come to the opening of the Temple on the arm of another. Luke with current girlfriend, Calla who would later prove to be his infamous crazy ex, and Felicity was with her podracer boyfriend, Drystan. It would be several months before either Luke or Felicity discovered their attraction to the other, but Calla and Drystan would be the last people they dated before getting together. In fact, Drystan would dump Felicity a mere two weeks later, and Calla would get dumped by Luke a week after that.
Luke cleared his throat and launched into his speech. He told the history of the Jedi Order, and how he discovered it through Obi-Wan Kenobi. He told the tale of his father's redemption. Expectations and plans for the future were revealed, and lists of people were thanked for various contributions. The speech was long, and elegant, and clearly written by Leia, but there was one part that Luke remembered most of all.
"I promise that Temple Village will be a safe haven for all," Luke declared. "There will be no judgement or rejection on these grounds. This is a welcoming place for anyone who wants to learn about the Force, regardless of whether or not you can use it. We all have a past. Whether you were a Rebel."
Luke looked at Reine.
"Or an Imperial."
He looked at Tyla.
"Whether you sought me out the second you learned of your powers."
Luke looked at Obik.
"Or decided not to use them at all."
He looked at Leia.
"Whether you were a slave."
Luke looked at Gavyn and Alyla.
"Or a slave master."
He looked to Zena.
"Whether you always believed in the Force."
He looked at Lor San Tekka.
"Took some convincing."
Luke smirked at Han.
"Or even outright reject some aspects of it."
Luke's eyes found Felicity's, and she smiled.
"It does not matter to me who you were," Luke continued. "What matters is who you strive to be now. And I promise you that as long you fight for justice, freedom, goodness, and light, I will help you. I will have your back and nurture your skills. I will teach you all I know, and learn all you can teach me. I will provide a comfortable home and a place where you never need to worry about where your next meal will come from. But above all, I promise to fight to protect you with every ounce of strength I have, from this day until the day of my last breath. I promise to never let you be lost to evil. I promise to keep you safe, and keep you alive."
He had failed to keep that promise. They had all trusted him, and he let them all down.
How could he ever even think about going to such a scared place as Ahch-to?
But then where was he supposed to go next?
A vision of Rey flooded his mind.
"Come to me, Daddy," Rey sobbed in her hammock on Jakku.
It changed to an image of Obi-Wan.
"Come here, Luke," Obi-Wan urged, standing on the cliffs of Ahch-to.
The vision turned to Leia.
"Come home, Brother," Leia whispered as she stared at her household com.
The vision shifted to Felicity.
"Come back, Sweetheart," Felicity sat on a bench in a prison cell.
It changed to Ben.
"Come face me, Uncle," Ben stared out the window of a Star Destroyer at the skies around him.
Luke turned back to the tree like it was a connection directly to the Force he could request answers. Where was he supposed to go? Who was he supposed to listen to? What was he supposed to do?
What he really needed was some clear guidance.
"Master Skywalker?" a voice suddenly came from behind.
Luke froze like a deer in the headlights. Fear coursing through his body, paralysing it. Luke wanted to bolt for his X-Wing, but couldn't move a muscle. It was too late to run; the figure was already behind him.
The figure grabbed Luke's shoulder. Looking pale as a sheet, Luke gulped and slowly turned around. He found himself face to face with Lor San Tekka, a friend of his who was a leader of the Church of the Force.
"Master Skywalker, I don't believe it," Lor San looked over Luke in shock. "What are you doing here?"
Luke thought for a moment whether he should answer Lor San's question or just make a run for it. He might have selected the later if he could think of a destination, but Luke's mind was oddly blank.
"Mourning," Luke finally choked out. "What are you doing here?"
"I come here every week to tend to the graves. Master Skywalker, I must say you look…"
"Terrible?"
"I was going to say unkempt."
Luke snorted, "That's one way of putting it."
Lor San Tekka found he had no reply. An awkward silence hung in the air as both men refused to address the obvious situation at hand.
"I saw your sister a few weeks ago," Lor San finally said. "She was here with flowers for Rey and Felicity. Calendulas if I remember correctly. The Alderiaan flower for grief."
Luke looked away, "How's she doing?"
"Better than you."
"That's not saying much."
"Well, there's nothing much to say." Lor San sighed, "Master Skywalker, I'm not going to pretend I need to ask why you did it. Very few men could go through something like that and find the will to continue on."
"Thank you," Luke muttered.
"But I will ask what you're going to do now. There's been rumors of sightings of you here and there, but no clear plan."
"Truth be told, there is no clear plan."
"I hardly believe Luke Skywalker would go do something without at least a vague plan."
"I think Master Yoda might disagree with you on that one."
Lor San grinned, "Just because one is impulsive does not mean one has no plan. Sure, you may throw yourself into danger, but you always have some idea of what you want to do… even if it's a stupid idea."
Luke laughed, "I suppose so."
"Come now," Lor San urged. "What's your plan? What is it that you've been wandering the galaxy aimlessly, avoiding the people who care about you for?"
"I… I can't."
"Luke, I'm your friend. I won't talk anyone your plan if you wish me not to, but I do want to know you'll be alright. Tell me, what is this burden you carry?"
Luke sighed, his hand reaching up for the data pouch around his neck tucked under his clothing.
"I have a map to Ahch-to," Luke confessed. "Felicity's team stole it from Vader on the Death Star, and I have the only full map of it stored on my X-Wing's computer. They cut a piece out of the map which I now carry around my neck. The Order and I were planning on hiding there from the First Order and the Knights of Ren, but then I got called to the Senate, and well…"
Luke's eyes drifted around at the graves.
"I see," Lor San nodded. "And you intend on… going there?"
"Yes. No. Maybe?" Luke shook his head, "I don't know."
"Well, then, let me help you decide. Tell me, why don't you want to go?"
"Too many memories. Too many reminders of my failure. Too strong with the Force to run away from being a Jedi."
"And why do you want to go?"
Luke gave an ironic smile, "Lots of memories. Lots of reminders of my success. Too strong with the Force to run away from being a Jedi."
Lor San laughed, "I can see where you would struggle. Alright, so the scales are balanced, but I think I know how to get you to make a decision."
"How's that?"
"Answer this one question: what would be the consequence – a new one, mind you, not a continuation of something like abandoning your sister – what would be the consequence of you leaving for Ahch-to today and never returning?"
Luke thought hard.
"I suppose to would be that no one would ever find it again," Luke answered. He took a long pause to think about the situation. "You have to understand; I don't want to be a Jedi anymore… but that doesn't mean no one else should be. Our history has to be preserved, and maybe someday, someone else can start it again, fix our mistakes, and rebuild. I just can't be a part of that."
"And if you go to Ahch-to that can't happen?" Lor San inquired.
"There's going to be records they follow, but to be cut off from the birthplace of it all, it's not fair to the generations to come. If there was a way I could ensure that that legacy doesn't die-"
"What if I offered you that?"
Luke looked at him oddly.
Lor San was quiet as his plan formulated, "I may not be a Jedi, but the Church of the Force respects and honors what you and the brave Jedi before you did. We can preserve the history and pass it on to the Jedi of the future."
"But what about Ahch-to?" Luke asked. "No one can find it without this data pouch."
Lor San smiled, "Then give it to me."
"… What?"
"Give it to me."
Luke frowned and sad nothing.
"Give it to me, and then go to Ahch-to," Lor San urged. "Give yourself some time alone to work through this all. Mourn your losses, accept their deaths, and rediscover why it is you love the Force. Be something you've been unable to be for years: a normal man. Don't be the hero who destroyed the Death Star, the Leader of Rogue Squadron, or the Jedi Grandmaster. Be Luke Skywalker, and find again who that is. I will keep the map safe until the day the Galaxy truly needs the Jedi again. And with or without you, the Jedi will thrive, and you will find peace."
Luke took a deep breath, "Okay. I'll do it."
"Perfect."
"But you have to promise me two things."
"Anything."
"Promise me that unless the world truly, absolutely, has no other option needs me… Don't send anyone to find me," Luke warned. "I want to stay hidden unless there is no other way out. Promise?"
Lor San nodded gravely, "Promise. What your other request?"
Luke unfastened the data pouch and pressed it into Lor San's hand, but did not let go.
"Swear to me that the First Order will never get their hands on this," Luke requested.
Lor San smiled and clapped his other hand overtop Luke's, "I'll give my life to protect this."
Little did they know, in fourteen years, Lor San Tekka's promise would come true.
Having said his goodbyes to Lor San, Luke climbed into the cockpit of his X-Wing. He took a deep breath and set the coordinates in his X-Wing to Ahch-to. In a few minutes, the calculations were complete and with the press of a button, he would be on his way to Ahch-to.
And yet, he found he couldn't press the button.
"Daddy, come back."
Images of Rey had flooded his mind, her tears leaving a scar in his brain. His little girl had suffered a tragic death and now would suffer an entirety buried under the sand of Jakku.
Rey cried as she lied in the sand, clutching her doll and crying out, "Daddy! Where are you, Daddy? I want to go home!"
Luke clutched his head, eyes squeezed shut as he tried to rid his mind of the images.
"Daddy, please!" Rey sobbed. "Daddy, please come get me! Daddy!"
Just a press of a button.
"Daddy!"
"AHHH! I CAN'T!" Luke slammed his fist against the console. He rubbed his head in a frenzy, almost like he thought he could physically extract the visions from his mind. "I CAN'T DO IT!"
Then the images were gone.
Luke panted; the world around him perfectly silent. His mind desperately ran over all the information, considering his options. Rey. Felicity. Han. Leia. Artoo. Threepio. Ben. Lor San. Poe. Kalonia. Hosnian Prime. Rornian. Ahch-to. Tonides. Jakku. So many choices. So many obligations. So many failures.
What was he supposed to do?
"Daddy, please come back," Rey begged again.
And then he made his decision.
"I can't keep the vision out of my head," Luke said to himself. "She's my daughter. I've gotta find her."
And in a moment that would change the course of history, Luke punched in the coordinates for Jakku and took off.
As he flew to Jakku, one mission was set in his mind. No matter how long it took, even if he had to sift through every single grain of sand on Jakku with his bare hands, he would find Rey and give her a proper burial. Maybe then he might finally be able to get some closure.
And sure enough, Luke would find Rey on Jakku.
He just didn't expect her to be alive.
A/N: Yes, the reunion is next chapter. I don't know whether I'm more excited to write it, or to finally stop getting reviews bugging me about it. Nah, I love you guys, I'm just kidding… mostly.
So, since I'm making you guys wait an extra chapter for the reunion I thought we'd play a little game. If you can solve the answer to my question, I'll send you a sneak peak of the next chapter (it might take a bit as I've yet to write a preview moment. And to those who I've told the last line, I promise that's not the preview bit.) You must send it via a signed review and have your private messaging turned on.
In the last chapter, Luke met a woman named Sienna Ternan who looked exactly like Felicity Rhiaon. Felicity Rhiaon is modelled after the actress Felicity Jones, who inspired the name Sienna Ternan. Where did I get the name Sienna Ternan?
The Sienna part will probably be easy to find, but Ternan might take a little digging. You must figure out both parts to get the sneak peak.
Happy solving!