Explaining her miraculous recovery to the locals was not exactly a simple feat.
She tried telling them it was not so severe an injury. That their species healed more quickly - not exactly a lie, if you considered Jedi a species unto themselves…
They were fairly quick to embrace it once they realized she was just as capable as Ben, however. She was just thankful for the diversion.
Rey had never built a structure before - never used tools or materials like those available to them in the village. But according to Ben, Luke had been a great champion of teaching such survival skills, and passed his knowledge on to her. She had to admit the satisfaction that came with completing one of their structures was a bit addictive. She wasn't sure if it was the sense of contributing to a community, the chance to work with her hands, or spending time alone with him. Perhaps it was all three.
Soon enough their debt was repaid, and Ben's mind was on their next move. Hers was more hesitant.
"We have to know what the city is like, at the very least," he said one night at the village dinner. He was trying to settle her fears that he was pushing them on too eagerly. She already knew it would be their last night there.
A young boy loitered near their regular seats, but said nothing. His eyes were on Ben's back. Rey smiled at him. It was not the first time she'd seen him.
Their host had told her plenty of him. His parents had died in a mudslide that wiped out a nearby settlement. He now drifted about the town, all alone.
He was an orphan. Just like them.
"You at least need to say hello to your fan," Rey murmured the words into her mug so the boy couldn't hear. Ben only looked confused. She nodded to the boy silently, and he followed her gaze.
The boy scattered immediately, ducking through the crowd and away. But she knew he'd be back.
Ben chuckled. "How long?"
"Last few days. I think he likes you."
He shook his head as he chewed a piece of grilled fish. "He has poor taste."
"Not so poor," she sipped her drink after speaking, eyes burning into his. He looked away.
They gathered their supplies silently when they should have been sleeping. Set out in the dead of night, only a rudimentary locator beacon directing them to the city.
It became very clear only half of the way to their destination that the city was nothing like the village.
Ships streaked through the sky, coming in for landings and disappearing into orbit.
This would be the perfect place to fix a hyperdrive.
And an even better place to be captured.
She wanted to turn around. Head back to the village. Hyperdrive be damned. There was a home for them there, the faint outline of it had been growing in her mind's eye. They still had a chance at it.
They arrived at twilight. The city was bustling, clearly alive with the kind of night life that most sane people would avoid.
Ben's eyes were not on the city's skyline. But the harsh shapes that hung above it.
Star Destroyers.
Not here. Not after everything.
She was glad, at the least, that they had attempted to disguise themselves. Her hair was curled in elaborate braids, face dirty, scars unhidden, body dwarfed by the enormous jacket Ben had given her. His hair was half braided and tucked into a bun, a scarf securely over his nose and mouth. They looked like average, filthy junkers. She just hoped it was enough.
Finding a scrapper with the parts they needed was easy enough. Finding a way to acquire those parts without a credit to their names was…interesting.
The first man they tried refused to bargain for services, and was not weak willed enough to succumb to their mind tricks. The second only dealt through a remote, and was not one to be intimidated.
They were forced to duck down an alley to dodge a passing group of Stormtroopers before they could locate a third.
"I'm beginning to think this was a bad idea."
"Thanks for saying so," Rey huffed. Ben straightened.
"Start fresh in the morning?"
Rey blinked hard at the subject change. He nodded to a run-down looking motel behind her. She couldn't help the way her nose wrinkled at its blinking neon sign. Ben just shook his head as he pushed her toward the doors.
"If they charge by the hour, we're leaving."
Ben could agree to those terms.