Special thank you to miranda88 who suggested I make Finn's colour be aquamarine and Teng's be maroon. I'm actually going to switch them so Teng is aquamarine to go with the blue/green motif I'm looking to establish, and Finn is maroon because the other members of the First Order are reds (Hux is blood orange and Phasma is scarlet.) Enjoy your reward of naming Teng's parents. Ronhar and Saché Malar are wonderful names.

Actually I realised that Miri's colour was aquamarine, but I don't feel like going back to change it, so I'll probably just pull some parallels between Miri and Teng out of… something.

I have officially purchased my tickets for The Last Jedi. I'm actually going to see a double feature where they show TFA first and then TLJ. Perfect way to watch it considering the resolution of the cliffhanger is literally only a set of credits and an opening crawling away.

I'm so excited for the new movie, and all I can say is that I know I'll be leaving the theatre in one of two moods: unbearably smug over being right for two years about Rey being Luke's daughter… Or even more pissed off than I was at the ending of Rogue One. I literally haven't watched that movie since opening night. I get killing off Cassian and Jyn, even if I wouldn't do it myself (obviously with the roles of Felicity and Diego in this story) but it felt so cheap how they did it, and the stupid argument of "well they were never mentioned in the Original Trilogy even though plenty of people weren't mentioned in the OT, and that's why we had to kill them off in a really lazy literal deus ex machina."

On a happier note, I saw Murder on the Orient Express, and Daisy Ridley is amazing in it.

Dirty version available on AO3.

The Long Way Home

Chapter Thirty-Seven

One Man's Trash

AGE THIRTEEN

There isn't much to Niima besides the Blobfish's concession stand, particularly if you don't have credits. There's the bazaar where you can buy guns and black-market stuff, and a couple of launch bays that pass for a spaceport. But nothing anyone leading a normal life would want.

- Rey's Survival Guide

It was a truth that all residents of Niima Outpost had to admit at some point or another: Niima Outpost was a boring place. Everyone had the same day: wake up, scavenger, barter with Plutt, eat, sleep, repeat. Nothing exciting ever happened on Jakku, and news of the world tended to show up several years late. The story of the Burning of Rornian had only just reached Niima Outpost, and the conclusion of the story with the reported "fate" of Luke Skywalker's wife and daughter were still years away. In fact, as far as Niima Outpost was concerned, Luke Skywalker's wife and child were still on the run.

So when Unkar Plutt purchased a new retinue of weaponry, his thugs decided to make their own entertainment.

The crowd winced as the staff cracked against Vance Thurinos's skull, and Roke sent the alien to the ground cold.

"Winner – Roke," Kerlos Slarga announced, holding up Roke's arm.

There was a polite round of clapping as Vance was dragged out of the fighting circle. Aletha was waiting at the side of the new wooden structure with her medical bag and a cot at the ready.

"That was a nasty takedown," Rey said as she assisted Aletha in treating Vance.

"Well, this whole fighting ring thing is a nasty business," Aletha had Rey hold Vance's head steady as she rolled the bandages around it. "I've heard much worse happens in Zygerria, and not just in the pits themselves."

"Look at Roke," Rey said in disgust as the thug fought a new contender.

Kael Merquise wasn't one of Plutt's thugs, but rather a fellow scavenger. While the thugs fought each other for bragging rights and to show off their talents to the residents (aka remind them what happens when you mess with Plutt,) the rest of Niima Outpost was allowed to fight the thugs for reward. Everyone who wanted to watch the matches had to pay half a portion, and if a regular person beat a thug, they would win the daily pay of portions. If more than one resident won against a thug, the winnings would be split… however such an occurrence had yet to happen. Residents could also fight each other and the winner would get a prize of five portions per victory.

"I would love to just take that staff from him," Rey glared at Roke as he swung the quarterstaff across Kael's shins.

Aletha grinned, "I would pay good money to see that. Someone needs to put Roke in his place."

"You have already," Rey looked at his steelpecker scarred arms. "And anyway, you don't pay to watch these. They pay you to be on standby."

"As much as I hate these wretched things, I do admit they keep me in business. Thanks for helping me out today."

"No problem. Anytime we can get Quom to get off his lazy butt and go scavenge is a good day."

"I resent that statement!"

Rey and Aletha looked up to see Luke and Quom returning from their bartering with Plutt.

"You two back already?" Aletha asked as Luke hugged Rey. "Mustn't been a very big haul."

"I think you underestimate my abilities," he greeted her with a kiss. "And Quom, Rey's right, you are getting lazy. It was bad enough when I first got here, once we started Rey on scavenging you got worse, and now that you have Teng working for us you've been terrible."

"Why go out personally when I've got a guy instead with a keen sense of jackpot loads, a girl with the agility of a vulptex, and a boy to do all the fixing and polishing? Personally, I think I excel in the management field."

"Where is Teng?" Rey asked as one of the thug carried off Vance under Aletha's watchful eye.

"Off checking out the new ship merchants," Quom replied. "I think the boy has quite the silver tongue."

Rey raised an eyebrow.

"Don't test that theory."

She rolled her eyes, "Come on, Uncle Quom! Just because he's a boy my age doesn't mean I'm going to make out with him. I have more standards than that."

They would be making out within two years.

"What have you girls been up to today?" Luke asked. His arm was wrapped around Aletha's waist. "Fighting ring all day?"

"Actually we went out hunting this morning," Aletha smiled.

"Hunting?" Luke frowned.

"Shot some steelpeckers that were bothering Karica's bloggins," Aletha reported.

"Just got back?" Quom asked.

Karica was the first of the Sacred Villages, about an hour's drive from Niima Outpost.

"Few hours ago," Aletha shrugged. "Bobbajo gave me a good price for the steelpeckers, and then we came here."

Bloggins are avians with eyestalks and long tails. Their eyestalks let them see predators coming from far away, but this doesn't do much good because they might be the dumbest creatures in the galaxy. Their reaction to trouble is to panic, run around in circles squawking, and then they try to fly (which they aren't very good at).

The Sacred Villagers raise bloggins for meat, feathers, and oil. And if you're in Niima, Bobbajo the Crittermonger will have some trussed for sale on his back.

- Rey's Survival Guide

"Is he still telling that ridiculous story that his creatures are responsible for the destruction of the first Death Star?" Luke scowled.

"Barely anyone believes that, Luke," Aletha reminded.

Luke crossed his arms, "It's the ones that do that bother me."

"Don't worry, Dad," Rey laughed. "We know it was Skywalker who destroyed the Death Star. No needed to get weirdly offended… Well, Skywalker and Han Solo."

He groaned, "Why do you always make Luke stories about Han?"

"Because Han Solo is so much cooler than Luke Skywalker."

A chuckle at his side made Luke glare at Quom, "Stop enjoying this."

"Never."

"If it makes you feel better," Rey added, "Aletha's cooler than both of them."

Luke blinked, "What?"

"Oh, thanks Sunshine," Aletha hugged Rey. "But I'm not cooler than Han Solo or Luke Skywalker."

"Of course you are," Rey said. "They may have done some awesome things, but you taught me to shoot your sniper rifle this morning. Makes you so much cooler than some story."

"You taught her to do what?" Luke exclaimed.

"The girl needs to defend herself, Luke," Aletha stood by her decision.

"I'm sorry, but you gave me hell after teaching my own daughter own to drive, and then you turn around and teach someone who is not technically your own child how to fire a weapon?"

"That's precisely why I taught her. If you deem her old enough to control a large machine that can cause massive destruction, surely she can handle a small, contained one."

"You really can get petty, can't you?"

"It's been five years since the Roke incident, and you're figuring it out now?"

Rey laughed and looked back at the fighting ring. Haken Ruo was fighting Thalo Tame.

"Hey, where did Roke go?" she asked.

"GUYS! GUYS!"

Teng Malar's voice shouted across the market seconds before he emerged racing through the crowd.

"Guys! Guys!" Teng skidded to a stop, his eyes lit up in more excitement than they had ever seen. He grabbed Quom's arm and started to try and pull him forward, "Come on, you've gotta see this!"

"Whoa, steady boy," Quom pulled his arm out of Teng's grasp. "Settle down, son."

"Yeah, Teng, what's going on?" Rey asked with a frown.

"Guys, this ship!" Teng panted. "You gotta see the state of this ship!"

"What ship?" Luke asked.

"I don't know what it's called, but it's new in the yard. Come on, you gotta see it. Quick before someone else approaches the Captain with an offer of work."

"You've made a contact with the Captain?" Quom was surprised. Usually Teng didn't take such initiative without direct orders from Quom.

"Well… no," Teng admitted. "But come on, this ship needs major work. It looks like absolute garbage. We could really rake it in on this."

Luke and Quom exchanged a look.

"Oh, come on," Quom decided. "Let's give it a shot."

Without a word, Teng grabbed Rey's hand, and the two teens took off with a pair of grinning and runs. The adults traded amused grins.

"So, are we going to do a pool on this?" Aletha asked as the group casually strolled towards Niima Outpost's 'landing port.' "Because at this rate, there's no way those two aren't hooking up in a few years."

"I say two years," Luke guessed.

"I say one," Aletha said.

"I say next week," Quom groaned.

Romance was the furthest thing from Rey's mind as she raced through Niima Outpost holding Teng Malar's hand. She laughed with Teng, feeling perfectly comfortable and at ease with him as they pushed through the town.

Rey didn't much like people grabbing her hand without permission – it was something she remembered Jarex doing a lot – and Teng hadn't liked it either. He said it reminded him of the way his mother would always grab his hand and pull him behind her protectively when dealing with the pirates.

It was an incident while scavenging that had started them with the hand holding. Teng had been on a shaky ledge when it started to break. Terrified of another X-Wing incident, Rey grabbed Teng's hand and yanked him to safety. They had an awkward moment in which they agreed due to personal comfort levels not to do such a thing again. A few weeks, Teng instinctively grabbed Rey's hand and yanked her behind a rock ledge when they were divebombed by a steelpecker. After that, they had an unspoken agreement that they trusted each other enough to grab each other's hands without asking prior consent.

She didn't know it at the time, but as silly as it was, Rey would forever associate the juvenile act of hand holding as something very intimate… and her love for Teng.

"Just wait until you see this thing, Rey," Teng said. "It's just indescribably awful. Like… like the Quom's speeder of spaceships."

"Oh, now you're building it up too much," she grinned.

Teng pulled her to a stop, "Trust me, I'm not."

He pointed behind Rey, and when she turned, her jaw dropped.

"What a piece of garbage!" Rey exclaimed as she set eyes on the Corellian freighter.

She couldn't believe the ship before her. It was atrocious. It was ugly. It was poorly put together. It was modified to hell and back. It was trash. It was-

…It was familiar.

No, that couldn't be possible. If she had seen a ship like this before, she would remember it.

But she did remember it.

No, she was being silly. She didn't know this ship. How could she? And even if she did know a ship remotely like this, what were the actual odds that it would have ended up with her on Jakku?

Unless it belonged to someone looking for her.

"Have you seen the crew?" Rey asked.

"Uh, no," Teng frowned. He thought she would have had a bigger reaction to the ship than staring blankly at it.

"Can we get closer to it?"

He stared at her oddly, "I guess."

She released Teng's hand and started walking towards it. Rey didn't blink or take in her surroundings as she moved towards the ship, drawn like a mohar to a flame.

Meanwhile, Luke was busy arguing with Aletha as they trailed with Quom behind the teenagers, completely obvious to what was going on.

"I'm not going to apologize for teaching Rey to shoot," Aletha exclaimed.

"You had no right to do that without my permission," Luke snapped. He was walking in front of Aletha, facing backwards as they fought. Uncle Owen always told him to look a person in the eye if you were going to argue with them. A little thing like motility wasn't going to stop Luke from being a gentleman. "She's my daughter, Aletha. I get to make those decisions."

"Oh, would you stop flip flopping with your opinion? I know I'm not her mother, but it feels like every day you keep redefining my role with her. How can you give me full permission to talk to her about things like the mechanics of sexual intercourse and the horrors of war, and have her assist in surgeries, and have Quom get her to scavenge ships and fix dangerous ships, and do all of that without running it by you, but then turn around and get mad at me for teaching her to protect herself?"

"She's still too young to need to learn fighting and weaponry."

"Rey is thirteen years old, Luke. She's not a little girl. Jakku isn't like civilized planets, no one's going to be giving her a break anymore. Most people don't even know about the Jarex thing these days. People die and leave here all the time. It's not the same group of people that were here eight years ago. Pretty soon she's going to have to defend herself, and I'm going to make sure she can do so. Quom back me up on this."

"Hell no. I'm not getting in the middle of this."

"Fine," Luke said. "Since it's apparently so confusing, let me state it for the record: I don't want anyone but me teaching her how to use a weapon without my permission. Understood?"

"Fine," Aletha narrowed her eyes. "But that doesn't solve the issue."

"There is no issue."

"Oh, there's the ship," Quom said casually. He crossed his arms, "Wow, Teng was right. That is trash."

Luke and Aletha just stared at each other.

"I know you're hiding from the First Order, Luke. We both know that you can't do it forever."

"I know it's not going to be forever, but it's not going to be today."

"You can't control that. What if it does happen today? What if your past comes crashing back into your life here and now? Wow that ship is garbage."

Luke rolled his eyes, "My past isn't going to come crashing back into my life today."

He turned around and his jaw dropped.

Sitting in front of him was the freaking Millennium Falcon itself.

Luke's eyes were wide and his face pale. He was frozen in place, utterly petrified by shock and terror. Even if his brain was barely unable to process the sight before him, he was able to speak. That is, he was able to mutter something under his breath in Huttese that is too vulgar to write down.

The Millennium Falcon was here. Holy crap. What was the Millennium Falcon doing on Jakku? How did it get here? Did Han and Chewie bring it here? Had his secret somehow gotten out? Maybe Jarex blabbed and Han found out, and he came racing here to get Rey and Luke and beat the hell out of his idiot renegade brother-in-law for breaking Leia's heart.

He couldn't handle it; he couldn't face Han. Not here and now. Oh, no, no, no, no Luke was screwed. Rey's survival couldn't be public knowledge, not yet. She was still so young. But Han would never keep that sort of secret from Leia, and Luke could never ask such a thing.

When his mind finally caught up to the situation, his instincts kicked in. He reached out into the Force and searched for that familiar yellow-gold Signature Han Solo carried. Luke looked for any familiar Signature. Chewbacca's golden-brown. Leia's navy blue. Lando's black.

Luke sensed no one familiar. All he felt were his sky blue, Rey's lilac, Teng's aquamarine, Aletha's crisp white, Quom's rusty grey, and a multitude of other unfamiliar colours. But that didn't mean his family wasn't around. Maybe Leia was here and blocking their colours from Luke. Maybe she sensed the familiar lilac and figured out-

Rey!

Luke's eyes set on his daughter walking towards the Falcon, and he shot into action.

"Rey!" he yelled, racing forward.

Luke reached her in seconds, before anyone could realize what was going on. He grabbed Rey's arm, jolting her out of the mini trance upon her, and yanked her back away from the Falcon.

"Rey, we have to go now!" Luke's voice was utterly panicked.

"Dad?" she blinked. "What's-"

"No time to explain. We have to leave now."

"Leave where? The walker?"

"Maybe the walker? Maybe Jakku altogether. I'll figure it out later. We just have to go."

"Luke, what is going on?" Aletha exclaimed as she, Quom, and Teng raced up to them.

Quom glared at Teng, "What'd you do?"

"Nothing," Teng was as confused as the rest.

"Dad, why are we leaving?" Rey pulled her arm out of his grasp. "Is it because of the ship?"

"Luke?" Quom grabbed his arm and pulled him in close. He whispered in his ear, "Seriously, what's with all the fuss? This a you know what thing?"

Luke took a deep breath and muttered back, "Quom, that's the Millennium Falcon."

Quom burst out laughing.

Luke shoved him away, "You're not helping!"

"I'm not trying to help. Oh boy, this'll be entertaining!"

"What will be entertaining?" Aletha looked between them. "Luke, seriously, what is going on?"

He sighed and gazed at Aletha. He wanted to confess everything to her, make her understand the severity of the situation. Make her understand why he had to take Rey and leave. Ask her to come with them so he didn't have to leave a piece of his heart with her.

But he couldn't do it.

"I'm sorry." Luke looked at Rey, "Come on, we have to go. I'll… explain everything. I promise."

Tears and disbelief were in Aletha's eyes, "But Luke-"

"I love you," he whispered. Luke pulled her in for one last kiss. "We'll see each other again."

"Wait! Luke!" Aletha exclaimed as Luke grabbed Rey's arm and led her away.

Quom placed a hand on Aletha's shoulder to hold her back. He would have the burden to explain things to her once Luke was gone.

Teng watched helplessly as Rey was pulled away from him. Her teary and confused eyes didn't leave his own. She put all her energy into locking the image of those vibrant green orbs in her mind one last time. Rey wouldn't let herself forget him; not like her mother.

Luke was collecting this thoughts, trying to make a game plan of what to do next and how to explain things to Rey when he literally smacked into Unkar Plutt.

"Hello, Erso," Plutt grinned, arms crossed as Roke and Dirk stood on either side of him. "Like my new ship?"

Luke blinked, "Your ship?"

"Dad, what's going on?" Rey asked.

"Give me a minute. What do you mean your ship? Do you mean-"

"That hunk of junk that's really not worth our time?" Roke finished. His quarterstaff was casually hanging from his shoulder.

"Oh, it's worth our time," Plutt chuckled. "I'm sure it's very valuable to some people."

Luke narrowed his eyes.

"So that thing is your ship?" Rey said. "Why is Dad freaking out about it?"

Plutt raised his eyes – he didn't possess eyebrows – at Luke. Luke glared at him with a simple message: Tell Rey the truth, and I'll kill you.

"No idea," Plutt answered.

Dirk scowled, "But Boss, isn't it because it's-"

Roke punched him in the stomach.

"Hey, don't you touch him!" Rey launched herself forward, only to be suddenly pulled back by Teng.

"Easy there," Teng restrained her. "That's a battle you're not going to win."

"I bet I could," Rey growled.

Roke chuckled, "Anytime you want to fight, Princess, I'm up for it. I don't give a damn who your dad is."

"Wrong choice, Roke," Luke warned.

"Luke," Aletha called as she and Quom caught up to them. "What is going on?"

"Now there's another woman I want to face off with." Roke grinned and stroked his quarterstaff. Vance Thurinos's blood still glistened at the end of it, "What do you say, Kymeri? Let's go a round in the ring."

Aletha narrowed her eyes, "I've survived on Jakku by not being stupid. Now, seriously, what's going on?"

Luke was silent as all eyes fell on him.

It seemed he had only one choice.

"I…" He couldn't believe what he was about to say, "I used to work on that ship."

Aletha and the kids looked at each other in surprised, as Quom and the goons peered at Luke in interest at his chosen words. Technically it was true… from a certain point of view.

He swore he heard Obi-Wan Kenobi laughing at him.

"You worked on that ship," Rey repeated.

"Apparently not very well," Teng muttered.

She elbowed him.

"Ow!"

"Is the owner here?" Luke asked Plutt.

"Your friend? Nah, word is that he's been looking for this for almost a year now. See, I stole it from the Irving Boys, who stole it from Ducain, who stole it from your friend, H-"

"I get it. So, he's not here then?"

"Your past is safe for a while longer yet, but you can guarantee he'll be looking for it."

"If he arrives, I'll deal with it appropriately."

"Appropriately?" Plutt laughed. "Seemed like you thought the best way to deal with it was to frantically run off, bumbling nonsensical explanations."

"I panicked," Luke said evenly. "I feared for the safety of my daughter and didn't think clearly."

"So this friend is really an enemy?" Aletha asked.

He turned and looked guilty at her, "No, not at all. I just… I feared what it meant if he found me. Life has been so peaceful on Jakku, and we've finally settled into some weird sort of normality. I'm worried that something's going to happen that will change everything."

"Who's this friend, Dad?" Rey asked.

Luke sighed, "That's a story for another day, but he was my best friend during the war… Actually, he's the best friend I've ever had."

Quom loudly cleared his throat.

"What?" Luke frowned.

"Really?" Quom shot. "You're just going to stand there and say he's your best friend? Fine. Screw you, Aletha's my best friend now."

Luke groaned. Why did he feel like five years from now Han and Quom would have a best friend off? He had to stop hanging around such insane people.

"So to be clear, nobody who owned this ship or was associated with this ship during the time I spent on it, is currently on Jakku?" Luke asked Plutt.

"Correct," Plutt nodded.

Luke glanced back at the ship. Deep down, part of him yearned to race onto it and relish in the memories of the ship that had once been his home. But he knew for the sake of Rey he would have to stay away.

"Alright then," Luke said. "If you promise not to drag me into this mess, I'll stay away from your ship."

Plutt and Roke exchanged a look.

"That's not exactly going to work."

"What do you mean?"

"I've got a bit of a… proposition for you, Erso."

"The answer is no," Luke replied immediately. He grabbed the arms of Rey and Aletha, "Come on, let's go."

"Hear me out, Luke," Plutt exclaimed. "I just want you to check over the ship. Make sure there's nothing or no one hiding in any secret compartments that I might overlook. You must know the ship inside out."

"It's not happening. Come on, everyone."

"But Luke," Teng frowned.

"Come on, Son," Quom urged Teng forward. "It's Luke's decision."

"I'll pay you!" Plutt offered.

"Not happening," Luke just marched forward, guiding Rey and Aletha as Quom and Teng followed behind.

"Three portions a day!"

Luke didn't look back.

"For a year!"

Rey hesitated, but Quom nudged her forward.

"For each of the five of you."

The group stopped in their tracks.

"Excuse me?" Aletha turned back slowly.

"All five of you get three portions a day for a year," Plutt promised. "All I want is one day of Erso checking out the ship."

Luke felt the eyes of the others on them. He knew none of them would ask, but the offer was tempting to them. While Luke and Rey ate three portions a day on a regular basis, Aletha, Quom, and Teng did not. Sure, they certainly ate a lot better than they had before Luke's influence. Quom's fur was thicker and shinier, Aletha's ribs no longer stuck out, and in the past year, Teng had gained five inches of height, thirty pounds, and a good set of muscle. But they still went to bed hungry. A year of food could mean the world to them.

Could he really say no?

"Fine, I'll do it," Luke agreed.

"Be here bright and early tomorrow morning," Plutt said. "We'll be waiting."

"Then if you'll excuse us, we have work to do," Luke led the group away.

"Thank you, Luke," Aletha said quietly as Rey raced forward with Teng to discuss what all had occurred. "You didn't have to do that."

"For you, of course I did," Luke wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her forehead.

She glanced back at Quom who was giving them a respectable distance, "Does Quom know something I don't?"

"I may have been forced into a situation several years ago where I had to explain part of my past to him because he saw something he shouldn't have. He actually thought I should tell you too, but I told him no, out of fear of your safety."

"The less I know, the better?"

"Exactly." He watched her, "Does that bother you?"

"A little," she confessed, "but I know it's not malicious, and it really doesn't matter. I don't care who or what you were before Jakku. All I know is that I love the man called Luke Erso, not whatever you were before."

"And I love the woman called Doctor Aletha Kymeri. Not Medic Aletha Anthea."

She smiled at him coyly, "You know, if you have to be in town bright and early tomorrow, there's really no point in you going to the walker tonight."

Luke raised an eyebrow, "Hey Quom?"

"Yeah?" he answered.

"Can you take Rey tonight?"

Quom grinned, "Attaboy."

Luke rolled his eyes.

Rey shuddered, not needing an explanation, "I miss the days of euphemisms."

Teng laughed, taking a bit of joy in Rey's reddening face, "Someone's getting lucky tonight."

"Shut up!" she elbowed him.

Teng just laughed.

Plutt watched with narrowed eyes as the group left.

"You know Skywalker's not going to tell you anything about the ship," Roke said.

"And that's why we'll be watching him very closely," Plutt replied. "He's bound to say or do something that we can exploit."

"Oh, so if he's quick to bypass something-"

"That's where something's hidden."

"I don't know. Skywalker seems a little too smart for that. How do we know he's not just going to steal the ship from us?"

"Which is why we're not telling him that we found the Imperial tracking device they got bugged with back on the Death Star. If he hasn't found it in twenty-eight years, he's not going to find it now."

Dirk frowned but stayed silent. His gut was telling him this wasn't a nice thing to do, but he vaguely understood the importance of the Millennium Falcon to Rey. She was a nice girl and didn't deserve to have the First Order take her like her Mom. So if keeping his mouth shut was going to keep her safe, then his mouth would stay shut.

…Plus he really didn't want to get punched by Roke again.

"I swear that gets better every time," Aletha panted in the aftermath of their lovemaking that night.

"That's because it does," Luke settled back into the bed – their usual method of pushing Aletha's cot and the medical cot together – with her. He held her and kissed her as they basked in the afterglow. "You know, I'm really glad that I found you here. I don't know if I could have made it these past eight years without you."

"Definitely would have killed Quom if I hadn't been here."

"And Roke and Plutt and Jarex and a good number of people who wanted to mess with my daughter."

"So, speaking of Quom, I've gotta ask, why does he get to know about your past, and I don't?"

Luke sighed, "Aletha, the only reason he knows is that he ended up in the wrong time and place. If I had my way, he wouldn't know."

"But he does, so why don't I get that honour? And don't give me that whole it's for your own protection. I'm being actively hunted by the First Order myself."

"I… I just don't want to lose you." Luke stroked her arm as he let himself get lost in old memories, "My mother died minutes after I was born, and my father was indirectly responsible for it. My Aunt and Uncle raised me, and were violently murdered when I was nineteen. My childhood best friend was shot down in battle by my father. The first partner I ever loved was killed before I could tell her how I felt. My father turned out to not only be alive, but an Imperial. He saved my life, but gave his in the process. Both my mentors died before I was ready to lose them. My wife was violently murdered by someone I love. Everything I worked for, for twenty years was taken from me. And the moment I heard that my little girl had died was the worst moment of my life. I couldn't cope with it all, and that's how I ended up here. If I lost you-"

"You won't," Aletha promised. "I'm not going anywhere, I promise."

"What about the day the First Order finds one of us? What happens then? Do we stay and fight together, or does one of us bow out to protect the other?"

"…I don't know. Truthfully, I'm not much for plans. Life has never given me the pleasure of letting me fulfill them. But I do know this, no matter what happens, I will always love you. Even if you turn out to be Han Solo himself… except for the fact he's married. I don't mess around with married men unless a late wife is involved."

"Trust me, you're not my mistress. I would rather die than have an affair."

"Good, because if I do find out that I've been your mistress, I may have to kill you." Aletha frowned, "Actually scratch that. If your wife is alive, I'm getting the hell as far away from you as possible. That woman terrifies me."

"Don't worry, she would kill me on your behalf… Very slowly and painfully too." He kissed her forehead and got out of bed, "I'm going to go get some water. You want some?"

"Not to drink, but I could use a wipe down," Aletha watched him dress. "I am absolutely drenched in sweat, and a lot of it is not even my own."

"I like to get in a good workout every now and then," Luke grinned and kissed her. "I'll be right back."

Luke grabbed a pair of canteens and headed for the well. It was the pitch black of night, and no one in Niima Outpost was outside. They were all either sound asleep or off scavenging.

He was in a pretty good mood as he filled the canteens at the town well. Luke glanced at the Millennium Falcon in the distant. He shook his head. He couldn't believe it; what were the actual odds that the Millennium Falcon showed up on Jakku of all places? How did Han even lose it? A part of him worried that he might have lost it because Han had been killed, but Luke dismissed the idea. He would have sensed it if Han died. Once upon a time he might have believed otherwise because of what happened to Felicity and Rey, but their deaths had been explained by Rey not actually dying, and Felicity's ysalamir serum.

He did wonder why the serum needed two parts though.

Luke shook the thought away. He was no chemist.

He splashed some water on his face, and rubbed it on his sweaty back. He looked down at his reflection in the water. Dirty, hairy, and ragged; if Han had been on the ship, would he have even recognized Luke?

He wondered what Han, Leia, Chewie, and Lando looked like now. Luke knew what Artoo and Threepio looked like; no one ever dared changing their plating. He let his mind drift to his other friends: Diego, Wedge, Kalonia. What did Poe look like? All grown up now. Poe was now older than Luke was at the Battle of Endor. Now there was a scary thought.

What did Ben look like?

Luke quickly pushed it away. He didn't care what Kylo Ren looked like; the boy he loved had died along with Alyla, Reine, and Felicity. Along with the man they once called Luke Skywalker.

The past was gone, and so was that life. No point in worrying about it anymore.

He sensed someone moving not far from him. Luke looked up and was surprised to see the figure creeping onto the Millennium Falcon. It was Rey.

Luke hesitated; his gut told him to go after her, but his heart knew better. The Force was calling Rey to the ship of her past, and he understood her need to go explore. She was a teenaged Skywalker, and that was not a thing easily contained.

He smiled as his daughter climbed the loading ramp and disappeared into the ship. She would find safety in the walls of a ship she once called a second home. It was in that ship she had taken her first steps, and perhaps it was in that ship she took her first steps into the mystery that was her past.

Luke capped the canteens, and returned to Aletha's bed.

Rey stared at the ship in wonder. Neither Quom nor Teng had noticed her sneak out, both surrendered to slumber and making the exact same high-pitched snore. She knew she shouldn't be out alone, and certainly not breaking onto one of Unkar Plutt's ships, but she couldn't help herself. She knew this ship.

Had Dad taken her on this ship before? She swore she could hear a toddler's distant giggle.

Rey took in the sight of the ship with wide eyes. The rusty hallway, the ratty and overmodified cockpit, a ladder leading up and down she vaguely understood to lead to guns, a hollow floor with cracks that she somehow knew to lift up into smuggling compartments. She knew it all.

If you had told Rey the name of this ship – which Rey actually hadn't bothered to look at, she now realized – she figured she couldn't tell you a thing about it. But setting her eyes on this familiar space, somehow she knew every inch of its interior.

She walked further into the ship until she came upon the lounge area. A semi-circle of seats surrounded a Holotable.

Rey frowned and ran her fingers along the perimeter. A chunk of the rim had been torn off. Not just cracked, but like a strong set of fingers had ripped it. That was wrong, she knew for some reason. There wasn't supposed to be a piece missing.

"Good girl, Rey," a familiar voice suddenly laughed.

She looked up and her heart stopped beating.

Her father was sitting at the table.

No, not her father – well, yes, her father – but he was younger. Rey couldn't tell how much younger, but his hair was fully blonde and he had no beard. And he was so clean. He wore a black getup that easy showcased how athletic he was. His expression was unburdened, carefree for once, and completely happy. A black glove was on his right hand, a wedding ring on his left, and a little girl on his lap.

Rey didn't recognize herself at first. She was too clean, too happy, chubby even a little. Her hair was down, and she wore a dress of all things. Rey couldn't remember ever wearing a dress. She was bouncing eagerly on her father's lap as they watched the Holotable before them.

They were playing a game on it, and sat across them was their opponent. His back was to her, so all Rey could see was greying brown hair, a cream coloured shirt, and a black vest.

"She must of cheated," the opponent declared.

"She's four years old," chided the younger Luke Erso. He looked at the little girl in his lap, "Your uncle is just a sore loser, isn't he?"

Little Rey giggled.

"Uncle?" Older Rey whispered.

"Fine, if she didn't cheat, then you did, Kid," Uncle said.

Dad rolled his eyes, "Or maybe I'm just a better player than you? I've had more practice. You rarely leave the cockpit for a game."

"Kid, the only reason I'm back here right now is I've got a great co-pilot. If he wasn't here, either you or I would be in that cockpit right now."

"We do have another person on board."

"The day I let Felicity Rhiaon fly my ship is the day this family checks me into the nuthouse. Now, admit it, you're cheating."

"You just hate admitting you're losing to a four-year-old. Now, Rey, how are we going to beat your uncle next?"

Little Rey giggled.

Older Rey stumbled back, and suddenly the scene was gone.

What in the Galaxy had been that? Was she dreaming? It made some sense; if she was actually asleep back in Quom's tent, it would explain why the ship seemed so familiar down to the last detail.

But she pinched herself and didn't stir.

Rey was awake.

The vision had been real. Was that some sort of long lost memory? Her heart told her that yes, that was what her father had looked like once upon a time, but had she really been aboard this ship with him? Did she really have an uncle?

"Listen to me, Rey," a woman's voice filled her mind. They were familiar words, almost like something from long ago. "You listen to me. Our family is going to come back for you. You do not go with anyone but our family. Do you understand?"

Rey didn't understand. She didn't understand why this ship seemed so familiar. Why it seemed to call for her… or maybe she did.

Maybe, as crazy as it sounded, somehow, someway… this ship was family.

A valuable thing scavengers overlook is information.

- Rey's Survival Guide

The sun was just barely starting to rise when Luke led Roke, Plutt, Dirk, Vance, and Kerlos to the Millennium Falcon. It looked so wrong to see the ship on Jakku, and yet the sight still made him smile. The ships held so many memories, and they all started to rush back to Luke.

Luke remembered the first time he saw the Millennium Falcon. After all the boasting Han had done, Luke expected it to be a glorious sight out of a storybook from its beauty and speed.

The result was far less than expected.

"What a piece of junk!" he exclaimed.

Obi-Wan looked over at him and smiled a little. He very much shared Luke's sentiment, even if he would never voice it.

Han meanwhile looked like Luke had just insulted his firstborn son.

"She'll make point five past lightspeed. She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts, Kid. I've made a lot of special modifications myself."

Out of his peripheral, Luke saw Obi-Wan roll his eyes. He had to hold back a grin because although Luke could see Han Solo was some smooth-talking scoundrel without the goods to backup him claims, he wasn't sure how dangerous the man was yet.

Although seriously, this ship was a pile of trash.

"But we're a little rushed, so if you'll just get on board we'll get out of here," Han pat a hand on Luke's back and urged him forward as he smiled at Obi-Wan.

"Can you believe this, Ben?" Luke muttered as they walked up the ramp. "Who does this guy think he is? He's so smug and overly confident. A slimeball. What kind of person would want to hang around a guy like that?"

"Actually," Obi-Wan glanced back at Han with a smile, "he reminds me a lot of your father."

"Are you ready?" Plutt asked, breaking Luke out of his memory.

Luke fixed his eyes on the ship and took a deep breath.

The Millennium Falcon it was garbage then, and it was garbage now. But still, it was home.

"Let's do this," Luke said.

Chills tingled down his spine as he set foot on the Millennium Falcon for the first time in eight years. The last time he had been on the ship had been landing on Rornian to start the cleanup process that triggered Luke's mental breakdown.

The ship was a little dirtier than last time, a little more banged up, and a little more modified, but by the Gods was it the same ship. It looked the mostly same: the same halls and mechanics Luke could traverse blindfolded. It sounded the same: worrying bangs and hums that always meant no good. It seemed the same: dirt, rust, and a suspicious burning that Han had declared years ago to give up on tried to locate. If it hadn't blown up yet, Han figured it wasn't going to blow up at all.

Luke never liked that statement, especially when Rey was aboard the ship.

As he looked around the familiar hallway while thinking of his daughter, Luke smiled. A memory tugged to the forefront of his mind of a very important event in Rey's life that had occurred in that very hallway.

"Come on, Sweetheart. Come to Mommy," Felicity was crouched on the floor in the hallway of the Millennium Falcon.

Luke was at the other end with Rey, helping her as she stood unsteadily to catch her if she fell. The they were trying to get Rey to take her first steps.

"Come on, Sweetheart," Felicity urged. "You can do it."

"Walk to mommy, Rey," Luke urged

"Would you two give it up?" Han chuckled as he came up next to Felicity. "If Rey hasn't done it in the last two hours, I highly doubt she'll randomly do it now."

"Hey, you got your own kid in the cockpit to critique, Loud Mouth Solo. Leave this one to us," Felicity said.

"Actually, Chewie is currently critiquing him in the co-pilot's seat."

Luke lifted his eyebrows, "Have you switched to Manual control?"

"Yep," Han grinned proudly. "The boy flies just like his old man."

The ship suddenly jerked roughly, and Luke's lightning fast reflexes caught Rey before she fell.

"Sorry!" Ben's voice called from the cockpit.

"Yep. Just like his father," Luke grinned as he tried to calm down the wailing Rey. "Shh, Sweetheart, it's okay. You're alright."

He reached into the Force to comfort her but already found Ben's forest green light trying to soothe Rey. Sure enough, within a minute, Rey's tears had dried.

"Good girl," Felicity smiled warmly, having just righted herself. She reached out her arms, "Now, come on. Walk to Mommy."

"Cut the girl a break," Han rolled his eyes. "It's not that important that you see her walk today."

Felicity narrowed her eyes, "Solo, considering I have spent a significant portion of her life away in a mental health facility and missed most of her firsts, yes. Yes, it is important to see this."

"Give it up, Fliss," Han knelt down beside her and assumed the identical open-armed stance. "It's not as easy as bending down and saying, Come here, Sweetheart. Come walk to Uncle Han."

Rey waddled the three steps straight into his arms.

"Oh my goodness!" Luke cried as the very shocked Han picked up his niece. He took Rey from Han and showered her with hugs, kisses, and praise, "That's my girl! Good job! I'm so proud of you!"

Felicity just stared at Han in frozen shock.

"Hey, whadya know?" Han grinned. "I guess it is that easy."

Felicity smiled, but it did not reach her eyes. In fact, there was a rather psychotic look in them as she stared unblinkingly at him, rising to her feet.

"You got her to walk," her voice was too pleasant as she stepped forward. She casually grabbed the shoulder of his vest and fiddled with it, "Weeks I've been trying to get her to walk and she just one waddles right up to you."

"Luck of the draw, I guess. You okay, Fliss?" Han frowned as she started to pull the vest over his face. His eyes went wide when she started to press down. "Hey careful, Fliss. Can't breathe when you do that… Fliss? Fliss? Hey knock it off! Fliss, stop it, you're smothering me! Luke! Call her off, Kid! Call her off!"

Luke laughed to himself. Felicity had always loved to play around with Han like that… Or at least he hoped Felicity had merely been playing.

Honestly, he couldn't tell.

"Let's get down to it, Skywalker," Plutt boomed looking a little lost being outside his concession stand for once. "Where are the smuggling hatches?"

Luke sighed, hoping Han wouldn't be too upset with him for doing this, but he had to for his family.

"Down here," Luke crouched to the floor and showed them the lines on the floor from the lids.

Roke pushed Luke aside, and the goons started ripping open compartments.

Luke shook his head and got to his feet. He knew they wouldn't find anything of value to Luke there. Han never kept things hidden unless he, Chewie, Lando, or Luke was around to protect it.

Luke knew better by now than to ask Han, Chewie, and Lando what were in the cargo boxes they were loading into the smuggling hatches; he just hauled them.

"Good, we should be go to go to Rodia without any problems," Han declared as they sealed the hatches.

Luke raised an eyebrow, "So everything's going to go wrong?"

"Almost immediately."

Luke shook his head.

"You wanna come see how this all goes south, Lando?" Han asked.

"I'd love too, but I've got a lovely, young Jedi waiting for me. You can just drop me on Rornian with Luke."

"How you got a woman to move in with you is beyond me."

"I'm not sure who was more upset with the move: Ben or Felicity." Luke paused, "I'll go with Felicity."

"Good choice," Han nodded. "But still, I just can't wrap my head around Lando Calrissian in love."

Lando scratched the back of his neck, "Well, we don't really like to put a label on it."

"You still haven't said I love you?" Luke asked. "I remember having a conversation with Alyla before Rey was born, and that was over five years ago."

"Some things don't need to be send. I don't need to tell her, and she doesn't need to tell me."

"A girl like that's gonna want commitment," Han pointed out.

"Alyla's sworn off marriage," Luke said.

"Well, with the whole slavery and on the run past she's had, she's going to at least want stability. You've been living together most of the time, but not always is going to work?"

"It's working for you and Leia," Lando pointed out.

"Yeah, but we've got a kid and a Luke to tie us together."

Lando fell silent.

"What is it?" Luke could sense Lando's discomfort.

"Well, we don't have a Luke to tie us together, but… there's something I need to tell you guys. Alyla and I are getting a kid."

Whatever Han's reaction to the statement was, Luke couldn't see it because there was a sudden roar and a blur of golden-brown fur. The next thing he knew, Lando was airborne in Chewbacca's arms in bone crushing hug.

"Alright, Buddy," Lando squirmed in Chewie's grasp. "Let me down. Thank you for being happy, but this isn't gonna happen for Alyla and I, if one of us is dead."

"You're getting a kid?" Han exclaimed. "Who is giving you a kid? Are you stealing one?"

"We're adopting," Lando said once Chewie had him back on the ground. "Began working with an agency and it's looking good."

"Congratulations," Luke smiled. "Are you two thinking about raising it on Rornian or Bespin?"

"Depends. Alyla is interested in finding a Force Sensitive kid, and if so, it'll be Rornian. But a Non-Sensitive will probably stay on Bespin."

"Boy or girl?" Han asked.

"We'll see which is a better fit, but honestly I'm kinda hoping for a boy. Actually, we were wondering if you guys might write us a letter of recommendation?"

"Really? Like all of us?"

"We need three letters, so we were thinking Zena and Gavyn, and then you and Leia, and you and Fliss. What do you think?"

"I'd be honored," Luke said.

"I'll talk to Leia, but it'll probably be yes from us too." Han shook his head, "I just can't believe it. Lando Calrissian, settled down with the girl and kid."

"No more unlikely than Han Solo in the same situation," Luke grinned at his brother-in-law.

"I know," Lando grinned. "Honestly it feels like for the first time in my life I'm finally going to get a happy ending."

"Oi, Skywalker!" Plutt shoved Luke. "Help me with this control panel."

Luke winced as another memory pulled at his mind. He couldn't bare to relive it, but as he turned around to inspect the control panel on the wall, the memory forced its way to the forefront of his mind.

He heard the sobs before he was even fully in the ship. Luke's all black outfit weighed heavily on him as his mind replayed Zena's eulogy for her sister-in-law.

Everyone else was congregated at Skywalker residence, but what Lando disappeared, Luke offered to be the one to find him.

Luke found him slumped on the floor of the Millennium Falcon, his back to the wall next to the control panel. His eyes were red and puffy, but they were dry, no longer having anymore fluid his body to let tears form.

He was staring at a small blue morning glory he was hanging onto with both hands. It had to have been one of the ones and neatly arranged in Alyla's hair before Gavyn and Lando lit her pyre. The woman who had once been so full of life was now a pile of ash buried in a shallow grave.

Luke didn't say anything, just sat down next to his friend, and put a comforting hand on Lando's shoulder.

"It shouldn't have been her," Lando's voice struggle to overcome a sob. "It shouldn't have been Alyla."

Luke rubbed Lando's shoulder, but remained silent.

"I should have told her, Luke," Lando whispered. "Why did I never say I love you?"

And Lando to let himself be lost to tears.

"Clear, Boss!" Roke announced as he and the goons climbed out of the hatches and replaced the tops. "It's clean."

"Disappointing but expected," Plutt replied. "Kerlos, come help me with this control panel. I think some of this wiring is mixed up."

Kerlos rolled up his sleeves, "I'll see what I can do, Boss."

"You," Roke grabbed Luke's shoulder and shoved him towards a ladder on the wall leading to areas above and below. "These gunners' ports?"

"Yep," Luke nodded.

"Check them out with me."

"You want to go up and I'll go down?"

Roke laughed, "You're insane if you think I'm leaving you alone on this ship. Now start climbing."

"This here is the gunner's port," Han announced. "Considering the little trouble we had during takeoff, I'm assuming these will come in handy. You know how to shoot, Kid?"

Luke jumped off the ladder, landing on the ground somewhat ungracefully, "Sure. I bullseye womprats in my T-16 at home all the time."

"I have no idea what that means." Han caught sight of Obi-Wan climbing down the ladder to join them, "Oh, don't worry. You don't have to come down."

"Nonsense," Obi-Wan reached the floor. Unlike Luke, he did it rather elegantly. "I have to know where the weapons are."

"Well, I just don't want you getting stuck down here."

Obi-Wan narrowed his eyes slightly, "I assure you I am not so frail that I cannot get back up a ladder, Captain Solo. It's for all of our safeties that I can help on the guns should we run into trouble."

Han raised his eyebrows, "You on the guns? Listen, I am sure you've experience some things back in your day, but-"

"I fought in all three years of the Clone Wars. I know my way around the gunner's port." Obi-Wan settled down in the chair and turned it on like it was something he did every day, "Standard controls?"

"Yeah," Han looked impressed as Obi-Wan tested it out.

"Well, a little primitive and not as immediately response as I'd like, but it'll do."

"Wow, were you a pilot too, Ben?" Luke asked.

"Oh no, that was far more your father's area of expertise, though he did drag me on many adventures with him."

"Can tell me any?"

"Perhaps some other time. There was an incident on Iago that is interesting, but it'll raise more questions than it answers. So, is there anything for entertainment around here, Captain Solo?"

Hans crashes neck, "Uh… Not really. There's a dejarik if you want to play."

"What's dejarik?" Luke asked.

"Perhaps some other time," Obi-Wan smiled kindly.

Suddenly there was a beeping above them where Threepio, Artoo, and Chewbacca were gathered.

"What'd he say?" Luke asked.

"Artoo said he knows how to play and would be up for it," Threepio translated.

"Oh no, I'm not playing a droid," Han refused. "That's basically cheating."

Roar roar grr.

"Really, Chewie?"

Grr.

"Chewie says he'll play the droid."

"How marvelous!" Threepio exclaimed.

"What about us?" Luke asked.

"Well, I think I might have a blast remote around here somewhere."

"That will do wonderfully." Obi-Wan touched the viewscreen of the gun and sighed. No doubt he was losing himself once more to memories of Anakin Skywalker. "Come, Luke. It's time to leave this behind."

"Well, that was a bust," Roke declared as they climbed back up to the main part of the ship.

"At least the guns are still working," Luke pointed out.

"Stop trying to find the bright side in everything."

"Leave my girlfriend alone and you have a deal."

"Kaybatta," Roke muttered.

"I remind you once more that Huttese is my native language and I can understand exactly what you called me… Oh, and kaybatta is the feminine version. Technically I would be a koybotto."

"Trelana na torla."

"Leave my mother out of this."

"Find anything?" Roke asked the others.

"A bust so far," Vance took a step back when Roke got too close. He was still sporting a nice head bandage from the fight yesterday. "You?"

"Nothing," Roke snarled. "If we don't find something soon-"

"Hey, guys! I found something!" Dirk exclaimed.

"What is it?" Plutt pushed his way through the men excitedly. His smiled fell when he set his eyes on Dirk's discovery, "You found a closet."

Vance slapped his forehead, and then winced at irritating his head injury.

"Were you dropped as a child?" Kerlos asked.

Dirk frowned, "But what if there's supplies?"

"There's not going to be supplies," Roke rolled his eyes. He looked to Plutt, "Seriously, why do we keep him around?"

"You should see him throw a punch," Plutt answered.

Dirk looked helplessly around at the group, "But what if-"

"Enough, you useless idiot!" Roke snapped. "There is going to be nothing-"

Luke hit the open button and revealed the walk-in storage closet was lightly filled with basic supplies and food. The goons swarmed the closet like ants on a hill.

Dirk looked at the floor shyly, "Thanks, Luke."

He clapped his shoulder and muttered so only Dirk could hear, "That's friends are for."

"Han Solo, you let us out of this closet!"

"Loud Mouth Solo, I will kick your ass if you don't let us out right now!"

Luke could hear Han's chuckle from the other side of the door, "Not until you two make up."

"Han, we do not need you intervening in our relationship," Luke pounded on the closet door.

"Your relationship? Kid, you two wouldn't have a relationship if it wasn't for me."

"That doesn't mean we need constant intervention," Felicity yelled. "What are you going to do next? Propose on Luke's behalf? Tell him I'm been pregnant?"

Luke's eyes widened.

"Not pregnant," Felicity said quickly.

He gave a sigh of relief.

"I'm sick of all this fighting," Han said. "You two need to work through this problem civilly." Oh

Luke raised an eyebrow, "really? You're complaining about me not calmly talking through my relationship problems with Felicity? After eleven years of putting up with you and Leia, now you're complaining?"

"After eleven years of doing things like that, I can safely say there's better ways of solving problems. Now, I'm going to leave for twenty minutes and when I come back, you better have made some progress. And don't think about lying and pretending things are better. After eleven years, I can tell when the Kid is lying."

"Han! Han!" Luke yelled after him, but Han was gone. He slammed his mechanical fist against the door, denting it slightly, "Damn it."

"Don't just punch the door," Felicity snapped. "Use your lightsaber and get us out of here."

Luke reddened.

"I may have given it to Leia when she asked to see it for a few minutes," Luke said sheepishly.

Felicity glared at him, "I hate it when those two work together. Nothing good ever comes from it."

"Ben?"

"I stand by my statement."

Luke sighed and leaned against the door, "So, I guess we have no choice but to talk this out."

"I guess so," Felicity said sadly.

She crossed the small space to the opposite wall and sat on the floor, her back against the wall, knees tucked her chest, and arms wrapped around them.

Luke joined her.

"I just don't understand why you refuse to learn to fly ships," he began.

"And I don't understand why it's so important to you that I do," Felicity countered.

"Because piloting is something so important in my life. My father was a pilot, Han's a pilot, my sister's a pilot, I was a pilot in the Rebellion, most of my friends are pilots… It's just hard for me to be with someone who is so anti-pilot."

"I'm not anti-pilot, I just don't want to be one. And what does it matter I don't have all the same interests as you? I don't complain that you won't talk Nubian architecture with me."

"No, that's when you use Uncle Darred for."

"I don't need to be a pilot, Luke," Felicity said softly. "Can't you accept that?"

"… No, I can't," Luke admitted. "Piloting is an extremely important life skill. You can't live without it."

"Says the man who couldn't do laundry until he was thirty."

"Says the woman who couldn't cook until she was over thirty."

"Says the man who couldn't cook until he was twenty-five. Oh yeah, I talked to Leia. Turns out you were lying when you said your aunt taught you to cook."

"I wasn't lying that she taught me… It just wasn't edible until I was twenty-five. I didn't have much opportunity to practice until the war was over."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Skywalker," Felicity laughed and clapped his knee. She rubbed it and sighed, "Why is it so hard for you accept this?"

Luke sighed, "What if we had children, Felicity?"

She frowned.

"I live the very dangerous life, and sooner or later my children will be involved in it. What if we get a situation where the only way to save the child is for you to take that child away on a ship?"

"What? And leave you behind?"

"Not forever, but temporarily."

"Luke-"

"I do not ever want to risk my child."

Felicity sighed, "I get it, Luke, but it's just not that easy."

"Then how can we make it easier?" Luke clasped her hand, "Come on, tell me why you won't learn to fly a ship."

"… Because I promised Brendan and I wouldn't."

Luke frowned.

Felicity hung her head guiltily and picked at a loose thread on her pants.

"He made me say the words to him," she fought against her tears. She felt Luke's arm wrap around her, and let herself all into his embrace. "We always planned on him teaching me to fly. The last time I saw him, I said I might have to get someone else to teach me since he was always off on tours of duty. He said, don't you dare! I am the only person who is allowed to teach you to fly, and you know it. I objected, but he cut me off. I'm serious, Fliss, promise me that you'll never learn to fly a ship unless I'm the one teaching you. I rolled my eyes and called him a drama queen, but he insisted. Say it, Felicity. He urged me. I want to hear the words come from your mouth. So I did; I told him, I swear on my very life itself, that I'll never learn to fly a ship unless you're the one teaching me. Then he kissed me on the forehead, said I love you, Little Sis, I hugged him and said, I love you, Big Bro, and that was the last time I ever saw him."

"And that's why Bail Organa let you join the Rebellion without knowing how to fly."

"I've seen other people do it: Leia, Diego, even Biggs even tried to teach me, but… I can't. That was the last conversation I had with my brother. I swear on my very life itself, that I'll never learn to fly a ship unless you're the one teaching me. That was my final promise to him."

"The last time I spoke to my aunt and uncle, I fought with them." Luke kissed Felicity's forehead. As he stroked her hair, he fought back his own tears, "If I could take it back, return to that moment and know that was our final one, I would have told them everything. How much I love them, how grateful I was to have them in my life, tell them to forgive them for their secrets, and lies, and all the things they never told me… if I could tell them what they meant to me, I would. Them, Biggs, Nakari-"

"Obi-Wan?"

"Nah. I talk with Obi-Wan on a regular basis. We worked things out long ago. We're good."

Felicity laughed.

Luke smiled at her, "You can't punish yourself for breaking a promise you made to a dead man. Do you think Brendan would really want you to never learn to fly?"

"No," she admitted. She let herself grin, "In fact he would be horrified at the thought of me thirty-two and unable to fly. Make fun of me mercilessly… Well that, and sleeping with our father's killer on a regular basis."

"Han does that enough for both of us."

"Yeah, he does. You know, he reminds me a lot like Brendan, and so do you. At times it's like if we stuck the two of you in a blender, we'd get Brendan."

"Actually I think you would get a mess and murder charges."

"And they call me the sassy one," Felicity swatted at Luke.

He caught her hands and kissed them, "So, come on. When you say? You want to learn to fly a ship?"

She smiled and stroked his cheek, "Oh, Luke… no."

His smile dropped.

"But I will make you a promise." She kissed his puzzled scowl, "When we have children, I'll learn. Just promise that if I do have to escape somewhere with our kids, you'll come get us."

"Deal," he kissed her. "Wow, five minutes and it's all fixed… And now what?"

"Han is not coming back for fifteen minutes." Felicity played with the flap of his tunic, "I wonder what we could get up to in fifteen minutes?"

Luke gently pushed on her back, Felicity giggling as he kissed his way down her neck.

"In fifteen minutes, I might be able to do it twice."

Fifteen minutes later, Han really regretted opening the closet door.

It was the first time they made love on the Millennium Falcon, but it certainly wasn't the last. After Han made a big fuss over them 'defiling his precious ship' Felicity had made it her mission to 'defile' every part of the ship.

And Luke was only too happy to oblige.

He tried not to let Plutt and all of his goons see his smile as Luke remembered all the places he and Felicity had defiled. All seven of the bunks on the Falcon, multiple tables, a few times on the Holotable, those two very interesting times in the gunners' ports – movable chairs led to some great things – that one time Felicity inexplicably decided to pull him down into smuggling compartment. But Luke's favorite time of all had to have been that time Felicity worked him over the good as he sat in Han's captain chair while Han had a nap in the other room.

Han would kill him if he ever found out about that one.

"The closet's clear," Luke declared, withholding a grin when the goons exited the closet with their arms full busy stockpiling their treasures.

But Roke was eyeing him suspiciously, "Something funny about this closet?"

Luke stroked the dented door, "Just memories."

The AT-AT's my home, but my speeder's even more important to my survival. I built it myself, from parts I found in the Graveyard and in junk piles in Niima, along with a few things I got in trade from the Teedos.

- Rey's Survival Guide

"It was the weirdest thing, Teng!" Rey told him as they worked on Quom's speeder together. "I swear it had to have been a memory."

"Are you sure we just didn't eat some funny rations last night?" Teng was hard to hear as he held a screwdriver between his teeth. "I did dream that Quom and I tap danced for the Emperor."

"Okay, you are so telling me that dream when we're done discussing this."

"We were actually pretty good. Hand me the bonding tape?"

Rey chucked it to him.

"Thanks," Teng caught it with one hand, his other busy with a flashlight. "So did you tell your dad about your uncle?"

"No. He would get weird?"

"Is it possible for you to have an uncle?"

"Actually, yes. I do have at least one. Uh… Brendan. Mom's brother, but he died before my parents even met."

"What about your dad? Does he have family?"

"He did mention last year something about leaving family behind," Rey recalled. "It would make sense why he freaked out so much over the ship. Imagine if your brother or brother-in-law just randomly showed up on Jakku."

"Aright, I think I got it," Teng slammed shut the hood of the speeder. "Start her up."

Rey climbed into the driver's seat and turned on the engine. There was a triumphant roar of successful operation… and then a bang, grunt, crackle of electricity, and all the systems died instantly.

"Damn," Teng banged his fist against the hood of the speeder.

"Guess we can't go scavenging today," Rey sighed, crawling out of the speeder. "This is so unfair! Why do we have to be stuck in town all day?"

"Because Quom's using your dad's speeder to do business in Tuanul, Luke is working with Plutt, Aletha's ringside, and this thing is dead."

"I hate being dependent on their speeders. Dad's runs like a God put it together, but this thing is someday got to explode and kill nineteen people."

"Meanwhile we're stuck fiddling with engines and power couplings like a pair of chumps while the others scavenge the good stuff. There was a sandstorm yesterday morning, do you know how much stuff must be uncovered, and we're stuck here."

"I just wish we had our own speeder," Rey slumped to the ground, arms crossed and back against the speeder. That was when she noticed Teng staring at her with wide eyes, "What?"

"You're a genius."

"What do you mean?"

"Let's build a speeder!"

"Are you serious?"

"Dead serious!" Teng's voice was filled with excitement. "We know how machines are put together, between the two of us we could probably make a speeder."

"Teng are you crazy?" Rey got to her feet. "Do you know how much time and material it would take? It would probably end up being worse than this thing."

As if on cue, Quom's speeder sputtered a pathetic belch of smoke.

"I highly doubt that." Teng took her hands in his, "Come on, Rey. I believe you can do it. Don't you want to at least try?"

Maybe it was the novelty of the idea. Maybe it was the excitement buzzing inside the two of them. Or maybe it was just the way those expression green eyes – greens as the plants on planets of life – stared into hers.

Whatever the reason, Rey found herself saying, "There is that pair of turbo engines in that cargo-hauler two kilometres south of here. We could attach them to those amplifier intakes over in the Imperial gunship four kilometers north-west."

"And the afterburners we have in storage from that crashed racing swoop inexplicably in the middle of the desert."

"Then we just bolt on a bunch of X-Wing repulsorlifts, and bingo, we should be in business."

"Rey Erso, let's build a speeder."

Plutt and the goons were busy evaluating the haul from the closet, and Luke saw his chance. He wanted this moment to himself. Luke pulled up his hood in case one of the goons followed so his could conceal his reaction from them.

With slow but determined steps, Luke walked into the cockpit. His hands shook and his heart raced. It looked exactly as he had left it behind. He stopped at the doorway of the cockpit and just savored the sight of the moment. How many times had he sat in all four of those chairs? Fought with Leia over whether he or she had the role of co-pilot when Chewie wasn't around – Leia automatically got dibs, Han had declared after their marriage.

Taking a deep breath, his eyes locked on the captain's chair, Luke flipped on the cockpit. A whirring start up sound filled the room, and Luke's head jerked to the right towards the source of the noise, for a second. He then faced to his left, and completing a full arc turned his head from left to right, took in the full sight of the cockpit.

He couldn't believe he was back in the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon. It seemed like he would never return to this place, but then again, there was a time when Luke never thought he'd been that far from it.

There was a time when the world was a much different place.

It wasn't the first time Luke held Ben, but it was his first time alone with him. Ben was two months old. Han and Leia had agreed to take him to Rornian to meet the other Jedi students… All three of them. Of course, Reine, Obik, and Shar'vida, would be joined by Davarl and Brinna in the next few months, but it was a nice visit nonetheless.

They were on their way to Rornian, making the trip overnight. Ben had constantly woken the other passengers with his crying. Luke could see how much at their wit's end Han and Leia were getting, so when Ben was crying without needing feeding or changing, Luke had offered to step in.

"You two get some sleep," Luke told Han and Leia. "I'll watch him for a while."

"No, Luke, it's all right, just go back to sleep," Leia insisted.

"Leia, you look terrible; the two of you need a break. I'll take him, and it will be fine."

She narrowed her eyes, "You know what? I'm too tired to get you for that you look terrible comment. I'll swat you upside the head or something in the morning."

"I expect nothing less," Luke chuckled as he accepted the baby Ben from Leia.

"Thanks, Kid," Han said as he wrapped an arm around Leia, and led them out of the cockpit. "Let me know if my baby gives you any problems."

"Ben and I will be fine. I promise."

"… I meant the Falcon."

Leia wasn't too tired to swat Han upside the head.

Luke laughed, kissed Leia's cheek, and watched as the couple exited, Han patting him on the arm as he did so.

Silence filled the cockpit and Luke looked down at his nephew.

"I guess we're finally alone," Luke said.

Ben wriggled in his arms.

Luke chuckled and settled down in the pilot's chair, "So… Ben Solo. I don't think I've properly introduced myself. My name is Luke Skywalker, and I'm your uncle."

Ben blinked at Luke.

"That means I'm your mother's brother. It's actually kind of a new development. Well… the being aware of it portion. I only found out about a year ago, but I was best friends with your parents for four years before that… Wow, I've been friends with them for five years. Time really does fly."

Ben stared at him.

"You know, I don't know much about having a nephew, but I do know lots about having an uncle. I was raised by mine."

The baby shifted in Luke's arms.

"And before you start asking questions, no your mother wasn't raised by our uncle. But that's a long story for another day."

Ben's eyelids started to droop.

"I miss my uncle," Luke confessed. "I put Anakin and Obi-Wan on a pedestal, but it was Uncle Owen who made me the man I am today. Him and your father."

Ben settled comfortably in Luke's arms.

"I'm going to be that for you," Luke vowed. "I'm going to teach you to be a good man. To show you how to overcome the darkness in this world."

Ben had fallen asleep in his arms.

"I'll protect you, Ben," Luke held his nephew lovingly. "I'll protect you from the Dark Side and show you how to be a Jedi like my father before me."

Luke could feel Ben's Force Signature, a deep forest green enveloping the sky blue of his signature. Somewhere, a black as dark as midnight reached for Ben, but he took refuge in the safety of his uncle's arms.

"And I promise to always be there for you," Luke whispered. "No matter what you say or do, I will always love you. Light Side, Dark Side, or anything in between… I'll never give up on you. I promise."

It was a promise Luke couldn't keep; not after Ben had broken his trust and done that horrible thing to Felicity. He hurt the woman Luke loved simply because Luke loved her.

A petty fight that got too far out of hand.

"Good, it's working," Plutt suddenly said. Luke hadn't noticed when the alien had joined him. "Vance, get in here and inspect this thing. Skywalker, you're with Roke and I."

"Oh goodie," Luke smiled bitterly.

Roke roughly shoved him forward, but fed up with his mistreatment, Luke grabbed Roke's arm and using an unexpected show of strength threw the nearly three-hundred-pound alien against the wall. He slammed into at and fell to the ground in a daze.

Everyone stopped what they were doing to stare at Luke in shock.

"Do not underestimate me," Luke warned. He looked around the ship, "All of you."

Dirk gulped.

Luke walked over to Roke and offered his hand. Roke looked over at Plutt uncertainly, a spark of fear in his eyes.

Plutt looked dumbstruck, but gave him a hesitant nod.

Roke swallowed hard and grabbed Luke's hand. Luke easily pulled him to his feet, but did not release his hand when upright. Instead Luke jerked Roke forward, slamming him against his chest.

"Touch me again and you'll get much worse," Luke whispered. "And if you touch my girls, I'll make what I did to Jarex Zolhar look like child's play. And Teng is to be considered under my protection these days too. Am I understood?"

Roke nodded, but his gaze hardened, and his hand clenched, trying to crush Luke's.

"Then we have an agreement," Luke released Roke. "Now, the rest of the ship."

When they entered the lounge area, Dirk and Plutt were waiting for them.

"Now I bet this brings back a lot of memories, doesn't it Skywalker?" Plutt asked.

Luke placed a hand on the Holotable and smiled when he noticed the rim was still broken. He rested his mechanical fingers over the hole, and they fit perfectly.

"Yeah," Luke smiled, removing his hand and looking around. "It does."

It wasn't unusual to find Princess Leia Organa staring off into the distance sadly. It was unusual to see a haunted look ghost over her eyes. It wasn't unusual for Leia to turn away and tell you there was nothing wrong when that clearly wasn't true.

It was another thing altogether to catch her full-on crying. But that was how Luke found her that night on the Falcon. Han was asleep in the bunks, Threepio and Artoo were powered down, Chewbacca was in the cockpit, and Luke had been in the fresher.

Leia was seated at the Holotable, crying quietly.

Luke didn't know what to do. At the time, he had only known her a few months and wasn't sure of the kind of reaction she would want. He stared at her for a few minutes, hoping she would not look up and notice him. Then he decided to comfort her the way she had comforted him in the same position.

He found a blanket carelessly tossed to the side and walked up to the Holotable. Luke placed it over Leia's shoulders, and she startled. She looked up, saw it was him and smiled. He sat down next to her, wrapping an arm over her shoulders as she wiped away her tears.

"You shouldn't see me cry," Leia said softly.

"Crying is natural," Luke replied. "Especially for someone who has been through as much as you."

"Don't you mean as much as us?"

"Leia, I lost my family, but you lost your entire planet. I have no idea what that feels like."

"I can't even begin to describe it. You know it gets better everyday, not easier but you get used to the pain."

"I know what you mean. That ache will never go away, but somehow it becomes a part of you, or at least I assume so. This is the first time I've lost someone. What about you?"

"I lost my mother when I was a young girl," Leia answered.

"I'm sorry," Luke said. "Were you a lot like her?"

"More so my father, but I do take after my mother in some ways."

"Looks?" Luke grinned.

"That would be a miracle. I'm actually adopted."

"Really? I had no idea."

"It's not a big secret, but it's really not a secret. We were different ethnicities after all."

"Do you know what happened to your parents? Your real parents?"

Leia shrugged, "No clue. You?"

"I know Vader killed my father," Luke clenched his fists. "As for my mother, I don't know. Maybe she's alive? Maybe I have another family out there. That would be nice to find."

"It would, wouldn't it? You know, when I was younger I used to pretend Padmé Amidala was my mother. People used to say that her nieces look like me. It makes me smile anytime I see Pooja or Ryoo Naberrie."

"Wait, Ryoo Naberrie is Padmé Amidala's niece? Are you serious? That woman scares the crap out of me."

"Then don't bring up Amidala's vote of no confidence to her. She literally once punched a guy for it."

"Noted," Luke chuckled.

He looked over at Leia and grinned to himself. His arm slung around her shoulder, he rubbed her arm and ever so slightly pulled her closer into his embrace. It was the furthest he had ever been with a woman.

"So what brought on the tears?" Luke would do anything to fix them.

Leia laughed, "It's, uh… it's my birthday in a few days, and it's the first one I'm having without my father."

"I'm sorry. I know how you feel, my birthday's coming up in a few days too."

Leia looked at him.

"You don't think-"

"When's yours?" Leia asked.

"The twenty-fourth."

"You're kidding. Luke, you don't need to lie about your birthday to impress me."

"I'm serious, it's the twenty-fourth. Is it really yours too?"

"This is the weirdest thing," Leia shook her head.

"At least it's not weird enough that we're the exact same age. You're turning, what? Eighteen? Nineteen?"

"Twenty."

"…Are you serious? That's how old I'm turning!"

Leia burst out laughing, "I don't believe this. What are the odds that you and I would have the same birthdate?"

As it later turned out, the odds were pretty good.

The table buzzed and suddenly the top was filled with the blue images of very familiar creatures.

"Hey look!" Dirk proudly, standing next to Luke. "It works."

Luke grinned at him, "You know how to play?"

"No," he looked away bashfully.

Luke patted his shoulder, "Perhaps I'll teach you."

"Don't be giving him ideas," Plutt warned as he and the other goons ransacked the lounge. They found odds and ends, but none of it had belonged to Han and their family. "You're not going to be on this ship after this."

He chuckled lightly, "Of course not."

Plutt narrowed his eyes, "I mean it. You and your girl stays off."

Luke's brows lifted fractionally; he didn't expect Plutt to know about Rey's little escapade. Of course, that didn't mean Plutt was going to stop him or Rey from exploring this ship, that in the situation technically belonged to them.

"Skywalker," Plutt threatened.

Luke held up his hands, "I understand. Shall we continue on?"

"Show me the bunks."

He led them down the corridor that contained the living quarters. There was a bunk in the lounge area, a custom built one large enough to contain a Wookiee, but otherwise there was two bunk rooms each containing three bunks.

Between the bunkrooms was a head with a toilet and very crappy shower. Luke wondered if Han had ever gotten around to fixing it. He remembered the day that Leia and Felicity got tired of the shower that randomly switched between freezing cold and boiling hot and had the pressure of hail on Kamino. They had declared that if the boys wouldn't fix it, they would try it themselves.

The event did make it a little better – the hot water was a little less skin peeling – but mainly resulted in the establishment of a new family rule: Don't let Felicity mess with plumbing. The floor of the ship was soggy for two months.

"So which one's yours?" Dirk asked in a hushed voice. It wasn't good for him if he let Plutt see him too friendly with the Skywalkers.

"Not really any in particular," Luke answered quietly. "We played musical bunks for a while, but after Rey came around it sort of settled that Felicity, Rey, and I would be in the first room, and then Han, Leia, and Ben were in the second – these bunks aren't double wide, so two people can't share one bed."

"Why'd you get the first room?"

Luke grinned.

Luke didn't like to ever use his physical strength on the people he loved, but as Felicity hysterically screamed and hit his chest in front of the other members of the Resistance, Luke had no choice but to physically drag her away to the bunkroom where she wouldn't disturb the infants they had saved from the First Order.

"We have to go back!" Felicity screamed. "Luke, we have to go back!"

He pulled her by the wrist into the bunkroom, admittedly tossing her a little bit, and quickly slammed the door shut.

Hysteria turned to wrath in a second.

"You coward!" she screeched in his face, banging her fists against his chest. "Let me out of here!"

"No," Luke said firmly as he stood in front of the door, blocking her path. "Felicity, I'm sorry but you have to calm down."

"Calm down? Calm down? If we don't go back, we sentence that baby to death!"

"There's nothing more we can do right now."

"We have to go back."

"We can't."

"Get out of my way you son of a bitch!"

Luke knew she didn't mean her words, "I won't move."

Their eyes met, and something in the calm blue pools of his irises changed those teary hazel ones.

"She took him out of my arms, Luke," Felicity's voice shook. "Phasma just took him out of my arms."

"Felicity," Luke whispered.

He made the gamble to pull her into his embrace. She could have hit him, push his away, screamed out him, even shot him with the blaster she had thankfully forgotten was on her belt. Instead the risk paid off. Felicity threw her arms around him, gripping him tightly like her lifeline and sobbed into his chest.

She wailed hysterically, the kind of sobs that used your full chest. Every sob broke Luke's heart, but he held fast and held her tight. When Felicity started to lose the strength to stand, he let her sink them to the floor. On their knees they held each other and Felicity cried. She buried her face in his neck, and he stroked her hair whispering words of comfort.

By the time of the incident, Luke had already admitted to himself that he was in love with her. But as he held her, listening to her sobs over failing FN-2187, that was the moment Luke promised himself to spend the rest of his life stopping Felicity from experiencing this level of heartbreak ever again.

And with such a display of devotion towards a stranger's baby, that was the moment he knew she would become the mother of his child.

"This was the room where I decided to spend the rest of my life with her," Luke answered.

Dirk smiled sadly and placed a hand on his shoulder, "She was a nice woman. Liked to punch things, but kind to me. Like Rey."

"Yeah," Luke fought back a tear, "she's a lot like her mother. The best of me and the best of her combined."

Dirk paused for a long moment, "She… She didn't deserve to die."

"No, she didn't." He smiled at Dirk, "Thanks."

"Skywalker!" Plutt barked.

"Boss is calling," Dirk looked down shyly. "I'll look over the room and you go to him."

"Sounds like a plan."

Dirk paused again.

"If I find anything, I won't let him know," Dirk whispered.

Luke blinked but then grinned wider, "You're a good guy, Dirk. Pretty smart too. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

"Hold still," Teng instructed.

"Come on, Teng, I look ridiculous," Rey laughed, her voice muffled by all her wrappings.

Teng and Rey had finished their tasks for the day, and decided to take a drawing break. He was drawing her wrapped up in all her sun gear, scarves around her face, googles on, head covered, and satchel crossed over her body.

"You look fully geared up for protection from the sun," Teng waved off. "Now hold still, I just have a few more lines."

Rey rolled her eyes, which Teng couldn't see behind her coverings, but held still. It was ten minutes – and three pounds of sweat – later that Teng declared he was done.

"What do you think?" Teng asked as she sketched down a caption in the book.

"It looks wonderful," Rey said, writing down the words Me-geared up for maximum protection.

"Really?"

"Really. You perfectly captured how stiff and awkward I was."

"Oh, I'll get you for that!"

She squealed as Teng playfully pulled her into his lap and started to tickle her.

"Teng! Stop it!" Rey giggled as he attacked her mercilessly. "No, not my sides, you know how ticklish those are!"

"Not until you say I'm a good artist."

"Never!"

She managed to push him to the floor, but he pulled her down with him. For several minutes they roughed, tickled, played until they were lying on their backs out of breath.

"Okay," Rey panted. "You win. You're a pretty good artist."

"Thanks," Teng grinned. "You're not so bad yourself."

"Lunch?"

"Absolutely."

"I'll go grab some water for the bread." Rey lifted herself up and kissed Teng's cheek, "I'll be right back."

She didn't notice as she left Quom and Teng's tent how Teng stared after her in frozen shock. When she was gone, Teng sat up, eyes wide and jaw dropped.

Carefully he reached up and touched the spot she had kissed.

It was a simple gesture, and one he knew didn't really have a meaning behind it. He had seen her kiss the same sort of kiss of the cheek to Luke, Quom, and Aletha on a regular basis.

But still… it was so soft and lovely. The kiss had been gentle and nice. Something burned within him, yearning to feel those chapped lips against his skin once more.

He stared at the tent flap, beyond which Rey had disappeared. His hand still pressed to his ever so damp cheek where her lips had been, longing so hard for more.

"Uh oh."

"I didn't know this place had a galley," Vance said as they raided the cupboard on the Millennium Falcon. "Never heard of it in all the stories."

"It's a relatively new addition," Luke replied. "Han added it just after the war as a wedding present for my sister."

"A wedding present?" Roke scoffed. "That is the craziest thing I have ever heard."

"Oh, this is Han Solo we're talking about," Luke chuckled. "That doesn't even break the top 100 craziest things he's ever said."

"Construction is just starting, but if I play this right, I'll be done converting the space into a galley in about three months," Han showed off the area to Luke.

"Translation, it'll probably be about 12-18 months before it's done," Leia said.

"Hey!"

"Don't you hey me. There are parts of this ship being held together by duct tape, and you know it."

Luke chuckled.

"So, what do you think?" Leia asked her brother.

"I think it's about time," Luke observed the area with crossed arms. "Which means this is suspicious. Why are you adding a galley?"

Han nervously eyed Leia, "I just thought since Princess here's going to be spending more time on the Falcon, I ought to give her a nice little luxury. Gotta impressed the father-in-law somehow."

"Han, Leia has been frequently on the ship for four years. That can't be the reason." Luke narrowed his eyes, "What are you hiding?"

"Well… it's not exactly a regular gift," Han admitted. "It's a… It's a…"

"If you can't say it, I can," Leia offered.

"Nah, I can do this." Han took a deep breath, "It's a wedding present. Luke, we're getting married."

Han grinned brightly down at Leia as he wrapped his arm around her waist. He looked so eager as they waited for Luke's reaction.

Luke stared at them, "You're… Getting married?"

"Yes, we are," Leia looked so happy as she smiled at Han and leaned into his embrace.

Luke blinked, "Why?"

That was not the answer they were expecting.

"Wow, thanks, Kid," Han scowled.

"Thought you might be a lot more excited," Leia said.

"Don't get me wrong, I am. Congratulations and all that, but… It doesn't make sense."

"I love her and she loves me," Han said. "Sure, that in itself doesn't make sense but it's a valid reason to marry."

"Not for you, and not this quickly."

"We've known each other over four years," Leia pointed out.

"Yeah, but you've only been together one and honestly not even that long. Han spent most of that year in carbonite. It's been tops five months and now you're getting married? Something's not adding up. Sure, you two are impulsive, but not that impulsive. What's going on?"

Han and Leia shared a very long look. She nodded at him, and Han gulped.

"You're right, Kid, something's going on." Han took another deep breath, "You know how a year ago you had no family, and now you have a father and sister… Well you're about to get another family member."

Luke frowned.

Leia gathered her courage and confessed, "I'm pregnant."

His eyes shot wide. Had… Had he heard that correctly? Han and Leia were having a baby? No, that couldn't be right. Could it?

Luke looked at Han. He had the guiltiest, most terrified expression that Luke had ever seen on him. It made sense; Luke and Han hadn't spent a whole lot of time together since Hoth. Since the Tauntaun incident Han had sort of won his best friend's crush away from him, impregnated her, and now was going to marry her. All without a single conversation with Luke about it.

Secret twin revelation aside, it was kind of a shitty move on Han's part.

"Luke, please say something," Leia begged.

"Well, it certainly makes more sense now," Luke blurted out. "And you two are… happy about this?"

The pair of them scowled.

"We would be happier if our numbskull best friend wasn't making a big deal out of it," Han said.

"But it is a big deal," Luke pointed out. "Look, I'm happy if this is what you two want. My best friend and my sister getting married and having a baby; it's like a dream come true. But are you sure this is what you want?"

"I may not be a decent guy, but I am honourable enough to know if you knock up a girl, you marry her," Han countered.

Leia turned her glare on him, "I don't need you defending my honour, so if that's the only reason you're doing this-"

"Of course, it's not. Look at what you're doing, Kid. You're wrecking this thing."

"Han. Leia. Please listen to me. If this is what you want to do, I will absolutely stand by it… but I want to make sure you want this. Leia, you're twenty-three. Are you really ready to be married and have a child? I'm gung-ho about commitment and even I don't want that for another three or four years."

Or eleven, but whatever.

"It is scary Luke, but we've faced a lot worse," Leia said wrapping her arms around Han's broad left one. "Father always did say my mind was ten years older than my body."

"But you don't always have to be ten years older. If you don't want this… there are alternatives."

Luke didn't like bringing it up, but someone had to.

Han and Leia looked at each other.

"Actually, we did discuss the alternative," Leia confessed. Her grip tightened on Han's arm.

Luke startled, "You… you did?"

"We actually bet the result of Jakku on it," Han sighed. "We didn't- Don't want to juggle a kid and fighting a war. So, if we lost the Battle of Jakku and the war continued, we agreed not to proceed with this. And if we won, we figured let's give it a shot. We may be in over our heads but at least Luke and Chewie have our backs."

"And we won, so here we are," Leia said, struggling to contain her emotions.

Leia blinked, and Luke saw the tears forming that she fought to hold back. Han seemed to see them too because he pulled her tighter into his embrace. He shifted the left arm that Leia clutched so that his palm rested against her stomach underneath which was his child.

Luke stared at the palm and the stomach. Han and Leia were going to have a baby. They had created a child. It was ridiculous, it was unplanned, it was outrageous, it was… it was exactly what Luke would expect from those two.

Han and Leia were going to have a baby. Their family – an actual bound by blood family, not the family by heart they had been for four years but a family legally recognized by the law family – was going to grow.

Luke reached into the Force to see if he could sense the baby. The question of Force Sensitivity would be raised at a later time, but for now it was simply about the boy who would later be named Ben. Luke searched the Force, but he couldn't sense anything more yet but the yellow gold and navy blue colours of Han and Leia.

And screaming in the Force that was the distress of that navy blue. Luke was shocked when he took in the quietly crying face of his sister. She was always the brave one, the strong one, so to see her so scared and vulnerable broke his heart.

"Do you have our backs?" Leia whispered, scared of the answer.

Luke sighed, "Of course I do."

And he pulled them both into a tearful, but quickly joyful hug.

"I'm going to be an Uncle!" Luke exclaimed as he took a turn just holding Leia and resting a hand on her belly to feel his nephew. He then pulled Han into a hug, "You're going to be my brother."

"I've always been your brother, Kid," Han punched him in the arm as they pulled apart. "We'll just have paperwork proving it."

Shaking his head, Luke laughed and pulled Han and Leia into another hug. Soon their conversation devolved into plans of the future, of where they would all live, of whether the baby was a boy or girl – oddly enough Leia was the only one of them to end up being right with their guess of boy as Luke and Han both thought it would be a girl – of names, and who to call first with the happy news.

The war was over and it seemed like this baby would lead them onto the path of living happily ever after.

Luke sighed; if only he had known how wrong they had been.

Catching Luke's look, Plutt offered, "Want to go check out the other bunk room?"

He nodded, "Sounds like a good idea."

To put it plainly, Luke was very giddy the morning of the medal ceremony. Though inwardly he mourned Biggs, he was on such a high from destroying the Death Star.

"You saw the shot, right?" Luke was practically bouncing as he and Han prepped for the ceremony. Luke had spent the night on the Falcon, the Rebellion not actually having a room yet for Luke. "You saw me fire it?"

"Of course, I did," Han rolled his eyes as he laid out his outfit for the ceremony. "Didn't just wander off after I shot Vader."

"Do you think he's dead? How amazing would that be?"

"Wow, you're morbid."

"He killed my father."

"He's killed a good many fathers."

"Yours too?" Luke asked.

An awkward expression crossed Han's face, "Uh… Not sure. I never knew my family."

Luke's face fell. Though he was poor farmboy, at least he could say he had a family growing up. He didn't know how to handle the idea of someone growing up without one.

"I'm sorry," Luke settled on. "I'm sure they would be proud of you killing Vader."

"Vader's not dead, Kid. Sorry to burst your bubble, but he's probably off on some Imperial ship right now, sulking and vowing revenge." Han looked down at the clothing on his bed proudly, "What do you think? Fancy enough to get a medal?"

Luke regarded the black shirt, brown pants, and gold jacket, "Very nice. What about me? You think I should do this or the pilot's outfit?"

Han frowned at the white outfit had been wearing the past few days, "Uh, don't you have anything else other than the desert pyjamas?"

Luke reddened, "They're not pyjamas."

"Whatever they are, they're way too casual. You have anything else?"

"I got the poncho."

"No, you don't. Leia burned it."

Luke chuckled, "She didn't burn it."

Han arched a brow.

Luke paled, "She burned my poncho?"

"Said it was for the good of humanity or something. Almost got her hands on my vest too, but I put a stop to that."

"But not my poncho?"

"Just drop it, Kid. Pick something else."

Luke looked away, "I, uh… I don't have anything else."

Han scowled, "What did the old man not let you pack any clothes before you ran off to have an adventure?"

"No. Um, well the Empire was looking for the droids, and my aunt and uncle – the people who raised me, Dad was killed by Vader and my mother's a question mark – had purchased the droids… The Empire burned down my home and murdered my aunt and uncle. I quite literally only have the clothes on my back."

Han stared at Luke with a white face and slack-jawed shock.

Luke couldn't meet his eyes.

Suddenly, Han's arms were around Luke in a tight hug. Luke blinked in surprised, and opened his mouth to speak. He thought better of it, then smiled and patted Han's shoulder, happy and thankful to take the comfort.

Han cleared his throat when he pulled away, "Don't- Don't tell Her Highness about that. Don't want anyone getting the wrong idea about me… In the guy who likes hugging people type of way, not the, well you know, other way it could be taken. I'm not into… Not that there's anything wrong with it if you are-"

"Are you implying I look like a-"

"No, of course not." Han paused, "Are you?"

"Sort of," Luke confessed. "It's hard to explain. I know I am attracted to both men and women, but I don't actually have any experience to back up those claims."

"Gay, straight, or anything in-between, I'll back you up anyway," Han promised. "Just no pedophilia, bestiality, or incest."

"Deal."

Han then looked at his clothing laid out on the bunk, "Luke?"

"Yeah, Han?"

"Take my outfit."

"What?"

"You're the hero today, you deserve it. It's a little too small for me anyways."

"Han, I can't take them from you. What would you wear?"

"Don't worry about it," Han waved off. "I'll just… wear this."

Luke regarded his scruffy attire, "That?"

"It's what people will expect," Han shrugged as Luke tried on the jacket. "I'll just… shine my boots and do up the top button of my shirt. I'm sure Princess will understand. Besides, the jacket really looks good on you. Keep it."

Luke grinned, the golden jacket fitting him perfectly. Then he pulled Han into a hug.

"Thanks Han," Luke held him tightly. "I knew there was more to you than meets the eye."

"Someone's gotta keep a kid like you outta trouble." Han considered his next words, "You might not have family anymore, Kid, but I promise… You got me. Promise."

It was a promise Han would keep for the rest of his life.

"Alright, the ship is looking good, but there's just one more spot to check out," Plutt declared as they walked down the hall. "The roof. Show us where the hatch is. Kerlos, you and Vance will go up there."

"Yes, Sir," Kerlos replied.

Luke led them back through the lounge area and down the hall, right to the exit hatch.

"Careful," he instructed as the pair opened the hatch. "The lift sometimes gets stuck."

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Vance waved off.

And as he watched the pair go up the lift, Luke couldn't help but remember a time it had broken.

He remembered the odd sight that night of Leia Organa sitting on the roof of the Millennium Falcon. It was the day after they arrived back to the Rebel Fleet, and they had spent said day explaining their three-month long absences, Luke's AWOL adventure, introducing who the hell this Lando Calrissian man was, reporting what had happened to Captain Solo – during which the Alliance decided to promote him to General for his actions in protecting the Princess and the location of the fleet – and also dealing with that pesky situation of the fact Luke Skywalker had shown up missing a hand.

Luke shuddered as he remembered the horror-stricken looks of Wedge, Diego, Zev, and the rest of Rogue Squadron at the sight.

Arrangements were being made for Luke to be fitted with a replacement, and for now he walked around with a splint and a large cast on his right arm shaped to make it look like he still had a hand. There was no point in letting everyone know what happened until Luke's injuries had been fully taken care of.

Luke knew he didn't need an invitation to join Leia, but he still respectfully entered the Falcon and went through to the location of the roof hatch to join her. He called her name up at her to let her know of his presence, but Leia had always had a knack for sensing him anyway.

Some days Luke wondered if Leia had her own secret Jedi father.

"Mind if I join you?" Luke asked as Leia looked down at him through the hatch.

"It's actually broken. You know, like everything on this ship, the lift had to break too."

"How did you get up?"

"I climbed."

"I could too."

"Luke, don't, you can't possibly get up here with your hand… in its condition," Leia ended awkwardly.

He glanced down at his splint in a little bit of shame.

"Not that there's anything wrong with it," Leia said quickly. "There are plenty of Rebels walking around with this and much worse."

"I know. Apparently tomorrow they're sending a one-armed pilot from the Tierfon Yellow Aces to give me a pep talk. Let me join you, Leia."

"You can't get up here, Luke."

He grinned at the challenge, "Back up."

Leia frowned, but obeyed. Luke couldn't resist showing off what he had learned on Jakku and made an impressive jump up through the hatch and onto the roof.

"That's amazing," Leia grinned as she grabbed Luke's (non-maimed) arm to steady him. "Is that what you learned on Dagobah?"

"Among other things," Luke settled to sit beside her. They sat in silence for a while, thinking about the man to whom the ship below them belonged. "We'll get him back, Leia."

She was sitting with her knees to her chest and there was a glimmer of tears in her eyes.

"Luke…" Leia forced herself to say. "There's something I have to tell you. While we were escaping Vader, Han and I… Something happened."

He didn't need her to say any more.

"You picked him," Luke whispered.

Leia nodded, looking almost ashamed of herself.

Luke swallowed hard, forcing back his bubble of emotions, and nodded.

"I understand," he looked away from her.

"This wasn't how I planned for it to go, Luke," Leia explained. "One moment we were bickering and then the next… There was a kiss and I ran away. Then I cornered him, yelled at him to figure out what was going on with us, and we were together."

Leia pulled her legs tighter to her chest.

"Before Vader froze him in carbonite, I told Han I loved him," Leia confessed.

Luke bit his lip, "Did he tell you he loves you too?"

"No," Leia let herself have a single chuckle. With a grin on her face, she told Luke, "I said 'I love you' and he said 'I know.'"

Luke couldn't help but laugh, "That sounds like Han alright."

They let the silence linger once more.

"Are you okay?" Leia asked delicately.

"I'll be fine," Luke couldn't bare to look at her. "I'm just surprised. I mean… Han."

Leia sighed, "I shouldn't want this. I don't want this. The rational part of me is screaming at my heart, shouting what am I thinking. But the heart is no slave to logic, and as insane as it sounds, I am in love with Han Solo."

Luke nodded slowly, "Alright. If that's how you feel then I'm happy for you. My two best friends in the entire Galaxy falling in love. What more could I ask for?"

She winced, "Luke, I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize for feeling the way you do… But I just have one question."

"What that?"

Luke took a deep breath and looked Leia straight in the eyes.

"Did I ever have a chance?" he asked boldly.

It took Leia a long time to answer.

"No."

Luke looked away from her, "I see."

Leia reached out and took his remaining hand, "I do love you, Luke… but not the way I love them. You mean so much more to me than just a friend, but deep down I know that this could never be anything romantic. You're not my friend, not my lover… honestly, if I had to give it a name, deep down I've always felt like you were the brother I never had."

Luke couldn't help but burst out laughing, "The brother you never had? Are you trying to make this the most painful and stereotypical let down as possible. What next? It's not you, it's me?"

She grinned at him, "Of course not. Clearly I was going to go with there's someone out there who is going to love you more than I ever could."

"Well, if you happen to know where I can find said person, I would love to go meet them."

"I'm sure I could set you up. Let's see," Leia thought hard for a minute, and then her face fell. "Huh."

"What?"

"I literally cannot think of anyone."

"You're joking."

"No. Not a single name comes to mind. Do I have any female friends?" Leia scowled. "…Wait, you date both men and women right?"

"Right."

"Might have a guy for you then."

Luke laughed and shook his head.

"So… a brother, huh?" Luke squeezed Leia's hand. "I think I could settle for brother. You want to be my sister?"

"Be the daughter of Anakin Skywalker?" Leia teased. "I'd be honoured."

Luke's eyes widened as he remembered Vader's confession.

"What is it?" Leia always could sense when something was wrong with him.

"Nothing. Just… thinking about Han," Luke lied. He smiled at Leia, "We'll get him back."

She grinned, "And we'll do it together."

"Promise."

Luke sighed as he looked around the ship. So many memories, so many people he had loved and lost. A life was shared upon this ship by their odd little family. In ways, the ship was exactly like their family: cobbled together by odds and ends and things that really shouldn't go together, constantly breaking down, falling apart, and being put back together in unexpected ways. Absolute garbage to the outsider, but the best thing in the world to those who knew it personally.

"We got some haul but not much," Plutt announced when they were finished.

But Luke knew there was something special in his peripheral. Something he would never reveal to Plutt and his goons. Something he prayed was still there.

"Looks like we're done here," Plutt declared.

Luke smiled; he knew he wasn't.

My custom speeder. There's nothing like it in the whole galaxy.

I made this fancy schematic like it came out of a factory.

- Rey's Survival Guide

"There, done!" Rey proudly showed the picture to Teng three weeks later.

"It looks perfect," Teng grinned as they eat dinner with the others. "Now to just find all the parts."

"You two are really building a speeder?" Aletha smiled. "I'm impressed. Imagine if you can pull it off."

"I'm sure they'll do just fine," Luke laughed. "Now the only thing left is if I'm up to letting Rey go off on her own with a speeder. We all know how that ended last time."

"I still walk a little funny," Teng said.

Rey blushed.

"Speaking of," Aletha said, "if you two need anything at all, by all means go take it from Antar's ship."

The clattering of cutlery stopped.

"What?" Aletha frowned as four sets of eyes stared at her in utter shock.

"You're telling us to go strip Antar's ship?" Rey slowly repeated.

Teng was horrified, "I don't want another forty-seven stitches."

"Exercise caution, but yeah, go ahead," Aletha consented.

"Why?" Quom asked.

"Well, it's not like it's doing anything," Aletha said. "Look, Antar's dead and buried, and a good portion of it's already scavenged-"

"Sorry," Rey muttered.

"Might as well use the rest," Aletha finished. "I think it's what Antar would have wanted."

Rey smiled, "Thank you."

"No problem, Sunshine."

"That's very kind of you," Luke smiled at Aletha and clasped her hand. He leaned in and whispered, "Would he really want that?"

"Oh, who knows? But I don't really care. Love the man, but really didn't know him that well."

Luke shook his head and then pulled her to her feet, "I think we're going to retire for the night."

Quom and Teng gave a wolf whistle in perfect harmony, and Rey smacked both upside the head.

"It was a bad idea letting these two live together," Luke said.

Aletha nodded, "Agreed."

Luke found Rey sneaking off to the Falcon in the middle of the night that same way she had done every day she spent the night in Niima Outpost. Quom had no idea of Rey's midnight adventures, though Luke mildly suspected Teng knew.

Usually Luke would let her go off on her own, but this night he decided to follow.

Luke had been holding off from returning to the Falcon until he was certain Plutt wasn't guarding it. Since weeks had gone by with Rey making frequent visits, he knew he was in the clear.

The lights were on when Luke boarded the ship. He reached out and sensed her presence in the cockpit. It made him smile to know she couldn't resist it. But he wasn't ready to join her; his objective was something else.

Quietly he crept through the hallways, careful not to make a sound. He came to a panel of the wall, and with perfect practice removed it to find a secret closet. Luke grinned as he saw the contents within; he had hit the jackpot.

Clothing, weapons, even a few Holos, this closet was the proof of belonging to the Skywalker family. Luke eagerly dug through the closet to see what he could find. A shirt from Han, a skirt from Leia, a vest from Felicity, a pair of pants belonging to Luke. Ben's gloves, five-year-old Rey's shoes, an extra ammo belt for Chewie, some extra metal paneling for Artoo and Threepio in case of emergency. Han's medal for the Battle of Yavin, Leia's weapon belt from the war, some extra parts Luke used to repair his lightsaber. A Holo of Han and Leia's wedding, a Holo of Luke and Felicity's. A Holo of Lando and Alyla. One of Chewie, Malla, and Waroo. One of Artoo and Threepio with Threepio looking magnificent. Ben, Poe, and Rey hanging out by the lake on Rornian. Ammunition, maps, charts, and intel for the Resistance.

But one item made Luke's heart stop.

With shaking hands, he withdrew a NN-14 Imperial issue blaster: the one that he once belonged to Brendan Rhiaon.

They had found it the day after the Burning of Rornian, discarded by Luke's X-Wing. The gas cartridge was used up, so Felicity had no chance but the drop and fire her brother's precious blaster.

To Luke's surprise, it had been fixed and polished. It was in much better condition than the day Luke had thrown it against the wall in Felicity's office.

Han had kept Felicity's precious blaster in perfect condition.

Luke smiled and replaced it gently in the hidden closet. He was glad to see it was safe.

Before he was to replace the hidden panel, Luke looked down at the inside of it. Carved onto the metal were words:

RULES OF THE MILLENNIUM FALCON – Enforced as of 15 ABY

1. Do not question the Captain. He knows what he's doing… most of the time.

2. If you are married to the Captain, you may question the Captain. Because she's gonna do it anyway, so we may as well codify it.

3. No food or drink in the cockpit at anytime.

4. You get hair in the control panel, you clean it up, Chewie.

5. Felicity Rhiaon does not pilot this ship unless everyone else on board is dead, comatose, or unrevivable. Even then, seriously consider the amount of damage that would be done by a crash landing vs Fliss' piloting.

6. Don't complain about the shower.

7. Don't complain about the hyperdrive breaking.

8. Don't complain about the smell.

9. Don't complain.

10. Reine Agim may only gamble against droids.

11. Felicity Rhiaon is not allowed to touch the plumbing.

12. Ben Solo may not use the blast remote without supervision.

13. If you break something, you're the one fixing it.

14. Resign yourself to the fact that this ship will break down at the worst possible time.

15. Stop adding rules to this panel without my permission, Leia.

Luke laughed and slowly replaced the panel back on the wall. He was so grateful to see that some items from his former life had survived the chain of stealing. Perhaps someday he might be able to return the items to their rightful owners.

His heart sunk as he thought of the NN-14.

Not everything could return to their owners.

Rey was sitting in the captain's chair, absorbed in the workings of this insanity called a cockpit when a voice spooked her.

"Is thirteen the age when you start sneaking out after curfew?"

Rey jumped nearly a foot out of her seat, "Dad!"

Luke chuckled, leaning against the doorframe, "What in the galaxy do you think you're doing?"

"I just… I needed to see."

"And why's that?"

She bit her lip.

"Rey?"

"Do I know this ship?"

Luke scowled, "Oh… uh, yes, you do."

Rey looked away in shame. She felt her father's hand on her shoulder as crossed the room and sat in the co-pilot's seat.

"There's hair on the control panel," Rey picked at a long golden-brown strand.

"Yes, there is," Luke chuckled, running his hand across the controls.

"They're very long. They kind of look almost like… Wookiee hair."

"You're a smart girl. They are Wookiee hairs."

"That's how I met Wookiees before Jakku, right?" Rey guessed.

"Yes, it is." Luke closed his hand over hers, "Don't go putting the pieces all together yet. I'm not ready for you to know the truth of our past."

"I'll try not to muddle over it too much, but I make no promises."

They sat in silence for a long time.

"Dad?"

"Yes, Sweetheart?"

"Did this belong to my uncle?"

Luke's head snapped to his left, "Excuse me?"

"I sort of came here a few weeks ago and I saw something," Rey admitted. "It felt like a dream but it was real. I probably sound crazy."

"No, not at all," Luke assured her. He swallowed hard, trying to think of how to proceed, "What did you see?"

"Us… with a man. I was very little and sitting in your lap. We were playing at the Holotable when a man whose back was to me, so I couldn't see his face. But you called him my Uncle… did this belonged to my uncle?"

Luke stared at her for a long time.

"Yes," he finally admitted. "It belongs to your uncle, but please, Rey, I beg you, don't push too far with this. We're not ready. You're not ready. I'm not ready."

"I know," Rey looked away. "I just want to know so much."

"You will find out, but you're still so young. One day you will learn everything. It's going to happen a lot sooner than I'd like, I guarantee you that, but I swear to you, I'll tell you everything."

"Okay… Dad?"

"Yes, Rey?"

"Do you see visions too?"

"Yes."

Rey looked at her father, "Are we normal?"

Luke grinned, "Not in the slightest. But it's okay, normal is boring."

"I'm scared of these visions."

"Have you had any others?"

"I don't think so."

"Let me know, and I'll help guide you through them. Perhaps we should start getting you to seriously mediate; it helps control them. But Rey, I need you to promise me one thing."

"What's that?" she asked.

"I made the same mistake I'm about to warn you about, so I know what I'm talking about." He looked down at his false hand, "Because I didn't heed this advice, I lost my hand, and I'm going to be very upset if you lose one too."

"I will be upset to."

"Good. Rey, I need you to know that sometimes what you see in these visions, aren't real. They won't come to pass, and don't need to. I want you to promise that every time you see something, you will stop and seriously evaluate them. Don't just throw yourself headfirst in saving someone because of a false vision. Promise me you'll think about them first, Rey."

"If it means saving my hand?" Rey smiled and clasped her father's false appendage, "Of course I'll promise."

Luke pulled her in for a tight hug.

"This is so weird, Dad," Rey said as she pulled apart from him. "We can really see the future?"

"Sort of. It's always in motion, and sometimes it's not the future, but rather the past or something going on elsewhere in the galaxy, and like I said, sometimes it's a lie. Be very careful on trusting them."

"I'll tell you about every one I get."

"Good." Luke glanced at the control panel, "Oh, what is this? This wasn't here three weeks ago. Why would Plutt do that?"

"What?" Rey frowned.

"This," Luke pointed to a small part on the panel. "Unkar Plutt put a compressor on the ignition line."

"Well, that has to be a mistake."

"Why's that?" Luke always liked to get Rey to explain what was wrong with a machine to test her knowledge and see if she could figure out how to fix things.

"It puts too much stress on the hyperdrive," Rey answered.

"Good girl. And where would on go to disable the compressor?"

"Here!" Rey stood, pulled down something and pointed at the correct piece. She saw her father's proud smile. "What?"

"You wanna learn to fly a ship?" he asked.

"What, this one?"

"We wouldn't go anywhere today, but you want to learn the controls?"

"Absolutely!" Rey raced back to the pilot's chair and eagerly strapped herself in. "What do we do first?"

So Luke spent the rest of his night teaching his daughter how to fly the Millennium Falcon and making his long wanted dream come true.

Coming Up Next Chapter…

Taking a Stand

When an unexpected comm call comes to Jakku, Aletha has to make a difficult choice, and Teng finds he's got it bad for Rey.

Chapter Question: This chapter included some of the most awkward flashbacks I have ever written: Luke dealing with his romantic feelings towards Leia pre-twins discovery. I'm interested in hearing what you think about reading those scenes knowing what happens. Personally, I feel it is an important factor in their relationship during those four years before the discovery, and it is kept innocent enough. It's just really weird to write them knowing that it's incest.