AN: Hello! So, the idea for this story came to me in a dream (yes, a literal Kylo-infused dream lol) and I'd been kicking it around for a while before I decided to just sit down and write it. Most of this story will be pretty close to canon, but it's fanfiction after all and I will be taking some creative liberties to keep the story flowing. It's going to be a bit of a slow start as I really want to focus on building the story up – you may not see Kylo/Ben for the first few chapters – but I hope that doesn't stop you from enjoying my OC and her journey!

I.

"You have to keep her safe, please!" A woman's voice spoke in rushed whispers, her tone frantic and laced with fear.

"She's already showing signs of... They'll find her-"

"No! You have to keep her safe. She must never know."

There was screaming somewhere in the distance, voices crying out for help. It all sounded so very far away…

The sound of rapid blaster fire rang through the air and then everything grew eerily quiet.

"Tell her nothing."

I squeezed my eyes closed against the brightness of the morning sun, the warm glow filling my small room with golden light. It crept across the floor and slowly crawled up the grey stone walls, working its way over to my bed where I was forced to pull my blanket over my face and hide away from its prying fingers. I desperately clung onto the last holds of sleep, hoping that for once I could remember the entirety of my dreams. The voices had sounded so familiar this time. Both belonged to women, of that much I was sure, but I couldn't place either of them. For as long as I could remember I'd dreamed of odd things such as places I'd never actually seen and snippets of conversations that I wasn't involved in. I was told that my strange dreams were merely the result of my being human, as humans were far too imaginative for their own good. I focused all of my energy into cementing as much of my dream to memory as I could. As my body grew restless in waking and my mind began to clear, I sighed and threw back the covers. The stinging light in my eyes was the final step in fully waking up.

Stifling a yawn, I sat up slowly and stretched, reaching my arms up over my head and arching my back. Through the large, domed glass window before me I could see the stirrings of the villagers preparing themselves for the day ahead. I could already feel the humidity sticking to my skin beneath my shift. I couldn't expect any different – it was always hot on Felucia. The serene blue sky held no clouds and smiled down upon the fields of nysillin that sat patiently awaiting harvest. The past few weeks had been quite busy on the farm as it was the gathering season, the first of the year and always the largest. Due to the steady climate and fertility of the soil, the Felucians were able to produce three to four massive nysillin crops a year which would be harvested and shipped to the other planets among the Perlemian Trade Route. The healing properties of nysillin made it incredibly valuable to the rest of the galaxy and cemented Felucia as a beneficial stopping point for a number of different merchants. This was one of the only ways to experience life outside of our simple community. The other Felucians didn't care much for things that took time away from their daily routines but items from far away planets simply fascinated me.

I rose from bed and walked across my room to the adjacent refresher. Leaning over the washstand, I splashed cool water over my face and neck and dragged wet fingers through the tangled mess on my head. I made quick work of braiding my hair, knowing full-well that the shorter pieces were already escaping. When my eyes met my reflection in the round wall mirror, I couldn't help but smirk. A scattering of freckles danced across the bridge of my nose and onto my cheeks, the skin beneath tanned from years of working in the sun. The shallow cut across my browbone was healing nicely; the result of an unavoidable incident with a rogue Ripper that had decided to fly directly into my head. I stood on my tip toes and elongated my neck. I glanced down at my body with a scrutinizing gaze. Still skinny, but perhaps it was too early to tell? I turned to one side and then the other. My confident smirk fell into a disappointed frown. I suppose it was stupid of me to think that turning fourteen would cause any drastic changes overnight, yet I was convinced I should at least look a little different because, unfortunately, I felt exactly the same. Another year, another name day, and still I felt like a little child.

I closed the refresher door behind me as I walked out and stripped off my shift, tossing it onto the pile of blankets on my bed before pulling a brown leather tunic and tan leggings from my small wardrobe. Dressing quickly, I reached under the bed for my boots and forced my socked feet into them clumsily. I glanced once more out the window, seeing the village far more awake and active than before, and slid open my bedroom door to the main living space on the other side. The delicious smell of breakfast instantly assaulted my nose and caused my mouth to water. I crept up slowly behind the figure manning the cooking fire. Her back turned to me, I stood as close as I dared before suddenly placing my hands on her shoulders and asking, "Whatcha cookin'?"

Umfazi shouted and nearly flung the cooking ladle across the room in her startled state. I caught it out of the air easily, as if it guided itself into my hand. She turned to me, her hands fisted on her wide hips, and scoffed, "You are trouble, girl, and it is too early for trouble." I handed her the ladle with an apologetic grin. She eyed me in mock anger, red eyes boring into green, before she 'tsked' at me and all was forgiven. "I'll never get used to you doing that, my Asha."

I couldn't help the laugh that bubbled in my chest. "You fall for it every time. You should know better by now."

"And you should know to stop scaring an old woman!" She turned back to the large pot over the fire and began stirring once more. As if she could feel my eyes on her, she turned to me over her shoulder. "Those bowls won't make it over here themselves. They don't have legs, you know."

I kissed her on the cheek and quickly went about setting the table for breakfast. Once everything was laid out the way I knew she liked it and the bowls were set on the counter beside her, I took my usual seat and watched Umfazi work. She was slightly shorter than me with a wide frame and smooth reptilian skin. She wore fabric wrapped around her bald head and goggles to protect her sensitive eyes from the sun, the latter of which were currently pushed back on her forehead. Her clothing was nearly identical to mine, always brown leather and earth tones, although my clothes had to undergo serious alterations in order to fit my slender frame; Felucians were thickly built creatures with wide, sturdy legs and feet. While indoors she went without her working gloves, revealing her four-fingered hands as she prepared an assortment of fruit to go along with the stewed vegetables.

I couldn't help but feel a strong fondness toward her as she filled each bowl with the steaming goodness and clucked at me to bring them to the table. She followed me with a tray of fruit and together we enjoyed our meal. Sitting together for breakfast was a special occasion. On an average day we would quickly grab some bread and cheese and head out to the fields, Umfazi to her responsibilities and I to mine. We would come together in the late evenings, long after the sun had faded and the moons had taken their place in the sky, and we would dine together while she filled my head with the histories and lessons of her people. But today was different and for that I was grateful. Every year she made a point to spend the morning of my name day with me. It was a small gesture of affection but it was one that continued to bring me happiness.

Looking up across the table at her, I noticed she had hardly touched her food while my bowl was nearly empty. She was staring at her spoon with a troubled expression. Her knotted brow led me to believe that she was having a difficult time sorting through her thoughts.

"What is it, Faz?" My pet name for her drew her from within herself and back to me.

She shook her head and smiled, but her smile was thin. "Nothing, nothing." She quickly took a bite of food and chewed carefully, purposely avoiding making eye contact as she did so. I remained looking at her, waiting. Swallowing her mouthful, she pushed her bowl away and steadied her gaze on me. "You were dreaming last night."

Oh, this again.

I shifted nervously in my seat. "Yes."

"What about?"

"I don't remember." It wasn't a total lie. I didn't remember all of it.

She folded her hands together and gently placed them on the table before her. "We have talked about this, Asha. You must come to me when you see things in your dreams." I made to open my mouth to respond but she quickly cut me off. "Don't try to hide it. I could hear you."

A blush crept up into my cheeks. It had been quite some time since she had last heard me talking in my sleep – screaming, really. That dream had been brutally realistic. A man, a monster, dressed in all black with a fearsome mask had been advancing on me, goading me to fight him. I could only watch in terror as he cut me down with a piercing red blade. I had felt the pain radiate through my body, tearing me apart, when at last I had awoken to find Umfazi shaking me by the shoulders and desperately calling my name. At my insistence, and despite her worry, we decided never to speak of it again.

"I'm sorry," I said weakly. "I didn't think it mattered. This dream wasn't… It wasn't like that." She squinted her eyes in disbelief. "I promise."

"I thought you said you didn't remember?"

Damn. "Well, I don't. Not really." I picked up my bowl and brought it to the sink, filing it with water. "There were voices. I didn't see anything." She turned around in her seat and waited for me to continue, her red eyes attentive to my forcefully calm movements. I focused on washing my bowl. "They were talking about protecting something, or someone? I'm not sure. It sounded like there was fighting going on. It was loud, but then… it wasn't. One of the voices was crying. And there was…" I paused, thinking of how this next part might get me into trouble. "There was blaster fire, like the time those pirates came." I dried the bowl with a towel and walked across the room to return it to its proper place in the cabinet. I kept my back to Umfazi, but I could feel her eyes on me. I turned to meet her steely gaze.

"I see." After a long moment she stood and brought her bowl to the sink as well, washing it and handing it to me to put away. She remained silent the entire time. Finally, she looked up at me and placed her palm to my forehead then traced her hand down the side of my face to cup my chin. "Well, I think it is time to begin our work." With that simple and unfulfilling phrase, she pulled her goggles down over her eyes, picked up her gloves off of the shelf by the door, and walked out of the hut without another word. I stood in confused silence, staring at the space before me she had previously occupied. I'd never felt so lost.

By midday break I was nearly drenched with sweat. The sun had risen to its highest peak and took great pleasure in glaring down upon those of us toiling away in the fields, blessing us with its sweltering heat. Delanni, the lead farmer in our village, had announced that we should rest and return back to work once the sun had moved closer to the tree line. I quickly left my work section and returned my tools to the supply shed. Hitching my gathering pack further up on my shoulder, I followed the others to the collection point where Delanni would take stock in what we had gathered so far. As we waited in line, a few of the villagers nearby had come to greet me and offer me blessings for my name day. Each Felucian reached out to touch the top of my head and cup my chin in turn; this was the traditional way of showing good will and affection towards others. Growing up here, I'd always known I was different- I wasn't blind, after all– but I'd always felt like I belonged.

I was the only human in the village, possibly on this section of the grid, and had been raised by Umfazi since I was very young. I didn't know anything about my family other than what I'd learned from others over the years. Their stories told me that my parents had been a part of a group of refugees fleeing Chandaar and had landed outside this village after sustaining damage to their ship. Forced to remain on Felucia during the heavy rain season, it would be a few weeks before they were able to barter the necessary parts needed to repair their ship from the merchants passing through. Fortunately for the refugee group, they were soon on their way to a new life somewhere in the Inner Rim. I would not be so lucky. Umfazi had found me in the jungle, curled up in the shade of a cropping of purple mushrooms nearly two days after the ship had departed. She brought me back to the village and into her home, keeping me safe until my parents were able to return for me.

They never did.

I shook the negative thoughts from my head. They weren't worth dwelling on. Finally, it was my turn to unload my batch of nysillin. I walked to the front of the line and emptied my pack onto the scale. Delanni noted the weight on his datapad and knodded carefully as he processed the calculations. Looking up from his work, he smiled kindly at me.

"Well done, Asha." He placed his palm on my forehead and pinched my chin between two fingers. "Your numbers are promising as always. Such a hard worker, you are."

I smiled brightly at him. "Thank you, Delanni."

"You may go now." I nodded and began to head for my hut when Delanni called out to me. "I believe Mhala is looking for you. Over there." He pointed towards the edge of the jungle on the opposite side of the field. I shielded my eyes from the sun and searched for my friend amongst the crowd. Upon seeing her I quickly changed course and jogged over to where she stood, her face tilted up towards the sky.

Her pink skin glistened in the sunlight. "You'll go blind if you keep that up," I said as I walked up and stood beside her.

"Asha!" Mhala threw her arms around me in a gripping hug, the top of her head resting against my cheek. "You've found me."

I smiled down at her, my hands resting lightly on her shoulders. "It wasn't hard. Delanni gave you up."

"Oh, that old man can't keep a secret to save his life." Letting her arms fall away from me, she quickly touched my forehead and my chin; she ended the tradition with pinching my cheeks, a little extra affection saved just for me. "I wanted to surprise you later," she said, eyeing me mischievously as she reached into her pocket. "But I suppose now is the perfect time." Her red eyes were hidden behind her protective goggles but I could tell she was focused on my reaction as she pulled out a small parcel wrapped in bright yellow cloth.

I smiled instantly. "What is this?" I hadn't expected a gift but I took it from her nonetheless. I ran my fingers over the beautiful fabric, feeling the soft material against my skin. The feeling was so luxurious that I had to actively resist from rubbing it against my cheek. Slowly, I began to unfold the corners. I could sense Mhala's excitement mixing in the air with my own. In the center of the fabric lay a single brown leather cord with the most intricate beading I'd ever seen. Small, round orbs of blue and green were woven through the leather and held together by thin lines of golden thread. I held the cord up to the sun and gazed in awe as the beads reflected against my hand. It was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. When I finally found my words, I looked down at a beaming Mhala. "Where did you get this?" A sheepish looked came across her face as she explained.

"Do you remember those Gossam that passed through a few months ago?" I nodded my head in response, carefully securing the cord within the yellow fabric and folding it up. Their ship had stopped by our village in order to speak with Delanni about setting up a trading agreement between our communities. The Gossam were a blue skinned people that wore luxurious fabrics and embellished their outfits with lots of gold and jewelry, including multiple golden rings around their necks. It had been difficult to keep my eyes off of them during their visit. "Well, I convinced one of the women to sell me her bracelet." My mouth dropped open in shock. Before I could berate her, Mhala held up her hand and continued fervently. "Trade! We traded for it. She picked out the best of my stock but…" She looked up at me with warmth. "It was worth it."

I threw my arms around her slender neck and held her close. How lucky was I to have such a wonderful friend? Mhala was quite skilled in crafting with leather and other materials. Even so, most of her items never sold for more than a few wupiupi each. I could only imagine how much she'd had to barter off in order to receive such a prize in return. "I love it," I said, releasing her from the hug and slipping the parcel into my front pocket. "I'll treasure it forever."

Most of the villagers had turned in to their respective huts for the meal break. There were still a few people milling about in the fields but, for the most part, we were now alone and out of sight. "Come on," Mhala said quietly, tugging at the short sleeve of my dress. "My mother packed a big lunch today. We can share." I turned away from her and glanced towards my hut where Umfazi was surely waiting for me. Not ready for a repeat of this morning's conversation, I met Mhala's gaze once more as she asked, "Shall we make today an adventure?" She began gradually walking toward the tree line that separated the edge of the village from the outskirts of the surrounding jungle. A playful smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.

I couldn't resist.