AN:/ Here is the first chapter of my new fic! Do let me know what you think? Enjoy!

Chapter One: Petty Thief.

Planet Dalah, Palda City.

30 A.D (After Darkness).

Queen Leia.

The Queen sighed in relief as she lost her entourage of guards and ladies. She was sixty years old and she still had the energy to flee from her royal duties. The people of Palda City deserved better than a formal wave and smile; she wished to give them kind words that offered to help them sort out their problems. However, such a thing was impossible with the High Council on her back.

Leia has seen many men rise and fall during her reign, but the High Council refuses to budge from their old ways of ruling, and she hated to admit it, but they had more power over her, the Queen of Palda City.

She managed to slip down a narrow alley while lifting her dress to avoid muddying the hem. All of her gowns were hand made by Ser Chester Pane, and the eccentric man would have her head if he saw the way her train was being treated along the moss covered cobblestone. Her golden crown matched her golden dress, but her halo was crooked from her slow jog away from her party.

There was no doubt to Leia that the General of her army, Poe Dameron, would verbally abuse her for thinking it was wise to flee her protective circle. However, Leia has had enough. Ever since the disappearance of her husband, prince consort, Han Solo, she has found herself getting into a state of panic more often than being calm. It has been four years since he vanished, and it has been four years since the changes in their son, Ben Solo, took a drastic turn.

Mysterious forces wrapped around the world of Dalah, and her son — as well as herself — seemed to be tapped into the oddity. But, her son was slipping towards its evil and sinister side. He was known across the land as Kylo Ren, a fearsome fighter who cut down his enemies with a passive face incapable of feeling any positive emotions. Leia knew that wasn't true.

Her son had been raised in Palda City, where he socialised with the more unfortunate children and became their friend no matter what their upbringing was like. She'd seen the way he smiled at his father when they practised fighting techniques, as well as the way he smiled at her as she taught him politics and policies. Her son was not innately cruel, something had just found its way into his soul and darkened it.

Leia has ruled over Palda City — the main capital of Dalah — for thirty years now. She'd fought alongside her husband as they dethroned the evil Palpatine from his hideous reign that had controlled the lands of Dalah for a decade. Palpatine's men had been shipped off to the Isle of Gray to live out the rest of their lives behind bars. Leia had felt guilty about imprisoning them, and her good heart had been put to the test when she'd discovered that two of Palpatine's men had been none other than her brother and father.

She had been raised in the Kingdom of Alderaan by her adoptive parents Bail and Queen Breha. She had been raised as an Organa and taught the ways in which a princess should conduct herself, and for a long time, Leia had thought her only purpose in life was to marry another royal and take the throne of Alderaan after the Queen was ready to descend.

Oh, how wrong she had been.

At the age of eighteen, she had been prepared to marry the man her parents decided was a fit for her, but after seeing the trail of men coming to request her hand, she fled deep into the night. Unbeknownst to her, Palpatine's men had been awaiting the Ball eagerly as all their enemies would be there. Leia had been climbing to the top of a rocky ledge when the force of an explosion pushed her forward a few steps. The screams — she would never forget the screams. Her kingdom. Her home. Destroyed.

The purple bolts of lighting and the roaring of blue fire still haunted her dreams. She watched as the palace burnt down while the villagers screamed as Palpatine's men slaughtered their way through the town. Leia knew that she couldn't return, as far as Palpatine, otherwise known as Darth Sidious, was concerned, her body was one of the charred ones left in the wreckage. So, she fled across the land to form the Alliance. It was during this time that she found Han Solo and fell in love with him. He had no desire to become a leader, but he helped her raise armies to defeat the evil that was the Sith.

And so, Princess Leia became a Queen. She became the High Queen of Dalah, superior to the other Kingdoms and monarchs. She married the man she loved and gave birth to a son that she adored. However, the Gods had decided she must be tested regularly. The High Council survived the Sith and were too engraved within society to get rid of. The Elders have lived for centuries, and they always have the final word when it comes to Leia's politics and policies; she wished to disband the damned thing, but the people of Palda City, as well as the lands across Dalah, found comfort in their old ways.

Leia had thought her reign would be peaceful, then Sage Yoda had appeared from nowhere to tell her that two of the men she had imprisoned were in fact her real family. Anakin and Luke Skywalker. The names made her flinch away when mentioned. There was no way the infamous Darth Vader was her father, and she would never believe that Luke was her twin brother. It didn't make sense, yet, somehow it did. Sage Yoda had mentioned so many names that had been involved in the separation of Leia and her brother from their mother, Padmé Amidala, that Leia was still confused as to what had actually happened on the day she was born.

However, it didn't matter anymore, not to Leia. Her thirty year old son needed all of her attention. She'd always known that something dark had called to him, especially after he collapsed at the age of ten. She remembered that day clearly. One second she had been watching him head towards the populated part of Palda City from her balcony, then Ben had dropped to the floor crying out in pain. Everyone nearby rushed to his aid, and she'd paused at the sight of his veins glowing gold as black destroyed the light. Her son had been in so much pain that his body slipped into a week long coma. After that, her son had started to show physical signs of giving into the darkness; however, it was after Han Solo disappeared that it consumed him. His strength was unimaginable, and whatever power Dalah had granted him, was coursing through his body with the intent of causing destruction.

Leia's foot slipped on the moss and she grabbed onto the wall to stop herself from falling on her face. The tropical climate of Palda City, in Leia's opinion, was the perfect climate. However, it didn't help for a speedy getaway thanks to the harsh rain the night prior. She heard voices coming from ahead, so she tiptoed against the wall to the end of the alleyway. Parts of Palda City were so tightly packed together, that some of the buildings were single jumps away from each other.

She peaked her aged head around the corner, almost prepared to be caught by Poe; instead, a young woman was sitting on a step next to a Wookie. Leia paused at the sight. What was a Wookie doing in Palda City? The species native to Kashyyyk rarely ventured into the centre of Dalah, especially not into Palda City. They preferred to stay in the eastern parts of the world.

Leia focused her attention on the woman. Her youthful features were scrunched together as she separated the small loaf of bread and gave some to her companion, who gurgled in response. The more Leia stared, the more she realised that the loaf of bread in her hands was probably her first bit of food in a long time. The baggy clothes did not conceal her scrawny frame that was nothing but knobbly knees and sunken ribs. A tightness laced around her heart. She wasn't stupid, she knew that poverty had increased dramtically in the last six years, but it hurt to see such a young girl slumming in a narrow part of the city with a loaf of bread that she'd probably stolen.

The Queen's aching heart led her to reveal herself to the girl and the Wookie. They immediately took notice of her, and a roar came from the creature as the young girl hid the bread behind her back.

Rey

Palda City.

She's had better days.

Her grip on the window ledge threatened to slip and plummet her four stories down onto the concrete. Yes, there have definitely been better days.

A scrounger. A petty thief.

She was all of those things, and perhaps in a different life she would feel ashamed to be those things, but she had to feed herself somehow. The scent of a cooked lunch had filtered into the street she had been sneaking down. It called to her, almost daring her to try to steal it. So, she climbed the side of the building and went through the open window. It was enough food to feed her and Chewie for weeks; they'd have full stomachs for the first time in years.

Rey had met Chewbacca in Jakku when he'd been bought by Unkar Plutt as a slave when she was fifteen. She'd learnt many languages as the other slaves were a variety of species, which was why Rey and Chewie had become quick friends. They spent their time scavenging across the desert land. Life on Jakku was filled with violence. Rey had to learn from a young age to fight her own battles. The inhabitants of Jakku liked to settle their problems with a bare knuckle fight, and Rey gave it the best shot she could. She'd fought against women and men, and sometimes she lost and sometimes she won. It had happened so much that Rey found herself always resorting to violence to settle conflict, and she didn't care if her opponent was twice the size and could kill her with a single punch, she always swung first no matter the condition she came out in when it was over. However, her life on Jakku came to an end after a confrontation with Plutt over rations. He threatened to have Chewie sold off to another district, and the idea had rattled her so much that a force flung a nearby knife right into Plutt's brow. Chewie had felt the force around her, and the pair stole two horses and fled until the sand turned to grass.

And that was how they ended up in Palda City. Rey had only ever known Jakku, so the dense city had shocked her to the core. There was never silence; it didn't matter how far she disappeared into the slums of the city, the noise plagued her. However, the worst part of the city wasn't the citizens, it was that damned castle. Something has always called to her there. She would spend hours staring at it as it stood tall in the distance. There was something inside those walls that caused her body to come alight.

She was no longer a scavenger, instead, she stole for a living. Which is why she ended up in situations like this one. The occupants of the flat had come back while she salvated over the food, and with no time to grab much, she put a loaf of bread in her pocket. The door flung open just as she grabbed the window ledge, and now she was stuck. Thankfully, no one was in the alley to witness her failure.

Rey clamped her teeth down on her lip to stop herself from grunting. The family inside made plenty of noise as they sat down for their lunch, and Rey's stomach made a loud gurgle. It had all looked so delicious.

A distant call came from a few streets over.

Rey smirked as a few moments later, Chewie came running around the corner. He called out to her and she waited until he was underneath, then she let go of the ledge and landed in his furry embrace. He greeted her with a smirk and she shook her head.

"That one was too close," she said as she pulled the bread from her pocket. "I managed to get something. You?"

Chewie shook his head.

"Damn it," she led the way down the alley. "This should be enough for a couple of days," she brought it to her nose. "It smells fresh."

Rey led him to a step and they took a seat.

Surely she was meant to be something more than this? She'd spent her time on Jakku dreaming of a better life; she dreamt that her parents would come and get her, but no such thing happened. Her whole life had been spent yearning for a family, for someone to love her unconditionally, but it seemed she'd drawn the short straw when it came to family.

Her life as a slave had been filled with little love or affection. The moment she turned five, the orphanage on Jakku had sent her straight to Plutt, and from then on, she lived out her days beneath a flimsy rag canopy. She was grateful for Chewie, but his comfort and warmth wasn't enough to fill the desire inside of her for something more.

Rey began to tear a part of the bread off for Chewie, and as she handed it to him, movement came from an alley nearby. She shot to her feet as an elderly lady — dressed in the prettiest dress Rey had ever seen — stepped into view. She instinctively put the loaf behind her back and Chewie roared.

"I mean no harm, child," she held her wrinkled hands up in defence.

Rey didn't believe her. Chewie was the only person who hadn't put his hands on her in a violent way. Even old ladies could have a sharp strike. However, kindness seemed to seep off the woman and wrap around Rey's beating heart. She didn't mean them any harm, Rey could feel it.

"I…" Rey's throat refused to release any more words than that.

"That bread behind your back —"

"What of it?" Rey snapped.

The woman smiled. "Did you steal it?"

Rey swallowed hard and Chewie shuffled closer to her. He was getting ready to grab her and run. "What's it to you?" Rey's tight grip on the bread caused bits to flake off.

"Do you know who I am?"

Rey regarded her closely. It didn't take her long to figure out who she was, and the crown was her biggest clue. "The Queen," she gasped.

There goes Rey's precious head.

Chewie grabbed her wrist, but before he could pull her along, the Queen called out. "Don't run! Please, don't run!"

Rey narrowed her eyes at her. Something odd was happening inside her body. Something was telling her that this woman was safety.

"I can help you," the Queen said. "You don't have to steal food any longer."

Rey's heart thundered in her chest. "W-Why? Why would you want to help us?"

"You are malnourished, child, I can't not help you now that I've seen you. I have a duty to my people."

Queen Leia. That was her name, Rey remembered now. She'd heard stories of her fight against the Sith, but that battle was a long time ago and had nothing to do with Rey. However, Chewie told her stories of the battles as it had happened while he lived.

"Help us how? We come as a package…" she glanced back at Chewie then at the Queen.

"We always need staff in the palace, and you'll be granted three meals a day, clothing and a room," she explained, and Rey's shoulders sagged in relief. Whatever force was surrounding her had been right, this woman was kind hearted. But, Rey still didn't know whether to believe her words. Every promise that had been made to her had been broken.

Plus, Rey wasn't sure if she wanted to find out what it was inside the palace that called to her.

Chewie let go of her wrist and nudged her. "Chewie...I don't know."

"I mean no harm," Queen Leia said. "My only wish is to get you pair off the streets."

"Why? What's so special about us?"

"I'm not sure, child—"

"My name's Rey, stop calling me a child," the Queen smirked at her attitude.

"It's nice to meet you, Rey," the Queen glanced to Rey's left. "And this is?"

"Chewbacca," said Rey. "I refuse to be separated from him—"

"I'm offering both of you work at the palace," the Queen walked closer to them. "Let me help you. Surely working in my palace will be a better life than stealing bread."

"Anything would be better than that," Rey whispered. "But, people have promised me things before and they never follow through."

As the Queen walked closer, the tightness around her heart got worse. Tears welled up in Rey's eyes as the Queen stopped in front of her. Surely this was some cruel trick? No one could be this kind to someone they've never met before.

And then, Queen Leia grabbed her arms, bringing them between them so she cradled both of her wrists that held the bread. Rey felt it then, that mysterious force that lay deep inside her. She felt the faint hum around her that she experienced whenever she looked at the castle. Had that been the Queen all along or was it something more? The hum wasn't as strong as it was when she spent her nights staring at the palace.

"You don't need to live this life anymore," the Queen nodded at the loaf of bread. "Let me help you, please."

Chewie made a noise and Rey looked at him. "I know, Chewie, but how many times have people shown us kindness and turned out to be nothing but evil — too many!"

"Rey," whispered the Queen. "I have faced evil with the end of my blade. I swear to all the Gods that I mean you no harm."

Her bottom lip trembled as tears fell down her cheeks. Could this really be true? Rey had every right to not trust this woman, but there was something about her that made her trust every word she said. Chewie made another noise and Rey sighed.

"Fine."

Queen Leia smiled brightly. "Truly?"

Rey nodded. "Anything is better than the life we're living now."

Suddenly, beeping came from behind the Queen. Rey pulled her hands away and tossed the bread to Chewie, then glanced around the Queen to see an Astromech droid flashing a red light at them.

The Queen turned to face the white and orange droid, "I knew you'd find me eventually, BB-8. Where is your Master?"

A deep voice came from nearby. "I'm right here."

What was going on? Rey had seen many droids during her time at Jakku, and she'd even tried to build one once with the scraps she'd found but it had been an instant failure. What did this one want with the Queen?

"What's happening?" Rey asked.

The Queen turned to her with a frown. "It appears I've been caught."