Please don't hate me. But thanks for the reviews ! (:
it's hard to keep a promise
When Rey was twelve, Ahsoka changed. Many times she would wake up in the middle of the night to find Ahsoka standing not too far from the AT-AT with her hands clasped behind her back while staring up at the stars. Anakin would be sitting on piece of a ship to her right, watching her with a guarded expression. No words were ever exchanged between the two of them and Rey ran back to bed once Ahsoka turned around.
That was how Rey knew they were going to leave her. Even if she habitually called them 'mom' and 'papa' (Ahsoka preferred 'grandma' while Anakin took his title with ease), perhaps it was fate that they were to disappear without a trace.
No one ever stayed with Rey for too long. However it was ironic that they would leave her after five years.
"Rey, have you fixed the speeder?" Ahsoka poked her head into the AT-T with a small smile on her lips. She always acted like something wasn't wrong but Rey knew better.
Rey nodded as she played with Dosmit while wearing her helmet. "Papa helped me before the sun set yesterday. He knows it's hard for you to travel without it."
"Good. We need to head to Niima soon for water."
Before Ahsoka left her to her own devices, Rey shot up and ran to grab her hand. Ahsoka blinked in surprise as she stumbled back slightly with one foot in the sand.
"What is it?" Ahsoka knew that look on Rey's face and she didn't like it.
"Promise me you'll say goodbye." Rey pleaded softly as she bit her bottom lip.
Anakin made himself known by laughing humorlessly, "told you she'd find out, Snips." He was leaning up against the AT-AT with his arms folded.
"So you are leaving." Rey sighed softly and let go of Ahsoka's hand.
Despite no longer touching her, Ahsoka still felt Rey's tight grip (around her heart).
"It's not like I want to." Ahsoka clenched her fist as her shoulders sagged. "It's no longer safe for me here."
Both of them ignored Anakin's scoff.
"What do you mean?" Rey asked with furrowed brows.
She would protect her mother no matter what.
Ahsoka's eyes were filled with sorrow. They were misty and full of tears that refused to fall.
"Another evil fills this galaxy." Ahsoka said quietly as she glanced at Anakin. Despite looking younger than she actually was, the weariness on her face reminded Rey she was in fact 63 years old. "I do not know its name but I have seen its horror within my visions."
Anakin snapped.
"I refuse to believe remnants of the Empire have been revived with the help of my grandchild."
Ahsoka saw the way his fingers twitched at his side and she was silently thankful he couldn't grab a lightsaber. She refrained from telling him that he would have had no idea he had a grandson unless it was for her visions. But in a way it was also slightly her fault that he was unable to visit his children.
But it wasn't like she asked the Force to stick them together.
Ahsoka ultimately decided to not answer him.
"Listen to me Rey." Ahsoka said firmly as she moved a stray strand out of Rey's face. "I may be forced to leave you soon, but I—we—shall return to you. But you must stay here and out of harms way."
"But—" Rey protested.
"Can't we just bring her to Leia?" Anakin interrupted her with an apologetic look.
Ahsoka almost guffawed. "Your daughter will probably be smack dab in the middle of an oncoming war and you want to bring Rey to her? Not to mention it's her child that's out there killing people."
Anakin's mouth twisted in disgust. "I also refuse to believe a smuggler procreated with my daughter."
Rey scowled as she listened to the two, unable to understand what they were saying. She knew about Luke and Leia, imagined them as her actual siblings even. It was hard not to know about them with their father in her presence and the whispers at the Outpost. But she was absolutely clueless about any war currently happening or Leia having a son.
"Just promise you'll come back for me okay?" Rey looked at the both of them expectantly.
Ahsoka and Anakin answered without hesitation. "I promise."
They leave a Standard week after that. Rey awoke to a soft kiss pressed to her forehead and a whispered 'goodbye.' Ahsoka was scrambling to the Silver Tempest that was hidden behind scattered star ship pieces with Anakin hollering after her during the dead of night. Rey couldn't make out what they were saying but she heard something about Stormtroopers and it made her uneasy.
Fear and loneliness gripped Rey's heart as she watched her family leave. The sight of the Sith Infiltrator flying into the sky and leaving Jakku haunted her for many nights. For seven years she was alone and unguided. She lost her parents for the second time. No Ahsoka to patch up Dosmit's stitches or Anakin to help her fix the speeder. No mom to nap with after a long day or a father who threatened to fight anyone who made her cry (Anakin attempting to beat up Unkar Plutt was absolutely hilarious). Her family dwindled to two people. But even Dosmit couldn't give her hugs like Ahsoka's.
That was the day her hatred for the First Order began.