I was regaining consciousness from a meditation when I heard the shuttle door open.
We landed on Aargonar in the early morning. I had looked out the window as we descended and rested my eyes upon a desert terrain that reminded me of Jakku. I'd noticed a town in the distance. The whole scene reminded me of a scene from a movie I'd watched they took place on Tatooine.
"Ben" I said as he stepped through the door. I was still unsure how I felt about calling him by his name, and just as unsure about how he felt about it. He looked at me for a moment then put down the bags he carried.
"I've brought some clothes and some food. We'll have to refuel in the city and I've arranged for a place in a garage to put the ship and a place for us to stay while we get the supplies we need." He told me.
"Okay" I said.
"How did you do all of this?"
"There are quite a few people on this planet who have lingering affiliations the Sith." He pulled off his helmet and revealed a tight bun at the back of his head.
"Are you trying to copy me?" I joked, and a smile I'd never seen before appeared on his lips.
"When it gets hot my hair tends to stick to my neck" he said. He pulled a set of clothes out of a bag and handed them to me.
"Get dressed, we're going to go into town soon." I nodded and took to the fresher.
...
I exited the bedroom after dressing and found him in tan robes, tucking his light saber under his tunic and reminding me of someone whose name I could not place. They complimented my light blue robes nicely, and I hadn't ever seen him in anything other than black.
He noticed me looking over his clothes.
"The markets said this was the best thing to wear to blend in. We don't want anyone recognizing us." He explained.
"That's fine. I don't mind." I said and smiled at him.
"Great. Let's go then." He said, moving to the cockpit and starting the ship.
...
We stepped out of the garage and found a town ablaze with commotion. There were several buildings and table shops on every side of the street; the tarps and coverings over each seller's space created a parade of colors through the entire town. There were people and beings of any species imaginable walking on all parts of the street. I looked about and realized we blended in very well, something I was grateful for.
We walked along the street, observing everything the merchants offered. Items ranged from clothes to desert fruits to even "sith replicas". I chuckled at the latter as I remembered a mention of Aargonar having lingering feelings towards the old empire.
"We need to find food, and a lot of it." He said from my right and I nodded. I followed him to a tent with several tables, with a variety of portions laid out on the front table.
There were even more options on the tables inside the tent; there were portions for soup, bread, meat, vegetables, even alcohol. I held up a portion for blue milk and he nodded, approaching me and calling over one of the sellers in the tent. A male Twi'lek came towards us.
"Yes! What can I do for you? What do you like?" The Twi'lek asked, an enthusiastic look on his face.
"We want to place a fairly large order of portions." He replied and the seller grinned.
"Of course! Name the portion and we have it!" The Twi'lek chirped, motioning to the inventory. I looked about and spoke.
"We'll need some bread, and probably some meat" I said.
"We'll also need meal set rations, soup rations, blue milk rations. We'll need sixty portions of each" he added and the merchant's eyes widened.
"Of course! Let me retrieve your product" the Twi'lek squealed then disappeared behind a tarp. Moments later, several female Twi'lek came from within the tarp and began filling boxes from portion tables around the tent. The merchant appeared shortly after they began working and came towards us.
"For everything you request, it will be 1,500 credits." The seller said. I looked to my left and watched my partner pull out a black pouch with tons of credits inside. As he sorted through the bag, the Twi'lek watched his hand move in the bag and looked to the tarp.
"I'm terribly sorry," the seller started.
"I've just remembered we've adjusted our prices recently" he continued.
"And your total will actually be 1,700 credits" he finished and Ben's head flipped up, his eyes growing dark and his hand leaving his pouch.
"What do you mean your prices have gone up? Since I took out my money they went up? Are you serious?" He growled, his hand reaching up. I could sense he was seconds away from Force gripping the neck of the seller.
"Ben!" I yelled and grabbed his arm. He stopped moving and looked at me, first my hand on him then my face. He lowered his extended arm and took a deep breath.
"Fine." He said, throwing the credits onto the table and holding himself back as the satisfaction on the merchant's face grew.
The Twi'lek girls finished stacking our portions in front of us and one girl asked us where we wanted them. Ben mentioned the garage and the girls picked up our boxes. They each totted off in the direction of the ship.
As we exited the tent I looked around at the rest of the market and my heart nearly fell out of my chest.
In the pay window of one of the buildings across the street was Unkar Plutt.
It had been years since I left Jakku. Unkar had tried to keep me in the junkyard and had succeeded for awhile, reassuring me every chance he could that my family would return for me. I think he just wanted me to continue bringing him parts. I was a very good scavenger.
I stopped walking, and Ben noticed. He looked at me and I pointed at the window.
"I know who that is. He'll report us if he sees us." I said and he nodded.
"He'll see us, without a doubt. You'll have to convince him he doesn't know you." He replied.
"How do I do that?"
"Mind trick. Just go up to him, focus on the Force, on his mind, wave your hand and say "you don't know who I am" it might take a try or two but you definitely can handle it."
I looked at him, looked at Unkar, and felt my legs moving forward.
I stepped up to the platform beneath the window and looked him square in the eyes. He looked extremely surprised, and also extremely angry.
"Rey.." he growled, and before I could say anything else, I waved my hand.
"You will forget we ever met" I said as I focused on my words as they entered his ears and his brain processed them.
"I will forget we ever met" he repeated back to me.
"You do not know who I am" I said as I waved my hand again.
"I do not know who you are" he repeated, and I looked to Ben who nodded once.
I stepped off the platform and returned to where he stood.
"Did that work?" I asked and Ben shut his eyes. He flicked them back open and nodded once.
...
After spending the majority of the day purchasing supplies and examining the town I was happy to sit down for a moment.
I followed Ben into a building that was short but long. He let me sit in the waiting area while he talked to someone at the desk and gave them a handful of credits. With the amount of credits he seemed to have I could've lived on Jakku and eaten only the best portions for years.
He returned and guided me through a hallway to our room.
We stepped into the room and I looked at the bed for a moment as it occurred to me that Ben and I had never actually slept together.
I assumed he had slept in the bed when I slept in it on the ship, but I was always asleep by the time he would've come in to the room and he was always gone when I woke up. There were many nights where he fell asleep in the pilot's chair.
He put our bags down and spoke, his voice pulling me away from my thoughts.
"Hey" he looked nervous.
"There is a bar, it's called The AT-AT Cantina, in the basement. Would you, want to go?" He asked me.
"Yes" I replied.
...
The bar was dark and dimly lit, but full of activity. The customers were mainly humans and humanoids but there were a few beings about the place. There was low music and a lot of chatter in languages I had never heard. Ben lead me to a chair at the bar that was next to two women with painted faces, talking happily about their home planet.
I stepped up on the stool and Ben called over the bartender. A man with platinum blond hair and a large belly came towards us. Ben ordered and the bartender handed me an ale and handed Ben bourbon.
"So who are you two? I haven't seen you around here before" the bartender asked.
"Ben. Satine, my wife" Ben replied without looking stopping his scan of the room.
"Nice, where are you guys from?"
"Tatooine"
"Ah, so I'm sure this weather came as no surprise!"
"No, none at all."
The man nodded, realizing we didn't want to talk, and stepped away. Ben placed a few credits on the counter and looked at me.
"Where did you get the credits for all of this?" I asked.
"The First Order made sure I had plenty of accommodations."
...
In the corners of The AT-AT Cantina, a scoundrel's skull stirs...
"Hmm.." Unkar grumbles, rubbing his forehead. His companion looks up from their meal.
"What is it? Think of something?" They ask. Unkar sits up, his eyes lighting up at first then darkening upon a realization.
"Yes.. I have." He sneers, his brows pulling together and his resting hand closing into a fist.