Author's Notes: Hi, readers. Here's chapter four of "Not So Far." This chapter introduces Poe, Rose, Paige, and BB-8. I am so glad to finally feature the Resistance. I have been wanting to do that since I started this fic. Stay tuned for chapter five.

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Chapter 4: In a Drought-Stricken Village

Clouds covered most of the late morning sky above a drought-stricken field in the southern hemisphere of Outer Rim world Plint. This part of the planet happened to consist of mostly forest and plains as well as lakes and rivers. Villages dotted a number of areas along with a few cities and spaceports. The northern hemisphere was filled with forest and mountains. Villages and towns could be seen here and there.

A striped eagle flew above the field while letting out a loud screech. It stared down at a nearly dry river. It was rather large. Its body was completely black with the exception of two white stripes running from the base of its neck to the end of its longest tail feather. Several feathers on its head happened to be light gray. It flapped its wings to gain altitude.

The eagle approached the edge of the field in which it happened to lead into a forest. It headed above the canopy. It screeched softly before giving its wings another three flaps. It spotted the edge of the forest within five minutes. It went downward, coming upon a huge clearing that contained a medium-sized village called Tovi. It landed on a branch just above the middle of a tree. It looked toward the other side of the clearing. It could see a medium-sized transport ship belonging to the Resistance.

The eagle shifted its attention to Tovi. The village consisted mostly of huts that varied in size. Several Resistance workers were handing food such as rice, beans, fruit, and fish to its villagers who had been suffering from drought conditions for three months. A few were making meals for a number of children. Most of the villagers were human while others were of various species.

A human boy walked around while tossing an apple into the air. He caught it with both hands easily. He stopped near a hut on the edge of the village and sniffed it eagerly. He was about to bite into it when a hand snatched it away. He looked at a human girl, who formed a big smirk on her face. He rolled his eyes before shaking his head in disbelief.

"Look what I got," the girl said smugly.

"Give me back my apple!" the boy responded annoyingly.

"Not a chance. It's my apple now," the girl commented while shaking her head rapidly.

"It is definitely mine!" the boy insisted with a stamp of his foot. He curled his hand into a fist. "Mommy gave it to me!"

"If you want it back, you will have to catch me first!" the girl said and broke into a run. "Come and get me!"

The boy gritted his teeth before breaking into a run. He increased his stride in which he caught up to the girl. He was about to grab her when she ran right. He turned in her direction. She picked up her pace. She looked over her shoulder and blew a raspberry at him. He emitted an irritated snort and upped his running speed.

Suddenly, the girl bumped into someone and fell down on her butt. She managed to keep her grip on the apple. She looked up to see Poe staring down at her with raised eyebrows and his arms crossed. She giggled nervously as she stood up. The boy came up beside her, an angry expression forming on his face. He let out a loud huff.

"What do we have here?" Poe asked curiously.

"We were just playing chase. That's all," the girl responded.

"That's a lie. You took my apple and made me chase after you in order to get it back!" the boy yelled.

The girl glared at him. "You are full of shit!"

"Ooh. You said a bad word!" the boy blurted out while pointing his finger at her.

"Oh, shut up!" the girl snapped.

Poe waved his hands in the air. "All right. That is enough. The boy is right, young lady. You should not be using such language. Where did you learn that?"

"Daddy. I hear him say bad words all the time," the girl admitted with a shrug.

"Well, you need to tell your father he needs to control his mouth," Poe said, going down to her eye level. He took the apple from her. "You shouldn't go around taking people's stuff. It's not nice. Is that clear?"

"Loud and clear, Commander Dameron," the girl answered.

"Good," Poe said and turned to the boy. He handed him the apple, a smile forming on his face. "Here you go."

The boy chuckled. "Thank you."

The boy walked off while biting into his apple. Poe reached into his pouch and pulled out a banana. He presented it to the girl, who furrowed her brow and cleared her throat.

"How about a banana for you?" Poe asked, smiling.

"Thank you!" the girl said and took the banana from him. "I like bananas better than apples, anyway."

"Something tells me you took that boy's apple just to annoy him," Poe suggested.

The girl nodded. "Yeah. I did that to annoy him."

"Just don't do it again, all right? Remember not to waste any of this food and water we brought you. It needs to last as we do not know how long the drought will continue. We were lucky to have a lull in the fighting to carry out this humanitarian mission," Poe pointed out truthfully.

"Understood," the girl said.

Poe chuckled. "Good."

Poe rose to his full height as the girl walked away and peeled her banana. He heard soft chuckling and turned to see Paige and Rose standing not far from him. BB-8 was close to the latter.

"How long have all of you been standing there?" Poe asked in much curiosity.

"Long enough to see you give that girl a talking to before lending your banana to her," Rose said, coming to his side along with her sister and the droid.

"That girl reminds me so much of Rose when she was a little girl. She would take my toys and run away with them," Paige said and let out a mock-annoyed groan.

"It was always fun annoying you, sis," Rose commented, glancing at her. She formed a big smirk on her face. "I also recall you getting in trouble quite a bit."

"Much of that was because Mom and Dad blamed me for your bad behavior," Paige grumbled with a roll of her eyes. "Everyone thought you were well-behaved. In reality, you misbehaved nearly as much as I did."

Rose crossed her arms. "It is typical of parents to be more lenient with their youngest children."

Paige rubbed her chin. "Of course, I did get my revenge on you a few times. One time was when I messed up your room. Mom and Dad expected it to be clean. They walked in and reprimanded you for not cleaning it up. You said you did, but they did not believe you. It felt so good to see you in trouble."

Rose blew a raspberry and punched Paige in the arm very lightly. Paige gave her a smack to the back of her head in retaliation. Rose ruffled her hair, laughing when she pushed her arm aside. Poe chuckled, causing the sisters to look at him.

"You two just can't stop playing around, can you?" Poe said while crossing his arms.

"Nope," Rose admitted. "Of course, Paige usually starts it."

"Sure, I do," Paige said sarcastically.

BB-8 rolled up to Poe, who squatted down with a loud grunt. Poe touched the top of him very gently.

"I am getting a little bit of a bad feeling," BB-8 beeped.

"Happy beeps, buddy," Poe said. "I think this lull in the fighting will last a while."

"We're glad it came at this critical time," Paige commented in much relief as Poe returned to his full height. "Tovi needed some help. It wasn't low on food and water just yet, but there would have been a crisis eventually. I mean, the rivers and lakes are quite dry."

"When Plint's leader asked Leia to send food and water here, how could she refuse? It has been an ally to the Resistance since its founding," Rose said.

Poe slipped his hands into his pockets. "It's not easy supporting a cause. That's for sure. The Empire was known for harshly punishing worlds that were found to have been aiding the Rebel Alliance."

"Luke wasn't keen on getting involved in the rebellion when Obi-Wan asked him to go with him to Alderaan. Who could blame him? He had work to do. The deaths of his uncle and aunt led him to join it," Rose pointed out matter-of-factly.

"Owen did everything he could to keep Luke from finding out about his Jedi heritage. Luke would have found out eventually. He did, thanks to Obi-Wan. It's not every day people learn they are the offspring of a Sith Lord," Paige said and pressed her lips together.

"Nor is it every day people learn the Sith Lord used to be a legendary Jedi Knight," Poe added. "Anakin Skywalker ceased to exist. He became Darth Vader. I may hate that Vader unleashed so much terror on the galaxy, but I admire that Anakin fought hard to protect it."

"Vari is obsessed with killing both Luke and Ben to end the Jedi once and for all. For all we know, Ben may be dead," Rose said in uncertainty. "No one has seen him since he destroyed his uncle's temple."

Paige shook her head. "That hasn't stopped Han from looking for his son. He wants to bring him home badly."

"After four years of exile, Luke returned to the Resistance to lend a helping hand. He also wants to find his nephew and make amends with him," Poe murmured.

"Who knows how Ben will react when his father, uncle, and Chewie find him?" Rose said, swallowing hard.

"Moreover, much of the Resistance won't be happy to see him if he comes to D'Qar," Poe added.

Rose emitted a heavy sigh. "What Ben did was terrible. At the same time, Snoke's manipulations led him to do what he did. I have little doubt he feels great remorse and shame for his actions."

Poe and Paige looked at each other. They had the same feelings about Ben that Rose did. They couldn't help but wonder if he had continued his Jedi training or taken on a padawan wherever he was. They knew there were many planets throughout the galaxy where people could hide. Their thoughts were interrupted when Paige cried out at something hitting her in the back of her head. They and Rose turned around to see a pebble laying on the ground. They saw a Twi'lek girl holding a slingshot in her hand. The girl had a big smirk on her face.

"What a shot!" the girl shouted in delight.

"You little monster!" Paige blurted out in mock irritation. "Come here!"

The girl squealed and broke into a run. Paige chased after her while growling playfully. Rose and Poe glanced at each other.

"Even in times of drought, children will play around," Rose said.

"They have amazing spirits," Poe commented.

"They can be quite the troublemakers," BB-8 beeped annoyingly.

"They can be. At the same time, they are very precious," Poe said honestly.

"Come on. Let's go mingle with some villagers," Rose suggested.

"Great idea, Rose," Poe agreed with a smile. "Here we go."

Poe and Rose headed toward the center of the village with BB-8 right behind them. Unbeknownst to them, a cloaked figure peered around the side of a hut. It listened to the duo's laughter. It went back behind the hut. It walked quickly into the forest. It got behind a bush once it was far enough inside. It breathed slowly yet deeply.

The figure threw off the cloak, revealing a young human woman wearing a uniform. The uniform bore the emblem of the First Order. She ran her fingers through her hair before gritting her teeth. She inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. She reached into her pocket to pull out a commlink. She pressed it and proceeded to speak into it.