Chapter Text
It was not until that day that Rey could dream of a landscape different from that of the desert, the day that the tall, mysterious and dark man appeared at the Niima Outpost.
For almost twenty years Rey did everything she could to keep herself on a barren, hostile and wild planet. The few laws were not always respected and everyone watched their own back. Jakku did not forgive the weak. There were those who were lost, those who wanted to be forgotten and those who had nothing left.
Though circumstances were never in her favor, Rey was strong. Her intelligence and skill got her out of trouble more than once, her defensive and rude attitude kept most of the bullies away, and her good heart kept her spirit intact. In spite of adversity, Rey grew up with the purest feeling in her heart: hope.
Jakku was the only thing she knew, she had been there forever. At least she didn’t remember living anywhere else before. She had been stranded there waiting for the return of her family, who surely had good reason to leave a small girl, alone, in the worst of worlds. Rey told herself, day after day, that her life there was a mistake and someone would come to correct it. She waited and resisted.
The hostile climate, the excessive heat and the lack of water were only some of the challenges that Rey had to endure on a daily basis. Her whole life was a cruel game that consisted of taking the right steps or not living to tell the tale. But the girl always had something special, a kind of instinct that told her where to go or what the best places where to look for. She didn’t imagine then how important it would be in her life, but she didn’t waste it at all.
There were many other difficulties in the middle, and the list was long. The problem wasn’t only the wildlife of Jakuu, with the Nightwatcher worms in the Moving Fields and the ripper-raptors lurking the careless.
The risk of being trapped for days by a sandstorm that the villagers called X'us R'iia meant that their already meager reserves of food and water were exhausted without being able to call for help. Rey was alone.
Any negligence or seemingly superficial injuries could be fatal. The chances of slipping from a great height while climbing, of being buried under metal debris, of being hit by radiation from a buried device, of being burned by the remains of some corrosive fuel were high. And obviously die of dehydration and starvation.
And if that wasn't enough, Rey couldn't trust anyone. Almost all the intelligent beings around her, though not all, were of the worst kind. The scavengers were deceitful, cruel and dishonest. They would not hesitate to steal from her or eliminate her if it would benefit them.
Since she was a child, Rey had a special ability to understand how machines worked, she could fix them and find the best parts. Her reputation grew as she also got older and deepened her knowledge.
Unkar Plutt - who everyone secretly called Blobfish - saw Rey's potential to get the best parts for him and became a kind of protector. Of course, the young girl disliked the situation, because she hated Unkar, but at least she kept the competition away. Unkar owned everything and everyone in Jakku, the undisputed authority, the source of food.
Fragments of stories from the old War between the Empire and the New Republic abounded on the planet, because that was Jakku: a graveyard of ships. The conflict took place long before Rey was born, even before there was any population. But the remains of ships, garbage and metal, were still treasures hidden in the sand for the most skilled scavengers. The recovered pieces were exchanged for food and other items, completing the endless circle of living another day to work, working to survive.
That was Rey's job. Collecting, cleaning, selling and surviving. To endure and to wait, always waiting.
As a scavenger she had no rest, always trying to get the best parts because that meant more food. But she was also cautious because one mistake, one bad deal, one word too many, could leave her with an empty stomach.
Rey built her home inside the remains of a wartime AT-AT that she had found in the Goazon Badlands near Niima Outpost. There she rested and worked, marking the passing of the days within its walls.
Her possessions were few, at least to ensure some comfort. Among her treasures, however, were items that she had found during her raids that were too rare or unique to be discarded, or that had no market value. They made her life a bit more joyful.
Outside her home, the slider she had built herself guaranteed her speed and a certain independence.
Rey didn’t talk to many people, the reserve was a quality that she forcibly adopted. Mistrust was a necessary skill because talking to others about her work, asking questions, or arousing suspicion could harm her. Others would rob her of the merit and profit of her sacrifice, as she had done before. That didn’t prevent her from dealing with people if she needed something from them. Despite of everything, Rey was always willing to protect others more unfortunate than herself, as long as she was not risking her own life.
Such loneliness set her imagination free. Rey liked to write, take notes, collect information and often spoke out loud to herself.
Some nights she would lie down in her hammock and explain the events of her day to an imaginary being who listened without interruption. Her fears, adventures and desires were thrown into the void and Rey dreamt that someone was listening to her.
Somehow, it happened.
There was her life, an eternal transition, a time of waiting between her reality and a future that she did not yet know but was imminent.
The day the stranger arrived in Jakku was the first day of the rest of Rey's life. She did not know exactly who he was or what he was doing, but she immediately felt a special connection that should have caused her fear. But it did not, in fact, she almost felt drawn to him.
Although she could not see his face under the mask, she noticed that he was very tall. At that time of day, the sun cast a long shadow behind him that reached as far as the Rey, creating an intriguing effect. Although he was far away, she could see that he was dressed in black and wore a kind of hooded cloak.
Rey then broke her golden rule of not asking questions, and that is how she learned that the strange character was none other than Supreme Leader Kylo Ren of the First Order.
What she couldn't understand at the time was what that character was doing there, at the end of the world, even where his dark reputation preceded him. Everyone was frightened by the rumors about him, even where the echoes of the war for the galaxy were far away and late. Rey did not believe these stories, for her her reality was much worse than the fantasies she heard.
That's why she didn't flinch when the figure in black turned her head towards it. Rey watched him as he approached, imagining that underneath the mask his eyes were fixed on her. She only felt a chill when he spoke. But his tone was soft even with the metallic sound.
"Scavenger. What's so special about you?"
Rey had to admit that things like that didn't happen every day in Jakku.
At that moment, she knew she had to make a decision. Maybe she was tired of waiting, maybe her curiosity was stronger. But Rey no longer wanted to stay there.
Kylo Ren extended his hand to her and Rey only hesitated a second before accepting it.
Could the future be any worse?
Her heart, always positive, told her no. Nothing could be worse than Jakku.
In her mind she tried to make sure that he was the person who would come looking for her after so many years.
And her body obeyed the urge to go away with him.
Leaving behind everything she knew, Rey had no regrets.