Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Rey is not, actually, particularly surprised when her mind starts stringing together more than a few shatter-prone memories and she realizes she's in a desert. Of course she's in a desert. Why would death be anything else.

It's a bit unfair she had to be a baby though.

-

Gradually, she realizes a few things. She's a slave - even though she wasn't at this age, originally. This world feels more real than she would've thought being part of the Force or a Force ghost or whatever would've felt. Her family's different, a tired, worn out woman caring for her.

Also, her name's Anakin Skywalker.

-

Her mother - Anakin Skywalker's mother - is often busy. A slave's days are long, no matter their job. Shmi Skywalker has only the nights to herself - or would, if she didn't spend the dark hours telling stories to her baby. About the demon Sky-Walker, they of a million billion faces and more names than stars, who gave their favorite title to a Nameless slave in the wreckage of a Hutt ship. About the fire Anakin, one of the faces of Sky-Walker, who burned up all masters and killed all slaves. About escapes that end in death, and deaths that end in escape.

They're harsh stories.

Rey doesn't remember if anyone ever told her stories. Certainly, no one told her slave stories - she was walking on her own by the time she became a slave, and who cares about some little girl who isn't even their own? And she wouldn't have heard these ones, besides - Jakku isn't Hutt space, and the Hutt slaves and the planets tied up in the Hutt's trading have their own cultures.

The stories are nice, for all the harshness.

-

Rey Nobody likes being a Skywalker, officially. She doesn't know much about Master Luke's family, doesn't know anything about the parent who gave Luke that famous name and Leia the whispers in her wake.

Still.

Skywalker was a name given to a slave without one, by a demon who can be anyone, anywhere, who holds death in half their hands and freedom in all the others. Rey thinks, perhaps, that the demon wouldn't mind another Skywalker slave.

-

Rey sometimes wonders when she is, once she realizes she's been reborn. The Skywalker family she knew ended - she saw the last of them die - and while Rey took that name she had no children. Certainly this is some time in the future - it's disappointing there's still slaves bound in the deserts - 

It's hard to get answers when she can't talk, though.

-

The elder who watches Rey in the days is busy as well, juggling all the slave-children of the settlement. That leaves Rey plenty of time to practice.

She starts with meditation, reaching out, immersing herself in the Force. No visions come this time, but the Force feels different . And not in a good way - it's like a rope tied between two ships set in opposite directions, like a beam with two weights on either end, now one then the other heavier, both straining - 

It feels - 

Less empty . Less like it's lying in wait.

Still, the oddness doesn't stop her from figuring out how to sense the settlement's coming and goings, nor from floating the ragged toys they have around. She can't do much as a baby - but she doesn't need much more than her mind, she she?

-

She's so busy with the Force that she keeps forgetting she's also supposed to be practicing baby things, like making her really clumsy lips make noises, or moving her really clumsy arms and legs around. Sometimes people express concern that Rey's not really reacting to things - after that, Rey makes a point of watching people, babbling (why are mouth noises so hard , do all babies have to deal with stupid pudgy bodies that don't know how to work) and moving limbs around, which seems to calm down some of the worriers. 

Shmi laughs whenever Rey makes a point of acting like a normally developing baby, and, once, when they're alone, says - "You're such a clever boy. It's okay if you're busy thinking a lot. The others just worry."

Rey looks at her, solemn, and says, "Baa." It's about the only mouth noise she's figured out, given her rather long delay in noticing she needs to actually get on that.

Her mom smiles. "Just promise me you'll take some time to think happy thoughts, alright, my little fire?"

Rey wiggles her legs. "Baa!"

Even with everything - 

She has a mom.

She thinks she is happy.

-

One of the slavers starts hanging around one of the wet nurses, a teenaged girl who gave birth recently and was too weakened to be thrown right back to work, but who can still produce milk. The girl's creeping fear weighs down the air, almost choking Rey - 

Rey makes a loud, upset baby noise. The wet nurse rushes over to her. The slaver's gaze follows, something wicked in his eyes.

Rey makes eye contact with him.

She's never been really good at mind tricks - 

You want to leave, to go back to your quarters and rethink how mean you've been to the slaves.

- But the Force likes her.

His eyes glaze over…

And he mumbles something before turning to walk out.

The wet nurse gives a sigh of relief, before fussing over Rey.

-

Rey eventually figures out very basically shaped words, and then crawling, and then slowly standing and walking - and running , she's almost forgotten how much she likes to just run -

She only uses the Force a little. (Okay maybe a lot).

Still, there's something fun about playing hide and seek and getting into places no toddler should ever be able to get.

-

Rey never really gets chattery, even though once she figures out all the sounds she has access to an entire lifetime's worth of adult vocabulary. Still, she loves listening to stories, and most of the time she spends talking is in bothering her mother or the few elders for tales.

Rey, of course, is also taught basic tasks as soon as she can, the adult slaves desperate to justify her existence, her training.

She's a prodigy at mechanics. She always has been, this life and the last, and even though her knowledge is probably out of date, rugged hardware on backwater planets doesn't change that much - 

And, anyways, she can use the Force to sense the assorted differences in hardware, and to manipulate things she can't reach, or things she's too weak to apply appropriate physical force to. It helps a lot.

-

She's four - already considered a rather accomplished mechanic, though Gardulla the Hutt, their current owner, doesn't seem to appreciate that much - when she solemnly sits across from her mother and says, "Mom. I have something to tell you."

Shmi looks over, crossing her hands on the weathered table, gaze keen. "Yes, my fire?" she asks.

Rey takes a deep breath, and - "I'm really a girl."

Her mom just nods, to Rey's surprise. "I'd wondered - all the seers in our line have been female, and you have that distant look about you, sometimes."

Rey blinks. "Uh. Thanks, mom." Then - "It's okay to still call me Anakin. I like the name."

Shmi smiles. "Alright, Anakin."

And…

None of the slaves really care. The girl Anakin's welcomed like the boy Anakin was. Slave dress is practical, but some people offer her dresses anyways - some boys wear dresses, but they're more associated with girls - but she turns them down, instead recreating the style she had on Jakku. It's feminine enough, anyways, and - she likes it. A reminder of who she was.

The future - 

Still really, really sucks.

But Rey's been a slave before.

This's a better way to go about it, she thinks.

-

Rey figures out and recreates all kinds of tricks over the next five years. Moving herself with the Force, jumping, running far, moving every larger or more delicate objects, seeing glimpses of the future - she has way more of a gift for that now than she used to - and sensing people's intent. She gets some practice at hiding herself in the Force, and at mind tricks, both things she hadn't ever really learned originally but both things essential for surviving as a slave skirting the edge of rebellion.

And Rey starts working on a plan to free her people. All of them, not just the ones laboring under whichever master owns her at any given moment.

She could probably kill all the slavers and steal a ship pretty easily, but…

She doesn't want to. She's not a murderer.

-

Her chance comes when she's nine, and a trained Force user - Jedi, probably, that's the only kind of Force user anyone gossips about - along with an alien, a teenaged girl who looks way too unworn for Tatooine, and a droid come into the shop, acting like it isn't obvious their leader's a kriffing Jedi. 

Rey is unimpressed. The droid looks like an R2-D2 model, though, which sends a little pang of longing through her chest.

She's also manning the shop alone. Everyone knows she's more competent than anyone else, and she's never given her succession of owners reason to mistrust her, which made it easy to implant little suggestions about the best use of her time - once someone bought her off Watto, that is. (The alone time is nice.)

The Jedi glances at her without seeming to really see her.

"What brings you here today?" she asks, leaning forward.

"I'd like to talk to your master - I have some parts I need, for a J-type 327 Nubian," the Jedi says. "My droid has a readout of which ones."

"I run the shop. My owner's busy elsewhere," she says, voice flat. "If you want parts, you talk to me. I know more about machines than anyone."

"You're a slave?" the girl asks, clearly startled.

Rey gives her a questioning look. "Yeah. Most people 'round here are."

The girl just seems disturbed. "But…" she mutters, "The Republic outlaws slavery."

Rey tilts her head. "This's Hutt space, not the Republic. If you're looking for somewhere nice, you got lost." 

It's actually a bit refreshing, meeting someone so obviously disturbed by slavery. The Jedi doesn't seem to be, though. Rey doesn't think she likes him.

"I believe we're exactly where we wanted to be," the Jedi says, smoothly. "If you run this shop, could you help us, then?"

Rey nods, slowly. "Probably. Depends on what you want, but we've got lots for the Nubians." The feeling she's getting from the Force is a bit - odd.

"Excellent," the Jedi says. 

Rey sighs. "I'll let my backup know to watch the counter. This way."

Her backup is another slave, of course, an older boy Rey's been teaching mechanics and a little bit of Force use. He reminds her of Finn, a bit. He reminds her to be careful. She just smiles at him, then leads the Jedi and the droid into the yard.

It looks chaotic to an outside eye, probably, but Rey knows where everything is. She accepts the readout from the droid, going over it with a critical eye. "Most of these are pretty common," she says, idly, "And won't run you much. A T-14 hyperdrive generator, though… There's one over in Watto's yard. He'll charge you the cost of a brand new ship for one - I can get a discount from him, if I don't say it's for shiny rich outlanders, since it's been sitting there a while. Of course, you still gotta pay me . You got anything worthwhile?"

"Twenty thousand republic dataries," the Jedi says, not even trying to bargain. Idiot Jedi.

Rey rolls her eyes. "This isn't the Republic," she says, a bit annoyed. Jedi should know that. "Their credits aren't worth much out here - Watto won't take them for shit. My owner does more interstellar trade, and might be willing to part with some things - at an insane markup. You're not getting a hyperdrive for that."

The Jedi looks at her, then waves his hand. "Credits will do fine," he says, voice serene and persuasive.

Rey brushes off the control - the Knights of Ren could do way worse - and clenches her hands around her monitor, suddenly angry. "Did you just try to mind trick me?" she demands. Which, okay, she does it to people all the time, but usually she's subtle , and usually she's doing it to slavers. Such a blatant, almost clumsy attempt's kind of insulting, and trying to trick her like this - which'd get her punished at a minimum - is just mean .

The Jedi blinks at her. Ass. "Of course not," he says, trying for smooth.

Rey's lips thin. "That's not going to work on me, and I'll report you to the Hutts if you try it on any other slaves," she warns him. "My owner wouldn't kill me for selling you that shit too cheap - I'm too valuable - but she'd take it out of my hide, and any other slave'd be killed for it."

He just inclines his head. "Your point is taken," is all he says. 

She snorts. "Try to be more careful with other people's lives next time, kriffing idiot…" she mutters, then shakes her head. "You'll have to come up with something else - actual goods, or a tempting gamble - for the hyperdrive from Watto or for Hutt currency from some other idiot - or just do a trade-in for the apparently broken Nubian you're flying for a cheaper, intact ship."

Rey has money. Her current owner, a rather cunning (but still easy to mentally nudge) Hutt lets her keep some of her earnings, and doesn't care if Rey uses it to buy slaves' freedom or build stockpiles of parts. She's not just giving it to some asshole Jedi, not for free, but…

The Jedi nods. "I understand. I'll figure something out."

And then he turns to leave.

Rey shakes her head, and goes back to building easier to hide versions of her implant scanners - along with instructions for how to get the slave implants out.

Just because she plays the obedient slave with one hand doesn't mean she can't run a revolution behind everyone's backs with the other, after all.

Chapter Text

Rey stumbles on the group again, to find the alien from earlier being beaten up by Sebulba, a rather moody and violent Dug. She's run into Sebulba before - he's one of the better podracers on the planet, and her stiffest competition there. He's also prone to cheating and killing competition.

She scowls, stalking up, and shouting, "Hey! Sebulba!" in Huttese. 

He turns, leaving the alien to scramble away. "What do you want, worm?" he snarls.

"Surprised you're beating up outlanders," she says, tilting her head. "Especially well-connected ones." A pause for effect, and - "Wouldn't want someone shooting you before the next time I wipe the tracks with you."

Sebulba snorts. "Well-connected? That buffoon?"

Rey shrugs. "You know how outlanders are."

He eyes her, but nods, then: "If you weren't a slave I'd squash you into paste, here and now, worm."

"You'd go bankrupt before you could pay for me," she says, flatly, because 'you can try ' would probably start a fight.

Sebulba makes a disgusted sound, turning and stalking off.

Rey sighs and turns to the alien, making herself smile more genuinely as she sees his companions - including the rude Jedi - approaching. "Be more careful, okay?" she tells the alien. "Lots of people have tempers around here, and if you're scared and don't have someone less scared looking out for you, most won't hesitate to squish you."

That seems to unnerve him. He babbles out something about not liking squishing. Rey just smiles, shaking her head, and glances at the Jedi. "Keep a better eye on your friend, will you?" she asks. 

The Jedi nods, smiling at the scared alien. "The boy's right. You were headed for trouble, there." Then, to Rey: "Thank you, my young friend."

Rey nods, pressing down a bit of irritation at 'boy.' He's not from around here. "It wasn't a problem." She falls into step with the group, almost idly, feeling a small tug in her mind. When the alien protests that he hadn't done anything - "You probably annoyed him. And you act scared. Bullies know when you're feeling that - and they'll do anything to make them feel better about themselves."

The alien sighs, and the girl glances at Rey. "Do you know somewhere we can get food?" she asks. "I'm a bit hungry…"

Rey smiles at her. "Sure. Jira runs a good stand." And could use the business.

She leads the way over, waving at the old woman as they approach. "Hey Jira!" she calls, basking momentarily in having people who like her. Tatooine's harsh, but it's nothing like Jakku. "How're you doing?"

Jira smiles. "As well as I can. It's been awful hot lately, though… Still, that cooling unit you made me's humming along just fine. Makes home a bit more bearable."

Rey beams. (Finding scrap was the first thing she learned to do with the Force, she thinks. It's really nice, being able to turn that skill to helping people, rather than just to eeking out a living in the sand.) "That's good to hear!"

The woman laughs. "You're a kind girl, Ani. Now, what'll you have today?"

Rey easily orders enough pallies to go around, saying, just before the wind picks up - "And a storm's coming. Stay safe, okay, Jira?" Jira nods, turning to pack up her shop - the first one, though as the wind rises in pitch others follow. Rey turns to the Jedi. "Do you guys have somewhere to stay?"

The Jedi hums. "We'll go back to our ship," he says. "It's safe enough."

"Is that close?" she asks, dubiously. The city's not an easy place to land.

"No," the girl says. "It's in the outskirts."

Rey sighs, shaking her head. "You won't make it, and sandstorms are dangerous. C'mon. My place's near."

They follow her as she rushes through the streets, getting them to the modest house Rey shares with her mom. It's crap next to the nicer residences of the slavers, but better than the piece of junk she used to live in, so.

Rey introduces them to her mom, finally learns their names - Qui-Gon Jinn, Padme, Jar Jar Binks, and R2-D2.

So Rey was right about the model. The thought's sad. (She misses her Artoo).

Fortunately, the Jedi brought food with him - even with Rey's weird status money-wise, food's often scarcer than Rey'd like. Though she could live in a banquet hall with a thousand full store rooms and feel food was too scarce.

She settles around the table with the odd little group, once food's ready, chatting hesitantly. Padme and Jar Jar are horrified by the idea of the slave transmitters. Rey almost slips, almost mentions the ways she's discovered to get them out - 

A thought occurs to her.

"Have you found a way to get the money you need, mister Jinn?" she asks, idly.

He sighs, shaking his head. "Though I'm sure a solution will present itself."

Rey observes him, solemn, then… "I might have one. A solution." Jinn raises an eyebrow at her, but nods, so she goes on - "My owner lets me keep back some of what I earn for her, especially my winnings in the pod races. I've got a lot stashed away, and could pay for your parts myself." Stealing them from Watto'd be risky, unfortunately, as much as the thought of that much of a hit to her savings pains her. 

"That is very kind of you," Jinn says, clearly considering. "Though I'm unclear why you would."

"Because I think you have something I want more," she says after a moment. A glance at her mom, and - "I'm trying to get as many slaves free as I can. But buying people free is only so fast, and distributing scanners for the transmitters is risky - and where can an escaped slave go? The desert's hard to hide in. Transportation off world is expensive. The Hutts don't forgive or forget defiance."

He sets back, gaze keen. "And you think we can help with this," he says.

Rey nods, sharply. "You can take as many escaped slaves as your ship will fit when you leave, for one," she says. "And… Unless I miss my guess, at least one of you can provide something we need the most - a destination . Somewhere with stronger anti-slavery laws, where the Hutts won't dare tread. Somewhere that'll actually take us in."

Padme seems to be the one paying her the most attention, and, while Jinn mulls over Rey's words, the girl - barely a few years older than Rey's body - says, "The Queen of Naboo will be willing to give you that destination," voice firm.

Rey looks at her. "You're sure?" she asks.

Padme pauses, then, slowly, "Naboo is under a blockade by the Trade Federation. The Queen is on that ship - we were en route to Coruscant, to appeal to the Senate for aid. If our ship doesn't get off the ground at all, Naboo and her people are doomed. And - people should not live in slavery. The Queen believes this very strongly. Freeing others, so we may free ourselves… That is something good to do."

Rey grins. "Thanks," she says. "I - thanks. It means a lot." 

Padme smiles back at her, expression soft. "No. Thank you ."

Rey pauses for a moment, then - "There's slaves who know how to fight or pilot. If you want help with freeing your people… I can see if they'd be willing to leave with us."

"Thank you - I have hope it won't be necessary, but…" Padme says, trailing off.

"But you might need all the help you can get," Rey says, softly.

Padme inclines her head. "Just so."

"Then we'll give it." Rey glances at her mom, but - she knows Shmi understands, even before Shmi smiles and nods.

Rey's getting her mom out. She can't not . Even if they're going into a war zone… They'll worry more about each other if they're separated.

And Rey doesn't want to be the one abandoning family. Not this time.

"We might have to delay until tomorrow evening, though," Rey says, thinking. "The Boonta Eve Classic pod race is tomorrow morning, and my owner's not going to stand for me skipping out on it." Especially since Rey's been repeatedly throwing this race as part of a long con to increase the odds against her - and the excitement around her rivalry with Sebulba. "Still - I win this, and she might be willing to let me go, even without poking."

"Isn't pod racing dangerous?" Padme asks, brow furrowing.

Rey grins at her, even as her mother sighs. "It's okay. I've done riskier." In another life.

"And given me a heart attack every time…" Shmi mutters. 

Rey turns to her, gaze softening. "I'll be safe mom, okay? I'll back out if I think I can't make it."

Shmi smiles at her, expression only a little pinched. "Please do, Ani. I know I worry too much, but…"

"But you're my mom," Rey finishes for her. (It's nice, actually, having someone who worries. Finn had been - pretty much the only person who fretted over her, in her other life.) "And my pod's pretty solid - and none of them'll have seen it before." 

"Then it seems we have a plan," Jinn says, sounding satisfied.

"I'm still not sure about the race," Padme says, "Don't humans not have good enough reflexes? I - know this is important, but Anakin's a kid - "

Rey tries not to bristle at that. Padme sees a nine year old. It's actually perfectly reasonable to not want a nine year old risking their life for you.

"Well, most humans don't. Jedi would have the reflexes needed," Jinn says, smiling.

"And you're a Jedi, aren't you?" Rey asks, then. She tries for 'innocent' but doesn't think she quite manages it.

"What makes you say that?" he asks, leaning back.

She's seen glimpses of his lightsaber, so - "You have a laser sword," she says, shrugging. "That's a Jedi thing." Classically. Also a Sith thing, and a Knights of Ren thing, and a - whatever the hell she was doing thing. Still, people don't talk so much about those other three. Just the Jedi.

He smiles. "Maybe I killed a Jedi and stole it."

Rey looks at him, expression serious, evaluating him and reaching out in the Force. "Nah," she says after a moment. "The sword likes you. Maybe it wasn't yours originally, but it wouldn't be happy if you'd stolen it." Pause. "Unless whoever had it first was a jerk."

Jinn laughs. "You're quite perceptive, aren't you?" Rey nods, grinning, and Jinn's gaze softens as he leans forward. "You all mustn't let anyone know what we're up to, though, me or the Queen - our mission can't risk being compromised."

"That'll make recruiting a bit tricky," Rey says, flatly. "But people trust me. I'll get it done."

Jinn looks at her for a few long moments. "I do believe you will," he says.

And that seems to be that, for now.