Work Text:
There was a horrific screech of metal as Rey heaved open the jammed door of the starship. She eyed the small sparks coming off of the mechanisms warily, making sure they didn't hit her.
Once she was sure it was safe, she tapped the small, round torch strapped to her shoulder to activate it. The strong beam of light illuminated the room and she took her first steps inside this part of the wreck.
From what she could see, this ship had been here for years. If she had to guess, it was at least forty years old. It wasn't a model she had ever seen before. A relatively small ship, compared to some of the others wrecks on the planet, it had likely been buried beneath tons of sand until now. A massive sandstorm had hit Jakku, and when it had finally passed she'd been the lucky one to spot the new wreckage in the distance. The storm hadn't even fully stopped before she was grabbing her gear.
Considering how torn apart the outside of the ship was, she was surprised how untouched the inside was. Though some panels had come down during the crash, leaving some wires hanging down, the inside was remarkably intact.
Rey grimaced as the light shone over a skeleton on the far side of the room, an unfortunately common discovery in shipwrecks. Stepping carefully over some wires, she began to assess what parts of the wreckage would be worth the most.
She took a step back to get a better view of a ceiling component and yelped as she tripped over a wire. Falling backwards, she landed hard against a console.
There was a loud whine before lights on the consoles around the room suddenly came to life, screens buzzing to life and the lights flickering ominously. For the power to work after almost forty years? What in the world was this ship?
There was a long hiss as something in the back of the room came to life, and Rey stood up, ignoring the pain in her back as she did so. Curiosity getting the better of her, she cautiously approached the source of the noise.
There was a small, dim light shining on the back wall. Coming to a stop just before the wall, she realised that it was a small window. Leaning forwards, she peered through, and her heart almost stopped.
It was a person.
Embedded in this wall was a pod. Narrow, only just tall enough for its contents, the inside was covered in ice crystals. As was what it contained.
The body of a young boy.
A young boy with red hair and pale skin, the slightest hint of freckles that she'd bet came to life in the sun. The longer she spent looking at him, the worse she felt. She was appalled. Angry. But most of all, she just felt sad.
How long had this poor boy been here?
Unconsciously, her hand came to rest on the door of the pod. There was a loud clunk from somewhere in the pod and she leapt back, hoping with everything she had that she hadn't just set off some sort of trap.
The pod continued to let out a startling compendium of noise, before to her shock, the doors parted and slowly slid open. A white cloud of mist escaped the doors that just brushed her legs, leaving her shivering in the cold.
Breaking out of her shock, she just barely managed to dart forward in time to catch the body of the young boy as it collapsed. Rey grunted at the sudden weight, almost collapsing to the ground herself under it.
A moment later, and she came to a stunning realisation.
He was alive.
Rey sighed with relief as she finally got the boy settled on her bed, slumping into a chair to rest.
She'd barely managed to get them both back in one piece on her tiny speeder bike. In all her years scrapping, she'd never had such a difficult trip. She'd had to sit him in front of her on the bike, using one arm to hold him secure to her while steering with the other. She'd been convinced they were going to crash at any moment.
She'd never been so relieved to get home.
Rubbing her hand down her face, she stared at her guest, sprawled out on her bed. His clothes were damp, and even under the heat of Jakku's sun, his skin had still been icy on the way back.
Standing up, she started digging through her clothes to find something dry that might fit him. Settling on a loose shirt and pair of shorts she wore to bed sometimes, she started to remove his wet clothes with some degree of embarrassment.
Embarrassment that was soon overpowered by shock.
He'd had a few things attached to his belt. Pouches full of parts and tools that were likely ruined after their time in the pod. But hanging from the side of his belt, had been a long metal tube. A shiny, coppery material, it was covered in strange symbols, with what looked like a button on it's side.
It was something she'd only heard stories about.
A lightsaber.
Her guest was a Jedi.
Looking at him with new eyes, she fought to quell the excitement building in her chest. Now wasn't the time. She put the lightsaber and pouches on the table and hurried to get him changed into dry clothes as quickly as she could.
Pulling the covers up over him to try and keep him warm, she looked longingly at her chair before grabbing her gear with a sigh and heading back out the door.
It would be some time before her guest woke, and, well, she'd need more portions if there was going to be two of them now.
Rey shoved the last of the portion packs into her bag, happy for once with the amount she'd gotten for the scrap she handed in. She'd been right when she thought that ship had been a score. Pulling the strap over her head, she weaved through the group of people waiting for the desk to head back home. The sun was beginning to set.
She was almost at the door when something small and hard slammed into her back with a shriek, sending her flying forwards onto her hands and knees.
"What th- Ow!" She yelped as a shock travelled up her arm. Flailing backwards, her arm connected with something, sending it flying. It bought her enough time to turn over and see who had attacked her.
It was… a droid?
A tiny little droid, with faded red and white paint. It was covered in sand and clearly hadn't been cared for properly in some time. But there was no mistaking that it was in working condition, as it glared up at her murderously.
"Um… hello?" Rey eyed the droid apprehensively. "Do I know you?"
The droid beeped furiously, and she'd never been so glad she'd been taught how to understand the scrapyard droids from a young age.
"You know that boy?" An affirmative trill. "I didn't kidnap him!"
An accusatory shriek.
"I didn't!" Rey pulled herself up off of the ground, brushing off her clothes. "That pod opened and he just fell out. What was I supposed to do, just leave him there?!"
The droid paused mid-glare, before drooping with a dejected whine. Rey's own anger at being attacked drained out of her. This droid clearly cared about the boy.
"Um… what do I call you?" She asked. The droid beeped. "BD-1? I'm Rey."
BD-1 straightened up, bouncing lightly in greeting. He looked towards the door of her home, and she cursed herself for making him worry longer than he already had been.
"He's fine." BD's head shot around to look at her. "He was… cold when he came out. Very cold. I've done my best to warm him up, but he was still out of it when I left."
Readjusting her bag, she unlocked her door and made her way inside, holding it open just enough for BD to slip through. The instant the droid saw the boy in her bed, he shrieked excitedly, rocketing over to snuggle up close to his side. Her heart warmed at the sight of the small droid nuzzling the boy affectionately.
Throwing her bag on the table, she pulled the portions out to put away, keeping some aside for later. Checking on the boy quickly, she was happy to find that he felt much warmer than he had earlier. Closer to how he should be. Hopefully that meant he would be waking up soon.
Ripping open the portion packs, she started to prepare the contents. It would be good to have food ready for the boy when he woke.
Cal felt like he was dragging himself out of a hole in the ground. His body felt so heavy it almost hurt. His eyes didn't want to open.
He didn't know what had happened to him. He'd been exploring an old, abandoned Jedi temple and then something had hit him in the head. He'd collapsed to the ground, only just managing to see BD evading the hands of whoever had attacked him, before everything went dark. When he'd next been aware, all he'd known was cold. A cold so deep it went right down to his bones, and it was only getting colder.
And then nothing.
Now, he was laying on something soft. A slightly scratchy blanket was pulled right up to his shoulders, and while he still felt a little bit cold, it was nothing compared to before. He relaxed under the warmth of the blanket, content to enjoy it, before an inquisitive beep interrupted his rest.
Forcing his eyes to open, he stared down at the source of the noise and was delighted to see that it was exactly who he had thought it was.
"BD?" The droid shrieked excitedly, bouncing up to stand on his chest. "You okay?"
He'd recognise his friend anywhere. But he looked… different. His paint was faded, when he knew he'd only recently done a fresh coat of it for him. The paint wouldn't have worn out that quickly… would it? What was going on?
"You're awake." His heart pounded as he finally registered the other presence in the room, and he looked over to see a young woman. Looking only slightly older than himself, she had dark hair, and was dressed in the kind of clothing you only saw in deserts. Light enough to not be overwhelmed by the heat, but substantial enough to protect from the sun's rays.
The Jedi temple he'd been exploring had been in a forest.
What was happening? He struggled to push himself up in the bed, his arms trembling weakly. BD jumped down to rest on his legs. He could see the girl wanted to try and help him, but he was glad she kept her distance for now. Sitting up against the headboard, he stopped to catch his breath. He didn't know why he felt so weak.
Looking over at the girl again, he suddenly came to notice the force energy swimming around her. It was raw. Untamed. While the energy itself seemed somewhat harmless, friendly even, there was an undercurrent of darkness to it. Something angry and hurt.
She was force sensitive. To a level that years ago would have had her being taken to a Jedi Temple for training. Not for the first time, his heart wrenched at the reminder that his people were gone.
"Where am I?" He asked, looking at this girl with new eyes.
"This is my home." She leaned back against her table, shifting to get comfortable. "I brought you here after I… found you."
"Found me? What do you mean?"
"You're on a planet called Jakku. It's a Starship Graveyard." Just like Bracca. "I found a new ship early this morning, and when I broke in, the power was still running. You were in some sort of… pod? I think you were frozen."
Cal went rigid. Frozen? That… that could only mean. "What year is it?"
"What?"
"What year is it?!"
"34 ABY."
"I don't know what that means."
"Um… 8011?"
His breath stalled in his lungs. BD beeped up at him in concern.
It had been 7964. That meant that… it had been forty seven years? He'd been frozen for almost fifty years?
That meant…
His eyes burned as he thought about the Mantis. About Cere and Greez and Merrin. His family.
Clamping a hand over his mouth, he bent over as his body shuddered with grief. BD whined sadly, knowing exactly what he was thinking. The droid skittered up his legs to snuggle back into Cal's chest, hoping to give him at least a shred of comfort. He hugged the droid to his chest and almost sobbed with relief that at least someone was still here.
"You were in there for a long time weren't you?" The girl said, eyes sad. Knowing.
"Yeah." Cal sniffled, rubbing a hand over his eyes.
"I'm sorry."
"... Yeah." The redhead brushed a hand over BD's head, closing his eyes as he absorbed the memory echoes of his family.
"I don't even know your name." She said, after a few moments of silence.
"Cal. Kestis." He croaked.
"You're a Jedi aren't you?"
Opening his eyes to look at her, he considered his next words carefully. While she had that undercurrent of darkness to her energy, she didn't feel like a threat. And when he looked into her eyes, he didn't see what he'd seen in the eyes of others when they'd thought they'd know what he was. Disgust, hatred, fear, greed. All because of the Empire's lies.
No. When he looked into her eyes, he saw nothing but tentative excitement.
"Yes. I am." Sitting himself up properly, he held out a hand that she practically leapt to accept, that excitement flaring in her eyes. "Cal Kestis. Jedi Knight."
"I've never met a Jedi before." She grinned, shaking his hand. "It's nice to meet you, Cal. I'm Rey."