Work Text:
Julie Molina had just finished an important mission for the rebellion and was looking for a nice place to wind down before returning to the outpost. She stumbled across a cantina on the planet of Tatooine and decided to enter when the three force ghosts, that followed her like lost puppies, spoke up.
"Wait, Julie!" Luke started as he jumped in front of her.
"You can't go in there!" Alex continued as he stood next to Luke.
"The man who owns this place killed us!" Reggie finished, placing himself on the other side of Alex.
Julie crossed her arms and glared at the ghost impatiently, "You told me the story of how you died before and I can guarantee you that the man who owns this place did not kill you. It's not his fault that you guys didn't know how to describe that weird food that you had on Urthha during that one mission."
"It's called a hotdog, and they were delicious!" Reggie retaliated.
"Whatever," Julie scoffed before walking around the boys and heading into the cantina. She was immediately met with the cheerful swing music of the cantina band which consisted of five girls dressed exactly alike with the exception of different colored shirts in yellow, blue, purple, orange, and pink. Julie nodded along to the beat of the song as she took a seat at a table close to the door with Alex, Luke, and Reggie positioning themselves behind her.
The cantina owner, Caleb, glanced to the table at which his newest customer had situated herself and stopped dead in his tracks. His initial thought confused him as it seemed that his old rival, Rose, had stumbled into his cantina, but he quickly shook the thought and replaced it with the truth. This couldn't be Rose. Rose was dead. This had to be her daughter, Julie. He couldn't help but notice the three force ghosts that stood behind her, that she was discreetly conversing with. Quickly finishing the task he was in the midst of completing, he made his way over to her table.
“How many drinks can I get you?” he asked. The boys immediately started goofing off more as he approached.
“Look who just got home from the circus!” Reggie exclaimed, pulling a face at the man he thought could not see him.
“He even looks like a sith!” Luke added crossing his arms behind his head.
“Talk about creepy!” Alex commented with a large grin on his face.
Julie, having lots of practice ignoring the boys in public, instead sat confused by Caleb’s question. “Uhh, a Shirley Temple, it's just me,” she answered him.
“Uh-huh,” Caleb said looking at the group knowingly.
Julie, Luke, Alex, and Reggie froze in their places, everyone’s eyes growing wide.
“Oh my god, he can totally see us,” Reggie gasped.
Before anyone else could comment Caleb spoke up. “One Shirley Temple coming right up,” he said before turning and walking back to the bar to fix the drink.
The group let out a collective sigh as looks of relief washed over their faces.
“Oh thank god, I thought we were done for,” Reggie laughed.
“He’s still creepy though,” Alex added looking at Luke and Reggie who nodded in agreement.
Once Caleb had finished making the drink, he brought it back to the table and gently slid it to the girl. “Here you go Rose,” he stated as he did so.
“What?” Julie questioned her eyes narrowing at the man suspiciously.
“Nothing!” Caleb responded before quickly turning around and beginning to walk away. As he spun around Alex caught a glint of something metal on the inside of his jacket.
“Julie he’s hiding something,” he stated loudly believing Caleb could not in fact see or hear him.
Upon hearing this Caleb stopped dead in his tracks for a moment before spinning on his heels and reapproaching the table at which Julie was sat. He placed his hand on the table and leaned forward making direct eye contact with Alex.
“We need to talk,” he said in a hushed but intense voice. He pointed towards a door in the back of the cantina and told the group to go wait for him out there. Julie was hesitant. But seeing as both she and the boy’s cover had been blown, she reluctantly agreed, quickly drinking the rest of her Shirley Temple and heading out the door.
When she opened the door she was greeted by the hot dry air and vast desert that was the planet of Tatooine. She let the door close behind her and leaned up against the side of the Cantina. Luke, Reggie, and Alex assuming similar positions next to her.
A few moments later Caleb made his way out of the Cantina, drying his hands on a towel before throwing it in a bin to the right of the door. Once the door had fully closed behind him, Caleb turned to Julie and her force ghosts. “Nice to see you again Julie. Boys,” he said nonchalantly.
Julie was confused. “I’ve never met you before. This is my first time on Tatooine,” she narrowed her eyes at him.
“Tut, Tut, You grew up here doll. Come on, You’re saying you don’t remember me?” he said with a grand gesture of his arms and a smirk.
All three boys’ jaws dropped at the fact that the man they believed killed them knew the daughter of their master as a child. Julie crossed her arms and stared angrily at the man and his accusations.
“No, I don’t remember you. Why should I?” Julie questioned.
“My dearest Julie, I’ve known you since you were born. You see, your mother and I trained together under Master Bren-don Urie,” Caleb laughed. “You know your mom was really powerful. Master Urie always liked her better than me. She excelled at everything. Now I’m not saying I wasn’t right up there with her. I bested her just as much as she did me in training, but none of that mattered when she had every offer handed to her on a silver platter,” he continued, his anger becoming more and more prevalent as he paced back and forth.
Julie and the boys exchanged glances wondering if they should say something, but before anyone could speak up Caleb continued, “She quickly progressed in training, but that isn’t hard when every single mission is presented to her first and then I was given whatever she didn’t want. I was always the second choice. And I was fed up with it. So pardon me if I went out of my way to get ahead!”
Julie stared at the furious man in front of her in disbelief. “What do you mean ‘out of your way’?” she questioned fearing she already knew the answer.
“You insolent little upstage!” Caleb shouted. “I did jobs for them. I ran errands, did the small stuff, went on a few missions. And in return, they helped me! They trained me in ways Bren-don couldn’t. They made me who I am today,” he continued making even more grandeur gestures.
“And who’s they? Just to be sure we’re on the same page,” Reggie spoke up. Julie and Alex sighed having understood what the man meant, but Luke nodded along in agreement with Reggie.
“I swear if you weren’t dead I’d think you were zozzled!” Caleb yelled, throwing his hands up with an exasperated sigh. Reggie looked to the rest of the group, but they were just as confused as him at the outdated language. “The sith! I started helping the sith, and I’m happy that I did. Rose on the other hand…” Caleb explained before rolling his eyes. “Well she had just had you,” he pointed at Julie, “So you can bet she was not pleased when she found out I was helping the ‘enemy’.” Caleb began to pace again. Julie thought it was out of anger once more, but she could see the grin that started to spread across his face as he did so.
“So my mother was upset that you joined the dark side, as any sane person would be. I struggle to find the problem here,” Julie countered following the man’s rapid movements with her eyes.
“Well you see she wanted me to stop, but I finally had everything I ever wanted. There was no way I was quitting now,” Caleb continued explaining. “She pulled me off to the side after training one day before we went home and practically begged me to turn back and forget everything that they had taught me,” he scoffed. “Saying things like ‘you’ll only end up hurt’, ‘They are just using you’, and other things, but I wasn’t falling for it. I knew the power they were giving me and knew it was what I needed to get ahead of her. Master Urie was oblivious to the whole situation. He refused to see that I was improving and that I was actually better than Rose! So he handed her that mission. The mission that got her killed.”
Julie swore she saw a wave of relief wash over the man when he mentioned her mother’s death. Caleb slid his hands onto his hips pushing his jacket back in the process and accidentally brandishing the hilt of his lightsaber. Julie instinctively started to reach for her mother’s lightsaber, that she had left to Julie after her death, that rested on her hip.
“You know Julie,” Caleb spoke quickly causing her to drop her hand away from her hip. “Just because your mother never came back from that mission doesn’t necessarily mean she is dead. She could still be out there,” he continued a smirk growing on his face. Julie’s eyes widened a little as she froze in her spot. Sure she had thought about that theory before, but she had never found any evidence to prompt her to do something about it.
“With the resources of the sith, and my help of course, we could find her,” Caleb offered, extending his hand to the girl. Julie looked from Caleb’s face down to his hand and back up. She started to step forward when the three boys that stood behind her poofed in front of her.
“Jules, you can’t do this,” Luke pleaded.
“Why not?” she questioned crossing her arms. “He’s right. My mom could still be alive. She could be trapped somewhere in need of help, and what kind of Jedi would I be if I didn’t help people in need!”
“Exactly!” Luke yelled. Julie looked at him, confusion was evident on her face. “You’re a padawan. A soon to be knight. You are training to become a Jedi. Jedi do not make deals with sith. No matter what the outcome might be!”
Julie looked between Luke, Alex, and Reggie. All three were silently pleading with her not to trust Caleb. You can't trust a guy with such sheer charisma.
“I’m sorry,” she started looking down. The three boys' faces fell. “Caleb I don’t need your help,” she continued causing everyone to look at her with shocked expressions. The boys moved out of the way as Julie stepped forward. “My mother might still be alive, or she might be dead, but either way she is gone, and I have come to terms with that. If I decide to try and find her I know plenty of people, alive and dead,” she smirked at the boys who all smiled in response, “who are willing to help me.” She stood her ground in front of Caleb.
Caleb’s arms dropped to his side as his smirk fell. A look of annoyance took its place.
“...Caleb?” Julie questioned. His reaction made her nervous. She rested her hands on her lightsaber in preparation for what might come.
“Your mother was Rose,” Caleb stated. “Julie,” he continued, “Rose was very powerful in the force,” he narrowed his eyes slightly. “However, she devoted her energy to the wrong place.” Caleb mimicked Julie and reached into his jacket grabbing ahold of his lightsaber. “I hope that,” he fully pulled his lightsaber out of his jacket, activating it. “You won’t make the same mistake,” he finished swinging his lightsaber around to bring it down on top of Julie’s head.
She was quick to respond and brandished her own lightsaber, blocking Caleb’s from making contact. Her purple lightsaber collided with his red one sending multi-colored sparks into the air.
Caleb, you're angry, I get it
Believe me I know what it's like
But you are making a mistake
Julie spoke quickly. Suddenly music flooded the area around them and Julie looked for the source. Her eyes landed on her force ghosts who now had their instruments in their possession. She rolled her eyes as Luke made a comment about wanting to provide fight music since they couldn’t do much else. Julie used the opportunity and began to sing.
(Song: Nothing Left to Lose by Jeremy Jordan & Eden Espinosa)
(Bold-Julie, Italic-Caleb)
Julie:
The path of hate is a dangerous track
You take one step and it's hard to turn back
It pulls you along
And though it seems wrong it feels right
Don't you see this path you're on leaves a permanent mark
It feels good at first, then it slowly turns dark
With each passing day
You're further astray from the light
Upon hearing the mention of light and dark from Julie, Caleb flinched causing the next swing of his lightsaber to come up short. He tried to recover, but Julie was younger and much quicker on her feet. She swung her lightsaber across and made contact with Caleb’s shoulder. He stumbled backward trying to regain his composure before diving right back into the battle.
Julie:
Suddenly, you lose your way and lose the thread
Lose your cool, then lose your head
Every loss is harder to excuse
Then you'll see you'll lose your faith and lose your soul
'Til you lose complete control
And realize there's nothing left to lose
Nothing left to lose
Blocking yet another attack from Caleb, Julie staggered slightly in her steps. She had not had as much training as Caleb, but she was holding her own against the man.
Caleb, trust me
Becoming the villain isn't the answer
Julie pleaded with Caleb before he cut her off.
Is that what you think I am?
Enraged by the girl’s comment, Caleb lunged at Julie swinging his lightsaber with full force towards her abdomen. Julie was able to just barely block it from making contact with her body but ultimately lost her footing in the process. She fell to the ground, dropping her lightsaber. It deactivated as it hit the ground. Caleb kicked it away from the girl and began walking towards her, lightsaber at the ready.
Caleb:
The path I'm on is a path paved in black
I'm taking that road and I'm not looking back
Each twist and each turn
Leads straight where I'm yearning to go
Yes, it's true, my path is dark but I see where it ends
My rivals will fall as my power ascends
Despise me, that's fine
I'm taking what's mine even so
Julie scrambled backward as Caleb approached and managed to pull herself to a standing position against the outside wall of the cantina. She stood pressed against the wall. Suddenly Luke called her name. She turned her head quickly, scared to take her eyes off Caleb, just in time to see Luke throw her discarded lightsaber in her direction. Caleb swung his lightsaber right as she stuck her arm out to catch her own, making contact with the outside of her right leg directly above her knee. She collapsed to the ground but had managed to catch her lightsaber and activate it in enough time to block his next attack.
Caleb:
Not like you
You lost your nerve, you lost the game
But you and I, we're not the same
I'm not lost, this fate was mine to choose
So I chose to lose my doubts and lose my chains
Lose each weakness that remains
Now that I have nothing left to lose
Nothing left to lose
Caleb took another swing at Julie, who managed to push herself to her feet and off the wall in time to block. She pushed back against Caleb providing herself enough space to jump up and flip her body so she ended up behind him. She readied herself as the force ghost musicians to her left cheered her on. Caleb spun around.
J: You have so much to hold onto
C: I only want my rightful dues
J: Listen please, you've lost your grip
J: And lost your mind C: (I'm not gonna lose)
J: All's not lost, don't be so blind C: (I refuse)
J: Cut your losses, drop the IOUs C: (I refuse)
J: Oh-oh, choose
C: I lose no tears and lose no sleep
C: What I want I'll take and keep J: (It's time for you to choose)
J&C: You can't stop the turning on the screws
Caleb and Julie continued the fight, sparks from their lightsabers clashing together landing in the sand beneath their feet. Caleb landed another hit on Julie’s upper left arm. Julie returned it by landing a lucky blow on his lower right arm near his wrist causing him to drop his lightsaber in pain. Using the force, Julie tossed the lightsaber toward the boys. Alex extended his arm and caught it, safely securing it in his fanny pack before returning to drumming. As the music swelled, Julie swept the distracted Caleb’s legs out from under him, landing him on his back with a thud. She stood over him with her lightsaber just above his throat.
C: Now I have nothing left to lose
“Wait!” Caleb yelled as the boys abruptly stopped playing, “I know the truth about your mother. Everyone thinks she never returned from that mission, but in reality, she never even left.”
Julie tensed but held her lightsaber steady. “You don’t know anything,” she said, her voice wavering.
“Your mother is dead. I can guarantee that much. Because I’m the one that killed her,” he responded smirking, knowing he was getting to the girl.
“You what?!” Julie exclaimed pushing her lightsaber even closer to Caleb’s throat to the point where she could see the faint purple glow on his face.
“I killed her,” he said with a wide and proud smile.
“No!” Julie raised her arm about to bring her lightsaber down when she was interrupted.
“Julie!” Luke, Alex, and Reggie yelled.
She froze, turning her head towards the boys.
“You can’t do this,” Luke pleaded. Julie looked between him and the other two boys, all wearing similar fearful, pleading expressions. She glanced down at Caleb and then back at the boys. “Please,” Luke continued trying to convince the girl. Before she could respond a figure appeared next to Alex causing everyone to jump. Julie locked eyes with Caleb before frantically looking between him and the empty spot in the sand where he was just laying.
“I’ll be taking this,” he said, reaching into Alex’s fanny pack to grab his lightsaber. Alex tried to swat his hands away but passed through him. Julie started to run towards Caleb, lightsaber at the ready, but before she could reach him he disappeared. The quartet could swear they heard a high pitched “Bye-bye!” ring through the air.
“No!” Julie cried out in distress. “I can’t believe he got away,” she said sadly.
“It’s okay Jules. We’ll figure it out, just like we always do,” Luke said in an attempt to comfort the girl.
Julie hung her head and deactivated her lightsaber, placing it back on her belt. As she turned to leave, the backdoor of the cantina swung open to reveal a stormtrooper in full gear running towards the group. With her hand still on her lightsaber, Julie readied herself for another fight.
“Wait,” the stormtrooper called out to the group. As he approached the group he pulled off his helmet to reveal an olive-skinned teen with long black hair cascading down his shoulders. Reggie could swear he heard Alex’s heart physically skip a beat when he did so. “You four need to get out of here and I want to help.”
“Four?” Julie questioned. “I’m the only one out here,” she eyed the boy skeptically.
“Oh please, I saw the cute blonde one dancing along to Dirty Cantina inside. You cannot tell me that wasn’t real,” he responded tucking his helmet under his arm as he locked eyes with Alex. “I’m Willie.”
Julie sighed. Yet again their cover had been blown. “I’m Julie,” she said, moving her hand from her lightsaber and extending it towards the boy. He happily accepted the gesture and shook her hand.
“I’m Luke by the way, and this is…” Luke started gesturing to his friends.
“Reggie, I’m Reggie,” he added quickly
“Alex. How's it going,” Alex said nervously.
“Ba da,” Luke said with jazz hands.
Willie laughed. “Nice to meet you all. Now, this place is crawling with siths. Caleb isn’t the only one, so the safest bet is for me to escort you out of here Julie. Hopefully, no one else can see you guys,” he said looking to the boys.
They all agreed to the plan and Willie put his helmet back on before grabbing his blaster in his right hand and Julie’s arm with the other. He quickly led her back through the cantina. A few guests turned to look at them, but no one did anything to stop them or ask questions. Making their way out the front door, Alex pointed out their ship so Willie would know where to lead the girl. He followed the instruction and walked the girl up the ramp and into the main body of the ship where he let go of her arm.
“Jules you’re back! You told me you were going to get a drink while I fixed the hyperdrive, but I finished that a while ago so now I’m just tweaking some stuff,” a girl with multiple long black braids and dark skin stood up from her position on the floor and dusted herself off before looking at Julie. “Oh my god! What happened to you?!” She rushed over and began to inspect Julie's arm and leg.
Finally, the girl made eye contact with the Stormtrooper that stood slightly behind Julie. “Jules watch out!” she yelled grabbing a wrench from her tool belt and preparing to throw it. Julie grabbed her hand before she could let go.
“Flynn!” she yelled. “It’s okay he’s with us. He can see the boys. He helped us get out of there.”
Flynn eyed the boy suspiciously as he took off his helmet. “Hi, I’m Willie,” he greeted.
“Flynn,” she smiled.
“Can we get out of here?” Reggie questioned. “Caleb might come back.”
“Yeah that true,” Julie agreed. “How fast can you get us to the outpost Flynn?” she asked her friend and pilot.
“I’ll get us there, but you need to go and get those wounds patched up. Willie, do you think you could help her?” Flynn asked.
Willie nodded and followed Julie down to the med bay while Flynn went to prepare the ship for their flight. Luke and Alex went with Willie and Julie, but Reggie assumed his usual position in the copilot seat.
“Ready Reg?” Flynn asked
Reggie hit the foam hotdog keychain that hung off his copilot yoke so that it swung back and forth signifying his presence and readiness to fly. Flynn smiled.
“Alright. Reggie hit the hyperdrive.”