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Kira had never been in this situation before. Actually, that's a lie. She'd been in situations like this plenty of times before, but not with this outcome. This was supposed to be like every other job. Unkar’s rules were simple:
• Make sure the target is distracted
• Grab their wallet and/or any items of value that are easy to carry
• Run like fucking hell once you've acquired said items
• Always, always, always make sure to never show your face or anything that would help identify you to the authorities
Her chosen target that fateful Friday afternoon stuck out like a sore thumb in the seedy Jakku District of the industrial city of Exegol. She spotted him at the Niima Street bus stop a few blocks away from where she was sitting on top of The Outer Rim - a popular strip club and ground zero for all shady dealings among Exegol’s worst criminals.
He was lanky with pale skin and dark hair that fell to just above his ears which stuck out on both sides of his head. The private school uniform he was wearing screamed “I come from an insane amount of money! Please rob me!” There was something vaguely familiar about him, but in that moment she couldn't pinpoint what it was. Not that it really mattered. Kira had a job to do and whatever she lifted off him would help reach her quota for the month.
It had been a slow earnings week since she was down for a few days with the flu. Now it was already Friday and she had to report back to her sleazy lump of a fence Unkar Plutt on Sunday. But for the first time ever, she was behind by several grand in both cash and product.
Her weekly quotas were higher than the other pick pockets since she was the quickest and quietest of them all with a reputation of being the most catlike. After her first few months pick pocketing on the streets of Exegol, Unkar rewarded her efforts in the form of her own room in an abandoned theater.
Sure, the electricity was unreliable and the water was tinted brown but it was her own space. Before that, she was slumming it on the streets or sharing a room in a brothel hoping and praying she wasn’t forced into a different kind of lifestyle in order to survive.
Kira was snapped out of her thoughts by the sound of horns honking and realized her target had already walked past The Outer Rim. Quickly, she scaled down the ladder on the side of the six story building which ended a good fifteen feet above the alley below.
After landing softly, Kira quickly headed out of the alley just in time to see her target turning the corner onto Tuanul Street which she knew would be quiet and empty this time of day. Making sure to pull her hood up over her head, Kira shoved her hands into her pockets.
Soon she was within a few feet of him and he'd made no indication of knowing she was there. This was going to be a piece of cake. Smirking, Kira quickly and quietly closed the distance between them, then reached out a hand and -
"What are you doing?"
His voice was lower than expected. When Kira tried to run, she realized his long fingers were wrapped around her wrist holding her in place with a strength she was not expecting from him. When the hell had that happened??
Her heart was racing and she didn’t know what to do next. Usually by now, she was long gone either with empty pockets or pockets full of product. She kept her head down and turned away from him hoping he would let her go.
"I asked you a question," he said.
Kira glowered at his shiny black dress shoes and grit her teeth. She made another attempt to break free of his grasp only for him to tighten his grip. It wasn’t tight enough to hurt, but she definitely wasn’t going anywhere unless he let go. So she took a deep breath then looked up at him.
His brown eyes studied her face in a way that wasn't familiar. It had been a while since anyone had looked at her in a way that wasn’t hiding cruel intentions or disgust. In fact, she couldn’t think of a time in her life even before living on the streets when anyone looked at her the way he was.
"Wow," he said in a shocked tone with a small smile. "You're beautiful."
That was definitely something Kira had never heard anyone say to her in her entire life. "Why the hell would you say that?"
He frowned a little. "Because it's true."
She could feel herself blushing furiously and there was also the unwanted feeling of butterflies in her stomach. Surely this was some sort of weird rich kid payback since she had just tried and failed to rob him. A story he could laugh about with his stuck up prep school friends later.
"Smooth," Kira rolled her eyes. "Now can I go?"
"Oh right. Sorry."
He finally removed his fingers from around her wrist but didn't step back. "Is it always hard for you to take a compliment?"
"What?"
"I complimented you and your immediate reaction was to ask why I would say that. As if I would say anything that wasn't true."
Kira blinked a few times. He seemed so sincere which was annoyingly endearing.
"I'm Ben by the way," he said, holding out his hand. "Ben Solo."
Suddenly it clicked. That's why he seemed familiar. Ben Solo. Of course. Of all the rich kids in Exegol, it just had to be the one and only son of Han and Leia Solo. Heir to the Skywalker-Organa-Solo fortune. Future CEO of Skywalker Enterprises. Everyone in the world knew who his family was. The few times Rey had read a newspaper article or watched the local news on her shitty second hand TV, there was always something about them being said.
"What the hell are you doing in the Jakku District alone?" Kira demanded, eyes darting around the street to make sure they weren't being watched.
"I was meeting someone," said Ben who didn't seem at all uncomfortable.
"You. Ben Solo. Were meeting someone here. In the most dangerous part of the city. Dressed like that?"
Ben frowned down at his school uniform in confusion. "Yes. Is there something wrong with what I'm wearing?"
"Duh! Lots of shady people live in this area. Pawning off that uniform could feed someone for a few days. Throw in your shoes that look like they're brand new and someone would be able to eat for two weeks. You could've gotten kidnapped for ransom or dragged into an alley, beaten within an inch of your life, robbed of everything - and I do mean everything - then left for dead. If it wasn't me, it was going to be someone else who may not have been as nice. All I wanted was your wallet."
"Well then I'm glad it was you," Ben said with a playful smile that was both irritating and charming.
Kira could tell her cheeks were turning red again and glared at the ground with her arms crossed. "Why did you take the bus here anyway? Don't you have like five chauffeurs for that shit?"
"No. I only have one chauffeur. His name is Alfred. And he refused to drive me here."
"Smart man."
"I came here on my own after school."
Kira's eyes darted to the crest on his jacket. Amidala Preparatory Academy was one of seven private schools in the Alderaan District where she knew Ben lived. It was also the most elite private school in the country. Only the richest of the rich went there. And even if you met the wealth requirement, if you didn't have the right surname or know the right people, you were put on a waiting list.
"So since you couldn't convince your driver to bring you down here, how long did it take?"
Ben thought for a moment. "About an hour and half. I took the subway from Alderaan to Coruscant then got on the bus from Bespin to Hoth. I walked to Tattooine where I got on the bus that brought me to Niima Street where I saw you watching me from the roof of The Outer Rim."
Kira's mouth dropped open. "You knew I was watching you??"
"I saw you before I even got off the bus," Ben smiled a little.
"Did you also know I was gonna follow you and try to rob you?"
"I had my suspicions."
"So...did you come down this street on purpose then? To get me alone?" Kira was starting to panic.
What if this was all a trap? Not that someone like Ben would have any reason to want to trap her, but the thought still crossed her mind. His grandfather was well known in the crime world. Was young Ben following in his footsteps so soon?
Ben could see the panic on Kira's face and his smile fell. "No. I didn't have ill intent when I turned on this street. I knew you were behind me and that at any second you'd be reaching for my wallet. I really am here to meet with someone."
"Who?"
"I can't tell you," he said, not helping Kira's uneasiness. "But I promise you it's nothing shady or illegal. He's a friend of my Uncle's. But that's all I can say."
While she still didn't fully trust him, Kira relaxed a little and was embarrassed when her stomach growled loudly. Ben raised an eyebrow.
"When was the last time you ate?" he asked.
"This morning," Kira lied.
He studied her face for a few moments before taking his wallet out. Kira tried not to gape when he removed some ones, fives, tens, twenties and a few hundreds. After counting it, he held it out to her.
"Take it. Please," said Ben. "I'm assuming you need this more than I do or you wouldn't be going around stealing people's wallets for a living."
While he was correct in his assumption that stealing was a way of life for her, Kira didn't appreciate him saying it out loud.
"You don't know anything about me," Kira snapped and started to briskly walk away from him.
"Wait! Please!" he called after her, but she picked up the pace and ignored the hunger pains and tears stinging her eyes.
In a few short seconds, Ben was standing directly in front of her. "Please. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you."
"Oh really?" Kira crossed her arms and stared up at him challengingly. "So telling me that I steal for a way of life and then taunting me with a wad of cash isn't supposed to offend me?"
"No. I wasn't taunting you. You also don't seem like someone who would use the money on anything other than necessities. I could tell you were lying when you said the last time you ate was this morning. It's been longer than that. But I'm sorry for offending you. I was only trying to help."
"While I appreciate the sentiment, I'm not some charity case," Kira said, walking around him.
To her annoyance, he followed. "I never said you were a charity case."
"It's whatever."
"No it's not 'whatever'. Please stop walking away from me."
Kira sighed as she stopped walking. "Look. I'm sorry I tried robbing you. You were on your way to meet with someone and now I've made you late."
"I can change my plans. He'll be fine. I just need to send him a quick text," Ben said as he pulled out his cellphone.
Of course it was the newest most expensive phone on the market. Kira wasn't sure why she continued to stand there while he texted someone she still didn't know the name of.
"There," he said, putting his phone away. "Rescheduled."
"Why did you reschedule? You're just running late. You could meet him in like fifteen minutes. Everywhere in Jakku takes fifteen minutes walking. Longer if you keep getting distracted or someone tries to rob you."
"I rescheduled, because I'm going to take the most beautiful girl I know to dinner."
Kira looked around at the still empty street trying to figure out who he was talking about and he laughed a little.
"It's you," he smiled. "In case you were somehow confused."
"Don't call me that. I don't like it."
"Don't call you a girl?"
"Oh my god," Kira said as he started laughing again. "Are you always this annoying?"
"I get told that I am a lot."
"If I agree to go to dinner with you, do you promise to stop calling me beautiful?"
Ben thought for a moment. "I promise to try. So...dinner?"
He held his hand out to her and for a moment Kira considered running. But then her stomach growled loudly again.
Tentatively, she took his hand. "Okay but I can't be out past dark."
"Oh. Curfew?"
"Something like that," said Kira as they started walking hand in hand.
Being out past dark in the Jakku District wasn't safe especially if you were a girl. That's usually when Rey would be in her room for the night or lurking at The Outer Rim looking for inebriated clients to steal from.
"Well I promise to not keep you out too late then," Ben said, as they finally made it to a busier street where he stopped to look at her. "By the way...whats your name?"
It was then she realized that in their entire conversation she'd never once told him what her name was. She was about to just give him the name she currently went by. The name everyone on the streets knew her by. Kira. Her mother's name.
But as she thought about the way Ben made her feel in their short time talking...and as she thought about the way he looked at her and called her beautiful like no one else ever had...she realized that somehow she knew for a fact he was someone she could trust with the truth.
"My name is Rey," she finally said, her heart skipping a beat at the warm smile on his face at finally knowing her name.
"Rey what?"
"Just Rey."
"Nice to meet you Just Rey," he smiled, as he lightly squeezed her hand.
And for the first time since they started talking, she smiled back at him. Her first real smile in a long time, revealing dimples and a sparkle in her eyes that took Ben's breath away. Without another word, he led her by the hand down the street to dinner hoping that this wouldn't be the only time he got to spend with her.
Hoping that maybe this was only the beginning.