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Chapter Text

Alan pulled his cloak tighter around him as another gust of cold wind hit him. He couldn’t wait to leave this forsaken planet and go back to his base, where the wind and rain were not a problem. He only had to find what he was looking for first; a rare type of coal that he could use to make a different type of ink. He wasn’t precisely looking forward to finding it, not because he didn’t want it (he really did, he had flown all across the galaxy to get it) but because he would have to negotiate with the people that lived in a village near the mines to get it. They had a reputation of being clingy with their findings. Had he needed the coal years ago, he would have threatened the villagers or burned the whole town down but that was before and now he wasn’t quite sure he would be willing to go to such an extent. Unless they got aggressive first, he could deal with aggressive, he didn’t have two lightsabers for nothing after all.

He sighed in relief when he devised a rock structure a little further away, hidden behind the trees, but froze when the smell of burnt flesh and wood reached his nose. He grabbed one of his lightsabers underneath his cloak and moved more carefully towards the village, making sure not to step in anything that could make noise. As the trees revealed the village, if he could still call it that, he saw the burnt houses and the mess of footprints that littered the ground. He didn’t need to look around to know he would find the villagers underneath the rubble, he could feel the death in the force. 

It wasn’t the only thing he felt in the force and he stiffened, wondering how he hadn’t noticed before. There was a force sensitive nearby, a very strong one too, radiating fear and shining like a supernova. Alan didn’t put away his lightsaber as he began to search for the presence, dismissing almost immediately that they could be responsible for what had happened in the village. There were blaster marks all across the walls and ground, indicating raiders had been responsible for the massacre. 

He stopped inside a particularly destroyed house, the ceiling somehow still staying in place. He almost laughed at the door that was still standing despite the walls beside it being completely crumbled but he remained silent so as to not give away his position.

He pushed the door open, careful not to make the whole building collapse on top of him and the force sensitive. He saw destroyed cooking utensils across the ground and a burnt piece of fabric that might have once been a plush. Alan finally connected the dots and realized the force sensitive was a child. Knowing that, he knelt down right where he was and gently picked up the toy. He glanced around and saw the tip of a small boot move out of sight. Found them.

“They’re gone.” He said, dusting the plush off. “You can come out.” There was no indication that the child moved so he continued. “I know where you are, if I wanted to hurt you I would have already, you might as well come out.”

He smiled when he heard movement and soft footsteps approaching. He felt their presence shining behind him and deliberately turned around, hoping his smile was reassuring and not creepy.

They were a small child, probably still a toddler. A mess of bright orange hair covered part of their face, their light green eyes peaking behind it. They were poorly dressed and some of their clothes seemed suspiciously black. And they were scared, barely stopping themselves from shaking. And yet they looked at him as if they were daring him to do something to them. 

It had been a long time since he had had an apprentice and it hadn’t been successful. But perhaps it was his own fault for picking an older child. This one seemed to be very young and impressionable and more powerful than any apprentice he had ever had. A voice in his head that sounded suspiciously like his friend’s reminded him that that wasn’t the right way to think of a child but he pushed aside as he focused on the child.

“You can relax, I wasn’t the one that attacked your village.” The kid’s lip quivered but their expression didn’t change. “They might come back. I’m leaving, I won’t find what I came looking for. You can come with me and I’ll teach you how to control your gift.” The kid looked confused but seemed to be thinking it over. “Or you could stay here and wait for them to come back and end up like your village.”

He stood up just as their eyes began to water. He walked out of the crumbling house and waited outside for them to make up their mind. The best way to force a kid to make a choice was to make them think you were leaving now, giving them a short timeframe to make their choice. He was proven right when the kid ran out of the house, skidding to a halt in front of him.

“Are you coming?” The kid nodded, holding the burnt piece of fabric to their chest. Alan smiled, triumphant. “Follow me, then.” 

He began to make his way back to his ship, slowing down every few minutes so that the kid didn’t fall too far behind. He was startled when something touched his hand and turned around, heart beating in his rib cage like it wanted to escape its prison. The kid was looking at him with wide, panicked eyes, hand outstretched as if to grab on to his own.

Alan groaned at how easily he had been startled. “You don’t need to grab my hand, it’s barely a twenty minute walk.” He said and continued walking, not waiting for an answer.

It hadn’t even been five minutes before he felt something tug at his cloak. He wasn’t startled this time but still whipped around, expecting a threat. The kid wasn’t as scared as before either, looking sheepishly at him.

“What do you want.” Alan deadpanned. The kid stretched their arms towards the sky, lips pressed into a thin line. “I’m not carrying you around. You have legs don’t you?” The kid put down his arms, looking disappointed. 

Alan continued his walk, half regretting his choice of apprentice when a sneeze made him stop. With a deep breath to calm himself down, he turned around again.

“What is it now?” He demanded. He blinked at the kid when he noticed how they were shivering, arms wrapped around themselves. “Oh, right.’ He hadn’t thought about the cold wind and the small drops of water that were beginning to fall. With the threadbare clothes they were wearing, they were probably freezing. If he didn’t want the kid to freeze to death, he would have to give them his cloak. But he really didn’t want to freeze to death himself.

He sighed tiredly and knelt down in front of the kid. “Listen, this is a one time thing, got it?” He lifted the kid into his arms, making sure they were perfectly covered and wrapped by his cloak. The kid snuggled into him and let out a content sigh. “A one time thing. I’ll get you your own cloak and you will have to walk on your own next time.” He reminded them, resuming his walk.

There were no further incidents and they reached The Cursor just as it began to rain. He had sighed in relief the moment he divided the white of his chip contrasting against the darkening forest.

Alan was about to tell the kid to get off when a small snore made him stop. The kid had fallen asleep. Alan looked down at them and saw their head resting against his chest, a slight smile on their face. They looked peaceful… he didn’t think any of his apprentices had ever looked peaceful. He found himself unable to move, frozen looking at the small child cradled in his arms. He heard the rain hit the ship in an almost rhythmical pattern and felt his breathing sync with the kid’s. At that moment, he felt almost completely calm and came to the slow realization that he had never felt so calm in his life, much like his former apprentices. He had to blink several times to stop the itchiness in his eyes. 

He held the child tighter against his chest and went towards the cabin. He prepared The Cursor for takeoff and took off, the child still asleep against his chest.

~*~

The child was wearing some old clothes he had laying around from one of his former apprentices and he was made aware of how small this kid was with how the clothes hung off them. He would need to get them new ones but that could wait for another day. The kid seemed mesmerized by the uninhabited planet he had chosen as a base and spent most of their time staring in awe at the landscape, mouth agape in wonder. He had caught them running after birds more than one time and felt strange at such a sight, was that what kids liked to do? He thought kids liked destroying things.

The kid was surprisingly well behaved and had yet to do anything bad besides touching stuff out of curiosity. 

There was just one problem. The kid refused to talk. It had already been a couple of days since he had taken the kid away from their burnt village and the kid hadn’t said a word. Alan had tried asking them their name repeatedly but the kid just sort of stared at him, expressionless. After three days of no answers, Alan had resorted to referring to them as “Orange” because of their hair. He had done it in the hopes of offending the kid and forcing them to talk but they had scrunched their nose in confusion once and then shrugged it off. They actually had begun to respond to the name so Alan guessed even if he did learn their name, he would keep calling them that. 

But a week passed and he hadn’t had a single conversation with Orange and he had had enough. He stood in front of them while they watched the animals frolic around from the stairs to his house until they looked up at him. 

He knelt down so that their eyes would meet. “Listen. If you don’t want to talk, that's fine. But you’re going to communicate with me or I’ll go insane.” Alan pointed at himself and signed what he wanted to say just as he said it. “My name is Alan.” Orange’s eyes widened and they looked at him in awe. “Yeah, that’s right. You can communicate with your hands. It’s called sign language. Look. What’s your name?” He mimicked an exclamation sign over his chin. 

Orange looked astounded, looking from his face, to his hands to their hands. 

“You want to learn?” He asked. Orange nodded eagerly, a smile appearing on their face. “Ok. Let’s begin with the alphabet, shall we?”

The kid was a fast learner and in a few days they had already learned the basics and the word sword. They had also started a routine. Alan let them do whatever they wanted in the morning because he was usually too tired to do anything as long as they stayed near the house. They ate together and then they practiced sign language, followed by meditation sessions to get the kid in tune with the force. He cooked while Orange watched and tried to steal food off the counter and they had dinner. Alan had gotten an old cot set in an empty room and put a blanket and a pillow over it for Orange to sleep in. They hadn’t complained so he assumed they didn’t mind.

Before they had dinner, Alan knelt in front of Orange and repeated the question they had asked them over a week ago. “What’s your name?” He signed as he spoke.

Orange looked away and for a moment, Alan was sure they wouldn’t answer. But then they began to sign.

My. Name. Is. Orange.

Alan’s eyes widened in surprise. “You like it that much?” Orange nodded with a bright smile. “Well, alright.” Alan smiled in slight amusement. “Orange it is.” 

As they set the table for dinner, Alan felt something he had never felt for one of his apprentices. Fondness. Oh if his master could see him now… But his master was long gone. He was the master now and he was no longer a sith. A little fondness couldn’t hurt that much. Orange smiled at him and Alan smiled back.

~*~ 2 YEARS LATER ~*~

Orange swung his legs back and forth on the copilot seat as their master landed the ship. The town they were going to didn’t look precisely interesting, especially considering it was in a desert planet, but it was new and that was enough to have them excited. Their master seemed to have noticed their excitement and Orange was pretty sure they were frowning with worry. It was hard to tell with how his hood obscured his face but Orange was sure they had gotten pretty good at reading their facial expressions.

They descended down the ramp of The Cursor and stopped at the end of it. Their master knelt in front of them. “Wait for me here, apprentice.” He said, signing as he spoke, a habit he had never lost. Orange nodded respectfully. He turned around to look at them before leaving. “I mean it. Stay here, Orange.”

Orange nodded again, a small smile on their face. Alan normally referred to them as apprentice but sometimes he slipped up and they enjoyed every time it happened. Orange waited until they couldn’t see Alan anymore, leaning to one side to watch him leave. They were alone. They rubbed their hands together in excitement, now it was their turn to explore.

They grabbed their orange cloak and put the hood on. Alan always said their hair drew too much attention, even though it was short. They made sure the ship was locked and secured before leaving to explore.

It was a busy town, used to outsiders, carefully picked by their master so that they didn’t draw too much attention to themselves. Orange passed through the market, just to look at the different stalls to see what they were selling. But the downside of going to a busy town was that there were too many people, and if you were small like they were, the crowd would push you and force you to go where you didn’t want to go. Orange was forced to the side after a giant Wookiee almost stepped on them. They pouted at the continuous stream of people that stopped them from exploring freely and looked around the alleyway they had found themselves in. 

He walked down the alley, looking for something interesting. And then they saw it. A giant cage and inside it, four kids sparring among them. They were around their age, Orange thought and they didn’t fight half bad, almost as good as them and their master. Orange had never sparred with anyone that wasn’t their master and they thought of how fun it would be to have more sparring partners, especially such cool ones! Fixing their cloak so that they looked presentable, they walked towards the cage. 

They didn’t seem to notice Orange at first and they continued to spar. Orange stood awkwardly in front of the, for a moment before timidly knocking on one of the bars. The kids startled and the red togruta fell to the floor, taken by surprise. The blue pantoran helped them to their feet and they both stared at Orange, seemingly perplexed.

Orange gave them an awkward little wave, feeling like they were making a terrible first impression.

The green mirialan looked back at the other and then offered Orange a confused smile. “Uhm, hi.”

Orange wanted to ask them to spar with them but remember their manners before they could make a fool of themselves. They introduced themselves and awaited their response. 

Their smile deemed as they looked at each other in confusion. Right. They had tried making friends a couple of times before but no one seemed to know sign language. They would tell Alan how they felt but they weren’t supposed to try talking to other people.

“Uhm, I think they’re saying their name is Orange?” The Mirialan said, looking questioningly at them. 

Orange’s smile widened in delight. “You speak sign language?” They asked, careful to sign each word slowly so that they could understand. 

“A little bit.” They answered. 

The red togruta took a step forwards, smiling at them. “Orange? Huh! We match!” They exclaimed. “I’m Red!”

“Uhm, I’m Blue.” The Pantoran said, waving at them.

“Yellow.” The yellow twi’lek spoke up, eyeing them warily. They seemed to be the oldest of the group so their behavior made sense.

“And I’m Green!” The mirialan that knew sign language introduced themselves. “Nice to meet you!”

Orange nodded back at them in greeting. This meeting was going great! They were with other kids, they had similar names to theirs and were friendly! Best decision they had ever made.

There was just one thing that didn’t quite make sense.

“What did they ask?” Red asked Green.

“They want to know why we’re inside a cage.”

Yellow crossed her arms. “Well, we’re waiting to be sold.”

Orange scrunched their face in confusion. That didn’t quite make sense. Kids weren’t sold. Unless they weren’t actually kids?

“What??” Green said, confused. “We’re not droids!”

“Yeah! We’re people!” Red exclaimed, looking angry.

Orange grimaced, they hadn’t intended for them to get angry. They were just confused because why would they be for sale if they weren’t droids?

“Oh.” Green said. “Uhm, well. We’re people but we’re still getting sold.”

Orange frowned. That didn’t sound right. That sounded… like slavery! Alan had mentioned slavery once and he had looked oddly sad when he explained the concept to them. Slavery was a bad thing, was what Orange knew. Well, they wouldn’t let their new friends be sold into slavery! 

They took a small bottle of ink from their belt and opened it. Concentrating, they willed some ink to come out and take the form of a key. They put the bottle away, ignoring the confused looks of their friends and inserted the key into the lock of the cage. The door opened with a quiet creak.

“What.” Yellow said, blinking in shock.

“How did you do that??” Blue asked in awe.

Orange smiled proudly and knelt to remove the long chain that bound them to the cage. 

Just as they were unlocking Green’s lock, he spoke. “Why?” He whispered.

Orange took a moment to think over the question, understanding the importance of it to their friend. They smiled. They were their friends.

Green’s expression softened slightly and he smiled at him. “Glad to be your friend then, Orange.”

Once all of them were free, Orange motioned for them to follow. 

Their friends seemed to hesitate before following, looking at Yellow. “Well, they did free us. Let’s see how far we can go.”

Orange led them back to The Cursor, making sure to go through the most crowded streets to decrease their chances of getting spotted. They had become an expert at doing it, Alan and them had to sneak around places many times.

They arrived to The Cursor with no problem but their friends weren’t save until they were off the planet.

“Wow.” Yellow said. “This is your ship?” It was technically their master’s but that wasn’t easy to explain so they nodded. “It looks amazing.”

Orange smiled proudly and opened the ramp of the ship, they ushered their friends inside and led them to the storage room. There was a big empty box where they could hide them so that their master didn’t spot them. 

“Inside the box?” Green asked, sounding unsure. They nodded. They didn’t have a lot of time, they could feel Alan returning. “Alright.”

Orange looked around nervously as they got inside the box and barely waited for them to finish getting inside before putting the lid on, leaving it slightly open so that they could still breathe. They made a shushing noise before rushing back outside.

They hastily removed their hood and put on their best innocent look just as Alan appeared. He was only carrying one bag and squinted at them in suspicion when he saw them.

“Did you move?” He asked and Orange did their best to not look guilty when they shook their head. Alan sighed. “At least you don’t look hurt this time. Go put this in the storage room while I prepare the Cursor, won’t you?”

Orange nodded, relieved that it hadn’t been ordered the other way around. They wanted to check on their friends but if they took too long, Alan would suspect. So they put down the bag and rushed to the cabin.

Alan was already taking off and raised a questioning eyebrow at them when he saw them enter. “You look sweaty, are you feeling ok?” Orange nodded, sitting beside him. “Mh, well, tell me if you don’t feel good.”

They nodded again and gripped the armrest as they exited the atmosphere. They didn’t relax until they had jumped into hyperspace. They had to repress a sigh of relief so that they didn’t alert Alan.

“Apprentice.” Alan said. “Would you like to practice now?”

Orange looked away. They heard Alan sigh and he knelt in front of them. “Hey, the only way to get better is to practice.” He sat cross-legged on the floor and gestured for them to do the same. “Come on.” They sat down and closed their eyes, already feeling frustrated. “Focus on the force, feel it surround you.” They heard something being deposited on the metal floor, what they referred to as ‘That stupid ball’. “Let the force flow through you, just like when we draw. And chanalize it towards the ball.”

Orange frowned in concentration. The force was floating around them, almost wrapping them like a blanket. It was always present, surrounding them. But no matter how much they tried, they could never grasp it like their master wanted them to. It slipped through their fingers like water from a fountain. And it seemed like the harder they tried, the more it slipped past their fingers. 

They grunted in frustration after ten minutes of meditation and glared at That Stupid Ball like it was all its fault. They casted a glance at Alan, they looked disappointed, like every time they tried and failed to lift it.

“Hey, don’t worry, Orange.” He ruffled their hair with a small smile. “You’ll get it next time.” 

Orange crossed their arms, it was the same thing he had told them for the last two years, they kept trying and it just never worked. Their master had picked them up because he had seen potential in them and they repaid him by failing to lift a simple rock. It was humiliating.

“Let’s practice something else.” Their master changed the subject. “Get your ink bottle.”

Orange opened their ink bottle as Alan did the same. They looked up expectantly at him.

“I was thinking… bird?” He suggested.

Orange smiled as they willed the ink out of the bottle and had it take the form of a small bird. Soon enough, the bird began to fly in circles above their head, flapping its little ink wings. After a moment, a slightly bigger bird joined it in their fly pattern. Orange watched the two birds fly together with a smile.

Alan laughed. “You’re truly something special, Orange.”

Orange beamed at him. At least they could do something right.

~*~

“I’m going to go wash our clothes in the river, if you have something you want me to clean give it now.” Their master said, holding a basket full of dirty clothes. Orange unclasped their cloak and handed it to him. Alan made a face as he picked it up. “Again? What do you do to get it dirty?” 

Orange shrugged with a sheepish smile, causing Alan to sigh. “Well, since you’ve already practiced, you can go play outside.” Orange perked up, feeling relieved. “Just don’t go far, okay?” He began to walk towards the river and stopped halfway out the door. “And don’t wreck the house.” 

He always told them that before leaving them alone in the house even if they had never wrecked the house. It was just a normal thing for Alan. 

Once again, Orange waited until their master left before rushing back to the storage room of The Cursor. They removed the lid of the box with excitement and jumped back when four heads raised from the box, gasping for air dramatically.

“Blue! Your elbow was in my ribs!” Red exclaimed, crawling out of the box and falling to the ground.

Blue groaned as they exited the box, careful not to fall. “Yeah well, your foot was on my back.”

“I think our everything was bothering each other’s everything.” Yellow said, hopping out of the box.

Green sneakered. “Definitely.” He looked at Orange and walked towards them with determination.

Without even thinking about it, they adopted a fighting stance. But Green didn’t attack them, instead, he clasped their hand with both his hands and shook it.

“Thank you, friend.” Green said with a bright smile. Then he put his hand on his hips. “Let’s go outside, gang!” 

The four kids rushed down the ramp but stopped before exiting the ship. Red raised a foot and seemed to be about to stop the grass when he took a step back.

“You go first, Blue!” He said, pushing her towards the exit. When that failed, he tried to push Green just as Blue tried to push Yellow.

The result was that they ended on the floor of the ramp on top of each other.

Orange shook their head like they had seen Alan do when he was exasperated and deliberately exited the ship, standing on the grass with their arms stretched to show them there was no danger.

Their friends stared in awe and consequently clapped at them. They raised their arms in triumph and gestured for them to follow as they began to run towards the house. 

They followed them, marveling at the landscape.

“This place is so pretty.” Blue murmured in awe.

The rest nodded in agreement and Orange beamed, they were glad they liked their planet. 

“That’s your house???” Red asked. “That’s huge!” 

Orange shrugged, it wasn’t that big.

“No, really. That’s really big.” Green agreed. Orange shrugged once again. “So… what do you do around here for fun?”

That got Orange smiling again and they searched around for their ball (not the stupid one, the one they used for playing).

~*~

Alan finished washing their clothes with a sigh, Orange’s cloak always took ages to clean. They picked up the basket and began his return towards the house. He reached out through their force bond and was surprised by the excitement and joy his apprentice was feeling. What could they possibly be doing for them to feel like that?

He almost dropped the basket when he heard a crash from inside the house. He knew the calm couldn’t last forever. 

“Don’t wreck the house, I said.” He muttered as he rushed towards the house. 

He froze on the entrance. Orange was frozen just in front of him, probably feeling his presence. But there were more people inside. Four kids he had never seen before. They were looking at him in confusion and slight fear. He took a step forward.

Orange ran towards one of them, grabbing their hand and pulling them along. 

Alan suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. His apprentice wouldn’t be able to keep the intruders from him. The kid his apprentice had helped stumbled to the floor with a quick usage of the force and he willed their mind to fall asleep. He easily lifted their body and moved it to an empty room. 

The other intruders began to run, panicked as his apprentice tried to help them escape. But Alan was more powerful than a couple of kids. It only took him a few seconds to send the other three into the room, already unconscious.

His apprentice slammed against the door just as he locked it. They looked at him with a furious scowl. 

‘Let them go.’ They signed.

But if his apprentice was furious, he was even more so. “You don’t have any right to demand anything after what you just did.” He said in a cold voice, causing them to flinch slightly. “You sneaked them into the ship, didn’t you? You know this planet must remain a secret.” They looked away, still angry. “This is the last time I’m bringing you with me. Go to your room, I need to get rid of the intruders.”

His apprentice froze, panic building up on his face.

“Oh, what did you expect would happen? They know too much, I can’t risk returning them.” He grabbed them with the force and pushed them back as he stepped towards the door. “Go to your room. Now.”

He heard footsteps and prepared to open the door. It wouldn’t be the first time he had to dispose of intruders but it had been a while since he had killed children. But he would do what needed to be done. 

The sound of something breaking made him turn around. His apprentice was standing beside a shelf, a broken pot laying at their feet. A determined scowl was set on their face. ‘Let my friends go.’ They signed.

Alan felt a familiar yet old feeling building up inside him. How dare they defy him like that? After everything he had done for them?

“You better think your next move very carefully.” He warned.

Orange took a step forward, avoiding the shards of ceramic and pushed a stack of books off the shelf. They look defiantly at him. Fine. If that’s how they wanted to do it.

Alan used the force and put the books back on the shelf. “You asked for this.” He then grabbed them with the force and slammed them against the couch, forcing them to sit. “You will learn your place, apprentice.”

A sudden thought appeared in his mind. He had been trying to teach his apprentice how to use the force for something other than making drawings come to live but nothing had worked. Perhaps this was just what they needed. Motivation.

“Fine. You want your friends?” Orange nodded shakily. “Fight for them. Use the force and make me stop.” Orange looked at him in confusion, a fear expression on their face. “Show me you’re willing to protect them.” 

He ignited his white lightsaber and his apprentice backed away so fast they fell off the couch. They were absolutely terrified, like he had never felt them before. A part of him screamed at him to stop but the bigger part knew it was too late to change his mind. He had made a choice and that was all.

His apprentice forced their ink bottle open and a swarm of birds flew straight at him. Some of them managed to scratch at his face before he cut them down.

“No ink.” He said, snatching the bottle away from them. “Use the force to stop me. Throw something at me, push me away.”  

He took a step forward and his apprentice took two backwards. They grabbed something and threw it at him, he cut it in half not even caring what it was. 

“Use the force. Make me stop.” He repeated, deflecting or cutting down the things his apprentice threw at him. “Fight me.” His apprentice stumbled and fell on their back, immediately sitting up to look at him. “WHY WON’T YOU FIGHT?” He gripped his saber desperately, towering over the trembling body of his child.

“STOP.” A terrified voice he had never heard before screamed.

It took him a moment to realize who had spoken. He blinked in surprise at Orange. They were covering their face with their arms, curled into a ball and pressed into the wall. 

“You talked.” Was all he managed to say.

“Please… don’t hurt me.” They said in a voice raspy from unuse.

Alan turned his lightsaber off in automatic, too shocked to do anything else. Orange had spoken. They had never uttered a word since he had known them. This was the first thing they ever said to him, the first time they spoke. 

And it had been to tell him to stop. 

Alan watched them tremble and felt their fear resonate in the force like it was screaming. He had caused that. It wasn’t the first time he scared someone like that, or even scared a child. But it was the first time he scared Orange. He had never wished to go back in time more than right now. 

He knelt in front of them, hand outstretched to move a strand of hair off their face. They flinched away hard, hitting their head against the wall. Alan’s heart broke a little. 

He projected as much calm and fondness and regret as they could into their bond and felt them relax minutely. He didn’t dare try to touch them again, afraid they’d flinch away again. Instead, he sat beside them, far away enough they didn’t feel threatened or cornered.

Once Orange had stopped trembling, he finally dared to speak. “I’m sorry.” He whispered, probably for the first time in his life. “I shouldn’t have screamed at you. Or attacked you.” He could feel their eyes piercing him. “I just… got angry. Sometimes I just can’t control it. I’m trying not to be like I was before. But it’s hard. The dark side is always trying to claim me back.” He knew Orange was probably only understanding half of the things he was saying. “I’m so sorry, Orange.”

He was surprised when he felt them kneel against his side. He heard a sniffle and dared to put an arm around their shoulders. They leaned harder into him.

He waited until they had calmed down before looking at them. “You like them a lot, don’t you?” Orange nodded and signed the word slaves. Oh. “You were always too kind for your own good.” They smiled weakly. Alan sighed. “Listen. I’ll let them stay as long as they don’t wreck the house.” Orange looked at him in surprise. “You’ve got to promise you won’t wreck anything.

They nodded with a huge smile and hugged him. They both froze. This was the first time they hugged and neither of them knew what to do. Orange pulled away, face red and Alan cleared his throat, hiding his face even more under his hood.

“We should probably check on them.” He stood up. He offered his hand at Orange. They hesitated but they took it and Alan helped them to their feet. 

He opened the door and his eyes widened in surprise. Not only were the kids already awake but they were playing with cards.

“Where did you get the cards??” He asked because he sure didn’t have any cards and none of the kids seemed to have any pockets. 

Orange slammed into the mirialan kid and wrapped their arms around him. They signed something at a surprising speed, beaming with joy.

“What are they saying?” The yellow twi’lek whispered.

“I didn’t quite catch it.” The kid said sheepishly.

“He’s saying you can stay here for as long as you like.” And seeing how tense they were, he decided to explain himself. “I apologize for attacking you. I was not expecting any guests. I promise you will be safe here.”

The kids looked between them, clearly distrustful. He couldn’t really blame them.

Orange signed something else, this time slower.

‘Welcome home.’

Alan watched them hug and celebrate, their joy shining in the room through the force. He wondered what his life would turn into, with five kids instead of one, a responsibility he wasn’t quite sure he was ready for. But Orange’s smile was contagious and he discovered he didn’t really care, if he got to never see them so terrified of him ever again.

Chapter Text

Having five kids in the house was easier than he had initially thought. Mostly because the four new ones had managed to avoid him at all times. He saw them when they exited their shared room in the morning and when they sneaked (they probably thought they were being sneaky) into the kitchen to grab their food. They then retreated back to the room Alan had cleared to them (he guessed he didn’t really need that storage room) and ate there. If Orange wanted to be with them after that, they had to go into the room to go with them, resulting in Alan not seeing the other kids at all. He wasn’t sure if he was glad or worried about it.

Alan and Orange ate in silence, as usual. The kids had appeared briefly in the kitchen, grabbed the plates Orange offered them and disappeared. He could tell Orange had wanted to go join them but they stayed with him and he was a little relieved by that. He wasn’t used to having dinner alone anymore.

“So, Orange.” Alan said. “How are your friends?” They hesitated, looking around. They were planning their answer, which meant it wasn’t a pleasant one. “And don’t lie, be honest.”

They slumped and moved a vegetable around on their plate with the fork. ‘They don’t like you.’ They signed, not looking at him.

Alan shrugged. “I’m not surprised, I did leave them unconscious.” 

Orange seemed scandalized. ‘But you’re sorry.’ They insisted.

Alan considered the statement. “No.” He took another bite of food. “And I don’t really mind if they’re mad at me. They’re your friends not mine.”

That seemed to upset Orange because they frowned and crossed their arms, glaring daggers at their plate. Great, so their friends were a touchy subject. Knowing if he didn’t make up for their mistake, Orange would refuse to sign to him, he sighed.

“If it’ll make you feel better, you can tell them I’m safe.” Orange looked at him in expectation. “And that if they want to ask any questions, they can. I don’t mind.” 

They beamed at him and continued to have dinner. Once again, Orange won. He was at least proud they were such an excellent manipulator.

Before he could realize it, Orange had finished their dinner. They signed a ‘thanks for the food’ and ran to meet their friends. 

“Hey! You didn’t take your plate to the kitchen!” He called out but the door was closed midsentence. He sighed and resigned himself to cleaning everything himself.

~*~

Alan groaned as he tried to fix a part of his ship. It was one relatively easy to replace but it was expensive and he wasn’t precisely swimming in credits, so he preferred to fix it himself. He wasn’t too bad at mechanics but ship parts were sort of made to be hard to fix on purpose to force you to buy a new one. But he would not be defeated by capitalism. 

But it was hard to concentrate by whoever was lingering outside of the room. Their indecision was beginning to make him indecisive. After another five minutes of trying he gave up.

“Please come in already.” He said, tiredly rubbing his face, being careful not to lift his hood by doing it.

Yellow entered the room, arms crossed in front of her chest. He didn't really care about their names but they were very easy to remember, seeing as whoever had names then has been as creative as him. 

“Orange said we could ask you any questions we wanted.” She said and Alan had to admire how well she was disguising her fear. 

“Yes.” Alan replied. Seeing as she remained silent, he put his project aside to indicate he was going to pay attention. “You can ask whatever you want.” He wasn’t obligated to give her any answers if he didn’t want to but he didn’t tell her that.

She took a deep breath. “Is Orange your slave?”

He was glad he had put his project down because he would have dropped it to the floor.

“I’m sorry?” He choked out.

Yellow’s resolve seemed to falter. “You heard me. Are they?”

“Force no.” Alan rasped out, feeling himself pale. “What made you think that??”

“They call you master.” She said, looking unsure.

Alan sighed in relief. “It’s not like that. It’s master, as in teacher. Mentor. Not… that.“ He paused, panicking once more.  “They don’t… they don’t think they are, do they?”

“No.” Yellow rubbed the back of her neck, losing her determination completely. “They keep saying you’re nice but we didn’t quite believe that.” She hesitated. “We heard the fight.”

He couldn’t suppress his wince, he didn’t appreciate being reminded of that. “Well, rest assured, I have no intention of harming Orange.” He paused. “Or any of you, for that matter.”

Her defiant look returned. “How can we trust that?”

Alan inspected her more closely before answering. He knew the kids were around Orange’s age but Yellow looked like she was the eldest. Even so, she couldn’t be older than ten. She was acting much older than she was, a trait he had found was common in slaves, or former slaves in this particular case. A thing she shared with the other kids was their thin complexion, even if they were beginning to gain weight. She was also wearing not enough clothes, maybe enough for the desert planet they had been in but not for the cold season of his and Orange’s planet. And despite all of that, she still managed to look a bit intimating. At least she would be intimidating to someone that wasn't him.

“Would you like me to be honest?” She gave a firm nod. “I don’t care about you four. I’m letting you stay because Orange likes you and I like Orange. I won’t harm you or kick you out because, again, Orange likes you. So trust that I care about them and you’ll know I won’t harm you.”

She seemed to roll the answer in her mind, thinking it over. It seemed to satisfy her because she seemed to relax. “Alright.”

She stood there, clearly uncomfortable but refusing to leave for some reason. Alan observed her for a minute before shrugging and picking his project back up. He continued to try and fix it, doing his best to ignore the kid!s staring.

“What are you doing?” She asked after a while.

He didn’t look up from his project. “I’m trying to fix this…”

“That’s a power converter from a Windows class, right?” 

Alan lifted his eyes from the part to look at Yellow. She looked awkward, holding her hands together and sweating nervously. But he could see a glint of passion in her eyes when she looked at the part. He looked at the part and back at her.

“Do you know mechanics?” He tilted his head in curiosity.

She stiffened slightly at the question. “Uhm, yes. I was placed in a mechanical shop before they sold me off. Sir.” She added, a panicked look on her face.

Alan dismissed it with a wave. “The sir is not necessary.” He stared at her and she looked away. “Do you like them? Mechanics, I mean.”

She looked surprised. “I- yeah. I like them a lot.” She looked around before continuing. “I like knowing how things work.” It seemed like there was more to it than that but Alan didn’t ask.

He hummed. “Do you want to help?”

“Is it an order?” She scowled.

Alan shrugged, turning his attention back to the part. “It was an offer, you can do whatever you want. I don’t really care.”

Alan continued to tinker with the part for a few minutes, not bothering to look back at the girl. If she wanted to stand there watching the whole time, that was her call. But then he felt the weight shift on the sofa as she sat beside him. He didn’t acknowledge her and let her observe him work more closely.

“You connected the wires wrong.” She said and immediately covered her mouth with her hands.

Alan frowned in confusion. “Which ones?”

“The black and red one.” She pointed at them.

Alan groaned. “Ough you’re right. Thanks.” He said, beginning to fix it.

After he had fixed the mistake, he lifted his eyes towards the girl. She was staring at him with a strange expression, something between shock and awe. He looked around, uncomfortable, and raised an eyebrow.

“What?”

She shook her head like she was in a trance. “Nothing.” She said, shifting her gaze towards the part.

Alan shrugged, kids were weird.

He was able to finish fixing the part with the help of Yellow’s input. Turned out, she really was good at mechanics. Had he done it by himself, he wasn’t sure he wouldn’t still be fixing.

“Well that’s done.” He stood up and began to walk towards the exit. He stopped when he noticed Yellow wasn’t following, still sitting on the sofa. “Are you coming or not?”

She flinched. “To where?”

Alan sighed impatiently. “To put the part on the ship, obviously. What kind of mechanic doesn’t want to see if their fix worked?”

She stood up quickly and rushed to his side. “I’m coming.”

He nodded and strode out of the house. He knew she probably was struggling to keep his pace but he didn’t slow down. They entered the ship and he was surprised to see she hadn’t been that far behind.

“Wow.” She whispered. “Your ship is awesome.”

“Hadn’t you seen it already? When you snuck into it?” He deadpanned.

She crossed her arms. “That wasn’t our fault! It was Orange’s idea!”

Alan sighed. “I know.” 

He reached towards the opened panel and knelt down to put the part back on its place. He noticed Yellow peaking over his shoulder but he ignored her. Once he was done, he put the panel back and went to run an exam of the ship. 

“Hey, it works now.” Alan said in relief. He passed past Yellow to exit the ship. “Good job.” She didn’t follow him out of the ship. “Hey, don’t think I’ll let you stay” on the ship.” She ran out of it just as he closed the ramp. “It’s the only ship we have, I can’t have you wrecking it.”

“I wouldn’t break it.” She mumbled.

Alan rolled his eyes. “I know by experience that ships and kids do not mix.”

She scrunched her nose. “Orange doesn’t seem like the type to break a ship.”

He almost tripped but was able to cover it up with the force, Yellow didn’t seem to notice. “I think today’s question session is over.” He said and strode off, easily leaving the girl behind.

~*~

He helped Orange prepare the four plates of food for their friends, as usual. Once again, he felt the kids enter the room when his back was turned and once again pretended he didn’t notice. 

“Thank you for the food.” A small voice said.

He turned around just to see two yellow lekkus disappearing out the door. He frowned, confused, and turned towards Orange, who was also looking at the door. 

“What was that about?” He asked them.

Orange shrugged, setting the table. 

He shrugged too, going to help Orange. Like he said, kids were weird.

~*~

The next kid to go to ask him questions was Blue.

He was beginning to prepare lunch when light footsteps and a slight feeling of dread alerted him that one of the kids was approaching. He didn’t turn around to see who it was, hoping that he would be left alone that way. But the kid didn’t leave, leaving him no choice but to acknowledge their presence.

“Yes, you can ask anything but please ask it already.” He groaned.

He felt their embarrassment but still didn’t turn around, waiting for them to speak.

“How much food do you have?”

Alan frowned at the weird question. “I don’t know. Enough?”

“But we’re a lot of people…” The kid murmured.

He stopped his task and turned around, recognizing the kid as Blue. She was looking down and fiddling with her hands. 

“I have an orchard.” It was small and barely kept alive but it definitely helped put food on the table. He couldn’t always afford to buy food, it could be very expensive. “Why are you asking this?”

Blue hesitated. She looked younger than Yellow, probably around the same age as Orange. “You give us too much food…”

Alan’s frown deepened in confusion. “I give you as much food as I give Orange or as I eat myself.”

“But why?”

“Because then you would starve and Orange would get mad at me.” He shrugged. But he didn’t quite understand where she was coming from. “Why are you so worried about food?”

She hesitated and he discreetly hugged her with the force to encourage her to speak. “My previous owner… there wasn’t that much food there. And if food began to run out, they stopped feeding us.”

Everything made sense immediately. For a moment he had forgotten she had been a slave and that something that was done to slaves was to keep them from eating. His master had been like that and he… he wasn’t innocent either. He knew what it was like to be hungry and to keep others hungry. He found himself relating to the little girl’s worries.

“Hey.” He said in a tone similar to what he would use with Orange. “I promise there’s enough food for everyone, I don’t intend to let anyone starve.” She didn’t feel convinced and he looked around uncomfortably, wondering what he could do. “Would it make you feel better if you saw how much food I have?” She looked up at him in surprise and slowly nodded. “Follow me.”

He took her to the back of the house and opened the door to his tiny greenhouse. She let out a tiny gasp of surprise when she peaked inside. 

“Those… are lots of plants.” She said in awe. “Are all of them food?”

Alan looked at the corner of the greenhouse reserved for poisonous plants. “Most of them.”

“I had never seen so many plants until I came to this planet.” She said, observing the fruits and vegetables like they were made of gold.

“It’s a nice planet.” He agreed.

She looked at him. “And you make food with them?” He nodded. “What kinds of food?”

He shrugged. “All kinds.” He looked around the greenhouse and then back at her. “I was about to cook. You can watch if you want to.”

She looked at him like he was a vegetable made of gold, which was weird. “Really??”

He nodded once, slightly uncomfortable. “Yes, let’s go.”

He had to put a chair next to him so that she could see anything, she was as tall as Orange. Meaning: not that tall. She watched him chop vegetables with a weird sort of reverence. 

“What is that?” She asked. 

“Spices. They make food taste better.” A smile crept into his face.”Want to try it?” She nodded eagerly and he offered her the jar to her, holding back a snicker. She tried and stuck out her tongue, tears forming on her eyes. He laughed, putting the jar away. “They don’t taste good on their own. That is a hot spice, it’s spicy.”

“It’s not that bad.” She said, tongue still sticking out her mouth.

He laughed again. “Sure it is.” He sprinkled a bit of it on the stew he was making. “Like I said, on its own it’s not pleasant. But if you know how to mix it, it tastes great.” He grabbed some of the stew with a spoon and offered it to her. She wrinkled her nose in mistrust, earning another laugh from him. This one isn’t spicy, I promise.”

She ate it, looking at him like he was going to stab her when she least expected it. She tasted it, making a weird face only for her to beam once she had swallowed. “That’s delicious!” Alan smiled proudly. “You must be the best cook ever!”

He laughed. “Hardly. But I’ll accept the compliment either way.”

He continued to cook, Blue watching intently and occasionally asking questions and clarifications. He had thought her as the quiet one of the group but it turned out that she was pretty talkative if you let her. Alan didn't mind the questions for once. He had tried to teach Orange how to cook several times but if they weren’t interested in something it was impossible to teach them anything.

Blue even helped him serve the food which he also appreciated. She grabbed her plate just as Orange entered the room, summoned by the smell of food. They immediately grabbed two plates and went to take them to their friends, smiling at Blue as they passed by her. Blue grabbed another plate to take to their room.

“Hey, Blue.” She turned around. “When they say it tastes great, say you cooked it.”

Blue blinked, perplexed. “But I didn’t.”

“You helped.” He simply said. “Besides, it’ll be funny.”

She beamed at him and hesitated before leaving. “Thanks.” She said and quickly exited the room.

Orange entered right after he left and raised an eyebrow at him.

Alan shrugged. “I finally got someone into cooking.” 

They rolled their eyes. ‘But you won’t get me.’

Alan laughed. “Give it time, apprentice. Give it time.”

~*~

Orange was playing in their friends’ room when Alan knocked on the door. He had allowed Orange to have over a week of free time to be with their new friends but it had been long enough.

They waited until the feeling of panic in the force subsided and Orange opened the door.

“Apprentice, kids.” He greeted, bowing his head slightly. Orange waved their hand and Yellow and Blue gave two timid waves of their own. “Orange, I think you’ve had enough time to be with your friends. It’s time we continue with your training.”

Orange slumped slightly but nodded in understanding. They looked back at their friends and smiled hopefully at him. ‘Can they come see?’

Alan shrugged. “They can do whatever they want.”

Orange beamed and gestured at their friends to follow them. Alan exited the house, followed by the kids and walked towards the training area he had set up years ago, when he had first gotten Orange. There were some ruins near his house and they had been the perfect place for training.

“What are you going to do?” Red asked. 

“Train.” He answered, feeling the disappointment at his vague answer.

Once they arrived, he gestured at the kids to sit on some rocks while Orange prepared themselves, stretching and removing their cloak.

Alan grabbed his two lightsabers and tossed one at Orange, who caught it in the air.

“Set it to the lowest setting and remember, this is lightsaber practice only, no ink got it?” Orange nodded, twirling the lightsaber on their hand. “Alright. The match starts now.”

They circled each other, lightsabers still off. They had trained so much together that doing it was useless because they knew who would attack first.

Alan had more patience.

In an instant, Orange’s purple saber was on and directed towards Alan. Alan ignited his white saber and blocked before Orange could even graze him. He heard distant gasps from the kids but focused on the fight.

They smirked at each other before starting a series of attacks at such a speed that a non force sensitive would not be able to match. They circled the training area, trying to force the other to one of the sides so that they were at a disadvantage.

Alan finally managed to corner Orange against a crumbled wall. Orange frowned in concentration and jumped on top of the wall. Alan looked at them and saw them sign the word old at him. He smirked and with a force jump placed himself next to Orange on the wall. 

They resumed their constant series of strikes, balancing on top of the crumbling wall. Alan avoided the loose brick and Orange avoided it as well. They had trained in that place so much that they knew every creak and cravice by memory.

They stopped fighting for a second, looking at each other. Orange was beginning to breathe heavier, Alan wasn’t even tired. 

“Alright. You’re doing good.” Alan said. “But you should adjust your stance or I could sweep your legs.” Orange lowered slightly, shifting their feet. “Good. Now, let’s take this seriously.”

Orange leapt into the air and landed behind him, immediately striking again. Alan stopped it just in time and turned around to face him. He was beginning to overpower them and sweat ran down their face, face scrunched in concentration. 

Then Orange misstepped and fell off the wall. They landed on their back, breath knocked out of them. But Alan didn’t let them rest, immediately leaping after them, bringing his saber down on them. They rolled out of the way and got back up.

“That would have cost you your life in a real fight, apprentice.” Alan reprimanded. Orange didn’t respond, just tightened their hold on the saber.

Alan resumed attacking, noting that Orange was slowing down. Alan smirked, knowing the end of the fight was approaching. But then Orange managed to strike him in the arm. He hissed, gazing at the wound.

Orange smirked smugly. “Well done. Next time aim for the neck.” He said, striking with his saber towards Orange.

Orange looked exhausted and he was feeling tired as well. He faked going to the left and moved his saber up, hitting Orange’s hand and sending the purple saber, now off, flying into the air. Alan grabbed it and aimed both sabers at their neck.

“You yield?” He asked, panting slightly. Orange nodded and he turned his lightsabers off, putting them away on his belt. “You did well, lasted more than last time.” 

Orange smiled at him. They bowed to each other. Alan couldn’t help but feel proud at how much Orange had improved since he had begun teaching them. 

“YOU’RE JEDI??” He heard one of the kids scream. He had forgotten they were there if he was honest. They were staring at them with varying degrees of shock. Red was pointing at them, apparently being the one that had screamed.

He let out a dry laugh. “Force, no.”

Red took a step back. “Oh. Are you a sith?”

Alan took a step back like he had been slapped. “No.” He answered, looking down with a grim expression. “I’m not a sith.”

“Then why do you have lightsabers?” Yellow questioned.

Alan scoffed. “Jedi and Sith are not the only force sensitive groups in the galaxy. There are many different schools of thought but Jedi love making everything about themselves. They believe their way is the only correct one and so do the sith. They’re both self centered pieces of… They’re very annoying.” He corrected himself.

“Oh.” Yellow said. 

“What are you then?” Red asked.

“Red!” Yellow hissed.

Red raised his arms defensively. “What? He said we could ask whatever we wanted!”

Alan hummed in thought. “I guess we don’t really have an accurate descriptor.” He glanced at Orange. “Some would describe us as a bit of both but I suppose in the end we’re just Master and Apprentice. Either way, trying to categorize the force is ridiculous, the force can be whatever you desire.” The kids nodded in understanding, Orange included. “Why are you nodding? You already knew that.” Orange shrugged with a small smile. Alan sighed, resigned. “Or maybe you didn’t, ok.”

Orange went to sign something but flinched and held their right hand to their chest. 

“Ah, I hit you in the hand didn’t I? Let me see.” He reached for their hand and felt a surge of panic in the force. Orange didn’t seem to notice and offered him their hand for inspection with no complaint. 

Alan discreetly looked around for the source of the panic. Yellow was talking with Blue and neither seemed particularly scared, just the normal amounts of mistrust, although they did look more relaxed. But Red didn’t seem to be doing well, he was holding Green’s hands like his life depended on it. Alan sighed again, wondering when he had signed up to take care of figure traumatized kids. Probably when he picked up Orange.

“Hey.” He called out to him and Red flinched. “Red, right?” The kid glanced up at Green before nodding. “See that hole in the wall over there? Could you bring me the box that’s inside?” He paused. “It’s not an order.” He added because two times of being asked that question were enough.

Red somehow managed to drop Green’s hand and did as he was told, eyeing the box with curiosity. Alan knelt on the ground and opened it, revealing the med kit he kept in the training grounds to use after his sparring sessions with Orange. 

“Do you know how to bandage a hand?” He asked Red, grabbing a roll of gauze. Red shook his head. “First you apply disinfectant, to make sure the wound doesn’t get infected.” Orange hissed and glared at him. “Then you bandage it, want to try?” 

Red reluctantly nodded and Alan guided him through the process. It was at that moment he noticed his hands were covered with tiny scars. He found himself stuck staring at them. They clearly were due to not treating the wounds properly when they had happened and it seemed a little cruel to him. But for a moment he didn’t see Red’s hand. It wasn’t a togruta’s hand, it was human. He left the wounds untreated because he couldn’t bother to treat them. 

“Did I do good?” Red asked, taking him away from his unwanted thoughts.

Alan examined the bandage. It was good enough. “It’s good.” He went to stand up but Orange tugged at his cloak. “What?” Orange signed ‘your arm’. Alan rolled his shoulders, feeling a twinge of pain where Orange had hit him. “I’ll live.” He stood up and walked towards the house. “You have the rest of the afternoon free, I think that was enough training for today.”

As he marched towards the house, he felt someone following him. He was tired but he decided to confront the kid as fast as he could so that he could go lie down.

“What is it?” He asked, stopping. 

“How many med kits do you have?” 

“Around ten all around the area, why?” Alan answered, turning around to look at Red.

He seemed marveled at the thought. “Ten? Are you rich?”

Alan laughed. “I wish! Man, I would love to be rich, my life would be so much easier. The med kits are just something I have uhm… acquired during the years. I like to be prepared.” 

Red nodded like he knew exactly what he was talking about. “Yeah.” He looked around. “Hey you fight really good, like, really really good!”

“I know.” Alan shrugged, he hadn’t arrived to where he was by being bad at fighting. 

“Man, when you knocked Orange’s saber off his hand, that was sick!” Red exclaimed. “You must be like the best fighter in the world!”

Alan was about to thank the compliment again when a thought made him stop. He squinted at Red. “What do you want?”

Red didn’t seem to be deterred by his questions. “I want you to teach me how to fight, obviously.” 

“Lightsabers are a weapon for force sensitives, using one if you’re not is extremely hard.” And it felt a little like a sacrilege. 

Red nodded like he knew exactly what he meant again. “I know that. It’d be cool but that’s not what I’m asking for.” He swung on the ball of his feet. “Nope! I already know how to fight. But I wanna fight like you! Like, super fast!”

Alan raised an eyebrow. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed but I’m not the gentlest of teachers.”

Red shook his head. “You are gentle though. You helped Orange bandage their wounds. My master never bothered with that stuff.” 

Alan winced slightly. The kid’s standards were clearly low if he thought Alan was gentle. But he seemed to be the type of kid that did not give up until he got what he wanted.

“Just one time!” He insisted. “Watch me fight and tell me what to improve.”

“Alright. Let’s start.” He crouched slightly. “Show me what you got.”

The kid didn’t hesitate before adopting a fighting stance and charging at him. The kid fought well, he was no match for Alan but neither was Orange. Alan went easy on him just to see how he fought. But the kid left his head unprotected and Alan hit him square in the head. Red stumbled back and fell on the grass.

Alan went towards a nearby tree and took out a medkit from a hole in it, kneeling by Red’s side.

“That wasn’t too bad.” Alan said, helping the kid sit up. “You need to pay more attention and think better before you attack. And always protect your head, one good hit to it and you’re out.” He checked his forehead wasn’t swelling and went to check his hands. A few scratches. “And you should use your claws, you’re a togruta, you have claws for something.”

He felt Red stiffen. “I don’t… I don’t have claws.” 

Alan’s eyes widened slightly as he looked closer at his hands. Someone had removed his claws and they hadn’t been careful about it. “Oh.” He whispered. Red was looking at the floor, his free hand gripping the grass. Alan immediately regretted giving commentary, even if Red had been the one who had asked. He stood up. “Well, claws can be inconvenient either way. Maybe you should try biting, you still have fangs.” He was sure of that because togrutas could grow their teeth back if they lost them. 

“Thanks!” Red said, back to his good mood.

“Whatever.” Alan murmured, wanting nothing but to lie down in his bed and not wake until the next morning. 

~*~

Green did not dislike the planet or the house they were staying at. They had a mattress to sleep in which was more than they had ever had. They ate three times a day, which was extremely weird for them. They even could grab fruit from the trees that grew near the house, if Orange was to be believed. 

He also liked Orange. A lot. They were friendly and fun to be around with. And they were teaching him more sign language so he was able to have longer conversations with them. The others were learning but they couldn’t understand that much so most of the time it was him who talked with Orange. 

The others seemed to be enjoying their time there too and they looked more happy than he had ever seen them.

What he wasn’t sure he liked was Alan, Orange’s master. Yellow had assured them that Orange was not a slave and Orange agreed, a little scandalized by what they had thought about their relationship. Blue and Red also had good things to say about him and they had shared their talks with him. Green wasn’t quite sure that beating up a child because he asked for it was a good thing. 

Alan seemed like a relatively good person. But just that. He seemed nice but nothing guaranteed that he would always be. Not even what he had told Yellow guaranteed it, Alan could get tired of Orange too.

In Green’s opinion, he was trying too hard to be likable and he did not trust that. He had become even more suspicious when he had announced he was taking them to a market to buy them clothes. He was a terrible actor, as if anyone would buy new clothes for a bunch of slaves expecting nothing in return.

The others were excited about going so he decided to keep his worries to himself so as to not spoil their fun. The planet they were going to didn't look that interesting, just an Outer Rim planet with a big market. They came from a world just like that so the idea didn’t enthuse him like it did to the rest. Orange was excited too even though they had probably visited a hundred planets like that. 

It was their first time actually going to buy something so at least that was exciting. Alan had chosen a big stand that had plenty of different clothes that could fit them. He told them to look for stuff they liked and showed him what they had chosen so that he could buy it. He stayed by the exit and Green thought he looked anxious. 

He didn’t have time to delve on that thought because Red decided to turn peaking clothes into a competition of who could pick them faster and he wasn’t about to lose his winning streak. Orange didn’t need any clothes so they mostly followed him around, occasionally showing him clothes to see if he liked it. Nothing really interested him beyond looking well made. 

As he looked between the stacks of clothes, he found a jacket. But not any jacket. A green pilot jacket. He touched it and was surprised to feel it was made from real leather and not a cheap imitation. It looked incredibly cool too.

Orange tapped his shoulder and asked if he liked it.

Green looked at the jacket. He really did like it but he doubted Alan would buy it. And besides, it looked expensive.

“Nah, I’ll pick something else.” He shrugged.

Orange frowned. ‘You like it.’This time they didn’t ask.

“I don’t need it.” He went to put it back but Orange snatched it out of his hands. “Hey! What are you-“ Orange turned around and began to run towards Alan, letting out a giggle. “Orange!” He hissed, running after them and hoping he could stop them before they reached Alan.

Unfortunately, Orange was faster and when he caught up to them, they were already signing at Alan. He grabbed the jacket and examined it. Green glared at Orange but they just smiled at him.

Red, Yellow and Blue arrived with their own clothes. “Aw, you always win!” Red groaned.

Green smiled smugly. “Well, I’m awesome like that, Red.” He got three raspberries for his comment but it was worth it.

Alan walked towards the counter. “Put your clothes here so I can buy them.” He said as the vendor appeared behind the counter. Green did not keep an eye to see if he was buying the jacket as well. And he was not disappointed when Alan paid and his jacket wasn’t included. The items were placed in a large bag that Orange put on the ground beside them. “Oh and this jacket too.” Alan added.

Green looked up in surprise. Alan was really going to buy him the jacket?

“That’ll be fifty credits.” The vendor said.

Alan took a step back. “Fifty?? Fifty?? That’s almost twice as much as what I paid for all the other clothes.” He said in outrage. 

“It’s imported.” The vendor explained.

Alan vibrated with anger. “Imported? More like fake!” He took a deep breath and lifted a hand in front of the vendor’s face. “You will give it to me for free.”

“No??” The vendor said, confused.

Alan looked at his hand before groaning. “Ough. You’re a toydarian. Great.” He gestured at them. “Well, I have to admit defeat. Let’s go kids.”

Green looked down in disappointment and glared at the vendor before exiting the shop with the rest. He hadn’t thought Alan would buy it for him but he had been about to. 

He slumped into a seat inside the ship once they arrived. When they were taking off, they got an incoming transmission. 

“This is the Market’s guard, please pull over the vehicle or we will resort to violence.” 

Green shared an anxious look with his friends. What did the guard want with them?

Alan opened the transmission. “We’ll be choosing violence, thank you.”

“What??” Yellow shrieked.

Green looked out the window and saw two ships at their sides.

“Buckle up, this will be an eventful take off.” Alan flipped some switches. “Orange, go to the gunner’s mount.” Orange saluted and unbuckled from the seat. “And this time try to hit the enemy ships.” Orange signed something as they left. “No, you don’t!”

Green was glad he had put the seatbelt on because the ship suddenly made a spin and he would have fallen if not for it. 

“ORANGE!” Alan screamed, moving the ship just in time to avoid being hit. “SHOOT THEM ALREADY!” They heard two distant knocks. “OUGH! Any of you know how to shoot?” He asked, not turning around. “Quick!”

“I do.” Green raised his hand.

“Good. Go to the gunner’s mount.” He dodged another shot. “Tell Orange to teach you how it works. Go!”

Green unbuckled as quickly as he could and rushed towards Orange, crashing against a wall when the ship moved unexpectedly to the left. 

“Orange! Alan told me you have to teach me how to shoot.” Green exclaimed.

Orange sighed in relief and got off the seat to allow him to sit. They pointed at two things. ‘Aim’ and ‘shoot’ they signed.

Green grabbed the helm and moved around until he could aim at a ship. Hoping it would work, he fired and was surprised when there was an explosion and the ship went down.

“GREAT JOB!” He heard Alan scream from the cabin. “JUMPING TO HYPERSPACE!”

Green slumped on the chair in relief. That had been stressful. But also oddly exciting. 

“Hi, I forgot I don’t need to scream to talk to you.” Alan’s voice came out from an unseen speaker. “That was a nice shot, kid! Well done!”

Orange pointed at a button at a wall. Green pressed it. “Uhm thanks. It was just luck though.”

He unpressed the button, looking at Orange to see if he had done it correctly. 

“Ha! Luck! Listen, if it was luck, Orange would have hit at least one in their life.” 

Orange pouted but didn’t complain. ‘Good job’ they signed at him. They grabbed their hand and led them back to the cabin. 

“Dude!” Red said as soon as he saw him. “That was awesome!!” 

Green rubbed the back of his neck. “Thanks.” He sat back down on his seat. “Why were they after us anyway?” 

“Oh, yeah!” Alan tossed something at him. “This is for you, kid.”

Green looked at the object. It was the pilot jacket he had wanted. “What? But I thought you said it was too expensive.”

“It was. A total scam.” Alan agreed.

“Then how…”

“I stole it.” He said, checking something on the control panel. “That was probably why they were after us.”

Green looked at the jacket in his hands. “But why?”

“It’s a cool jacket.” Alan answered, distracted. “It’s probably too big for you now but you’ll grow into it.”

Green looked at Alan as he did things on the control panel. He hugged the jacked to his chest, feeling his eyes water. No one had ever stolen anything for him.

“Thank you.” He whispered, still hugging the jacket. 

~*~

Alan prepared the kid’s plates as usual but they didn’t sneak into the kitchen this time. They had been acting weird since they had returned from their shopping trip. Orange waved at them and he raised a questioning eyebrow.

“Do you need anything?” He asked them.

“We were wondering if we could eat with you.” Green said after no one answered. 

Alan was taken by surprise by the request. He was so taken by surprise that he answered without even thinking about it. “Yeah, sure. We don’t have enough chairs so…” he trailed off.

‘Or we could eat on the floor.’ Orange suggested. 

Alan looked at them. They were serious. “Or we could eat on the floor. Sure, why not?” He took his plate and sat where he stood. “Enjoy your meal, kids.”

The kids sat in a circle and he was surprised to see how happy they looked.

“Want to know something funny that happened earlier?” Blue asked timidly.

“Sure, go ahead.” Alan said.

“Ok, so. Red and I were outside and then Red thought it would be a good idea to-“ she began.

“Hey! It wasn’t my idea! It was yours!” Red said defensively. 

They began to argue and Alan shook his head with a fond smile. He took a bite of his food and noticed Orange looking at him intently. 

“What?” He asked. Orange smiled smugly at him. “Why are you-“ And then he realized it. He had smiled. At the kids arguing 

‘I knew you’d like them.’ Orange signed triumphantly.

Alan buried his face in his hands. As if having one child wasn’t enough, he was now a reluctantly proud father of five. And the worst part was… he didn’t dislike the thought.