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Devon was stressed. In the past few days, she and her master had managed to be found out by not only the local government, but a former Sith lord as well. Said former Sith decided that he liked her and she was gonna be his padawan. Well, that certainly wasn’t part of her plans. She already had an amazing master, thank you very much!
Speaking of her master, somehow he had found out where Captain Lawson lived and managed to convince his son to let them inside. Well… she said somehow but she knew how. Jedi mind tricks. It also helped that the guy was nice enough to shelter people without many questions. Once Master Daki had mentioned that they knew Captain Lawson, the boy let them right in. He shouldn’t be so nice, come to think of it; they could’ve been kidnappers or murderers. Or an evil Sith, since those seemed to be lurking around.
Nonetheless, the three had awkwardly sat there for an hour until Captain Lawson came home. To say he was surprised was a fair assumption, but before Devon could find out any more, she and the other kid were sent out of the room. She made sure to shoot her master a look as she left, one that said ‘how could you leave me out of this?’
She crossed her arms and sighed as she walked into the boy’s room. Who knew how long the adults’ discussion would take, so she might as well make small talk. As the kid bustled around the room, grabbing random things off the floor in a poor attempt to tidy up, Devon asked, “So, what’s your name, Lawson?”
He shoved the last of the pile of comics beside his bed into their place on the shelf, nervously saying, “Uh, I’m Rylee. W-what’s your name?”
She leaned against the wall, a picture of boredom. “Devon.”
Rylee rubbed the back of his neck, looking everywhere but at her. “Cool.”
There was an extended silence before Devon glanced around the room to find something to talk about. Her eyes landed on a photo, seemingly of Captain Lawson, a little girl, and a woman.
“Do you have a sister?” She asked, gesturing to the photo.
Somehow he got more nervous. “Nope. That’s just - um, I mean - that’s me. Um, before I started testosterone.” Oh. She didn’t know that there were others like her. There was a strange tightness in her chest. For the first time, Rylee looked her in the eyes. He was searching, asking the age-old question. Well, she would give him an answer.
“Cool. Sorry I don’t have any pictures of me before estrogen, but the jed- uh, my family doesn’t take many pictures.”
Rylee wore a relieved smile. “Y-you mean you’re trans too?”
Devon shrugged, smiling back. “I didn’t know there was a word for it. I didn’t even know that other people were like this too.”
Rylee moved to sit on his bed, gesturing for her to do the same. “Yeah, there’s loads of people like us. I mean, just at my school I know a couple others. And there’s probably more who aren’t out just cause of the empire.”
Devon settled on his bed, asking, “Out?”
“Yeah, like, out of the spacepod?” When she shook her head he looked surprised. “Wow, you really have never heard of any of this. Well, if you have any questions, feel free.”
She hesitated before asking her next question, half not wanting to ask something so personal. “You said that the empire doesn’t approve of people like us. Is that why your mom isn’t here?” At Rylee’s look of sadness, she quickly blurted out, “Sorry if that’s too personal. I just saw she was wearing an imperial uniform, so…”
Rylee reassured her. “No, that’s not why she left. She and my dad got divorced cause they had different opinions on the empire. But, even though she works for the empire, she never turned me in. She certainly doesn’t approve of who I am, but she still loves me.”
Devon smiled wryly. “Dare I ask what the empire does to… trans people?”
Rylee frowned, looking away. “Usually they’re put on a list to monitor, they have to do daily check-ins to make sure they’re not taking hormones. But if anyone is found still taking them, they’re killed. Basically, the empire hates us and stops us from getting medication. It’s easier on planets like Janix, where the imperial population is small, or at least it was.”
Devon felt sorry for him. Having to do illegal, possibly terminal things just to feel comfortable was just horrible. When she was around eight years old, she realized that she was a girl and brought it up to her Jedi teachers. They had immediately started her on daily estrogen pills, and she had been fine since then. When they were forced on the run, Master Daki had gotten her more pills, and she still took them daily. She now wondered what he might have gone through to get those for her, and she felt a warm sense of gratitude for her master.
“What are you gonna do now?”
Rylee’s face contorted. “I’m not really sure. I was kinda wondering the same thing.”
The two lapsed into a depressive silence for a few minutes before Devon asked, “Will the empire be able to tell that you’re trans?”
He shook his head. “No, my dad made sure of that. He always had me keep my hair long enough and kept some more girly clothes just in case. In the eyes of the empire, I’ll just be the Lawson daughter.”
She tilted her head at him. “Is that why you’re still called Rylee? Not that it can’t be a boys name but…”
“Yeah. I always wished I could have a name for myself. Something I liked instead of something that just protects me.” He let out a sigh.
Devon had thought about changing her own name many times, but in the end it was androgenous enough that she didn’t mind. Maybe…. She hesitantly said, “Well… you can have mine if you’d like, just until you find one you like. We can swap. Nobody else even has to know, but to us, you’ll be Devon and I’ll be Rylee.”
He looked at her for a moment before a small smile broke out on his face. He reached out and pulled her into a hug, whispering, “Thank you, Rylee.”
Seconds later the two of them heard the excruciatingly loud groan of metal and then a massive thud. They were on their feet and racing out before the moment shared between them could be properly closed.