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     HER EYES NARROWED AT THE SUN OF THE DESERT PASSANA. Her breathing becomes heavier as she make her way on the sand that crunch under her feet, a small drops of sweat forming on her forehead with her hair sticking to it. It was probably by her black robes and it made her extremely out of breath. ,,You sure this is it?" Breathes out Aina, gazing at the golden droid while going up on small hill with her company. She close her eyes, turning away from him as soon as his metal reflects sunlight in her eyes.

    The path they are going is too dangerous, too dangerous. She couldn't shake off the uneasy feeling inside her chest. The two females felt like this is their fight. Theirs. But their friends didn't listen, without even missing a beat, they were already decided to go with them. She was of course thankful for their help and all but she just couldn't take another loss. Force, if something happens...she didn't know of she would take it. She is standing at the edge of the cliff, ready to fall down to the darkness. Palpatine can feel it more than anybody. Her stress and fright. He can feel her fighting and slowly losing to it. But she never quits without a fight.

    ,,These are the exact coordinates that Master Luke left behind." C3-PO confirms, following his friends. When they go around the small hill before them, they see what's hiding behind it. Before she look at the scene under her, she could already hear people cheering and music joining into the chorus. The girl with magical powers frowns in confusion as her gaze finally falls down.

     Fireworks of rainbow exploded in the air, the small specks of color landing at the crowd like a fairy dust.  People were dancing around each other and enjoying food that they bought at those stands that surround the small carnival like a rampart. A small smile finds it's way to her face. Even if there was a war which seem to be neverending, still the feeling of happiness could be seen on people's faces in these small moments.

     ,,What is this?" Asks Poe the droid, stopping by her side.

    ,,The Acky Acky Festival of the Ancestors. This celebration occurs only once every 42 years." The golden robot answers.

    The dark skinned male sighs at that. ,,Well, that's lucky." He says, sarcasm lacing his voice. Aina could see why he is reacting like this. The First Order can now hide better because of this big crowd.

     ,,Lucky, indeed." C3-PO agrees, while the group still have their gaze bellow them. ,,This festival is known for both its colorful kites and its delectable sweets." They turn to look back at the droid. Not knowing how he can knew that much and because he wasn't helping them at all. From the droid radiates confusion, turning to look behind him like something was there but then he realise the gazes were meant for him.

     The group then make their way to the festival, slowly moving down the dunes and being careful not to stumble. The music becomes visibly louder as they went down to join the other alien species. Her green eyes lands on the girl who is wearing the same smile on her lips. ,,I've never seen anything like this." Shakes her head the scavenger, while they make their way around the dancing and chanting people.

     ,,I've never seen so few wayfinders."

    ,,There's always random First Order patrols in crowds like these." The pilot points in front of them, while passing by the colourfuly clothed aliens. ,,So, keep your heads down. Chewie." He adds, looking back at his furry friend who groans at the statement, bending his knees to seem less prominent but it didn't help to blend in. ,,Let's split up. See what the locals know." Poe continues. The others complete his request immediately, splitting up while the witch decides to stay with the brown haired female. She didn't even move from her position, Aina for a second thinking that she didn't even heard her friend. The female look around them, a children's laughter catching her attention and seeing that Rey was already looking to their direction.

    Children set on the ground giggling and watching a play that the older alien was telling. The same feeling washes over the two girls, small smiles on their lips, gazing at the children who smiled and laughed in joy. She couldn't stop smiling even when her thoughts come to her own childhood, seeing how different it was probably from theirs. One day she hopes that her own child or children will be this happy as those before her. Rey thought about those same exact things as her, even if they didn't say anything to each other. Their faces say it all.

    ,,Rey..." Softly calls out the brown haired witch, her throat sore from the small dehydration. Rey is already looking at her, smile flattering as she saw her lover not wearing one of her own. ,,If anything bad happens I want you to know that I —" Her voice is shakier than expected, words almost not coming from her chapped lips as she look upon the female in white.

     The young Jedi's eyebrows furrowed at the smaller girl. ,,Aina, what are you talking about?" Asks Rey, stepping closer to her and touching the back for her hand which Aina finds calming.

    Breathing out warm air from her nose, she finds it hard to look back at the green eyed Padawan. Her eyes only watching her thumb, rub small circles on her hand. ,,I feel like something horrible is going to happen." Whispers Aina, her voice now little stronger and now gazing back at the brunette. ,,Something really horrible...and I want you to know that I will love you, no matter what happens I will be always here...for you."

      A big smile forms on the scavenger's lips, lightly putting her hands on the witch's temples, softly stroking with her fingers her scars. ,,I love you, Aina Moon." Rey says with some much emotion that it made her heart stop beating.

    ,,I love you, Rey."

    Then suddenly a small voice spoke up from behind them, the two turning around with a start before calming as they saw their new company. A small girl in green robes stood there, smiling up at them, her eyes little bit more lingering at the young Jedi. ,,She is saying, Welcome." Says the tall golden droid, making them nod in realization when the two females pulled away from each other. The small alien then holds out a necklace, gesturing for Rey to kneel down so she could put it around her neck.

     The scavenger quickly looks at her girlfriend, like she couldn't just believe what was happening, before gazing down at the girl again. The Chosen One bites her lip from keeping herself smiling too much because of Rey's happiness. Just as the girl in green robes puts it on her neck, she speaks up again. ,,Her name is Nambi Ghima." Translated C3-PO.

     ,,That's an excellent name." Compliments the brown haired female. ,,I am Rey." Nambi says something to her in her language, the droid immediately translating the exact same words.

     ,,She would be honored to know your family name, too."

    Rey's smile disappeared from a moment at that sentence. She smiles again after a pause but all those emotions which she tried to hide, shines in her eyes like an reflection. ,,I don’t have one." The scavenger answer. ,,I’m just Rey." You're a lot more than that, thought the witch.

    A sudden shift of the Force makes their smiles disappear. She felt it again. She felt him. Even if the Chosen One didn't want to see him ever again, she knew that their paths will cross again. But something felt different, like it wasn't meant for her. Her physical powers were weaker but her psychical were getting stronger each day as she learned how to feel every even a small disturbance in The Force. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

     That's what it felt like. The two girls search and search around themselves, like they tried to find where he was hiding. Just an blink of eye and their surrounding changed. It felt colder, darker, air thicker and getting thicker more and more when the duo find who were their looking for. ,,Palpatine wants you dead." Kylo Ren, the new leader of The New Order spoke up, his muffled voice, echoing of a invisible wall. The statement is clear, ringing in her ears, something tells her that even this sentence isn't mean to her.

     ,,Serving another master?" Says Aina, gazing at him through the red cracks on his mask. It reminds her of her own scars that adored her features, pulsing just as same as hers did. How poetic.

     ,,No." He answers simply, meaning it only for her, before his attention flicker to the scavenger before her. ,,I have other plans." It made a real shiver go down her spine. ,,I offered you my hand once, Rey. You wanted to take it. Why didn’t you?"

    ,,You could've killed me. Why didn’t you?" She says in the same tone of voice, her teary eyes glistening in the dark.

    The boy seem to get impatient of this whole scene they are making, only if it lasted for a just a minute. ,,You can’t hide, Rey. Not from me." This conversation is so distant and feels like she shouldn't even be here with them. It made her confused. Why he didn't want her to join him? Like he already knows that it will happen eventually or maybe he knows there is no hope in him to try and turn her. Aina is now weaker than ever and everyone knew about her neverending fight with her true power that she so desperately tried to hide.

    ,,I see through the cracks in your mask. You’re haunted." The girl from Jakku growls but her voice still remains quiet. ,,You can’t stop seeing what you did to your father."

    He doesn't budge, even a little bit. Maybe Ben Solo was really gone. ,,Do you still count the days since your parents left?" Fires back their enemy, stepping closer and making a lump form in Rey's throat, trying so hard not to show how much those words hit her. ,,Such pain in you, such anger. I don’t wanna have to kill you. I’m going to find you and I’m going to turn you to the dark side. When I offer you my hand again....you’ll take it." He says, fully decided about her faith.

    The girl behind them growls silently, glaring down the boy with a snear. ,,We’ll see." She hisses out, her eyes flashing red with her scars illuminating for a split second. The boy doesn't flinch at the change of her features even a little bit, just staring back through his dark mask with those same marks.

     The two females thought he was over, just like that but they could do anything when he suddenly snatch the necklace off the girl's neck. Rey's hand flies around her neck in shock, slowly matching Aina's as the boy before them vanished by a blink of an eye. Realization strikes them immediately after it happen, quickly turning to find their friends. Now they have only few minutes before they find out where they are.

     The duo runs to join their group, the two droids right behind their tail. The sounds of loud footsteps makes their friends turn to their direction with furrow eyebrows. The witch stops before them with a heavy breath escaping her lips. ,,We have to go, back to the Falcon. Now." She says flickering her eyes over them.

    ,,Why?" Finn asks in confusion.

    ,,It's Ren." Rey answers.

     Only those two words left her lips and the others realized they have to get off this planet as soon as possible.
Their footsteps were loud and could be heard clearly even through the cheering and blaring music. They just have to go back to their ship and that's it. Their path was unproblematic and no-one payed them much attention but it didn't last enough for them to leave.

     The group comes to a sudden and sharp stop when a Stormtrooper emerges from the croud. ,,Freeze! Hold it right there." He warns, immediately pointing his blaster at them. ,,I've located the Resistance fugitives. All units, report—" The guard speaks into his ear piece but not being quick enough to see the light haired girl. Behind her back, Aina flickers her fingers, concentrating on her powers that she tried to expand. The Stormtrooper doesn't pay too much attention now to them, so she could use it as advantage but someone was quicker to use it.

     An arrow comes from the stranger's crossbow, shooting the white guard in the head, making him fall on the sand. With a slight shock and confusion but mainly relief, they turn to look at their masked rescuer. ,,Follow me." The man remarks, turning without a word. They thought for moment not to but realized that it was probably for the best and follow this mysterious man to a transporter. ,,Hurry." Continue the stranger while they follow him into the transporter. The girl doesn't know this man but she got a weird sense of deja vu. She has to know him from somewhere.

     ,,Leia sent me a transmission." At the sound of her name, Aina perks up. With a frown across her face, she steps inside, looking at the man who mutters something to the alien controlling the ship.

     ,,How'd you find us?" Spoke up Finn. The stranger doesn't answer right away. Making Aina slightly anxious but as her eyes watched the man furder, she felt something. She feels like they can trust this masked man and the question who was behind it was slowly revealed. As he turns back to them, hands wrapped around his mask, he slowly take his helmet off.

      Behind the mask was a man that she thought she will never actually meet in person. The person Leia told her so many stories about and becoming quickly one of the girl's biggest heroes.

     The person is Lando Calrissian.

    ,,Wookies standout in a crowd." He grins, looking at his friend who groans in happiness, skipping to him to give him a big hug. A soft laugh of disbelief left her, looking at her friends who couldn't help but match her expression. It was magical. ,,It's good to see you too, old buddy." Lando mumbles in his fur, while the others watch the scene with big smiles and the girl trying to hide how awestruck she was.

    ,,This is General Lando Calrissian." Introduce C3-PO the dark skinned man.

    The statement make the light haired female turn to look at her friend with raised eyebrows and small smile of amusement. ,,We know who he is, 3-PO." Remarks the girl, a small laugh coming from her lips, before turning back to Lando.

     ,,It is an honor, General." Says Finn  with big eyes, being awestruck of seeing this man with his own eyes.

     The dark haired pilot leans forward to Lando, caughting off this small reunion. Aina quickly comes back to her senses, seeing that there's not that much of time left, before the First Order finds them. ,,General Calrissian, we're looking for Exegol." The male comments, rather straightforward. The named man sighs at the new information, shifting his gaze over each one of them, eyes for a moment baring in to hers.

     ,,Of course, you are." Raising his left wrists, revealing a bracelet to them and then pushing a button on the device. ,,Only two were made." He trailes off as a blue light emerge from the bracelet, forming into a blue print of a Sith Wayfinder. This was it.

     Aina nodds slowly. ,,A Sith wayfinder." She confirms, the small orange droid beeping at her side at her statement.

    ,,Luke Skywalker came here to find one." Rey says nextly. For an answer the dark skinned pilot slightly chuckles, making her frown in confusion.

    ,,I know." Lando breathes out a laugh. ,,I was with him." These four words makes the two young women look up at each other with big eyes while the man laughs more. ,,Luke and I were tailing an old Jedi hunting. Ochi of Bestoon." Pressing the button again, a picture of the big black eyed male shows up. ,,He was carrying a clue that could lead to a wayfinder. We followed his ship halfway across the galaxy here. When we got to his ship, it was abandoned....No clue. No wayfinder."

     ,,Is Ochi's ship still here?" Wonderes the green eyed witch out loud, making him flicker his attention to her.

   ,,It's out in the desert, where he left it." He answers, making her nod in understatement.

    At that her eyes looks over to her friends with a sigh. ,,We need to get to that ship. Search for it." She says, while they nod in agreement.

     Then a sudden, loud and familiar noise was heard just as she says this. Eyes wide, she with the others goes to look out of a window, eyea falling at the Tie Fighters up in the sky. ,,I got a bad feeling about this." Lando comments, gazing at their new company, from behind the curtains, before he quickly looks back at the group in hurry. ,,Ochi's ship is out past Lurch Canyon. Go."

    For a moment they look at each other, silently asking if they should leave right there. They wished they didn't have to say good-bye so soon. The other pilot was the one who broke the silence again. Nodding his head at the dark skinned man in good-bye, while she stood there with a fown on her features. ,,Thank you, General." Poe says, while Chewie grunts softly down at the older man.

     ,,You, too, Chewie." Lando exclaims, watching his hairy friend exit the transporter.

     The young Jedi Padawan turn to look back at the man before them, continuing to speak hurriedly while Aina's eyes flicker to the window, watching out for their enemy. ,,Leia needs pilots, General." The girl from Jakku exclaims, looking down at the named man, almost like reading Aina's thoughts.

     ,,My flying days are long gone." Says the male. ,,But do me a favor....give Leia my love." It makes them smile warmly at the emotion laced in his words.

    ,,You should give it to her yourself." Says Aina, while taking Rey's hand into hers, the gesture didn't came unnoticed by him. If they didn't have to hurry, he would make some teasing remark like his friend Han would do. ,,Thank you." Whispers the witch, before stepping with her lover in hand from the transporter.

     They soon join the others, running up to them with heavy breathing and eyes narrowed from the burning sun. She almost tripped as they run down a small hill, she was thankfull for the scavenger's strong hold, alse she would fall flat on her face. ,,There!" Cries out her best friend, making the brunette look away from the sky. ,,Those speeders!" Catching up, they slowed down to a stop as Poe crawled under one of those speeders and taking off it's plate filled with wires.

     ,,How do you know how to do that?" Asked Finn, watching the pilot rake in the cables. He didn't of course answer at the question, quickly catching the judging gaze of his close friend.

    ,,No need to worry." Said the gloden droid, making her gaze fall for a moment on him. ,,I made it." She rolls her eyes little bit, before looking around at their surroundings. Her eyes quickly stop at a group of aliens shouting and pointing right at them.

     This isn't good.

     A nervous noise left her lips. ,,Em....Poe..." She says, turning to look at him with wide eyes. ,,We gotta go." He looks up at her for a moment just as he sees her gesturing to the marching croud. Quickly getting back to fumble with the cables, he hurriedly closed the plate.

    ,,Yeah, we gotta go." He agreed, following his friends up on the transporter.

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-ᴀᴜᴅʀᴇʏ_ʜᴏʟʟᴀɴᴅ
[2021]