Chapter Text
Rey didn’t really know what she was doing.
It was scorching today in Jaku. It was always almost unbearably hot, especially for anyone not used to such harsh climates, but this week had been something else. Still for some reason Rey found herself leaving the relative coolness of the junkyard ship and heading to the trading post.
She didn’t make a habit of coming here with her scrap bag only half full, no need to deal with Unkar’s disgusting lot anymore then she had to. Her sack held some wiring - copper which was nice- and a handful of small pieces of metal, like cogs, screws, and a big spring. Not worth much by any standards and specially not in the eyes of selfish junk lords like Unkar.
But something was pulling her here. Ever since she woke up this morning there was an incessant nagging on the back of her head. Having nothing but herself to rely on for so long, she had learned to listen to her intuition. Listen to that voice.
She skirted between the tents set up around Niima, trying not to be approached by the vendors as she pushed her way through the market and entered the outpost. The scents and sounds were always the same, this place reaked of desperation and survival. Of oil grease and greediness.
Rey approached the massive makeshift stall that served as Unkar Plutt’s trading post, and got in line behind all the other scavengers that came here to trade junk parts for ill-priced meager rations.
She adjusted the bag strap on her shoulder and looked around. There was something that she needed to do. To find.
Finding things was something she was good at. Her most precious skill as a scavenger. Even if most of the time she didn’t know what she was looking for until she found it. A lucky streak, some said.
The sounds of haggling and chatter filled the air, but something unusual caught her attention. A faint, whiny cry. Rey paused, looking around. Her ears straining to locate the source of the sound but it was faint and seemed to echo in her head, mingled with everything else happening around.
Leaving her spot in the line Rey searched around the outpost until she heard the cry again. Sounded like a wounded animal or…
She side stepped a man unloading his cart at one of the hallways and found herself outside again, looking at the rows of tents in the marketplace. Right there between two rows of tents where stacks of discarded crates and debris piled together. As she moved closer, the cries became clearer, more desperate. She knelt down and carefully pushed aside a crate, revealing a small bundle wrapped in tattered cloth.
Rey’s heart beat wildly in her chest as she drew closer and carefully adjusted the cloth to reveal a very real, very angry, very human baby. It’s face red from crying, full pink cheeks stained with wet tracks on a layer of dusty sand. Her hand hovered over the small being, all alone out here.
She stopped for a minute and looked around. No one seemed to notice her or the child. No one cared about the agonized little cries of distress. With her heart in her throat Rey reached down again to gently pick up the baby.
“Hey sweetheart” Rey murmured softly “Its okay, you’re okay”. The baby’s cries quieted a little once in her arms, and they’re eyes fluttered open. Rey was mesmerized at the small features, so perfect and delicate on this poor sweet face. Big pouty lips quivering still, big round hazel eyes looking at her, full lashes wet with tears. They looked at her like she was the only one in the galaxy, an expression full of exhaustion and maybe hope.
She cradled the baby against her chest, feeling a rush of protectiveness more powerful than anything she ever felt. Who could have left this baby out here all alone?
Rey’s mind raced. Should she wait out here for the baby’s parents? Someone must be coming back for the child, right? Like they had come back for her? Something could have happened that they had to hide the child here so they could go back for it later. But how can you leave a baby not even a year old, gauging by how small it seemed.
Rey fished her water canteen out of her pack and took a swing before carefully putting it to the baby’s little mouth, just enough to wet it. As soon as she did, their small hand reached out to hold onto the bottle with her and opened their mouth for a big gulp of the water. Despite everything, a peaceful, unconscious smile spread on Rey’s lips and she gently bounced the baby on her arms. She would give them a chance. She could wait – she was good at waiting – here in the outpost until the sun started to set and then she had to make it back to her humble AT-AT or she wouldn’t survive the night. They wouldn’t survive. The day’s on Jaku may be hot and harsh but the nights were dark and eerie.
One day, she could wait one day. The baby deserved a change at being reunited with their parents, if they still had them. But after that… She knew, she couldn’t leave the baby here. Even if she had no idea on how to care for a child. She’d survived on her own this far. No one had taught her to do that either but she managed, because she had to. And abandoning this baby was not an option.
With determination, Rey stood up, still holding the baby securely. She approached Unkar Plutt’s stall, her resolve hardening. “Unkar,” she called out when her turn came, her voice steady despite the anxiety gnawing at her. She tossed her scraps bag for his inspection “I need however many milk rations that will give me”
Unkar Plutt looked up from his transactions, his eyes narrowing at the sight of Rey holding the baby and sneered “What’s this, then? Found yourself a little pet?”
Rey ignored the jibe, her gaze unwavering. “I know those wires are worth quite a lot to any desperate pilots unfortunate enough to get stuck here, so don’t hold out on me .”
Unkar scoffed but couldn’t argue much as he inspected her loot. “Stupid girl. You can’t afford to take care of yourself what makes you think you can support this brat” he tossed alongside a small pile of dehydrated milk packs.
Rey gathered the supplies and scurried out. She shook off the nasty creature’s words. Nothing he said mattered to her, it meant nothing. She focused instead on the baby nestled against her. It needed her to be strong right now. To care for them and protect them. At least for today.
Outside, she carefully opened one of the packs and dumped some of it in her half full water bottle. With one hand she shook it thoroughly before bringing it to the babe’s mouth. The rest of the day was spent in restless worry. She walked around the markets, traded her extra belt buckle for a nipple-like attachment for her bottle, argued prices for cloths with an old lady, sat on a shaded bench with a napping baby on her arms. As they waited, they got to know each other, to learn each other’s faces, each other’s scents. She discovered the baby was a boy, no more than 3 months old judging by his size, a hungry little thing but not malnourished, thank the gods.
And with each hour that paced, the hope in Rey’s chest grew alongside the sadness. Hope that she might get to keep this shiny innocent eyes in her life, hope for a new life, a new path where she was not alone. Sadness because this precious being should never ever have to experience lost. Sadness for whoever got to miss out on this child’s life and for everything she missed when her parents left her here to rot.
And when the sky started to blend in orange and pinkish tones, resolution had set in her chest and her mind. She knew the road ahead would be difficult, but she had survived this long and she promised, holding his little chubby hand in her own, she would protect this baby boy with everything she had and she would give them both a better life then this deserted wasteland.