The only sound that filled the air was what came from the mouth of a young scavenger who was devouring her meal like a starving child. The green meat and bread that she had managed to earn that day from her findings was gone within seconds and she desperately licked the old metal plate in her hands hoping to pick up every last drop.

With a heavy sigh Rey let the plate fall down to the ground beside her. Yet another meal gone and she had no clue when her next would be. Her boss Unkar Plutt was a hard man to please and she had been lucky to even receive the quarter portion he had given her today. Who knows what he would give her the next time she returned.

With her head stuck in the clouds, Rey wiped at her mouth before picking up an old, broken Rebellion helmet that she had found during one of her scavenging trips. She didn't hesitate before putting it on her head, the big helmet tilting slightly at an odd angle due to the fact that it was too big for her head.

Rey fixed it the best she could before staring out at the desert before her. She was once again left with her thoughts as she leaned against the leg of the fallen AT-AT Walker she called her home, trying not to think of how isolated and alone she was out there.

A heavy silence fell upon her, the kind of silence that made her ears ring and her chest tighten. For a second she felt like she couldn't breath, but the feeling quickly passed when out from the quietness came a distressed electrical squeal.

Instantly Rey sat up, tearing the helmet off of her head as she did. She hesitantly sat there with the helmet in her hands as she waited to see if what she thought she heard was real or not. That's the thing about living alone, sometimes the noises one thought they heard were nothing but a trick of the imagination.

For some reason, Rey really hoped she wasn't imagining.

Then there it was again. The same electrical squeal that sounded even more upset and distressed than it had before. Rey quickly tossed the helmet aside as the noise became louder and more frequent. She was up on her feet in no time and quickly ran across the AT-AT Walker before picking up her quarterstaff for protection and running in the direction of the noise.

The young scavenger then began to climb up a small dune and, upon reaching the top, found that the small noise of distress belonged to that of a small orange and white droid that was trying to escape the net that had been draped around him by Teedo, a small, brutish desert tyrant that Rey knew too well.

The droid was practically crying out as he struggled to escape the netting. It pulled the net in the direction of a young girl who laid unconscious on the ground a foot away from Teedo and the luggabeast he rode.

Teedo yelled down at the small droid who beeped madly in response before pulling on the net more. Rey watched this injustice for a moment before standing up straight and yelling out, "Tal'ama parqual!"

Teedo and the droid fell silent and turned their heads to look at the young girl. "Parqual zatana!" Rey yelled as she ran through the sand and over to where Teedo was still trying to capture the droid.

Rey bent down and took out a knife before cutting the small droid out of the netting. The droid instantly rolled by her and over to the unconscious girl before standing in front of her in almost a protective way.

Teedo began to yell back in a threatening voice, but Rey wasn't having it. She quickly stood up and looked to Teedo before fiercely saying, "Noma!" Teedo barked back in response before begrudgingly riding away on his luggabeast.

The orange and white droid instantly began beeping furiously at the retreating Teedo in a provocative manner. Rey glanced down at the droid before shushing him.

The droid looked at her and she scowled at Teedo. "That's just Teedo. Wants you for parts and probably the girl for a slave. He has no respect for anyone," Rey explained. The droid whirled in response and the young scavenger looked down at it before letting out a sigh and bending down.

"Your antenna's bent," Rey muttered as she took the small wire off and began to fix it. Her eyes flickered over the small droid as she considered it for the first time. "Where do you come from? The both of you?"

The droid beeped in reply and Rey gave it a look before putting the wire back on. "Classified. Really? Me too. Big secret," she said. Once the antenna was back on, Rey moved her attention to the unconscious girl. She put her fingers on the girl's wrist and, upon finding the heartbeat, moved her hand up to the girl's head.

"Your friend will be fine. She's just a little dehydrated. When she wakes up, which should be soon, give her this," Rey explained as she pulled a small bottle out from her belt and set it beside the droid. "It's some water. It should help give you enough time to get to the nearest town. Niima Outpost is that way, stay off Kelvin Ridge. Keep away from the Sinking Fields in the north, you'll drown in the sand."

Rey then stood up and grabbed her quarterstaff before starting to walk away. There was a small upset beep from behind her and she turned sharply to see the droid had rolled after her a bit. "Don't follow me. I won't be able to help your friend. I can barely help myself. Town is that way," Rey said.

She began to walk away again, but the beep that followed made her stop in her tracks. It was a sad, distressed beep, a beep that begged Rey for help. The young scavenger looked back at the droid who let a small round of beeps and whirls fill the air.

Help her. Please. She's all I have.

Rey frowned slightly before pointing a finger at the droid. "I don't like you," she muttered before walking over to where the young girl was passed out in the sand. The small droid let out a happy whirl to which Rey had to try and suppress her smile in response.

"What are your names anyways?" Rey asked as she grabbed the bottle and stuck it back in her belt. She got a few beeps in response and she smiled slightly. "BB-8 and Cassiopeia?" There was another beep. "Oh, but she likes to be called Cassie." A final beep seemed to clarify that Rey was correct before the scavenger looked down at the girl.

Rey titled her head slightly as she tried to determine how to handle this before ultimately decided to just kick her softly with her foot. "Hey, wake up," Rey ordered, but all she got was a small groan in response.

Rey looked to BB-8 who beeped and nodded its head towards the girl. Rey let out a sigh before reaching down and beginning to pick the girl up. Cassie's eyes fluttered open for a moment and she gave Rey a confused look. "Nova?" She whispered out confused, but she passed out before she could say or do anything else.

"She's not crazy, is she?" Rey asked as she looked to the droid. A beep had Rey laughing softly. "You don't think so? Well, that's good." The scavenger went back to picking up the girl and positioned her so that Rey was pretty much giving Cassie a piggy back ride.

Rey let out a small grunt at the limp weight on her back before looking to BB-8. "You owe me," she said. "For now, we will go back where I live. I can take you two to town on my speeder tomorrow. But in the morning, you two go."

And with that, Rey began to carry Cassie off in the direction of the AT-AT Walker while BB-8 rolled along behind her. It was silent for a moment before BB-8 let out a soft beep. Rey smiled softly.

"You're welcome."

- - -

"You have all your things, right? Did you double check your room?" fifteen year old Cassie Shae asked as she looked at her younger sister Nova in concern.

The thirteen year old let out a small laugh before smiling at her sister. "You already asked me that an hour ago and the answer is still the same. By now, I've triple checked my room," Nova said.

"Quit worrying, Cass," Aries muttered from the room over where he and Leo were in the middle of an intense game of cards. "Nova can only take like two things anyways. Luke thinks everything else is just a distraction."

"He's got a point," Leo agreed as soon as Cassie and Nova had entered the room. Cassie huffed in frustration, not understanding why everyone wasn't stressed about Nova leaving. Being the only Shae to be Force-sensitive, this was a big deal. Nova was going to be training under Luke Skywalker to be a Jedi.

Cassie was so proud of her sister, but knowing that Nova would be out of reach for so long, only being able to visit when Luke had business with Leia and Han was hard for Cassie to comprehend. She had to keep reminding herself that Nova wasn't gone forever, merely training until the day she could return.

Cassie was snapped out of her thoughts when her younger brother Castor came barreling into the room with a toy X-wing in hand. He was making the noises that he thought an X-wing made and zoomed around the room, jumping over objects and knocking over the cards that Aries and Leo were playing with earning a cry of protest from the two.

Cassie and Nova looked at each other and chuckled. The eldest girl was quick to scoop her six year old brother up into her arms, Castor letting out a round of giggles as she did. "And what are you doing, Mini Cass?" Cassie asked.

Castor smiled softly at the nickname. It was given to him once the family realized he could have the same nickname as Cassie. Seeing as he was like his sister in more ways than one and pretty much idolized her, he accepted the nickname quickly. Any excuse to be more like his sister was okay with him.

"I'm being like Daddy and flying my ship," Castor said happily and just to make a point, he made a woosh sound as he moved the toy through the air. He then lowered the ship and looked at his sister with a smile. "See?"

"I see. You're just like Daddy, maybe even better," Cassie told him as she winked.

Castor quickly shook his head. "No one is a better pilot than Daddy. No one," Castor insisted.

Cassie chuckled and kissed her brother's cheek before setting him down. Castor's feet had no sooner touched the floor before Nova let out a loud gasp, a huge grin appearing on her face as she exclaimed, "They're here!"

"What? How do you know?" Aries asked, but the girl was already gone and Leo was whacking him in the back of the head. Aries frowned. "Oh, yeah. The Force."

Castor stared at the place his sister had just been in before looking to Cassie with a star struck expression. "The Force is so cool," he whispered making the triplets chuckle.

"Come on, my little pilot. Time to go say goodbye to Nova," Cassie said. Castor frowned, but nodded before holding his arms up, silently asking Cassie to hold him. The girl complied and they began to walk out of the living room with Aries and Leo following right behind.

They made it to the front hallway right when Nova was throwing the door open. A stunned Ben Solo blinked in surprise as he held his hand up in the air, obviously about to knock on the door.

"Ben," Nova breathed out. The boy looked down at her and Cassie could've sworn his eyes widened slightly at the sight of her sister.

"Nova," Ben whispered. He then blinked and seemed to gain his composure, quickly standing up straighter. "Look at you. All grown up now and about to start your training," he said as he smiled at her.

"It's a surprise I didn't start sooner seeing as you somehow managed to get in before me," Nova teasingly said making the boy playfully narrow his eyes at her. He then seemed to notice that the other Shae siblings had arrived and grinned before walking over to them.

"Aries, Leo," he greeted as he hugged the two. He then smiled at Cassie before giving her a warm side hug seeing as she was still carrying Castor. "Cassie. Castor, is that you? You've grown into quite the young man."

Castor smiled as Ben ruffled the boy's hair. "Benny!" Castor exclaimed as he held his arms out. Ben chuckled and quickly took the boy into his arms, enjoying the embrace from the small child.

"I've missed you too, bud. I've missed all of you," Ben said, his eyes flickering over the group before lingering on Nova for a moment longer than he should've. "It's been what, a year since I last saw you? How have you all been?"

"Great. How about you? Training under your uncle must be quite the experience," Leo chuckled as he nudged the boy.

Ben rolled his eyes. "At least I don't get homesick. Being with my uncle is like being with my parents. It's like I never left," he said.

The siblings all laughed softly before Aries clapped a hand on the boy's shoulder. "We've missed you, man. It's not the same without our partner in crime," Aries told him. The Shae siblings all nodded quickly in agreement.

Ben Solo, being the same age as the triplets, had grown up alongside the Shae family since him and the triplets were in diapers. Cassie, Aries, Leo, and Ben had been partners in crime since day one and as the other Shae siblings were born, Ben had quickly become their friend as well. He was an honorary part of the Shae family and having him away for the past two years as he trained to be a Jedi had been tough not only for the siblings, but for Ben as well.

Ben smiled softly while Castor wrapped his arms around the boy's neck and gave him a squeeze. "I've missed you too," he whispered, a sadness appearing in his eyes. He was quick to snap out of it, knowing that if he focused on his feelings too long it would be hard to leave. "Uh. . .your father is outside talking to my uncle." He looked to Nova. "I assume you have everything packed."

Nova grinned and held up a small backpack that held all of the necessary belongings. "Packed and ready to go," she said.

"Good," Ben said. He then perked up as if something had whispered into his ear and he nodded towards the door. "Uncle Luke is ready. It's time to go."

Castor's eyes widened and he looked to his siblings before whispering out, "He knows because he used the Force."

This earned a round of chuckles from the group before they all began to walk outside and over to where Rigel and Luke were talking by a small ship, the ship that would be taking Nova away from the Shae family.

Cassie tensed at the sight of it, but before she knew it, Nova's hand was sliding into hers as she sent her a small smile. Cassie relaxed at that and smiled back before quickly hugging the girl. Nova instantly hugged back, squeezing her eyes shut as she held her sister tightly.

It took a minute, but they eventually pulled away and to no one's surprise, the two girls each had tears in their eyes. "Be careful, okay? And try to come and visit whenever Luke stops by," Cassie told her.

"You know I will. I love you, Cassie," Nova said.

Cassie smiled and gave her sister one last squeeze. "I love you too, Nova. Now go say goodbye to the others and get out of here before I turn into a blubbering mess," she demanded. Nova let out a small laugh and quickly wiped away her tears.

Nova then went around and hugged the rest of her family goodbye while Ben hugged the Shaes as well. He handed Castor back over to Cassie while Castor softly waved bye to the boy. Ben then hugged Cassie before walking over to Luke while they all watched Rigel hug his daughter goodbye.

Rigel eventually pulled away and Nova smiled sadly at him as she reached up and wiped his tears away. Rigel gave a small nod before looking over at Ben and pointing a finger at him.

"Solo, you take care of her, okay?" Rigel said.

Ben nodded almost immediately. "I'll protect her with my life," he assured the man.

Rigel relaxed slightly at those words and let his hands drop down to his side. Nova smiled and went to stand by Luke and Ben before taking one last look at her family.

The Shaes all put smiles on their faces despite the tears in their eyes, trying to act strong for the girl. Castor weakly waved goodbye which made a tear roll down Nova's face before she waved back.

Luke then put a hand on the girl's shoulder and she looked to him before nodding and turning to head towards the ship. As she walked, Cassie noticed Ben take the girl's hand in his own and she smiled slightly knowing that Nova was going to be okay as long as she had Ben.

If Cassie had known then what would happen in eight years, she would've never let that ship leave. But she didn't know and she assumed that everything was going to be fine. So she watched silently as her sister walked away from her, not knowing that her leaving to go train would ultimately lead to Nova's death.

And with that, Nova disappeared into the ship along with Luke and Ben before the ship took off into the sky and towards the stars.

- - -

When Cassie finally came to, like actually woke up and not the in and out she had been doing since the previous night, she found herself lying up against a cement column under some shade. She let out a soft groan as she tried to move some, her muscles retaliating by screaming in pain. Her mouth felt extremely dry and the feeling of thirst she had was almost unbearable.

She had yet to open her eyes, but she could feel what had to be a small bottle in her hand. Cassie brought the bottle up to her nose and sniffed it, letting out a small sigh of relief when she realized it was just water. She held the bottle up to her mouth, relishing at the coolness that immediately hit her tongue when she took a sip.

Cassie only took a few sips before letting the bottle fall lazily to her side. She knew better than to drink too much when dehydrated. It would just make her sick, so she had to make sure she paced herself.

The brunette's eyes finally begin to flutter open and she let out another groan as she pushed herself up into a better sitting position. She blinked in confusion as she looked around. The last thing she remembered was walking through the desert with BB-8, so where was she now?

At the thought of BB-8, her eyes shot open all the way. Despite the pain in her neck, Cassie looked around wildly, hoping to find the droid. She couldn't lose BB-8. She had to finish the mission for Poe.

A small beep had Cassie turning and she let out a sigh of relief at the sight of BB-8 only a few feet away. The droid was by the side of a young girl who Cassie didn't recognize and she frowned slightly as she tried to assess the situation.

The girl had obviously been the one to find them when they were in the desert and before she had passed out, so what was she doing with them now? By the looks of it, the girl was a scavenger and Cassie immediately tensed at the thought of the girl trying to sell BB-8.