Fragments of the Dark

Chapter Ten

The sleepless night cost him.

Though he would never admit it, but only an hour in, their pace had slowed considerably because of him. Between the heat, lack of food and exhaustion from the fights the day before, Din's feet were all but dragging in the sand.

He knew Celene was slowing down for him and he hated it but now there was nothing to do. He couldn't bear to wake her once he'd seen she'd fallen asleep. And once he'd realized she was freezing as the child curled up next to her...

He allowed the image of them to briefly hover in his mind, the slight brush of her skin as he'd tucked the blanket around her. The way her face relaxed, the stress and anger and haunted rage missing. The only thing remaining was the brutal scar, splitting her skin.

Ahead of him, her figure was hazy in the height. The image distorted and wobbling as the sun seared the desert. She stopped and turned back to him. "Well we made it." She glanced at the child. "Barely."

Din didn't have the energy to snap back at her, slowly starting down the last of the sand dune that led into the small gathering of huts. He could make out Kuiil atop one of the large towers, mending a broken wire. He turned as they drew closer. "I thought you two were dead."

Celene snorted but Din didn't feeling like saying he wished he were dead in this moment so he could just go to sleep. Kuiil clambered down from the tower, wiping his hands on a cloth. Behind them, the child had managed to escape the pod yet again and was toddling along the ground, seemingly in chase of a frog.

Kuiil looked at the tiny creature. "This is what was causing all the fuss?"

"We think it's a child." Celene answered, wiping sweat from her forehead.

"It is better to deliver it alive then." Kuiil began to walk back to the larger hut. "Come, you must eat. It is already too late for you to depart."

Din wanted to object that they'd wasted enough time already but knew he was right. The sky was already darkening, the dark purples and blacks creeping across the sky. The child whined from near Celene's feet, reaching for the frog that kept jumping out of it's reach.

"We can leave first thing tomorrow." Celene folded her arms, watching the child. It successfully caught the frog, shoving the entire thing into this mouth. It's legs stuck out squirming wildly.

"Hey-" Din said, "Spit that out."

The child paid him no heed, swallowing the frog whole. He looked at Din and giggled.

"Well at least he know what it eats now." Celene scooped the small thing up and place it back in the pod. "Come on."

They followed behind Kuiil, ducking as they entered the hut. Din sat down heavily on the floor, the warmth from the fire heating the small space.

"Eat. Rest. Tomorrow continue your journey." Kuiil set down two steaming bowls of broth in front of them. "I have spoken." He disappeared from the hut and out into the darkness. Celene pushed the bigger bowl towards Din and picked up hers. "Goodnight." She said, taking her food with her and disappearing out into the dark, leaving, Din realized, so he could eat and sleep in peace and privacy. He looked at the child who sat next to him, staring with large eyes.

The flap at the front rustled and Celene stepped back through. "No living being. I forgot he counts too." She clicked the buttons on the side of the pod and then disappeared back into the night, this time taking the child with her.

Din sat alone in the space and stared at the food in front of him. Alone, he realized.

His creed always left him alone.

He removed his helmet, shoveling the hot soup into his mouth. For a split second he remembered the night in the desert, Celene and the child asleep beneath the blanket and him across from them, separated by the sand and his armor.

The knowledge he could never have someone. Never know someone intimately.

The silence seemed overwhelming then, the lack of Celene's presence was like a knife in his side. The fact that she had to leave for him to eat and rest. Din stretched out on his back, staring at the ceiling. Sleep came quickly, and for that he was grateful.

He woke just before dawn, the fire smoldering embers in front of him. He donned his armor quickly and stepped outside, sweeping back the flaps of the tent. Celene was sitting on the ground, her back against the canvas. In her lap, the child was sound asleep.

"Did you stay here all night?" He demanded.

She gave a shrug. "I like open spaces. The stars." She jerked her head to the neighboring tent. "It was too closed off in there."

Din sighed and she looked down at the child asleep in her arms. He sensed her worry for the child. But that was the job, there was nothing they could do about it now. He just hoped the Imperials wouldn't harm it.

Celene climbed to her feet at the sight of Kuiil approaching them. The trio trekked the short distance to the Falcon, which sat where they left it, gleaming in the morning sun.

The ramp lowered with a hiss and the child's pod disappeared inside. Din turned to Kuiil. "We can't thank you enough. Please allow us to give you a portion of the reward."

Kuiil shook his head. "I cannot accept." He glanced between the two of them. "You are my guests and I am therefore in your service."

Celene nodded. "Then all we can offer is our thanks."

"And I offer mine." Kuiil answered. "Thank you for bringing peace to my valley." He mounted the blurrg, moving a safe distance from the ship. Din closed the ramp behind them and followed Celene to the cockpit where she slid into the pilot's seat.

The ship hummed to life beneath her hands, engines powering up. They gently lifted off the surface and into the morning sky. Kuiil faded to a tiny dot below them as the planet's red colored floor disappeared. Celene flipped a few switches, charting the course for Nevarro. But her hands hesitated above the hyperdrive.

She twisted in her seat to look back to the child, who was asleep in the pod. It's tiny body hidden beneath the blanket and small tunic it wore.

"What is it?" Din asked, sensing her distress.

She leaned back heavily in the seat. "The Imperials... I know what-" she broke off the sentence abruptly and shook her head. "It doesn't matter." She flipped a switched and the ship rocked, jumping into hyperspace.

"The Imperials what?" Din watched as she spun to face him and the sleeping child. "You're worried about what they will do to him." Din shook his head. "He's just a child- they won't do anything to harm him."

"I was a child too," Celene said quietly.

Din's head snapped to her. She never talked about her past and he never pushed. But now he watched her stare at the child, and something clicked in his mind.

It's a child, not a fucking asset

"Wait-" he started but she was already standing and walking through the cockpit doors. "I'm going to shower," she muttered and the doors closed behind her.

Din almost followed her but stayed in his seat, staring at the child.

Could they really do this? Drop him in the hands of the Empire?