A Star Wars TFA Prequel: "Why Aren't You Scared of Me?"

Only One True Attachment

I wake drenched in sweat, my arms and legs heavy with sleep. I glance at the clock. 12:07. We slept in, a lot. Why did no one come to wake us? I sit up and look around. Phasma and Hux are still sleeping and I want to take a quick shower before they wake.

My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth and I get up to grab one of the five water bottles left. I push the button for the bathroom door but it doesn't open. Then I remember that Caleb is still in there. I knock lightly and a moment later it slides open.

"Oh, it's you," Caleb says when he sees me.

"You'll be calling me Master soon enough," I say to him, taking another drink of my water.

"I'll never call you Master." Caleb looks up at me with menacing eyes.

"We'll see." I push past him and walk into the washroom. "I'm going to have a shower, you can join me if you want."

Caleb gives me an angry glare, his face turning red. I turn away so he won't see me smile. He's so easy to irritate. I pull my shirt over my head and he quickly leaves, the door sliding closed behind him.

* * *

"Finally," Phasma says as Hux steps out of the washroom. He has only a towel wrapped around his waist, his hair tousled every which way.

"Put some clothes on!" Phasma growls, covering her face with a pillow.

"It's so hot in here, I thought I'd stay with no clothes on for a while," Hux says.

"No," Phasma and I shout at the same time.

"Relax," Hux waves his hand at us and opens the water bottle he's holding. "But I don't want to get back into the clothes I was wearing yesterday."

"You could use my clothes," Phasma says, sitting up in the bed. "Otherwise I don't think you have a lot of options." Her tank top is damp with heat and drawing my attention again, but I quickly look away and stare at the wall, now that Hux is in the room with us. If there was an ancient Jedi mantra for getting one's mind off of breasts, I'd be chanting it in double time right now.

"Where's Caleb?" Hux asks.

"He went to bring some more food or something," Phasma says. "Why? Are you disappointed he didn't see you walk out in a towel?"

"No." Hux curses and goes back into the washroom. Phasma grins and looks over at me. I shake my head.

"What are you going to do with him, Ren?" Phasma says a moment later, her expression turning serious.

"What do you mean?"

"If he's Force sensitive, he can only have one true romantic attachment for his whole existence."

"I... I don't understand, what?"

"I know he's Force sensitive," she continues, frowning. "I'm not stupid. I know you called to him using the Force when we were separated, and he heard you."

My pulse races. "Does he know he is?"

"No, but it's probably best if he doesn't know. He'd go crazy. I mean, he's so self-controlled most of the time, but if he realized he had that kind of power, it might go to his head."

"We can't tell him. You can't tell him. He can't know."

"Don't worry, I'm not in any hurry be controlled by his powers."

"What did you mean by 'Force sensitive people only having one true attachment'?"

"It's a myth, but I think it's true. I can just tell, with the history we were taught, even your grandfather..." Phasma glances at me. "Well anyway, an attachment so strong, like the ones Force sensitive people can have, is dangerous. It always ends up in a lot of deaths and heartache."

"You think Hux is my one true attachment?"

"No, not yours. But you might be his."

"How do you know he's not mine?"

"I'm pretty sure the little girl Rey is."

"Rey?"

Phasma sighs. "The little girl you asked me about, the one the others saw you with all summer."

"But... she's just little."

"For now. She'll grow up."

I think back to what I saw in Caleb's thoughts of me this summer. I looked really happy and so did the girl... Rey.

Phasma crosses her arms and frowns. "So you need to back off and give Hux a break."

"What? I'm not-"

"Don't make this any harder for him. You're confusing him."

The door to the bathroom opens and Hux steps out, dressed in his First Order clothes again. "Ready to go?" he says, running his hands through his hair.

"What about Caleb?" I ask.

"We can't just sit here and get bombed or something," Hux says, grabbing a water bottle. He drinks it all down.

"Hey that's my water."

"Oh." Hux wipes his mouth and throws the bottle aside. "You can have mine."

"Holy Galaxies are we really down to just five?" Phasma gasps.

"No, we've got like three water bottles left-"

"No." Phasma jumps off the bed. "I mean Snoke said if the numbers don't go down to fifteen by today, then he'll change the rules again and only five can win."

Hux and I don't respond.

"And," she continues. "If we don't get down to five by the end of today then..."

"He'll bring the number down to one," Hux finishes for her.

"How do you know?" I ask.

"It's what he would do," Hux says.

Phasma talks some more but I can't concentrate. The humming of the ship and the pulsating of the core reactor radiate through me and my head pounds. Something is wrong, really wrong, with the ship. I can sense it.

"Hey guys," I interrupt. "I think the core reactor is unstable." I shake my head to clear it. "The warp core is overheating. That's why it's so hot, not because of the environmental controls."

"How do you know?" Phasma asks.

"I can sense it... And I can sense that our lives are in danger."

"We have to tell Snoke-"

"He's not here," I say, only now realizing it. My heart beats harder. "I don't sense him or any of the Stormtroopers. That's why we slept in this morning. They're all gone. They've all evacuated. It's only us and the other players on board."

"Are you sure?" Phasma's eyes go wide.

"I don't think it's part of the game," I say. "None of us will survive if we don't do something about the ship's core reactor."