Beating Heart ♔ Rey

ten

Chapter Ten;

Hester was very surprised that they made it out of the hanger alive, especially considering that one of the Rathtars had jumped on to their ship and started to attack. But since Han had taken off at lightspeed from inside the hanger (how that was possible, Hester still didn't know), the Rathtar had become nothing more but goo.

She'd let Han and Rey do their thing (Rey was co pilot) and instead helped Finn tend to Chewbacca. The Wookie seemed more at ease in her presence, and she stopped Finn from being strangled numerous times.

Once they were safely travelling in hyperspace and Chewbacca was tended to, Hester wandered into the cockpit to see Rey. She arrived just as Han was leaving, so she took his place in the pilot seat. He probably wouldn't like to see her there, but since he wasn't at the controls, he couldn't complain she'd taken a vacant seat.

Hester sent a a thumbs-up Rey's way. "Good job, getting us out of there," she said, grinning.

Rey shrugged. "I was only the co-pilot."

She checked at the controls once more, no doubt the ensure everything was in order. They certainly didn't want any more poisonous gas threatening to overflow the ship.

Hester winked. "Still helped with the escape though, right? I heard you help Han, we probably would've been there longer if you hadn't gone through the changes made to the Falcon."

Rey glanced up from checking the controls and sent a small, brief smile Hester's way before turning to the final controls.

Hester stared at Rey. She just always seemed to know what she was doing. 

"You're an incredible pilot," Hester murmured. "I wish I was as good as you."

"I bet you are, though," Rey said suddenly. He swivelled her chair around grinned. "When we escaped Jakku, you just seemed to know -"

"That was more luck than anything," Hester said quickly.

Rey scoffed. "Rubbish. You are just as skilled at flying as I am - most likely more."

Hester blushed. "Thanks," she murmured.

It had been so long since she heard praise from anyone. The most she'd heard for years was from Kylo Ren - and that had only been him saying she was a valuable ally. She hadn't heard any real praise since she'd trained with Luke, and during that time, she'd forgotten what it was like to receive it.

So to hear it now... Hester felt her cheeks. They were hot beneath her fingers.

Eager to divert the topic so she could focus on something else but the way Rey's words made her feel, Hester muttered, "Come on, let's head out. Maybe we can get Han to talk to us more about Luke."

Rey agreed. As they stepped out of the cockpit, Han turned to them with raised eyebrows. "So. Fugitives, huh?"

"The First Order is after the map," Rey explained. "Finn and Hester are with the Resistance. I'm just a scavenger."

Finn and Hester exchanged a look, then quickly looked away. Han definitely knew that she wasn't an official member of the Resistance - would he link Hester and Finn together and realise that Finn hadn't been a Resistance member, either?

Fortunately they didn't have long to dwell on this, for Han was now looking at BB-8.

"Let's see what you got," he said.

"Go ahead," Rey encouraged.

BB-8 rolled back and projected the map. At once, the small space was filled with the blue projections of stars and planets. Hester walked among the projections, taking everything in. None of it looked familiar to her.

"This map's not complete," Han noted, voice dropping. "It's just a piece. Ever since Luke disappeared people have been looking for him."

"Why did he leave?" Rey asked.

Han sighed.

"He was training a new generation of Jedi. One boy, an apprentice, turned against him and destroyed it all."

Hester flinched. Oh, Ben. And I couldn't do anything to stop him. Rey didn't fail to notice Hester's flinch and frowned briefly at Hester before turning back to Han when he spoke again.

"Luke felt responsible and just, walked away from everything," Han finished heavily.

Hester looked once again at the map, reaching out to touch the missing piece in the map. More like disappeared off the face of the galaxy, she sighed. But she was sure Luke hadn't disappeared without a reason. There surely was an explanation why he'd left, why he hadn't turned up while the First Order rose to take power.

Oh Luke. Do you know just how much I need you right now? How much we all need you?

"Do you know what happened to him?" Finn asked.

"A lot of rumours, stories," Han murmured. "People that knew him best think he went looking for the first Jedi temple."

"So the Jedi were real," Rey breathed.

Hester raised an eyebrow. "Um, am I an apparition or something? I have a lightsaber right here," she said, and even grabbed her lightsaber from her belt and held it up for everyone to see. Rey chuckled in an abashed manner.

Han smiled ruefully. "Don't blame her, kid, I used to wonder about the same thing myself. Thought it was a bunch of mumbo-jumbo, a magical power holding together good and evil, the dark side and the light."

He paused.

"Crazy thing is," he murmured, turning to them, "It's true. The Force and the Jedi... all of it. It's all true."

Hester shrugged at the small speech, but Rey and Finn appeared to be in awe. Then again, she'd grown up with this knowledge - this was entirely new territory for the two of them.

Something in the cockpit started to beep; Hester knew this meant they were coming up on their destination.

"No, you rest," Han said, as Chewbacca stood to help. The smuggler glanced back at the three. "You want my help, you're getting it. Going to see an old friend; this is our stop."

Curious, Hester joined Rey and Finn as they made their way to the cockpit. The Millennium Falcon had come out of lightspeed, and now they were entering a planet that, from the outside, was rich green and blue.

As Han piloted the Falcon down to the land, Hester gasped.

It had to be one of the most beautiful planets Hester had ever seen.

Everything was green and beautiful, and blue lakes were dotted all over the place. Hester smiled to herself as they'd flown over it, drinking the beauty right in. Hardly any planet she'd visited as been as lush as this one and she'd been to a fair few.

And it wasn't just the beauty - but the atmosphere. So many other planets like this felt wild, dangerous, teeming with bloodthirsty beasts. This planet... It radiated tranquility. Hester thought she could settle here quite easily for the rest of her life. 

"I didn't know there was this much green on the whole galaxy," Rey had breathed, a dreamlike expression on her face.

Hester found herself staring at the girl, who was smiling at the planet as though it was the most beautiful thing in the galaxy, and her lips stretched into a beautiful smile.

She was just as beautiful as the planet they were flying over.