War Child--Rogue One

V

I meet Aden not in the usual way, with "How-do-you-do"s and shaking hands. Instead, I run into him at full tilt during a blizzard.

I went out without goggles or a scarf, a death sentence on Fest. While wandering around, saluting the odd passing Imperial officer, a blizzard sprang up.

So now I'm running home, as quickly as I can, eyes narrowed against the biting wind, and one hand in front of me to shelter off the worst of it. I hit a solid mass, and quite nearly bounce off of it.

Instead of being angry, the boy who I just plowed into extends his hand. "I'm sorry!" he yells over the wind.

"So am I!" I yell back.

"Are you alright?"

"Fine, thanks!" I pick myself up and dust off some of the snow.

"I have an extra scarf. Want to borrow it?"

I shrug, and he hands me a scarf. I smile gratefully before wrapping it around my face.

"Where do you live?"

"What?"

"I asked 'Where do you live?'"

"I can take myself!" I take a step intending to walk past him.

"I want to make sure you get home safely!"

"I've lived here for a while! I can take care of myself!" At that moment, I slip and fall.

The boy struggles to keep from laughing as he helps me to my feet. I submit and let him walk with me home.

Mother looks worried when I open the door.  "Cassian!"  She wraps me in a hug, ignoring the snow melting off my jacket.  "Who's this?"

"Aden, ma'am."  He pulls one glove off to shake her hand.  "I ran into Cassian on his way home and wanted to make sure he got here safely."

She shakes his hand, "Well, thank you Aden.  Would you like something warm before you head back out?"

"That would be greatly appreciated.  Though I'm not quite sure where I'm going next."

"What do you mean?"

I start unwinding the layers, half listening to their conversation.

"I haven't really got a home."  He shrugs.  "But that doesn't mean you have to reach out to me or anything.  I've lived by hopping around for four years now."

"How old are you now?"

"Fifteen."

That means he was on his own from the same age I am now.  Mother looks, I don't know the exact word to describe it, but pitying and terrified at the same time.  "Dear me."

He shrugs again, and tugs at his collar.  "Is it alright if I take off a few layers?"

"Oh!  Of course, of course.  Cassian, show him the coat closet.  I'll start working on some soup to warm the two of you up."

He walks over, jacket already off and draped over his arm.  I show him the closet and we both stuff our huge layers in.  Honestly, I don't trust him, so before I close the door I make sure his clothes are all on one side and mine are on the other, with an inch between them.

When I turn around, Mother has finished the soup and is pouring ladles of it into three bowls. "Cass, come sit down."

I do. She places the bowls in front of Aden and I, then carries her own over to her seat. We both dig in, but Mother folds her hands and is silent for a moment.

When she's finished, Aden swallows, and asks, "Are you a member of the Church of the Force?"

"In a way. I'm not an official member, but I do trust the Force. I grew up on Jedha. My father and husband were both Guardians of the Whills, so the Force was a large part of my upbringing."

He bobs his head.

We eat in silence for a while, then Aden scrapes his bowl clean. "Is there a place you'd like me to put this?"

I finish mine as he says that, and hold out my hand. "I can take it." He's my guest, after all, no matter if I trust him or not. I see Mother nod and smile out of the corner of my eye.

He hands me the bowl and I take it to the sink. Before I can start washing the dishes, I have to light the heater, disable the ice block, and remove the plug. There are plenty of precautions to keep the pipes from freezing over and bursting, and Mother and I aren't really in the financial situation to repair those pipes, so we always double check the pipes before we close up the cabinet beneath the metal sink.

I rinse them, and fill a tub with hot water and soap to let them soak and sterilize.

Mother comes up behind me. "I'll take care of these. Set up the spare pallet for Aden, will you?"

I nod. The spare pallet is wedged into a closet in the wall. It takes a bit of effort to pull it down. When it's on the floor, near one of the four heating vents in our little house, I turn to find Aden. He's found a small hologram tablet, and is watching a hologram of Father. I walk over as quickly as I can and swipe it from his hand, switching it off. "Don't touch our things."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to pry."

"But you did."

I can't sleep tonight. I keep watching Aden, to make sure he doesn't get up and take anything. The hologram tablet is safely under my pillow, where he can't see the next hologram, recorded by my father, of Chirrut Îmwe being beaten, blinded, by two stormtroopers. I haven't seen it since a week after Father's death, when we went through his things, but it haunts me eternally.

I will not let him see any more of my Father.