The Sands of Jakku

The Legend of the Lamp

Two months later

They were in the midst of training , when Rey noticed something change in Obi-Wan's expression. He seemed pained, hands clenching to fists at his side.

"Obi-Wan!" Rey shouted when he hunched over at the waist, a strange groan escaping his lips. She rushed to his side to help him up, but ended up awkwardly standing there, forehead creased in panic, remembering she couldn't actually touch him.

"What's happening?" she asked when he fell to his knees. She should have known something was wrong when the strange blue glow that surrounded him had slowly started to fade away over the past few months. The blue glow had nearly disappeared now, flickering out against the sand.

"I was afraid of this," Obi-Wan said, as cryptic as ever. Rey would have rolled her eyes if she wasn't so concerned.

"What?" Rey asked, trying to get him to go on.

"I should have known when I couldn't save you that day in the Cave of Wonders that this would happen."

If he was trying to drive Rey up a wall, he was succeeding. She didn't understand what it was with this man and his never getting to the point. She wondered if the hooded man who had stolen the lamp and left her to die was having this many issues with his genie. She hoped so.

"Known what would happen?" Rey asked, masking the impatience in her tone with concern, lest Obi-Wan chastise her.

"The lamp," Obi-Wan said, as if she should have already known this to be the answer. Rey stared at him in silence, watching his face contort in pain.

"Without it," he said, pausing again to swallow, and at this point Rey thought he was probably just being dramatic, "without it, I'll die."

"Die?" Rey asked, her upper lip beginning to sweat. Obi-Wan was dying without that stupid hunk of gold the hooded man had stolen from them? Perhaps he wasn't simply being dramatic then.

"Who is dying?" Finn asked, he and Poe emerging from their makeshift home.

"Obi-Wan," Rey responded, frowning and wringing her hands.

"What?" Finn asked, taking in the scene.

"Unless we can get the lamp back," Obi-Wan explained.

Rey's frown deepened, her forehead creasing in frustration.

"But that's impossible," Rey said, "we don't even know who took it in the first place!" Obi-Wan nodded, looking almost defeated.

"That's not entirely true," Finn said, a bit sheepish. Rey turned to look at him.

"What?" She asked.

"I know who took the lamp," Finn responded, shifting uncomfortably beneath her gaze.

"Why didn't you tell me this sooner?" Rey asked, her tone light but still accusatory. Of course, she knew why Finn had kept it from her. Knowing herself, she probably would have ended up getting herself killed going after the guy. She really didn't like to lose.

"You know why I didn't tell you sooner, Rey," Finn said, by way of explanation. "Can you really tell me that stupid thing mattered at all until now?"

It hadn't mattered, Finn was right. Going after that lamp would have just been a futile attempt to win back her pride. Not to mention she would likely have gotten herself killed in the process. What sort of scavenger had a sword made out of light? She had never seen anything like that in her life.

"Who has it then, Finn?" Rey asked, choosing to ignore his question altogether. She wasn't sure how much time Obi-Wan had left, but she didn't want to waste a second of it.