The Sands of Jakku

The Newest World

He walked her back to her bedroom, pressing a kiss to her hand to say goodnight before he left her there. She smiled sadly at him, watching him go as she bade him goodnight.

She wouldn't see him tomorrow. The thought bothered her more than she cared to admit. Tonight she would finish her mission and she would return home to the family she had created.

She entered her room for the last time. Amara and Samara were already there, waiting for her. She realized that she had been gone far longer this evening than she had been any of the previous evenings she had stayed there. She had no doubt that these girls already knew what she had been up to, but they waited for her all the same.

The two girls stood as made her way into the room, saying nothing as they fell into their nightly routine. Amara's hands were in her hair, removing the combs and jewels, letting her braids fall over her shoulders. Samara worked her dress off over her undergarments, saying nothing of the creases that appeared in the fabric over her hips. Samara placed the dress back on her bed, removing her gloves next before helping Amara unbraid the rest of her hair.

When her hair was down and brushed out, Samara reached to remove the necklace Kylo had given to her. Rey stopped her immediately, her hands rising to brush against the cool metal against her throat. She traced her fingers over it thoughtfully, a frown on her lips.

"I will remove this myself," Rey responded when she saw Samara awaiting her command. The servant girl nodded, and she and Amara busied themselves by loosening Rey's impossibly tight undergarments.

On her first night here, Rey had realized early on that Amara and Samara routinely undressed dignitaries until they were nude. That, however, was not something with which Rey was comfortable. She was insecure in her body, and despite all of Obi-Wan's dolling up, he would never be able to remove the scars she had acquired from rough living. Thus, she always stopped them before they stripped her completely.

Now, Amara and Samara only loosened her undergarments enough for her to be able to remove them herself. For that, Rey was grateful. She would miss the two of them after she left as well. They didn't talk much, but Rey had grown to like both of them and enjoyed their company. Sometimes it was nice to have other girls around.

Before Amara and Samara left for the evening, they scrubbed Rey's face clean of makeup, making sure she would be fresh for tomorrow. For that, Rey was also grateful. She didn't want to give Poe and Finn a reason to make fun of her as they had before she left for the palace.

"Goodnight, princess," Amara and Samara said before they exited through the servant's door at the back of her room. Rey bid them goodnight as well, waiting until she could no longer hear their footsteps before she turned her attention to the trunk Obi-Wan insisted she bring.

Rey dug through the endless gowns and common clothes in order to find the only outfit she actually cared about, her own. It felt like it had been years since she had last seen the dull beige scavenger outfit she had fashioned for herself.

She shed her constraining undergarments quickly, tossing them onto the floor in favor of pulling her old off-white tank top over her head, followed by her dull beige leggings. Lastly, she fastened her sash over her chest and waist with a well-worn leather belt and pulled on her boots. It felt good to finally be comfortable.

She pulled a soft canvas bag over her shoulder, containing a communications device Finn had insisted she carry and some other essentials. She pulled three ties for her hair from the bag, quickly fashioning her hair into three small buns to keep it out of her face. She was ready to complete her mission.

Her first instinct was to retreat through her window and head toward the gardens from there. However, Rey's window faced the outside of the palace, not the inside . For her to get to the gardens from there she would have to walk almost completely around the enormous castle and through the front entryway. It would be much easier, but more dangerous, for her to escape via her doorway out into the hall.