Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker: Aftermath

18: The Farmer

Amaliea coaxed the last of the slaves out of the hole she had burned in the metal wall.
"Come on, let's go," she said, helping a small child down. He ran after the rest and Amaliea exhaled in relief.
"Okay, I got all of them out," she reported on her commlink.
She tossed a few extra explosives inside for good mesure and ran after the group of colourful people she had just liberated.
"Follow me!" she yelled.
After leading the people out of the gourge she set them all down on a field far from their prison, but not far enough that they couldn't still see it.
"Light it up," she whispered into the comm.
The structure exploded in a dash of rainbow colours. Amaliea glanced back over her shoulder to see the dozens of people hugging, kissing, crying and whooping with joy. A human woman limped over to Amaliea and passed her a flower wreath.
"Thank you," she said with a crooked smile before stumbling back to her peers.
"Listen up! You all are free now! We are sending ships from the Resistance to bring you back to your home planets!"
More slaves cheered and Amaliea sat down on the grass, waiting for her own people to come and pick her up.
——
"You do know if we need supplies, we could have just asked the Resistance to give us some, right?" Rey asked as Jacen calculated the jump to a nearby farming planet.
"No." Amaliea, Jacen and surprisingly Lalo, said together firmly.
"We are not getting aide from the Resistance." Jacen said, clearly irritated. "We've always been independent from them, and it's gonna stay that way."
"But your mom-" Rey pointed out.
"My mom was the only exception. The rest of the Spectres and those close to us, like Ahsoka's family and Alexsandr Kallus's children agree with this rule."
Although she wanted to argue further, Rey gave it a rest.
"We'll be arriving on Tenara soon," Jacen said after a few minutes.
Meanwhile, Zarli was examining everything in range to the best of her abilities. She poked buttons, opened compartments, and gazed at the art covering the entirety of the smaller ships interior.
"Do these ships have names?" Zarli asked the others, poking her head back into the main area. Amaliea walked over to her.
"The smaller ship is called The Phantom." Amaliea stated with obvious pride, running her hand along the painted walls. "It's been around since the Clone Wars. So has Nessa."
"Nessa?" Zarli snorted.
"Well, Ahsoka, my godmother, who was this ships original owner, never really named it. Her granddaughter Tam recently inherited the ship for her birthday, and she's never been too fussed with naming inanimate objects. She started calling the ship Nessa as a joke, and I guess that's what i've been calling it in my head ever since." Amaliea finished her monologue with a laugh.
Zarli sat down on one of the seating areas in the Phantom and pointed to some of the people sprayed across the walls.
"Did you draw them?"
"Oh, no. I've been told I get my artistic touch from my mom, but I didn't do most of this. Some of these people I've never even met. Like this guy." the Mandolorian motioned to the mural of a teal-eyed man on the ceiling of the Phantom. "Actually, I have no idea how Mom managed to do that," she added, tilting her head slightly.
"When did your mother even get the chance to do all this?" Zarli slid her hand across the elaborate image of a white Loth-cat, complete with each individual hair.
"She had a lot of time. All she brought with her when she and Ahsoka were travelling to the Unknown Regions was her art supplies. The trip there alone took around eight months, so I'm sure she had plenty of time to start this."
Zarli crossed her legs elegantly and took one of her lekku in her hands.
"Other Twi'leks have told me how sensitive those are." Amaliea gestured to the extensions of Zarli's head.
"Yes, they are. We only allow the people we trust the most to touch them." the girl readjusted her simple headpiece with a small sigh.
Amaliea pulled her knees up to her chest. Evie never let anyone even look at her lekku for too long. Except for her.
"Who's Evie?" Zarli asked curiously. Amaliea started slightly.
"Sorry, I forgot you could hear what I think," she laughed. "Evie is my partner."
"What does she look like?"
"Too beautiful to describe," Amaliea snickered at the Twi'lek. Zarli crossed her arms.
"So show me!" she contradicted.
The older girl gave the younger one a look and gave in. "Alright.. fine.." she rolled her eyes mockingly.
Amaliea pictured her face, her adorable smile and her piercing eyes. Her broad shoulders, long neck, and-
"Okay! I got the picture!" Zarli cleared her throat loudly. Amaliea's face flushed and she laughed.
Amaliea wrapped her arm around Zarli's shoulders as they watched the ship come out of hyperspace from the Phantom.
"Coming up on Tenara now!" called Jacen's voice.
Amaliea and Zarli emerged from the Phantom and examined the scene before them.
Cass's head lay in Rey's lap examining her fingernails as the elder one meditated. Lalo was in his usual spot at Jacen's arm, pointing out the brightest stars outside.
Mandolorian and Twi'lek smiled at each other and joined the rest of their crew. They were becoming a family.
——
The six of them crouched behind a few large cargo boxes, examining the single figure across from them making notes and checking each container.
"Cass, you're up." Rey said. The younger one turned in horror.
"No! Send someone else!"
"Cass, face it." Zarli crossed her arms. "You're the best bet on distracting this person. Me and Lalo are both too young to make an impact-"
"-My pregnancy is starting to show-" Rey continued.
"-I'm pretty sure I'm not their type-" Jacen laughed.
"-And I would rather spoiled shove spice up my own nose." Amaliea finished, blowing dark blue hair out of her face.
Cass groaned.
"Just go flirt!" Jacen coaxed. Cass turned bright blue. "F-flirt!? I can't flirt if my life depended on it!"
"Would you rather we all starve?" Lalo raised an eyebrow.
"I can't believe you guys are making me do this." Cass grumbled, getting to her feet and brushed herself off.
"You'll do great!" Rey called after her quietly. Jacen, Lalo and Zarli all gave her thumbs up with large grins as she threw a reproachful look over her shoulder at them. Cass sighed and plopped down on top of one of the large boxes, waiting for the human to turn around and notice her.
"O-oh! Hello!" the stranger stuttered with a slightly worried smile. Cass immediately felt her face flush. They were pretty attractive, with hair that entertained the bright colours of teal and magenta, and muscular arms that they used to lift the cargo and probably helped them farm too.
Cass leaned forward, swinging her legs gently. "Um, hi." she replied, trying to keep a straight face.
The stranger walked closer. "Uhh, you're on my farm." they laughed nervously. "Are you new on Tenara?"
Cass froze.
"...Yes," she clasped her hands together. The taller one stuck out a friendly hand. "Well, you're probably the most exciting thing that's happened around here in a while. I'm Jax."
"My name is Cass-uh-ee," Cass stumbled over her words before shaking Jax's calloused hand firmly. They laughed again. "Wow! Strong handshake. That's good, you know."
Zarli could barely watch as Cass and the farmer continued their awkward conversation.
"She was right," Zarli groaned to Amaliea. "She can't flirt for crap!"
Rey elbowed her gently. "Look! She's starting to ease up," she pointed to Cass's increasingly comfortable position, along a small grin starting to hint on the sides of her mouth.
"I think that's the first time i've seen her look so relaxed!" Lalo exclaimed softly. Rey gave the Pantoran a fond look.
"I think that's the first time we've seen her smile,"
"This is our chance. Let's go get some supplies while the farmer is distracted." Jacen stayed low and was followed by Amaliea and Zarli, while Rey and Lalo stayed to keep an eye on Cass.
"It's so weird seeing her.. looking happy," Lalo tilted his head. "Is it bad to think that?"
Rey crossed her hands over her stomach. "I don't think so. But I don't think Cass has been happy for a long time."
Lalo sighed. "She reminds me of my mother, a little bit." he admitted. "She hasn't been happy since my father died."
"Neither have you, from what she told us."
"She's lying." Lalo said as-a-matter-of-factly. "My dad was a mean drunk. He got into a violent bar fight when I was four and didn't make it out. My life improved once he wasn't in it."
"It seems we all come from broken homes." Rey observed as she glanced over at the child. He looked confused. "How so?"
"I was abandoned by my parents to protect me. Jacen's father died before he even found out his mother was pregnant with him. Cass's mother either died or isn't in the picture, and she was about to be forced into marriage with a much older person. Zarli was a slave who was sold by her own family, Amaliea lost her father months after being born and her mother when she was eleven. You were raised by a mother afraid of her own power and your abusive father." Rey reminded him. Lalo's eyes widened slowly as she finished her monologue.
"Yeesh.. okay, I got it." he closed his eyes.
"The galaxy is almost always at war. There are no happy endings in wartime." she finished sadly, her arms crossed over her belly tightly.
Lalo leaned on her side. "Lady, I'm barely seven years old. Why're you dumping all this existential crap on me?"
Rey ruffled his hair with a small laugh. "Sorry, kiddo."
Amaliea, Jacen and Zarli came tiptoeing back, carrying four crates full of rations. They sneaked by and disappeared onto the ship. "Go after them. I'll get 'Cassie'." Rey told Lalo. He nodded and rushed after the others.
Rey managed to catch Cass's eye and made a quick moment with her finger. "Wrap it up!" she hissed.
"So.. I have to go, now." Cass's eyes flitted from Jax to Rey.
Jax chuckled. "Yeah, I assumed."
She furrowed her brow in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"Your family isn't that great at sneaking around." they laid a hand on her shoulder. "Next time, just ask, okay? I'm a pretty generous person."
Cass blushed lightly. "Uh, yeah, I'll think about it."
"The whole distracting thing is a good look on you, though." they winked. Cass gave them another small smile as she ran off towards Rey.
"Good job!" the Jedi laughed, patting her on the shoulder. Cass sighed. "I feel bad for stealing from them."
"I think you made a good enough impression that they aren't going to mind." Rey reassured her. Cass threw one more look over her shoulder.
Jax was still watching her with their arms crossed and leaning against a crate. Their face was slightly pink as the farmer blew a kiss to the Pantoran girl. She simply waved back at them as Nessa's ramp was raised, until they were out of view.