The Light and the Dark - A Star Wars Story

Chapter 37

The Millennium Falcon landed on the desert planet of Pasaana. The group exited the ship with their belongings, heading over to the coordinates they had. In order to find where Luke had left off on his journey, they needed to follow the coordinates to the spot. Neither of them knew where they were going, so they had to rely on the three droids in the group.

"You sure this is it?" Poe asked as they walked around a rock.

"These are the exact coordinates that Master Luke left behind," C-3PO replied.

Festival music could be heard as the group came across a village. The villagers were dancing and playing music, having a fun time. The Resistance members all exchanged looks, confused. R2-D2 and BB-8 made confused beeps, looking over at C-3PO for an explanation.

"What exactly are we looking at?" Alinah asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

"The Acky Acky Festival of the Ancestors," C-3PO explained as Poe facepalmed. "This celebration occurs only once every 42 years."

"Well that's lucky," Finn commented, shaking his head.

"Lucky indeed!" C-3PO replied. "This festival is known for both its colorful kites and its delectable sweets!"

Everyone looked at the droid, annoyed with him. C-3PO looked behind him to see what everyone was looking at, but saw nothing. He didn't know why they were looking at him oddly. He was just explaining what was going on.

Padmè sighed and shook her head. "Let's just go in and see what we can find," she suggested.

They all walked into the village, walking through the crowds of celebrating villagers. The music was loud as the villagers chanted. Rey looked at the festival, admiring it. She smiled as they walked through, as if she wanted to join in herself.

"I've never seen anything like this," she said.

"I've never seen so few Wayfinders," Finn said as he and the others walked past Rey.

"There's always random First Order patrols in crowds like these," Poe warned everyone. "So keep your heads down."

"That means you, Chewie," Padmè added. Chewie grumbled as he lowered his head while walking through the crowds.

"Let's split up," Poe suggested. "See what the locals know."

Rey walked off by herself, coming across something that caught her eyes. She saw a grown villager telling a story to the village children. She couldn't understand their language, but the children were laughing at the tale. They were having fun, enjoying themselves. Rey solemnly watched them, wishing that she could've had a similar life. Despite what was happening in the galaxy, these villagers were still living peaceful lives.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Rey turned around to see Padmè walking up to her.

Rey nodded and smiled. "I wish I could have a life like this," she told her, looking back at the children.

Padmè gave her a reassuring smile. "And you will," she said. "Once this is all over, we can all have peace. These guys are just lucky that the First Order hasn't hit them yet."

Rey then felt her hand being tugged. She looked down, seeing a villager next to her. The villager motioned for her and Padmè to kneel down. She spoke in an alien language as she put a necklace around their necks. Luckily C-3PO was there to translate for them.

"Her name is Nambi Ghima," C-3PO translated.

Rey and Padmè both smiled at her. "That's an excellent name," Rey told her. "I'm Rey."

"And I'm Padmè Solo," Padmè told her.

The villager spoke again, as if asking a question. "She would be honored to know your family name too, Rey," C-3PO translated.