Chapter Text
With one hand raised in the air and the other tucked under your head, you held a tool up with some help from The Force. Your eyes stayed locked on the tool, even though you knew you could keep it elevated in the air. As you lay there in your simple bed, you wondered why you ever gave up your Jedi training. If you remembered correctly, you were well on your way to becoming a master. You were good, ranked among some of the best. Many told you how they impressed with your abilities. Sometimes you wanted to go back.
Suddenly, a loud noise filled your ears. Your focus was lost almost instantly. Your hand dropped from the air, tool following with it, hitting you right in the face.
“Damn it,” you grumbled to yourself as you sat up.
You flung the tool across the room, not caring about where it landed. With the interrupting noise still going on, you made your way to the door that led to outside. The sand that surrounded your home swirled around as multiple ships flew over you. You watched as they landed a good distance away from you, in the nearest village. You began to shake your head, disgruntled by the disturbance by the noise these ships caused. With your arms crossed over your chest, you made your way back inside.
Your home was small, but it was enough for you. The “house”, if one could even call it that, consisted of one room that held everything you could need. It was better than nothing. It was a place that was far enough from the village, but still close enough to where you could see the village. There were a few other homes close to yours, but you barely noticed them.
As an ex-Jedi, living on Tatooine was perfect. Nobody knew you there and you found it rather peaceful. You held the life of an average mechanic at a local shop. Sure, it wasn’t everyone’s dream job, but you considered it better than other things.
For six months, this had been your life.
Being on your own had its perks. You didn’t have anyone else but yourself to worry about, all while being free to do whatever you wanted. But it did get lonely. You hadn’t seen your parents since you went into training with the Jedi when you were a kid. You didn’t bother trying to contact them, as they’d probably be ashamed of your choice.
You didn’t mind being alone. You liked not having to answer to anyone and having your own space in your home. Back with Jedi, you still had your own space, but it still came with having to answer to someone else. The loneliness did set in, especially now that you were getting used to living this kind of life. As much as you liked living a life on your own, there was part of you that wished for something more. You had made friends with other Jedi in the past, but with leaving the Jedi, came leaving those friends behind as well. You considered it a small price to pay to earn the freedom you always desired. Sometimes, you couldn’t help but think about how your life would be if you just stayed with the Jedi. Would you actually be happy like others had told you? Was it actually the best path for you and you made the wrong decision in leaving?
You didn’t have the answers, and at that point, you didn’t want them. The path you chose was what you wanted to focus on, not the past and the constant “what ifs” that lingered in your mind.
Now that the ships had destroyed the peacefulness that you had before, you weren’t about to try and recreate it. It didn’t help that you were now mildly upset from being disturbed. You grabbed your cloak off the hook hanging on the wall and threw it on. Underneath the hook on the wall, stood a small shelf with plenty of your belongings sitting there. On the top shelf was a silver-lined object, that barely did anything except collect dust. Your eyes stayed locked on it, knowing you couldn’t keep avoiding the lightsaber forever.
You hadn’t touched the lightsaber since your departure from the Jedi. It sat there everyday since you moved in. You didn’t feel like it was yours, but you knew it would be a mistake to go back to try and return it. Without thinking, you picked it up. The cool feel of the metal took you back to the day you got the saber.
“This is your lightsaber, guard it with your life and use it when necessary,” your master told you as he stood at your level, handing you the silver object.
You took the weapon into your small hands, beaming from ear to ear. It was a huge moment for you and the rest of the kids standing there with you. You gave your master a solemn nod and he gave you a sincere smile as he pat your shoulder. Your eyes gazed upon your newest gift, knowing that this was a big stepping point for you and the other kids who had become your friends. You weren’t a kid anymore. Or at least you thought. You were moving up in the ranks, which meant more training, which meant no more kid’s stuff.
Even though you knew you had to be serious for the upcoming training, you couldn’t help but smile once more. You looked to your left, grinning at the taller, raven-haired boy next to you who everyone thought was so special. He glared at you with an arched eyebrow, and then proceeded to face forward. You never could tell what was up with him, but it didn’t bother you at that moment.
The lightsaber meant everything to you. You repeated your master’s words to yourself, promising yourself that you wouldn’t let anything happen to it.
You blinked quickly, snapping out of the memory that just invaded your head. You sighed, realizing that you did keep your promise. Your eyes met the silver weapon once more before clenching it in your hand and walking outside.
——
Since the ships that flew over your house disturbed your peace, you decided to take a walk to the village. The lightsaber was hidden under your cloak and hung from your belt. It kept hitting your thigh as you walked, which quickly got annoying.
A few unfamiliar ships were sitting outside of the village. Your eyes glared at the ships, as they were the ones that flew over your house. The village was crowded as you walked through its streets. Nobody bothered talking to you, which you didn’t mind. You barely knew anybody there, except for the other workers at the mechanic shop and a few of the loyal customers. You hardly came to town except for work and to occasionally get a drink.
This time was one of those occasions.
The bar was moderately crowded, and you were able to snag yourself a seat along the main counter. One of the bartenders immediately took your order and you were left waiting. Usually, the bar was loud, but today was different. There was still some noise floating around, but there was a certain tensity that covered the entire room. Your eyes scanned the room as you waited for your drink. In the corner of the room stood a couple stormtroopers, talking with each other. Stormtroopers were an everyday occurrence in the village. Ever since the fall of the Empire, it wasn’t unusual to see Stormtroopers in villages. But you knew they weren’t the ones that made the bar so tense.
In the middle of the room was a mandalorian sitting with someone else at a table. Bingo.
Mandalorians were one of the most feared beings in the galaxy. You’d never once met one, and didn’t really want to. They were the enemy of the Jedi, and seeing as you used to be a Jedi, it made sense that you didn’t think about talking to one. You still considered it to be kinda cool that there was a mandalorian in the room. They were legendary across the galaxy, despite being feared by everyone.
Your drink was set down on the table in front of you, and you turned back around to take a sip. You feel yourself relax a little as the liquid hit your tongue. As you set your drink down, your hand slips under your cloak, feeling the lightsaber at your hip. You knew better than to let your saber be seen in public. Your hand moved under the cloak, making sure the weapon was secure in its spot so no one could accidentally steal it or something. You turned your head back to the crowd of people sitting out in the rest of the room. The mandalorian still sat in the same spot you found him in, but the stormtroopers were gone.
Suddenly, you were tapped sharply on the shoulder which caused you to turn around, jumping as you did so. The two stormtroopers that you saw earlier were standing right next to you. Your eyes were wide, but you remained calm.
“Can I help you?” You politely asked.
The two stormtroopers didn’t know what personal space was at this point as they looked upon you. One of your arms rested against the bar and you were leaned back slightly to try and keep some distance between you and the white figures.
“We were suspicious of some of your activity over here so we thought we should check it out,” one of them told you, their voice monotone but not intimidating in the slightest.
You rose one eyebrow. “What activity? I’ve been enjoying my drink for the last few minutes.”
The one closest to you tilted their head. “You were fidgeting and moving around suspiciously. You had a hand under your cloak like you’re trying to hide something.”
Even though you knew they could find your lightsaber, you didn’t sway from standing your ground.
“Well, I’m not hiding anything if that’s what you think,” you replied, beginning to turn away from them, back to your drink.
The stormtrooper’s hand reached out and grabbed your forearm, keeping you in your place. The one behind the one closest to you was now holding a blaster. Your heart started to beat faster.
“We think you are hiding something and we’d like to know what it is,” the stormtrooper grumbled.
You jerked your arm toward your body, but the stormtrooper kept his grip firm.
“Let go of me,” you demanded, pulling your arm back again.
The blaster was now aimed at you. The stormtrooper’s hand reached down to where your cloak was resting on your thigh, grabbing the thin fabric. In that moment before the fabric was pulled away, you lifted your free hand and force pushed the stormtrooper, causing him to fly across the room. You instantly gasped, surprised that you had just done that. Before the other stormtrooper could shoot the blaster, you heard the sound of another blaster shot that knocked him down to your feet.
You whipped your head around to see the once seated mandalorian standing with a blaster pointed in your direction. He lowered his blaster and came walking toward you. The whole bar was in a panic, some quickly rushing out of the place while others stayed to spectate. You looked down at the stormtrooper who lay at your feet with a smoking hole through his chest.
A hand came to rest on your shoulder, which caused you to look up.
“Are you alright?” The Mandalorian asked you, his voice monotone like the stormtroopers’, but intimidating.
You nodded your head quickly. “Yeah, I just-“
Before you could finish your sentence, the stormtrooper you had thrown across the room got up. Both you and the Mandalorian had your attention set to the stormtrooper. The stormtrooper raised his blaster toward the two of you, while talking into the comlink on his arm.
“All units stand down, this shouldn’t take long,” he mumbled, but still loud enough to where you could hear him.
Without hesitation, the Mandalorian raised his blaster and shot the stormtrooper, knocking him to the ground once more. He turned to you.
“We have to get out of here,” the Mandalorian told you. “Follow me, I can get us out of here.”
With no question about it, you followed the Mandalorian out of the now very noisy bar. Out in the sandy streets of the village, you and the Mandalorian scouted out your surroundings. You only scouted for a few seconds before a stormtrooper rounded the bar’s corner and spotted you.
“All units move in, I see them,” the stormtrooper commanded into the comlink.
You and the Mandalorian took off running in the opposite direction, which was near the same spot you entered the village. Blasters were being fired at you as you sprinted down the sandy streets, hoping you could make it back to your home.
“M-My home is just outside of the village,” you panted. “I-I think we can make it.”
You didn’t know why you decided to talk while running, especially in your situation. As he was running, the Mandalorian would quickly turn around and shoot at the white armored men.
“No, my ship’s closer. We’ll be safer there. The troopers would just follow us to your house,” he explained.
You wondered why he wasn’t sounding tired. But he made a good point. At this point, you didn’t care if you were working with the enemy, as long as you could escape these damn stormtroopers. You were coming up on the spot where you had seen all the ships that flew in before. You both started to slow down as you approached all of the ships. The Mandalorian led you to his ship, which already had its ramp down. You had a few seconds to develop some sort of plan.
“Get inside, I’ll fend them off,” the Mandalorian ordered.
You shook your head. “There’s too many of them. You go start the ship, I’ll stop them.”
Before the Mandalorian could protest, you reached your hand past your cloak, pulling out your lightsaber. You pressed the button and the blue saber lit up. The Mandalorian didn’t think to ask any questions as he ran past you and into the ship. The stormtroopers caught up with you and shot their blasters, only for you to dodge all of their attacks. You held your hand out to them like you had before, throwing a bunch of them to the ground with the force. This caught a lot of them off guard, but shots were still being fired at you.
It didn’t take long for the Mandalorian’s ship to get started. You began moving back, inch by inch, defending yourself from the blaster shots until you made it to the ramp of the ship. Once you were on the ramp, it began to close, indicating that you were safe.
You found yourself falling back to the ground of the ship, sitting there to at least catch your breath. The ship made its way into the air, traveling to any planet but Tatooine.