10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Rey meditated the best she could, but found it difficult. Her brain spun with Kylo's words- and what about you, are you going to face the truth of your family, Rey Skywalker? She didn't want to face the truth of her family. She didn't want to be Luke's daughter. Being Anakin's granddaughter wasn't the worst thing, for some reason she could accept that. Perhaps it was that a grandparent always seemed so distant to her, a stranger more than a relative. But her father? Rey always imagined her father as a struggling trader, working hard to get enough money to return to her. She didn't imagine Luke Skywalker, hermit. Or even Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight, not even a decade older than her. Rey didn't like the truth of her family. She did not want to face it.

But what choice did she have? She couldn't just refuse to go to the stupid dinner with her grandparents. She kind of wanted to go to a dinner with grandparents. Rey only wished her father, the father who left her as a child on Jakku, didn't have to be there as well.

She knew she shouldn't blame this Luke for her father's actions, but it was so hard. And beyond that it was just plain awkward! Rey didn't know how to have a father, especially not one so young. It just… it just… it was just hard.

But Rey was used to a hard life. Her father left her to get used to a hard life. So when Rey left her quarters and found Luke waiting outside she didn't object. She just walked on and let him follow behind her.

"Rey, can we please talk?" He finally sighed as they took a taxi towards the Senatorial Apartments. Rey didn't openly look at him, but she saw him clearly. They looked nothing alike she decided, which was comforting. All they shared was the Force, and the Force belonged to everybody. "I know it's hard, but you can't just ignore me."

Rey looked up, her face stoic. "I'm not ignoring you. I simply have nothing to say. You're my father. You won't father me for another decade or so. Simple. Nothing else must be said."

Luke felt like he needed to say something, anything, but he didn't know what. He wanted to know his father and daughter, but neither would give him a chance. It was frustrating, but Luke had patience. If he could get through to Darth Vader he could get through to Anakin and Rey. He just had to stay patient.

"You don't find things like this in the desert," Rey noted looking at the apartment complex with awe. The whole planet just seemed to be one huge city, which Rey thought impossible. But the vast wealth of the place was astounding. How could she be related to someone who lived in a place like this?

"No you don't," Luke agreed, and Rey was reminded that their childhoods hadn't been all that different. They'd both been kept from their fathers for their own protection. They'd both been raised to the desert and knew its harshness. They were too alike; it bothered Rey. "Weird to think my mother was once a queen."

"I have no idea what my mother was," Rey whispered unable to stop herself. As soon as the words came out she regretted them though, because Luke dawned a guilty look.

Luke held her eyes as he whispered, "I know, and I'm sorry."

Rey wanted to say that it wasn't his fault, but the words were unreachable. Perhaps Luke hadn't done it, but he would. The man before her would leave his daughter on Jakku. He would put Rey's safety before others and get her mother killed. Luke hadn't, but if the situation was right, he would.

Luke and Rey remained silent as they found their way up to Senator Amidala's apartment. Outside they were greeted by a familiar droid. "Hello. I am C-3PO…"

"Human-cyborg relations." Luke heard it so many times he easily finished the sentence. "Where's R2?"

C-3PO looked stunned. "My! You really are from the future. The creator said you knew me in the future but I just couldn't believe it."

Rey and Luke got amusement from the way he waddled in excitement. They followed him into the apartment which seemed larger than any city they'd ever known. The place was huge, open, and beautiful. Neither could believe they were related to the people who actually lived there.

R2-D2 rolled over, letting off a series of whistles and beeps that made Rey laugh. Luke turned to her surprised "I didn't realize you had any droids."

"I don't," Rey admitted. She didn't have much of anything at all. "But I picked up binary on Jakku, along with quite a few other languages as well. Many species still don't like speaking Basic and it was a useful skill to have."

"I know over 6,000 languages," C-3PO boasted. Rey chuckled at how little the droid could change in fifty-five years. Give him a red arm and Rey could be back in her time.

Anakin rounded the corner as C-3PO spoke, and was less than amused by his droid. "And sometimes I wish I had forgotten to give you a mouth to speak them with. You were supposed to show them in, not drive them out."

"What do you mean it's not too late to pull my voice box out!" C-3PO objected to R2's whistles. Rey laughed, and followed her master into the main area, away from the droids. Her eyes scanned the room as she did, and she couldn't help but be impressed. The place was beautiful beyond compare. If this was just an apartment what did a palace look like?

"I'd give up on trying to build that astromech droid Rey," Anakin rolled his eyes, but they all knew he was amused by the droids. "Once you make them they never do shut up."

BB-8 did tend to be a chatterbox, but Rey liked that. She had far too much silence on Jakku. Luke too remembered what good company R2 had been on Degobah and wouldn't get rid of his droid for the world. Perhaps they weren't technically living, but they were as good friends as any.

"Don't listen to Ani, R2 and 3PO are wonderful," a woman called rounding the corner. Padmé wore more modest clothes than always, just a simple silk gown which carefully outlined her pregnant belly. Rey found herself trying not to think of how it was her father in there, but Luke could barely look away. It was too odd.

Padmé was beautiful, and Rey was embarrassed that Anakin would compare them. Padmé was gorgeous and soft in every way Rey was not. Her hair was pulled up in an intricate design, and Rey suddenly wondered if her buns looked stupid. They'd always been practical, but certainly didn't make her beautiful the way Padmé's hair did.

Rey's thoughts were interrupted by a hug from the women in question. She froze for a moment, but eventually melded into the woman's arms. Padmé was warm, kind, and loving-exactly what a grandmother should be. Rey approved.

Luke felt a tear drip down his face when Padmé turned to hug him. He was being hugged by his mother. He was being hugged by his mother for the first time in his life. He couldn't believe it. He just couldn't believe it.

"Come," she prompted, smile wide across her beautiful face. "Dinners ready. We can talk at the table."

Rey followed quickly, but Luke was too shocked to move. He'd just met his mother. He had a mother. Anakin noticed and, trying his best to make the night good for Padmé, spoke with words braver than him. "Come on, don't keep your mother waiting."