The Art of Getting By | Poe Dameron [ 2 ]

eight

08 | ahch-to gone astray

"SO, WHO DO WE BELIEVE?"

AHCH-TO ISLAND-

Han was, quite frankly, getting tired of the fresh air and the salty scent of the ocean that Ahch-To provided him. It had been over three weeks of being stuck in the same place- no extra mission to go on, no smuggling job that took them across the galaxy, just a long con game that seemed to be going nowhere. Not to mention that it had been days since any contact had been made with the Resistance.

Rey had not so subtly dropped a bombshell on Luke a couple of days earlier, and since then, had been training with the Master Jedi in an attempt to try and learn the ways of the Force to help her friends. The situation was growing more dire with every day that the Resistance didn't reach out to Han and Rey was another day in which it was getting harder for Han to lie and pretend like everything was fine.

The man was pretty sure that Rey had already seen through the facade, the lie that everything was going to be fine and was fine in the moment. But the two of them both knew she was trying to listen to him and the idea that the Resistance was fine for both of their sakes.

Because if either of them lost that small sliver of hope for even a second, Han knew that it would only go downhill from there. The game would be up, the mission failed. This mission was the hope that the Resistance needed- that the galaxy needed.

Staring out at the crashing waves, Han heard the cheery beeps of R2 from behind him, turning to see Rey walking down the steps of another early morning of Jedi practice, the droid alerting him to her presence. There was already a rather large frown on her face, the smuggler preparing to hear the young woman complain about how awful Jedi training was already- but as dismal as it seemed at the time, it sort of made Han's day. "Hey kid. How'd it go today?"

"Better than yesterday." Rey grumbled, letting out a small sigh as she settled down next to Han, sitting in the grass just below his feet, staring out at the cliffs below. "This time he wasn't actively an asshole." She looked up at Han, who gave a small scoff.

"Once upon a time, that would've been my schtick." He gave a small smile amidst the frustration that was obvious in his eyes, shaking his head as he looked down at the young girl. "But I guess people change. What Luke went through- I couldn't imagine." Han's small smile turned into a hardened expression rather quickly, placing his hand over his mouth as his mind flashed back to the past for a brief moment.

"We all suffered." Rey objected, her stubborn mindset making her still slightly upset at Luke, the Jedi training that he had been giving her not helping the situation either. "Doesn't mean you run away from those who need you the most when the situation gets dire."

"He's still got that much of a chip on his shoulder, kid?" Han settled down next to Rey as his feet settled on a smaller section of the cliff that they were standing on, trying to take in the information of the day. It was the best way to distract himself from the dire circumstances that they were in, and the situation that was growing worse and worse with every second.