Eli.

I heard a warm voice faintly call my name. It sounded so familiar, but I couldn't quite point it out.

Eli.

The voice grew closer, and my eyes scrambled in the darkness as I tried to find where it was coming from.

"Eli, wake up."

My body was slightly shaken, and my eyes finally pried open. I squinted as light flooded my eyes, and my blurred vision slowly re-stabilized and focused on Qimir that was hovering over me. He was trying to keep a stoic look on his face, but I still saw the hint of amusement in his eyes.

How long has he been trying to wake me up?

I stared back at him in confusion as I tried to process if I was dreaming. I tried to move, but a pain suddenly shot across my shoulders and back, assuring me that I was, indeed, awake.

Qimir made way to let me slowly sit up, and I groaned how every inch of my body ached with every movement. My face twisted in discomfort as I tried to move all of my joints one at a time, just to make sure that nothing was out of place.

I tried to remember what I even dreamt of last night, and found it odd that I couldn't. It was probably the first time that I had a dreamless night. Thinking about it, it was probably because my body was just so exhausted that it preferred to sleep like a dead log.

Qimir placed some folded clothes on my side and I was quick to recognize those as my black turtleneck and black coat. I looked at him in confusion, and only then did I realize that he was all dressed up.

But not in a good way.

He was dressed raggedly, just like how he did back at Olega when I first saw him. It was kind of odd seeing him in that outfit again, since for the past few days he was rather neat and tidy looking. Was there a reason for him to have to be dressed like this?

I raised my brows at him.

"Going somewhere?" I asked with a bit of sarcasm.

"We're going somewhere." He corrected. "Get dressed. We're leaving in ten minutes."

****

"I didn't even know there was a path here." I said over the waves, pertaining to the rocky pathway that cut across the ocean, starting from the shore and straight to a small rocky island.

"The tide goes low every three days. It's the only time this path appears."

I nodded in understanding as I looked around, only then realizing that indeed, the tide had significantly dropped for about a good six feet. And as we got closer and closer to the island, I started to glimpse a starship that was well hidden behind some tall rocks. It was probably why I never noticed it despite having already spent days here.

"How did you even get a ship like this?" I asked in awe as I realized that it was bigger than I initially thought. I touched the cool metal of one wing as I studied the structure of the ship in general. Well, it could still be considered as a small starship, but the fact that it had two cockpits separated by what I assumed was the power core made the design more broad and bulky.

It would be hard to steal something like this without being noticed, I wondered.

"I didn't steal it," Qimir immediately said as if he had read my mind. He smiled smugly as he climbed up onto the cockpit on one side. "I got it from a barter, fair and square."

"What kind of barter is worth a ship?" I muttered under my breath as I climbed on my side of the cockpit. The more things I knew about Qimir, the more suspicious he got because how could a mere shopkeeper and a Jedi runaway even afford something like this?

As soon as I was settled in, the glass panel closed shut, and I cluelessly looked at the dozens of controls in front of me.

I'll be honest. I had no idea how to fly a ship.

"Uh, Qimir....?"

"Don't worry, you don't have to do anything." His voice crackled on the intercom, and he sounded as if he was stifling a laugh. I rolled my eyes as the ship started to roar as it powered up, and soon enough we were up in the air, the ocean I started to get acquainted with slowly getting smaller beneath my feet.

****

Alderaan.

I had never seen a city this beautiful.

Even from above, it felt like the buildings could poke right through ships as they towered high above the clouds. But despite of the high-tech looking roads and buildings, the city was still lush with nature and was comfortably surrounded by tall mountains.

It looked rather peaceful, and was a vast contrast from all the other planets I had been to.

As we landed onto the docking bay, I already expected some dock guards to approach and look for our papers but much to my surprise, nobody even paid attention to us.

Qimir immediately went to me as soon as we got off the ship.

"Is this the perk of having a legally owned ship?" I asked, motioning towards the lack of attention from the dock guards. Qimir chuckled.

"Alderaan is quite a peaceful place, so they see no need to be guarded at all times." He proceeded to take off the bobby pins he was using the keep most of his long hair away from his face. "Plus, this is a highly commercialized planet, so they are open to everyone. Provided you don't cause any trouble, of course."

He roughly ran his hand through his hair, shaking it so it became poofy and messy. I couldn't help but look at him in a mix of shock and amusement, not used to his now-complete "I'm just a shopkeeper" look.

"What the hell...." I didn't know whether to be apalled or impressed. Looking at him this way, who would even think that he was actually powerful ex-Jedi?

"Disguise," He winked. "And you..."

He flicked the tip of my large hood that was over my head. "You can take this off. You look absolutely suspicious that way."

I just rolled my eyes as I took off the hood, and he just smiled as he started to lead the way towards the center of the city.

***

Qimir seemed to know this place quite well. Despite the complicated intersecting roads, he knew exactly where to turn left or right as if he already had a destination in mind. And true enough, we eventually arrived at a pub, which bustled with all sorts of creatures happily drinking here and there.

"What are we doing here?" I asked in confusion as I stared up at the big "Welcome Travellers!" sign at the front. I wondered why we had to go all the way to Alderaan just to have a drink.

"I'm meeting with an acquaintance for a moment." He grabbed my hand and placed 2 credits in it. "Get yourself a drink. Keep yourself busy, but stay away from trouble."

I just gave him an are-you-kidding-me look, but he barely took notice of it and quickly went inside the pub. I was annoyed that I felt like a child being babysat. Did he really have to tag me along if he was just going to cast me aside like this?

Anyway, I headed into the pub as well to get myself whatever these 2 credits could get. I settled for a basic blue tonic, then decided to stand idly at one end of the bar as I tried to look for Qimir amongst the crowded place. I eventually spotted him seated at a table in one corner, talking to a man whose back was turned to me. I saw Qimir reach into his bag and covertly handed over something that looked like small vials of herbs and liquids. The man checked it carefully before promptly keeping it into his own pouch.

The exchange didn't seem like much, but the way they were so seriously talking gave me the hint that this meeting was more than just exchanging some herbs and spices.

"Hello, miss." A human male suddenly appeared by my side, tearing my attention away from Qimir.

He reeked of alcohol and just one look at him, I could definitely tell he was already tipsy. I flashed him a look of disgust before turning around, refusing to even acknowledge him.

"Hey! I'm talking to you." He harshly grabbed my wrist, practically yanking me to face him again. I glared at his hand that dared touch me, but before I could even spit in his face, Qimir appeared and gripped the man's arm.

An oddly friendly smile was plastered across his face, contrast to his bulging arm that seemed like it would rip out the man's arm any minute.

"Mister, I think you got the wrong person. She's with me."

The man glanced between him and I, as if gauging if we were worth the trouble.

Fortunately, he didn't think out of his ass and let go of me, lifting up his hands in surrender.

"Alright. I just thought if she was for sale."

I actually scoffed at that. I was wrapped head to toe in clothing, and he still confused me with a prostitute?

"How about you buy a brain for a change--" I started, but Qimir was quick to cover my mouth. He didn't let go until he had completely dragged me out of that pub.

"I told you to stay out of trouble," he scolded. I rolled my eyes.

"It wasn't my fault."

He sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Next time if a man grabs you like that, rather than running your mouth, just go kick him in the nuts."

"I would've done exactly that if you didn't show up."

"Good." he smiled. I bit back a smile as well as I liked that we were on the same wavelength for once. It felt nice to actually get along once in a while.

The sounds of several boots suddenly emerged from somewhere, as if a group of at least five people were arriving. Qimir was quick to pull me deep into a narrow alley at the side of the pub to hide. He put a hand over my mouth to muffle my loud breathing, and I could only stare at him in confusion at why we were suddenly hiding.

As the group passed by, I realized from their clothes alone who they were. Plus, the lightsabers hanging on their belts gave it all away.

Jedis.

They were busy laughing and talking amongst themselves as they went into the pub, completely oblivious of two fugitives hiding in their vicinity.

As soon as they were out of sight, Qimir finally took his hand off my mouth. Only when my attention was back to him did I realize how terribly close we were. Due to this ridiculously narrow alley, we were literally chest to chest, and Qimir's other hand was resting on my waist. I was also late to realize that I actually had my hand laid on his chest.

It was as if my breathing started to become labored just at the fact that our faces were only a few inches apart. And I knew Qimir felt that too, because I felt his heart jump a few times.

His eyes momentarily glazed over as his eyes dropped to my lips.

I cleared my throat to clear the thickening air, causing us to snap out of our trance. We removed our hands from each other at the same time. He grabbed my wrist as he started to briskly walk away from the building.

"I thought we didn't have to hide here." I questioned as we walked through the streets.

"They may not recognize our faces, but they will recognize our force." He explained. "And for the both of us, nothing good will come out of that situation."

"Are they going to arrest us?"

"Worse," he stopped to look at me dead in the eyes. "Once they find out what you're capable of, they'll brainwash you and make you believe their lies. They'll try to control you, and if they can't, they'll throw you away like they did with me."

My brows furrowed as I tried to process his words. "What I'm capable of....?"

He paused for a moment as if he just accidentally said something he wasn't meant to. This only poked my curiosity further.

"Qimir, do you know something that I don't?"

He pursed his lips in thought, as if wondering if he should answer that or not. I grabbed the sleeve of his arm as I stared at him dead in the eyes, indicating that I wasn't going to allow him to avoid this question this time.

"Tell me, Qimir. What am I capable of?"

His eyes softened as he returned my gaze, almost as if he was sorry that he had to tell me this way.

"That holocron you told me about..." he started carefully, as if tasting the words in his mouth before giving them to me.

"That holocron was a sith holocron. And the fact that you were able to activate it.... Eli, it means you're attuned to the dark side of the force."

****

[A/N]:

First the hutts, then the Jedi.
Looks like Qimir will have to work double time protecting his bby girl 😩

Eli honey, how is your life so messy 😩