"How much further?" Poe asked, weakly.

"You don't need to ask that question so many times." Anakin said.

"I just crawled out of a crash, you know?" Poe said, defensively.

"I know, but you ask the same question too frequently for my liking." Anakin said.

"I thought Jedi were supposed to be patient." Poe teased.

"And I also keep reminding you that I'm technically NOT A JEDI YET." Anakin said, annoyed.

"Sorry, sorry! Didn't mean to poke the wrong wampa there." Poe apologized.

"Besides, you don't need to ask that anymore since we're here." Anakin said, pointing at the ship. Not long after that, Anakin noticed the corpse of a warrior laying on the ground.

"Aunt Mara?" Anakin called out in concern.

"Wait, aunt? Your aunt is here?" Poe asked, perplexed.

"Yeah, and she's my master." Anakin said.

It didn't take long for Mara to walk outside and take notice of Anakin with Poe.

"Anakin, I-... you found him! Nice work!" Mara congratulated.

"Yeah, now that the reunion's out of the way, we have to hurry up and find Finn and my droid." Poe said, impatiently.

"Of course! Come inside. Anakin, please take care of Dameron." Mara instructed. Anakin nodded and asked "What about you?"

"I'm gonna track down Jaina and see if she needs assistance. That warrior gives me a bad feeling." Mara said.

"Yeah. We had to deal with one ourselves." Anakin confessed. Mara adopted a look of concern. "Are you hurt at all?"

"Just a little bruising I think. Other than that, I'm okay." Anakin said.

Mara sighed in relief. "Alright, you're definitely staying here and letting yourself rest. I'll be back soon. Please stay safe." Mara said before leaving.

"Well, at least she seems friendly." Poe said, trying to break the silence.

"Yeah, that's my aunt for you." Anakin responded.

"Are they gonna find them?" Poe asked.

"Don't worry about that right now. Just let me-"

"Don't worry about it?! How can I not worry about this?! My friends are out there somewhere and the First Order's going after them with everything they've got! " Poe exclaimed.

"We know! That's why we came here!" Anakin said, irritated.

"Do you really expect me to rely on some kids and their aunt?!" Poe said with exasperation.

"First of all, we're not kids! Second of all, I saved your life not too long ago!" Anakin argued.

"Oh, so you expect gratitude?" Poe asked, sarcastically.

"No, but it would be nice." Anakin said.

"Look, this mission has gone on for long enough and we don't have time for this! We need to go out there, find my friends, and get the map!" Poe argued.

"That's what my aunt and sister are trying to do!" Anakin argued, more angry this time.

"Well, what happens if the First Order brings in something they can't handle?!" Poe asked.

"They will." Anakin answered. "How do you know? Huh? How?!" Poe asked.

"If something does happen, they'll find a a way out of it!" Anakin said. Looking at the pilot, he took a deep breath and calmed himself. He shouldn't be arguing with him over this. The man's been through a lot. Anakin should've been more patient with him. Because he wasn't, the man snapped.

"Hey... I'm sorry. It was wrong of me to tell you how to feel when your friends aren't safe." Anakin apologized.

"Uh... thanks." Poe said, not sure how to feel about everything. "I uh... I'm sorry too." He continued.

"I know it's a lot to ask of you right now, but... please trust my family. They'll figure it out one way or another... I know they will."

***

Jaina watched the men take the astromech to some kind of stand where a fat, flat-faced alien seemed to be in charge. Jaina suspected he was in charge of rations. She could already sense the stench of greed and selfishness radiating off of him. She figured that now was her chance. She marched up to the two men.

"Hey! Let that droid go!" Jaina spoke.

"Back off, sleemo!" One said. "We're tryna sell this droid here, and we ain't letting it go!"

"Well, that droid's not yours to sell! Answer me this: where'd you get it from?!" Jaina asked.

"We found it in the desert alone! This thing has no owner! So, leave us alone, bitch!" The man continued.

"Miss, this is a place of business. Leave before I make you." The alien in charge of the stand said. Jaina was beyond furious at these people. The urge of punching them was strong with her, but she needed to calm her nerves. Jaina had to go about this in a smart way. But how was she gonna make them give her the droid. After a moment, she had an idea. Jaina held out her hand and waved it in front of them.

"The droid is not for sale." She said. Normally, she hated using mind tricks, but it was necessary, these people were being stubborn, and she had no time to waste.

"The droid is not for sale." The men repeated, the man behind the stand looking on in confusion.

"You will give the droid to me." Jaina instructed.

"We will give the droid to you." They then proceeded to release the droid and walk away. The droid rolled over to Jaina, expressing its gratitude in beeps.

"Are you alright?" Jaina asked the small droid. When the droid released affirmative beeps, she smiled. This might be easier than she thought.

"If you don't mind me wondering, do you have a master named Poe Dameron?" Jaina asked.

The droid released confused and suspicious beeps.

"No. I'm not a First Order spy. I was sent here to rescue him. I... actually kind of look up to him." Jaina said with a slight hint of bashfulness. The droid released a whistle which made Jaina laugh.

"No, no! I don't have a crush! He's way too old for me! Not that he's old or anything! I just... hope to be a pilot myself one day and I've always wanted to meet people like him." Jaina said.

After another few moments, the droid confessed that he was indeed Poe's droid and that his designation was BB-8.

"BB-8, huh? Okay, BB... do you... know where Poe is?" Jaina asked. The droid shook its head and released more beeps.

"Captured, huh? Well, I don't want you to be too excited, but I think he escaped. My brother and I think he had help, and-" She stopped talking when BB-8 began beeping excitedly. It seemed to be focused past her. Did it even listen to what she said?

"Woah, hey! I said calm down!" Jaina said before being nudged by the small droid.

"Okay, okay! I'm turning arou-..." Jaina stopped when she noticed what BB-8 was looking at. She turned to see a man crouched down, drinking water from a large trough that should only be used by animals, and there happened to be a Happabore drinking right next to him. Jaina's disgust dissipated when BB-8 started exclaiming about the man's jacket and about how it belonged to Poe.

END OF CHAPTER 12