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jo-harrington · 1 month ago

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Luminous Beings - Episode 1: A Long Time Ago...

Art by @monologichno || Beta Read by @undead-supernova Part of the @eddiemunsonbigbang

Summary: Eddie Moonsun learned early that if he wanted to be saved, he was going to have to do it himself. The galaxy, the force, fate...they promised nothing but the dirt beneath his feet, and he only ever dreamed of the sky. But they also promised chaos, and chaos is exactly what he got one day, sitting in a cantina on Nar Shaddaa. Chaos in the form of a Star Tours flight attendant who would change his life forever.

Word Count: 3.9k

Pairing: Eddie Munson x OFC (Thalia Trieste)

Warnings/Themes: Star Wars AU, Action, Meet Cute, Fluff, Romance, Mention of Alcohol and Substance Use, Minor Canon Inaccuracies/Adaptation, Politics, Miscommunication

Note: This idea has been a long time coming, mixing two of the fandoms that I adore so much. Star Wars has been a part of my life since I was really young, it was the reason I studied costume design. It only felt right to drop my current Borbo LOML into it. Thanks to everyone who heard me ramble on about the vestiges of this idea for the past, idk, 2+ years, thanks to the Eddie Munson Big Bang for giving me the opportunity and motivation to write it, thanks to @undead-supernova for not only being my beta but for being someone who is barebones in SW knowledge so I can really test how accessible this story is, and thanks to my excellent Big Bang Partner @monologichno for being absolutely on board with my madness and my Original Character.

Although this story has a romantic pairing listed, this is truly Eddie's story and his chance to live the epic adventure he always dreamed.

Luminous Beings Masterlist - Jo-Harrington's Masterlist

Please do not interact if you are not 18+.

Thank you for reading. Enjoy!

Coruscant, 14BBY

This was everything he ever wanted.

And some things he only ever let himself dream of.

Eddie stared upwards at the towering skyscrapers. He let the lights twinkle in his eyes, absorbed all the sounds and smells, and tried not to smile.

This was it.

The moment it all changed.

He was just a small town boy and suddenly he was stepping into a brave new world, a big city with his friends, away from everything he'd ever known.

Away from his only family, his uncle Wane.

It was terrifying but he knew his uncle was proud of him.

Proud that he was gonna make something of himself, more than his father did or, truly, anyone else in the family. Proud that he waited and finished school first. Proud that he let his friends finish school too before springing them from their sad little destinies of putzing about their close-minded community.

Well, maybe not proud of that last one exactly. More relieved that Eddie wouldn't be out in the universe alone and that all of the boys would have each other.

Eddie was a little relieved about that too, to be honest. Jeff, G'areth, and Dayv had been his backbone for years. While other friends moved on, got themselves out and didn't look back, they made sure he knew that they were in it together.

Still, he would miss Wane. Hell, they'd miss each other, more than either of them could ever admit aloud. It’d been years since they had anyone more than each other to rely on.

Wane knew Eddie had a bigger destiny on the horizon and getting out was the first step and the hardest one.

But here he was.

Backpack slung over his shoulder, guitar safely packed away for the big move, lucky vest thrown over comfortable travel clothes.

Out of the pit he called home for the past 20 years. Free to be himself. Finally.

There was a crash behind him and he turned on his heel, idealistic daydreams forgotten, to find his friends standing over a fallen pile of boxes.

“Careful with those!” Eddie hollered and winced as another box crashed onto the durasteel floor of the landing platform.

"Kriff, I'm pretty sure it was part of my drum kit," G'areth ran a hand through his hair and heaved a long sigh.

"We're never gonna pass the cargo inspection if we don't have our shit together," Dayv panicked.

"Here we go," Jeff rolled his eyes as Dayv started heaving and whining about Empire this and trooper that. Eddie waved a dismissive hand and motioned for his friend to start restacking their belongings.

"Listen, hey, listen," Eddie grabbed Dayv by the shoulders to look him in the eye. "Breathe. When the inspector gets here, everything's gonna be ok. We're just a couple of guys coming to Coruscant to play a few gigs at some cantinas, trying our luck to make it big. And if it works out, maybe we'll stay. How many others have tried that before? Huh?"

"Tried and failed."

"You get it," he squeezed Dayv's shoulders and shot him a calm smile. "Bunch of dumb scrapper kids? We're not gonna make it far. In a month, we'll either be slinging Bantha Hash at a diner or fixing shuttle thrusters in some shop in CoCo town."

"I think I'm just nervous, Ed."

"It's alright. I'm nervous too. But what's the worst that could happen? We're not hauling anything illegal." Not yet.

"What if they just send us back?"

"Then at least we made it this far." He clapped a hand on his back.

If Eddie was a betting man, he'd put all of his money that they'd make it even further.

And he'd win.

The inspection went without a hitch, although all three of Eddie's friends nearly shit themselves at the sight of two stormtroopers in the speeder along with the imperial inspection officer. Which meant he did most of the talking.

He did pretty well, if he said so himself. Remained calm, had all of his paperwork in order, made sure to mention his father's old sabacc buddy—Lip Tonrick, a name that he always mixed up—as a contact.

He even got the inspection officer to laugh at a joke about their ship, a clunky old retrofitted defender-class corvette that he affectionately called the Dragonborn, thanks to its scaly red exterior.

Before they knew it, the inspector was off to the next landing platform, and they were in the clear.

Eddie turned to his friends with his arms out triumphantly.

"We're gonna do big things, boys!" he cheered amidst their whooping and hollering. "We're gonna make a name for ourselves."

He was gonna make a name for himself.

Eddie Moonsun. The best smuggler in the galaxy.

Nar Shaddaa, 10BBY

The crew of the Dragonborn walked into the Surly Sarlacc like they did about this time every few months: absolutely exhausted.

But that didn't stop the handful of regulars who recognized them to cheer at their arrival.

They parted ways to talk to familiar faces and get drinks at the bar, then returned to their usual table until it was time for their performance.

It wasn't the nicest cantina on Nar Shaddaa—located in the Red Light sector of the Under City, it had its own set of issues—but being away from the watchful eye of both the Empire and the Hutt Cartel up in the Corellian District meant that you could get away with more.

You couldn't even stop for a slice of pie at the Meltdown Cafe without getting stopped by some sleemo asking questions.

Eddie always preferred the seedier parts of planets though. You could talk to more people, hear interesting stories, and get better paying jobs. Plus, you could find real music, instead of the trendy, commercialized, sanitized entertainment in the tourist traps of the Upper City.

The Surly Sarlacc was just that kind of place. They'd found it on their first excursion on-planet, when they were younger and new to the smuggling game. They didn't have much besides contact with one of Lip’s buddies, but they had a reliable ship and a can-do attitude, so the owner of the Sarlacc took a liking to them. Not only their work ethic, but their music.

"We could have a two-for-one thing happening," he offered. "You do a few jobs for me, and you can play your little band here and we'll call it a cover. Call it even."

"And you'll give us free drinks," G'areth haggled with the Rodian.

"Kid has gumption," was the response, but a quick handshake sealed the deal.

The cantina had been their base of operations whenever they were in the system from that point on.

"If it's not my favorite guys," came a voice from the crowd once they'd gotten settled in at their booth. Thraffort Bing, a small-time Iktotchi spice dealer, elbowed through and took a seat at their table. "How was Jakku?"

"Sandy," Dayv scoffed. "I hate sand."

"I'm not in the business of advertising our travel plans Thraff," Eddie said with a sigh. "Were you looking for something special that we might've acquired at Ponemah Terminal or are you just making smalltalk before you ask us for a bigger favor?"

Thraff placed a hand on his chest in outrage, but dropped the act upon the skeptical glares of the whole crew.

"I might need a hand picking up a shipment from the Pykes," he admitted, immediately earning the groans of all four young men. He held out his hands and tried to play the innocent card. "Hey now, I'll make it worth your while."

"I hate doing deals with the Pykes," Jeff groaned. "You either insult them, or you insult the Hutts."

"They're gossips," Eddie added with a tight, condescending smile. "You remember what happened last time we worked with them, Thraff; the Dragonborn was flagged at every spaceport in the outer rim."

The conversation continued, the boys arguing back and forth with their potential associate until it was time for their set.

That was the real benefit of using the Sarlacc as their base—they could get away from unruly offers like that one.

They were quick to down their drinks and excuse themselves from the uncomfortable conversation.

Smuggling might have been the key to a continued existence for Corroded Coffin, but music would always be their passion.

Once they were up on that stage, things were different. They weren't just dumb kids, trying their hands at smuggling, stumbling their way through one job or another. They were living their dream.

The stage at the Sarlacc was definitely what one could call makeshift. But having some kind of entertainment in your cantina was always a bonus. A lot of the other places that Corroded Coffin performed over the years had dancers, some had in-house bands like theirs—they'd even played a battle of the bands once.

Eddie started strumming his guitar along to the beat, staring past the blinding makeshift spotlights that had been erected and into the crowd. Bodies shifted, heads bobbed, drinks were poured and served quicker than they had been before. The newfound energy in the room was undeniable, and it was all because of them!

And Eddie basked in it.

All of the good feelings, all of the applause, all of the joy and enjoyment, just because of them.

It was the same feeling he got when they finished a job; their benefactors were happy with their swift and discreet services, the smuggled goods always delivered on time and with very little trouble from either the Empire or the cartels.

For the first time in his life he was good at something. They all were.

They played for almost an hour, watching as patrons entered the cantina, stayed for drinks and entertainment, and then left.

And then something unexpected happened.

Among the sea of unrecognizable faces, leathers and homespun clothes, in the seedy underbelly of the Smuggler’s Moon, there was a flash of bright blue and orange.

A human woman with bright blue curls styled fashionably upon her head, and the cleanest jacket Eddie had ever seen in his life, let alone on this planet, proudly bearing a sharp and obvious logo on the sleeve.

What was a Star Tours flight attendant doing here of all places? And dressed so...conspicuously.

The Red Light District was about as far from the spaceport as you could get, and certainly wasn't a place for tourists. He'd seen many unassuming travelers come to Nar Shaddaa for the casinos or the clubs, and then get lured into the depths of the city, only to get robbed or swindled or simply disappear forever. Surely Star Tours gave that warning to their employees; if she just wanted to stop for a drink, she could have it anywhere else.

As he auto piloted through the remainder of the performance, Eddie's eyes stayed locked on her—as did many others with more nefarious purposes than him. He watched as she navigated through the crowd, seemingly unaware of the attention she drew to herself, and approached the bar.

At first, he thought she would sheepishly order a drink and maybe dance, but she tapped on the shoulder of a figure dressed head to toe in black leathers, head obscured by a helmet.

A recipe for disaster. You didn't just tap on people's shoulders.

But the leather-clad stranger turned and greeted the flight attendant enthusiastically, setting an arm around her shoulder to pull her closer to the bar.

What a relief.

Although he no longer needed to keep an eye on the newcomer, Eddie still noticed his eye being drawn to that bright, colorful figure sharing drinks with her friend.

He figured that it was hard not too; once again, she was a seemingly obvious target here amongst a sea of strangers. Once though, towards the end of their set, he glanced up from his guitar to stare at her and his eyes locked with hers as she bobbed her head to the music. A sense of calm washed over him instead of the panic that he expected.

He squinted his eyes a bit to try and see her face a little better through the makeshift spotlights, and found her smiling and laughing along with her friend, who gestured wildly towards the stage. Her eyes shifted away for a moment and she said something, then back to Eddie, and then away again.

Back and forth a few times until she fully turned herself away from the stage.

But not before she gestured at him with an exaggerated clap, as if to say their music was good.

Eddie couldn't help the bashful smile that bloomed on his face.

It was unfortunate for Eddie that the person who'd gotten his attention was such an obvious target, because that meant his buddies had noticed her in the crowd too.

"Come on, you gotta go over there and talk to her," Jeff insisted, hand clamped on Eddie's shoulder.

"I dunno man," he groaned and tried to roll his eyes at the suggestion.

"Did you suddenly become a monk overnight?" Dayv scoffed. "What is this?"

Eddie wouldn't call himself a philanderer—he knew other smugglers who were the biggest whores in the galaxy—but he wasn't exactly picky when it came to bedmates.

None of them were.

It got lonely in space! And there were so many beautiful souls out in the galaxy with stories to tell and moves to make and pleasure to give. Who were they to say no when they were not in the middle of a job and had an actual bed to sleep in, instead of their assigned bunks on the Dragonborn?

But there was something about this woman that felt...different.

Something that told him to go over there, and something that told him that if he did, it might change his life forever.

A feeling in Eddie's gut.

"To hell with your gut feelings, Ed," G'areth punched him in the arm. "Go over there and put the moves on her!"

"She's got blue hair," Dayv added. "You know what they say about girls with blue hair."

"You know what they say about Star Tours Flight Attendants," Jeff hissed the amendment in his ear. "They're always putting out and it's always wild. Now go and get it. This is all of our collective dreams and she smiled at you. Go!"

They all clapped Eddie on the shoulder and pushed him towards the bar.

It was the most nervous that he'd ever been in his entire life.

More than the first time he'd flown the Dragonborn, more than when he'd told Wane he and the guys would be leaving Bracca to start their own adventure despite the watchful eye and iron fist of the Empire, more than running his first job as a smuggler.

More than the first time they'd been hired for a job by Jabba the Hutt himself.

He tried to convince himself that this was just regular jitters, tried to practice pick-up lines in his head. He knew that if it was too strange and uncomfortable, he could just buy this woman a drink and then walk away.

But the moment he was at arm's length of her and her leather-clad friend, that calming feeling returned.

It felt...special. Different. It was addictive, like spice. Brought down all of the defensive walls that he put up and replaced them with tranquility.

Was anyone else feeling this? Or was it just him?

The leather-clad figure nudged the flight attendant and then gestured to him; they muttered something quickly in Huttese and then excused themselves. Eddie couldn't help but watch as they exited the cantina entirely.

Then they were alone.

And he was oddly ok with that.

"You just gonna stand there?" the woman asked with a small smile as she sipped her drink—a bubbling green concoction Eddie happened to favor when he wasn't going for whatever was on-tap. "Or are you gonna order something?"

Eddie immediately stepped forward and tapped his hand on the bar; the bartender was quick to pour him a draft of Gamorrean ale.

"I'm Thalia," the flight attendant greeted as he took a sip. He glanced back at her, keeping his mouth on the rim of his glass as he observed her in close proximity.

She looked...tired.

That was the first thing that came to mind. Something that wasn't so obvious from afar, especially not with her polished exterior. She was about as old as he was—that is to say, not all that old at all, he'd just turned 26 not too long ago—but he saw it in her eyes and her posture and the way that she breathed. Exhaustion practically came off of her in waves, almost as much as the calm did.

She looked as tired as he did when he saw his own reflection. A good sort of tired, a fulfilled tired, but tired nonetheless.

"I'm Eddie," he finally offered in his own greeting. "Eddie Moonsun, nice to meet you."

"Your band played great up there," she said immediately. "You were great. Have you been together for very long?"

"We've been friends since we were kids," Eddie offered and leaned against the bar. "Actually started playing...7 or 8 years ago?"

Thalia snorted a bit of a laugh into her drink and then schooled her expression to something more neutral; Eddie narrowed his eyes at her.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"No, tell me, I can take a joke," he insisted. An interesting thought came to his mind, a bending of logic to try and explain why he felt comfortable here with her. "Had you seen us play when we first started? I wouldn't blame you if you booed."

"No, nothing like that," Thalia dismissed with a wave of her hand.

"Then what?"

She tapped a finger against the edge of her glass and then leaned a little closer to him conspiratorially.

"Awfully brave of you to start a band when the Emperor is so vocal about his hatred of culture." The corners of her mouth quirked, but she leaned back and her eyes shifted around. "Sorry."

"Hey," Eddie laughed. "If you think you're going to find anyone sympathetic to the Empire in here, I've got some news for you, sweetheart."

That was the kind of flirting he craved; the stick-it-to-the-man type that probably wasn’t flirting at all. He was as keen to one-night-stands as the next guy, but a little defiance always translated well in the bedroom. She had gumption; he liked gumption.

Thalia got a glint in her eye and she pulled her shoulders back confidently.

"I'm surprised we're allowed to have music in the galaxy at all," she announced. "The Emperor is a tyrant! Did you ever hear that he shut down all of the artist academies on Naboo? Naboo! That's essentially the birthplace of art in the galaxy."

Eddie tossed his head back and cackled at the fire behind her words.

"You sure you're just a flight attendant?" he questioned playfully. "Seems like you're trying to start a rebellion."

"Maybe not a rebellion." She scrunched her nose and took a sip of her drink. "But I can be a concerned and outraged citizen at times."

Eddie glanced back at his buddies at their table, who all shot him gestures of encouragement, then he looked back. He confidently took a step closer, until he was in close proximity, close enough to see beyond the tiredness again. To notice the plumpness of her lips, to hear her breathing, and see the color of her eyes.

A swirl of browns and greens, organic and wild. Something he wasn't quite used to, especially now in this life he'd made for himself.

"What else are you concerned and outraged about, Thalia?" he asked, voice soft and low.

She stared at him through hooded eyes, and replied seductively, "I'm concerned about how much of a cut you take off a smuggling job, and if I'd be able to afford it."

The impact of her words hit him hard. The realization.

He backed away from her and eyed her suspiciously.

So that was what she was doing on Nar Shaddaa.

"Not even a flight attendant then, huh?" he asked, trying to hide the disappointment in his voice. He should've known that she wasn't interested in him, just what he had to offer.

"No, I am." She nodded, her eyes got soft and apologetic. "Gotta pay the bills somehow."

"Right," he scoffed. He knew how well smuggling paid the bills. "So what cartel are you working with? Crimson Dawn? The Wandering Star Gang?"

"None of them," Thalia shook her head and tried to close the distance between them again, almost desperately. "You could consider me...a freelancer. Or part of a network of them. Someone wants something, we find it for them, work together to help the product get to the destination."

"Lady, I've heard that before," Eddie scoffed and threw back the remainder of his drink. "Before I hauled a hundred tons of Death Sticks to Mondo-Mod's Arena of Doom. Have a nice day."

He slammed his glass down on the bartop and was about to turn and head towards his friends, when Thalia grabbed his arm with a surprisingly strong grip and tugged him back to her.

He looked into her eyes again and really saw the desperation there. He fought the calm feeling this time, choosing instead to try and harness his annoyance.

It didn't matter what she said to him. He would tell her to kark off and find someone else to haul freight across the galaxy.

"I'm telling you the truth," she insisted through gritted teeth. "I'm a one-person operation. There’s a bit of cargo at the Nar Shaddaa spaceport that needs to get to Coruscant and it must not be found by the Empire under any circumstances.

"I know I was kidding around earlier but I'll pay anything for your services. Yours. I know all about you, Eddric Moonsun of Bracca. You and your friends. And I set up this exchange, on this planet, on this day, knowing you'd be here. There isn't anyone else who can take this job. It has to be you."

He was shocked when she mentioned Bracca. Sure, it wasn't like it was a secret if you knew where to look, but in order to protect their families back home, he and his friends kept their cards close to their chests.

So how this...Star Tours flight attendent...knew was concerning.

And why she'd sought him out specifically.

"Me?" he snorted in disbelief. "Why me?"

"Because you might not think so but you have a reputation about you. And you might think you're mean and scary or suave or just a scoundrel...but you’re a good man. You're the kind of person who keeps their eye on a single woman who stands out in a crowd on a dangerous planet like this one to make sure she doesn't get hurt. Or worse."

He practically flinched at how well she'd dished out that observation.

"So when said woman comes to you and asks for your assistance, we both know you'd take the job."

"And what if I said no?" he questioned. "Because I'm about 30 seconds away from going to find my buddy Thraff and accepting a job he offered earlier."

The hand gripping his arm got tighter, and the calmness around him suddenly turned to desperation. It was palpable; he couldn't even explain it. He was about to open his mouth again to question just what the kriff was happening, when he stopped and looked at Thalia.

And she looked at him, tears building up in her eyes as she met his challenge.

"Help me, Eddie Moonsun," Thalia whispered. "You're my only hope."

Next Chapter: Episode 2: Not the Smuggler You're Looking For

The Tag List for Luminous Beings is currently open; please comment/ask/DM to be added.

#eddie munson #eddie munson x oc #eddie munson x OFC #star wars AU #stranger things x star wars #stranger things fic #eddie munson fic #eddie munson big bang #embb #luminous beings st au

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jo-harrington · 8 days ago

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Luminous Beings - Episode 8: Strange Dreams, Stranger Deceptions

Art by @monologichno || Beta Read by @undead-supernova Part of the @eddiemunsonbigbang

Summary: Eddie embarks on one of the most important steps of his journey. An absolute dream...or is it?

Word Count: 6.5k

Pairing: Eddie Munson x OFC (Thalia Trieste)

Warnings/Themes: Star Wars AU, Fluff, Angst, Humor, Romance, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Mention of Alcohol and Substance Use, Minor Canon Inaccuracies/Adaptation, Galactic Politics, Mention of Death, Vague References to Order 66 and the Jedi Purge, Discussion of the Force, Use of Force Abilities, Abstract Spirituality, Light and Dark Sides of the Force, Canon Typical Violence and Injury

Note: Ahhh here we are. Sort of. Second to last chapter. I'm so nervous, so excited for this and what happens in the end. It's been a huge adventure writing this, and these next two chapters in particular. It's always a little emotional when you get near the end. I do have a bit of a deleted scene, not sure if I wanted to share it...maybe over the weekend. It doesn't really add anything but if you ARE a Star Wars person, you might like it.

Luminous Beings Masterlist - Jo-Harrington's Masterlist

Please do not interact if you are not 18+.

Thank you for reading. Enjoy!

Hyperspace, 10BBY

Historically, the crew of the Dragonborn and rules never got along. Unfortunately, they were about to embark on an excursion chock full of rules and customs.

"When we get to the temple, don't touch anything," Thalia explained to everyone as they stuffed supplies into their packs. While the others all nodded intently, Eddie simply had to open his big mouth.

"You sound like my uncle," he complained, earning a scathing glare. "When I was a kid, I used to...never mind, fine."

"And steer clear of any troopers," she continued.

"Got it."

"Because there are a lot of them."

"I said I got it."

"Don't look anyone in the eye."

"Okay."

"And keep your blaster visible at all times."

Everyone looked at her like she'd suddenly grown a second head.

"What?" Eddie scoffed. “You're telling us that we need to be armed on a planet where we might get into trouble if we breathe the wrong way."

"You'd look even more suspicious if you didn't have a blaster," she explained.

"But you never have one," Dayv pointed out.

"I'll be armed another way."

From the depths of her bag, she revealed her lightsaber, causing the guys to scramble to get a glimpse of it. Eddie, of course, had seen glimpses of it in memories through the Force, but he was eager to see it up close. He batted his friends away as all four fought to get to it first.

She passed it around with an eye roll and a laugh before explaining that she made it when she was a youngling. Indeed, it looked like something a child would make, full of the whimsy that only came with a youthful imagination. Concentric and intersecting circles and swirls were etched into the metal of the hilt. But it was patina'd with a mix of rich copper and green from use; beauty that could only be attained by age. It was evidence that the weapon had lived alongside its owner.

They awed over it and held it reverently as it was passed amongst them.

"This is so wizard," Dayv laughed. Eddie sensed a lewd thought going through the younger man's mind and sent a scathing glare his way. Sure, dick jokes were funny, but he doubted Thalia would take kindly to him doing that with her lightsaber.

"It's heavy," G'areth added as it was passed to him. He was clumsy with it, nearly dropping it when he attempted to wave it around. Thalia conspicuously backed away with her hands held out defensively as he carelessly mishandled the weapon.

"It’s not that simple," Thalia explained. "Anyone can have a lightsaber, sure. But using it is another story. It’s heavy in your hand, but when you ignite it, your heart holds all of the strength you need to wield it. It’s not a traditional weapon, which makes it a perfect match for someone attuned to the force."

"Try it Ed," Jeff whispered as he handed the weapon to their fearless leader.

Eddie felt the weight of anticipation fall onto his shoulders as he fully grasped it. For a moment, his self doubt returned, and he hesitated to ignite the weapon. What if he couldn’t do it? What if he didn’t have the strength that Thalia implied?

Not to mention, this lightsaber didn't feel right...it didn’t belong to him.

And that was the reason for this trip, after all.

Thankfully, Benny was the one to put a stop to the turmoil as he shouted from the cockpit.

"Hey!" Everyone jumped at the sound. "We have a rule aboard the Mantis. No lightsabers. Thanks to Miss Not-a-Jedi here. She nearly took one of my arms off in those early days."

"Sorry, Ben," Thalia called back bashfully, trying to hide from the amused stares of the guys. Especially Eddie. "How many times do I have to apologize? I was rusty."

"Rusty, schmusty," Benny scoffed. "You almost took your own eye out! Hey, you guys! Why do you think Thali’s hair is that short? She turned that saber on and a whole hunk of it got shorn off."

Thalia's cheeks glowed with embarrassment as the others laughed at her expense. And Eddie might've pulled her in to press a sympathetic kiss to the side of her head, but he was glad that he was not on the receiving end of a joke like that for once.

“Wait a minute!” G’areth furrowed his brow. “If the empire is hunting Jedi, why are you going to have your lightsaber out all willy nilly. You just said there are gonna be troopers everywhere, right?”

“It's a special planet,” Thalia explained. She took her saber back from Eddie and clipped it to her belt. “The imps have some trouble with the locals, which makes looking for force users a little sticky.”

“This just feels like a trap.”

“What did I say before?” she asked. “About existing right under the empire’s nose?”

“Look how well that worked for us on Coruscant,” Dayv grumbled.

“Everything will be fine,” Thalia insisted. “The Empire would sooner destroy the planet than attempt to get along with the locals. They don’t want an uprising on their hands either, so they’ll intimidate and maybe arrest someone every now and again. But they generally leave everyone alone. That’ll make it easy for us to get by. Get in, get out, like we weren’t there at all. Any questions?”

Her hands were planted firmly on her hips as she glared at the guys.

D5-TN piped up from the charging pad where he and BD-1 sat, and asked if he could hold the lightsaber for Thalia. He suggested hiding her lightsaber in his dome, to be ejected right into her hand if and when she needed it to defend herself. Or attack. BD thought it was ridiculous. The two droids argued, whistling and chirping insults back and forth.

“There will be no…ejecting of lightsabers into the air!” Thalia laughed, putting an end to their argument. When they tried to suggest that she was no fun, she simply rolled her eyes and stalked towards the cockpit.

“That’s a really cool idea, though,” Eddie complimented, earning both enthusiastic and disappointed beeps from the droids. Then, he turned and followed after Thalia.

"Brace yourselves," Benny announced as he got to the cockpit. "We're about to exit hyperspace."

Eddie was not prepared for the veritable blockade that appeared when they dropped out of light speed and the wash of stars pulled away. TIE Fighters and Star Destroyers as far as the eye could see. Shuttles and cargo ships flitted about, both entering and exiting the planet’s atmosphere at regular intervals. It looked like the traffic around a space station, not a planet. Soon enough, they were in the thick of it, joining a long line of ships waiting for their turn to land.

Bob clicked away at his terminal, headset pressed to his ear with one hand as he read off lines of code and explained their reason for being there: a religious pilgrimage and a visit to family that lived in the old market square. Clearance codes were given, credits were transferred from a bogus account with the banking clan, and before long, it was their turn to begin their descent.

The void of the desert was eventually the only thing they knew. Endless stretches of sand, endless stretches of nothing; dry and lifeless. Hopeless and lonely. Logically, they knew civilization was down there, somewhere. It had to be. But the stark contrast between the wall of Imperial interference and complete lack of life was jarring.

The Empire’s message was clear: if you dared come to this planet, there would be no welcome or salvation for you.

"I don't know how you idiots got clearance codes to Jedha of all planets," Bob huffed as he closed comms and looked at them. “But I’m glad it worked.”

Thalia glared at Eddie. "Something tells me we don't want to know.” It had been his contact that had gotten them the codes. "Did you promise priceless tchotchkes to some senator again?"

Eddie cleared his throat awkwardly and answered, "Like you said, you don't wanna know."

Jedha, 10BBY

“Why aren't there any red crystals?”

“Because red isn’t a natural color.”

“Your friend Steev had red.”

“That’s…that's different,” Thalia sighed.

"How is it different?" Eddie demanded as he folded his arms across his chest. “Explain it to me.”

She rolled her eyes, muttering something about "not having time for this right now" under her breath.

And they truly did not have time.

They definitely pressed their luck to get into the Temple of the Whills. It was an ancient Jedi temple that sat above tunnels full of kyber crystals, the object which powered a lightsaber. It was also heavily guarded by stormtroopers. But the Force seemed to be on their side, offering them just the right opportunity for Eddie and Thalia to sneak in. With a convenient distraction orchestrated by their friends.

Now that they were in the depths below the temple, though, Eddie was practically buzzing with energy. Because it was real. It was happening. He was finally getting a lightsaber. A momentous occasion for any Jedi, let alone a wayward, unconventional force-user like him.

He'd been working towards this moment for so long now, but it was still surreal to find himself at the precipice of what could've otherwise only been a dream.

"Red happens to be my favorite color," Eddie protested to Thalia as they continued through the tunnels. "My ship was red, my guitar is red...once all the blue grows out, I was gonna ask if you'd be interested in dying your hair re—ow!"

He stopped in his tracks as she slapped the back of her hand against his chest. He muttered an apology at the annoyed gaze she sent his way.

She unclipped the lightsaber from her belt and with a few twists of the hilt, she revealed a blue kyber crystal inside. Much like the crystals embedded into the stone of the caves around them, it emitted a faint light from within its matrices. As Eddie leaned closer, he felt the faint hum of energy coming from it, much like the ones surrounding them. Its frequency felt distinctly akin to its owner's signature in the Force.

Like it was a part of her.

He hadn't felt it when he held the saber earlier, but with the crystal now revealed, it was clear as day. It was familiar and powerful, it was calm and bright, and it was beginning to feel like home. Just as much a home as his friends were, as Wane was. She was beginning to feel like home, as integral to his existence as the rest of his family.

He couldn't help himself as he erased the short distance between them and kissed her, both of them smiling against each other's lips. It felt a little inappropriate to kiss in a place like this, but he figured that the kyber crystals, if sentient, could overlook the slight disrespect due to the overwhelming crest of emotion he felt.

No wonder the Jedi took a vow to be unfeeling, unattached; it was distracting to feel everything this acutely all the time.

Thalia cleared her throat as Eddie broke away, then gestured to the cave around them. She spoke with a distinct purpose, but Eddie was open to the possibility of her hiding how flustered she’d become. “It doesn’t matter what color you prefer. You'll find the crystal you resonate with the most.”

Eddie hummed with some dismay as she sealed the hilt of her saber and returned it to her belt, but recentered his focus regardless.

Onwards they went deeper into the tunnels.

Thalia had said, as they'd cleared the imperial blockade and made it down to the surface of the planet, that the tunnels were countless and no one, save for the Temple Guardians themselves, knew how deep they truly went.

"It's been hundreds of years since the Jedi regularly visited," she explained. "And it’s been even longer since someone has taken a crystal from these caves."

Of course, she had been wrong. Sort of. They'd encountered Imperial mining equipment earlier in their trek. To Thalia, though, it didn't count; whatever plan the empire had for the crystals was a bastardization of what they were truly meant for.

"What you're about to do, Eddie," she told him as they passed the carelessly-kept mining sites and ventured further into the caves. "Picking your kyber crystal is a sacred ritual. It’s special. You are special."

As nice as it was to be told he was special, he felt the weight of expectation fall on his shoulders. Because Eddie Moonsun was an impatient son-of-a-bantha and wasn't too keen on someone telling him what he should or shouldn't do. He would sooner choose the first crystal that called out to him a little, than wait for the right one just because he was supposed to.

There was a sense of yearning that suddenly filled him as they walked. Not only yearning, but impending fulfillment. This journey, however unexpected, had led him to find a sense of belonging. A sense of purpose. For the millionth time in his life, he found himself cursing the universe, the galaxy, the republic, the empire, for denying him this for so long. He loved his uncle and his friends, he loved the life he lived, but this was something profound. He was part of a bigger whole.

Thalia was right. Maybe it was fate and the will of the Force that made him find it at this point in his life. He appreciated it more. Could cherish and savor it more. It meant something special; he was special.

At that moment, as he truly let the belief sink deep into his heart...he felt it.

It wasn't earth-shattering or life-changing. Actually, in a way, it was. It felt like the slow, burning movement of the molten core of a planet; the endless majesty and purpose, power and grit and emotion. It was grounding and direct, like a sense of purpose and destiny and the will to persevere. He could practically hear the electric strum of guitar strings shredding in his ears, a phantom melody playing just for him.

It felt right.

He wondered, as he sought out the source, if that's what he felt like to those around him. If his friends felt that when he spoke to them, if Thalia felt that in the same way he felt the calm, serene brightness that came from her. If a kyber crystal held the same resonance in the force as their owner. But, he was suddenly at a loss for words.

How could you describe what it was like to suddenly know yourself so utterly and intrinsically? It was impossible.

Eddie took several steps forward, squeezing and shouldering past the few stalagmites that stood in his way, past an assortment of bright and beautiful crystals that begged to be noticed, to a glowing green crystal that sat hidden behind the rest. It was large and multifaceted, jutting proudly and purposefully from the unassuming stone around it. It was beautiful and powerful, and as soon as his eyes glanced upon it, he was sure.

He reached out hesitantly and gently pinched it between his thumb and forefinger. He didn't even need to yank it from the stone, it released almost instantly, as though it was more at home in his possession than the rock from which it was hewn.

And Eddie laughed as he closed his fist around the small crystal, feeling lighter in that moment than he might've felt his entire life.

It belonged to him. He belonged to it.

They belonged.

Bogano, 10BBY

He'd been uncharacteristically silent on the trip back through the tunnels, to the Mantis, and then back to Bogano. Thalia had told the others to give him his space; D5-TN and BD-1 were the only ones who dared interrupt the time he had to meditate with his kyber crystal.

If you could call it meditation.

It was a time of self-reflection and self-awareness that left him feeling more comfortable in his skin than he had his entire life.

It was both strange and empowering.

However, as soon as they touched back down on Bogano, he couldn't stand the seclusion anymore.

"You need to do this alone," Thalia had insisted as she directed him past the edge of camp. They were headed to the small workshop that Master Cordova kept during his time on the planet.

But Eddie knew he couldn't walk this part of his path alone.

"So, is it going to be our lightsaber?" G'areth had snickered when Eddie invited the rest of the guys along.

Dayv scoffed and punched the younger man's shoulder. "Laugh it up, moof head."

"We'd be honored to come," Jeff spoke for them all, with an added whistle of agreement from D5-TN.

Although G'areth had joked about the weapon belonging to all of them, all of Eddie's friends had surprised him by bringing little pieces that belonged to each of them, sacrificed to create his saber.

The little shits had all gone behind his back and asked Thalia what it was they could do to help. Eddie was both annoyed and honored; she hadn't even told him what went into making a lightsaber, just that he'd find what he needed at Cordova's workshop. Which means she also knew he wasn't gonna listen when she insisted he had to do this alone.

The controls came from D5-TN—Dustin made a joke about not needing any controls himself, the traditional buttons and ports all but useless to his organic friends. They couldn't control him even if they wanted to. Everyone sniggered at the joke, even if they knew he was right.

The pommel cap and emitter were from Dayv. Sharpshooter that he was, he sacrificed one of his prized blasters for the parts.

"If I'm as good as I think I am," he said as he laid the pieces on the workbench, "I should be able to shoot with any blaster. Not just my lucky Geddy." Eddie clapped him on the shoulder in thanks.

Next was the focusing ring from G'areth. This one was tricky, and he admitted that he and Jeff had asked Hoppor for help with their contributions. A cymbal from his drum kit had been melted and reforged into the part.

"Just like Dayvie said, I can always get another one," G'areth shrugged. "You've helped us chase after our destinies time and again; of course we're here for yours."

The energy core came from Jeff, who had kept an old spare piece from the Dragonborn's hyperdrive generator amongst his things.

"Never hurt to be prepared," he admitted sheepishly. "So...this is twofold. From me, and from our old girl."

Eddie felt the tears in his eyes as he held the piece reverently. His ship. Their ship. Still with them onto the next adventure. It practically hummed as he set his kyber crystal into it.

Finally, a gift from all of them.

"Don't kill us," Jeff began as he reached into his jacket.

"Well that doesn't bode well," Eddie scoffed and crossed his arms expectantly. "What did you do? Have Hop melt down my guitar to make the last piece of this damn saber?"

It was a joke...but they all suddenly looked guilty, even Dustin—as guilty as a droid could look.

"Are you...you're kriffing kidding me..." Eddie stared at them incredulously. "You...you destroyed my guitar?"

He was about to blow his top—so much for serenity in the force—when Jeff presented the final piece to him.

They hadn't destroyed his guitar...but they'd definitely done something to it. Because the pieces that would make up the main hilt of the saber had the same mottled, crackled red and black texture that his guitar, his sweetheart, had. Like they were made from the same skin.

"We took it from the back," G'areth explained. "She'll still play like a dream. But we figured...well, that guitar is just as much a part of you as we are, as the Dragonborn was...she needed to be here too."

He couldn’t help the hot tears that dripped down his cheeks. He pulled his friends into the biggest hug he could manage and whispered incoherent words of love and friendship and appreciation to all of them.

Then came the big event.

With all of the pieces laid out on Cordova's workbench, armed with a welding tool and the Force, Eddie got to work.

His friends all helped where they could, offering words of encouragement or handing him parts as he needed; they ooh'd and ah'd over his improved skills with the force as things floated in mid-air and moved at the twitch of his fingers. Dayv offered a rag to wipe away the sweat that came from the heat of the welding tool, and Dustin chirped enthusiastically the closer and closer he got to completing the saber.

Until, finally, it was done.

"It..." He stared at it, held reverently in his hands. He choked out a laugh. "It kind of looks like shit."

And it did; all of the parts, made of different objects, clashed and weren't the most appealing. But it still...it looked like him. Looked like them.

A misfit lightsaber for a misfit force user with misfit friends on a misfit planet.

"Well," Jeff said, voice heavy with anticipation once the laughter subsided. "Aren't you gonna turn it on?"

Eddie held his breath as his thumb hovered over the control switch. "What...what if it doesn't work? What if I did something wrong?"

D5-TN beeped encouragingly; the Force was with him, how wrong could he be?

Jeff was the first to put a hand on Eddie's shoulder. Then Dayv on the other. G'areth grasped his wrist. And D5-TN's gripper arm latched onto the hem of his vest. Eddie looked to them all for one last look of gratitude, and courage, then flicked the switch.

And they all whooped in celebration as they were bathed in glowing green light.

Thalia's quarters were...well, she hadn't been kidding when she said that the tent he shared with his friends was bigger and nicer than where she was bunking.

Her little supply-closet-turned-bedroom held a hammock for a bed, several durasteel crates stacked upon one another for a dresser, and a chair where she laid out her clothes for the following day. The first time Eddie had visited, he had been astounded before realizing that she was practically in the lap of luxury in the spacious medbay aboard the Dragonborn.

One leg up she had, though, was that she had the place all to herself.

She was lounging in her hammock and scrolling on her datapad when Eddie burst in, talking a parsec-a-minute.

"I did it! I can't believe it...and it's here!" He held the lightsaber hilt out to her and then ran both hands through his hair as best he could. "I have one and it's real. I'm not...I'm dreaming. It's a dream. I'm gonna wake up tomorrow, back on Bracca, whacking sticks together with Jeff, making whoosh-goosh noises with our mouths. It can't be real."

She laughed as he grabbed her by the hand and hauled her to her feet. He twirled her, and pulled her to his side.

"Please tell me I'm not dreaming, sweetheart," he whispered desperately.

Thalia looked down at the lightsaber held before her, and then back up at him.

"You're not dreaming, Eddie," she said resolutely with a nod. "You're not gonna wake up on Bracca; you did it. This is real."

They both beamed at each other before Eddie released his grip on her. He backed up and held the lightsaber before igniting the blade and shifting into a ready stance.

"So." He lifted a brow. "Do you think we could give it a test?"

Thalia hummed for a second, then said, “You know, Master Yoda used to say that lightsabers required a special skill. Not just knowing when to use it, but when not to. When to move, and when to stay still.”

Eddie groaned and threw his head back petulantly.

“Come on! You didn’t just wine and dine and fly me across the galaxy to make a lightsaber just to tell me I couldn’t use it.”

Thalia let him suffer for a few more moments before she held a hand out, calling her own lightsaber into her grasp. She did not ignite it, and instead gestured back towards the door.

"Wait.” He hesitated. "Seriously? You're entertaining this?"

"Sure." She shrugged. "But Ben had a point when he said no lightsaber duels inside. I'd rather not let you destroy what little I own just so you can get your jitters out."

"Jitters? Sweetheart, I'm gonna wipe the floor with you."

Thalia threw her head back in an obnoxious laugh, then practically pushed him out of her bunk.

"Alright Mr. Whoosh-Goosh. I'm sure you're an expert at the art of the blade."

"Is that what the Jedi call it?"

"I wouldn't know, I'm not a Jedi.”

For not-a-jedi, though, Thalia took a pretty thorough approach to his education.

It was slow at first, as Eddie got used to the difference in the weight and weightlessness of the lightsaber. She had been right, when she had said that a lightsaber was special, different. And it certainly wasn't like swinging a stick. He could barely feel the momentum while swinging it back and forth. It was simply an extension of him.

She instructed him on basic stances and got him used to the feeling of the glowing plasma blades clashing against one another. Once he felt comfortable, she even took his blaster and fired a few bolts so he could practice deflecting them.

"It'll be easier if you close your eyes," she told him.

"You know, I didn't get the chance to make a joke before, but...if I had a credit for every time a beautiful woman told me that..." he trailed off with a chuckle.

She rolled her eyes and snorted. "You know, maybe that's why the Jedi Order fell. They should've added 'extraordinary skills in bed' to the keystones of Knighthood."

They practiced well into the evening, even getting as far as some light sparring, before Benny called them all to dinner.

It was exhausting, to be honest. He was sweating and out-of-breath by the time they called it quits, practically passing out into his bowl of stew.

G'areth laughed as they hauled him to his feet at the end of the night. "I've never seen him so tired."

"Last time we had to carry him like this, he bet the ship in a drinking game against a Rodian bounty hunter," Jeff added. D5-TN even shouldered some of Eddie’s weight as they dragged him back to their tent.

And he wasn't sure, but Eddie thought Thalia was there when he was unceremoniously dropped into his bed. Of course, it could've all been his imagination. Or a hallucination. The weight of one of her hands in his, and the other hand running over his forehead and carding through his hair as she whispered words of encouragement and pride at this milestone. It could’ve been one of his friends…or even Benny.

Regardless, it put a smile on his lips as he finally drifted off to sleep.

Bracca, 10BBY

He stood in one of the rail transport cars, hanging onto the bar overhead as his uncle sat, weary, in the seat before him.

There were plenty of others who would take a seat for themselves, but Wane always emphasized respect. Eddie would always give the older scrappers a seat before taking one for himself.

There was a din of chatter around them and although Eddie couldn't make out what his uncle was saying amongst the other voices, he still found himself chuckling at the anecdote. He thought it was strange, thought that there was something he was missing here, but he was probably just tired. He could probably catch a quick snooze when they took a break, or once they were back home at the end of their shift.

He overdid it with the guys the night before; that had to be it.

The train came to a screeching halt, and everyone started filing out. Wane pushed himself to his feet with a groan and led them both out onto the platform so they could punch in for their shift.

'"Heard they hauled in another decommissioned destroyer today," Wane muttered. "From Jedha."'

"Jedha?" Eddie whistled. "That's a long way away from here. Why did they haul it all this way?"

"You know you shouldn't ask questions, kid," Wane clapped him on the shoulder and led him forward. "A simple life and a cup of caf; ke—"

"I know, old man..." Eddie cut him off. "Keys to happiness. Yeah, yeah."

Their coworkers were all congregated in a huddled group up ahead. Someone at the front of the group called for them not to push each other crowd around; they'd be off to work soon if they all behaved. Wane grumbled something about hoping they had caf and pastries waiting for them...or lottery tickets.

"I wonder if Prauf'll let us in at the front to get first dibs then," Eddie laughed as he spotted a familiar head towering over the others. He pulled Wane behind him as he shouldered through the group to get to the Abednedo scrapper.

But there wasn't food or lottery tickets waiting at the front of the group.

There were troopers with blaster rifles, clad head to toe in black armor, and two figures with red-visored helmets.

Eddie's heart seized in his chest as one of the figures turned and he saw the fissure in the helmet that revealed a stern, human face inside.

The Inquisitor locked eyes with Eddie for a moment, then let his gaze slide over the other scrappers, almost boredly.

"We're looking for information," the other Inquisitor spoke, a smooth Coruscanti accent echoing over the platform. "We're searching for fugitives...enemies of the Empire."

"You're not gonna find any fugitives here," one of the other scrappers announced bravely. They shrunk as all eyes and blasters were suddenly pointed their way. "Er...what I mean is that we've all been in the guild for a while. We can't be fugitives."

"That's why we're looking for information on this scrap heap of a planet," the Inquisitor with the cracked helmet spoke snidely, practically spitting the words. "And not the fugitives."

Steev...his name was Steev.

Eddie frowned at the thought, but shook his head and continued to listen to what the imps had to say. On and on, they droned. They'd tracked a fugitive from an old Republic outpost, to Coruscant, where the trail went cold.

It sounded...familiar to Eddie, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Their ship was destroyed," the Inquisitor with the cracked helmet announced, and Eddie felt his heart drop into his stomach. "But we were able to track the origin of parts in the wreckage here. To Bracca. To one of your former colleagues."

The crowd started shifting and chattering, staring at one another in question. No one got off Bracca. No one.

Wane's posture stiffened, and Eddie shot him a questioning glance. However, his uncle refused to look at him.

Eddie wasn't the only one to notice the change in Wane's posture, though. Cracked Helmet turned, and his hazel eye locked onto the older man. Eddie was quick to try and take a step in front of Wane, to try and distract the Inquisitors.

"I know something!" he announced, earning shocked stares from the other scrappers. Wane reached out and tried to grab Eddie's arm but Eddie took a step forward to keep the attention off Wane. "I know that we've kept our heads down, kept our loyalty to the Emperor for years. Even before the Clone Wars. Whatever was asked of us, we've delivered. Engineers became scrappers, hard work we could be proud of became back-breaking labor that barely earned enough credits to survive. And we don't complain."

"Should we not take this as a formal complaint then?" Steev grinned sardonically. "You don't have to try so hard to hide something, my friend. Whatever we're looking for, we'll find it."

"Whatever," the other inquisitor's voice was suddenly behind Eddie, right in his ear. There was a searing hot pain in his chest, a flash of red light, and suddenly he was choking on the air. "Or whoever."

The lightsaber blade retracted, burning back through him as it went, and he fell to the ground as other scrappers shouted a name that didn’t belong to him.

He watched as he lay dying, as the crowd of scrappers dissolved into chaos, as troopers grabbed Wane by his arms, and the Inquisitors approached menacingly.

Eddie's eyes slipped shut as their lightsabers ignited and were held against Wane's throat.

"Wane Moonsun?" Steev questioned with a menacing, authoritative tone. "We have questions about the whereabouts of your nephew, Eddric."

Bogano, 10BBY

Eddie screamed Wane's name as he bolted upright in bed, effectively shocking his friends out of their deep sleeps.

He scrambled to free himself of the blankets so he could press his hands to the phantom lightsaber wound that still throbbed at the center of his chest.

He heaved great, sobbing breaths and responded loudly and incoherently as his friends crowded his bed and shook him and asked question after question.

As the rest of their encampment woke to his shrieking cries, they also ventured to see what the commotion was all about. Hoppor even had a blaster rifle in hand as he peeked into the tent and held El safely behind him.

"They have him," Eddie repeated over and over. "They have him."

"Have who?" Jeff tried to calm him down, tried every trick he knew to ease his friend from a nightmare. "Ed, take some deep breaths. Come on, it was just a dream."

"It wasn't," he shook his head. "It wasn't a dream. I was there."

"It was a vision," Thalia's groggy voice came from the opening of the tent. She passed the others, urging them to head back to bed before crouching before Eddie's shaken, despondent form. "A vision in the force."

She answered the mens’ questions as Eddie finally came back to himself, as his consciousness settled back into his body and he was able to discern what was part of the vision and what was reality. Fingers, toes, lungs. Breathing. Feeling. He wasn't on the ground, he was in bed. He wasn't on Bracca, dying. He was on Bogano.

And Wane was in trouble.

He never remembered his dreams ever being that troublesome before, enough to literally throw him across the galaxy like that. He hadn't even been sure that his dreams were prophetic, even though Thalia seemed to insist on it.

Once the ringing in his ears dissipated, he blinked and looked around at the concerned faces of his friends.

He took a few more breaths until his heartbeat evened out.

"They're looking for us," Eddie muttered to them all. "They're looking for me. The Inquisitors." He turned to Thalia. "Which means they're really looking for you."

Her jaw clenched, but her eyes were soft, remorseful. "I'm sure they are."

"And they...they're trying to use my uncle to get to me," he continued. "To get to you."

Dayv, Jeff, G'areth, and D5-TN all started talking over one another, questions about Wane and what his dream, vision, was and what they were going to do.

But Eddie didn't answer them.

His solemn gaze was firmly locked with Thalia's as they shared an unspoken discussion.

He wouldn't let them hurt his uncle to get to him. Wane was the only family that he had.

She wasn't going to let him walk right into a death trap; she had put him in this position in the first place.

If she hadn't gotten him into a mess like this, he definitely would've done it himself. He would figure this out on his own.

Over her dead body.

He's pretty sure the Inquisitors would like that.

She could take care of herself.

Wane was his uncle.

And Eddie was her...her friend...her pupil...her partner.

"Uh..." G'areth finally piped up, interrupting them. "Are you guys ok? Can Jedi read each other's minds?"

"We're not Jedi," Eddie and Thalia responded in tandem.

The tense moment broke, and they all dissolved into laughter.

"You don't need to do this alone," Thalia told Eddie as the levity subsided.

"I can't ask anyone else to risk themselves. Especially when this is obviously a trap," Eddie explained. "I've gotten myself out of tougher situations than this. You need to stay here...keep the kids safe."

"Well it's a good thing you aren't asking me," she objected. "I'm offering. Actually, I'm asking for your help. Again. This whole mess is my responsibility more than it is yours. Steev is trying to find you, so he can find me. And your uncle got caught in the crosshairs.

"But I'll save him. We can save him. Together. Put an end to the Inquisitors hunt...of us at least. Keep those kids safe, keep the light safe."

She raised her brows expectantly at her conclusion, waiting for his answer.

He felt his stomach turn in uncertainty, even though he knew she was right.

Wane was his uncle, his responsibility, but if there was anything that he learned in this whole thing, it was that he wasn't alone. They weren't alone—him, his uncle, his friends, the kids, their parents and siblings, Thalia. They were all sparks of light, sparks of hope in this ever-dimming world. They all had each other.

“You know what?” he asked softly and set his hand down onto hers, fingers gently caressing her skin. “We’ve come a long way.” He nodded over to his friends who all straightened under their friend’s, their captain’s gaze. “We’re not the same people we were just a few months ago. The Eddie back on Nar Shaddaa? He would’ve gone on some suicide mission to save his uncle. Shit, it still might be one. But I’ve learned so much, I’ve changed. And I couldn’t have done it without you.”

Thalia smiled at him.

“Because of that, though,” he continued, and her smile fell again. “I only have one thing to say. One request.”

She nodded. “Anything.”

He closed his eyes for a moment, like he’d learned, like she had taught him. He saw, felt, the light. Inside of her. Inside his friends. Inside himself. And even though his uncle was half a galaxy away, he could see the light within Wane too, like it was right there beside him. Maybe because it didn’t matter how distant they were from each other, they were always there with one another. His dream had been proof enough.

Eddie opened his eyes again, and then turned Thalia’s hand over and slipped his palm against hers, and let his fingers tighten around her hand.

"Help me, Thalia Trieste. You're my only hope."

Thalia beamed at him and gripped his hand tightly in return, her other hand coming to clasp over top of his.

Next Chapter: Episode 9 - Inner Starlight

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