Protection Detail
The girl stood straight, shoulders squared, brow furrowed. A small droid, a BB unit, orange and white, made several beeping noises in rapid succession, and she frowned down at him.
“You’d think you’d be more excited to see me after I left for so long with Chewie and Luke,” she said smartly down at the droid, who made several more beeping noises, this time sounding very indignant, “yes, yes, I know, I know, you’re the most impatient droid I know. I suppose Finn and Poe are off ‘inspecting’ something together?”
She didn’t know if droids were supposed to be able to sound flustered or annoying, but BB-8 was sure managing it. A small smile tugged at her lips, she’d known those two were bound to get together. Their relationship was a small slice of tranquility in the brewing storm. She’d injured Kylo Ren, but there was no way he was dead, especially with the heavy increase of activity on the part of the First Order, but he was temporarily crippled.
And so the rush of people seeking political asylum had flooded through the Resistance’s walls, but Commander Leia was very strict on who would and wouldn’t be allowed entry. Rey knew she was here to help assist in the guarding of a political refugee, but she didn’t know which one.
A discrete ship docked, and Rey cocked her head to the side as she saw crew members rushing to get everything situated. Her inner scavenger was evaluating the craft intently, as though she were still searching for valuable parts to trade for food. Needless to say, this would’ve fetched her almost as much as BB-8 would have.
The orange and white droid in question trilled excitedly, babbling almost nonsensically to the girl standing next to him, whose eyes flickered up to see not some balding old man that she’d been expecting, but a girl dressed similarly to herself, in a simple turban and leggings, though different shades of red as opposed to tan, with narrowed blue eyes and dark ebony hair.
As Commander Leia exited the control room, she nodded at Rey, who followed behind her wordlessly, BB-8 still whirling excitedly as he followed the pair.
“Princess La Kai,” Leia greeted, “this is your new protection detail, Rey, a fine young jedi knight in training.” Rey bowed her head respectfully, mild confusion spiking when the princess seemed to roll her eyes privately. “Rey, this is Princess La Kai of Shu-torun, youngest granddaughter from Queen Trios’ heir, Monthan II.”
“Youngest granddaughter?”
“Only granddaughter,” La Kai corrected gently, “my elder sister passed three months ago.” She brushed off Leia’s apologies. “It is fine, you did not know. And, if you’re wondering why grandmother sent me and not my brother, it’s because she’s always had soft spots for the youngest, being one herself. I’m the youngest child of her youngest child, and only son, Monthan the Second, so therefore I’m her favorite.” It was said smugly, pride evident in ice blue eyes so opposing to the volcanic planet she was native to.
“That, and I’m a bit of a troublemaker, grandmother wanted me out of her hair,” this was accompanied by such a lecherous grin that Rey was slightly taken aback. Of course, the twenty-two year old had encountered many disgusting men in her time, who had often worn that same look, but to see it on a girl whose face was that akin to marble, with royal yet slightly soft angles, was a bit shocking.
“So I can see why she’d insist on me having a babysitter,” laughed the other girl, raising a hand at Rey’s indignant huff, “not that I don’t mind, I’ve heard word of this new female Jedi Knight, and you aren’t exactly hard on the eyes.” It took Rey a few moments to consider the princess’s compliment, and perhaps flirting? before she exchanged a helpless look with Leia.
BB-8 chose that moment to pipe up, and La Kai grinned down at the droid.
“Well aren’t you the cutest little thing?” she cooed, stooping down to his level. “No, I’ll try not to steal Rey from you too often. What’s that? Your master Poe already spends too much time with someone named Finn?” She paused. “That must make you feel awfully left out.”
BB-8 made an annoyed noise, expressing their feelings on being ignored so often.
“I say we prank them, lead the way, my small orange friend!”
“Princess La Kai I don’t think-” Rey started after the girl, oblivious to Leia’s stifled laughter in behind her.
“Exactly! Don’t think, Rey, just do. And that whole ‘Princess’ thing is a bit formal, you can just call me Kai, I’m sure we’ll soon be very well acquainted,” this was accompanied by a sharp wink that caused something akin to a hiccup in Rey’s throat, and the scavenger scowled as she swallowed heavily.
Luke had drilled into her the importance of constantly being on alert, and in tune with the Force, so that she could call upon it on a moment’s notice. This responsibility had put a damper on her already restrained ability to have fun, so she was stubbornly refusing to smile as she was dragged along by this princess who acted entirely the opposite of how a princess should act, though Rey supposed she was allowed much more freedom due to how far down along the line of inheriting the throne she was.
“How do you know how to interpret droids?” Rey asked politely as Kai weaved her through busy crowds of pilots and other members of the Resistance.
“Political study is boring,” Kai answered simply, as though it was the answer to every question in the galaxy, “and my father has a habit of collecting old models, so I talk with them when I’m hiding from the maids, wretched ladies, always trying to shove me in dresses, and dragging me off to etiquette lessons.”
“How horrid,” Rey responded dryly, with a small quirk to her lips.
“You don’t know the half of it,” Kai repeated seriously, before turning her eyes back onto the excitedly whirling BB-8.
“Princess La Kai, I must again try to advise you against startling the two-”
“Lighten up a bit, Rey-Rey,” said Kai with a roll of her eyes, “you seem tense, do you need a backrub? I can help, I’ve been told I’m great with my hands.” Refused to be outwardly bothered by the princess’s extremely forward flirting, Rey raised an unimpressed eyebrow, though inwardly she was screaming. Back on Jakku, she'd never interacted or even seen girls her age, and seeing so many lady pilots and scientists and now princesses made her realize one thing.
She was very, very gay.
And this girl was going to be the death of her.
BB-8 soon slowed to a stop, making softer beeping noises and pointing his laser in the direction of a hallway, where Poe and Finn were walking side by side, laughing about something.
“Watch and learn, good looking,” grinned Kai, stooping down to BB-8’s level and whispering something in his ear. She then stood fluidly and began walking towards them, and very precisely tripped over Poe’s foot, who wasn't particularly paying attention to where he was going anyways, and landed with an unceremonious thud on the ground.
“Oh my stars!” Poe fretted, helping her up onto her knees. “Are you alright? I'm so terribly sorry-” Rey almost laughed at how frantic he looked, and his expression widened even more when he noticed the small tattoo on the side of Kai’s neck, marking her as a member of the royal family of Shu-torun.
At Kai’s very well placed annoyed look, Finn intervened.
“It was an accident, miss princess lady, uh, your highness?” Rey could tell that Kai was holding in laughter, but neither of the young men noticed the playful glint in her eyes.
“You should be ashamed,” Kai ground out, before her voice lightened, “that you don't spend enough time with your sweet little droid, he misses you.” The relief that flooded Poe’s face was comical, and he stared down at BB-8, who rolled up to them when the words left her mouth, Rey following.
“I almost had a heart attack!” he complained, faking betrayal in Rey’s direction. “The punishment for harming royalty, no matter how accidental, is pretty severe.”
“The lil guy just wanted your attention,” Kai said simply, cracking her neck, “thought I'd help them out. You and your boyfriend are awfully cute, though.”
“You aren’t hurt though, are you?” When it came down to it, Poe really was a mother hen, especially when it came to strangers.
“Nah, I’m fine,” Kai brushed off his concerns with ease, shooting him a look that clearly said ‘If you don’t drop this I might actually hurt you’ and so the pilot backed down. BB-8 soon regained his master’s attention, and began to drag him and his boyfriend off to look at something the small droid found interesting.
“So Rey,” said Kai with a small grin, “what does one do for fun around here?” The glint in Kai’s eyes was making every instinct in Rey’s body scream run far, far away, but she instead chose to ignore the annoying voices in her head and continue talking to the girl. It was her job, after all.
“I usually spend most of my time training or exploring the forests,” she said with a shrug, “I spend quite a lot of time with Finn and Poe, too.”
“Training?” Kai’s blue eyes positively lit up at the words, and Rey nodded.
“Even though most of the fighters here aren’t Force sensitive, Leia still likes them to be trained with lightsabers, so there’s a lot of practice dueling.”
“Do you have one?” Kai pressed. Rey blinked owlishly.
“Of course I have one! What sort of jedi knight would I be-”
“Yeah, but what color is it?” Kai ground out.
“Blue,” snipped Rey, before reciting the words she’d seen in the book Luke had forced her to read History of the Lightsaber, “traditionally, wielders of blue-bladed lightsabers have deep, physical connections with the force. Jedi who use blue lightsabers are adept with physically focused Force powers, but prefer lightsaber combat. Generally, wielders of blue-bladed lightsabers are morally good, and use the light side of the Force.”
“Jeez,” teased Kai, “swallow a few textbooks recently?”
“My diet consists entirely of knowledge,” Rey snarked, earning a laugh from the other girl.
“Seems like it’s working out well for you,” Kai shot back, taking a moment to glance appreciatively at Rey’s body. “I didn’t know that the color of someone’s lightsaber said so much about their personality. What would, say, an orange lightsaber represent?”
“Jedi that prefer orange-bladed sabers tend to be conflicted individuals, and while they tend to gravitate toward the light side of the Force, it’s usually begrudgingly. Jedi with orange lightsabers have typically had a brush with the dark side of the Force, and despite the fact that they’re usually morally good, they tend to have a mischievous streak.”
“Mischievous, eh?” said Kai with a grin. “Of course that’s what orange sabers mean. Love you too, gran.” The last part she directed in the general direction of her home planet, and Rey blinked at her.
“You’re trained?”
“Well I mean of course,” Kai scoffed, “if you were a princess of a planet and Darth Vader came and destroyed your entire family and the majority of your people, wouldn’t you want to make sure the future generations of your family were prepared?”
“It does make sense,” muttered Rey, “but you can’t just teach someone how to be Force sensitive.”
“Tell that to my grandmother,” Kai responded with a roll of her eyes, “that woman could teach a rock how to sing opera if she put her mind to it. Of course, it took her seven children to get it right, but my father was her first successful attempt.”
“You know, he could have just been born with it naturally,” Rey argued, “your grandmother didn’t necessarily teach him.”
“Yeah, well, people tend to try not to correct royalty too much.” Kai looked around. “Where are our rooms, by the way? I know one of my grandmother’s representatives said he’d deliver my things, but I want to go grab my shiny stick of death and go train with you.”
“Shiny stick of- your lightsaber? You can’t just call it a ‘shiny stick of death’ that has to be against some sort of rule-”
“Last I heard, you weren’t exactly one for following rules,” grinned Kai, “you did steal the Millennium Falcon.” A flush of color rose to Rey’s cheeks, but she brushed her hand to the side.
“Well, it was stolen away from us, so it doesn’t really count.”
“Where did you learn everything anyways? Couldn’t have been easy as a scavenger, teaching yourself everything.”
“You just pick things up,” said Rey with a shrug, “not all that impressive, really.”
“Trust me, gorgeous, you’re the most impressive thing I’ve seen in my entire life, and I’ve been all across the galaxy, don’t you ever let anyone tell you that you aren’t. Now, seriously, where are our rooms, I wanna go beat people up.”
As annoyingly endearing as Princess La Kai was, Rey couldn't help but admire her spark. That, and the girl always managed to surprise her. Rey had eventually given in and woven her way through crowds of bustling members of the Resistance, leading Kai to her room, which, of course, was right next to Rey’s. For protection purposes, of course.
The raven haired girl had disappeared into the room for all of three seconds before popping back out, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear. She'd commented several times already on how much she liked how Rey wore her hair, and Rey couldn't help but take a moment to appreciate the slightly messy braid that hung down the princess’ back.
Rey, don't do this, she inwardly berated herself, she's practically your first mission. This is not the time to be the biggest lesbian in the galaxy.
Of course, Kai didn't actually beat people up. For the first half of the training session, she simply watched, observing the traditional Jedi stances and moves.
“Do you want to join?” Rey offered.
“Aren't you supposed to be protecting me?” teased Kai. “Instead of threatening to fight me.” Rey rolled her eyes, as it had been Kai’s idea in the first place, and took her stance, calling her lightsaber to her from across the room where it sat. In the same instant Rey’s finger brushed the button, Kai removed her own weapon in one fluid moment from her tunic, and Rey’s eyes widened ever so slightly as the orange light lengthened into a double sided blade. Of course, Rey herself wielded a blue saberstaff, but they were rather uncommon, and most members of the Resistance preferred single sided blades.
“Shall we dance?” Kai’s blue eyes were filled with mirth, and Rey quickly fell into a comfortable stance, raising her own blade.
“As the lady wishes.” Sparks literally flew as blue collided with orange, neither girls willing to give in. Rey moved elegantly, honing her long months of training with Luke Skywalker to match the other girl’s hits. It was a sight to see, and the amount of twirling and dodging on Kai’s part, moving as fluidly as a river, made it look like the two were actually dancing.
At one point, Rey had managed to pin Kai against on of the walls of the training room.
“Give up yet?” Kai’s eyes lit up at the challenge, and Rey had only a moment to react before the princess flung her hand outwards, and did something that Rey had never even thought of doing.
She turned off the other girl’s lightsaber with the Force, before promptly kicking the other girl away from her. It took Rey a few moments to recover, but it was enough time for Kai to regain her stance, and they were soon clashing lights once more, Rey making sure to use Force shields to ensure the mischievous girl didn’t pull the same trick twice.
Though Kai fought valiantly, her training couldn’t quite compare to Rey’s, being shown the ways of the Master Jedi himself, and Rey finally won, lightsaber pointed under Kai’s chin, brown eyes glinting with challenge, Kai merely grinned at her.
“Y’know, usually when I’m being pinned by a girl, there’s a lot less deadly weapons involved,” she teased, “but I can’t say I’m complaining.” To this, Rey merely rolled her eyes.
“Keep trying, Princess.”
“Is that a challenge? If so, challenge accepted.”
Rey was in for a world of trouble with this one.