She's a Rebel [Star Wars | Luke Skywalker] *EDITING*

Coming Together

I wake up, groggy and cold, and surprisingly without a headache. I go to run my hand through my hair to find it greasy, and I grimace at myself, kicking the blankets off of my body. I rub my eyes as I sit up, my mind still on Luke, and I groan softly to myself as I think of how he's possibly doing.

"Mornin'!" I hear Jasper's voice chirp, and then I hear Zach groan angrily, swearing at him, and I smile as I sit up, pulling my boots over to my feet.

The flaps of my room - or rather 'rent section' - fly open, letting daylight rush in, Jasper's tall form standing in the entrance, this time in a brown leather jackets with fur around the collar and a helmet in his hand, a helmet that looks very similar to my father's old one.

"Mornin', Nat!" he smiles, and I smile back at him.

"Morning, Jasper," I reply, pulling my boots on and lacing them up. My fingers are grubby too, and I pull off my fingerless gloves, dumping them on the plastic floor next to my helmet and laser rifle. "Have you got somewhere I can get cleaned up?"

"Yeah, I'll show you once I've dragged Nicholson out of his bunk."

I chuckle at him, and he gives me a nod as I stand and smooth my trousers and jacket down. I head over to the flaps and pull them open, stepping out of the tent and shielding my eyes from the sun. I didn't really see any of this last night when Zach and I staggered here in Mattin's footsteps; there are khaki cotton tents set up all over the place, and also red-brick buildings, some of them decaying more than others, that are about the same size as the ones from Tarie back on Tatooine. Back home.

"You didn't see Boomtown yesterday, did you?" Jasper smiles from behind me, gesturing to the buildings and tents, and I shake my head.

"Are there still civilians here?" I ask Jasper as he steps out of the tent too, and he nods.

"There's a town about fifty miles due south of here, Skadi. It's got a market and stuff like that. We go there sometimes for local relief, it's a nice area with a rocky beach and everything," he tells me as he leads me to another tent, with me nodding along to everything he says. "Just getting you some more clothes, in case you were wondering this somehow contains drainage for showers," he adds, a little sarcastically, sticking his head through the front flap. "Joanna!"

"Go away!" comes the yelled reply, and I smile to myself. "The hell do you want?"

"Have you got any clothes for Nat?"

"Yeah... One sec..." she says groggily, and I hear some rustling and scraping of shoes on the waterproofed floor. She pokes her head out a few moments later, her red hair looking even brighter in the morning light. "These do?" she asks, holding out a simple grey vest, a light combat jacket that looks as if it's made out of the same material as the tents and a pair of black trousers, along with a plain dark grey towel.

"Yes, thank you," I say with a smile as I take the clothes and towel from her, and she gives me a kind smile back, her eyes then moving to Jasper.

"Does Quinn want me in Flapper Control?" she asks him with a frown, rubbing one of her hazel eyes tiredly.

"Whenever you're ready, Major," Jasper replies with a wink, and we continue down to the shower block.

"'Flapper Control'?" I repeat, squinting at him as I hold the clothes in my folded arms.

"A joke, since birds are 'flappers'," he explains. "Mattin came up with that."

"He was banging on about birds to Kes yesterday," I add, and Jasper laughs.

"'Course he was."

We stop outside one of the red-brick buildings, steam pouring out of a vent on the wall.