CHAPTER ONE

"Love will come to you soon."

"Do I look like a tourist?" Rey couldn't help the bite in her words. Paddling for six hours straight had left her tired, hungry, and impatient.

Maz's wide eyes narrowed behind her spectacles and she leaned back against her chair, considering. Rey knew what she saw. Most people saw a skinny girl dressed in threadbare, mismatched castoffs who probably didn't have enough money to buy a hot meal when they looked at her. She looked more like a scavenger than a diver, which was her "official" employment at Unkar's ship service on her home island. Yes, Rey was poor. But she was no fool.

"I'm from Niima." Rey leaned forward, earnest but not begging. "Lor San Tekka said you could see the future. That you were a proper sea witch."

"Do I look like a sea witch to you?" the old woman replied, brow raised. In truth, Maz looked more like a pirate in her vest and blousy white shirt. Rey wouldn't have been able to pick her out from the crowd of rough looking sailors and smugglers gathered in the cantina if San Tekka hadn't told her about Maz's height. There had been something else. A niggling feeling in the back of Rey's mind told her that this woman, as old and as small as she appeared, was formidable. That there was some truth to her reputation and that journeying so far from Niima to Takodana had in fact been worth it.

"I think you could help me find…" Rey hesitated, worrying her shirt between her fingers. She wasn't in the habit of telling others what she wanted. That was an easy way for people to control or manipulate you in Unkar's junkyard. "someone important. From my past. I'm going to find them and I need guidance. Direction."

"The problem with the fortune telling is nobody wants to listen." Maz walked over to a window admitting lemon-yellow sunlight and the sound of waves breaking against the beach. From Rey's seat, she could see bright colored flags snapping against the wind. Seagulls cawed in the air. From the distance, a ship blew its horn—deep and loud like a whale breaking the surface. "People from fancy yachts come asking for love when they should be asking about their careers. You want to find out about your past when you should be focused on your future."

"I am listening. My future is finding these people. I know it. I need…" Rey swallowed her pride. Instead of looking at Maz, she glanced around her office. The room was small and cluttered with interesting bottles or nautical instruments. A large map of the Jakku Archipelago dominated one wall along with the initials P.N. It seemed fancy and expensive, like someone had taken the time to draw and color it by hand. "I just need a little help getting there."

"Dear child. I see your eyes. You already know the truth," Maz looked at her, huge eyes sympathetic and sad. "Whomever you're waiting for in Niima, they're never coming back."

"This was a mistake." Rey jerked away as if Maz had slapped her. A lump formed in her throat and tears stung her eyes. What Maz said couldn't be true. It wasn't true.

"But there's someone who still could." Maz put her hand on Rey's wrist. When Rey blinked at her, the old woman's weather worn face was transformed into someone Rey didn't recognize. She seemed different somehow, bigger and older, like maybe someone else was speaking with Maz. Or through her. "The belonging you seek is not behind. It is ahead."

"I'm sorry for wasting your time." Rey moved to toss a bill on Maz's table, but the old woman stopped her with a shake of her head.

"No charge. San Tekka's an old friend."

"I don't take charity," Rey mumbled and dropped the money anyway. She stooped to pick up her paddle and dry sack.

"Remember to look up."

"What?" Rey paused before exiting Maz's small office.

"Follow the North Star. Remember to look at the skies. And good luck."

Follow the North Star? What did that mean? Unless Maz meant she should head north? Rey shook her head as she stepped into the cantina.

The noise was deafening. Half a hundred sailors, smugglers and fishermen gathered around wooden tables as they talked, laughed, and cussed each other. Most held glasses filled with ice and sweet smelling liquor. The scent of Cuban cigars, sea salt and orchids hung heavy in the air. A young girl of sixteen passed Rey with a tray laden with bowls of seafood chowder. Rey's stomach gurgled.

"Cheers, sweetheart," said a dark haired man with an Irish accent to the server. He took a shot of rum before turning back to his friends. "The Vader's a fuckin' legend. A fuckin' treasure story nobody in their right mind takes seriously."

"A fuckin' treasure story like Yamatai?" responded his friend. The man had dark curls and dark eyes with a Guatemalan accent. He dug into the seafood chowder with enthusiasm. "Like Shambala?"

"First of all, Yamatai was discovered by accident," said the Irish. "Second, fuck you for bringing Drake into this conversation. You haven't shut up about that arseface for weeks."

"Doesn't matter if it's a treasure story, boys," said a third man. He was older, grizzled, with a cap on his head and his cheeks flushed red from alcohol and too much time in the sun. He ignored his chowder in favor of drinking from his bottle. "The Hutts are on the move for it. You'd shut your face if you know what's good for you."

"I heard it was the military," said the Guatemalan. "If the military is after it, then you know it's real."

Sailors at a different table exchanged tips on the best places to fish in the archipelago. Rey could tell from their voices they'd been drinking for hours.

"Merde!" cursed a short man with a wiry build and a shirt opened at the collar. He slapped his cards down at the table. "Never had so much trouble with my compass in Indonesia."

"Compasses never work here," said his companion. "This place is cursed."

"I shit you not, the islands move around here," said an American. She puffed on a cigar and laid her cards down. The men around her table groaned and she smiled. "My crewman swears he saw glowing jellyfish."

Rey passed them all, trying not to drool at the bowls of seafood chowder and the platters of fruit on the table. It all looked so good and the stories sounded so interesting that Rey couldn't help the pang of hunger bubbling in her gut. Grimacing, she exited the crowded hall.

The sun hung heavy and swollen in the sky. The humidity felt cloying in Rey's lungs and she felt overwhelmed. There was too much noise, too many people, too much to see and do and of which to be wary. Takodana served as the Jakku Archipelago's unofficial capital . It boasted a proper dock, the only deep-water harbor, a small airstrip and a small village of wooden buildings. Vendors lined the main thoroughfare trying to entice visitors with their roasted squid and vegetable skewers, coconut wine, seashell bracelets and clam earrings, flower charms for love and smooth sailing, and maps to the treasure of Lima and Vader's lost ship.

"Excuse me."

The pretty waitress from Maz's cantina held out a small dry sack to her. "Maz asked me to give this to you."

"What is it?" Rey peered into the bag. Inside a Ziplock bag was a large sandwich with fried eggs, fish and a thick slice of cheese. Beside it was a pair of swim shorts, a long sleeved, button down shirt, flip-flops, sunglasses, sunblock lotion and a large water bottle. "I don't take charity."

"The food is for you," the girl said. "But everything else is for San Tekka. Maz asked you to deliver it to him in exchange for the sandwich."

"Oh," Rey chewed her lip, puzzled. She couldn't fathom why Maz would be sending any of those items to San Tekka. He was an old man who couldn't be coaxed into the sunshine, let alone the water if he could help it. But the sandwich looked delicious. "All right."

The girl smiled and went back inside.

Rey savored the sandwich as she walked along Takodana's main street. She would have liked to stay longer, hear the different accents, listen to the vendors haggling with sailors, but it was a six-hour paddling trip back to Niima. With a regretful sigh, Rey finished her sandwich and hurried back to the beach where she'd left her raft.

"Oi!" Rey charged down the beach. Two men were picking up her raft. She swung her paddle and it hit one man straight in the back. He collapsed face first in the sand. His friend staggered under her raft's entire weight . "That's my raft! Teedo?"

The small, brown-skinned man jumped to his feet, a murderous snarl on his lips. "Didn't have your name on it, did it?"

"You know it's mine," Rey said through gritted teeth. "Thieving is illegal in Takodana."

"But it's not your raft, is it?" said a voice from behind Rey. Unkar Plutt wobbled down the sand towards her. He was so round he looked like a blowfish rolling its way towards her. "It's mine."

How did he find me? Rey thought in sudden terror. Does he know?

"I made it," said Rey, keeping her voice cool. It showed nothing of the tension churning in her gut. "It washed up on the beach in pieces. Nobody wanted it. I repaired it. It's mine."

"But you were on a diving expedition for me."

"Do Teedo's spear and Davjan's net belong to you too then?" Rey demanded. The two men tightened their grips on their weapons. Both Teedo and Davjan had made their tools from bits of junk picked up on Plutt's diving expeditions. Everybody did. But Teedo and Davjan were proud and made sure everybody on Niima knew the story. If Plutt was going to claim her raft, he'd need to take Teedo's spear and Davjan's nets too.

"This is out of your usual watering hole, girl. What are you up to?" Unkar grumbled, turning his massive bulk to face her. His upper lip was shiny with sweat and the heat made his jowls red. How the man could get so fat when everybody else on Niima was on the verge of starving always amazed Rey.

"Nothing."

"Hmm. I haven't seen you in a few weeks. You wouldn't be messing around with a new boat, would you?"

Rey's heart lurched. Has he found out about BB8? "I took a job with San Tekka since work dried up by the docks."

"It's too bad you're above our kind of work," Unkar sneered.

"I don't steal." She clenched her fist, nails digging into the cloth wraps around her hands. "Not from fancy folk in nice boats and especially not from kids in fancy schools who don't know any better than to find whatever they think is in the Bermuda Triangle. I bring up parts for you and that's it. If you're not willing to pay me fair for the stuff I scavenge for you, I'll look elsewhere. Simple."

"Who'd have you?" Unkar laughed and Teedo and Davjan laughed along with him.

"You're so stupid! You don't even know your raft isn't a raft, it's a body board!" Davjan sniggered.

"I knew it wasn't a real raft like what we make in Niima," Rey flushed. Her skin itched and she fought the urge to run, to hide, anything to make the laughter stop.

"We laughed ourselves sick every time you passed by," Teedo added. "Poor, dumb Rey with her shitty, broken raft."

"You believe in every myth and legend that crazy old man Tekka tells you. Your own parents dumped you on my beach when you were a brat, probably because you were too stupid to handle," Plutt said. "The boy you saved ran away on the first ship he could find to get away from you. The only thing you're good at is the work I give you."

A muscle twitched in Rey's cheeks. It wasn't the worst Unkar and his thugs had ever thrown at her, but it felt like the worst. Every word hurt more than all the beatings he'd ever given her. I am not going to cry, Rey told herself sternly. She swallowed to keep her voice calm and steely. "I am never going to work for you again."

"What's that?"

"I am never going to work for you, you piece of filth," Rey spat. Her voice was loud enough to carry over to the neighboring boats. A few people from further down the beach glanced their way. A sailor peered down at them from his yacht.

"Careful, girl," Plutt said, his voice low, threatening. "You work for me. I don't know what kind of crazy ideas San Tekka's been feeding you, but you listen to me—"

"No, you listen, you miserable blobfish," Rey said. Her cheeks burned and her heart thundered in her ears. "You're a pathetic bully who likes beating people who can't fight back. Well, guess what? I'm not ten anymore! You've no control over me. I'm leaving and there's nothing you can do about it."

Unkar stared at her, the muscle in his cheek twitching wildly. Teedo and Davjan were aghast. Nobody had ever said anything so rude to Unkar to his face. Ever. She thought Unkar would hit her. She expected it. She waited for it, grip tightening on her paddle.

Applause burst from all around her. Sailors and tourists who'd overheard had gathered near.

"You tell him, girl," said a dark-skinned woman with curly hair. "Put that piece of shit in his place."

"Blobfish, blobfish!" cried three younger man who looked like they couldn't have been older than sixteen.

Unkar unclenched his fist and muttered at Teedo and Davjan to leave. Rey blinked in astonishment before smiling slowly. She'd been right. Unkar wouldn't beat up anybody who fought back. A shivery feeling of lightness settled in her chest and she felt joy, fierce and hot, burn through her veins. She'd told Unkar off and gotten away with it.

She stood there, in the Takodana sunshine, feeling proud and strong, and watched as Unkar, Teedo and Davjan disappeared into the crowds. But before Plutt left, he mouthed a single word that shattered all her happiness. BB8.

Hi Finn. I hope you're having a good time with Poe on the Endurance. I'm recording this at San Tekka's. He says hi. It's been a while since your last message, but I remember you said you might be at sea without contact for over a month. I know you're fine, but I can't help picture you being eaten by a polar bear? Those are ice bears in the north where it snows all the time, right? I'm not laughing, I promise. Okay, well, a little. Things are all right here in Niima. Devi says he heard a siren in Shipwreck Point. San Tekka was kind enough to give me his old camping equipment in exchange for work on his boat. And it is not a heap of junk! I like working on the Azure Angel. It reminds me of places I've never been and times I can't even imagine. Can you feel nostalgia for something you've never had?

Most of the expedition ships are leaving since the monsoons are due in a couple of weeks. And I'm thinking of leaving too. I know, I know, you wanted me to go with you and Poe. You were right that I should. But I'm not leaving the islands exactly. I'm leaving to find my parents. I went to visit a fortune teller in Takodana to see if she could narrow down my search. I know there are thousands of islands around us and trying to find specific fishermen is like trying to find a needle in a hundred haystacks full of needles. I don't know if I can wait anymore. Plutt knows about BB8, and I told him off in Takodana. I have a bad feeling about it.

Anyway, I'll drop this off with San Tekka before I go. He's going to give me twenty packages with a stamp and your address on it so I can keep you posted on my journey.

The next morning, Rey packed the last of her belongings onto BB8. The tiny dinghy bobbed in Rey's atoll, white and orange sail flapping bravely in the breeze. Throughout the night, an itchy feeling grew and grew in between Rey's shoulder blades. Though she didn't see Plutt, Teedo or Davjan anywhere, she knew she needed to move. Now.

She looked around her atoll one last time. It'd been her home for ten years. Everything about it was familiar and safe—the sandbars jutting out like a dog's legs, the coconut trees where she'd scratched a mark for every single day she'd waited for her parents, the fern tree that hid the perfect sleeping spot . The atoll had sheltered her once the nights grew too dangerous in Plutt's junkyard. But it was time. She was ready.

Rey switched on BB8's engine. The little motor gave a small roar before settling into cheerful whirs. Rey pointed the dinghy south to the open water. Poe had given her more than a motor before he'd left. He'd given her options. He'd given her the ability to go so much further than she'd been able on her pieced-together raft. "I can do this," she muttered. "Plutt can't stop me now. No one can."

So why was she so frightened? She felt like something or someone was going to take BB8 away from her. There was nobody in the horizon; the skies were calm. There was no reason for her to be afraid.

You should smile, Poe had told her. Even when you're scared. Especially when you're scared. It'll make you feel better. Finn had laughed at that particular bit of advice, but Rey had thought about it. Poe had been an air force pilot before he'd captained National Geographic expedition ships. If anyone knew what it was like to feel terror, it would be Poe.

Or you could dance, Finn had added. Dancing makes me feel good. Rey laughed when Poe pulled Finn into a ridiculous jig on board the Endurance.

With trembling fingers, Rey switched on a little transistor radio. It had been a thank you gift from Dr. Holdo when Rey had saved her corgi from drowning. Niima and its little islets were too far from any radio towers to get a proper signal, but sometimes she'd get lucky and catch a few songs.

This time Rey was lucky. The radio buzzed, faded to white noise, and caught a song. With a smile filled with equal parts fear and happiness, Rey began to dance. At first, she felt ridiculous. But, the more she danced, the louder she laughed until she was singing and laughing at the top of her lungs. It was as if a dam had burst inside her heart. She could this. She could really do this. Nothing was going to stop her. Not Unkar, not bad luck, not having no idea where to begin. She'd go to every island until she found her parents. Until she found her home.

The buzzing sound grew louder to the point where it drowned out her song. Rey rolled her eyes. Typical. She switched the radio off. The buzzing didn't stop. Frowning, Rey switched the radio on and off again. No effect. Her heart skipped a bit when she realized the buzzing wasn't coming from the radio at all. She swiveled in time to see a seaplane dip into the ocean at full speed and head for her!

Time slowed. Disbelief warred with horror. She jumped.

A crash rumbled through the water. Debris exploded all around her, but she barely paid any attention. She needed to get far enough and deep enough. If BB8's mast hit her... bits of her beloved boat, hard-won and built from scratch, drifted all around her; her dream's ruins.

A loud crash reverberated through the water. The plane's wing had struck a reef. Fish exploded in every direction as the wing was ripped away from the plane's side. The plane skidded a few more feet before beginning to sink. Water rushed in through a gaping hole. Within minutes, the whole plane was submerged.

Before she could hesitate, Rey swam closer. The craft was a small, outdated seaplane favored by many of the Caribbean smugglers. They were fast, agile and able to land in tight spots if need be. On its side, she could make out the letter U C—.

It didn't take her long to find the pilot. He was a big man strapped to the seat. His dark hair and arms floated around him. His eyes were shut. Rey shoved him once, hard. No reaction. She unfastened the seat belt and pulled. Using all of her strength and the last of the air remaining in her lungs, Rey shoved them out of the plane.

Though the distance to the surface was short, the man was heavy. Her legs burned from churning the water and the man felt like deadweight against her arms. The temptation to let go grew and grew, but Rey forced herself to keep her grip on the large man. She broke the water's surface.

Bits of wood and her net bags floated all around them. Rey ignored it and looked for her atoll. It wasn't too far. She tucked the pilot against her as best she could and kicked her way back. By the time she reached the familiar beach, Rey felt like she'd been on a plane crash too. The salty water stung the cuts on her limbs. Her head throbbed from the knock she received from the debris and from her labored breathing. Her limbs burned with exhaustion. Swimming that length and depth was not usually a problem for Rey, but she didn't usually haul cargo this heavy.

She dragged the pilot further up the beach and settled him on his back. His face, long and pale, lolled on the sand. Fear iced through Rey's heart. Was the man dead?

"Hey!" she coughed, thumping the man's chest. She put her ear against his mouth, intent on a whisper of a breath. Nothing. Rey put her lips to his and blew. She pumped his chest the way an old fisherman had taught her before bending down to repeat the motion. The man spluttered up seawater. He gasped for air and turned to his side.

"Hey, hey you're alright. You're safe."

The man exploded into action. He jumped away from her and groaned in pain. He stumbled backwards and pulled a gun from his pocket with his left hand. His right arm dangled against his side. Voice hoarse, he gasped, "Who are you?"

"Are you kidding me?" Rey couldn't help the anger bubbling into her voice. Indignation and hysteria made her scream, "I rescued you, you nerfherder! From your plane that you crashed into my boat! And you're pointing a gun at me?!"

"I crashed my plane?" The man glanced to the horizon as if expecting to see it there.

Rey used the distraction to grab a piece of driftwood and hit him over the head. The man collapsed into the sand.