Rey had heard so many things about the legend Luke Skywalker. That he was a myth. That he was he faced Darth Vader, that he'd destroyed the Death Star, that he'd destroyed the entire Empire single handedly.

Yet the one thing she found to be most true, the one thing she'd never heard about him, and had been forced to discover on her own: was .stubborn. Luke Skywalker was.

It had meant so much to her, climbing those stairs. She had almost been able to feel him, on her way up. That iconic figure, that brave, wise man. She could feel his force signature, if she quieted her thoughts enough. And then he was there, and he turned. Lowered the hood. His face had carried such weight, such heaviness. And...sadness. So much sadness.

Rey had reached out, willing him to take the lightsaber, willing him to accept her, to teach her. To tell her who she was, give her some answers. He'd stared back at her, something in his expression shifting, changing. A weight settling on his shoulders as he realized just what she held in her hands.

At long last he'd spoken. His voice was rough, haggard around the edges. "That's no longer mine."

Rey had swallowed hard, nerves and excitement threatening to get the better of her. "But it was yours once, wasn't it? I-I've come to bring it back to you."

"No."

"No?" Rey repeated, not understanding.

"No, you've come here so that I would train you," Luke told her, his arms folded in front of him.

"I-" Rey couldn't deny that. It wasn't why she'd been sent, it wasn't what she'd been asked to do...but that didn't mean it wasn't why she was really there. "Your sister wanted me to find you. To bring this to you and...maybe help?"

Luke's face scrunched up, into what might have been a grimace. "I am sorry she's made you travel all this way, only for your trip to be in vain. I suggest, young one, that you return to your ship, and fly far from this place."

Rey had gaped at him, hardly able to believe the words she was hearing. The famed, legendary Luke Skywalker. Simply telling her to leave, and forget all these foolish Jedi plans.

"Please," she said, the sensation of pleading with someone strange and unusual. She didn't ask for anything, from anyone. Not since she'd been a preteen. If someone didn't give her what she wanted, she'd find a way to convince them, or she'd find someone else.
But there was no one else she could ask for this. No one else who would help her find out who she really was, what she was meant to do. No one else that would teach her how to use the Force, to defeat Kylo Ren.

Luke's blue eyes met her own, something flickering in them for a moment. But he had shaken his head again, and murmured, " I am sorry," before simply turning, and walking away.

Now there they were, three days later. Rey didn't know about Luke, but she was exhausted. She'd refused to go back to the ship, she knew Chewie and R2 would be fine on their own, and they knew she was alright, thanks to the comm she carried with her. She'd stayed up top, hoping that if she just held up, Luke would relent.

Her hopes were in vain. He did not ignore her entirely. He would leave food for her, he'd given her a "bed" to sleep on, as much as a blanket and a pillow of leaves could be a bed. But he barely spoke to her. Every time she tried to speak with him about anything, beyond the weather and if she was cold, he would close up. Tell her he had to meditate, or check on something, though what there could be to actually check on an island was beyond Rey. This went on and on until the morning of the fourth day, she couldn't stand it any longer.

"Please," she called after him, as he made to leave the cave, as he always did. "You don't have to train me, I mean, you don't have to show me anything. But couldn't you just...tell me things? Anything? I have this power, and I've seen so many things, but I don't know anything. Please," she said again, leaning forward on her makeshift bed.

Luke had paused when she spoke up, a hand pressed against the side of the cave, as though bracing himself. His shoulders hunched for a moment, as though fighting a private battle. Then he sighed, and spoke.

"I know only one thing…" he paused for a moment, still facing away from Rey, his words hanging heavy in the air. Then at last he continued, his head turning to look at, "It's time for the Jedi to end."

He spoke with such finality, such certainty. Such insanity. How could Luke Skywalker, the legendary Jedi, the person who Leia had briefly mentioned had been trying to restart the Jedi order, say that the Jedi could be no more?

"I don't understand," Rey said, something aching inside of her, a bitter disappointment welling up. "You're a Jedi, one of the last, aren't you? Why would you want the Jedi to end?" She shook her head. "The Jedi are supposed to bring peace, aren't they? Peace and safety and...and justice," she finished, the memory of Kylo Ren raking his lightsaber across Finn's back still etched into her mind.

Luke turned all the way back to her, a small smile on his lips, though it was not a happy smile.

"I used to think just like you...was about your age, I'd imagine, when I saw my first lightsaber. Learned that my father was a Jedi. I thought the Jedi were so good, so pure. I thought if I became one, restored them to their former glory...oh, surely, the rest of the galaxy would magically be righted." He shook his head, at his own foolishness. His own naivety.

"For years I believed that. Dedicated myself to it. Learned about the Jedi order, their rules, their teachings. I found pupils, I found temples. I absorbed it all, bound to one course. I started a school, I thought it was my duty...Instead, I was their destruction."

"What happened?" Rey asked, dark eyes heavy with emotion, though she was fairly certain she already knew, from those visions she'd seen, at Maz's catina.

Luke's sky blue eyes met hers. "My nephew."

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