AN: I'm doing my best to make sure you don't need to read part 1 to understand this story. The only thing you need to know is that TFA happened almost like in canon, except Rey and Kylo Ren already had history before that, Finn didn't end up in a coma, and Han didn't end up dead. The result is that Finn went with Rey to find Luke Skywalker, while Han stayed behind with the Resistance. Also, Finn is Force-sensitive.

Something is terribly wrong. Luke Skywalker is supposed to shine like the sun.

Luke Skywalker is a gaping absence that chills me to the bone.

"Luke Skywalker?" Finn asks, pulling me out of my stupor. "I'm Finn, this is Rey. We're with the Resistance. Your sister Leia send us."

"What happened to you?" I demand, my voice coming out as horrified as I feel.

Luke Skywalker raises a brow. The lack of emotions is made all the more disturbing by him being an impossible void. Then he moves forward, walking passed Finn and me without a single word. Finn startles. I see him give me an uncertain look from the corner of my vision, disturbed and wary by the horrible absence he's unconsciously picking up on as well.

I continue staring at Luke Skywalker's retreating back as I struggle with the dissonance of what my eyes are telling me is there and what I'm sensing.

"Rey, we need to go after him," Finn says and he's right, of course he's right. We need to go after Luke Skywalker.

"Something's wrong," I say instead, still watching the void that shouldn't be. Watching the way it disturbs the Force, how it derails the currents whenever they smash against that chilling absence, causing a tangled mess around it. Around him.

Luke Skywalker is unsettling the Force simply by being.

Or rather, by not being.

"Well yeah, that's why we need to go after him."

"No, you don't understand," I say without looking away from the void that is Luke Skywalker. "Something is wrong."

The void that is Luke Skywalker disappears behind a rock formation, and just like that, I can no longer sense him. I can still feel the effects of his lack of being, the discord rippling through the Force, but that horrible void is gone.

"I'm guessing you aren't referring to his impression of a mute?"

"Finn, I can't sense him."

That shouldn't be possible. The Force is everywhere, in the earth, the sea, the sky, in machinery and energy. It's in the vacuum of space. Luke Skywalker's absence, his complete and utter lack of being shouldn't be possible.

"...He could be hiding?"

I give Finn a look that tells him exactly what I think of his attempt to come up with a comforting explanation. He sighs and rubs the back of his neck. He didn't believe his own words either.

"Didn't think so."

I return my gaze down to the path. The void that is Luke Skywalker is back in view, descending down the stone steps. Once again, my eyes are telling me there's a person there.

The Force is telling me there's nothing there.

"I'm not imagining things, am I?"

I don't need to ask what Finn is referring to.

"No, you're not."

No matter how much I wish he was. Wish that we both were.

"What's wrong with him? He's..." Finn trails off, unable to put into words why Luke Skywalker feels disturbing to him.

"He's cut off from the Force," I say, my heart clenching painfully as I give voice to the truth.

Things aren't supposed to be like this.

So why does it feel like everything is how it's supposed to be?

No, that isn't true. Not quite. It feels like everything is how it's supposed to be, but it also feels like the Force doesn't want things to be this way.

So why are they?

"Guess we're going to be here longer than we thought."

A startled chuckle escapes me and I turn my gaze towards Finn. He's wearing a faint smile, pleased with my reaction. I can't help but smile back.

"Guess so."

If Luke Skywalker is cut off from the Force, the situation is a lot more complicated than I thought it was. And here I thought getting him to come back with us was going to be easy.

In hindsight, I shouldn't have. The Force never urges me to do something if it's going to be easy.

"Better get started then," Finn says, full of determination and an optimism that soothes some of my tension. I give him a grateful smile, glad he's here with me. Then I take a fortifying breath.

"Let's go, Finn."

We start walking down the path. Luke Skywalker has a big enough headstart that we don't catch more of the occasional glimpse of him, but I discover that I while can't sense the void he is without seeing him, I can sense the tangled mess around him if I focus.

The tangled mess comes to a halt in the village. Which is conspicuously empty. All the people from before are gone now.

The only one present is Luke Skywalker. He's inside the only hut with a closed door.

I march to the hut and firmly knock on the metal door.

"Luke Skywalker, open up."

I can't believe I just said that. I can't believe I'm talking to Luke Skywalker.

I can't believe Luke Skywalker is cut off from the Force.

When there's no answer, I knock again. And again. And again, and again, and again, until I'm banging the door with my fist.

"Go away."

Luke Skywalker just talked to me.

Luke Skywalker just told me to go away.

That's not going to happen.

"If you don't open this door on the count of three, I'm going to open it myself," I warn, unable to believe what's happening. This is ridiculous, we're talking about Luke Skywalker. He isn't supposed to act like a sullen child. "One."

The door remains closed. I don't hear any movement either.

"Two."

Still no movement. When I focus, I sense the tangled mess of Force in the same place as before.

"Three."

Well. He can't say I didn't warn him.

I mentally rip the door of its hinges and drop it on the ground. Finn is very impressed by my display, but I'm more focused on marching inside the hut.

The void that is Luke Skywalker is looking at me with a frown, and I have no idea what it's supposed to mean. Which is ridiculous, I've spend most of my like reading people without the Force. Even in this life, it's only been a few years since I didn't need to focus in order to read people's emotions.

I'm guessing it's his lack of being that's throwing me off so badly.

"Who are you?"

I lift my chin, ignoring the part of me that wants to swoon at having Luke Skywalker talk to me.

"I'm Rey and I'm bringing you home."

I might've had trouble reading his previous expression, but this one is clear as day.

Luke Skywalker is looking at me with derision. I'm having genuine trouble comprehending this. I didn't know Luke Skywalker could even feel derision for something.

Someone. He's feeling derision for me.

I ignore the part of me that wants to cry.

"I'm not going back," Luke Skywalker says in a hard voice.

"Yes you are," I counter, infusing it with the Force to show him just how determined I am.

"We need your help," Finn adds, equally determined. Unlike me, he's also calm. Mostly calm.

Luke Skywalker lets out a mocking scoff. Once again, I'm having genuine trouble comprehending this.

"You don't need my help."

My brain gets broken a little more. Luke Skywalker sounds bitter.

What happened to him?

"We do," Finn says as earnestly as he feels. "The First Order destroyed the Republic fleet. They'll control all the major systems within weeks. We need your help."

"What do you expect me to do?" Luke says in what I can only call a scathing voice. "Walk out with a laser sword and face down the entire First Order?"

Finn's feelings reveals that he expected exactly that, but I'm far more focused on the nightmare happening in front of me.

"What happened to you?" He's Luke Skywalker, he's supposed to be optimistic and hopeful and always willing to do the right thing. He isn't supposed to be like this.

Luke Skywalker's eyes tighten and he presses his lips together.

He doesn't say anything.

"Han Solo and Leia Organa need you," I push, needing him to say something, needing him to erase the awful nightmare I'm in. "Are you going to abandon them?"

Of course he won't abandon them, he's Luke Skywalker. The whole point of The Empire Strikes Back is that Luke Skywalker never abandons his friends.

So isn't he saying anything?

The silence stretches for an agonizing amount of time. Part of me is aware of Finn's growing tension.

Most of me can only stare at Luke Skywalker as he keeps refusing to say anything. My throat tightens as I realize just what his silence means.

"You are." He's actually refusing to go back. He's refusing to help Han Solo and Leia Organa. "You're abandoning them."

Luke Skywalker flinches and turns away from me. He still doesn't say anything.

"You can't abandon them," I try to deny, try to escape the nightmare I'm in. "You're Luke Skywalker."

Luke Skywalker's shoulders tense up further and I so desperately wish I knew what he was feeling.

How can Luke Skywalker abandon Han Solo and Leia Organa?

"...I abandoned them a long time ago."

My breath hitches at the words that can't be true except they are. The Force is telling me they're true.

No matter how much I wish they weren't.

"I can't help you."

Part of me registers how tired he sounds, how broken.

Most of me can only stare at him with denial.

"Go away."

I look at what is supposed to be Luke Skywalker, look at the absence where brightness should be, the refusal to help where there should be a need to make things better. Then I turn around and storm out of the hut. I hear Finn call out and sense him running after me but I don't stop moving. I need to get away from the mockery of everything Luke Skywalker is supposed to be.

When Finn calls after me with increasing worry, I force myself to halt.

"Rey." He halts besides me and grasps my shoulder. "Wait, just wait. You can't give up."

I let out a harsh breath, rubbing my eyes as I resist the urge to snap at him.

"I'm not giving up," I manage to say in a relatively even voice. "But I need some distance." Distance from the sham pretending to be Luke Skywalker, distance from the turmoil raging inside me. I need to calm down.

"I need to meditate."

Finn looks at me with surprise, not having expected that answer.

"Oh. Yeah, okay, that's cool. You go meditate."

I feel a faint smile grow at his babbling. It fades as I see Luke Skywalker appear in the distance, that horrible absence standing out in the most awful of ways even with the distance between us.

Luke Skywalker starts making his way down another path than the one from before.

"How long are you going to meditate?"

I tear my eyes away from the void that is Luke Skywalker and meet Finn's gaze.

"I don't know," I say truthfully, before giving it some more thought. "Probably going to last for most of the day." Not just because of this whole thing with Luke Skywalker, but because of what happened on Starkiller Base and the events leading up to it. A day of meditation is far too little to get my mental state back in order. But it's a good start.

Finn hesitates, lost in a way in that makes worry join the rest of the mess of my emotions. Before I can ask what's wrong, determination rises.

"Right. You go mediate, I'll go try to change Skywalker's mind about coming back with us."

Ah. Finn was feeling lost because he didn't know what to do while I was mediating.

"If anyone can do it, it's you," I say with a smile, speaking nothing but the truth.

Finn made me stop running. True, he didn't do it on purpose, but that only makes his accomplishment even more impressive. I have no doubt that he'll be able to work his magic on Luke Skywalker as well.

I also don't doubt that it's going to take a lot longer than either of us expected.

My compliment makes startled pleasure rise. Finn gives me a smile that's both pleased and bashful.

"Now I have to get him to change his mind. No pressure or anything," he jokes, not meaning it in the slightest. Well, there's a little pressure, but mostly Finn is determined and confident.

"Poor you," I tease, our banter easing some of my tension.

"You know I can tell you don't really mean that."

"What remarkable powers of observation you have."

Finn chuckles.

We split up. Finn leaves in the direction Luke Skywalker disappeared in, while I go to my ship to meditate.

I could go to another place. I could go to the highest peak that is a nexus for the currents covering the planet, or to the tree that is still the heart of the island, no matter how weak it has become.

I could lose myself in the whispers beneath the island.

I don't do any of those things. I don't know why I've been dreaming of this island for as long as I can remember, and while I desperately want to find out the reason, I don't want to find out right now.

I want to calm down.

It comes as no surprise that Artie is hard at work repairing the busted engine. It can't fix it completely, I don't have the necessary parts for that. But it'll do all it can to get my ship back in the best shape possible.

My ship, which is the real Millennium Falcon. I'm not going to get over that for a long while yet, if ever.

I've been flying around the galaxy for the past six years with the real Millennium Falcon.

"Need help, Artie?" I call out as I near. While I need to meditate, the urge to fix my ship is impossible to resist now that I'm here. I managed until now because of the speed everything was happening with, but now that's passed, it's turned into a maddening itch beneath my skin.

I can't believe that asshole had the nerve to damage my ship.

I can't believe he's Luke Skywalker's nephew. And that's all the thought I'm going to spare for that. I need at least a week of meditation before I even begin facing that particular fact.

[Exhaust regulators a2 and a5 are failing to disconnect completely,] Artie beeps back from where it's standing on top of my ship, all its focus on its delicate welding of the misshapen hull.

[This unit is capable of disconnecting exhaust regulators a2 and a5,] R2-D2 beeps up from where he's standing on the ground, his tone full of false cheekiness. His focus is laser sharp and aimed entirely at me.

[This unit will fry every one of Insane-Pile-Of-Junk's circuits if his faulty processors dare to even contemplate putting his tools anywhere near Gorgeous-Thing.]

A startled chuckle escapes me. That amount of vitriol is extreme even for Artie.

For a moment, R2-D2 genuinely contemplates calling Artie's bluff. As our flight over revealed, R2-D2 is a troll.

The moment doesn't last long and his full focus soon returns to me. I grimace. I really don't want to talk about what happened. But R2-D2 deserves to know.

"Something's wrong with Luke Skywalker."

Admittedly, I'm not the greatest at explaining things.

I don't need to clarify myself. R2-D2's focus is replaced by sorrow. Sorrow, and a complete lack of confusion.

He knew what state we were going to find Luke Skywalker in.

I can't be mad at him for withholding that information. Not with the kind of grief he's experiencing.

[...Query – did Bright-Dork inquire after this unit?]

Damn it. I was so caught up in the awfulness of seeing Luke Skywalker like this that I forgot to mention that R2-D2 is here.

"I forgot to tell him you're here," I say with an apologetic look. "I can tell you where he is right now."

Or rather, I can tell where Finn is. I don't even have to focus to do so, his location is clear at the back of my mind, courtesy of our bond.

I still search for that tangled mess of Force. As expected, it's in the same location as Finn.

R2-D2 remains silent, reluctance warring with his grief. Then he lets out the equivalent of a sigh. The beeps are mostly pained, but there's also a flicker of... relief.

[This unit will wait for Bright-Dork to decide to come to this unit.]

In other words, R2-D2 is avoiding Luke Skywalker. This shouldn't be surprising. Not after he insisted me and Finn go after Luke Skywalker without him.

It's still a surprise. I don't blame him for not wanting to see Luke Skywalker, though.

Who wants to see Luke Skywalker like this?

I turn my attention to the exhaust regulators that need to be disconnected, needing a distraction from my thoughts. Artie wastes no time in ordering me around some more after I finish disconnecting them, using me to do all the things it can't do itself.

R2-D2 mostly recovers from his mood and starts verbally needling Artie. He's also wise enough not to cross the line into the physical, despite the great temptation to do so. Apparently he took my earlier warning that Artie will make good on its threats to heart. Good.

I work on my ship for an hour or so. I'm not really keeping track. And yes, I should be meditating, but not only is the urge to fix my ship impossible to resists, it's soothing as well. Not enough for me to get rid of the turmoil boiling inside, but enough to make me feel more in control of myself.

After I've done all that Artie can't do itself, I jump on top of my ship. Artie will need my help again later on, but for now, it's got things covered.

I sit down on top of the hyperdrive and close my eyes.

Breathe in. Breathe out. Find peace. Find balance.

Slowly, so very slowly, I let go of my frustration and denial, my anger and despair. I release it all, until at last my mind turns clear and the Force comes into focus.

It's everywhere, in my body, my blood, my very being. It's in my lightsaber, my prosthetic, my clothes, in the air I breathe. It runs through my ship, through the circuits and couplings, the wires and systems. It flows through the code controlling the systems, it dances within the energy of the hyperdrive.

And beyond that, the earth rising high, the roots reaching down. The water crashing against the shores, every droplet unique yet alike at the same time. The animals making their home here, the people dancing with the ever shifting currents. The heart of the island, weak yet still so strong, refusing to give up. The peak where the currents converge in the most breathtaking of ways, vibrant in a way impossible to put into words.

The secrets whispering down below.

The secrets are calling me. It's not a demand, not a command. Just a call.

I don't heed the call. I simply lose myself in the Force.

The Force loses itself in me. I am the Force and the Force is me. I am an individual and part of the whole. I'm bound by destiny. I'm free to make my own choice.

I'm balanced.

I meditate for an eternity that lasts exactly ten hours, ten minutes and ten seconds. Then I release my focus.

I'm feeling a lot better now.

After checking over my mental defenses, I stand up and lift my arms in a delicious stretch. Even with my wounds, I feel loose and limber in a way only meditation can cause.

Artie and R2-D2 are inside my ship. Artie is still hard at work, and judging from its regular bursts of annoyance and R2-D2's mischievousness, R2-D2 is still needling it.

I jump off my ship with an extravagant flip just because I can, before making my way to Finn. He's no longer with Luke Skywalker, I felt them split up during my meditation. While I can't sense the void that is Luke Skywalker now, I had no such trouble while meditating.

The last place I sensed Luke Skywalker was on the opposite side of the island. Finn, on the other hand, is on a hill near the village.

When I arrive, I halt with surprise.

Finn is surrounded by birds. And yes, I knew there were birds with him, but I don't interpret things like normal when meditating. Dozens of birds surrounding Finn hadn't seemed odd then.

It does now.

Recovering from my surprise, I feel an amused smile grow. All the birds are relaxing in various ways. Some are sleeping, some are playing, some are grooming each other, and various other things.

Finn, sitting in the middle, is absolutely delighted and completely enamoured.

I resume moving closer. When Finn notices me, he gives me a beaming smile. Thewo birds standing on his shoulders make the image absurdly cute. One of them is even grooming his hair. There are several birds comfortably situated in his lap as well.

"Rey!"

His happiness at seeing me makes my heart clench. This time it clenches in a good way.

"You alright now?"

I am," I say truthfully. Meditation centers me in a way nothing else can. "And I see you've made some new friends," I finish with a teasing smile.

Finn lights up, excitement and adoration flaring high.

"Yeah, I have," he says while looking down at the birds in his lap. He gently pets one, making the bird purr with pleasure. "I named them."

It's cute how reverent that makes him feel. Also sad when I think of why that is, but mostly it's cute.

"This is Cuddles, for obvious reasons," he says while continuing to pet the bird now nuzzling his stomach. "That's Fluffy," he says while caressing the exceptionally fluffy bird dozing on his knee. "And these are Siren and Munchies," he says while petting the final two birds in his lap. Siren reveals how he got his name by letting out a piercing cry. Munchies isn't hard to guess either. She's the chubbiest bird around.

"And this is Rey," Finn finishes with a mischievous smile while petting the bird on his shoulder that isn't grooming his hair.

The bird is giving me a suspicious look. She's also pressing up against the side of Finn's head, possessive of him in a way that's more than a little funny.

"You named a bird after me?" I ask with a raised brow, more amused than anything else. Finn tries to give me a serious look, but I don't need to be able to feel him to know he's faking it.

"She's really bossy."

I laugh. Finn is very pleased with my reaction, and he gives me a satisfied grin.

"And this is Poe," he says while petting the bird grooming his hair.

"To what does he owe the honor of being named after Poe?" I ask while making my way through the mass of birds and sitting down next to him.

"He's an amazing flyer."

Bird Poe stops grooming Finn's hair so he can puff up with pride. It's hilarious. Also interesting. These birds are unusually clever. Probably caused by their odd connection to the Force.

"You mean I'm not?" I ask with mock hurt. Finn responds with a look of false innocence.

"It's not like I've seen you fly a lot," he says like I haven't done some truly spectacular flying in order to escape the asshole. If the First Order doesn't have any stories about my flying, I'll eat every scarf I own.

"I'll have to correct that. Need to uphold my reputation after all," I tease, before nodding at the birds surrounding us. "So did you name any others?"

Finn lights up and starts telling me all the other names he came up with. As it turns out, he's named every single one of the birds present.

I listen to him talk with a smile, enjoying his bright joy.

I haven't forgotten about Luke Skywalker. Haven't forgotten that something is terribly wrong with him. I also haven't given up on bringing him home. I'm just choosing to ignore it for now. We'll deal with that problem later.

It's not like there's any rush.

They need more time. The evacuation isn't finished yet, their people are still down there. They need more time.

They need to stall.

He takes a deep breath and steadies his nerves. Then he activates the comms.

"Attention! This is Commander Poe Dameron of the Republic fleet. I have an urgent communique for General Hugs."

AN: For those interested, part 1 of this series is called The Force Has Awakened.

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