Chapter 1 – Lost and found

She had crossed the galaxy. Followed a map, finally complete. It seemed to her as if years had passed, as if there was a lifetime between her, the girl who had flown the Miliennium Falcon to this remote planet in search of a legend, and the lonely scavenger girl on Jakku, struggling for a meagre meal day to day. Turning the bend, finally reaching the end of the stairs was like leaving this stubborn loner behind a little more, doing a another step on a journey she was not entirely sure was wise to make. But when the lone figure on top of mountain turned and the stranger´s eyes moved from the ocean to her, she knew it had been the right thing. Skywalker was more than a legend.

Her heart beating wildly, Rey made a few more tentative steps towards the hooded man and, following an instinct and feeling something come full circle, reached into her bag and drew out the lightsaber she had been carrying past a multitude of stars to return it to its rightful owner. Touching the weapon made her feel queasy. She hadn´t experienced the same flashbacks again, maybe that was a kind of one in a time magic, used up once it had shown itself, but the memory, the intensity of it lingered and she had avoided handling the saber whenever she could for fear she might be tossed out there into the raw, harsh cluster of memories again.

Another step, then she reached her hand towards him, held out the weapon that for some reason or the other he had either lost or abandoned at some point. She didn´t know what it had been. She didn´t know anything about Luke Skywalker and yet here she was, standing face to face with the man that almost everyone who had heard about him thought was nothing more than a legend. Or long dead. A hero of a time that seemed remote now, the relic of a far more distant past.

He just looked at her and there was a look in his eyes that she was unable to place. There was an intensity in his gaze that made her almost want to reconsider, that made her feel like an intruder to this man´s solitude, but she did not withdraw, but instead stubbornly kept her arm outstretched, determined to make a connection. Stubborn, resiliant Rey. She had survived the harsh deserts of Jakku, she had endured being abandoned by her family and she had faced down Kylo Ren. Even though she was barely aware of the impact and meaning of any of it, there was one thing she knew. She had come here with a purpose and when there was something she had set her mind to she had never been one to be turned down. This time wouldn´t be different.

"It´s been a long time since I last saw this weapon."

Rey didn´t know how she had imagined Luke Skywalker´s voice, but then again he had always only been a distant legendary figure, a hero who popped up in stories and fairytales, a man without any shape or voice. The man in front of her, however, was very real and so was his voice. A baritone that resounded something deeper than she could describe. Sadness? Loneliness? How long had it been since he had last spoken to anyone?

She didn´t pull back, insted kept holding the lightsaber out for him to take, feeling a slight feeling of impatience well up in her when still he didn´t take it, didn´t even make a move.

"It´s yours, isn´t it?" The question was more an affirmation for herself than an actual question. There was no doubt in her heart. She had never met this man, but there was something she felt, like a faint tugging on her mind, the slightest feeling that she could sense him just the same as see him. She had only a very distant concept of these things but what came to her mind first and foremost was that it felt like the Force was giving him away, radiating from him or rather around him in waves. It was a confusing feeling and far too faint to pinpoint.

Skywalker gave the slightest nod, almost invisible, his eyes still boring into hers, making her shift from one foot to the other. DId he know her? She couldn´t tell if there was recognition in his eyes, maybe because she was far too busy trying to access those wild, untamed memoriest hat were shut behind a door of forgetting, the door the saber had briefly pushed open when she had first touched it, trying to remember if she remembered him. If he was yet another forgotten memory. No, whether she had or not, at least now, Luke Skywalker was a stranger. She had never seen this man before.

"It used to be." he finally replied. "In another life."

Now she did make a step forward, because still he wasn´t reaching. "We put the map back together. Nobody knew where you were."

For the first time there was the faintest of smiles on his face. "That was the intention."

His cryptic, short reply made her more upset than Rey wanted to admit to herself. Maybe it was because she had a long journey behind her. Maybe the other reason was that she had left new found friends to find this man and here he was, being one-worded and not even asking her name.

"I´m Rey." she said, mirroring his now-gone smile. She had never been too great at making a connection, never been good at small talk.

He nodded again, slightly, but whether that meant he knew or whether it meant he acknowledged her introduction was hard to tell. He turned and for the first time lowered his gaze, then made a few steps. First she thought he would finally take the lightsaber, but then he just walked past her. "But you haven´t travelled across the galaxy to just give that back to me, have you?"

Rey followed him and he seemed to expect her to just follow him if she wanted to keep up the conversation.

"Yes…. No. I am looking for answers."

That made him stop and turn to look at her once more.

"Answers?"

"About myself. About you."

She believed to almost hear him chuckle. It wasn´t a sound of mockery, more of trying to hide bitterness. "Well, Rey, sometimes people want to stay hidden away because they have been asked too many questions and do not want to give any more answers."

She kept following him. "Don´t you want to know what is happening out there? Or who I am?"

He kept walking but she believed that the cryptic half smile was back even though she could not see his face. "You are Rey."

She felt mild annoyance well up in her as she caught up with him. "I can feel the Force. I can use it. But I don´t know how or why I am doing this. I came here because I need a teacher."

That made him stop. With a small sigh he turned to face her. "My teaching days are behind me, Rey. I fear I was never a good instructor anyways."

"But you are the only one who can tell me about the Force and how it works. You are a Jedi."

His gaze had strayed again. It was clear he didn´t want to talk about that particular part of himself. A jedi but how long had it been? And a jedi who did not seem to show any interest in what was going on in his galaxy. And who had lost or abandoned his lightsaber?

"I believe you must be tired." he said. „My house is just on the other side of this island. I can give you shelter and there is plenty of food to share. But I cannot help you, Rey. You are welcome to be my guest, but I cannot give you what you are looking for."

She kept trotting after him and meant to say something in protest even though she had the impression that right now he would not be swayed. But what cut her short was that when they had reached the ridge, Luke stopped and turned towards her. "You didn´t tell me you brought an old friend." he said and fort he first time since their conversation or her efforts therein had started, he sounded more upbeat. "I didn´t know Han was still piloting that old tin."

She felt her heart sink, the sudden harsh tugging of sorrow suddenly back. A lot of things had happened and certainly,she had not known Han Solo as well as others, but she still felt a pang of loss for the ragged, stubborn man. Still, Han himself had said he knew Luke and that they had been friends. So here she was, not just an unwanted guest but also the bearer of bad news. "It´s not a bad ship." she said, trying a smile, the most evasive yet true to the point thing she could think of right now.

Whatever he made of her reply he kept to himself as he started to descend the roughly hewn stairs. "It´s not far to walk." he said. „and night falls quickly here. We have about an hour of daylight left. Let´s get your belongings from the Falcon. We can talk more at my home."

And just like that Luke Skywalker who had been lost to his friends for all these years, unaware of what had happened to them, started off towards the ship, leaving it up to Rey to follow him.

Author´s note: This story might to some extent form a complementary story line to my second Star Wars story, „The ways of the Force" even though both can naturally be read individually and without reading the other. I will update both stories more or less alternatingly and depending on which aspect of the overall story arch develops faster with my muses. :)

Naturally, none oft he characters are mine and no copyright infringement is intended. There is no profit being made of this, it´s all just for fun.