A/N: There are quite a few theories out there as to Rey's parentage and whatnot, and I really wanted to expand on those theories, as well as adding my own thoughts. I'd like to mention that while I've seen TFA twice now and the original 3 a few times each, I still have much to learn about the Star Wars universe. I'll do my best to learn about the lore and apply it to this story, but at the same time expect me to take some liberties with TFA's unfinished storyline. As I said, this is based on theories, and will likely make many assumptions about the characters.
This fic will eventually involve Reylo. Keep that in mind if you are either head-over-heels for them like I am, or not comfortable with the ship.
Scavengers, thieves, vagabonds, the occasional mark placed on her head after a trade gone wrong. Now, ship battles, needling through canyons and abandoned cruisers in the desert of Jakku. And even lightsaber duels with the First Order's one and only Kylo Ren.
All of these things have tried to kill Rey in the past. All of these things pushed her to her edge, bringing her the feelings of dread and exhilaration, adrenaline pumping through her, jolting her into that drive to keep fighting. To keep living.
She knew terror. All too well was she familiar with that racing heart, not only the speed of it, but the sheer force of each pump. Rey knew what it felt like to be so afraid that each heartbeat felt like a train ramming into her chest.
Every experience paled in comparison to this now. No other one time in her life could compare to this moment now, to the sharp, forceful beating of her excited heart.
She stood stoically, aware that the Jedi could see past it. She knew that he knew that she was freaking out.
How could she not? The fabled Jedi Master, Luke Skywalker, destroyer of the Death Star, the saviour of the galaxy, the rebellion's most esteemed pilot. He was there, right in front of her.
His eyes narrowed at her outstretched arm. Almost sluggishly, he lifted one hand, and the saber flew from hers.
"Luke, I-"
Her words got caught in her throat as his eyes met hers. The glance silenced her, not through his own doing, but through her own anxiety. Without warning, the weight of the universe landed on her shoulders, as his one minuscule glance reminded her of her mission, to bring Luke back, to have him stop the First Order.
"Leia needs you," she tried again. "The galaxy is in disarray. We lost most of the Republic. Something bad is happening, and you're our only hope."
Time-weathered features broke out into a smile; he shook his head. Once more he locked a gaze with the teen.
"I know."
Impatient, she paced for him. "If you know, why did you leave?"
"It's the reason I left." He tucked the lightsaber into a nook inside his robe, and, as he lifted his hood over his head, turned away from her and descended down the other side of the cliff.
Rey was hot behind him, jogging to catch up. "What do you mean 'it's the reason you left'?" challenged the woman. "How could you have left when we needed you this badly?"
"There's a lot you don't know about. A lot of pieces I'm sure Leia hasn't filled you in on." Almost gracefully, the Jedi trailed down the steps with ease, despite their ragged nature. Even with her dexterity and balance after a lifetime of scavenging in the unpredictable ruins of TIE fighters and gargantuan cruisers Rey struggled to keep up, as each individual step proved challenging.
"Then tell me. What could I possibly not know that would affect your decision to abandon the galaxy?"
His answer never came. Instead, he led her to a well-concealed beach beneath his outpost on the cliff. There she noted there was an arrangement of lightsabers and robes under the protection of a protruding rock. About 20 feet away from those sabers was a rounded stone adorned with a myriad of tattered books. The titles were illegible from her distance, but she could only assume they were meant to entertain the Jedi during the long, isolated days he spent there.
"I don't understand," she uttered as he knelt down beside the weapons. "What's the point of staying here? Alone? Even if you're mad at yourself for failing your student, why live here?"
Again, no answer. He tidied up the spot and pulled his saber from his robe and laid it with its brethren on the rocky shore. He seemed captivated with it, almost reacquainting himself with his long lost friend. Despite her frustration with the lack of traction in their conversation, she found herself calm, and almost comfortable watching him. His presence was acutely welcoming, despite her never having met him before.
The scavenger decided to kneel beside him, and watch him silently.
"You know, Rey, Leia hasn't told you everything because she may not know everything. I can feel it in you. You're agitated that you're in the dark."
Her eyes set on him in an icy stare, as her blood ran cold.
"How do you know my name?" asked the girl in a low tone.
"Not to say I know everything," he responded with a light chuckle, "but I likely know more than Leia." He stood and patted the dirt from his robe. "One thing I do know is that this saber is very fond of you."
"I'm not fond of it," she muttered. "Thing reminded me of some things I'd rather keep forgotten."
Luke gave her a knowing nod. "It reminded you for a reason, Rey."
"Okay, seriously, how do you know my name?" she pressed.
"There are things in your past that you are running away from, Rey, now why did it remind you?" Luke pressed back.
The young woman's face began heating up, turning a deep crimson shade. Blood boiling and brows furrowing, she stood and met him with pure fury. "I don't care what it thinks I need to remember! That thing is inanimate, it doesn't know what this past I'm 'running from' did to me!" Involuntary cracks made their way into her voice as her emotion piled up in her throat. "I don't want to remember! I want it gone forever. I thought I had healed." Slowly, her anger faded, and she became weary.
He placed a hand upon her shoulder, offering what one would call very minimal comfort, Rey would call unconfined compassion.
Do you feel that? Came a voice, not her own, in her head. It was his. The cool breeze sweeping through you. That familiar embrace is the Force.
She nodded, unsure of how to respond to his non-corporeal speaking.
Whenever that anger, that pain comes back, remember the breeze. It is always there, and it can keep you together.
Her throat felt tight. She always felt as though Han was the father she never had, but suddenly, the hole Solo left behind in her, was filled. Luke offered her that same paternal amenity. It was almost deja vu, this moment she was sharing with Luke.
Do you remember, Rey?
Suddenly, she took a step back and furiously shook her head.
"No, no, no, no, no... It's coming back, I don't want to feel it again-"
"You have the Force, Rey. It is there when you are jarred by circumstance. Let this be your first lesson."
His wording left her perplexed, but she shook off her doubts and trusted the Jedi Master. He, of all people, should know how to help her cope. Though the situation with the lightsaber in Maz's cantina was particularly bad, she had always had nightmares of that massacre, of unrelenting downpour, of her abandonment on Jakku...
Jakku.
A swirl of colours enveloped her mind, a vision assembling within her subconscious. First, the massacre.
Screaming. From everywhere. The source was infinite, and deafening. Rey, with the effort her short legs could muster, outran the pursuer. She hid behind a hooded figure as she recognised Kylo Ren pace after her. He stood before the man concealing her.
"Hello again, Ben," said the figure.
"I'm afraid there is no time for pleasantries," replied the voice behind the mask. "Your time is up, Luke." Somehow even louder than the shrieking was his lightsaber. The fire red flame erupted from the hilt and charged in her direction. Luke simply help up one hand, and...
Eyes wide, chest pounding, and adrenaline coursing through her veins, Rey started from her recollection. Sweat pilled out from her pores and spilled down the length of her cheek. She was no longer on the beach, but confined to a cavern, it appeared to be, with the Jedi kneeling at her side, watching carefully. The only source of light was a lantern he had lit and set beside her head. Rey had been laying on a pad on the rocky floor, and had a pillow supporting her head.
"Where are we?"
"We are in the temple."
With a sweeping glance, she observed the room with a more keen eye to detail. It seemed less natural and sporadically shaped, as one would denote a cavern to be like. This was carved out, a rectangular room. There were staircases and doorways dotting each face of the room, leading to what she assumed was more of the temple.
"Tell me about the dream," he said quietly, as to not irritate her drained mind.
"You were in it," came her equally quiet reply. The look in his eye betrayed his understanding. Rey could tell he was just as familiar with the memory as she was. Still, she continued. "Kylo Ren tried to kill you. He... his lightsaber flew at you. You looked like you were going to do something when I woke up."
The elder nodded. "I did what I could to protect you."
"How old was I?" she murmured.
"Likely five or so."
Rey faced away from him and let her lids drift closed. An often overlooked side effect of having someone purge your mind with the Force is a pounding headache. The pain was unbearable. As if it wasn't enough having to relive the worst of her life, she had to be cursed with a migraine succeeding it.
"So," she tried in her groggy voice, "what was I doing with you?"
He shook his head, and she knew to brace for his next words.
"While I'm trying to make this comfortable for you, you must go through this alone. I can't train you until you unlock this past of yours."
"I don't want to be trained," she grumbled. "Not if this is the prerequisite."
A half-smile broke across his face. His hand waved over her head and she felt drowsy. The pull of sleep was a powerful tidal wave, and as she watched its approach, she grew more and more compelled to give in to it. When it finally hit her, she fell back into that hazy concoction of colours, scents; a vision.
The sky was hazy, a cool grey to mirror the desolation in Luke's eyes. Rey was unused to seeing the stone-faced Jedi so crestfallen, so withdrawn. He was usually the one to run to, to be consoled by. Yet he was crumbled on the ground beside his droid friend, R2D2. After a lengthy process of establishing a map onto a drive and giving it to the droid, he waved his metal hand in front of it and watched solemnly as it deactivated.
"Rey, I'm going to go away." He turned to her. "But we'll see each other again, I'm sure of it."
The young girl fidgeted, fear rising in her throat at the idea of losing Luke.
"Where are you going?" she asked quietly.
He turned to the droid and frowned. Rey watched him for a while and when she deemed he'd never answer her, shuffled close to him and hid under his hood to escape the rain. Bundled in her tiny hand was a chunk of his soggy robe. As she anticipated his leaving, she tried to familiarise herself with the feeling of his robe, of his scent in the rain. If she was losing Luke, she would do her damnedest to keep him alive in her memory until she could see him again.
If ever.
This time when she awoke, there was no shock, no gasping and panting as she entered reality. This time, there were tears in her eyes. Luke was no longer beside her, but at her feet, adding kindling to the lantern. Rey quickly noticed his lack of eye contact. With what little understanding she had of the Force, she could feel regret within him. Whether he let her see that she was uncertain, but his guard was down, and he shared her heartache over his abandoning her.
An odd question arose in her head.
"Are you the family I've been waiting for?"
He finally looked up.
"You have one more memory to unlock."
Rey understood, and with a nod, accepted his invitation into her subconscious. One more trip, she assured herself, and everything would finally make sense.
At least, that's what she hoped.
Luke waved his hand for the last time, and she counted to ten as she slipped away.
A/N: I hope you enjoyed chapter one! As I publish this I'm in the middle of writing chapter two. As I said, there will be eventual Reylo, but I wanted to build some character for Rey and Luke, as I have big plans for them, as well as Kylo. Thanks for reading!