Rey's breath caught in her throat as the cloaked figure slowly turned and fixed his wizened blue eyes on her. He didn't speak, so Rey took the time to study his features—his rough grey beard; the heavy, time-worn crevasses under his eyes; the piercing orbs that seemed to hold the entire weight of the universe. Rey looked silently down at her boots, unable to any longer hold the intense stare that was searching her.
When she forced herself to meet his gaze again, she caught a subtle, next to invisible altering of expression touch his face—a slight muscle tweak above one eyebrow that lifted it a little higher than the other. Why are you here?
Rey swallowed and ran her tongue across her lips, then spoke, her words sounding muffled under the stifling silence of the island. "Hey. I—I just met you, and…this is crazy. But," she pulled the lightsaber from her pack and held it out to him, "here's your saber. So train me, maybe."
She kept her arm outstretched and waited as Luke Skywalker let her words sink in. Finally, he took a step forward, lifting his hand to accept the long lost relic.
Abruptly, Luke stopped, and a sound like that of a strangling Ewok emanated from his throat. Rey cocked her head as the Last Jedi clutched at his chest and gargled out a few more unearthly squawks before tipping over. As soon as his body thunked onto the ground, it dispersed to dust; only his cloak remained whole.
"Well, this just got a whole lot harder."
Before Rey could say anything else, she felt her wireless comlink system buzz in her pocket. Poe Dameron, who had been assigned to monitor her progress, was calling.
"T'sup?" Rey said when she answered. She set the lightsaber on the ground as Poe spoke.
"Did you find Luke Skywalker?"
"Uh…sorta."
"What do you mean 'sorta'?"
"I think he's kind of dead."
"WHAT!?" Poe almost choked on his awesome saliva. "Are you absolutely sure?"
Rey looked down at the tan cloak and the layer of dust that had once made up Luke Skywalker. She kicked at the cloak, further scattering the ashes as she did so. "He's not responsive."
Poe groaned. "Tortured, forced to carry around a secret map, temporarily having to abandon BB-8…for this."
"Well, he was old," Rey said, shifting the comlink system to her other ear, her free hand twirling around a strand of hair that had come loose from one of her buns. "Besides, I have a plan."
"Which is…?"
"You'll find out when I get back." She stuffed the comlink system back into her pocket stooped down to pick up the cloak.
Rey felt quite regal as she set the cloak upon her shoulders. Yes, it would do nicely. Too large for her, of course, but she could take it in when she returned.
"I had a vision, employed the mind-trick on a stormtrooper, and fought and overpowered Kylo Ren," Rey said to no one in particular. "Who needs an old geezer to teach me what I already know? I am Rey, the Self-Taught Jedi, and I will defeat Ren and bring balance to the Force."
Rey was about halfway back to the ship when she remembered she had left the lightsaber behind. Stopping, she held her hand out and waited as the saber whirled into view. This is so neat! Rey thought as the lightsaber began to spiral towards her. Can I make it come faster? She concentrated harder and succeeded. Whoa, wait. W-w-w-wait—
Rey yelped as the lightsaber smacked into her hand and knocked her onto the ground with its impact. Cringing, she tried to wave the pain out of her reddened hand.
THE END