Meditation had been the skill that came the most naturally to her. Retreating to her mind, to a safe place of light and peace, yet without allowing the journey to dull her awareness was something she had been most familiar with, during her years on Jakku. Conjuring the image of an ocean to extricate herself from reality had made sense back then, but now, with the constant thundering sound of the waves crashing on the cliff and the smell of the salt overwhelming through the wet biting wind, she needed to conjure a much different scenery to allow herself to fall into peace.

She had long fought against the place her mind called her to, refusing to let anything pull her there again; she had struggled to go back to warmth, to the sands of Jakku or the emerald canopy of Takodana, her fight resulting in more unrest, in endless weeks of Master Luke reassuring her, telling her to let go of her fear, or anger, to let her mind proceed before she'd be able to get hold onto the meditation... She had finally surrendered to the vision, and now, it felt natural to retreat to the white and black stretch of this snowy forest... Luke was right in the end. Her mind had processed with the damage, replacing fear and rage with peace and serenity as the image of the Starkiller's surface slowly faded from her memory. She had grown to gain a better control on her vision, letting the Force take her where she needed to be, and meditate on what she saw.

Sat crossed legged on a rock, facing the vertigineous drop to the sea, she closed her eyes and let her mind wander, images and feelings passing through her, the Force flowing freely until she would reach the place she was intended to be.

She saw the snow covered ground, the trail of blood on the white gleaming stretch torn apart by a boiling abyss, she felt the cold as her journey led her to the desolated planes of a rock desert lit by a sun too small for the planet that orbited around, she heard the clash of lightsabers and voices scream in pain as the vision changed again and she advanced still on this familiar path; the scenery changed suddenly, the cold dry air replaced by a pungent wet warmth, she saw the swamps and the gnarltrees growing in the mangrove... It was not the first time her visions showed her this place, but never again had she been allowed to explore this far in this strange world. She traced a path between two ponds of murky water and under the roots of a gigantic tree, vines and thorns making her advance slow and tortuous before she reached a clearing. Warmth was wrested away as a red flare lit the darkness and a familiar blade swept on her.

She fell painfully to the ground, her meditation shattered and a cold sweat breaking her skin and drenching her hair.

Frustrated, she regained her composure and retreated once more into her mind.

For one and a half cycle, her dreams and visions had been free of his intoxicating presence – the only exception being the nightmare that had followed the later refuted rumour of his death in an assault against a First Order base – yet, for a week her every waking moments were haunted by memories and images she knew could not be hers.

There was pain and rage in these visions, but also a deep satisfaction, a sensation of completion. His training was coming to an end, she felt and realised this was the only reason why he had not reappeared on the battlefield after the resistance's victory at the Battle of the Starkiller. Soon, the First Order would unleash him and his knights upon the galaxy, and though the resistance had gained ground and partisans during the Order's forced retreat, Rey doubted luck would remain on their side for long with Ren trained to his full potential – no longer an apprentice but a full grown Sith Lord.

She pushed these worries aside and focussed once more on the light deep within, on the sound of the waves washing against the shore, on the sound of thunder far in the distance as a storm was approaching. This times, the humidity of the air somewhat helped and she found herself once more in the swamp land, her steps hasty and unsure as she fled from a dark shape wreathed in red fiery light. She stumbled and fell back into the clearing, her own lightsaber in hand and jumped to her feet ready to face the threat when a voice broke her train of thoughts, snapping her back to reality.

"This is not how meditation works."

She opened her eyes and realized she was no longer sitting on her rock, but displaying an elaborate fighting stance, her staff in hand, and Luke watching her from a distance. She lowered her weapon and bowed her head curtly.

"The forms help me focus.", she lied half-heartedly.

"This is why you called your staff all the way from up the hill.", he replied with a knowing smirk.

"I've had another nightmare...", she said, noticing all too well her master's frown. "It felt very real... very... sudden."

"I know, I felt your trouble.", the jedi said, closing the gap between them to come and sit on the cliff's ledge with her. "The Force shudders at your contact, Rey. Breath and focus. Find your center."

The young woman nodded and closed her eyes, seeking once again the light.

"Your meditation, where did it bring you this time?"

"A swamp... The whole planet looked like a jungle, and there was this cave... and Kylo Ren." Luke tensed. "I had not felt his presence in a long time. I... I think his training is coming to an end."

The jedi master rose from his seat and let his eyes wander into the distance. "So the time has come."

He wordlessly walked away from the cliff and up the stone path leading to their training ground and habitations. "I shall take the X-wing today. I will be back in the morning. In the mean time, you should meditate on what you've seen. Train on your stance.", he instructed, throwing her his two lightsabers that she caught mid air with a smile. "Your Soresu is still unbalanced. Tonight, you will explore the vision deeper and in the morning we will talk. Do not give in to the fear.", he added as Rey blanched. "These visions are filled with only what you take with you. Nothing can hurt you unless you let it."

The young woman nodded. "May the Force be with you."


The sky above was dark. The dim light of faint distant stars and a shattered moon penetrated the wide circular room, bathing the immensity of the temple in a cold, lifeless gleam.

Kneeled at the center of the dimly lit hall, Kylo Ren bowed in reverence as his master slowly paced the darkness and studied him, alone bathed in the light.

"Your formation is proceeding well, Kylo Ren.", the Supreme Leader intoned. "But I sense trouble in you... The Force is... disturbed."

"The girl has completed her training with Skywalker.", the knight said calmly. "I sense her strength growing as the days pass. I long for the day I can bring her to you. Make amends for my failures."

"You will.", Snoke muttered grimly. "But patience, my apprentice. In time, she'll seek you out. And when she does, you must bring her before me. Then, your journey will be complete. But your final trial is yet to come."

The dark knight looked up, his unmasked face betraying his eagerness.

Time mattered little on this planet, and he had lost the count of days he had spent here, training, fighting, meditating, seeking guidance in the darkness, basking in the violent feelings that awakened the strength of the Dark Side users. He had felt himself slip deeper into the shadow, quelling the light inside him, he had submitted to the pain and the rage, and the lust for power... Time mattered little... With each passing day, he felt the call to the light fade, his resolve waver as the darkness inside him grew... Time mattered little... The Dark is generous. And patient. And it always wins...

'Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.'

Fourteen cycles... No. From the healing of his bowcaster wound and the length of his hair, he could tell he was there for more than just a few months... Sixteen cycles. Sixteen cycles of darkness.

"You will journey to the Outer Rim, to the Sluis Sector. There, you will find the resting place of a powerful Bpfasshi jedi. Even now, nine hundred years after his passing, the Dark Side still seeps through him and corrupts the earth. You shall visit his tomb. And bring back his remains as a token of your comitment to the Order."

"As you wish, master."


Rey wiped the sweat off her brow with the back of her hand and watched the sun disappear under horizon, a flash of green light igniting the skies before they faded slowly from a darker shade of blue to the deepest black. Her dual weilding forms were still unsteady, she noticed frustrated. The weightless blade, depriving its user from any momentum, was much different from the staff she had relied on for self defense on Jakku; instead of playing with the weight of her weapon to gain strength and speed, she had to control every bit of pressure on the hilt, for the slightest movement, the faintest shift in her stance caused the greatest repercussions on the blade itself.

'You must unlearn what you have learned.'

Closing her eyes to focus on her sensations, on the wet salty wind coming from the sea, on the warmth of the sun quickly fading to a harsh biting chill, she repeated the forms, parrying and fencing, crossing blades and slashing against an immaterial ennemy.

Patience. Calm. Feel the force flow through you, and through all things.

These words still echoed through her mind as if Master Luke was there, whispering them, but the voice of the jedi suddenly became distant as the faceless shape she imagined shifted to something much more real and familiar.

'It's just us now.'

Anger surging through her, she broke the sequence and switched down the saber, the rage in her heart burning painfully as she struggled to regain the control of her emotions. Her whole body was tense, muscles taut as the memory played vividly in her mind.

She saw the white stretch of the snow covered ground, the tall shapes of black scorched trees in the starless night, she heard his ragged rattle, felt his breath on her face, his lips on hers...

"Get. Out. Of my head!"

She shoved him back forcefully, physically staggering from the effort and fell on her back on a dusty stone floor. She straightened, her surroundings bathed in darkness, the only exception being the skylight at the center of the vast room. In the dim light of a broken moon, a somehow familiar shape kneeled before a tall figure. She blinked and the next moment, she stood on a plain of red rocks, scorched by a pale dwarf sun. She walked through doors at a pace that wasn't her own, unwillingly pulled to him as he crossed the vast desertic stretch to a military compound ornamented with the black and red banners of the Order. He stilled as, in the distance appeared the dark shape of an upsilon shuttle, and turned on spot, his tall shape towering on her. From behind his mask, she felt his bottomless eyes bore into hers and his lips curl in a smirk that chilled her to the bone. She was frozen still, helpless, as he outstretched a hand to brush against her skin.


Kylo Ren smiled and softly crushed the flake of dust he had caught mid air where, a fleeting moment before he had sensed her presence. Thoughtfully smearing the grey powder on his glove fingers, he turned back to his ship and crossed the plain to the docking where the roaring engines of his personnal ship lifted heavy plumes of volcanic dust.


The girl woke with a start, a chill clinging to her skin and her tunic drenched by dew. The skies above were clear and devoid of stars as the sun lazily rose above the island. Rey straightened, the familiar sound of engines roaring near stirring her of her troubled sleep before she could register the bruise forming on her side where she collapsed from her vision last night.

Racing down the hill and the stone stairs, she soon reached the wide plateau where Luke's X-Wing had landed. The jedi hastily wrapped his thick grey cloak around his shoulders as the chill outside caught him unaware, and searched a moment through the ship's cabin before he pulled out a heavy statchel from behind the pilot's seat.

Rey stopped on the last step and waited. She knew all too well the expression on her Master's face; when he thought himself unwatched, behind the wise jedi appeared the man carrying the weight of souls gone before, of those still to come, of regrets and shattered hopes. The vision only last an instant and when he turned back to her, it was with his usual kind smile, as he threw her a heavy bag that clanked with the sound of many metal scraps. She shot him and interrogative look and he motionned her to follow as he crossed the distance between them and climbed up the stairs to their encampment.

The fire at the center of the the small settlement was dead, and Luke thoughtfully sat on a rock close to the cold hearth, waiting for Rey to join him. She sat crossed legged, the cold ashes between them drawing a vivid image of the surface of the planet she had explored in her vision. She expected him to question her about her meditation, to feel her trouble and investigate it; his clear eyes bore into hers shortly, studying the ripples she caused through the Force, but he said nothing. Instead, he pulled out a small package from under his cloak, and lay it on the cold grey mud. She watched silently as he pulled the leather bound securing and unfolded the white fabric wrap, revealing, concealed and protected into a stasis cube, two dozens crystal shards.

"These gems are force sensitive.", he explained as he turned off the stasis and opened the case to spread the pieces of crystal over the unfolded fabric. "I want you to try and feel the Force flow through them, find resonnance and focus on it when you find it."

The young woman obeyed, shifting from her sitting position to a more formal meditation pose and closed her eyes. She opened her mind to the world around her; she felt the blinding light of her Master before her but brushed past it, focussing her attention to the smallest ripples through the Force, the fish in the water, the water itself as it crashed against the cliffs, the grass as it bend in the wind, the stone and then, in the midst of billions of sparks, a light glowing stronger and fiercer the more she focussed. She saw the stones in her mind more clearly than before, felt the Force shudder at their touch, felt the waves and undulations sending disturbance in her own flow before she found what she was looking for. She hummed unconsciously as her core thrummed in unisson with the sharp edged gem on her right. The cold white glow turned warmer, the shades of octarine she percieved the Force in slowly fading to a fiery citrine light as the crystal sang to her.

She instinctively opened her eyes, only to see the other shards turned a dull white color while the one she had felt her connection to emanated the same ember light she had foreseen.

She looked up to Luke, whose expression was unreadable. He watched the crystals with sadness, yet a light gleaming in his aquamarine eyes as Rey outstretched her hand to tentatively touch the citrine clear gem that had called her.

The crystal was warm against her skin, the glassy surface thrumming softly in unisson with her pulse.

"Kyber crystals.", Luke said, answering her unspoken question. "The heart of a Jedi's lightsaber...", he added with a smile. "These were the last ones, those I could salvage after the destruction of the Temple. This one is yours now. "

The young woman gasped softly, her eyes shifting from her Master's face to the gem before her.

"The only one that answered your call, and changed for you. It has chosen you, and now", he said motionning to the bag of scraps metal beside her, "I will teach you how to build your lightsaber around it."


Hope you enjoyed! :) So, there we are, one year and a half after the events of TFA - gosh two years gonna be a loooong wait indeed! - and the connection between them, though dulled by distance, is coming to grow stronger yet.

Hope you will like where this story will lead next :D Chapter 4 is on its way and... well that's about it! Chapter 4 on its way! ^^

Please review and stay tuned! :)