"You okay?"
Rey was still feeling shaken by the time she got to the hangar with BB-8. Poe was waiting for them by her fighter, looking impatient. His expression changed to one of concern as soon as he saw her face.
"You look like you saw a ghost," Poe said.
She raised an eyebrow, unsure exactly how to respond. Not a ghost, unfortunately. That might have been less alarming.
"I'm fine. Just a long day," she reassured him.
Poe looked at her for another moment and then glanced down at BB-8, as though the droid might fill him in. BB-8 looked between the two of them and remained quiet. Rey suppressed a secretive smile.
"Alright," Poe said, apparently deciding it wasn't worth pressing the issue. "You're loaded up with some rations, should keep you for a few days, if it takes that long. Other supplies. Coordinates for the base on Dantooine have been logged in the navi-computer, so when you're done you can find us. You still sure about this?"
Rey was looking up at the X-Wing as Poe spoke, nodding her head distractedly until he asked if she was still sure about the mission.
"Yeah, I'm still sure. I'll come back, with or without Luke," she promised.
Poe smiled and nodded, reaching out to pat her on the back and then gesture up to the cockpit.
It was only her second flight in the X-Wing, but it all felt so natural to her already, like she was supposed to be there. There was something soothing about the whine of the engines as she rose from the floor. Poe stood nearby, watching her and BB-8 depart. He raised his hand to wave her off and she gave a quick wave in return as she turned for the entrance to the hangar.
As she left it all behind she had to wonder if she should have told someone about what she had seen. What if they thought of her as a threat? She was so new to the Resistance, and they barely knew her. Would they think she was a spy? Surely, a spy would never willingly tell others what they were.
Falling out of hyperspace was terrifying. It felt like she was going to lose control of her ship and go spinning off into space. The world slammed back into place much more suddenly than a normal end to a jump, pushing her against the safety harness that kept her in her chair.
When the world finally stopped tilting, and she got her bearings, she looked around. The X-Wing hovered sedentary in space. There was nothing around. No First Order ships were dropping out of hyperspace to come after her.
Rey managed a grin. She hadn't died. That was a good first step in her mission. BB-8's questioning chirps had her nodding her head.
"Yes, set course for Ahch-To. We need to hurry."
With an affirmative beep, BB-8 complied, mapping out their route. The small fighter leapt forward, back into hyperspace once again.
Rey would have a few hours before they arrived at their destination. Fatigue, which had been crouching ever close to her since she had left the island, was easing forward again to take a stronger hold of her.
"I'm going to shut my eyes for a bit. You okay to keep watch on things?" she asked BB-8, settling more comfortably into her chair with a weary sigh.
BB-8 beeped again, assuring her the trip would go smoothly. Rey closed her eyes.
She couldn't remember where she was. Somewhere nearby thunder rumbled, but rain had not yet broken over her. She was laying down, curled up in a cot. Her cot. The night was warm enough that she didn't need a blanket, instead simply laying in her nightshirt and pants.
She was on the edge of sleep, coming in and out of dreams that had been increasingly troubled over the years. Darkness, and whispers that sounded more reassuring as time passed.
She was afraid. Very afraid. And that fear had fed into a sense of isolation she had felt for as long a she could remember.
The sound of a lightsaber being ignited snapped her to full wakefulness and she rolled over to see Luke standing over her. He looked younger, she thought vaguely, less grey than she remembered. He was bathed in the green light of his saber blade, which was held, poised over her.
Rey's body moved as if it had a mind of its own, as if every twitch of muscle was predetermined. She met Luke's eyes and saw his panic. Her hand reached out, calling her saber from across the room, knocking pens and scrolls from her table to clatter onto the floor. Her own saber was ignited almost before it had even reached her hand, and she rolled to bring it up and defend against Luke.
Despair surged in her chest. How could he do this? What had she done that he would want her dead?
It was quickly replaced by anger. How dare he attack her? She was family. He had promised to look after her and to help her. The voices that had whispered to her in her dreams were right. Her own family had betrayed her.
Rey pulled the anger to her and built on it, letting go of the saber with one hand to reach out.
"Ben, no!" Luke cried out as the roof of the hut caved in on them both.
Rey's eyes snapped open and she gasped, shaking and looking around the cockpit of her X-Wing fighter.
Ben.
She had heard Luke cry out to Ben. To Kylo Ren, her mind corrected. Luke had once been training his nephew?
"What was that?" she asked the empty air, her breath shaking.
BB-8 beeped at her in confusion and the ship started to pull out of hyperspace.
Ahch-To, which she had barely been away from for more than a day cycle, loomed in front of her, a swirl of blue, grey, and white.
Putting her hands on the controls, Rey pushed the dream away. A nightmare. It had been a nightmare.
"Just a bad dream," she reassured the droid.
Now was not the time to be rattled by a bad dream. She needed to focus. The Resistance needed her to succeed at this, to bring Luke out of exile.
Apprehension grew in her gut as they approached. She could see the ancient Jedi huts dotting the landscape. The Lanai, as they bustled about their work of maintaining the island.
Rey landed the X-Wing close to where Poe had crashed before.
"Alright," she breathed, hearing the hiss of air as the cockpit unsealed and began to open. It was mid-day. Luke could be anywhere, but somehow she knew how to find him.
Rey realized she could sense him, like a bright beacon of light that she could feel, rather than physically see. Was this the Force?
Throwing down her retractable ladder, Rey climbed down to the ground, taking a moment to stand and try to flex this new power. It didn't really feel new. Rather, it felt like a muscle that had sat, forgotten and disused for many years.
There was light all over the island. Pinpricks on the slopes and nearby cliffs where animals lived. And there was something else. Rey felt something sinister and dark, lurking.
No. This wasn't why she had returned. Making her way over the rocky hills of the ancient Jedi island, she headed for a tree that was somehow even older still. Luke Skywalker was inside of it.
Rey had not spent much time around the tree. Inside, she knew, there was a collection of tomes, as old as the huts of the island were. They detailed the teachings of the Jedi.
As she approached, she saw his silhouette appear in the doorway, standing, waiting, watching for her.
The wind around her picked up, and she caught snatches of whispered words in a voice she could not place.
Peace.
It seemed to sigh.
Knowledge.
She stood a few feet away, looking at the man who had once nearly felt like family. Why, now, did he feel almost like a stranger?
"Why have you come back?" Luke spoke first, and there was a chill in his tone that went beyond his usual melancholy.
Rey clenched her hands at her sides and swallowed hard.
"I'm here to convince you to come back with me," she announced firmly.
Luke shook his head, looking incredulous.
"I'm not leaving the island," he said. "What made you think my answer to you would be any different than my answer to the pilot?"
Poe. The pilot's name was Poe. Rey had to stop herself from correcting him.
"The Resistance is going to make a last stand," she explained. "They need you. And," she paused. Had she realized before that moment that there was another reason she was desperate for Luke to leave the island with her?
"And?" he asked. Rey took another step forward.
"Something's changed. Something I don't understand."
To her surprise, Luke nodded his head.
"The Force. You feel it now, don't you."
The surprise must have show on her face, because he nodded grimly without her having to say another word.
"I warned you not to leave," he said.
Rey felt a twinge of confusion.
"Not to leave? What does my leaving have to do with the Force?"
Instead of answering, Luke left the tree, passing her on the hill and striding away without a backward glance.
"I can't leave," he called back to her.
Rey watched him, her confusion building. Why would he refuse to teach her if he knew she could feel the Force? Wasn't this what his life had been about before?
The day passed quickly after that. Rey stayed at Luke's heels for the entirety of it, begging, demanding, cajoling, and guilting. He never changed his answer. He barely spoke to her again at all, and when the sun sank, he went into his hut and practically slammed the door in her face.
Rey stood in the grey light of twilight, feeling oddly rejected.
What had changed so much that he would treat her like this? Her new connection to the Force? Why would that make her worth his scorn? He had never been so cold to her before. Was it really somehow taboo? She hadn't asked for this power. It was simply a part of her.
Rey tried knocking on his door until the suns had completely set, and she was standing in the dark.
Should she stay and try to sleep? How much time did the Resistance have? She knew she needed to return as soon as possible, but she couldn't leave without Luke.
One more day, she decided. She would spend the night and try again the next day. If she couldn't change his mind she would have to return as Poe had. Empty handed.
The way back to her own hut was etched into her brain, and the walk to it in the dark would be no issue for her.
As she turned from the doorway, she was surprised when a little light flared to life in front of her.
Glancing down, Rey saw BB-8, waiting patiently for her. She had thought he would stay with the X-Wing, rather than try to navigate the rocky, uneven island, but there he was, waiting on the stone pathway. A small light extended from a compartment to give her something to see by.
Rey smiled and her heart felt a little lighter for the droid's dedication.
When she reached her hut, she was surprised to see it was still untouched. It was true that she hadn't been gone long, but the Lanai had never been fond of her presence, and were usually quite quick about tidying things up around the island.
Settling herself on her bed, Rey sighed deeply. If she had a chance for a true night of sleep she knew it would be wise to take it. The small snatches of rest she had been getting were not going to be able to sustain her forever.
Without managing another word to BB-8, she lay down, her head on the familiar, almost nonexistent pillow, drawing her blanket up around her. Sleep covered her almost just as quickly.
The oblivion did not last.
Rey came gasping out of the same dream she had had on her X-Wing, of Luke standing over her, weapon drawn.
Struggling to regain her breath she lay still, gazing up at the ceiling of the hut. Moonlight filtered in through slats in the window covering, and her eyes strove to adjust and give her sight.
Her breathing slowly calmed as she pondered it again.
Why was she seeing this? Had it been unintentionally stolen from Kylo Ren during her interrogation?
Groaning, Rey pulled her blanket up to her face and bunched it up over her eyes, wanting to block it all out.
How had things managed to get so complicated?
"Can't sleep?"
Rey's heart slammed against her ribs and she jolted upright in bed, reaching thoughtlessly for her blaster, forgetting that the last time this had happened, it had no effect.
It took her a moment to pick out Kylo Ren's form. He was seated not far from her, half hidden in shadows, though in the hut a beam of moonlight should have been falling over him, and illuminating that spot. How long had he been there, watching? His face was mostly devoid of emotion, pale and framed in loose curls of black hair that reflected no light.
It was hard to pull her hand back from her weapon, even knowing that it would do her no good to have. Now that she was aware of him, she felt a sort or ripple in the Force, just as she had felt the first time. She had assumed it was the foggy feeling of being woken from a nightmare.
When she didn't answer, Kylo Ren shifted and she wondered where he was. He was not clothed in the ominous robes she had seen him in on the Finalizer, though this cloth was still black. It was loose, resembling a nightshirt and slacks.
"There are circled under your eyes," he observed casually.
Rey resisted the urge to reach up and touch at the skin.
"It looks like you haven't slept in awhile," he continued.
Would the offhand remarks continue until she answered? Their last conversation had not lasted long. Would this one be over as quickly?
"I can't sleep," she finally said, her voice curt.
He cocked his head to the side, as though it was a strange thing for her to have said.
"Why?" he asked, voice low and irritatingly smooth.
Rey continued to stare at him, trying to determine what his goal could be in this line of questioning.
"Can we not do this?" she asked, instead of offering him an answer.
Kylo Ren remained silent, watching patiently.
The dreams were about him. She had not seen him, but she had heard Luke call his name. Were they more than just dreams?
"Nightmares," she finally admitted, feeling absurd for speaking to him about it. Out of the corner of her eye she could see BB-8. He had powered on at the sound of her voice and was simply watching her. He must have realized what was happening, as every now and again he would turn to look in the same direction as her, at the spot where she saw Kylo Ren sitting.
"What could you possibly have seen to give you nightmares?" he asked, and there was just the slightest bit of condescension in his voice.
Should she ask him? Would he tell her the truth of what she was seeing?
Rey took a deep breath, centering herself out of habit.
"You," she said. The simple word sent a small flash of shock over his face.
"And of Master Luke," she finished.
Kylo Ren's eyes got wider.
"Skywalker?" he asked quietly. "What do you know about him?"
Instead of answering, Rey watched his face to see if it would give anything away. She had forgotten he didn't know where she was from.
Kylo Ren was looking around as though he might be able to see her surroundings. Anger passed briefly over his features, but he breathed out a small, incredulous laugh.
"You're from wherever the pilot met Luke. An apprentice?" Then his eyes narrowed. "No. Not an apprentice. Your connection to the Force was closed off."
Rey didn't want to listen to him puzzle it out.
"Were you ever an apprentice to Luke?" she asked, to draw his attention back off of her.
Abruptly, Kylo Ren rose to his feet, towering over her as she sat, half propped up in her bed as though moving to much might trigger him into attacking. Not that he could harm her in this odd connection.
He looked like he wanted to come closer, to question her over how she would know enough to ask him this.
"Did the General tell you?" he asked.
Rey shook her head. "No, I saw it in my dream."
He continued to watch her with dark, cautious eyes.
"You saw what, exactly?"
There was a warning in his tone, though whether it was a warning not to continue at all, or simply to be careful about what she said, Rey wasn't sure.
"I saw him raise his saber as though to strike. And I saw you collapse the hut on him." Rey decided to keep it as simple as possible.
Kylo Ren snorted and looked around slowly, searching whatever his own surroundings might have been.
"What my uncle did that night… I should thank him for it. Without it, I might never have left his school. I would never have learned about true power."
"Master Luke would never just attack someone. You must have done something that made him think it was necessary," Rey said.
This finally seemed to trigger him, and Kylo Ren crossed the room in a few long strides, standing at the edge of her bed and looming over her. Rey's hand closed around her blaster again, and she wanted to draw back away from him, but reminded herself that he couldn't lay a finger on her during these meetings.
"I did nothing, and he crept into my room and tried to murder me while I slept," he said.
She had expected him to yell or shout denials at her. Instead, his volume dropped even lower, as though he were telling her a secret. Despite the anger in his eyes, she saw there was something else as well, hidden, glinting under the surface. Fear?
She was searching his face, still trying to decide the truth of what she had seen. His own eyes seemed to search her. How light was the hut? How much could he see?
"You think he is so benevolent," he said. "Did you wonder why your power was locked away? Why that barrier began to crack when you left his presence?"
Rey's eyes narrowed slightly and now she did draw back.
"What are you suggesting?" she asked.
A small, smug smirk appeared on his face.
"It takes someone very strong in the Force, with many years of experience to cut someone else off from it."
He was still watching her closely, waiting to see her reaction.
"Are you suggesting Master Luke is the one who did that?" Her voice was incredulous, bordering on offended.
Kylo Ren stayed where he was, uncomfortably close to her. Rey reminded herself once more that he was not truly there and she had nothing to fear from him.
"I'm not suggesting anything," he retorted. "I'm telling you that's what he did."
Rey shook her head. "No. He wouldn't," she said.
Kylo Ren finally moved back, giving her more space. Rey sucked in a breath she hadn't realized she was holding.
"You seem to think you know him so well. What he would and wouldn't do. If he has nothing to hide from you, why wouldn't he answer questions you asked him?"
"How do you know he doesn't?" she asked.
"If he was honest about who he was with you, you wouldn't so dutifully defend him."
He seemed so infuriatingly sure of himself. Rey gritted her teeth, staring at him, unwilling to break his gaze. He didn't scare her.
The Force shifted around her, like slipping under the surface of the ocean and feeling the water close over your head.
Rey stared at the place Kylo Ren had been for a long time, trying to dismiss what he had said. He was an enemy, on the opposite side of a war. He would try anything, say anything, to drive her away from such a potentially powerful ally.
After she had been silent for several minutes, BB-8 rolled forward and beeped at her in concern.
Rey swallowed hard and shook her head.
"He's gone," she said. "He was trying to tell me that Master Luke cut me off from the Force."
BB-8's head swiveled back slightly, as though he were shocked by the idea, whirring and beeping some more.
"No, it's crazy."
Still, her mind was a tumult, unsure of what to believe. Something whispered to her, insisting he was telling the truth.
Climbing to her feet, Rey left her hut, BB-8 following her back out into the night as she headed determinedly for Luke's hut.