The official Imperial residence on Tatooine is not much of a palace. It's mostly administrative offices with a throne room, some reception rooms, and a few modest living quarters tacked on back by the landing pad. Ben had never planned on spending any time here and it shows. But it's perfect for Rey. The massive Coruscant Imperial palace complex still partly under construction may have room after ornate room, but on Tatooine things are understated. The Rim palace is far from casual, but as far as head of state residences go, it is comparatively lackluster. And that's how Rey likes it. It suits her fine.
But surprise! Before Rey's transport even touches down at her new home, Ben announces her as the Empress. The press release is short and to the point. Emperor Ren has an Empress who is taking up residence on Tatooine. She is a Rimmer from humble Jakku who wishes to live among her own kind.
That's not the controversial part that sparks all the hate. The juicy bombshell announcement is that the Empress is the former Resistance spokeswoman from the holonet. The one Kylo Ren saved from execution live on-air. Yes, Emperor Ren is married to his supposed enemy. She had bravely been working to rehabilitate the Resistance cause from within. Hoping to lead them from being a militant fringe group into becoming a political minority party. But alas, that strategy failed. So, the loyal Empress broke ties with the Resistance and returned home to her mate. Even she knew that the Coruscant bombing was the last straw. The rebels were irredeemable at that point. Clearly, they needed to go.
The Empress is the sole survivor of the Resistance cause now. But make no mistake, she has been loyal to her Imperial Dark lord all along. The First Order produces those pictures from Ben's victory celebration to prove it. There is smiling Rey hand and hand with her husband. She's wearing Old Republic hair buns and a white dress to channel the original rebel princess, her late mother-in-law Leia Organa. But the joke was on the Resistance all along. For their mouthpiece to the galaxy was Kylo Ren's secret wife.
It's all so unexpected. So preposterous. But it's largely the truth.
That polite but firm young woman on the holonet with the severe hair and the corporate clothes was a spy. The duplicity of it all gets swept under the rug. For the official version of events is very romantic. When the First Order spokesman convenes a special press conference to address the topic of the Empress, he repeatedly stresses how the newlyweds conspired to live apart for the good of the galaxy. Masquerading as star crossed lovers on opposite sides of a war while meeting in secret each week on Coruscant. The Empress grew up destitute amid the wreckage of the last civil war, the man explains. She is fundamentally committed to peace and order. It was her idea to work from within the Resistance to moderate their stance. She tried time and time again, but to no avail. Those extremist zealots finally kicked her out. The Empress was very, very disappointed about that, the man adds with feigned regret. We all owe our plucky Empress a debt of gratitude for being so brave.
Now, Kylo Ren's sudden appearance to save his secret wife held hostage live on the holonet makes sense. So do his wife's Force skills. For, of course, a magical strongman Skywalker scion like Kylo Ren would choose a woman well versed in the ancient religion herself.
The story gets downright saccharine as the First Order spokesman keeps embellishing it. The Emperor met his Empress while she was searching for the Jedi Luke Skywalker. Kylo Ren tried to dissuade her from making the mistake of seeking the infamous Jedi Master out. But the Empress, being a curious and strong-willed woman, persevered. She found Skywalker in exile. Luckily, the murderous Empire-toppling Jedi sent her away. He caught the young couple communing through the magic Force and turned on her. Thankfully, the Empress wised up and fled to Snoke. In fact, the Empress was there on the Supremacy when the Resistance attacked. Snoke had just given his blessing to the young lovers to marry when he died.
The Empress was gravely injured in the attack on the Supremacy. The spokesman produces Rey's medical records to prove it. For the sake of discretion, he explains, the betrothed young couple lived as brother and sister on the First Order flagship. It being so soon after revered Leader Snoke's death, they thought it inappropriate to marry. The family-oriented Empress even sat by the dying Leia Organa's bedside for weeks. The spokesman produces the old picture of Rey and Kylo standing hand in hand in the Finalizer infirmary to support this claim. It was during those first weeks after Crait that the young couple came up with the idea to have Rey infiltrate the Resistance. Their goal was to unify the galaxy with no further bloodshed, if possible.
Watching en route to Tatooine, Rey gapes at the rambling press conference. She marvels at the depiction of herself. According to the First Order, the new Empress is full of very politically useful contradictions. She is soft hearted despite the harsh circumstances of her background. She loves freedom but she loves order too. She values efficient government but she understands the need for civil liberties. She lived among the rebels but she is married to Kylo Ren and supports the First Order. She might be an orphan from Jakku but she has a Core World accent. There is something for everyone to like and identify with in the newly announced Empress. Ben has effectively woven the truth with his own self-serving spin.
The only thing he left out, Rey thinks sourly, is the part where he almost choked her to death. This love story does not have a happy ending, she knows.
Rey is not slow on the uptake. She recognizes Ben's move for what it is: a not-so-subtle means to entrap her as the Empress. Ben has released enough pictures taken from security footage on the Finalizer and at the First Order holonet studio to make her very recognizable, if she wasn't already. Rey is instantly a very public figure. There's no way she could run away from this Empress gig now.
It ups the ante a lot. There's no backing out now.
Swallowing her panic, Rey starts strategizing. She knows her weakness is loneliness, so she enlists people to join her on Tatooine straightaway. She begins by coaxing old Vanee to join her from Mustafar. After checking first with Ben, the old guy shows up. He has Luke Skywalker's beat up astromech R2 unit and Leia Organa's ancient protocol droid in tow. Vanee turns out to be an inspired choice. Darth Vader's castle caretaker knows a thing or two about running an official residence. He immediately takes charge of Rey's Tatooine household. The existing staff members quickly fall in line.
Rey next summons her old producer at the First Order holonet studio to handle the media. Rey's newfound celebrity has created a holonet firestorm. Rey knows the fever pitch will die down in time, but she also knows that going forward she will want to control her own press. She's not letting that stuffy First Order spokesman get the jump on her again. This Empress is media savvy and knows that her public image will be a useful tool.
Rey calls upon Captain Raj to be her chief of staff. With Ben's permission, he agrees. Raj turns out to be a Rimmer himself from a neighboring world to Tatooine. He is more than happy to relocate to Rey's far-flung outpost palace. I don't know anything about politics, Raj confesses to Rey, but I will learn. You know who's who in the First Order, Rey points out, and you know how the First Order works. That's very valuable information that Rey knows she will need.
Without any alternative options, Rey next contacts the major lady from Ben's staff who had helped to outfit her as Kylo Ren's sister long ago. Will she be Rey's personal assistant? The poor woman doesn't really get a choice. Ben puts her on a shuttle and tells her she is being reassigned. The major arrives at Tatooine looking very resigned. I am a loyal member of the First Order, she declares. I have no Resistance sympathies. Those rebels got what they deserved. Rey nods at this plain speaking. She attempts to reassure the nervous major who looks as if she fears being choked on the spot. I need someone who will be honest with me when they speak the opposing viewpoint, Rey replies. But if at any time you become uncomfortable with what we do here in the Rim, you are free to return to his Excellency's staff. Mollified somewhat, the wary major agrees.
Rey keeps up her poaching. She encourages everyone she hires to identify colleagues who they think might be willing to join her outpost on Tatooine. Rey doesn't know enough about the First Order to know who to choose herself and she wants a small group of colleagues who are happy to be here and not feeling shifted away from the primary locus of power. Ben, for his part, raises no objections about losing his personnel. No doubt because he figures having his loyalists on Tatooine is a passive form of oversight.
The key person in all of this turns out to be Vanee. His influence extends way past household management. Vanee is an erudite old campaigner from the reign of Emperor Palpatine. The wizened little man has an experienced and strategic mind. You don't get to be Lord Vader's personal assistant without having good political instincts. In his slow, sly way, old Vanee sits around the kitchen table drinking caf with Raj and Rey while making suggestions for how to grab influence.
You must ostensibly appear to be working within the Master's policies, Vanee counsels. My old Master was careful to never be in conflict with his Emperor even if Palpatine might not have blessed all of Lord Vader's activities, Vanee confides. It's good advice for everyone involved. Rey is no fool. She sees what Vanee is doing. Vanee is Ben's man and Rey knows it. Vanee wants to help Rey but he also wants her to stay firmly in his Master's camp. And, all in all, Rey sees the advantages of this strategy. She's not looking for more conflict with Ben. If she wants to keep him out of her life, she needs to avoid doing things that will provoke him to step in.
After a shoestring staff is assembled, Rey kicks off her public role with an official tour of the major Rim worlds. It's part public relations campaign to introduce the Empress to the galaxy at large and it's part behind-closed-doors listening opportunity with local Rim leaders. As Rey moves from system to system, she solicits answers to a few basic questions: What are the challenges facing your world? What do you need to achieve your goals? What would make the biggest improvement in the daily life of your average citizen?
When Rey's month-long tour of the Rim concludes, she has seen more hospitals and factories and met more people than she ever thought possible. The Rim worlds, for all their differing species, varied cultures and disparate states of development, have much in common. They all suffer from persistent poverty, lack of basic infrastructure, prevalent crime, and inadequate education. These issues are very different from the problems that plague the Republic-friendly Core. Out here in the Rim, life is hard, opportunities are limited, and a social safety net does not exist. Naturally, the law and order, pro-development First Order message resonates strongly. The Rim worlds, especially the Outer Rim, are the First Order's power base.
That means it's an odd fit for Rey.
These people do not know what to make of Kylo Ren's Resistance sympathizer wife. Rey's reception is always polite but rarely warm. The Rim governments are as standoffish with her as Rey herself is with all the strangers. But that is a style many in these worlds understand. Rey's innate directness and lack of flowery speech fits her audience. So does her tendency to eschew luxury and formal ceremony. And so, in important ways, Rey makes subtle inroads winning over her audience. One thing is for certain, the Empress is no Core glamour girl figurehead. She might have questionable First Order bona fides, but she has a bio that gives her lots of Rim cred. She's one of them, even if the Rim citizens are in no rush to embrace her as such. It helps that Rey makes no attempt at a charm offensive. There is nothing slick about the Empress that comes off as disingenuous.
After her listening tour, Rey gloms onto General Hux's First Order Council. She takes it upon herself to form an unofficial subcommittee of its Rim members. Summon them, Vanee advises. Subjects come to the Empress and not the other way around. Raj concurs, and Rey opens her palace to thirty Rim world officials. They all crowd into a large conference room, curious about what's coming next. Then Rey appears and starts taking charge.
From the outset, Rey's approach has all the hallmarks of democracy. The members of her Rim committee might be appointed by the regime, but they make decisions by majority rule. Rey dispenses with the supermajority requirements that plagued the rebel council. Mindful of the infighting and factions that arose within the Resistance, Rey presides over an agenda aimed at making positive change fast. She wants the Rim worlds to work together and to pool their resources to achieve it.
From Coruscant, Rey invites a bunch of First Order policy advisors who arrive with lengthy white papers and economic development plans full of bullet point lists. The Rim committee reviews the advice and supplements, amends, and omits things based on real world experience. Then they adopt a basic plan with modest, achievable goals. The way Rey sees it, the Rim has long been ignored and underfunded. Even if this new plan doesn't accomplish everything—and it won't—it will still be a big improvement. She's not aiming for perfection and she recognizes her limitations. So do all the Rim officials she's dealing with. Rey's no nonsense, pragmatic style earns her a begrudging respect.
It also helps that Rey asks for, and receives, a hefty budget from Coruscant. The emissary from the Emperor who presents the funds warns sternly that graft will not be tolerated. His Excellency will personally execute anyone in this room who absconds with public funds, the man dutifully relates. None of the peoples' hard-earned tax dollars will be used to grease the palms of the Hutts, the Pikes, Crimson Dawn, or any other of the Rim's notorious crime syndicates.
That's pretty unrealistic, Rey knows. So once the Imperial accountant departs, she turns to the group. "Take that to mean 'don't get caught', not 'don't do it,'" she advises. "Bribe who you need to bribe, but drive a hard bargain and keep detailed records of what you pay. I want to see a full accounting of where this money goes." Rey is a worldly woman. She's fine with some graft in the name of getting things done, so long as there is no self-dealing. "These bribes go one-way," she cautions. "We pay. No one pays you. And don't think you can pocket some funds and tell me you paid off the Hutts because I fully intend to ask the Hutts how much they got from us. If their number doesn't square with your number, then we will all have a meeting with the Emperor to discuss the missing funds."
The message gets through. The Empress wants results but she knows how things work out here in the Rim. She's committed enough to improving things that she's willing to bend the rules a little, too. It reinforces the impression that Rey is a serious reformer.
The First Order administration on Coruscant looks over her shoulder and demands reports from Rey's staff of helpers. But their oversight is mainly information flow. Otherwise, the Core bureaucrats are hands off. Ben lets her do her thing without intervention. If General Hux is up in arms about Rey usurping his turf with her Rim committee, she never hears about it.
In fact, dealings with Coruscant are so arm's length that Rey never directly interacts with Ben. When necessary, her staff talks to his staff. Issues are always resolved without the personal involvement of the Emperor and Empress. That makes it easy for Rey to put Ben out of her mind for work matters.
Rey makes a habit of deliberately referring Ben by his title and never his name. And never does she reference their relationship as a married couple. Ben is always 'the Emperor' and never 'my husband.' That formality does not go unnoticed, for it is very much at odds with the casual demeanor of the Empress who asks people to call her Rey. But everyone takes the hint and follows suit, except Vanee who can't shake the long-ingrained habit of calling Ben 'the Master.' It's a Sith thing, the old guy explains sheepishly and Rey can't help but laugh.
Of course, Rey sees Ben on the holonet regularly. Young Emperor Ren is mostly unmasked these days. He has taken her suggestion to lose the helmet and show his face to the public. Only in military settings does he wear the mask now. But still, Ben is very aloof. He doesn't give interviews or press conferences. The longest speech he has ever given is probably five sentences. Ben has people to do that. He has people to do everything. There are many intentional barriers and gatekeepers between the public and Kylo Ren. As a result, the news coverage typically shows the Emperor arriving or departing from somewhere on a landing pad. Ben moves with his characteristic tromping stride. His cape tosses in the breeze, his longish hair is in his face, and his dark knight's robes whip about him.
Watching the video feed now and then, Rey's heart skips a beat. She feels a pang of nostalgia. For she remembers what it felt like to run into his arms. To kiss that long, angular face. To bask in the security of being precious to the most powerful man alive. It was a long way from a downed AT-AT on Jakku. And, really, she should have known that it was too good to be true. It wouldn't last. Rey feels stupid for not having seen that sooner.
She has sufficient distance from Dantooine now to see that the rebels were not going to compromise. Not without being forced to the table to cut a deal. And with Ben unwilling to negotiate with terrorists, there was no hope of a peaceful agreement. Rey will even privately concede there were probably a lot of rebel volunteers who would rather be martyred than agree to surrender terms. Of all the possible outcomes, what happened at Dantooine was not all that surprising in the end. But still, Rey hates that no quarter was given. She wants the galaxy to move past violence as the default solution to disputes.
But Ben isn't ready for that. Not in his public life or his personal life. He had proved that when first he killed the rebels and then he nearly choked her to death. Ben might be committed to peace, but his means are not peaceful. And that is a big disconnect with Rey's point of view. It is ultimately the reason for their spectacular breakup.
Was the Force wrong about them? Or was Ben wrong about the Force?
Lately, Rey thinks that Ben misunderstood destiny. Maybe the current state of affairs has been fate's intention all along. For despite their bitter estrangement, Rey is still Ben's consort hard at work in the Rim to rule the galaxy. Perhaps this is how it was always meant to be, and the Force wants their relationship to be a political alliance and not a true marriage. Maybe this is how Light and Dark coexist side by side in action. Could this current situation be true balance? Perhaps their goal always should have been mutual respect and not personal happiness.
Did they aim for too much? Rey wonders.
Still, she can't shake the feeling that the Force has indeed had a hand in all of this. Rey has come a long way from being a desert scavenger. Looking back, she can see how the unique experiences she has lived have prepared her for her new Empress role. Subsistence living on Jakku gave Rey a real-world appreciation of the problems that plague the Rim. She understands poverty on a very personal level. She's seen firsthand the workings of local crime bosses and the inefficiencies of barter economies. She knows what it feels like to be exploited and trapped in your circumstances. She also knows that desperation and hopelessness can lead people to make irrational and self-destructive decisions. Because if there is no bright future to look forward to, then there is only today. And that means a spice joint looks appealing because at least for a time it will take your troubles away. Rey also knows a universal truth that exists in all species and across all cultures: that the ones who suffer the most in hard times and difficult circumstances are always women and children.
But her preparation for being the Empress is more than Jakku. Her time with the rebels has influenced Rey in important ways too. Those months spent working night and day on Resistance policy positions for her spokesperson role were an intellectual crash course in the galaxy's current challenges. They made Rey very fluent in the problems of the day and the various proposed solutions. She's also comfortable slipping into a public role thanks to her holonet appearances. Rey has the measured speech and quiet, polite style down. It easily adapts to her Empress role. Plus, as a media veteran, Rey has grown used to criticism in the press. She knows not to take the inevitable hate personally.
It's true that the role of Empress had once intimidated her. Rey's solution is to ignore all those aspects of being Kylo Ren's wife that dismay her—the social niceties and grand occasions, the constant scrutiny of her personal appearance, the need to show up places to look and act pretty and pleasant. None of that is applicable to her very substance driven public role. Maybe if she and Ben were living a glittery life together as a young, golden couple in Coruscant, she would feel those pressures. Then, the tabloids would watch her waistline constantly to speculate over whether there is an Imperial heir on the way. She'd be hounded by the press like an A-list celebrity, with her outfits critiqued and her every move recorded. But none of that applies to her life on Tatooine. After the first few months, all but the serious press abandons covering her. The do-gooder Empress is just a little too prosaic and dull to be a clickbait human interest story.
In fact, Kylo Ren's rebel Empress is pretty much the opposite of chic. Rey focuses attention on her causes and not on herself. She bows to convention and cultivates a polished, consistent appearance that is ladylike but far from luxurious. Rey owns six dresses that she repeats over and over. All in all, her look is more spare and dignified than fashionable. And that's appropriate out here in the Rim where people are starving. Rey refuses to swoop around in jewels and silks to parade herself before people who are struggling. It may be a 'look at me' vain, competitive world in the Core, but not out here in the Rim. And if the Core press ridicules her as looking boring, bland, and even a bit Jedi, then so what? That sort of scorn only increases her stature out here. "We Rimmers are used to the Core looking down on us," Rey says pointedly in response to a reporter's question. "I wear their ridicule as a badge of honor," she sniffs. Rare candid moments like that endear Rey little by little to her skeptical local audience.
It's empowering to work to empower other people, Rey learns. And though she never imagined herself in this setting, being the Empress fulfills her . . . mostly. It helps Rey to believe that there was a purpose to her time with Ben. It was all leading up to this. Their destinies were indeed intrinsically linked, just not in the way they understood. Indeed, all of it mattered in the end: Jakku, Luke, the Resistance, Ben. Those combined experiences have all brought Rey to this point. Is it the Force at work? Rey decides it doesn't matter. For whether she controls her fate or whether fate controls her, she will do her best to promote the Light. She owes it to Finn and to Rose, to Han and to Chewie, and to General Organa and Master Luke.
But if being Empress is the consolation prize for losing Ben, it's still on the whole a little dissatisfying. For you can tell yourself that a job is your calling in life. That what you do matters and completely fulfills you. And it may, for a time and in some ways. But it is no substitute for love. Love is the ultimate experience in life. Frustrating, enthralling, disappointing, enraging though it is. Love is all things at different times and in different ways. And confounding though it may be, love is life affirming and hopeful like nothing else. It is the Light in action within ourselves.
And few people crave love more than perpetually lonely Rey of Jakku. She is full of Light with no one to share it with. Rey knows she needs someone to love. But she's through with romantic love. She and Ben were a passion that dared too much, moved too fast, and crashed hard. Rey doesn't trust herself to choose another man. And finding another man seems ill-advised. For though they are separated, Rey doubts that Ben would take well to being replaced. Whoever she chose for a lover would be a dead man walking. Rey refuses to set someone—and herself—up for tragedy. Plus, there's the issue that Ben Solo is a hard act to follow. For were he not revealed to be an abusive Dark Side murderer, she and Ben might be perfectly happy together now.
But that's over. So lately, Rey has been thinking about other forms of love. She has toyed with the idea of taking home one of the orphan children she meets. But she never commits to that plan. It remains an idea in the back of her mind. Maybe someday, when she is a bit less busy, she will adopt a child. There's no rush.
But that thought gets triggered when Nestor Ren next drops in unannounced at the Tatooine palace. Nestor does this every so often. It's a not so subtle way to check up on her, and they both know it. This time, Nestor has a young, dark-haired boy with him. The child can't be more than ten. He's dressed neatly in all black with matching buzzcut hair to Nestor.
The knight begins as usual with a manufactured explanation. "We were heading back from Ahch-To, so I thought I would drop in, your Excellency."
Riiiight. Tatooine is nowhere near the hyperspace jump routes from Ahch-To to Coruscant. But whatever. Rey plays along. "You went to the temple?" She smiles down at the boy now. "And who is this?"
"This is Pell. Go on," Nestor prods the boy.
"My lady," the kid drops to one knee and then bounces back up. "You are the Light," Pell blurts out looking from Rey to Nestor for confirmation. "Right?"
"Yes," Nestor inserts himself. "Pell was identified as Force sensitive while he was in the stormtrooper program," the knight explains for Rey's benefit. Then, he turns to the child. "Just like at the temple, powerful Light balances powerful Darkness," Nestor instructs the boy. "The Empress has great strength in the Force. She has far more Light than Dark leanings."
Pell looks to Rey and asks, "Is that why you are the Master's wife?"
"I am the Empress," Rey answers diplomatically. She frowns at Nestor. "Can Pell not be returned to his parents?"
"Force sensitive children are wards of the state, just like during Snoke's rule," Nestor informs her.
"It's okay," the boy speaks up. "This is way better than being a slave."
"You're a slave?" Rey blinks.
"I'm a person and my name is Pell," the boy informs her with clear annoyance. The kid ignores the knight's look of disapproval at his tone.
"It's okay," Rey forestalls Nestor's reprimand. She tells the boy, "I was once a scavenger myself."
"Really?"
"Yes."
Rey looks questioning to Nestor. It prompts the knight to explain, "Pell was sold to the First Order not long after Crait by a falthier breeder who needed to raise cash."
"Who takes care of you now?" Rey asks the boy.
"I am fostering him," Nestor answers. "Pell wanted to meet the Empress after I told him about Ahch-To."
Rey smiles down at the boy and confides more of her past. "Did Sir Nestor tell you that I was exiled there for a bit?"
"No. What for?" The boy's eyes narrow.
"For making the Master mad," Nestor answers bluntly. "Never make the Master mad," the knight imparts wisdom everyone in the galaxy knows about Kylo Ren.
"Is that why she's exiled here on Tatooine now?" the artless boy asks.
"This time I exiled myself," Rey chuckles. She leans over and explains, "The Master made me mad and I left."
"How are you, my lady?" Nestor quickly changes the topic.
She shrugs. "Busy."
"I know that. But how are you?" Nestor persists.
"I'm great," she answers with her camera-ready smile.
Nestor levels her a look. "He's going to ask me, you know."
"I'm great and I'm keeping busy," Rey answers with that same canned smile.
Nestor lets it go. "Okay. Is there anything you need?"
"No."
"Will you reconsider training?"
"No." She shakes her head. "The time isn't right. I'm far too busy with the Rim reforms."
Nestor gives her a stern, reproachful look. "You must make time for the Force. It matters more than politics."
Whatever. "The time isn't right," she brushes off his concern.
Nestor persists. "Will you tell me when the time is right?"
"I promise."
Still looking dissatisfied, Nestor excuses himself. He and Pell take their leave. Rey watches them thoughtfully as they exit. In the large, slightly echoing chamber, it's impossible not to hear the boy loudly ask, "Why doesn't she want to learn the Force? You said all Force users must learn to practice our religion."
"The Empress is a special case. The Master grants her a dispensation."
"Why?"
"She doesn't trust us. She doesn't trust the Force."
"Why? That's stupid."
"The Force calls to everyone at some point in their life. Not everyone heeds the call."
"That's stupid. Was she really a scavenger?"
"Yes."
"That's almost as bad as a slave."
"Darth Vader was a slave. Pell, it's not who you are born, it's who you become . . ."
After that, Rey can't hear any more. Then, Raj walks up to remind her that they have a meeting starting in five minutes down the hall. Rey moves on. It's another busy day.
Nestor's former slave boy ward isn't the only person curious about Rey's past. Every now and then, she gets asked about her time with the Resistance. Rey never contradicts the official explanation. She always says the same vague but very true statement: "I cannot change the past. I can only work for a better future."
Those are words to live by for Rey. For the past is everywhere to confront her. It's in the unnervingly familiar expressions on the young faces who populate the orphanages she visits. It's in the quiet stillness of the desert nights on Tatooine that remind her of Jakku. It's in the nightly official newsfeed showing Emperor Ren stalking off somewhere looked determined. Rey just swallows hard and keeps going. She's moving on. It's what she always does.
Still, there are days that are hard. Days when she worries about the futility of her efforts. Days when she second guesses her decisions or rethinks her positions. Days when she says or does the wrong thing. This Empress job is hard. It's lonely too. For no matter how many faces she interacts with during the day, she ends up by herself each evening. Her routine is the same. Rey takes a shower to wash away the day. She eats a little. Then, she meditates a few minutes, finding the Force like first Luke and then Ben taught her. It calms her, centers her, relaxes her. It prepares her for the dreams of the island she knows lie ahead.
Back during her Jakku days, the recurrent dreams of the island had been enticing. Rey had seen a rocky green landscape surrounded by life sustaining water. The island had seemed like a paradise compared to Jakku. It beckoned to her, offering safety and comfort. Maybe even the promise of security. Those were her primary motivators in her desert days.
Things are far more complicated now. Maybe that's why Rey has different dreams of the island since coming to Tatooine. They are dreams of a lightning strike that burns down the gnarled old tree that once held the sacred Jedi texts. Dreams of water splashing like tears into the catch basin with the mosaic of Snoke. Dreams of the Dark Side cave with the mirrors that reflect just her over and over again. Dreams of being cold and alone living in exile in Luke Skywalker's abandoned hut. These unsettling images prey on her worst fears. That she will be alone, afraid, and lost. Burdened with a power that she cannot control and beset by responsibilities she cannot fulfill on her own.
These dreams are the past, Rey tells herself when yet again she wakes up in a cold sweat. There is nothing to fear here because all those scenarios have already come to pass. She has confronted them already and moved on. But somehow that knowledge is not reassuring. Because these dreams feel less like old repressed stress and more like a warning. It's like the Force refuses to let the past die.
Dejected, Rey walks to the balcony off her bedroom and throws open the doors to walk out into the Tatooine night. She stares out bleakly and wonders what Ben is dreaming of tonight. Does he ever wish things could be different between them? She does. But it's too late now.
