Rey felt the keen relief of finally being away from the pressure of being around people all of the time. Lonely she might have been on Jakku, but she was ill-prepared for the close quarters of the Rebel Base. Finn, of course, was the exception to that, and he even helped calm her during moments of near-panic when she was simply overwhelmed with the incessant presence of others all around her, all of the time. It was exhausting. Not that she hadn't already made inroads of friendship with some of them, like Rose and Paige. Over the past couple of days they'd sparred some more, and the sisters had invited her to sit with them at every meal, where she was introduced to even more people. However, her brain was used to scanning each person around her for any threat at any time, and with so many strangers, that automatic scan was starting to go haywire.
Not that it did me much good when it came to Kylo Ren, she thought, though in the next moment, she questioned it. Kylo Ren was an enigma that had gotten even more perplexing after last night's dream-visit. First he'd asked her about the disturbing blankness in the pool, and then he'd taught her the defense, just as he'd begun to teach her how to duel with lightsabers. What, exactly, did he want of her? It seemed that in the natural order of things, they were enemies. But Kylo Ren certainly wasn't acting like any enemy she'd ever had. It was all very, very confusing.
"Rey?" She turned to find Finn watching her, a worried furrow in his forehead. "You all right?"
"Of course. Why do you ask?"
He hesitated.
"You were...I think you might've had a nightmare last night. I just wanted to make sure you were okay."
Rey smiled at him, a true, heartfelt smile of gratitude. It was so strange for anyone to take interest in her well-being. She felt a bit guilty of her own gladness that Poe Dameron wasn't the one taking them to Luke, but she couldn't claim that she wasn't grateful to have more of Finn's attention. Maybe in time she'd learn to share him with Poe Dameron, but that time certainly hadn't arrived yet.
"I'm fine," she assured him. "Are you nervous? I know you're not exactly enthused about the Force in general."
Finn thought about this for a moment.
"I've decided that if I can use it, then I want to use it for good, instead of the part of the Force that I've seen used in the past to murder, to destroy. I want to be on the side of the good guys."
Rey recalled Kylo Ren's description of the Force. They're all hypocrites, every single one. But looking at Finn's earnest expression, she couldn't believe that. Not of him.
"The galaxy will be safer with you helping protect it," she told him, and his grin broadened even as he glanced aside, embarrassed.
"I came down to let you know I overheard Han Solo tell Chewbacca that we're almost there, so we should probably head over to see where we're at." They'd been told to stay off the bridge for security reasons, since apparently this Jedi's location was a highly-guarded secret among the Rebels. Rey hadn't minded, as she'd spent much of the time doing more digging through the Falcon's innards and had discovered even more of the ship's modifications.
"Finn," Rey said, a thought she'd been turning over and over in her head finally working its way loose. "I learned something last night that I can teach you, if you want."
"How did you learn anything while you were asleep?" Finn laughed. Rey met his gaze steadily. The smile drained from his face.
"You mean, he...?" he began, then shut his mouth, his jaw clenching.
"It can stop anyone from learning your thoughts when they enter your mind, like that interrogator did," Rey said, her words coming quickly, trying to forestall the storm she saw brewing in his expression.
"Rey," he said, shaking his head, "you can't trust Kylo Ren. I don't know what kind of connection you have with him, but he's not...he doesn't have your best interests at heart. To say the least. He's Snoke's right-hand man!"
Rey nodded.
"I know that, I truly do. But for some reason, every once in awhile, he shows this...other part of him. I know you don't trust him because he never gave you reason to. You saw him do...terrible things. But I've seen another side of him that is just as real."
"No, Rey. People only have one side of them. Anything else is a trick to get others to think what they want them to think. Kylo Ren is a murderer. A very, very powerful one. And you're...you're letting him into your head?"
"He taught me a defense," Rey said, starting to get angry and wishing she could stop it. It wasn't Finn's fault that he distrusted Kylo Ren. That distrust had been firmly earned. She just wished she could describe how she could feel that the other side of him was also real, and also should be weighed when it came to considering him as a whole person.
"A defense? Maybe he taught you a new weakness, Rey, and one that he can now use against you when he needs to!"
"I know what I sense with him!" Rey snapped, losing her tight control over her temper. "I'm only risking myself, besides."
"No, you're not! Now you're risking us all! If Kylo Ren can get into your mind, maybe he can control you in a way you don't know about just yet! And maybe he can use you to hurt everyone around you. Did you think of that?"
Rey felt as though he'd just slapped her. She wished she'd never brought it up, not even to teach Finn the same way to defend his mind that she'd just learned. Not if it came to this, with the glare of her only friend being aimed right at her, his words telling her that she was putting them all at risk. That she was being selfish.
She swallowed hard. Never had words hurt so much on Jakku. She had never cared enough about the people throwing epithets her way. Finn's words had carved her to the bone, and now she felt as though she were bleeding everywhere and had no idea how to stop it.
He must have seen something of that in her face, because his anger melted into more familiar concern.
"I'm sorry, Rey. I didn't mean it like that. I'm really worried about you, though. I don't think it's a good idea for you to let Kylo Ren into your mind, even if you do think there's more to him than a murderer for the First Order. And hell, maybe you're right. But you have to ask yourself...is it worth the risk of being wrong?"
He reached out, and Rey flinched from his touch on her arm. He hesitated.
"He's very good at using the Dark Side of the Force. I'm sure they know tricks to get people to trust them. Is there even a tiny possibility that he could have used something like that on you?"
"I don't trust him," Rey muttered, even as she realized that she partly did. She had to on some level, to let him into her mind.
"Okay. That's good." Finn paused, assessing her carefully. "When I was going through my Storm Trooper training, they taught us to trust in our commanding officers unconditionally. Even if they gave an order that we knew would result in our deaths, we had to trust them deeply enough to obey that order. They didn't start out by just telling us to trust them. They started out in tiny ways-punishments when we did something wrong, but also rewards when we did something right. And it wasn't just one of us who was punished; it was all of us. You looked out for the Troopers beside you, no matter what. You followed orders, and that kept your friends-your family-safer in the long run. They didn't force us to walk down that path...but they created a scenario in which we were happy to walk it ourselves, in the end. So many of my fellow Troopers fell for it. And so many of them wanted to place all of their trust in someone else. It's a relief." He studied her face, which Rey was struggling to control. "They have ways of getting you to do exactly what they want you to do, without you ever noticing what they're doing."
"You noticed," Rey said, her voice sharp with defensiveness. "You didn't just blindly follow orders. So that must mean there's a weakness in even their best efforts."
"Kylo Ren can use the Force. To me, that makes him infinitely more dangerous."
"He's dangerous. I know that. But there are times..." Rey stopped. Finn might be currently controlling his outrage at the thought of Rey allowing Kylo Ren into her life even a little bit, but that didn't mean that she should test the limits of his self-control. She shook her head. "I can see you're really upset. I promise I will consider what you said. But I won't promise that I won't make up my own mind about him. There's more there than just a murderer. And I want you to remember, Finn...of the two of us, only one has committed that particular crime. Multiple times."
"You did that out of self-defense," Finn said, shaking his head. "It's not the same thing at all."
"I did it to survive," Rey said, thinking of Kylo Ren's earnest advice to her. Might he be playing some game of manipulation? Maybe. But Rey truly didn't think so. Still, she would hold to her promise to Finn to be mindful of the possibility. That was a fair request.
The ship suddenly juddered, and Rey heard the atmosphere shields deploy.
"We're there," she said.
Luke Skywalker's home wasn't at all what Rey thought it would be. She had been picturing something along the lines of the bunkers of D'Qar. But what she saw as she walked slowly down the ramp was...rock.
She glanced around to find the rock ended abruptly at what Kylo Ren had referred to as the "sea." But there was none of the dream-sands that glittered with every breath of wind, nor the placid crush and hiss of waves as they lapped the shore in hypnotic succession. No, this sea crashed with wild fervor against the rocks that jutted straight out of it. Each wave seemed intent upon reducing the rock to rubble. And as far as the rock went, there didn't seem to be a whole lot of it. The wind whistled through the jutting spires, but just past those, Rey could see more of the angry sea. She turned some more and found that they were completely surrounded by it.
"You're telling me that Luke Skywalker, the last Jedi, lives on an island in the middle of an ocean?" Finn asked Han incredulously. Han shrugged.
"He seems to like it. A little too much, if you ask me." His glance fell across some massive, sluggish-looking creatures that were basking in the sun on a nearby outcropping, and he shook his head before turning his glance on Rey and Finn once more. "Well, if that's all, Chewie and me are heading out. Good luck."
Rey looked around, her ears assaulted by the screeches of countless rotund birds that seemed to be everywhere.
"Where is Luke?" she asked. "Wasn't he expecting us?"
"Sure was. Don't worry, he probably won't be too hard to find, since it's a pretty small island, though to be fair, he's a tricky bastard. Bye, now."
And with that, Han Solo turned his back on them and headed back into the Millenium Falcon, which launched smoothly into the buffeting winds and sped away with what Rey thought was undue haste.
She turned to Finn, who looked just as concerned as she felt. They'd just been abandoned on what was evidently called an island with no Jedi in sight.
"At least we won't starve," Rey noted, eyeing the little bird-creatures consideringly.
"Let's go try to find Luke before we start eating the wildlife. Maybe they're his pets."
"What the hell is a pet?" Rey demanded, but Finn had already set off up the rocky slope, his back straight with determination beneath his rucksack. And, Rey sensed through the Force, fear. Very much like the fear that had begun to kindle in her own chest, actually. That very particular fear of having made some tactical error that would cost her some price she couldn't yet determine.
But like Finn, she'd hide that away. Like Han had said, it shouldn't be too hard to find a Jedi on this screaming bird-rock.
"You try that way, I'll try this one," Rey suggested, grimly hefting her staff. The little bird creatures scolded her as she strode by, but she ignored them save to note where the fattest one was roosting. Her stomach refused to be forgotten, no matter what her current mission might be.
It didn't take long to encircle the entire island. She saw Finn working his way along the cliff edge and felt a twinge of worry. What if the Jedi had fallen into the ocean below?
"What now?" Finn asked.
"I saw a number of huts farther down the cliffs. Maybe he's in one of those."
"Or maybe he's right behind you."
They both jumped and spun to face the source of the gravelly voice. Rey found herself facing a bemused-looking man with a salt-and-pepper beard and a cowled robe.
"Master Luke," she said.
"You sure?" he asked smiling with some private amusement. Rey narrowed her eyes.
"Sure enough."
He snorted, and Rey glanced over at Finn, who looked as confused as she felt.
"This is Finn, and I'm—"
"Rey, yes. I might be stuck on a rock in the middle of nowhere, but I do have a communicator. Leia told me to expect you." His eyes hardened. "I don't know what she told you, but your continued presence here is not guaranteed. It depends entirely upon how well you do with my testing. I maintain the right to decide to train or not to train anyone I choose."
"Oh, she made that very clear," Rey assured him. She felt Finn wince beside her, possibly at her tone and possibly at the sentiment. Luke turned his watery blue eyes upon her.
"It's not a question of strength, you see," he said, as though she'd asked. "It's about you as a person. Your natural leanings, Light or Dark. Your potential." He turned to assess Finn. "I'll show you to your huts. You will meet me before dawn tomorrow. And leave that behind," he said, pointing at the lightsaber on Rey's belt. She gave a short nod. She wasn't at all sure what to make of him.
He started to walk away, but Rey remembered something she wanted to ask him.
"Can we eat the bird-things?" she called out after him.
"Eat as many as you can," he replied, not turning. "Maybe if you end up staying, I'll finally make a dent in the population."