I don't recognize that noise, Ben thinks drowsily. An alarm?
Ben was still sleepy. He knew he'd get in trouble for missing breakfast, but he couldn't bring himself to care. He turned over, reaching for the droid beside his bed.
...He couldn't seem to find it. He reached further, certain that it couldn't be far.
"Ow!"
His back hit the ground with the thud. He'd managed to topple out of the hammock and onto the metal floor.
Hammock? Metal floor?
Ben finally opened his eyes and sat up. This room was completely unfamiliar.
"Where am I?" He muttered, only to stop short at the sound of his voice. It was lighter, more feminine, and accented in a way that was foreign to him.
He brought a hand to his throat, only to notice his arm was wrapped in white fabric and much skinnier than he remembered. Glancing down at himself, Ben was confused at his apparel… and more confused by the presence of something heavy on his chest.
What happened to my body?
He stood abruptly, moving through the metallic structure towards a dirtied and cracked mirror. His hair was long and brown, coming down to his shoulders and frizzy from sleep. He was skinnier and shorter than he usually was, and his stomach rumbled - he had no doubt that this body was malnourished.
"What a strange dream," he said to himself. He made his way over to what appeared to be the kitchen area, hoping to find some food. He discovered some small ration packets, and wrinkled his nose in disgust.
He was familiar with the concept, but had never had the displeasure of consuming them. His stomach growled again, and Ben resolved himself to the fact that this seemed to be the only food available. It might be a dream, but in this dream he was hungry.
He ripped open a packet and poured the substance into a small bowl, before adding the water. He watched in fascination as the water soaked up the crumbs and became bread before his eyes.
Ben took a bite and winced. Well, it might not taste good, but the process was impressive.
"Alright," He said to himself, his voice echoing slightly off the metal walls. "Let's take a look around."
Stepping outside, Ben did a double take. A desert stretched before him, as far as the eye could see. The only thing that broke up the sea of sand were various shipwrecks scattered across the land.
For a moment, Ben almost thought that he was on Tatooine.
Turning back to face the structure he'd emerged from, Ben gasped at the familiar shape. The girl, whoever she was, had made a home out of a toppled AT-AT.
He couldn't help but be impressed.
Ben re-entered the structure with a new sense of awe. Clearly a battle had taken place here between the Empire and the Rebellion…
He attempted to recall knowledge from his years of schooling. Given the desert environment and the presence of an AT-AT, he could only assume that this planet was Jakku, and the wrecks were leftover from the final battle of the Galactic Civil War.
He wondered if the girl knew the significance of where she lived.
Ben spent the next hour wandering around the AT-AT, looking through the girl's things. She had set up a workbench that seemed to be used for building and repairing various parts. He deduced that she was likely a scavenger, and took advantage of the nearby wrecks to make a living.
He turned next to a computer terminal, curious to see what the girl used it for. The screen flickered to life, and Ben noticed that it had been programmed to run flight simulations, as well as teach languages and study schematics.
Next to the terminal lay an old Rebel Alliance flight helmet, and a homemade doll clearly made from uniform scraps.
Ben smiled.
She's a pilot like me, he mused.
His attention is drawn to a wall in the corner, which looks to be damaged… no, not damaged. Intentionally carved into the wall are tally marks. He assumed they were intended to capture the passage of time, but for what purpose? What was she waiting for?
Ben aimlessly picked up her carving tool as he pondered the stranger and her motivations.
Who are you?
For some reason, Ben remembers that line scribbled in his notebook. Vaguely, he can picture the girl in his body writing in his notebook. It's a bizarre idea, but there's something persuasive about it.
Careful to avoid interrupting her pattern of tally marks, Ben carefully carves his name into the wall.
He imagines how startled she'll be when she finds it and, smiling, he lays back down in the hammock to rest.
Rey fumes as she looks around her home. It's still neat and tidy, sure, but nothing is where it's supposed to be. Clearly the kriffing idiot who inhabited her body had gone through her things… if what happened was real.
Just as she began to question her sanity, she noticed that there were new markings on her tally wall.
Ben.
Okay, well that settled it. This was real. Ben was real.
And Rey had some questions for him.
Ben? What are you? Who are you?
The letters are big and messy, taking up another whole page of his notebook.
Or, almost the whole page. At the bottom in small letters, clearly meant for her rather than for him, are notes about his life:
- Ben Solo, nephew of Luke Skywalker (who is real), a Jedi student (Jedi are also real)
- Tai, friend, human, good with feelings
- Hennix, friend, quarren, smart and funny
- Voe, friend-ish, human, always kind of angry
Ben couldn't help but smile at how accurate her descriptions of his friends were, especially Voe. She had always been an ambitious student, and was easily frustrated by her inability to become better than him.
He frowned as he noticed that the following notes focused more on his personal life.
- Mother is someone important, something with government and the war
- Doesn't get along with his father, possible abandonment issues
- Most students seem kind of afraid of him - something about his grandfather?
It's then that Ben finally comes to the inevitable yet inexplicable conclusion that this girl, whoever she is, must be real - and that the two of them are switching bodies.
Rey has come to accept the fact that at random intervals, maybe two or three times in a standard week, she switches bodies with a boy named Ben Solo. The memories fade, and feel more like a lucid dream, but the evidence is there - the switches are really happening.
Rey doesn't really mind all that much. She had never left Jakku, intent on waiting for her parents to return, and now she got to experience a different corner of the universe without leaving her home… just her body.
She had grown to like the people she interacted with, certainly much more than the unfriendly inhabitants of Jakku. Tai was so kind and caring towards others, Hennix never failed to make her laugh, and she found a kindred spirit in Voe's ambition.
His Uncle Luke was another story, though, and made it the most difficult to hide her identity while in Ben's body. Every time they switched, she would attend Ben's lesson - and every time she would fail whatever task it was miserably.
Rey knew nothing about the Force, hadn't even believed it existed until Ben came along (it was hard to imagine another explanation for the body switching). She had seen his fellow students perform amazing feats, lifting boulders with nothing but their minds and dueling with staffs made of pure blue and green light.
Rey wanted nothing more than to learn as much as she could, but since the two had become aware of the switching, they had each laid down a strict set of rules.
Some of Ben's rules for her included:
- Hands off my lightsaber, you'll kill yourself (or myself)
- Don't get too cozy with Voe, people will get the wrong idea
- Avoid Master Skywalker AT ALL COSTS
- Don't try to use the Force. Just don't.
- Leave regular notes in my journal
Rey scowled at the recollection. Although she knew it was reasonable for Ben to want to keep his idyllic life from being disturbed, it hardly seemed fair… especially when he tended to neglect her rules.
Ben groaned as he looked at Rey's ever-expanding list of rules for him while he inhabited her body.
- Don't use my speeder
- Speak to NO ONE (people of Jakku are never to be trusted)
- Homemade generator requires constant maintenance - don't screw up
- Stop eating so many of my portions!
- Leave regular notes on my computer terminal
What else was he supposed to do on this godforsaken planet if not cruise around on her speeder or eat?
Ben was painfully aware that while Rey got to live in his body, spending time with his friends and attending his lessons, he was stuck in the middle of the desert.
With a sigh, he pulled up flight simulators on her computer terminal to keep himself occupied as he waited for the day to end.
That's Ben's droid, Rey thinks sleepily as she wakes to the increasingly familiar sound. Meaning I get to be a Jedi today.
Rey smiled as she sat up and began to dress herself in the traditional robes of a Jedi student, which Ben had finally taught her to style properly a few switches ago.
She turned as she heard someone enter, quickly bowing when she saw it was Master Luke, but he waved her off.
"There's no need for the formalities when it's just the two of us, Ben," He insisted with a smile. "May I sit?"
Rey nodded instinctively, before pausing. One of Ben's most important rules for her was that she avoid Master Luke at all costs. But she couldn't just ignore him, could she?
She refocused as Luke sat before her, and noticed for the first time the hidden tension in his expression. A sense of unease filled her, and Rey couldn't help but feel that she was in danger.
That's ridiculous, she mentally scolded herself. This is Ben's uncle, whatever he wants can't possibly be bad.
"If you'll humor me, I would like to engage you in a basic training exercise."
Well, kriff.
"I was hoping to eat breakfast-" Rey started nervously, but Luke waved dismissively.
"This won't take long," He promised. "You'll have plenty of time to eat. I wouldn't dream of depriving a growing boy of a nutritious meal."
There was something about the way Luke had said the word boy that made Rey's heart skip a beat.
He knows, he knows, he knows.
Luke reached inside his robe, pulling out a handful of pebbles and letting them fall to the ground. He looked at Rey expectantly.
"Lift them," he instructed.
Rey froze, mind racing to come up with an excuse.
What would Ben do?
"I'm not a youngling, Uncle," Rey scoffed in her best approximation of an indignant teenage boy.
"Then you should have no trouble with the exercise," Luke replied calmly.
Rey considered confessing everything right there and then, before reluctantly shoving the idea aside. In truth, she had no idea why Ben was so insistent upon hiding their switching from the one man who seemed like he might be able to make some sense of it.
But she trusted Ben - if he wanted this to stay between them, then Rey would keep his secret. And that meant that she would have to pass this test.
Closing her eyes, Rey took a deep breath. She allowed herself to relax, to become grounded in the moment as she reached out with her feelings to see what was there.
"What do you see?" Luke prompted her.
"Life. Death and decay, that feeds new life," Rey whispered. "Warmth. Cold. Peace. Violence."
"And between it all?"
"Balance," Rey breathed. "An energy. A Force."
"Open your eyes."
Rey did as instructed, and concealed a gasp at the sight of the pebbles floating in front of her. She had to remind herself that this result would not be surprising for someone previously trained in the Force.
She glanced at Luke, but his expression had hardened. Before she could react, his hand was clenched around her wrist. As he spoke, she felt the Force wash over her, compelling her to obey.
"Get. Out."
The pebbles hit the ground.
Rey jolted awake back on Jakku, toppling out of her hammock and hitting the ground with a thud. As she slowly pushed herself off the floor, she could feel her heart pounding rapidly and something wet staining her cheek.
...am I crying?
Rey wasn't certain as to why she was crying. Even now, she could feel her encounter with Luke slipping away, like water soaking into sand.
As she wiped the tears from her face, she cursed herself for being unable to leave Ben a note as she normally would explaining her day.
Oh well, she thought. I can just explain what happened the next time we switch.
But after that, Ben and Rey never swapped again.