Force Meditation

Luke and Rey were sitting in a green meadow at the top of the mountain, from where they had a beautiful view of the whole island, which the old man and the girl did not see right now. Both were sitting into the lotus position with their eyes closed. It was quiet, the Lanais remained somewhere far below, only the distant sound of waves caressed the ears. It was clear and the cool, fresh sea breeze gently enwrapped them. Luke wanted to teach the girl the basics of Jedi meditation to extinguish her ardent desire to master everything as quickly as possible. Skywalker was now trying to fully open himself to the Force, which he hadn't done for so long, and Rey was sitting... Just sitting. Luke was not completely immersed in meditation, so when he suddenly heard a faint knock of some light object on his leg, he opened his eyes and turned his head in the direction of the sound. Some clumsy porg, who was slightly unsteady when he walked, held a thin stick in his beak and, making swings, hit Luke on the leg.

"And what does it mean, buddy?" Skywalker said to porg.

Luke took the stick from the porg's beak and it ran away, swinging from side to side and stumbling. Looking in its direction, Skywalker threw the stick behind his back. However, after he looked at Rey, he took a long hard leaf, stood up, crept up to the girl from behind and hit her back with a leaf.

"Ow! What for?!"

"You don't meditate. You're just sitting."

Rey glared at Luke and rubbed her back.

"Don't resist the Force, Rey. Open up to it. It's a powerful ally. And the only one who will always be with you and on whom you can always rely."

Rey closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She thought she had opened up enough for the Force. She did not understand that there was no limit to this and could not be. Rey's expression changed by inertia to a more serious and less emotional one. Luke looked at her for about thirty seconds, then swung and hit her back again.

"OW! AND THAT WAS WHAT FOR?!" Rey shouted.

"For trying to deceive me. Nothing will change if you make a serious face."

"So then I don't understand what you want from me!"

Rey frowned. Luke looked at her and decided to act differently. He took a thick stick, approached the girl and drew a line around the place where she was sitting.

"What are you doing?" Rey asked.

"This is your barrier," Luke poked a stick into the circle, "You create a psychological barrier around yourself that protects you from external influences. Now you have to get rid of it. You have to merge with the Force, you see? Dissolve into it... Disappear."

"I'll try."

"Just do it, Rey. Don't try. Just do it."

Rey truly created an invisible barrier around herself, which helped her not to pay attention to different things. She reflexively created it against Luke and the Lanais, since she didn't trust any of them. She didn't feel safe on this planet. However, now when Luke had told her about the barrier, Rey destroyed it. She's dealt with worse people than an old man who hits your back with leaves. She was in places much more dangerous than Ahch-To. Here, your life was threatened only by curiosity and pallaskan, who is trying to defend her offspring from devouring.

Rey gave herself over to the Force... And she instantly drowned in it. Literally, for a split second, Rey saw a huge universe, a black endless space, and she became afraid. She was there alone. Opening her eyes, Rey took a deep breath. The air, which sounded like a squeak, rushed into her lungs.

"What happened?" Luke asked calmly.

"I…" Rey tried to catch her breath, "I... space… It's... It's huge... And I'm scared."

Rey lowered her head, still breathing heavily. Luke grabbed the girl by the wrist a little roughly, so that she was even scared but then he looked into her eyes.

"I'll walk you through."

"Thank you," Rey smiled nervously.

Luke sat down next to the girl and immersed himself in meditation, closing his eyes. Rey's hand slipped out of Luke's grip and rested on top of his warm palm. When she also plunged into deep meditation, then in it Luke again took the girl by the wrist and led her.

"Where are we going?" Rey asked.

"To the wellspring of Force."

The universe was changing rapidly around them. Rey was no longer alone and the darkness of space did not frighten her. Around her, she noticed colourful stars, planets and shining comets. The old man and the girl were walking at the speed of a thousand parsecs per second.

"Do you feel it?" Luke asked, glancing at Rey.

Rey felt that the source from which the Force was coming was getting closer and closer. The girl seemed to draw strength from it. She no longer felt tired. Waves of the Force spread throughout the galaxy, like the light that gave warmth and energy.

"Yes... I can feel it," Rey smiled.

Finally, they reached.

"We're here," Luke said.

The Planet of Force looked great. It was the real wellspring, and waves of the Force burst out of its depths and scattered throughout the galaxy. Rey felt like she was sitting by a warm campfire. Luke felt the same way, but he didn't let his feelings go. He was wary now. In fact, he just felt someone's presence behind him. Luke turned around.

"Hi, son. Haven't seen you for a long time," Rey heard.

When she turned around, she saw the ghost for the first time. The same person, but bluish skin, milky aura. It looked creepy, but not too creepy.

"Hi, Dad," Luke said.

The ghost turned out to be Anakin. He was insanely glad to finally see his son. Anakin walked over to Luke, took him by the shoulders, hugged him tightly and buried his nose in his hair.

"Dad…" Luke whispered in a strangled voice, as Anakin held him too tightly.

"I'm sorry."

Anakin broke the embrace and smiled, and then looked at Rey.

"What this girl is?"

"This is Rey. My new apprentice," Luke approached the girl and pointed to his father, "Rey, meet Anakin Skywalker, my father."

"Hi," Anakin smiled.

"Hello…"

Rey smiled stupidly and shyly lowered her head.

"I suppose you've heard of him," Luke said.

"A little…" Rey suddenly closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Am I bothering you?" Anakin asked, folding his arms over the chest and leaning slightly toward Luke.

"No, Dad, I'm teaching her the basics of meditation."

"I see."

"Master Skywalker," Rey whispered.

Both Skywalkers turned around and Anakin looked at the girl questioningly.

"Can I come back? I'm not feeling well…"

"Come back, Rey. I'll stay here."

"Thank you, Master."

After Rey disappeared, Anakin smiled at Luke.

"Master Skywalker? Isn't there a lot of honour?"

Luke lowered his head slightly and smiled for the first time that day.

"I didn't ask her to call me like that…"

Anakin laughed. So did Luke, but the smile faded from his face pretty quickly.

"I'm worried, Dad. I may not be able to manage it again. She has an incredibly powerful concentration of the Force. She can't control it."

"So you need to aim this Force in the right direction."

"Where to? How?"

"I don't know."

Luke sighed.

"You and I, like no one else, know how insidious the dark side is," started Anakin, "You've always been a strong Jedi. You passed all the tests and didn't fall for the dark side's tricks. So what's the matter, Luke? You can help Rey, just guide her. So that when she also faced the influence of the dark side, she would not succumb."

"She's already succumbed, Dad," Luke moaned.

"In that cave, she was just looking for answers. And she found them."

"So you're allowing the dark side to be used to get answers?"

Anakin looked away for a second, but then turned around again, and threw his head back a little.

"Yes," he said confidently.

Luke spread his hands. There was desperation in his gaze.

"But once you set foot on a dark path, you can't turn away from it."

"And I know it like no one else. But she left after she got the answers. She didn't get influenced, she didn't stay there."

Luke silenced for a second and, thinking a little, exhaled.

"I'm also worried that she's too close to Ben," Luke continued, "She's closer to him than I am."

"Look, if Ben thinks he's a Sith, then he's the worst Sith I know."

Anakin smiled again.

"He worships Darth Vader."

"I know."

"And what do you think about it?"

Luke, even seeing his father smile, did not change his expression. He was serious.

"This is ridiculous," Anakin said, smiling.

"Don't answer him, okay?"

"I wasn't going to."

After a short silence, Luke looked at his father.

"Okay then," Luke said softly.

Then he lowered his head and sighed.

"I think it's time to say goodbye. But I'll see you soon."

"You said the same thing last time," Anakin smiled.

"I am ashamed about breaking the bond with the Force."

Luke slowly hugged himself and squeezed a little.

"Don't blame yourself," Anakin went up to his son and took him by the shoulders, "It's nothing. Nothing terrible happened."

"I didn't feel it when Han died."

Luke's eyes watered.

"Oh."

Anakin placed his arms around Luke's shoulders, then put son's head on his shoulder and held him a little closer.

"Is he all right?" Luke asked.

"Yes, everything is fine. Your mom and I are looking after him."

"Thank you."

Luke smiled sadly and sobbed softly. He wanted to tell Dad to say hello to Han but abruptly changed his mind. After a while, Luke remembered something else and the smile disappeared from his face again.

"Dad, do you know what's happened to Leia?"

Luke looked into his father's eyes and Anakin saw the most genuine, but restrained fear in them.

"She is... She was in a coma," Anakin said a little concisely.

He was afraid of scaring his son even more now, but he didn't want to lie to him either.

"I know that," Luke breathed, "but I don't know what happened to her before that."

"She is... She briefly went into outer space."

Luke bulged his eyes and looked at Anakin in fright.

"How briefly is very briefly?"

"Sorry, son, I don't remember how to count the time."

Anakin smiled stupidly.

"What do you mean you don't remember... What do you mean you don't remember?!" Luke raised his voice, "One, two, three, four... " he counted by seconds.

"Oh, well... If so... It hasn't even been thirty seconds."

Luke exhaled and felt a little calmer.

"She's fine anyway," Anakin smiled.

Luke closed his eyes and felt his sister through the Force somewhere far, far away. She was conscious and calm, and this information was enough for Luke. He lied close against his father.

"You know, I'm still sure that we will meet soon."

"Why so?"

"Rey's going to drive me to the grave."

Anakin laughed out loud, broke the embrace and looked at Luke.

"Oh, son. It's not easy with apprentices. And even more so with the girl apprentices."

"No, Dad, that's not what I'm talking about," Luke said seriously, "I feel like I'm going to die when I finish her training."

"Oh."

Anakin lowered his eyes. He felt ashamed about laughing before. There was an awkward silence. However, Anakin soon smiled and put his hands on Luke's shoulders.

"Don't worry, son. Waiting for death is worse than death itself. Most likely everything will happen quickly and you won't even feel anything."

Luke raised his eyebrows and looked at Anakin with mild surprise.

"Okay…" Luke sighed, smiling.

"We're all waiting for you."

Anakin hugged Luke, sitting comfortably on his shoulder. Luke snuggled up to Dad's neck and exhaled calmly. Now more than ever, he felt the support and affection he lacked.

"Only with you I can be myself, Dad."

Anakin chuckled softly and hugged his son a little harder. Luke felt better. He found out everything he needed to know. He drew certain conclusions for himself. Recently, he had discovered a lot of new things himself, but like many things, there was no limit to this. Luke promised himself that from now on he would think as little about death as possible. They broke the embrace.

"Well, see you soon."

Anakin smiled at his son for the last time.

"Bye, Dad."

Luke also smiled and closed his eyes. When he opened them, he found himself already on Ahch-To. Luke rubbed his eyes and looked around. Rey was sitting nearby on a rock, legs apart and holding her face between her palms. She sat with her eyes closed and looked down. Luke sighed. His face was very serious again. He approached the girl.

"Do you have agoraphobia?"

"What?"

Rey looked up.

"You have... Agoraphobia?" Luke repeated.

"What is it?"

"Fear of open spaces."

"Um... no."

Rey looked away, lost in thought.

"Then maybe nyctophobia?"

"And what is this?"

"Fear of the dark."

Rey shook her head. Luke sighed and raised his eyes to the sky.

"Neophobia?"

Luke spread his hands.

"Fear of novelty."

"No."

"Then what's the matter, Rey?"

Luke glared at the girl but suddenly saw that her eyes were wet. His face immediately changed to a more neutral expression.

Rey lowered her gaze. Luke sighed again.

"Rest up and we'll continue when you feel better."

Luke said it more calmly and indulgently. No one wanted to hurt the girl. Everyone understood that.

"Thank you, Master Skywalker."

When Rey looked up and saw that Luke was leaving, she smiled a little, thinking that the old man was not as harsh as he wanted to seem.