The Derriphan had set a course for Ahch-To not long after their meeting with the Acolytes. Malak had ordered everyone but the pilot, and a small squad of Sith Troopers to stay behind on board the Star Destroyer. Now, Rey and Malak sat together in the cockpit of their transport shuttle, as it shuddered into Ahch-To's atmosphere.

The transport quaked as it fought against the windy currents surrounding the small island. Malak was silent beside her as the pilot brought them closer and Rey gazed out the viewport. The jagged rock spires of the island came into view, peering out from behind their cloudy veils. At the island's base, where the rock erupted from the sea, white eddies of foam swirled around crashing waves. Spans of brilliant green grass, cut through by winding stone steps, seemed a verdant oasis, when surrounded by the darkness of the violent, churning seas in every direction.

Rey scanned each crevasse cutting through the familiar shape of the island. The caretakers' huts, the thala-sirens lounging across the rocks, and… with a start, Rey leaned closer, recognizing the small domed hut where she'd woken the morning she'd first been connected to Kylo Ren. The hut where they'd touched hands from across the stars. She'd thought Luke had destroyed it when he'd found her alone with Kylo Ren. But there it stood. Rebuilt by the caretakers perhaps?

A flood of memories threatened against her carefully constructed mental walls and she tried to push back with her Force, fortifying her shields against them, filling herself with pain and anger to keep her power close. It was difficult as the transport grew nearer, seeing the Jedi Temple where she'd first learned of the reason for Kylo Ren's turn to the Dark Side, feeling the overwhelming Force of the island, unchanged from when she'd last left to face her grandfather.

"I sense your conflict about being here again, apprentice," Malak rasped.

"This was where I first became aware of the Dyad," she said, pushing down those feelings with the force of her fury. "And where I had my first lesson in the Force."

"And none of that mattered did it? Because they all left you."

The anger was so much easier to reach for now, like the saber staff at her side, it was a weapon she'd had practice drawing, and it filled her before she had a chance to feel anything else.

"Yes," Malak said, leaning in closer, his piercing grey eyes seeing through her, sizing her up. "You've learned to use the pain, Rey. But when you go to him, do not let your feelings cloud your vision. Do not let the Force manipulate you. Remember your anger, your pain, so that you can be the one in control."

Rey swallowed, choking back that sliver of longing and filling her mind with the pain as Malak instructed.

It did work, soothing the ache in her heart with the cool touch of darkness as it was channeled into strength. She clenched her teeth as she felt the power rise within her, yearning for something to unleash against.

The ship settled with an uneven jolt and Rey rose, grabbed her pack, and led the way down the loading ramp. The second sun had nearly set, and twilight would soon wash over the island. She inhaled the briny air and pulled her hood down farther before leaping off the edge of the island. Another rock ledge separated her from the mouth of the cave, and she leapt again.

The Sith Troopers stayed behind with the ship, but Malak followed close at her heels until finally, Rey stood peering into the maw of the cave. Like a tentacled beast, it loomed Dark in the Force, ready to devour anyone that came near. It pulsed with shadow, a heartbeat in the body of the Force, pumping cold energy into the space around them. Rey listened to the crash of the waves and the rhythm of that Dark Force, realizing she was no longer afraid of what she would find in the cave. No fear, only restless anticipation.

"The only way down is through here," she said, pointing to the mouth of the cave.

Malak inhaled deeply, as though tasting the air itself. "I can feel it," he said, his voice pure pleasure, even through the modulator. "Such power."

He stared long and hard at the entrance to the cave, the wind lashing at his cape, darkness billowing around him in the Force like swirling mist.

Rey focused again on the cave. This time, she had come prepared. She removed the rope ladder from her pack, hooked it to a nearby rock outcropping, and unfurled the ladder into the darkness.

Malak nodded and Rey began her descent.

The air changed the instant she was through the cave's mouth. It stuck to her skin like oil, coated her lungs, thick and cold, and made it difficult to drag in a second breath. She closed her eyes, willing herself not to panic, despite the sensation of something heavy sitting on her chest. As she continued to descend, her body adjusted to the amount of effort required to breathe and anxiety released its tight grip on her muscles.

Reaching the end of the ladder, Rey hung, swaying gently over the dark water. The surface was so still, it could have been a slab of glossy stone. She leaned her weight forward, then back, gathering momentum and jumped, landing with her boots in a few inches of water, sending ripples across the pool. The sound sliced through the silence as it bounced off the cave walls.

She smiled to herself, her dry feet were a vast improvement from the drenching she'd received last time. She'd received such a soaking, she'd had to build a fire almost immediately to keep from freezing after she'd gone back to her hut. Her muscles went taut, as the memory rolled powerfully over her - The fire, seeing his face across from her, his touch. That instant flare of warmth through the Bond.

Perhaps you are not ready. Malak's voice carved through her memories like a vibroblade.

He'd already climbed down and was gathering momentum to leap from the ladder. He landed gracefully for someone whose barrel chest was the same circumference as a happabore's.

"I am ready," she said, stoking her voice with power as she blocked the unwanted memories.

He didn't respond, only studying her, brushing his Force against her mind to check for weaknesses.

Rey took several tentative steps toward the mirror, reaching out through the pulsing energy all around. Her boots sloshed in the shallow water, but she could hardly hear it over her ragged breathing. She tried to keep her anger flowing to block out the memories of the emptiness she'd felt when she'd seen nothing but herself in that mirror. A reminder of how alone she was.

And still was.

Anger. Rage. Pain.

She wrapped it around her like a cloak.

"Remember, use the pain, Rey. Draw from it and pull him to you." His warning echoed sharply across the cave walls.

She turned to look at her Master and nodded once.

"Once he is in the same plane, use the power of the Dyad to push back against the gateway. Break it open."

"Yes, Master," she said, her voice as cold as the icy water swirling at her feet.

Rey lifted her boots, one at a time, as she crossed the remaining space toward the mirror. She became hyper-aware of her body in that moment. Those last steps, the flex of her thighs, the tension in her fisted hands, water splashing beneath her feet, leather boots creaking with each step.

When Rey finally stood before her reflection, she hardly recognized the creature glowering back at her. Eyes sunken, purple half-moons cutting deep grooves under her eyes, and skin pale as moonlight, this was someone else entirely. With painted lips, she curved a wicked smile that reflected back at her.

She tried to ignore the tricks of the Force in this place, reaching for her familiar cloak of anger again to shield herself, before raising her hand and pressing it against the mirror. It was smooth and cool beneath her palm, radiating the power she now recognized in the Force as a vergence. She'd felt it on Lothal, too. The heady mixture of Dark and Light, Then and Now.

This was the very place where time and space could bend. And she intended to make it do just that. Bend. To her will this time.

It had been days since she'd purposely called on the Bond, but with a firm hold on her fury, she reached out. Rey closed her eyes, willing the Force to flow through those golden threads at her core, digging deep to where she'd buried those feelings and pulling at them.

Nothing happened for a long, silent moment.

And she wondered if their connection had already been destroyed, if she had killed it with the ferocity of her rejection. Her hand faltered, lifting briefly from the smooth surface.

Then, something shifted on the other side and she pressed her hand firm against the mirror again. She squinted her eyes, studying the place she'd seen the movement for a silent moment. She didn't dare breathe as she watched, every muscle poised, training on that silhouette. The shadow approached from the other side of the mirror in three long strides - tall with dark waves skimming broad shoulders.

There was no question as to this shadow's identity.

The haze of the mirror cleared around the place where Ben Solo's hand pressed to meet hers, not from across the stars, but from another plane of existence.