LOOK BEYOND

Rey woke up with a start, opening her eyes wide in alarm. It took her a few seconds to recognize the room she was sleeping in, and realize she wasn't in any danger. There was little light coming from outside and she could feel the cold wind passing through the tiny windows in the rock of her hut, the one that had once been inhabited by Luke Skywalker.

Rey sighed, sitting up and touching her face with the heels of her hands, realizing she was covered in sweat. She needed air. Grabbing her brown cape, she wrapped herself with it and opened the door, hearing the hinges creak. She had had to improvise a new door since Chewie had busted the old one down when they'd come to find Luke the first time. That door, which wasn't in fact a door but part of Luke's old X-wing, was back on the ship. Rey smiled sadly at the memory and walked out of the hut, closing the door behind her.

Tonight the weather at the temple island of Ahch-To was tolerable. The wind of the night was freezing but at least it wasn't raining. Rey started to walk up the mediocre steps towards the highest part of the island, where the meditation rock was. She started to sweat again despite the wind getting through her cape.

It was becoming a routine for her now, every time she needed to feel closer to him, to her Master. Luke. She'd been calling him through the Force, not even knowing if he might have been hearing her, but it felt so overwhelming to think he was dead, to think all of them were dead. To feel the emptiness they'd left.

To flee to the planet of Ahch-To, the place of the first Jedi temple, had been a decision made on the spur of the moment, but after the rush of the final battle she needed time. She was desperate for peace and quiet, and for time to think, to mourn and to breathe. Finn and Poe hadn't really understood her explanations, they didn't understand why she felt so isolated when everyone was celebrating their victory and acclaiming them as heroes, but neither of them could understand the impact of the losses on her heart. After all, they had also lost people but they were looking forward, while Rey couldn't. Chewie was the only one who understood, he had been around the Force long enough to understand that Jedi simply felt things differently. It was him who convinced the other two to let her go, and him who convinced BB8 to not sabotage the Falcon to prevent her leaving. It had been hard, but she had to go.

By the time she reached the last steps of the island, walked through the ancient cave and saw the rock, tears were already falling down her cheeks at the memory of her friends. She felt like she failed them, but how could she go on? The pain in her heart was too much. She wiped the tears away and sniffled, taking a deep breath before walking slowly towards the seat, almost reverently. This had been the last place of Luke Skywalker on this earth, and to her, it meant the point of convergence. She knew it was all in her mind; nothing connected physically this rock to Luke other than the fact that it was the last place he was before becoming one with the Force. In spite of this, to her it was the place where his spirit met hers, the point where she could feel more connected to him, and it gave her peace of mind. She sat down on the rock, crossing her legs and looking out at the sky.

The twin suns of the planet were already rising and it seemed there would be a clear sky, the clouds were scarce and allowed it to take that deep orange and red colour, just before sunrise. Rey kept herself busy during the day, but sunrise and sunset were usually the moments that she took to meditate and train her mind in the Force. Today she wasn't strong enough though, today she didn't find the serenity that sitting on this place, on this very rock where she'd received her first lesson, brought her. Today, she only felt loneliness and despair. Emptiness.

"Luke…" she whispered hesitantly, almost afraid. She didn't know if it was possible, but she felt desperate enough to call him into the cold wind of the early morning.

She waited, and waited. And then, nothing.

She was alone.

She sighed, looking down at her hands and watching how her tears fell down her cheeks and onto her lap. There was nothing else she could do. She closed her eyes and focused, ready to let it all go.

And then she heard it. A murmur, like the wind whistling through a crack on the window. A gruff voice calling her. The tone was deep, worried, concerned. She opened her eyes and thankfully, she was already seated, her knees would've given out otherwise.

"M-Master Skywalker" she managed to croak between her rapid, ragged breaths.

The Jedi smiled sadly, approaching her until she was a few feet away. He had a blue aura around him and she knew it was a ghost coming through the Force, but his image was almost solid. He was wearing his usual white Jedi robes underneath a brown cloak, his hair was a few inches longer than when they first met, much like the last time she'd been visited by his ghost, same as his beard. His eyes didn't look sunken anymore, but they looked at her with concern and worry written on them.

"Hey, kid" he whispered.

"I… I thought I'd never see you again, I thought…"

She couldn't continue. Sobs started to rack her body and she hid her face in her hands, ashamed. Now that her Master was here, now that she could finally see him, she felt overwhelmed and ashamed of what she was doing, of what she almost did.

Soon, however, she felt a warm hand and a cold, metallic one on top of her hands, urging her to move them away.

When Rey opened her eyes again and looked at her Master through the tears, he was watching her with concern in his eyes, but also with understanding and tenderness she had never seen in them. Luke never said a word, instead he took one last step before sitting down next to her young apprentice. Rey's body slowly half-turned to her side to face him, their eyes locked and Rey had no time to react before Luke's arms were surrounding her, pulling her against his body.

He was a ghost, of that she was sure, the blue aura she could still see around him proved as much; and for a split second, she seemed too shocked to move. Not long afterwards, however, she closed her eyes and, just as he had taught her, began to reach out with her feelings. She suddenly felt warmth coming off Luke's body, he could almost see the threads of his body heat radiating through his robes and directly onto Rey's body. Despite the wind, she wasn't cold anymore. She felt Luke's long hair ticking her skin on her neck, and he felt his bearded cheek nuzzling her face, close to her ear. She could feel the energy coming through his hands: one warm and human, the other cold and robotic. Both resting on her back, both supporting her and pulling her towards him.

It was when she noticed all of that, when she realized that Luke was really there, that it all felt too overwhelming. Her sobs returned with renewed energy and she wept in her Master's arms, her throat hurting so much she thought it would be ripped open. She felt her stomach twisting inside her and she tucked herself away in Luke's robes, as if all she wanted to do was disappear.

It took her a while to calm down enough to feel Luke's serenity and calm he always brought with himself. It was one thing she'd missed as soon as she'd left the island and even more when Luke had died. When she was being trained by Leia she was also calm and focused, but she was more centred on skills, precision, analysis. She was just another type of Jedi. With Luke, however, it was different. The pull she felt from his print on the Force was different to the one from his sister, there was something in Luke's aura that called to Rey: a sense of serenity that brought calmness and stillness to her troubled mind.

"Rey…" she felt Luke's rumble in his chest when he talked and his voice, which sounded like a whisper close to her ear, returned her to the present. Luke pulled a reluctant Rey away just a bit, enough to look at her face "you've been calling me, I heard you through the Force. What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry, I… I can't go on alone…" she sniffled and tried to calm her rapid breathing, her sobs preventing her from doing so "I can't face this, this loss, it's… it feels…"

Rey fell silent, incapable of finding the right words, but Luke understood.

"Unbearable" he finished for her. She nodded and he looked at her, understanding.

He knew all too well what she was talking about, after all, that was why he had closed himself off the Force for years after Ben Solo killed some of his students and left to become Kylo Ren. He knew he'd failed everyone: his sister, his brother-in-law, his Master and most importantly, his nephew. The pain was more than what he could take, all the screams of the young Jedi students, the void they had left, was too much. So, he cut himself off, and allowed his guilt to almost eat him alive. Until Rey came, only to find but the shadow of the Jedi Master he had once been.

"I'm doing what you did. I can't… I've tried to reach out, to find all the Jedi that live through me and that helped me… but every time I do, I feel this huge hole inside of me, in the place where all of you were. My parents, Han, Leia, Ben… y-you…" her voice almost broke when talking about his Master, but she managed to gulp and go past the lump on her throat "you all left and there's only pain left in your place, I…"

She sighed and looked down at her lap, she didn't know what to say. It was hard to explain, but she knew what she was feeling.

"I know what it feels like, Rey, I know it hurts. But that's not all there is inside you" Luke whispered, while one of his hands travelled to her face and pushed a lock of hair behind her ear, in a small but gentle gesture "I heard you, which means I'm not gone. I'm still here with you."

Rey nodded, but she didn't seem to want to talk anymore. She sighed, looking down on her lap, where Luke's hands had taken Rey's and were gently holding them.

"You can't close yourself off the Force, Rey. That's not the solution."

"But you did it" she sniffled, looking up to see his face "you did it when the pain was too much to bear, and now…"

"And now you know as well as I do that it was a mistake" he finished for her. He smiled tenderly "I told you once before that fear was what kept me here, and for a long time I didn't feel brave enough to confront it. I feared looking at my sister again after all the pain I'd caused her, I was terrified of facing Ben after I had failed him. But in the end, thanks to you, I did it."

Rey kept silent, she had closed her eyes and was listening to her Master's words, who kept caressing her hands in her lap, alternating between squeezing her fingers and caressing them.

"And you" Luke continued while allowing a small proud smile to dance on his lips "you were terrified of what you could become, of what you were capable of. And yet you faced your grandfather and challenged your own destiny, you faced that which terrified you, and conquered that fear."

Luke kept smiling but Rey was still silent. Now that her Master was with her, now that he had answered her pleas, she felt confused and lost. She didn't know what she wanted, she didn't know which way to go or how to act.

"You have searched in your feelings, but you're terrified of going beyond. I asked you once, and I'll ask you again: what are most you scared of, Rey?

"There's… there's a deep, dark hole" she answered, her lower lip quivering. She inhaled deeply, feeling Luke's hand on her forearm, going up and down in gentle, reassuring motions "and I can't see past that black emptiness…"

"You have to go past that, Rey. Use the Force; let it flow through you…" Luke encouraged her.

She looked at him with fear in her eyes but he smiled with reassurance, and leaned even closer. His hand never stopped going up and down her forearm.

"We'll go together" Luke whispered, before Rey closed her eyes.

She knew it wouldn't matter that she couldn't see Luke's blue-lit form, he would still be there. She could still feel his body close to hers, one of his hands holding hers while the other was on her forearm.

"Reach out with your feelings. What do you see?"

She looked inward, searching, seeking. She knew what she was looking for, she had gone through this a million times, and then she saw it. A hole, darkness, loneliness. There was a deep void in her heart, tearing her apart. She couldn't feel any of the Jedi knights in her, that Force she once felt when she fought against Palpatine was gone, she… she had never felt more alone.

"I see emptiness. A void. Loneliness" she whispered, and saying it aloud somehow made it even truer. A whimper escaped her lips but she gulped, voicing what she was seeing "there's a loneliness that consumes everything, everyone I had I lost, I am… alone…" she couldn't continue, and a few tears escaped her closed eyelids.

"But you're not, Rey. You never are. I'm here, Leia's here… we're all with you, living through you"Luke's deep gruff came closer to her now, she realized he was leaning down impossibly close to her, one of his hands grabbing her shoulder both for support and to anchor her to the present, to reality.

"I can't see you, I can't…" she started to feel anxious, she felt a tight knot in her stomach, her concentration was failing.

"Shhhh… it's all right Rey, focus on me" Luke's voice came in a mere murmur; she could distantly feel robotic fingers play with her locks of hair, calming her down "can you hear my voice? Can you feel me with you?"

Rey shook her head, a few tears escaping her eyes, and Luke got closer to her. Then, she spotted a small light in the distance, a blue light that stood out in the darkness that threatened to surround her. It was Luke, she knew. She smiled weakly through her sobs, she hadn't even realized she was crying.

"Let the pain come, Rey. Don't avoid it. Let it fill you up, let it wash over you…" Luke's voice was a mere whisper, deep and gruff, but it had always had a tone of command she'd always found compelling "only then can you stop suffering and start living once again…"

There was no stopping it now, she could feel it. She watched, horrified, as the hole was becoming bigger and bigger inside her, the beast she had tried to keep trapped in a cage was finally being set free, and it was roaring inside her. She felt terrified and frantically looked for the blue light in the distance. She felt a gentle squeeze on her hand. Luke was almost entirely leaning onto her now, one of his hands grabbing his shoulder while the other was clutching at Rey's hand, squeezing encouragingly.

"Don't fight it, Rey. Let it come. I'll be with you…"

She didn't know how to not fight it, her instincts were kicking in and tried to cage the beast once again, until she felt Luke's Force print stronger and closer to her. She looked at the light, confused, and tears fell down her cheeks even though her eyes were closed. The beast was finally engulfing her, and she was lost, didn't know what to do. In a desperate attempt to control herself she launched herself to Luke's light, not realizing that her body was doing the same. But Luke was fast and caught her. When her Master's arms held her tight against his chest again, when she felt his blue light surrounding her, protecting her, she finally could let go. Despite seeing only darkness she felt Luke's calming presence, his arms and chest creating a bubble she never wanted to leave.

"Let go…" he muttered, and she felt his breathing in her ear.

And she did.

She took a deep breath and feeling her Master's presence surround her, she finally allowed all her pain wash her away. Everything she had kept bottled up and compartmentalized was finally allowed to be free, and she allowed herself to feel the anguish, the sorrow, the heartbreak. Everyone she'd looked up to, everyone she'd ever had loved or had a connection with, was dead. Her parents. Han. Luke. Ben. Ben.

She still had her friends, of course, but they didn't understand. How could they? For them Ben was only Kylo Ren, a murderer, a criminal. They didn't understand the conflict within him, they didn't understand the Dyad, the deep connection through the Force they had shared. They didn't understand the ways of the Force, or how it felt when a Jedi you had a connection with through the Force disappeared, the emptiness and hole the disappearance left in its wake.

They felt grief when Leia finally passed away and became one with the Force, and they mourned her. But they didn't understand why Rey felt like her heart had been stabbed and squeezed inside her, until there was nothing but darkness inside. Everyone she had had a connection through the Force was gone, and she felt the loss as if she'd lost her own limbs.

Her shoulders heaved with her sobs but she wasn't aware of it, she was so far gone in her own darkness and despair, until she felt Luke's Force print calling back to her. Luke was right beside her but he was also in her mind, surrounding and protecting her, answering her desperate pleas.

I'm right here, Rey. You're not alone Rey didn't know if Luke had said that in her mind or close to her ear, but it didn't matter. She felt him. Let it come. Feel it.

It felt like a huge ocean wave came and washed her away. She felt she was drowning and, overwhelmed, gasped for air, feeling her lungs choke with liquid. She kicked her legs and her arms flailed, fighting to breathe, when she felt it.

A force in the distance, weak at first, but it became stronger by the second. When it was stronger that force divided into two, and then into four, and all of a sudden Rey could distinguish different Force prints. Her throat emitted a whimper when she distinguished Leia's print coming closer to her, the thread of her energy flickering alongside his brother's, both blue and green lights entwining and surrounding her. They were her Masters and their lights shone the brightest among all the others; strong and powerful. Rey looked around, and she marvelled at the hundreds and hundreds of different lights she could see and Force prints she could feel. All the Jedi. She wasn't alone, she could feel it. All of them were behind her, accompanying her.

When the wave finally passed and she emerged from it, panting and sweating, she opened her eyes and looked at her Master. Luke was still holding her, his arms around her torso and his arms on her back, and was looking at her with a tender smile.

"You see?" Luke whispered "you don't have to be afraid to feel, Rey. You're not alone, we're not going anywhere" then he leaned closer to her ear "Iam not going anywhere" he emphasized his words by taking one of her hands and placing it on his chest, atop of his heart.

Finally, Luke had seen what Rey desperately needed. Once she had surrendered herself totally to the Force and had opened her heart, he had recognized what she had been seeking all her life. A mentor, a father figure who could care for her.

She had been alone, without an adult to guide her since she was a child. When she found Han Solo, her idolized smuggler and legendary pilot of the Falcon, she thought she'd found the one she needed, only to have her hopes crushed at her feet when he'd been taken away from her too.

Then came Leia, her always kind, loving and brave Princess. However, she was too wounded from having lost her son, too broken by the worst pain a mother can endure, and that wound didn't allow her to be what Rey needed her to be.

Unlike Leia, Luke was exactly what Rey needed. He was also a broken man, especially when they'd met: surly, unsociable, bitter; yet his way of teaching and guiding the young Jedi was what Rey had been looking for all her life.

After Han's loss, Rey felt adrift. Betrayed, angry, isolated and more alone and in need of guidance than ever before. Luke himself had once felt like that. He had his uncle when he was a child, but upon finding out his true lineage he felt in need of guidance, someone who could tell him what to do. Master Yoda provided that for him, a guidance of the ways of the Force, of his place in the galaxy.

Rey was also as stubborn and reckless as he was, and no one really understood her motives. Sometimes Luke even doubted she understood them herself, to be honest. Now, years after rejecting his own place as Jedi Master, a young Jedi required that same thing from him, that same guidance he'd once required from Master Yoda. The same guidance he was now providing Rey.

Luke came back to the present when he felt Rey nodded and returned to her hiding place against Luke's chest, resting her head on her shoulder, almost hiding her face with his beard and long hair. She took a deep breath once, twice, inhaling and exhaling with her eyes closed. Feeling Luke close to her. Just once more, just this once… she thought.

Luke frowned, something wasn't right. There was still something else. He had shown Rey she wasn't alone, he had shown her that everyone, including Leia and himself were accessible through the Force. Then, why was she still clinging to him?

"You know you've accomplished great things, Rey" Luke whispered "and you still have so much to do, so much to see… Why did you cut yourself off from the world and your friends? Why are you still here clinging to me?" Luke's voice was light, yet it had an undertone of warning Rey couldn't completely ignore.

"Just a bit longer" she whispered, her hands clutching at Luke's cape, feeling his warmth through her white robes against her chest. She noticed Luke sigh against her, and a robotic hand at the base of her spine, supporting her back. She couldn't say goodbye, not yet. She didn't feel ready to feel the loneliness crushing her again once Luke disappeared, once she was alone once again.

"Rey" Luke's tone was insistent and she reluctantly disentangled herself from his arms, only to look at her Master. There was still fear in her eyes; he could see it as clearly as the suns that were already shining in the sky. He took her hands once more, anchoring her to the present.

"What are you so afraid of, Rey? What's so frightening you don't want to let me go?"

Rey shook her head and refused to answer, but Luke had already a vague idea of why she was clinging to him. He only had to confirm it.

"Rey. Did you feel me when we looked inside your Force print?" Luke asked. Rey nodded, still avoiding his eyes "and what about now? Do you feel me now with you?"

Rey nodded again, smiling softly when Luke's hands moved up and down her back, making her aware of just how close she was to her Master, her whole upper body was against his and their legs were completely glued to one another.

"Then, what makes you so terrified of letting me go? You think you won't see me again?" Rey suddenly tensed against Luke's body, and that was answer enough for him. He shook his head sadly and whispered, more to himself than to her "of course you do…"

Rey looked down, embarrassed, but her silence was answer enough. She felt small, like a little girl who still needed her parents to watch over her and care for her, even when she was a powerful Jedi who'd singlehandedly destroyed the dark power that had almost killed the Rebellion. She was full of contradictions and saw so many possible pathways in front of her, she didn't know what to do.

"There are so many things I didn't say, and so many things I still don't know and wanted to ask… and now it feels stupid and ridiculous and completely inappropriate, but I don't know how to do this on my own…" she sniffled and tensed more against Luke's body, choking back tears.

He cuddled her a bit more fiercely, and heard Rey sigh while silent tears rolled down her cheeks again, before she burrowed her face against his robes.

"Oh Rey… I'm sorry I didn't see it before…" he muttered against her ear. He gave her time to calm down, before speaking again "you have nothing to fear, Rey. Any time you'll need me, I'll be here" he whispered.

"But you're gone, you… I can't feel the same"

"Well, of course it's not the same; I'm dead, aren't I?" Luke chuckled while Rey cringed; she would never understand Luke's dark sense of humour "but even if it's different, am I not here now?"

Rey nodded, she could feel him. Her Master was warm to the touch, and had never stopped hugging her. It felt so real that if she closed her eyes she could even pretend it wasn't just a ghost from the Force, he was here and alive.

"So, you can still feel my Force and my touch. You still felt everyone's Force when I showed you, you felt Leia… you still felt me, you saw my light inside you" Rey nodded but still kept her head tucked against Luke's shoulder, letting his hair fall against her cheek "then what makes you think I won't come again, that I'll disappear?"

"I called you before, and… you never came" she tried, she really tried to keep the accusatory tone out of her voice, but it was still there. Luke let it pass.

"I didn't come before because the Force isn't like a droid or a computer that receives a signal" Luke answered "usually after a while you calm yourself on your own, and find peace and serenity within yourself, don't you?"

She nodded, it was true. That was the reason she was on the meditation rock, why every time she had nightmares or needed to feel her Master she went there. Most times, that was enough. Luke had appeared only when she most needed him, and that was what had saved her.

"You don't have to be afraid of losing me; I will not abandon you, Rey. We're connected, you and I. The bond one shares with their Master is very special, different in each case, and yet something very powerful you can always rely on. I will always be here."

"Always?"

"The Force will be with you always. And so will I" his voice sounded solemn and she knew it was a promise from a Jedi knight to another.

One of Luke's hands travelled from her back to the cheek he had access to and started to caress it, drying away the tears on the reddened skin.

"Do you know? Not long ago, on this very island, I was visited by Master Yoda…" Luke began.

The sentence had had the intended reaction. Rey's head shot up to look at her Master's eyes with shock and surprise, and Luke smiled internally.

"He… what? Not long ago?"

"Right after you left to go to Ben, thinking he would turn" Luke said "I had made the decision to burn down the tree with the sacred Jedi texts, only to be visited by Master Yoda"

"And what did he do? Did he try to stop you?" Rey asked. She was fully invested in the story, her back straight again, even if her body was still close enough to Luke's to feel his warmth.

"Oh, no… when I was having second thoughts about it he called forth a lightning bolt and burned it down himself, then laughed about it"

Luke smiled when remembering his own Master, Rey's face was of pure shock.

"He… did what?"

"If you knew Master Yoda you'd know he was always… peculiar" he said "but any time I needed guidance, which was often, he would appear"

"And he helped you?"

"Many times. Most of the times he only scolded me for being reckless and stubborn…" he smiled melancholically, looking at a fixed point in the rock wall behind her, as if he could see them now. Then she looked at Rey and leaned, whispering close to her ear in a joking tone "and sometimes, when I wasn't listening, he had a bad habit of hitting me with his walking stick…"

Luke winked at her while and she chuckled, her giggles along with Luke's gruff laugh being lost in the wind. Luke sobered shortly afterwards, but still kept a soft smile on his lips and tenderness in his eyes. He reached with his hand and placed it on Rey's face, caressing it, infusing warmth.

"I will do the same for you, Rey. Never think that I've abandoned you, you'll always have me. Even if you don't want me" Luke whispered reassuringly, his voice soft and different from his usual gruff.

He placed a kiss on Rey's forehead, his beard tingling her skin, and she inhaled again. He didn't smell like anything, a small reminder that he wasn't human and alive anymore, but it didn't matter. He was here, that was all Rey needed.

They sat there in silence for a long time, but time lost its meaning in the small island. The suns were already shining bright up in the sky by the time Luke spoke.

"Now, come on. Out with it"

Rey moved for the first time in a long while and looked at him while frowning, confused.

"Come on, Rey! You don't really think I wouldn't notice?" Luke exclaimed, pretending exasperation "there's something else inside you, something that scares you, but you're not saying. I would've thought you trusted me by now…"

"I do!" she exclaimed, horrified, but when she looked at Luke's face he was smirking.

"I know you do" he whispered, a kind smile on his lips "tell me so I can help. What did you see when you looked inside?"

Rey shook her head, she couldn't say a word. Instead, she offered her hand. Luke looked at the hand and then looked at her, before taking it and following Rey's Force print to wherever she took him.

And then Luke saw with his own eyes and mind. The hundreds of threads, each one with their very own light were still there, so Rey had accepted the presence of all the Jedi that had gone before her. But there was an absence that eclipsed all the Force prints in Rey, and Luke knew very well who wasn't there. Ben Solo.

He isn't here, and it… it is unbearable.

Luke saw with his own eyes why. All the other threads pulsating through her were shining bright with their own light, some of them were stronger, others were weaker, but they were there and Rey could call them up if she ever had the need to. There was one thread, however, that stood out. It was thicker than the others, completely black, dark and with no light, only visible under the lights of the other threads. And it was cut off.

He knew what that thread was, and she knew it too. It was the Dyad, the Force connection Rey and Ben shared. He could almost feel the agony in Rey's heart, the pain of the loss of her strongest connection, and she took pity on the girl. She crouched close to the cut-off thread and closed his eyes, touching it with his Force. He knew what he was doing wasn't enough, but if it could bring some comfort to his young apprentice, he would try.

When Luke emerged again from Rey's Force print and looked at her, he did so with determination in his eyes.

"Call him, Rey. Call him just like you called me. Call him with the same desperation in your heart, don't hide your pain. There's nothing to be afraid of."

"But… if he isn't here, when I feel all the Jedi through the Force, it means…"

"It means you have to make a bigger effort to reach him. But you can" Luke encouraged her "you know, after the war in Endor, I saw them. I saw Obi-Wan, I saw Master Yoda. And I saw Anakin."

"Your father…"

"My father" Luke confirmed "he was young and wearing his old Jedi robes, but I could feel his Force, his energy pulsating through me. He'd turned before dying, and therefore his energy had been purged of all the darkness inside him. And you did the same with Ben, you let Kylo Ren die and allowed Ben Solo to emerge. His Force only needs a bit of guidance…"

"So… you think I can… feel him again? See him?"

"Maybe, maybe not" Rey sighed exasperatedly, his vague answers were no less infuriating, but Luke knew very well why he was doing it "but you don't lose anything by trying, do you?"

Rey shifted in her seat, but when Luke tried to move a bit from her to give her space, she took him by the hand.

"Will you leave if… if he comes?"

"I don't have to. But I do think you'll want me gone" Luke's lips turned into a wide grin and he winked jokingly. Rey smiled, embarrassed, but a true smile Luke hadn't seen in a long time.

"Stay, please" she whispered. And Luke nodded.

"I will" he promised, and placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing "go on. Call him..."

Rey closed her eyes, still holding Luke's hand, and tried again. This time she had a purpose, this time she knew what she was doing. She went through the hole again, this time straight to the dark thread, and took it in her hands. And she focused.

Ben she whispered in her mind Ben, come to me. Come and find me. Ben!

She called him again and again, without giving up. When she felt like it was all useless she felt her Master, pushing her, insisting. So she did, she insisted.

Until she felt something. She looked down on her hands and saw that the thread that was previously dark and without life was now vibrating, and a dim light was coming from it. It was coming to life. She closed her eyes again and continued to call him, whispering his name into the void, reaching as far as she could.

Then, all of a sudden, something shifted inside her. A new Force print, distinct yet vaguely familiar, appeared in the distance. She didn't give up and kept chanting, guiding this Force print, lighting its path. Painfully slowly the light became a form, a human form, and the form began to walk. It was tall and dark, but walked with a stride Rey could never confuse.

"BEN!" she shouted, opening her eyes. And when she did, tears fell from her eyes.

Ben Solo was approaching her. His silhouette framed by a blue halo against the two suns was a sight to behold, and Rey brushed her tears of her eyes, not wanting to even blink.

I made it she thought, still not believing her eyes.

When Ben was a few feet away he stopped. Standing in front of her with his black robes and cape, his black hair a bit longer falling next to her face. His brown eyes were looking at her with a mixture of adoration and surprise, and his lips were turned upwards in the most beautiful smile Rey had ever laid eyes on.

"Rey…" Ben whispered, his voice hoarse, seemingly from disuse.

By then, there was no stopping it. Rey leaped from the rock, ran towards Ben, and thrust herself upon him with all the force and desperation she felt inside her. Ben caught her, still marvelled, and laughed while he pulled her towards him. Their hug was fierce, their bodies colliding with force, their hands grabbing their clothes as if making sure they weren't leaving.

Rey looked up and allowed herself to be lost in those brown orbs, her hands still grabbing Ben's cape on his lower back. Neither of them knew who moved first but when their eyes locked, their bodies did the rest and their faces leaned closer, until her lips captured his in a kiss.

It felt like an electric charge went through her body, waking up every single cell. She felt like melting and her knees would've given out if Ben hadn't been holding her close to him. Rey's hands went towards his dark hair, caressing it, interlacing their fingers with the flocks and pulling him towards her. The kiss turned more demanding, she started to feel hot inside and moaned in Ben's lips.

When the kiss ended Ben leaned forward and rested his forehead against Rey's, his lips painting a grateful smile.

"You came back…" Rey whispered, still touching his hair and breathing in.

"I thought I'd never see you again…" Ben's voice was hoarse, but the tone was kind and warm "how did you…?"

Rey moved a bit to her side with a soft smile and Ben looked behind her, only to see his uncle who was standing next to the rock Rey had been previously sitting on.

"Luke" Ben whispered. Then he smiled and bowed his head in a gesture of respect and appreciation, gesture that Luke returned.

Rey moved again to be close to Ben and kissed him full on the lips again, finding it impossible to stop. He returned the kiss avidly, and then allowed the kisses to become softer and slower, until he moved away with a quick peck. Then he placed his forehead against hers again, nuzzling it with his nose from time to time.

"Look inside you, Rey" Ben whispered.

She closed her eyes and breathed in, trying to focus. She began by feeling Ben's warm hands on his back, his hair tickling her skin. Her lips a bit swollen from the kisses, her wet cheeks from the tears she'd spilled. Her heartbeat, fast and strong in her chest. She knew what she had to do.

She delved once again into her heart, going into the depths of her Force print, half-expecting to know what she would see. But when she opened her inner eye and looked around, she was marvelled.

The void that had threatened to consume her was now a mere hole in the midst of the thousands of lights glistening. They were stronger than before, some of the threads were vibrating and pulsating. Her attention shifted and then she saw it. The thick thread that had previously been inactive, dark and with no life, was shining with a bright red light. It felt strong and sent shivers down her spine when she saw it. The Dyad wasn't restored, it could never be and she was aware of that, but Ben's Force print was back. It was glistening next to Luke and Leia's Force prints, all three of them protecting her and bringing light to this previously dark and empty place.

When she emerged again, Ben was smiling.

"I love you" she whispered, allowing tears to spill from her eyes.

"I know" he voiced before leaning down and capturing her lips again in a slow, languid kiss. After all, he was part of her now.

When their lips separated again Rey knew she had to let him go. And she found that she was okay with that.

"Will I be able to see you?" she asked, taking one of Ben's long dark locks and placing it behind his ear, her fingers gently touching the skin of his neck. He smiled.

"Any time you need me" Ben whispered with a soft smile "goodbye, Rey"

Rey reached and placed a kiss on his lips, lingering there for a few seconds before taking a step back and opening her eyes. Ben's form started to dissolve into the sunset light, the two suns behind him, but his eyes never left hers. Rey smiled softly while she watched him disappear, until he was no more.

"Goodbye, Ben" she whispered, and while a lone tear fell from her eyes, she took a deep breath and felt, for the first time, whole.

He sensed more than saw Luke walking towards her with slow steps, until he stopped next to her. As she had asked, Luke hadn't left and had been watching from afar, until Ben had disappeared. He watched her for a moment, Rey looked to her right and locked eyes with him, before she took a deep breath and turned to watch the sunset light, both of their capes moving with the wind.

There was a flicker in the light and then, to her left, she felt another presence. She didn't need to turn her head to look, and when she did, she knew who was standing next to her.

"Master Leia" she whispered, feeling her throat constrict again. She gulped once, trying to go past her lump.

"Rey…" she greeted, her voice exactly as she remembered. Tears spilled from Rey's eyes but they weren't tears of pain, they were of pure love and emotion. She was here, flanked by the force of her two Masters, and for the first time she felt complete and ready to move on.

Her body turned towards her and leaned down, embracing the General, her Master.

"You've accomplished so much, my dear" Leia whispered against her, a soft smile dancing on her lips "I'm so proud of you"

Rey didn't say a word, but she returned the hug more fiercely, seconds before letting go and straightening her back, looking back at the sunsets that were now starting to set behind the horizon. She closed her eyes when she felt Luke's warm hand against her cheek, brushing the tears away.

"Now I can go back" she whispered resolutely. Luke nodded and smiled proudly, Leia mirroring the smile on her left. She could sense their time was up, their auras were slowly dimming in the sunset light "thank you."

Leia smiled and with one hand she moved a rebel lock of hair away from her face, putting it behind her ear. It was a gesture both siblings seemed to like doing. She turned her head towards Luke, and looked at him straight in the eyes.

"Will you still be with me?"

"Always" Luke's deep gruff said. He leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on Rey's forehead, before his form and his warmth disappeared into the light.

Rey smiled and closed her eyes, looking inward. Her smile went wider when she felt peace and purpose where previously she had only found desperation and loss. The pain was still there, but it was bearable now, and the threads of all the Jedi were glistening in the dark. In the midst of the Force prints she could feel, three powerful lights overtook almost all the darkness: blue, green and red. All of them belonging to someone close to her, all of them pulsating with energy and giving her strength to go on.

She opened her eyes and looked up ahead, the two suns were setting in front of her, and down below was the Falcon, waiting for her. She took a deep breath and, watching the suns for the last time, she started to descend the stairs towards the ship. It was time to return home.