Chapter 7: Every Breath of Air

"Light will lead the way, will set you free

I'm only looking for a little peace

And when the night falls

Oh call on me

Just don't forget to show me some mercy."

-Shine A Light, BANNERS

23 ABY

Rey got lost twice on her journey to Master Luke's study, but at least it gave her time to gather her thoughts. Ben's cold, tense countenance; the slight tick under his left eye; the ache of his grip clamping down on her forearm.

She carefully straightened her tunic and took a deep breath, releasing her inner tension. She lifted a fist to knock. She needed answers.

"Enter." Master Luke's voice carried through the door as it slid open.

Rey stepped forward, sketching a quick bow and rising to find the man standing directly before her.

"Come," he said. "Let's walk. I have much to teach you, and based on what you've told me about your previous experiences with the Force, a dusty old classroom might not be the best place to start."

Rey nodded quickly and followed, tugging her arm wraps nervously. "Where are we going, sir?" she asked, shuffling along at a jog to match his much longer strides.

"To the forest," Master Luke responded. "It is quieter there, but louder in ways that matter. While we walk, tell me—how have your other lessons been today?"

"They've been…interesting," Rey responded. "I had no idea there were so many planets in the galaxy—'like grains of sand in a dune,'" she said, quoting the Jedi's own description from his lecture. "And Ben taught me how to punch harder—and do a backflip." She glanced up at her companion, worried that he would be angered by the mention of his nephew.

Master Luke's face, however, was serene. "Did he, now?" he said lightly. "Did he teach you anything else?"

Rey thought briefly of Ben's flashing, dark eyes, his curled lip, and the piercing devastation in the single, fleeting look he had given her after penetrating her mind. She thought of how Master Luke already didn't trust Ben, of how the other padawans seemed to dislike him, and how his own father seemed to have lost hope for him. "Nothing," she said, perhaps a shade too innocently. "Was he supposed to?"

If the Jedi sensed her deceit, he didn't comment on it. "And the other younglings? Are you getting along well?"

"Yes, sir," Rey confirmed. "Colt has been a good guide. Although with all due respect, sir, I don't think any of them would last long on Jakku."

"And why is that?"

"They're too nice, sir," Rey answered. "They wouldn't have the stomach for it."

"And you did?" Master Luke asked, his sharp blue eyes flashing over her face quickly.

Rey shrugged. "I don't know another life."

The two fell into silence for several minutes as they crossed the foyer and passed through the tall front blast doors.

"Sir, are Jedi good at lying?" Rey asked tentatively as they headed for the tree line.

"The way of the Jedi is the way of truth, and enlightenment," Master Luke responded. "What need would a Jedi have for lying?"

Rey wrinkled her nose slightly. "Are the stories not true, then, about Jedi mind tricks?"

If she had thought Master Luke capable of blushing, Rey would have sworn she saw blood creeping into his cheeks. "Yes," he said slowly. "But these methods are only used in times of great need, and even then, sparingly. Why do you ask, child?"

"I was just wondering whether it's easy to trick a Jedi," Rey asked. "Since they can see into your mind. If a person had hidden reasons for doing something, would you know?"

Ben's furious countenance. His fear. His need to hide her, protect her. And two words that she hadn't caught at first, but was now certain had been there, hidden under layers and layers of turmoil. From me.

At this point, Master Luke had turned his full attention on Rey. "Perhaps," he said. "Why? Is there something you feel the need to tell me?"

"No," Rey backtracked rapidly. "I'm just curious about how it works."

The Jedi sighed heavily, and for a moment Rey thought he wouldn't answer. "It doesn't work like that," he finally said. "Jedi don't just walk about reading minds—for one it's incredibly rude, and for another, it's devilishly tricky. Only the very strongest can manage more than a general sense of the thoughts and feelings that another is experiencing, and even then, it is easy to be fooled. Furthermore, strong focus can keep even the most powerful Jedi out."

Rey furrowed her brow thoughtfully. From Master Luke's responses, it seemed that he hadn't guessed at the reason for her interest. She also had a distinct feeling that he wasn't aware of the source or nature of Ben Solo's inner conflict. Did that mean that he thought Ben truly despised her? And how had she stumbled upon the truth? Had Ben accidentally let something slip that he hadn't intended?

"Is there a reason for this line of questioning?" Master Luke asked.

"No reason," Rey said quickly. "Just a story I heard once. A-about how you can never fool a Jedi. I was just wondering if it was true."

"Well," Master Luke said, "it is somewhat true, but not in the way that you think." He stopped, scanning the trees above them, gathered his robes in his hands, and settled slowly into a cross-legged position. "Come, sit," he said, patting the moss-covered ground before him.

Rey sank to the ground, crossing her legs in front of her and resting her hands on her knees.

"Remember what I told you before?" Luke asked. "The Force is like an instinct. You might not know exactly what a person is thinking, but you can make an excellent guess at what is about to transpire. For example, were you to pick up the nearest stick and swing it at my head," he said, gesturing in a chopping motion towards his left ear, "I would have a split second of warning beyond what a non-Force-sensitive might experience. Like a premonition of sorts. This ability is one of the reasons why a Jedi's fighting style is so unique. Very few can deflect blaster bolts with nothing but a lightsaber—but for a trained Jedi, this task is a simple one. Knowing the terrain around you is one thing, but feeling it, being it, is something else entirely. The Force can guide you, if you let it. And therein lies our first lesson together: meditation."

Rey nodded, pushing away her thoughts of Ben and trying desperately to keep up.

"When you have experienced the Force in the past—or this presence of which you have told me—what does it feel like?"

Rey scrunched her nose, thinking. "Like there's…another person with me. But in my head." Her hand drifted absently to her temple. "Other times, it doesn't feel like a person. When I was on Takodana with Mr. Han, I felt like the trees were watching me. Like the grass was…alive. Does that make sense?"

Master Luke nodded, a smile flickering at the corners of his mouth. "Oh yes, Rey," he said. "That is the nature of the Force. It is all around us—in every breath of air and every drop of rain—but sometimes it is easiest to feel in living creatures. In time you will learn to see the Force everywhere, even in death. But for now, we will focus on attuning our minds to the forest. Close your eyes."

Rey snapped her eyes shut obediently, blocking out the sight of the trees and her teacher.

"Reach out," he said.

Rey lifted an arm, extending her palm towards the space where she knew Luke was sitting. She heard an exasperated sigh and her eyes shot open.

"Not like that," the Jedi said dryly. "Reach out with your mind. With your feelings."

Chagrined and blushing, Rey dropped her hand back into her lap and closed her eyes again. She wasn't sure what Master Luke meant by reaching out, so she tried instead to listen intently. At first, she heard nothing out of the ordinary—the sound of wind in branches, birdsong, her companion's breathing, the thumping of her own blood in her ears.

"Good," Luke whispered. "Now what do you feel?"

Rey breathed out deeply, and in again, letting the air rush into her lungs and lift her chest. And out. And in. There was something hovering on the periphery of her mind, a soft and subtle thing that she felt herself reaching for, grasping at fruitlessly. Somehow it always seemed just an inch out of her range.

"Relax," Master Luke said. "Don't try so hard. Let it come to you."

Rey sighed, struggling to release some of the tension that had built in her neck and shoulders. The sound of her master's breathing so nearby made her feel oddly claustrophobic. Shaking her head slightly, she pressed the thought away and refocused on listening. The something was there again, vague and undefinable, promising untold wonders. She breathed out and didn't stretch for it. The feeling crept nearer, like sand rising around her ankles, crawling up her stomach and chest, pressing into her and anchoring her.

Suddenly she was filled with the oddest sensation, as if she—the nebulous, sentient part of her that one might call a consciousness, or a mind, or a soul—was slowly slipping out of its usual vantage point within her skull. It flowed outwards like streams of water, joining with the greater current that swirled around her in an invisible silver eddy of light and dark and power. For a split second she was no longer Rey—she was everything, and everything was her. She was the bird looking down from a high-up branch, the beetle creeping along the forest floor, and the narrow sapling pressing its leafy top towards the canopy. It was a sense somewhere between sight and touch and sound, and yet so utterly different from all three that it could not be described in any words that she knew. Her fingers tingled and her blood thrummed as the direction of the current around her changed, the flow of energy moving towards her, pushing through her like she was a conductor spinning out electricity. Everything around her was pulsing with her presence, and she was pulsing with the world.

Somewhere in the midst of that swirl of light and connection was something—or someone—she had been looking for. She was sure of it. If she could only draw her mind's eye back far enough, zoom out to take in everything, she was certain that she would be able to see how she fit into the whole—a single, microscopic puzzle piece locking somehow into the greater pattern. Gripped by this certainty she stretched out further, seeking, searching—there—something—a presence—her presence—

Abruptly the connection was broken, as if she had suddenly closed her eyes and cut out the light. Jarred, she blinked once, extending an arm to steady herself. The sun had dropped nearly to the horizon, although she could have sworn her eyes had been closed for only a few minutes. Master Luke was still sitting cross-legged before her, staring at with a look somewhere between wonder and disbelief.

"Remarkable," he said. "I have seen this only once before. I believe I understand, now."

"Understand what?" Rey asked, her voice—long disused—cracking on the words. She blinked again, still trying to regain her bearings.

"Many things," Master Luke said vaguely. "But most of all, how you came to be here, of all places. That is enough, for today. You did well. We will meet again tomorrow, at the same time. Yes?"

Rey nodded, feeling suddenly sleepy, and followed the Jedi as he climbed to his feet.

"Tell me, young Rey," he said, stepping into the forest. "Of what did you dream during your nights on Jakku?"

Rey hesitated, thrown off by the question. "Many things," she said softly. "My parents, mostly. Sometimes an ocean—and an island. Strange birds, and a dark—" she paused, suddenly wary of Maser Luke's response. "A dark place."

The Jedi's already craggy forehead drew into a series of hills and valleys, his bushy brows descending over his brilliant eyes. "What was in the dark place?" he asked.

"I'm not sure," Rey said slowly. "I never went inside. Why? Is it important?"

"No," Master Luke whispered, after a moment's hesitation. "You must never enter there. And you must tell me if you dream of this place again."

"Yes, sir," Rey answered. Then, "I'm sorry, sir. If I wasn't supposed to talk about the place."

"Never mind that," he said briskly as they stepped out of the forest and approached the temple, where softly glowing lights were beginning to flicker on like so many fireflies. "You are a conundrum, Rey. So much light and so much dark in a single person—it is enough to confound an old Jedi like me."

"What is a conundrum, sir?"

"A puzzle, Rey. You are a puzzle."

Dinner was a rowdy affair, with all thirteen padawans present, and Master Luke residing over the meal. Ben sat as far from Rey as possible with his dark head cast down, refusing to make eye contact or join in the conversation. She could practically feel the anger rolling off of him in thick, cloying waves, so she tried to remain silent and unseen throughout the meal.

This was made exponentially more difficult by the constant influx of attention that she received from other padawans, all of whom were excited to have a newcomer in their presence.

"You should have seen her in drills, today," Nareek was saying. "She landed a perfect backflip on her first day!"

"She certainly looks like she could pack a punch or pick a fight," the older Twi'lek girl said, winking discretely across the table at Rey. "I'm Kora, by the way, in case you didn't remember. I know there are a lot of us."

The older girl's sympathetic smile drew a returning one from Rey's lips. "I did remember," she said softly.

"Watch out, Janneh," the Zabrak boy—Akava—teased, ruffling a hand through his navy-blue hair. "She's coming for your title as most acrobatic fighter in the star-system."

The silver-haired beauty scowled at her companion, but Rey could detect a good-natured edge beneath her irritation. The two—who appeared to be around the same age—were clearly good friends.

"I like your bracelet, Rey," Kora said, loading up her spoon with another bite of stew. "Where did you get it?"

Rey froze, her fork halfway to her mouth. Her gaze slid down and over her arms—

Sure enough, one of her wrappings had slipped down, revealing the beaded armband that she had found aboard the Falcon.

She suddenly felt like she could sense everyone's eyes on her, including Ben's.

"I, uh, found it," she said. "On the ship where I used to live. Mr. Han said I could keep it."

"It's lovely," Serai piped up, angling her head slightly to the side. "What's it made of?"

"Um, leather and beads," Rey said. "And a few bits of wire—I had to repair it because it was broken when I found it."

"Let me see," Serai said, leaning forward and gesturing for Rey to extend her arm. Rey did so reluctantly, feeling the cool slide of Ben's eyes over her shoulder and down to her bicep. From the opposite end of the table, she could practically hear Master Skywalker's breath.

Serai withdrew and Rey retracted her arm quickly, glancing up just in time to catch a glimpse of Ben's face before he turned it down again. His expression was somewhere between pain and intense focus. She detected a faint sheen of sweat and his brow, and frowned in confusion.

The sudden scrape of chair legs broke the silence. "Excuse me, Master Skywalker," Ben said, pressing his hands together in front of his sternum and bowing slightly. "But I feel rather ill. May I be excused?"

Master Luke stared at his apprentice for several long moments before nodding his consent. "Go, get some sleep. We hope you will feel well enough to join us for breakfast in the morning."

Ben was gone in a whisper of hurried strides. Rey wondered vaguely how such a large person was able to move with such silent grace.

The rest of the meal passed in relative silence while Rey pushed her grainmush cake around and around her plate, wondering desperately what was wrong with Han Solo's son and what it could possibly have to do with her. Did he think her a thief?

"Well I am off to bed," Master Luke said finally, rising from his place at the head of the table. "Serai, don't let the young ones stay up too late—we have a lot of work to do tomorrow."

"Yes, Master Skywalker," the older girl responded, standing as well. "Alright you lot, time to clean up—you know the routine."

Rey devoured the last of her meal it in three quick bites. She was full, but the idea of wasting food was utterly abhorrent to her.

Grumbling and groaning the other padawans rose from their chairs and shuffled after Serai, plates in hand, to the kitchen. Rey drew alongside Colt as they walked.

"Didn't the droids clean up earlier?" she asked curiously.

"When we're busy with classes, yes," Colt answered, inspecting the shiny rim of his cup. "But Master Luke doesn't want us to get used to being waited on hand and foot—he wants us to be self-sufficient and accustomed to menial tasks. On some nights we cook our own food."

"It builds character," a tall, blond apprentice said, leaning over the two. His tone was haughty, and a slight sneer marred his angular face, which was almost feminine in its beauty. His hair hung perfectly straight to his shoulders, where it was cropped neatly.

"Yes," Colt answered, seeming not to catch the older boy's sarcasm. "Rey, this is Ezriel."

"Good to meet you," Rey said, gripping her dishes in one hand and extending the other politely.

Ezriel eyed her grubby palm with raised brows before taking it delicately. "Pleasure."

Rey placed him at around sixteen, and was impressed that he had made his way into the oldest group of students. Perhaps he had been here the longest.

"Do you not like washing up?" she asked, tilting her head slightly to one side.

"On Coruscant we do not—how do you say it?—'wash up.' We have droids for that," he drawled.

"Oh, can it, Ez," another young man with ruffled brown hair and flashing gray eyes said, bumping shoulders with his companion. "Don't mind him, Rey, he needs to learn to loosen up." He cast a crooked smile at Ezriel, who huffed indignantly but held his silence. "I'm Loren—pleasure to meet you." He extended his own hand, which Rey took with a great deal more warmth.

"Ez and I have been here for eight years," he explained, lowering his plate into a basin of soapy water and beginning to scrub at its surface. "I'm from Kessel—used to work in the spice mines there." He used a hand to brush his unruly hair out of his eyes, spreading damp, foamy streaks amongst the strands. "Sounds like you and I might have a bit in common. Ez is from Coruscant, like he said—nobleman's son. Different walks of life, but we get along fine now that he's taken the royal stick out of his ass." He punctuated this statement with a wild grin tossed over his shoulder. Ezriel's lips twitched slightly but he didn't smile.

"You worked in the spice mines?" Rey asked, wide-eyed. "Were you a part of the slave revolts?"

Loren shook his head, depositing his dishes onto a rack for drying. "No, that was after I left. My ma and da got involved, though. Proud of them, I am. They have their own plot of land now, down in the southern reaches of Kessel. Beats the spice mines any day of the week."

Rey stared up at him wistfully. "We heard about the slave revolts on Jakku," she said. "Plutt—he was my master—would punish us for whispering about them, because he didn't want us getting ideas. But we talked about it anyways—talked about how brave or crazy they must have been to liberate themselves."

"A bit of both, I suppose," Loren said. "And lucky, as well. I heard that you worked with the scavengers on Jakku." His voice was empathetic, but not pitying, a fact that Rey appreciated. "That's a tough life. Similar to the spice mines in a lot of ways. You ever want to talk about it, you just give me a call. I wander about." He twirled one finger absently before departing with a smile, Ezriel on his heels.

Rey finished cleaning up her own things and turned to find Colt at her shoulder.

"I can show you your room," he offered quietly. "It's between mine and Ninsar's. They're not much, but we each get our own since there are so few of us here."

"A—a room?" Rey asked. "I get my own?"

"Sure," Colt shrugged. "This place was built for more than fourteen people—there's space to go around. Maybe one day it will fill up, but until then, we prefer to spread out."

The two set off across the mess hall, Rey stepping lightly and Colt an ungainly tangle of elbows and knees. "The oldest students are on the first floor," he explained. "Middlings are on the second, and we're on the third. I'm not sure why it's set up that way—perhaps so that if there's an attack, we'll have the best chance of being protected."

"Attacked?" Rey asked, eyes widening. "Do things like that happen here?"

"Oh no," Colt reassured. "But hypothetically speaking."

"What is hypothetically?" Rey asked, following him up a set of stairs.

"Based on theory," Colt answered. "I like to think of situations that could happen, and then decide what I would do if they did. It's fun to practice."

"What would you do if the temple burned down?" Rey asked suddenly, remembering her vision.

"Hmm," Colt responded seriously. "I hadn't considered that one. I'll have to give it some thought."

They climbed another flight of stairs and arrived and the beginning of a long hallway lined with doors. Colt led Rey to the end and gestured to a panel before one of the doors.

"It's a Force signature scanner," he explained. "Press the pad of your thumb here to sync it—after that no one can get in except for you. It's for security, but also because the older students like a sense of privacy." He shrugged absently, as if the idea of privacy within the temple wasn't important to him.

Rey pressed her tiny thumb into the center of the pad and waited until the light flashed green. She withdrew her hand and the door slid open with a hiss. The room contained a bed—much too large for someone her size, but she imagined she would grow into it—a writing desk, and a set of drawers.

"If you need anything else, you can ask for it," Colt said. "I have a lamp and extra pillows."

"Thanks," Rey said, shuffling into her new room. She glanced around. Four corners, white walls. It felt strangely impersonal, like she had stepped into someone else's room. It was large and—in her mind—grand, but it didn't feel as homely as her busy alcove on the Falcon. She felt a sudden surge of nostalgia for her old home, followed by a pulse of loneliness.

"Could I…show you something?" Colt was still hovering in the doorway, his sandy hair obscuring his eyes as he stared down at his feet.

"Er, yes," Rey answered quickly, glad for the distraction. "What is it?"

"It's not here," Colt said quickly. "We would have to go outside. Lights out isn't for another hour—if we're quick we can make it there and back in forty-seven minutes. I understand if you don't want to go. I just—I thought maybe you would—want something to do. Since it's your first night, and everything."

Rey blinked, surprised by the boy's honesty and spot-on analysis of her feelings. For someone he seemed to fear human interaction, he was remarkably astute.

"I want to go," she reassured him. "Let me just do one thing." Quickly, she hurried to her desk and plucked the photograph of Han, Ben, and Leia—which had been tucked in her waistband—out of its hiding place. Opening one of the desk drawers, she slid the picture in and closed it quickly, hiding the artefact away from peering eyes. "I'm ready," she said, returning to Colt's side. "Lead the way."

The lanky youngling showed her silently down the hall, pausing and setting a finger against his lips when they reached a corner. Tentatively he peered around it before gesturing for Rey to follow and jogging briskly down two flights of stairs. Rey's face quirked into a smile as she realized that—despite Colt's assurances that lights out hadn't arrived yet—they were sneaking out.

The night air was a cool touch to her skin, by Jakku standards. She was still comfortable in her light, sleeveless tunic and arm wraps, although the atmosphere had lost some of the humidity that it held during the day. Colt skirted around the side of the temple and they took off into the forest, which was almost pitch-black. Once Rey's eyes adjusted, she found that she had little trouble following in Colt's light footsteps. They moved at a quick jog, winding uphill through tangled vines, thorny brambles and towering trees. The forest grew denser as they moved, the air stiller, and Rey could feel a stitch forming under her ribs when Colt finally slowed to a walk.

"Almost there," he said, pushing aside a curtain of tumbling creepers and waving Rey past him into the center of a crowded thicket.

Rey moved slowly, trying to catch a glimpse of whatever Colt had meant to show her. A faint beam of moonlight parted the trees above and doused the space around her in a silvery glow. It revealed nothing but dark tangles of plant life.

For a moment she felt a flash of consternation—what if Colt had brought her here as some sort of a practical joke? Or worse—what if he was planning to attack her? Rey tried to shove these thoughts away, feeling simultaneously guilty and shocked that she had so easily trusted a stranger. This sort of carelessness would have been rewarded with nothing good on Jakku, but Han had assured her that she would be safe at Master Luke's Jedi temple.

Still, her heart was in her throat as Colt settled cross-legged on the ground and gestured for her to sit across from him. "Now we wait," he said. "We made good time, so we still have thirty-nine minutes until lights out."

Rey nodded and sat, folding her knees up to her chest. "What are we waiting for?" she asked.

"You'll know it when you see it," Colt said. In the half light, she could see that his face was tipped towards the ground and he was playing with the curl of a leaf resting beside his foot. "I don't want to ruin the surprise."

Rey's brow crinkled in frustration, but she didn't comment.

The minutes slipped by in a tense silence and Rey was about to climb to her feet and insist that they leave when suddenly there was a shift in the light around them. Glancing up, she saw that the dark shape of a cloud was scudding across one of Yavin's other moons, blocking out its light. The thicket fell into complete darkness.

A few seconds passed.

"What are—" Rey began, only to find her voice dying in her throat as a subtle glow began to surround them. "What—"

The glow blossomed into an otherworldly light and Rey turned her head, jaw dropping in shock as she realized where it was coming from.

It was emanating from the very plants around her. And not just any plants—these were beautiful flowers, dripping in long clusters from graceful stems, their petals bleeding light in all shades—brilliant blue, hot magenta, palest pink, buttery yellow. They grew in every nook and crevice, clinging to the bases of trees and the forks of branches—glorious epiphytes casting their radiance across the entire clearing.

"The bioluminescent orchids of Yavin 4," Colt whispered softly, running his hand softly through the light cast by one flower without disturbing its petals. "One of the wonders of the galaxy."

"How—" Rey began, her swiveling in shock. "What are they?"

"Orchids are a kind of flower," Colt said. "These are special because they produce compounds that allow them to glow in complete darkness. If we wait a few minutes more—there, see." He pointed into the branches of a tree, where there was a flicker of movement. Rey squinted and made out the shape of a rapidly moving bird with quickly thrumming wings. No, not a bird—a large moth. It alighted on one of the flowers, its broad wings splayed so that she could make out bold lines of glowing color striping their scalloped edges.

"The orchids' pollinators have developed a similar coloring scheme," Colt explained, sounding like a human textbook. "Each moth is attracted to a flower with matching pigment." Rey spared him a quick glance and was shocked by the soft awe on his face. He was drinking in the sights around them with a sort of desperate pleasure. She realized suddenly that he was showing her something that was incredibly special to him.

"They're magnificent," she breathed, turning away to examine a flower more closely. "How did you find them?"

She felt, rather than heard, Colt's shrug. "I like to explore," he said, softly. "There are stories about places like this one, but I never thought I'd actually find a grove. They used to grow all over this planet, but they've been harvested heavily for medicinal properties as well as their beauty. Which is stupid of course—even if you dig them up, they lose the glow as soon as you take them out of the forest." Rey didn't miss the bitterness in his voice.

"You won't tell the others, will you?" he asked after a pause, his voice sounding oddly vulnerable.

"No," Rey said, turning back to him. One side of his face was cast entirely in baby blue light. "Why did you show me?"

Colt lifted one shoulder in a shrug. "I'm not sure," he said. "Only, you seemed sad. I thought they would make you happy. And you're different from the others. Nareek would want to pick them and Ninsar would want to study them. I knew you would just…appreciate them."

Rey's face split into a wide smile, and a mimicking grin tugged at the corner of Colt's mouth despite his downturned gaze.

"Thank you," she said softly. "Really. No one has ever shared a secret with me before. Or showed me something this beautiful. I didn't know places like this one existed."

Colt nodded once, suddenly seeming slightly uncomfortable. "We should go back," he said. "It's getting late."

Rey nodded, taking one last glance at the thicket around her, taking in the glorious waterfalls of flowers, the subtle speck of light high above them, like stars in the canopy. "Let's go," she said.

The younglings were roused early the next day, but Rey moved briskly through her morning lessons in diplomacy and intergalactic governance, buoyed by the memory of Colt's orchids and the warm feeling of friendship bubbling in her chest.

She found that she was coming to understand the other youngling better and better with each passing moment. He was brilliant, but not in a flashy way. He seemed befuddled in the simplest of social interactions, yet somehow seemed to sense the very thoughts of those around him. And he hated being touched—a sentiment that Rey could relate to. Although she had taken easily to Han and Chewie, she found that the casual brushes, bumps and jostles of the other padawans set her teeth on edge and her skin crawling. Avoiding physical contact was a habit she had developed on Jakku out of self-preservation, and one that she didn't have plans of dropping anytime soon. Colt's aversion to touch was a source of comforting familiarity that she appreciated deeply.

Furthermore, she could sense his shy happiness at finally having a friend. It was a feeling that mirrored her own, and she felt as if she was walking on clouds until lunch, when the happy bubble in her chest was popped abruptly.

The younglings entered the mess hall rather late, to find the other padawans already settled at the table. Rey's eyes shifted eagerly over the faces, seeking out one in particular. To her surprise, Ben was there. His eyes flashed up the moment that she caught sight of him, and he sent her a furious glare before rising abruptly from his chair.

"Sit down, Ben," Serai said, laying a hand on his forearm. "You haven't eaten anything."

Ben glowered down at the other apprentice, but resumed his seat moodily. The other younglings had already taken their seats, and Rey was left with only one option—directly to Ben's right. Swallowing nervously, she circled the table and slid the chair back, hoisting herself up and keeping her eyes fixed carefully on her food. She could practically feel Ben vibrating with tension beside her, and she wondered, not for the first time, whether he was angry about her possession of the arm band. It was currently tucked under her wrappings, but suddenly she felt as if it was burning into her like a brand.

She dug into her meal anxiously, hungry after a long morning of studying, and half-imagined that she could feel his gaze sweeping over her with a tinge of…amusement? She glanced up abruptly, just in time to see his eyes traveling elsewhere. Confused she went back to her food, only to have the experience repeated. She looked up again, this time letting her gaze linger on his profile as he pretended to stare across the table. She felt Colt and the other younglings watching her, probably confused after the fight she'd had with Ben following the previous day's training session.

His jaw was tight, and she could see a muscle ticking in it as his full lips pressed together. She looked away, dissipating the mounting tension.

She finished eating and leaned back in her chair, wanting desperately to ask about their recent interactions and apologize about the bracelet. She knew, however, that this was probably not the place to do it. If Ben wanted to avoid her, talking to him in front of the other padawans was probably not the best way to win him over. And she still wanted to win him over desperately—even his presence in the room was like a balm to the prickly, raw feeling that sometimes overtook her mind. Colt's friendship was a gift, but he couldn't make her forget her loneliness with a glance, nor could he silence the relentless corner of her mind that thought constantly of her parents. Only Ben Solo could do that.

Suddenly an idea came to her. Letting her eyes fall shut and hoping that no one would recognize was she was doing, she reached out tentatively, searching for the feeling she had discovered the day before.

If it had previously been located at the limits of her reach, it was now right in front of her, pouring over her and overwhelming her in less than a second. To her left she felt Ben flinch sharply.

Turning her attention to him she almost gasped out loud. The padawans around her were all bright flickers of light in the swirling stream of the Force. Ben, on the other hand, was a vortex—a virtual hurricane of untamed power swirling and tugging at her. The space between them crackled with a torrent of energy—as if a standing bolt of lightning had been tied to their corresponding hearts and used to tether them. Streams of light poured out of Ben, swirling through Rey and looping back to him again in a never-ending nexus. Rey had a brief memory of an instruction manual detailing the use of magnetic couplings. The energy cycling between them was reminiscent of the diagrams she had seen of magnetic field lines—emanating from one end of a magnet and drawn back to the other. A magnetic dipole, she thought vaguely, pushing the thought towards Ben out of curiosity. Would he be able to hear her?

No! The thought slammed into her mind almost instantaneously as the chair beside her screeched back. Stay out of my head, scavenger! A heavy barrier was slammed down in Rey's virtual face, breaking her concentration and pushing her back into her own body just in time to catch sight of the door slamming behind Ben.

She glanced up nervously, taking in the pale faces across from her. Colt's eyes, in particular, were focused on her intently.

Surprised to be making eye-contact with him for once, she tried to smile weakly. She could see the question in his eyes, but he let it drop without complaint and glanced away as they began to gather their things before the afternoon lesson.

That evening, it didn't take Rey long to find Ben's room. She knew the hall where the oldest apprentices lived, and it was a simple matter walking past each door and reaching tentatively into the Force until she found him. She withdrew immediately, not wanting to disturb him as she had at lunch.

Stopping outside, she reached up to her arm and carefully unclasped the bracelet. The wires connecting it had become twisted and several snapped, but she had nothing to repair it with so she simply weighed it in her palm considering. Ben had called her a scavenger—and wasn't she, really? She had scavenged something of his off of an abandoned ship and then worn it around like a prize. Her face burned with shame.

She reached into the pocket of her breeches and pulled out a slip of paper, bearing two words. Her penmanship was terrible, for she had learned to read but never to write, and the words were barely legible. Sighing heavily, she placed both on the stone floor and departed.

I'm sorry, said the two words on the fluttering scrap.

A/N: Y'all I am so sorry for taking more than a week to update! oof! Grad school interviews are hitting me like a BUS. But they're almost over, yay! I hope you like this chapter-I had fun writing about the Force because I haven't read any Star Wars books and I feel like all you get in the movies is people looking ~really intense~ while they move stuff with their minds (which is cool, but tough to see what they're feeling/seeing!).

To "A Fan": your observation about Colt was *spot on* and exactly what I was going for-I'm so glad you picked up on it, and that you appreciated it! Do let me know if it continues to feel realistic/natural. And a huge thank you to kittystargen3 for beta-ing!

As always, feel free to share your comments. Still doing my best to respond to all reviews, although I got a bit behind! Thank you so so so much for all of your kind words! They definitely inspire me to keep writing! Hope you all had a great weekend!

-A