"Ben!"
The shout makes her twitch, but it's not enough to wake her.
It was brighter than it had actually been that day, an eerie light casting everything into false illumination. Ren, Han, the bridge.
She saw it all again, watched it all again, just as powerless to stop it.
That blaze of red, and then Han was falling, and she was falling...
Rey awoke with a jerk, throwing out a hand to catch herself from the phantom freefall.
Sitting up, she smoothed her hair back from her face, knuckles white as she clenched the edge of the bench, staring at nothing. She sat there for a long time, until the sun flashed through gaps in the stone wall of the hut, hitting her in the eyes. Blinking, Rey stood up, facing the door.
Day 2. Lesson 2. Luke had promised her three of them.
Not that lesson one had got her very far. She'd skimmed along the current of the Force easily enough, holding her place under Luke's tutelage, rather than being swept away, but his words remained unintelligible to her.
"All the wisdom, all the courage, all the strength you will ever need, you can find here," he'd said to her. "We are all one within the Force."
It wasn't true though. In the Force, everyone was more different than ever. She could feel every soul, and they were all unique, distinct. The Force linked them, but it didn't make them one, it just highlighted the distance between them.
Maybe today's lesson would be easier to understand.
Of course, you can't understand. You can't comprehend the idea of unity. You've never known what it is. You've never had a family.
Rey blinked and walked firmly out the door.
.
.
"Today is about self-awareness. About letting go and finding your way back. When you skim the surface of the Force, you feel other souls, can sometimes even watch things through them, but you cannot find them, or influence their thoughts."
Like I made that storm-trooper do what I wanted, Rey thought, her heart leaping as she made the connection.
Luke continued, oblivious. "To do more, you must go deeper. Sometimes a lot deeper. It takes control, focus, discipline to do so, and even more to bring yourself back out. Lose focus, and you will lose yourself, drifting forever in the Force, even if your body remains here. I've seen it before," he said grimly as he paced back and forth. "Don't expect me to be your caretaker if you get lost."
He stopped very suddenly, turning to face her. "I cannot help you here. If you go down, you go alone. You must learn to come back alone, or you will never be able to do it yourself."
Then he turned and walked out of the cave.
Rey scrambled to her feet, turning to watch him. "That's it?!"
"Off you go." He did not look back.
Rey stood there, stunned. She didn't understand. She was supposed to go deeper? And then come back? All by herself? But how?
Slowly, she sat back down again. Maybe it was some sort of test? It seemed like everything she'd done since she came to this wretched, storm-tossed island was a test. Well, she would pass it. And she would pass them all, until Luke agreed to come back with her.
Closing her eyes, Rey reached out. Not with her hand, as she had that first time. With her self. Her whole being. Thoughts, feelings, body.
The Force was there. Around her, inside her. Everywhere.
She held herself, aware of her body as well as the rushing current, threatening to sweep her away. Was that what Luke had been talking about – losing herself? Could she be swept away forever?
It was easy to hold on from the shallows, but if she went deep, really deep... how would she find her way back?
It's a test. You have to pass it.
Rey steeled herself, preparing to plunge, when she sensed something else.
Another presence, floating close by.
"I thought I had to do this alone," she threw the angry thought at Luke's presence and opened her eyes, her breaths hard and fast as she leapt to her feet.
She was out the cave and striding down the beach, in the opposite direction to the huts, before she'd even thought about what to do.
How was she supposed to learn, to train, if he wouldn't even give her a chance? He'd never given her a chance. He was just waiting to toss her aside like he'd thrown away the lightsaber. He wasn't giving her a chance. He wasn't giving the Resistance a chance. They were out there, fighting, running, waiting for her to come back with their saviour, and Luke wasn't giving her a chance. He'd given up on them, on the Jedi, on her.
She hadn't given up though. She wasn't going to.
Flinging herself down onto a boulder lodged in the sand, she closed her eyes and, still feeling the anger coursing through her, dived.
She went deep. Very deep.
Deeper than when she was skimming. Deeper than when she'd commanded the storm-trooper. Deeper than when she'd let the Force guide her actions in that fight in the forest. Deeper than she'd realised she could go.
And she was still descending.
Fear washed over her and she flung herself wide, slowing her descent. The current was so strong! Tugging her around, pulling her to pieces until she didn't know which way was up and which was down. She didn't know how to get back to the surface. She was lost.
Panicking now, she stretched further, trying to find some shred of light to lead her way back, but there was nothing. Just endless noise and pressure.
Then there was something. Two somethings, cloaked in a patch of darkness emanating from one, smothering the other.
"—go!" the former snarled.
She tried to reach out to them, but they were swept away from her.
Countless lives flashed before her. She was passing them and at the same time, she was them. Too many lives. Losing her own... Losing everything...
Something caught her wrist.
Her wrist. Hers alone. No one else's.
She suddenly had her own life again, her own body, and the grip upon it was an anchor. She raced along it and found the surface. She broke free.
.
.
Grey sky above her. Sand under her back and fingers. The sound of waves.
"Where am I?" a girl asked of no one in particular.
"You're safe. Back in the world."
A girl leapt to her feet and saw a man. A man she knew. And then she knew herself. A girl was called Rey. She was on an island, with Luke Skywalker.
And apparently, with Kylo Ren too.
"You! Murderous snake! What the hell are you doing here? How are you here?" she snarled, stepping backwards.
His fingers flexed, and she felt a pressure on her wrist lighten, though they were several feet apart. His form drifted apart, then solidified again.
She blinked, and he wavered again. He wasn't there, not really. He was coming through the Force, somehow. Through... something.
Luke had never mentioned anything like this.
Her fingers touched her own wrist, and she remembered. Something had gripped her, held her, anchored her. Something had shown her the way back. Or someone.
"Why did you do that? Who do you think you are?"
Kylo Ren scoffed, half turning away. "I'm the one who just saved your life."
"I had everything under control," Rey snapped.
"Not from where I was standing," he countered.
"Then move," Rey said, turning and storming away along the beach.
Something tugged inside her, solidifying and breaking at the same time. She whipped around, ready to confront him about what he'd just done, but was met with an empty stretch of pebble-strewn sand. He was gone.
For a second, she just stared at the empty space. There were two light imprints of boots in the sand. He had really gone.
Good, she thought viciously, turning away.
She remembered how close she'd been to losing herself, and shivered. Again, her own fingers drifted to her wrist, feeling again the firm grip that had held so steady.
A red piece of thread stretched away, bonded to her by more than just a knot. Tentatively, she felt her way along it, feeling it pulling through the current of the Force. She suddenly knew exactly who was on the other end and pulled away at once.
.
.
Kylo Ren stood alone, feeling a cautious searching before the scavenger girl pulled back again. He hadn't expected her to manifest suddenly in front of him. When she'd broken out of the Force, he thought he'd failed, that she had escaped him, but somehow the contact had remained, tenuous but undeniable. Something he'd never experienced before.
He hadn't been able to see where she was, so no clues about her and Skywalker's location, but no matter.
Despite her anger, the first encounter had been a successful one. The Supreme Leader's plan was working.
.
.
A/N: Went to see The Last Jedi again today for the first time since the midnight premiere, and got enough notes down that I think I can make good progress on this now.
It's going to be a weird amalgamation of the plots of Lion King 2 and Last Jedi, but following closer to Lion King, I think.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, things are just starting to develop. Please take the time to leave me a review!