They were nearly two hours into their trip and thus far, it had been unsettlingly quiet, save for the rush of waves down below and the steady breeze that had yet to cease blowing for more than a moment. It didn't bother her entirely, Rey decided. She was accustomed to silence, to stretches of days spent in solitude. There had been some instances in the past where she hadn't had the need to truly speak to anyone over a number of days, having not found anything salvageable to turn in for rations so she hadn't visited town.
So, the quiet was an old friend of sorts.
The young scavenger, however, had a number of questions she wished to ask that had been digging at her but refrained from doing so, a strange want to preserve the serenity around them keeping her from speaking. There was much she wished to learn and she imagined that the younger Jedi could give her a suitable enough answer but she found that she couldn't will the words from her lips.
It was extremely strange.
By all means, Rey liked to talk, speak with anyone really. Even if it was questionable company, she enjoyed the finer bits of conversation, that lick of civilized contact and the need to participate. In the desert, alone in her makeshift home, there had been only her. And conversation with oneself is certainly less enjoyable as opposed to having another sentient being to talk to.
However, there was one upside to silence: it did allow for careful scrutinization of her blonde counterpart.
She didn't seem to be perturbed at all of the silence or made any really attempt to speak to the brunette. More often than not, Rey noticed that her eyes were distant with contemplation and that lines would appear between her brows due to her thought process.
"Where are you from, Rey?"
Blinking out of her thoughts, she paused for a moment on the steps, having thought that, perhaps, she'd just imagined the words. Sensing that she hadn't continued to follow her, the other girl looked back at her, waiting for an answer, "Um... Jakku...?"
"Are you asking me or telling me?"
For a moment, the brunette was a bit taken aback and felt her cheeks burn, "I'm from Jakku." She tried once more, making sure to keep her voice level.
"Interesting. I myself am from a desert planet." Sage explained, turning back to continue walking.
Momentarily picking up the pace, the younger girl ran hurried down the stairs after her until she was only about a step or two behind, "Really? Where are you from?"
"Beheboth."
Rey's lips twitched for a moment as she struggled to find the name in her memories, "I don't know if I've heard of it before."
"It's in the Outer Rim. Similar to any other desert planet: far too hot and dry."
"I can understand that." The scavenger agreed and the other female simply hummed in agreement. "It's so entirely different from this place, though."
"You'd never seen so much water before, right?" Sage mused and Rey nodded.
"I'd never dreamed of seeing this much water in my life." She admitted quietly, "Does your family still live on Beheboth?"
"Yes. My parents are moisture farmers that support an outpost out in the middle of the desert. I assume that my siblings have stayed around to help but who knows, one of them may have somehow gotten off that forsaken rock." The blonde looked over at her, "What about your family?"
The intrigue once lingering in her features fell after a brief moment. Rey broke eye contact with the Jedi, her gaze instead focusing on the ground before her as they continued to walk down the steps. "I never knew my family." She could feel eyes lingering on her, could almost feel the heavy, concerned gaze of the woman beside her. "I know that I had one... I might still have one, as a matter of fact." The unwavering gaze on her made her feel uncomfortable and so she turned her head to look out over the rest of the island. The cool sea air was a blessing, kissing at her slightly flushed skin and soothing her. "They left me on Jakku."
"Why?" Came Sage's quiet question, her voice soft.
"I don't know. To protect me, I suppose." Silence consumed the two of them for a moment as the words she spoke hung in the air. However, Rey soon cleared her throat and licked her lips, wanting to fill the awkward void between them. "They said that they would be back to get me. But, I got tired of waiting." Her voice was sharper now, anger beginning to burn in her veins. "An opportunity arose to help the Resistance, so I left, and here I am now."
"That's the shortest version of the story?" There was a hint of amusement both in the Force around them, as well as her voice when Sage spoke. Confused, the younger girl looked over at her. And then, she remembered. We've been expecting you.
"I suppose it is..." Rey mused, her eyes narrowing slightly on her companion. "How much... do you know?"
"More than, 'I left, helped the Resistance, and are standing before you now'." She taunted slightly, causing the young pilot's lips to twitch up momentarily in a small smile. "We know much more than that." She confirmed.
"How?"
The blonde raised her eyes slightly, contemplatively, the irises of her eyes reflecting the azure colors of the heavens above. "The Force is a strange thing sometimes." Rey just hummed in agreement. For all she knew about the Force, it all was a bit bizarre. Sage tore her eyes away from the distant clouds to look at the other girl. "You've had a rather rough time getting here, haven't you?"
She grinned and shook her head, "Like you wouldn't imagine."
It took nearly three hours to reach the Millennium Falcon from the top of the steps and when they got there, Rey was absolutely exhausted. She'd been ecstatic when they reached they open grassland once more, exceedingly glad to be rid of those bloody stairs. It was a rather simple journey from there, the tall grass softening her steps and soothing her shins after having to have her feet pound on hard stone all afternoon.
Despite her fatigue, she took the lead when they drew close to the old freighter, jogging ahead of her companion to climb the ramp already lowered in wait, knowing that if the other female entered first, she may not have such a warm welcome from her furry co-pilot.
"Chewie!" She called breathlessly, her hand gently caressing the wall of the ship as she moved further inside.
There was roar of acknowledgment from somewhere in the back and then the quiet clicking of boots on the ramp before the Jedi entered just as Rey had moments ago.
The blonde gazed around, her eyes shinning with awe as she slowly took in her surroundings.
Rey scoffed internally. It wasn't that great. It was an old piece of garbage. It got them to and from places, yes, and was decently fast but it was nothing to really look at. Maybe, in her spare time, she'd try to fix it up. Make it look a little less trashy.
"This is the Millennium Falcon." It wasn't a question but a certainty as Sage spoke, her own hand touching the wall like Rey's had.
The brunette looked at her in amazement, her eyes widening slightly. "How'd you know that?"
"I've been on this ship before..." She explained quietly, her eyes continuing to survey the area with a look of wonderment. "But, that was a long time ago..." Her palm brushed over one of the rusted panels on the wall almost adoringly, her lips pulling down softly in a frown.
Rey was just about to ask how when suddenly, there were heavy footfalls and then an animalistic cry before the Wookie appeared out of the back of the ship.
"Yes, I'm fine." She sighed, rolling her eyes slightly. "And I found Luke Skywalker." He let out a roar of triumph before his head tilted to the side as he gazed at her companion, his dark eyes narrowing slightly as he looked passed her. "This is Sage. She's a Jedi, too. And this is Chewbacca."
The two of them stood there, staring at each other for a long moment. The blonde swallowed thickly and took a small step towards him, "Uncle Chewie?" He yodeled quietly back before they were both moving forward.
Rey could only raise her brows in surprise when the two of them met in the middle, the woman slamming into the Wookie's chest, only for the creature to squeeze her tightly to him, his towering form bowing over her slightly. They remained that way for a couple long seconds, both of them clinging tightly to each other until Chewie was stepping back, one of his furry mits raising to rustle her hair.
The scavenger could only watch, her features wrinkled softly in confusion. They knew each other?
"I've missed you."
Evidently.
"What are you doing here?" He explained that they found the rest map and that Rey needed to be brought to Ahch-To. Sage only nodded along in understanding as he spoke but, she briefly turned her head to gaze around the rest of the ship, "Where's Han?"
There was a moment of silence that lingered in the air between the three of them.
After allowing her eyes to flicker between the young girl and the Wookie, the Jedi didn't even need to reach out through the Force to search their feelings to know what had happened. The heartache of a mother and a lover, of a fatherless daughter and son.
She'd felt Han's death in her dream.
"I'm sorry..." She whispered, a pang of remorse present in her own voice. She allowed her head to bow slightly, wishing that she could take back the question and the lingering pain it caused.
The Wookie only yodeled quietly in response and raised his hand against to ruffle her hair once more. All was forgiven. She hadn't known.
It was still quiet a moment longer before Sage looked up, grateful for the reassuring, heavy weight of his mit upon her shoulder, "Master Luke asks that you move the Falcon to a cove where you can hide it incase we have visitors who shouldn't be here."
He roared in response and nodded, his hand sliding from her shoulder as he walked towards the front of the ship. The two females followed behind him and as they were passing by the common area, there was a loud whirl and a series of beeps that filled the air.
The blonde paused for a moment, hope suddenly shining through her eyes as she braced her hand against the wall. "R2!?" Sage called as she ducked out of the hall when she caught sight of the little blue and white astro-droid against the far wall.
"You know him?" Rey asked, following in her wake, taking a moment to inquire while Chewie was preoccupied with starting the ship up.
"He belongs to Master Luke. I grew up with R2 and was there when we left him at D'Qar with his section of the map."
The little droid beeped and jittered, rocking back and forth with joy when it recognized the female. Smiling, she stepped forward and placed her hand atop his unit as she crouched down beside him. He let out a series of shrill whistles and Sage laughed, her eyes warm with fondness, "Yeah, I missed you, too."
Suddenly, the ship shook and there was a loud hum as the engines purred to life. There was a jolt of fear that Rey suddenly felt, though it was not her own. When she looked back at the blonde, she easily found the sliver of panic given that it shown brilliantly in her eyes.
"What's wrong?"
"I'm not exactly a huge fan of flying."
"Have you ever flown before? Piloted a ship before?" The brunette mused, her lips twitching slightly. What a strange thing for a Jedi to be afraid of.
"Gods above, yes, I can fly a bloody ship. I just don't trust others at the controls." She admitted, bracing herself on R2 for a moment as the Falcon shook once more.
Rey turned and took off to enter the cabin and sat down in the captain's chair just as Chewie was lifting them off the ground. It was only a moment later that Sage was joining them, the astro-droid trailing behind her as she braced her hands on the hall leading into the cabin to steady herself.
She sat down in the seat behind the Wookie and took a deep breath as they lifted further from the ground.
"Where was that cove that you mentioned before?" Rey asked offhandedly, her attention elsewhere as she adjusted a number of controls.
"You see those spires over there?" Her hand reached between the pilot seats and pointed out the windshield, her other hand not daring to release the grip she had on the arm of her seat. "To the left of them, there's going to be this skylight over a cove. Lower us down into it. There's a hanger inside."
They did as instructed and the skip began to move forward over the grasslands and towards the spires on the other side of the large island. And sure enough, they found the skylight they were looking for and slowly decreased the altitude. Once inside, they found that there was a cave set in the far back, one other transport already parked in the wide, carved hanger.
They pulled inside and set it down gently with only a mild shudder.
"There's a series of stairs in the back that leads up through the cliffs into the bottom of the dwellings." The Knight pointed towards a wide doorway at the back that was illuminated with light.
"So, we don't have to walk all the way across the island again?" Rey asked, her hazel eyes hopeful.
"Not today, anyway." The other woman murmured before rising from her seat and exiting down the ramp and out into the cool air in the hanger, R2 rolling along in her wake.
Rey followed quickly behind her, grabbing another bag of supplies and clothes before she exited the Falcon.
Much to her surprise, the Jedi Master was awaiting them when they arrived, standing quietly as he watched the familiar ship dock in the old hanger. When his apprentice came striding out, he nodded his head in her direction in slight praise before shinning metal caught his eye, "R2!"
He received a response similar to the one his apprentice got, the little droid dancing about on his wheels as he chirped and cooed with rejoice after being reunited with his Master. Just as Sage had, Luke crouched down with his hand on the dome of the droid's unit. R2 let out a series of beeps and whistles, as he turned the dome, his radar eye sweeping across the face of the older Jedi.
"I know," He smiled happily, an authentic grin forming on his weathered features, "You did an amazing job, R2."
There was suddenly a near-deafening roar that came from the ramp of the Falcon and all heads turned to watch as the Wookie exited the ship.
"Chewie?!" Luke rose from his place by his droid, his disbelief evident and before anyone could hardly move, the great fuzzy creature had crossed the hanger and was engulfing the Jedi Master in a enormous hug. "What are you doing here, you big doof?" He laughed, as they embraced.
Sage had never before seen her Master act as strangely as he was now. Rey couldn't help the snort that came from her when acute horror crossed the blonde's features at his suddenly lax, almost childish demeanor. He hadn't been so open and warm to others in years.
However, she righted herself and allowed her eyes to slowly soften when she felt his unbridled joy and happiness through their bond. This was the happiest she had seen him in a long while. He deserved this moment, she decided, after all that they had been through.
They sat there alone that night in the mess hall, both of them quiet with their own thoughts for a long while. Rey was already asleep in bed, having been given a room in the dwellings just down the hall from the two of them. It hadn't taken her much prodding to rest, for she nearly collapsed into a heap on the mattress after the strenuous day that she'd had.
"What do you believe we should do with the girl?" It was Luke who spoke first, both of the Jedi having been pondering the girl and the ripple of her presence that now lingered in the dwelling.
It was strange to have another life force living there with them. Not a hindrance, per say, but it was just something else that pinged on their radar. Rey was another mind, another quiver in the Force around them. A mind currently with unrestrained emotions and thoughts, one that knew not of the power that lingered inside.
"My opinions matter not, Master. In the end, it will wholly be your decision what we decide to do." Sage looked down at her hands which picked at each other, a nervous habit of hers that she picked up when she was a child.
He stroked his beard for a moment as he looked at her, his eyes thoughtful. He felt the cresting wave of uncertainty then in the Force, not even having to meet her gaze to have noticed it, "And yet, that is not what you truly wish to say." When she felt his meaningful stare, she raised her eyes to hold his own. "Sage, you know that I value your insight. You are a Jedi Knight and have been for a number of years. Your opinion has mattered for a long while now."
Sighing, she straightened out her back, knowing that it did not bid well to keep things from him now that she ultimately could if she truly wished to do so.
"I feel…" She was still indecisive, her brow furrowing softly as she picked at one of her nails, "Understand that I hold nothing against her, Master, but… she's too old to start her training. Too raw."
"I was even older when I started on the Jedi path, Sage." He told her earnestly and she remained quiet after he offered her that strong argument. "Not all of us can be afforded the gift of starting at such a young age."
"Yes, Master." She replied quietly.
He frowned softly at her strangely quiet and reserved nature, "Something else is troubling you?"
It was quiet for a long moment then and he could feel her anxiety fluctuate once more through the bond they shared but her face gave nothing away, her eyes suddenly a million parsecs away.
"What if she falls to the Dark side?" She offered quietly, the blankness in her eyes troubling her Master. But, then, just as she was gone, she was present before him again. Her eyes flickered up to him before she quickly looked away, "She wasn't ever started on the Jedi path. She's old enough to choose which side of the spectrum she wishes to fall in. How do we know she will not find the Darkness more desirable?"
Luke sighed, "And what if she does not? That is a risk we must sometimes face, Sage. Just because of…" He trailed off suddenly, knowing that speaking of the instance was horribly difficult for the both of them even now. "Because of what happened, that should not shy us away from the opportunity to train more Force-sensitive children." He sat back in his chair and leveled her with his cool gaze, "You have no doubt already searched her mind, as my worrisome Padawan always tends to do with strangers. What was it that you found?"
The female ducked her head sheepishly as he teased her, her lip twitching for a moment as she considered his question.
"She' s… innately good." Sage began slowly, "Thus far, she has no intention of any evils and her want to learn the ways of the Force is pure. I feel… She's very adamant about resisting the guiles of the Dark side and stands firmly with the Light."
The Jedi Master frowned softly at her, the uncertainty still lingering in her mind, "And this is concerning to you? Why?"
For a long time, she didn't speak. Through their connection, he felt the waver of anguish radiating through her very core as her eyes became distant again, looking down the dark hallway that led to the dinning hall. She wanted to close herself off like she often did, he knew. If there was one thing he was certain about when it came to Sage was that she hated exposing herself. And he feared that part of her had been closed off ever since that fateful day.
All at once, however, she was crushing the feeling down until it was just simmering beneath the surface, her distant mind suddenly realizing that she was not withholding her emotions and had instead splayed them before her Master.
"Up until the day of his betrayal, his mind felt the exact same way."
His shoulders slumped. Of course, this would be her biggest fear. "She is not like Ben." Luke insisted.
The young Knight turned her gaze to him again, her eyes full of turmoil and pain, like he had physically struck her, "How do you know that? How do you know she will not take the same path?"
"Because, Sage, we will not allow her to follow in his footsteps." He insisted, leaning towards her, so as to burn the words into her mind. "We will shepard her, guide her back to the Light if she ever strays too far. We will train her and show her all that we can, teach her the ways of the Force."
He was quiet then for a moment, his lips pursing as he looked at the young woman, his own eyes burning bright as he finalized his decision. "With your guidance, she will not stray from the Jedi path." It took a moment before his words entirely registered and her eyes widened, "You are ready to take on your own Padawan."
For a moment, she was stunned beyond words.
"Master…?" She breathed, her mouth falling open for a moment and all the air seeming to rush from her lungs for a brief moment, "I'm-I'm not ready. Are you so sure…?"
Reaching across the table, his worn hand carefully took hold of hers, effectively silencing her. "I would have no other train her, Sage."
His hand was comforting to her and when she met his gaze, she felt the anxiety festering inside her gut melt slightly as he reached out through the Force and wrapped her in a blanket of positive, fatherly love.
However, in that instance, she couldn't help herself when a strained bark of laughter left her then as she glanced at the empty dinning hall before looking back at her, a crooked grin on her lips. "Well, Master, it's not like you have many options."
There was amusement in the air between them for the moment, both their eyes glittering and lips curling for a beat before they sobered and he released his hold on her.
"Now, you best be getting to bed, you have training in the morning." Her lip twitched upwards, having not heard words such as those for a long while.
"Yes, Master Luke." Sage replied quietly as she rose, a bit nostalgic given the circumstances. She offered him a small smile, still a bit dazed by the news had presented her with. "I'll see you in the morning."
"Goodnight, my Padawan."
He watched her go then, sending a wave of warmth after her though the Force as she disappeared into the darkness that filled the dwelling at night. His mind was put at ease when she carefully touched back.