Several years had passed since Rey and Luke left Ach'to. In that time Rey learned to wield Luke's lightsaber with the grace, accuracy, and speed of a hunting bird. With Luke's guidance she learned to keep her cool in battle and not be led by her emotions, but by the Force. Through the texts of the old Jedi order, she learned that she had to let go of her attachments in order to be truly powerful with the Force as a light user. How easy that could have been had she learned this while still living in Jakku! But then she remembered that at that time she still had a firm attachment to her family. Now, she accepted that they would never come looking for her. If she could let them go, then certainly she could let Luke, Leia, Finn, Poe, and even Kylo Ren go.

Embarrassingly, she still nursed her grudge against Kylo Ren over the years. Just the thought of him made her body quiver with rage that had to be tempered down with reminders of his cowardice and weakness. Ever since Ach'to, he had not even tried to test their Force bond, and she didn't dare test it either. There were more important things she had to focus on than him, such as the final test that Luke promised her.

She was currently sweating in an X-wing, wearing the thickest layers of white winter gear that could be fashioned for her, including a thick mask with a wide purple-tinted lens. She leaned against a wall so it could share some of the weight of silver backpack stuffed with survival materials and a miniature forge. The howl of Ilum's winter winds rattled the aircraft, but nothing to worry about yet. The skies were still clear.

Even though Luke had said that the Jedi order needed to end, Luke and Rey decided to follow the old Jedi's way and have her go through the Gathering trials to obtain a kyber crystal. The Gathering was once a test for children escorted by a more experienced Jedi to the crystal caves that lie beneath the Jedi Temple. Once inside, the initiates faced their fears in the strange caves and mined their crystals to be used to power their first and hopefully only lightsabers. Rey's trial would be different. She would walk to the kyber crystal caves on the ice planet Illum by herself—no mount, no droid, no others helping her. Once she had chosen and mined her crystal, she would forge her lightsaber at the Temple before returning to Luke. Her training would be considered complete, and she would no longer be an apprentice, but a Jedi master herself.

There was a series of bumps signaling that they had landed. Poe in his captain's uniform ran up to her and clasped her shoulder.

"You ready?" he said.

"Ready as I'll ever be," she panted.

He gave her a quick hug. "Look, I know this is important to you, but if you run into any trouble, let us know and we'll be there in a flash. Not sure if Finn would be happy being the last Jedi."

Her laugh was cut off by the heart-stopping cold that flooded the ship as the ramp opened. Rey stomped out into the snow and waved goodbye as the X-wing flew off into the bleached sky. She held onto the straps of her heavy backpack and marched towards the dark blue mountains a mile away. As if the mountain had shuddered and wrinkles froze in the surrounding land, there were too many hidden ridges and boulders for most spacecraft to land.

So Rey had to walk in the freezing cold to the Temple, but she tried to cheer herself up by thinking of this loathsome walk as the warm-up to the real test. Rey crunched along, feeling almost at home on the ice planet. There really wasn't much difference between this frozen desert and her childhood nightmare on Jakku, only instead of scavenging for scraps she was—

No.

She turned, lightsaber out and her hair standing up on the back of her neck. The stealth cloak on his long, black-wing ship lifted as it perched on the same landing area the X-fighter had sat in just an hour ago. She took a few angry steps towards the ship, her lightsaber melting the snow under its blue glow, and stopped. She was here for the kyber crystal, not the chance for revenge.

This was the first part of her test: letting go of her attachment to Kylo Ren.

Rey cursed under her breath as she turned off her light saber and jogged towards the Temple. Under the weight of her backpack and the softening snow, however, her jog was forced to a speedy walk. She could feel him coming, but she kept focus on the goal in front of her.

Invisible hands grabbed at her, but she pivoted and flung them back at the dark figure among the snow. The red glow of his absurdly long lightsaber reflected in his metal mask.

"You'll be coming with me," he growled.

Rey dropped her backpack and turned her lightsaber back on.

"I'm not going anywhere with you," she barked back.

Their sabers clashed, and she pushed him backwards faster and faster until he pushed her back with the Force. Her legs twisted and wobbled as she found her balance. He was on top of her again, thrashing against her quick but light blocks. As he rose his arm for the final blow, Rey threw him back with the Force. Their blades caught each other once more.

"You've improved since those old days at Ach'to," he said.

"Why are you holding back?"

"Because I need you to come back with me alive, and if that means I have to—augh!"

Out of nowhere a massive white icewolf with claws the look and size of icicles raked Kylo Ren's black cloak into ribbons. Another icewolf's jaw aimed for Rey's shoulder, but she swatted it away with her light saber. They were suddenly surrounded by the hulking, hungry beasts. Soon they were back to back, throwing the icewolves back with the Force or impaling them. Snow dotted their bloodied bodies. Rey looked up at the sky, which was now littered with darkening clouds.

"We're going to have to finish this another time," Rey said as she left his side for her backpack.

"We can take shelter in my ship."

She laughed heartily at that as she swung the backpack over her shoulders again. At first she thought the yank on her pack was from Kylo Ren, but it was actually a wolf with its jaws in clamped to her pack. Another wolf popped out from some snow-covered hole and grabbed her arm that made her drop her lightsaber. A third bit at her helmet, but was thrown off from both Rey and Kylo Ren using the Force against it. Kylo Ren slashed at the wolves on her arm and back, but was swarmed by a dozen sleeker and smaller icewolves. Rey grabbed her saber and helped Kylo Ren burn them off one by one, until suddenly the surviving wolves leaped off of him and scurried to their burrows.

Chunks of Kylo Ren's thick, black winter clothing were gone or in tatters. He pressed his gloved hand against his exposed, bleeding abdomen. He took one step towards Rey, and his second step sent him tumbling to the ground.

Rey could feel that he was still alive, even though his body lay motionless in the snow. The cold would kill him or the snowstorm would eventually smother him. Either way, Kylo Ren would die here, and Rey would continue her Gathering trial.

But she couldn't look away from him. Kylo Ren, the man who had murdered so many in the service of the First Order, bleeding out on an isolated ice planet. Once the storm passed, the scavenging wolves would eat his body, giving him a truly fitting end. He had brought this sad fate on to himself. He came here to capture her again, alone, after all.

Luke's lightsaber hummed in her hand.

She turned it off and holstered it. With a heavy sigh that misted up the inside of her mask, she kneeled next to him, grabbed him by the torso, and hoisted him over her shoulders. She stumbled and fell, but picked them both back up again to trudge ever so slowly towards the Temple several hundred feet away.