Their days were always the same, seamlessly blending together. The only thing that reminded Rey of the passage of time was the weather – the twin suns were harder to spot through the barriers of clouds, and the temperatures were getting systematically lower and lower.

Luke had merely incorporated her into his usual routine with minimal adjustments, as he had told Rey. She didn't believe him, exactly, and had the suspicion that Luke was purposefully lenient with her.

In the mornings, they ran on the island's hidden paths and climbed the cliffs (when the winds abated). For the first two weeks, Rey had only watched Luke's back as he had been moving agilely several steps ahead of her, smirking over his shoulder.

"Come on, catch me!" he called one day and turned, running backward. His eyes were twinkling, and Rey couldn't even get annoyed with him. Luke's cheerfulness was such a rare sight.

"Don't flatter yourself, Skywalker! I'm going easy on you so you won't feel bad!" The truth was, Luke was in an excellent condition while Rey had never been used to running for periods of time and didn't have as much stamina as him. She was much faster than Luke on shorter tracks, though.

"You know, one of my Masters had this custom," he said, amused, and slowed so Rey could catch up with him. "He used to sit on his apprentices' backs and forced them to run around for hours. Perhaps I should revive that tradition…"

"That's a joke, isn't it?"

"No." Luke's face was serious, but then the corners of his mouth twitched. "He was only around 70 cm tall, and didn't weigh much."

Rey sometimes wondered if it really would be too disrespectful to the legendary Jedi to hit him over his head. The temptation was great, indeed.

He had also taught her how to catch fish and how to cook them, how to collect the seaweed for their salads and the green milk from the thala-sirens. Food-gathering kept them busy during the early afternoons, and they took turns because Luke knew she was somewhat wary of the large mammals. More often than not, it was him who interacted with the creatures. She even preferred water but drank the milk at his insistence that it was good for her health.

In late afternoons and early evenings they focused on Rey's fighting skills. Usually, they spared with wooden sticks, and it was embarrassing how many bruises Rey had amassed while she had never even touched Luke with the training sword.

"Your instincts serve you well," he said in a full master mode after almost a month. Rey had learned to recognize when her friend disappeared and the Jedi Master emerged. She doubted Luke realized it himself – the changes had crept upon them slowly over the weeks. He would stand straighter, clasp his hands behind his back or cross his arms over his chest, sometimes stroking his beard. His face would become inscrutable, eyes gaining a steely glint. His voice would deepen, allowing no room for backtalk.

In those moments, Rey felt immensely pleased and proud of him and was silent and attentive, absorbing everything he said like a sponge with every intention to learn what he was teaching her.

"Thank you."

"But not in this case," he said next and frowned. "We need to stop sparing for the time being. I wasn't able to pay you full attention, but I think I know where the problem is. Come, show me how you attack."

Luke stepped back and observed her. Rey felt a bit silly but did as he wished and lunged forward.

"Parry! Retreat! Feint! Attack! Attack! Feint!" His voice was loud and clear, and Rey executed his every order the same moment the first syllables left his lips.

"Oh, yes." Luke passed her a canister of water and relaxed, the Master disappearing and her friend returning. "You move like you were used to when you wielded your staff. That's keeping you back. You need to forget all of that because it will get you killed. We should have started with the footwork, and katas, installing new proper habits."

Rey's first reaction was indignation, but she suppressed it and thought for a moment over his words. He was right. She hadn't hit him even once, so there was a problem – the fact that she had managed to best Ren meant nothing. Rey had to prove that it hadn't been just sheer dumb luck.

"Alright."

"You are everything a Master could ask in a Padawan." Luke smiled at her and motioned for her to come with him, apparently pleased. He sat on his cloak on the edge of the old training platform the first Jedi used when they had inhabited the island.

"I couldn't ask for a better teacher." Rey flopped down next to him on the cloak and turned to watch the ocean. It was becoming her favorite sight, the stormy Ahch-To waters.

"The Jedi used seven lightsaber forms. They trained several of them diligently and switched between when the situation called for it, even though they each had their preferred form. There was even one suited for the use of a double-edged weapon – a saberstaff. Unfortunately, I learned only three of them fully. I had to develop my own fighting style combing the bits and pieces my Masters taught me because neither of the forms suited me and I couldn't afford spending years practicing something I wouldn't use fully. We will start with the original forms, so you know the basics, but then I want you to adopt that style. After the war is over, you are welcome to practice any form you wish."

"Does your style have a name? Can I call it the Skywalker battle form?" Rey grinned.

Luke gave her an exasperated look, but then shrugged, gazing over the water. The suns colored the skies in hues of gold and orange. "If that's what you want to call it."

"It is. How is your form different from the others?"

"I'm not a tall man, nor am I an exceptionally strong man but I have found that a bit of aggressiveness in a fight is necessary. The purely defensive form does not suit me and yet I can't utilize much of the forceful style either. Seeing how much we have in common, I can only guess that you share the same point of view?" Luke glanced at her with a small smile.

"I do."

"A lightsaber wielder who doesn't have physical advantages of height and strength has to be quick, agile and deadly in his attacks and precise in his defense. That's what I want to teach you."

"I'm always happy to learn." Rey made herself comfortable and leaned her side against his, intending to enjoy the beautiful view and bask in the satisfaction that she was getting somewhere in her training. They sat there for a few moments when Rey sat up straighter and frowned, observing their surroundings. There was nothing unusual in sight yet she felt uncomfortable as if a pair of eyes was trained on them.

"What is it?" Luke mirrored her actions, his hand straying to the lightsaber at his belt. "Have you heard something?"

Rey took a deep breath, trying to locate the source of her unease – and suddenly, the feeling was gone. It had been just a porg or another creature from the island – or maybe one of the Lanai. The native inhabitants of the Temple Island had steered clear of Rey for the first week and then she had gotten the feeling they didn't like her very much.

"It felt like someone was watching us."

"Let's head back." Luke rose to his feet, offering Rey his good hand. Without any hesitation, Rey clasped his palm, and he pulled her up. "I'm hungry, and you have yet to convince me why should I let you anywhere near my X-wing."

"Because I can upgrade it!"

"It's a 30 years old starfighter. The only thing you can do with that piece of junk is to scrap it."

"What? It's a historical relic, you can't just scrap that!" Rey jumped into their discussion with gusto and tried to ignore the way Luke looked around the whole way back with a worried glint in his eyes.

During their evenings after dinner, the story time came – if Rey didn't fall asleep, exhausted. They talked about the history of the Temple Island and the Jedi Order. Rey especially liked when Luke talked about his Masters and felt cheated by Fate that she would never meet them and that she was born into times of such Darkness and would never know how life had been for generations of the Jedi Knights during the time of the Old Republic. They argued about mechanics and star navigation and traded stories about life on desert planets. They never brushed the topics that needed so much discussing – Rey never talked about what had actually happened on the Starkiller and Luke did not mention his nephew or the New Jedi Order.

The nights were peaceful, even though Rey knew Luke usually went to sleep much later than her. Their physical closeness seemed to satisfy their Force connection, and they didn't have to share any more dreams, their sleep undisturbed by nightmares. Most of the nights, Luke's presence in the Force was tightly guarded, but sometimes, the same small tendril escaped. Rey constantly marveled at the gentle feel of it, at ease with the way it brushed against and connected with her own Force presence, making the bond hum.

They had good days filled with their routine, joking during the training and meal-times and then they had bad days. Rey had stopped thinking of their days separately – if Luke was feeling down, both of them had a bad day. During those, he disappeared to brood into one of the caves or on top of one of the cliffs. Once she had seen him sulking in the ruins of the Temple.

She left him to it for a few hours but around nightfall always came to find him. She would embrace him wordlessly and then sit with him until the cold forced them to return to the hut. He would grip her hand almost painfully on the way back and then whisper a soft, vulnerable, "Thank you."

It was also a learning experience for Rey, who had never mattered to someone before. Suddenly, there was a person who was depending on her, and she tried so hard not to let Luke down. Rey was rewarded by little things in which Luke let her know how he appreciated her help, how he valued her. He would share his cloak, save the best parts of their fish for her, offer a smile while he passed her a canister with water, or wish her good night in that particular soft voice when she was on the brink of sleep… For the first time in her life, Rey felt like she was precious to someone. As the time passed, the number of their bad days lessened, and the small spark of light in Luke's eyes which had been so rare had become present more often. Rey considered it her greatest achievement, so far.

She had quickly progressed from the basic footwork and was working on the katas from Form I with much more success than she had thought possible. Luke certainly seemed impressed. The occasions when he had to step in and correct her stance or hold on the weapon were sparse.

Rey loved kata training – not only because footwork was and always had been the most boring aspect of any martial art but because Luke trained with her. He had to show her each movement, and Rey copied him. They entered a fascinating dance without music, moving at the same speed with the same purpose framed with the light of the setting suns until night swallowed their figures and the glow of their sabers cut through the darkness with ease. The training was relaxing, they had to focus only on the perfection of each sweep of the lightsaber, precision of their blocks and steps. During the hours they dedicated to katas, Rey actually felt the Force stir within her, filling her with its power, connecting with her body in ways she hadn't even thought about.

Her favorite part of the kata training, however, was the time when she could simply observe her Master – for he was her Master during those hours. He sometimes left her to the Form I and moved through his own battle set with a deadly precision which he had acquired only through dedicated repetition. She could easily imagine him going through the form, again and again, day after day – for hours without pause driving himself to the point of utter exhaustion so he could fall easier asleep in the evenings. But now, Luke would become absorbed in practice, sometimes even closing his eyes, and in those fleeting moments, he appeared at peace with the whole galaxy.

Luke finished the battle form and straightened, opening his eyes and blinking at her when he found Rey staring at him. "Everything's alright, Rey?"

"Yes… It's just… There are snowflakes all around you." Rey answered with her cheeks only slightly pink. "I've seen snow but…"

That memory was not pleasant, and Rey didn't like snow purely from the association, but this was different. Perhaps because she had first seen snow on a dead planet with the threat of imminent death thrumming through her veins while now… Now she saw big fluffy snowflakes gently floating around her most favorite person in the universe.

Luke smiled warmly and put out his lightsaber, glancing around. "You have never seen it fall from the sky before, have you?"

"No."

"Let's enjoy it." He stepped next to her and put his arm around Rey's back, drawing her close to his side as he turned his face to the heavens. "The first time I saw it, I was awestruck. Then the snowfall turned into a blizzard, of course, so the spell was broken."

"It's beautiful."

Luke turned to look down at her and focused his gaze on the single snowflake which was about to land on the tip of Rey's nose. He grinned, the blue of his eyes twinkling like stars in the night. "It is."

The snowflake landed, and Rey sneezed and startled when she heard Luke's laugh. Not a chuckle or a cough masking his amusement but full-blown laughter coming from deep within him.

They watched the snowfall until it got dark. Rey had looped her arms around Luke's waist and managed to snuggle under his cloak as it got colder. When they arrived at the hut, the temperature was dropping considerably, and the winds were picking up with every passing second.

"I'm afraid we're in for a storm," Luke said. "I'm going to bring more firewood."

He was right. Rey heard the winds howling around the hut, and for the first time since coming to live on Ahch-To, she couldn't fall asleep. So she stared into the dark and wished for the weather to calm. Not to mention the cold. As the minutes went by, the temperature inside their home was getting lower and lower despite the flames in the fireplace. She stopped feeling her toes and fingers eventually. That was the moment when Rey's teeth chattered.

"Rey?" Luke's voice sounded from across the hut. "Are you cold?"

"A bit."

There was silence – well, neither of them spoke, but Rey still heard the winds, and her teeth still chattered. No matter how carefully she wrapped herself into both of her blankets, she was still cold.

Grabbing his blanket, Luke shuffled over to her. Rey noticed that his hair was sticking out at funny angles and that his kind eyes, even when he appeared half-asleep, were so very blue. He smiled and leaned over her, tucking his blanket over Rey's form with care. "Try to fall asleep. I'll bring more blankets in the morning."

"What about you?" Rey sat up and caught his arm as Luke turned.

He patted her hand. "I'll be fine, don't worry about that."

Rey lay back down and watched him as he fed the flames and then returned to his cot, draping his cloak over his body.

That wouldn't do. It was freezing inside the hut; their breaths were leaving their mouths as puffs of vapor. A cloak wasn't enough to protect him from the cold. Rey hopped from her bed with all the blankets in her arms and quickly padded to the other side of the hut, sitting down on Luke's cot next to his legs.

"What precisely you think you're doing, Rey?"

"Making sure none of us is going to freeze to death. Move over." She didn't wait for him to budge, actually. Rey just threw all three blankets over them and lay down on her side with her back to him.

Luke was too stunned to react for a few moments, but then he just followed her example and shifted to his side, putting his arm around Rey. They both knew that the most efficient way to keep warm was to share body heat and she supposed he had been cold, too. He heaved a deep sigh, his breath tickling Rey's cheek. "Bring your pillow next time, this way you'll strain your neck."

"Okay," Rey mumbled, already falling asleep, surrounded by warmth and the familiar, comforting scents of rain, leather and something light and sweet.

They slept late and woken to a changed world; their routine had altered irrevocably. Luke didn't bring more blankets in the morning, and Rey moved the pillow from her cot to his sometime during the next week. When the snow melted away after fifty-two days of winter, that's where Rey's pillow still stayed.

AN: It seems that Rey/Luke ship isn't extremely popular around here, but I hope that you guys who come and read "Like an Ocean" enjoy this story all the same. Also, I'd like to invite you to read my song inspired pieces "Treat You Better," "Shape of You," and "Reminding Me" – fair warning, they all are modern AU focusing on a certain blond guy and a feisty firecracker.