Rey had spent days of concentrated work on her lightsaber, and now it was finished. She had fashioned her light staff into one- the staff she had used for so long on Jakku, as she had striven to survive among thieves, scroungers, and hoodlums. It had just felt right to convert the weapon that she was already accustomed to into her lightsaber. It was familiar to her and comfortable, much easier to her than the traditional lightsaber.

She was eager to show it off to Luke, who had isolated himself, and therefore her, since returning from the Jedi temple.

Rey wondered what about the crystal had so flustered him. She knew he had always been very careful around her in what he said and did, figuring it had to do with his insecurities about losing Ben Solo and fearing to repeat that history. Seeing his obvious anxiety about the crystal caused her to examine his teachings about controlling her fear. She was becoming more aware of his struggle to master his own fears; this inability of her master to abide Jedi teachings confounded her and made her question the very tenets of the Jedi. Her confidence in him had begun to waver.

She climbed to the top of the mountain to where he had instructed her during the storm. It was a cloudy day, the gray clouds looking heavy and wet made it appear to be colder than it actually was. He was not sitting but standing, speaking loudly, almost shouting. She decided to sneak up to listen. She must be careful not to use the Force, for Luke would sense that and stop whatever he was doing. This was one thing that she had learned while learning under his teaching. She approached stealthily, a technique she was very knowledgeable of through years of sneaking around the shipwrecks of Jakku. He sounded as if he was calling out to his old master Yoda, questioning the sky, apparently, and asking why he would not come to him anymore.

"Where are you!" he cried out.

Rey sensed the power of the Force in Luke reaching out to another place, system, world. As soon as she sensed it, she knew she was found out. Sensing the Force in him, he was also able to sense her. He stopped and looked down at her. He looked defeated and tired, his shoulders low and face drawn.

Rey, trying to cover her embarrassment, started in, "I wanted to show you my lightsaber." She held out her staff for him to see, a hint of pride rising to the surface above her unease.

"I don't want to see it." He said somberly. He stepped down from the peak and approached her. "I can no longer be your teacher," he said flatly.

"What!" Rey was shocked. "Why?"

"There is nothing left that I can teach you," Luke said.

"What are you talking about. How about the lightning thing up there?" she stumbled trying to get near to him. "And mind control, and lightsaber fighting, and . . . and . . . whatever else there is?" she gasped in desperation.

"You have my instruction about peace. That is all you need to master the storm."

Rey understood his double meaning.

"As for the rest, you have no need to learn those things from me," he said.

She was frustrated and took a few quick steps toward him on the loose rubble, the stones shifting under her feet, her foundation giving way.

"Who were you calling to?" she asked.

"It is not important."

"Yes, it is. So many things you have not been telling me. I can sense it. I think your excuse for not teaching me is a lie. I think you are afraid. The very thing you counsel me to control."

Luke could not reply. He could not look at her.

Rey continued, "I think you're afraid because things are happening that you don't understand. Well, so am I! I think you're afraid because the Force isn't giving you all the answers. And you may have to figure it out on your own. I think you're afraid because you don't want to fail again like you did with Ben. Well, I'm not Ben!"

"You are right," Luke resigned and sat down on an eroded rock, defeated. "But I am right, too. There is nothing I have left that I can teach you."

The stones beneath her feet shifted again and Rey perceived the path before her; it was no longer on Ahch-To.

"Then I must go," she said.

Luke gave a reticent nod.

"I didn't tell you-" she started but Luke interrupted.

"That you saw someone in the temple."

Rey was surprised. "Yes, my mother."

She did not want to tell him that she fought Ben.

"Be careful. I know you want to find her. It is dangerous. You will be tempted to the dark side."

Rey could not take it anymore. "Well, you're not my master anymore. So I am going."

She started to walk down the mountainside, regaining her firm footing and hollering back, "I'm calling Chewie."

She grabbed her holographic transponder inside her hut and contacted Chewbacca. He would arrive shortly and take her from Ahch-To. They had arranged previously that Chewbacca would be available at a moment's notice if Luke or Rey needed to leave. Rey felt there was no time to lose.

Luke approached her door, concern in his eyes.

"Rey," he spoke.

She came out and looked at him.

"I know I can't stop you from going, but you can't stop me from coming with you."

"What, so you can keep an eye on me?" she retorted.

"No. So I can help you find your mother. You need not be alone in this."

Rey's countenance brightened as she felt the weight of her loneliness lift a bit. She had not realized how much she needed that. It had been months of training under him, feeling his aloofness. She had felt alone, more alone than ever before, but she did not ever recognize that until now when Luke offered help. She hugged him unexpectedly for both of them.

"Thank you," she said.

….

The Ghost was parked in a crowded docking bay of the Resistance space station located in the Alderaan asteroid field. The station was not equipped to house more than a few hundred occupants, so anyone who had a ship fitted with its own living quarters was required to dwell in their own ship. Every docked ship was hard-lined into the base communication system for immediate contact from command.

Boba, Sabine, and Zeb, bored and careless were waiting in the common area of the Ghost when C-3PO and R2-D2 arrived.

"Excuse me, eh-Boba Fett," C-3PO called timidly up the open loading bay door. "I have a message from the General Organa."

"Come in," he replied. "We've been expecting you."

C-3PO and R2-D2 approached Boba Fett who was lounging in a chair, his booted feet resting on the back of a broken astromech droid.

Boba Fett did not stand to receive the report. Sabine and Zeb were seated at the Dejarik table, but Sabine rose to meet the droids.

C-3PO started, "well, yes. The General Organa says that as the original request you had made has been carried out-"

"Excellent." Boba interrupted. "And the other?"

"Yes, she also would like to inform you that the transmission has been verified, and the amount you agreed upon has been transferred."

"Check that, Sabine," he ordered. Boba cleaned his teeth with a metal pick.

"Already on it," she replied and rushed to the cockpit to check the visual read out.

A moment later she called out, "It's good."

"Then I believe we owe you something." he said to C-3PO as he rose from his seat.

He produced the data chip and offered it to the protocol droid.

"Please, if you would. Please, insert it into my droid counterpart." He gestured to R2-D2.

Boba inserted the chip into R2-D2's data port.

"The General Organa thanks you for your cooperation. She also requests that you attend the briefing session at thirteen hundred standard. Something about making good on your original request. Though I do not know what she was talking about in that regard."

Boba agreed but was cautious. He squinted his eyes and rubbed the back of his neck, effortlessly analyzing Leia's request. He smiled to himself at a deduced idea but did not say it aloud.

The two droids then turned to leave. Upon leaving R2-D2 could be heard emitting a few loud sharp beeps and C-3PO hitting him on the head.

"Well, that is very impolite R2. Of course, he looks older. It has been thirty years." The argument continued well beyond the ability of the crew of the Ghost to hear it.

"Looks like that's it," Zeb said as he rested his hands on the top of his head.

"What do you think that's about: her asking us to the briefing?" Sabine asked Boba.

"She may credit us with finding the transmission, but I would suspect she'll more likely try to get us to join the fight," Boba replied.

"Like that's going to happen," Zeb interjected. "I barely wanted to get involved in this affair. Now that it's over, it's time to go home."

Sabine's spider droid crawled in through the open bay door. She held out her arm for the spider droid to return.

"Before you make any decisions on that, Zeb, let's see if my spider has found whether the Resistance has any new First Order codes. We just might find out we've got another big payout on our hands," she said.

She sent the data from the spider droid to the Ghost's central computer and pulled up the visual on a Holo display. The readout ran through a series of glyphs.

"Wow," Sabine said. "They have hundreds of codes. I thought we had a lot. They must have someone on the inside- that or at least ten groups of bounty hunters working for them."

"Never mind that," Boba said. "Is there a match?"

She studied it for a just a few seconds longer.

"Here it is!" She exclaimed. "Looks like . . . oh, my great gutkurr."

"What?" Zeb inquired.

"It's a transmission from General Hux to the admiral ordering to station seven star destroyers just one parsec outside of the Lybeya system."

"Karabast! That could only mean one thing," Zeb added.

"I figured as much," Boba said.

"You figured as much?" Sabine blurted. "You knew it was a trap!"

"Honey, it's always a trap."

She huffed. "Well, we need to give them this transmission!"

"No, we don't," Boba dissented.

"Yes, we do! We are not going to let them walk into a death trap!" Sabine shouted.

"And how do you think they will take that?" Boba said calmly. "We just made a deal for information that cost them three million credits, and we had knowledge that it was a trap the whole time. Do you think they are going to be happy with us? No, they will likely consider us criminals again."

"But we didn't know it was a trap until now," Zeb said.

"And how do you suppose we tell them that?" Boba countered. "We didn't know what the transmission said until, of course, we stole your codes. That sounds like it will go over real well."

"Well, we've got to do something!" Sabine huffed.

"I don't see why you think that," Boba said.

"I can't believe you!" she shouted. "Maybe there is nothing in it for you, but there is more than just a payout to think about. The Resistance may be sending their entire fleet to accomplish this."

"Oh, I doubt the general would be as foolish as that," Boba stated.

"At least half the fleet! This could be the end of any reasonable opposition to the First Order. Thousands of people may die because of this!"

"So," Boba said offhandedly.

"You make me sick," Sabine said, imitating his flat tone. "Zeb and I know what it is like to fight for a worthy cause. You always want a payout, but doing something heroic has its rewards. It may not be three million credits, but it is more valuable. For once in your life, do something for someone else other than yourself! But I don't expect that will change your mind."

She got up and moved for the door, her boots sounding louder than usual.

"Come on, Zeb. I need some fresh air. It stinks in here."

Zeb smiled and followed her out.

"I'm just glad you weren't referring to me for a change," he commented.