Star Wars: Apparitions -- Scenes from The Last Jedi

Chapter 6 - Futures

The instant her feet found the solid ground, Rey almost collapsed. But she forced herself to walk. The sky was pitch black now, and Rey could barely see her hand in front of her face. And the storm was getting worse. The lightning was near constant, and with no buildings or trees around her, Rey knew she was in danger of being struck.

So she picked up her staff and satchel, and forced herself to stumble away from the dreadful pit. She followed the rainwashed path toward the stone huts, hoping for some sort of light or warmth...

There was nothing. Even Luke's hut was dark.

The bitter loneliness threatened to swallow her, but she forced herself to keep walking, step by shaking step.

Finally, she reached the door of her hut. She forced it open with a sob and leaned her back against it once it shut, breathing shakily, trying not to fall into the cold emptiness in her chest.

The darkness of the hut didn't help, so Rey dropped to her knees beside the fire pit in the center and forced her shaking hands through the motions of starting a fire. She'd taught herself how to do it back on Jakku, in case her crumbling heater should fail on a freezing night in the desert.

The thought of Jakku brought the loneliness back so forcefully, it felt as though it were beating her with a stick. She forced herself to numbly light the fire, then laid her head in her hands, trembling and feeling like the only person alive in the galaxy.

The sounds of the rain and the thunder vanished into abrupt, ear-ringing silence.

Rey's shaky gasp echoed in the silence.

Kylo was silent as he stood over her, but his brow was furrowed as Rey raised her teary gaze to meet his. His eyes asked her many questions he was clearly hesitant to voice.

Rey fumbled for a moment, looking for her usual ferocity, but as she held Kylo's deep eyes, which glittered gently in the firelight, any wisps of hatred worth using faltered away. It made her want to cry again. She had to want him gone. If she didn't, what did that mean?

No answer found her.

"Um... can you... sit down?" she whispered hoarsely, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as her voice faltered.

Kylo's eyebrows shot up. He hesitated, but eventually knelt down to her level.

"What happened?" he asked her in a low voice. "You're..." He inhaled and exhaled slowly, glancing skyward briefly before asking curtly, "Are you alright?"

Rey looked at him a moment, stunned. He avoided her gaze, as though regretting his choice of words.

Rey looked at the ground. "I—" His eyes flicked back to hers, and she floundered for a moment before giving up and softly shaking her head.

Kylo's eyes glittered softly in his solemn face.

"What happened?" he repeated.

Rey held his gaze, then drew a long, shivering breath, blew it out... and told him everything.

She explained slowly at first, but once she'd started, her story came rushing out in every detail. She told him about her lessons with Luke, about the first time the cave had called to her. She told him about the line of her reflections disappearing into the wall, and about her pleas to see her parents— to prove him wrong that they'd abandoned her. What was strangest: Kylo listened patiently to all of it. He didn't comment until she left it open for him to do so, and when he did, his words were... strangely insightful— understanding, even. He brought a level of steady intellect to Rey's thoughts that she'd never been able to apply, and it puzzled and amazed her more every second. His voice was so quiet and thoughtful, Rey could hardly believe it was the same voice of the man behind the faceless mask.