When the Day Loved the Night (On Temporary Hiatus!)

Freedom

"It isn't working," Rey inhaled sharply, noting the muggy air around her, which reeked of salt. The rocks before the girl and her master remained dejectedly still.

Luke studied her in a wise nod, "Give it time, Rey. You're still learning, and today you were... simply..."

"Distracted," his padawan concluded his thought bitterly.

As the scavenger heaved herself away from the unmoved stones and toward their camp of huts, the Skywalker spoke up above the jingling of the lightsaber on Rey's hilt, "Your mind is elsewhere."

Rey shrugged, glancing back at him, "How observant."

"You're excited about our return to the Resistance after all of your training," Luke furrowed his brows thoughtfully, lightly brushing against her mind to scour out this truth, "Your friends await you."

A weak grin tugged at the corners of Rey's mouth while she reached the tip of the hill, "It's about time, Master."

"And, well-deserved," pride radiated from him; she would be his first Jedi Knight- his first successful heir, that was.

Rey huffed a shivering breath, grabbing herself as the wind bloomed and hummed approvingly, rustling the bending grass between the two figures atop Ahch-To's mountainside. The Jedi Master tilted his head toward the huts, "Pack your things."

With a terse flick of her chin, Rey dashed to the clay facade of a building she'd familiarized herself with as home for her remainder of months on the desolate island. Sunlight to sundown, she trained. Luke carried with him scrolls, ancient text, Jedi truths, and when they were not perfecting lightsaber technique, he fed this knowledge to his padawan. Rey had found herself woozy with the complexity of Jedi ways in the first few days of his teachings, but she had adjusted, grown, and blossomed from the naive scavenger she had been.

She was not a scavenger any longer, however; Rey was a Jedi.

Her fingers traveled along the crumbling hut walls while her eyes darted to the tattered leather bag she'd already eagerly packed.

Finally, Rey plopped down to the dirt floor, spurts of dust sprouting from where she kneeled, and she inspected the rest of belongings she'd not yet stowed away. A small trinket, the piece of map BB-8 had gifted her before their journey to Ahch-To, found its way to her fingers, and Rey reminisced fondly over the many adventures attached to the object. The plight to recover it from the unforgiving sands of Jakku, Finn and Poe and the other friends she'd made, the Jedi Master this tiny metal scrap had brought her to, and the destiny that now laid in her wake.

She grinned excitedly, unable to evade the wave of giddiness swaddling the thought of returning to the Resistance, her friends, her new life-

Pathetic.

Rey stiffened abruptly, but she needed not to glance around for intruders.

Stay out of my head-

As you wish... I'm certain I have many more interesting things to waste my time on.

The paralyzing pressure against her mind vanished, and Rey released a gasp, shaking herself quickly out of the daze. These encounters were common now, and annoying. She only wished Kylo Ren would find something more meaningful to obsess over, yet Rey could depend on each day, discovering the Knight of Ren tainting her thoughts once more.

She loathed it.

And, she loathed the way he fed upon her distaste.

Rey's hate fueled his scheme as if Kylo Ren hungered for the satisfaction of her weakness, her anger.

Her stomach churned at these horrible things he made her feel.

She longed, now, with the completion of her training to meet him once again and eradicate his constant presence in her mind, the way he haunted her every slumbering moment. Rey could feel it then, the light saber underneath her palms as she purged it forward and into his inexorable figure-

"Rey?"

Luke's voice chimed in the calmness of the sea beside them, and Rey peered over her shoulder. With an ancient smile, the master motioned for her to follow, paving the way to his ship which held the salvation for Rey's troubles in their return to her only home.

Swiftly pivoting back to her weathered satchel, she slid her arm underneath its strap in a singular motion, her hand falling unconscious onto the lightsaber upon her waistband as her training led her to do often. As Luke began the journey to their path home, Rey studied her hut once more in a bittersweet recollection of memories. A tug at her conscience, however, drew her away from the faded building.

With weapon in hand and heart, Rey giggled to herself subtly, trodding past her place of training as she followed her master once more. Something called to her, a voice, perhaps, and Rey lifted her face to the awaiting ship.

This way to freedom.