STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI

REY

REY ESAAN gasped as sweat dripped freely from her brow.

Muscles strained while fingers flexed, contorting in pain. Her mind was being pushed to its absolute limit while waves could be heard crashing against ancient stone.

"To be one with the Force means more than just being able to manipulate the world around you," Luke said as he circled her.

"You have to feel it, accept it. Ignore the binary principles of your own humanity, realize that you are no longer tethered to the physical plane. The Force is not binding- it is an escape. What binds you-"

"Is your consciousness, your state in the present." Rey finished between gritted teeth.

Luke circled her, but she did not see him.

Within her mind she was standing before the ethereal throne of the Force- a massive gate guarding an almost incomprehensible power.

"It took me years to free myself from my old understanding. Archaic teachings of the Jedi and Sith based around protection marching against conquest. One using the Force as a tool, the other, a set of restrictions. Naive rules created by children, desperate to understand." Luke said wistfully.

Rey gasped, opening eyes and falling to the stone floor.
She laid there on stone for what seemed like an aeon, gathering breath as Luke crouched beside.

"I couldn't get any closer," Rey rasped.
Luke offered her a small smile.

"You're improving. Thousands of Jedi lived and died without ever seeing what you have."

"True oneness with the Force." Rey said softly.

The learner steadily rose to her feet, brushing off dirt that clung to a dark blue tunic.
A lightsaber dangled bravely from a worn belt, and her hair was tied into a neat tail that bounced at the back of her neck.

Luke stared at Rey, and she returned his gaze until she laughed.

"What is it?" She said.

"You remind me so much of him." He said quietly.

Rey looked away, saying nothing. She knew, of course, who he was referring to.

Ben Skywalker, his son.
Murdered by Kylo Ren during the raid on Ossus.

Kylo.

She still remembered the heat from anakin's azure blade.
The feeling of Kylo Ren bearing down on her.

Heavy blow after blow that sent her tumbling backward.

She remembered the sight of Finn's charred body- her anger was enough to drive Kylo off momentarily, but she gave into it.
The dark warrior took advantage of her unbalance and gained the upper hand. If it hadn't been for Holdo arriving, she and Finn would both be dead.

"Did you train Holdo?" Rey asked quietly, remembering how bravely Holdo fought off the Lord of the Ren.

Holdo wounded Kylo gravely. had Starkiller Base not threatened them all, the Chancellor would have finished the Ren. Rey wondered if Kylo even survived.
The sight of his young face, bordered by a mane of black hair, brought anger to her mind.

He killed his own father.

Han's friendly-but-smarmy grin broke against Rey's mind, freezing thought until her Master continued.

"I did train Holdo...but not like I trained Jacen." Luke said, using Kylo's birth name.

"Her power was immense. It.. was almost as if being around her was suffocating. It was inspiring but.." Rey trailed off, at a loss for words.

Luke nodded. "Holdo has much of the same strength you possess, but her pragmatism got in the way of her progress. You must realize that the strength you sense is not power- rather it is a corruption of it."

"I didn't sense the dark side in her." Rey said.
Luke grimaced.
"And that's the issue the Jedi had! They were dependent on that sense, needed it to guide them. They were blinder than the Kyurko fish I'm about to ask you to hunt." Luke said with a wolfish grin.

Rey scoffed.
"I'm beginning to think this 'training' is little more than a long running joke for an old crazed man. There's still no surefire proof you are Skywalker."
Rey walked to the doorway of their training chamber.

Luke laughed, but there was a sadness to it.
"I wish that's all I was." He said somberly.

His blue eyes twinkled, and a warm smile returned to his face.

"Now can you please go? I'd love to not eat bugs again tonight."

Rey rolled her eyes.

"And what will you do?" She asked, crossing  arms.

Luke pulled his hood over his head as he turned away from her.

"Well, as your Master- the prophecy has now called upon me to gather milk."

***

She bounced between rocks, descending deeper into the caverns of Acht-To. The fish Luke loved, the Kyurko, were blind cave water dwellers. They naturally used the Force, but were a blight on Acht-To.
Their population had increased exponentially, and as they were predators, their aggression and natural instinct influenced the small island and its fragile spiritual ecosystem.

"Nothing is closed off from the Force. The two sides work together in concert- one may be larger and more apparent than the other, but it doesn't mean it has taken over, just as temporary anger will not doom you to a lifetime of hatred."
Rey repeated Luke's teachings as she speared Kyurko, placing them in a wicker basket that Luke was very proud of making.

"So you survived."
Rey's heart froze. The voice she heard echoed within her. She was silent, reaching for a waiting lightsaber as she dropped the spear to the cave floor.

"Your candor is surprisingly happy, girl. After wasting a year here, it seems you're content to hide from the galaxy, just like your Master."

It was him. But how? Rey brought up the defenses Luke had taught her, mental guards to protect oneself from attack. But nothing worked. It was something within her, a connection that couldn't be severed.

She waited, but she heard nothing more. Sighing heavily, she gathered her catch and called the spear back into her waiting palm. The cave seemed darker than when she had entered, and it seemed darker still outside. She wouldn't tell Luke about this- not yet. But after a year of training, she suddenly felt as if she still wasn't ready.

***