Rey did not return to Batuu. After the Resistance had heard of the atrocity of Kijimi's destruction, their main base had been moved to an old Rebellion base within the temple on Yavin Four. Rey did not fly there either. Instead, she'd flown to a place the Resistance had searched for for years- Ahch-To. Rey was in turmoil, terrified by what she had done and what Ben had told her; how could she return the Resistance and Leia now? The only thing she felt grateful for was that she could still feel his presence- Ben within the Force; she could still feel their connection. She hadn't killed him. It was of little consolation, though. Fear and guilt gripped her; questions, anger, and fear had run ragged through her mind, and so she'd flown to this island.
She had left her X-wing in the only mildly flat area of the island there was. D-O was left in the droid compartment, beeping a complaint at her that they were not where they should be. She ignored the little droid. She walked up those steep stone steps, steps she'd climbed so many times before. The wind howled turbulently, permeated with water from both the sky and sea, leaving a salty mist across her face. She felt cold, soaked through, but she didn't care. She sat dejectedly on the cliff where she'd first truly opened herself to the Force. The crack within the cliff where her awakening had occurred now contained moss, wildflowers, and grass. She knelt and traced it with her finger. She wanted to think of nothing but had a million questions and no one to turn to. She'd hoped that she might find answers or some kind of peace or purpose by coming here, but like before, there were no answers. Luke was gone, and before on this island, she'd had her growing bond with Ben. She couldn't return to her friends in the Resistance now; she couldn't return to Leia. She looked down at her hands in dismay, at what she'd done, at the power that had flowed from her; now she knew the truth. Leia was training, teaching, and guiding her, but Rey hadn't been able to bring herself to tell Leia the truth about her connection with Ben. How could she tell her about this? It was the truth; she knew it, could feel it. It explained everything- the abandonment by her parents, her awakening in the Force, her uncanny ability and strength. She'd been created. The idea of being created wasn't what bothered her. After she'd come to terms with the truth she'd known all along, that her parents had abandoned her, this revelation wasn't that terrible. It was who she'd been created by Emperor Palpatine, Darth Sidious, the vilest Force user that had ever lived. A murderer, a villainous manipulator who corrupted all. She felt like she had on Takodana when she'd been drawn to Anakin's lightsaber and seen all those visions. Those visions, she realised now, had all involved Ben. The young boy, the monster with his Knights standing in the remnants of a battle in the pouring rain, the creature in the woods; it had all been Ben.
She wanted no part of any of this anymore: the Force, the Jedi, the First Order, the Skywalkers, none of it. She took her saber from her belt and stared at it. This lightsaber was the cause of all that had happened to her, and right now, she'd rather be in her AT-AT on Jakku, scratching lines into the wall, waiting, scavenging anywhere but here and dealing with all these revelations. She threw the lightsaber angrily out into the air. Into the sea or to hit the cliffs below, she didn't care which. She hung her head in her hands. She'd run away, run away from all of it. Leave the Resistance to whatever fate. At least if she ran away, Palpatine could not touch her, use her. She sat thinking about how she might leave this all behind, considering where she could run away; perhaps she could stay here. It then occurred to Rey that she hadn't heard the lightsaber hit anything, and she felt like she was being watched. Her immediate thoughts regarding being potentially regarded involved D-0 having got out of the X-wing or the native Porgs; they were cute but undeniably stupid, and she hoped it was neither. In her peripheral vision, she noticed something blue, glowing yet transparent, and she looked up.
The spectral blue form of her former master stood on the edge of the cliff holding his lightsaber, apparently having caught it mid-flight.
"Luke."
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Star Wars IX- The Rise of Skywalker
Fanfiction"We've passed on all we know. A thousand generations live in you now, but this is your fight." A familiar voice, Luke's, whispers. Luke Skywalker stands net to R2-D2 the sky around him burns shades of orange, yellow and red and behind him a Jedi t...
