Chapter Text
“You are meant for more than the life of a scavenger, wasting away in a desert planet in the middle of nowhere. If you come with me, I can help you become the Jedi you are fated to be.”
Rey didn’t think she was fated to be a Jedi, but tentatively, dubiously, hesitantly… eventually, she agreed to Luke Skywalker, the legend, the myth. It wasn’t his words of encouragement about her that made up her mind, about her rising up from this derelict status in life, but rather, his mere presence in this nowhere terrain, on a nowhere planet, seeking for her. If someone as important as Luke Skywalker stepped foot on Jakku’s sandy wastelands for someone like her, maybe there was something out there for her that was better than this life of hardship and loneliness and endless waiting that stretched as infinite as the dunes of Jakku.
Maybe there was something about her of value, like the scraps and broken parts that she scavenged, seemingly useless and unusable, but actually had worth when taken to the right people, installed in the right machinery, working with the right parts.
But even with the strong pull of the possibility of greatness and achievement, she was loath to leave Jakku behind because she still hoped for her parents. That hope had kept her going through the hunger and the occasional beatings. One day, someday, her family will find her, and take her home. It had always been her one driving motivator to trudge through life: to reunite with her family.
But her waiting all these years had not yielded anything. At nineteen, her parents still made no appearance to claim her. Would they still come for her at this age, when she’s already supposed to be independent enough to fend for her own?
She’d wanted her parents to come for her, save her from this life of poverty and slavery, but Rey had done it for herself already. When the Master Jedi offered her a different lot in life, a life above struggle, she suddenly wondered if there was a point in waiting anymore.
So maybe, she had a thought, that maybe if she went with Skywalker, maybe stepping out and going through the galaxy would help her find them. Yes, if the waiting was doing nothing, then maybe, it was time she did the searching. If they couldn’t find her, maybe she could find them instead. And Luke Skywalker offered her that prospect.
She slept on it, as Skywalker had advised her, seeing how she was tempted, but strongly held back. Then she had the recurring dream of the island. But this time, the dream had extended itself: a pilot in an orange flightsuit extending a hand to her, and upon taking his hand (oh he felt so familiar, she felt so safe and loved in his presence), he pulled her towards a tree that seemed to sing and vibrate with the energy of the cosmos and life. Golden tendrils of light seemed to weave between her and the pilot, as if tying their souls together. She could feel the smile on her face, and the pilot pulled her closer to him. Rey laughed, her chest bursting with a happiness unlike anything she’d felt. She raised her hand to cup his cheek, and he leaned into it. Her thumb ghosts over his lips—oh, there’s never been anything so soft—
Rey suddenly found her eyes open to the dark of her small abode in the AT-AT, her hand hovering in the air above her. She could still feel the heat and flesh of his cheek on her palm, tingling with the echoes of a surreal touch. She found herself crying, because she’d never felt so loved before, didn’t think love could feel like that: like having unlimited fresh water, like having at least five portions for three meals a day everyday, like having a large bed with a downy mattress and a fluffy blanket, like having a safe and spacious home with family that loves you and welcomes you home. Everything she’d wanted and needed but never had.
And so, she took a chance. She gathered her pilot helmet, her pilot doll, her staff, her few change of clothes with her, and followed the fabled Jedi Master to his small transport.
Alright, I’ll be a Jedi.
So off she went with The Luke Skywalker. Despite her misgivings and her doubt of this supposed greatness she would come into that he was preaching to her.
“Where are we going, Master Luke?”
“To Dagobah, where we will begin your training immediately. You have much to learn in such a short time at that. I have to make sure you are prepared for what you will face in the future. Your enemy has many years ahead of you.”
She didn’t know that planet, not even its system. But anywhere was better than being alone and forgotten nowhere.
Luke told her to get a few hours of sleep. Though she was buzzing with a high on being out of Jakku and finally getting a glimpse of the vastness of the galaxy, travelling amongst the stars, she heeded his suggestion. Having her very own quarters (an actual room for sleeping!), her own bunk (it has a mattress! Maker, it’s luxurious!), and a fresher with running water (she didn’t have to worry about it running out?! And it was different from drinking water! She had clean drinking water!), Rey found herself excited to sleep. When she pulled the covers over her and sighed in contentment as she closed her eyes, she just knew she’d have the most wonderful sleep in her life. She dreamed again of a Rebel pilot extending a hand to her, and pulling her towards a mystical tree. Her hand tingled with his touch even as she went to the fresher when she woke up.
Artoo eventually came to fetch her just as Rey was putting on her boots. With a fond pat on its dome, Rey followed the droid to the cockpit, where Luke was already waiting for her.
They stopped over at Takodana, and Rey was mesmerized. “I never knew there was this much green in the galaxy,” her breathless exclamation showed the overwhelming emotions she had. She’d made the right choice to leave Jakku.
She and Skywalker walked up to Maz Kanata, who led them to an upstairs room above her establishment. Maz reverently addressed Skywalker, and he requested for a small, unmarked shuttle in exchange for the transport they had. That didn’t seem to be a problem for Maz, as she told them to wait a bit while she arranged what they needed. Luke also went along with her saying he needed her to keep something for him in her basement. That left Rey in the room, which she had no problem with as she gobbled down the refreshments that Maz had brought up. While Rey was munching away, cheeks puffed from stuffing as much food as she could, and staring out the window in awe of the greenery and flora, Maz eventually turned up without Luke. They made pleasant enough small talk, until Maz squinted her ancient all-seeing gaze to Rey’s face, crawling closer over the table and the empty plates.
“The belonging you seek,” she spoke knowingly, her eyes magnified by the goggles she’s pulled down to better inspect the human before her, “is not behind you, it is ahead.”
The moment was interrupted by Luke’s entrance. He pulled off the hood that covered his face to conceal his identity in public. Maz changed topics and demeanor instantly, and she informed them that their new shuttle was prepped and ready for their taking. Luke thanked Maz profusely before calling out to Rey to get ready. Without a word, Rey gathered the small satchel she’d had since leaving Jakku, and spared one last glance to Maz before she followed the Jedi Master to her new fate.
With the cryptic message from Maz, maybe, Rey thought, she’d done the right thing, and taken the right step in the right direction. Maybe, this is the first step to her home, to her family.
Or maybe, this is also a step to the pilot in her dreams, hand extended, whose features she could never recall upon waking up, except for the constellations in his eyes.