One month after the destruction of Starkiller Base...

--REY--

"You have to concentrate, Rey. You've almost got it."

I sigh in defeat and wipe the sweat from my brow. "I know, Master. I'm sorry. I just can't do it." I look up into the aging face of Luke Skywalker.

"Yes you can, but you need to focus your entire mind on it." He crouches in front of me and holds his hands out in front of his body, palms facing me. I mirror his actions and press my hands against his, closing my eyes. The Force flows from his palms out to his fingertips, and into mine. I do what he taught me and push it back to him, a continuous cycle of power flowing between us. It's an exercise that's supposed to teach me control and help me remember what to focus on. The sensation is calming, like the soft waves of a warm breeze washing over me and warming me. Suddenly my senses are refreshed and I feel the Force everywhere. After so many years of believing the Force was just a myth, it's been difficult to get accustomed to the fact that not only is it real, but also that I'm apparently capable of becoming an incredibly powerful Force-user.

I wonder if Han would be proud of me? I've made so much progress in learning more about my abilities and how to control them. I see flashes of unstable red light and hear the heartbroken cries that now feels like years ago. That split second that felt like hours when the blade of his lightsaber ignited in Han's chest and my entire world seemed to come to a crashing halt. My heart feels heavy and tears threaten to fall. Anything. I'd give anything to have him back here.

I take a deep breath, forcing the tears back, and regain control. "Thank you, Master."

He regards me for a moment before re-positioning the rocks in their original row. "Clear your mind of everything but the rocks. Feel them with your mind, see them without actually seeing them."

I close my eyes and go into a handstand, trying desperately to focus on the rocks. I take several deep breaths before attempting to lift them. For a few moments, all they do is rattle ever so slightly. I take another deep breath and try again. This time, all three lift off the ground and hover just inches above the grass.

"Very good, Rey. Can you take them higher?"

I focus all my energy on lifting the rocks higher and I almost have it when someone speaks my name.

Rey.

The rocks drop and I topple over. I look around, but of course, no one is there aside from Luke and myself. That voice! I know that voice. It came from everywhere and nowhere, inside my head no doubt. More than a feeling than an actual sound, but the feeling that came with it was familiar all the same. I feel a slight nudge in the back of my mind, like someone tapping me from within. I can't pinpoint the source, but the presence remains. It feels alive.

"Rey?" I'm pulled out of my thoughts by Luke's voice calling my name. "What's wrong?"

"I-I'm not sure," I say, brows furrowing in confusion. I stare at the ground for a few moments. "I thought I heard someone calling me, and then I felt something, like someone tapping my shoulder, but it was inside my mind."

Luke frowns. "Like someone else was inside your mind?"

"Yes! Exactly. What was it?"

"I'm not completely sure, but I believe it could be connected to a very rare ability." Luke sits down on the ground beside me and stares over the edge of the cliff at the vast expanse of the ocean. He stays silent for a moment, deep in thought. "My Master once told me of a power that only a select few, only the strongest Force-wielders, possess. It is the power to use the Force to access someone else's memories."

A chill runs down my spine and I stiffen. My interrogation. "Like reading minds?" I ask, trying not to let my fear show.

"Yes, and no. Those who possess the power can also read minds, but mind-reading is a power that can be taught. It's not easy, but it's possible if you're strong enough. This other power is not one that can be taught; you are either born with it or you're not. It's darker and more...invasive than mind reading."

"It causes the other person pain." It's not a question, but a statement.

Luke turns to examine me with a curious expression. "You've experienced it." Also a statement.

I nod. "I was interrogated after I was captured by the First Order. Kylo Ren--"

"Ben."

"Yes. Ben. He used the Force to get inside my head after I refused to give up the missing section of the map that led to you," I explain. "The pain was excruciating, as if he was tearing my head apart from the inside."

"But he wasn't successful?"

"No, I was able to block him once I figured out what he was doing." I start to wonder if I should mention the fact that I got into his head.

Luke gives me a look that says he knows I'm not telling him everything. "What happened after that?"

"I...got inside his head."

Luke looks shocked for the first time since I met him. It's a bit concerning, given that he always seems to know everything about everything. "You accessed his memories?" He asks, bewildered. "You mean to say you blocked his power, turned it around, and used it on him? And it worked?"

I nod sheepishly.

"I don't understand. This power hasn't been seen in at least a hundred years, and now there are two?" Luke stares off into space for a few moments before turning back to me and smiling. "You, young Rey, are far more powerful than you can even imagine." I blush and look at the ground, still uncomfortable with compliments. "What did you see?" He asks quietly.

Images of a lonely, abandoned little boy flash through my mind, mirrored by my own memories. "I saw memories from his childhood, brief flashes from early on, then some more recent. Some were happy, but most were not. I saw someone who was broken but no one was around to fix him." I take a deep breath. "I saw me."

"How so?" Luke looks concerned but I brush it off.

"All the pain, fear, isolation... I felt it, too. When Han and Leia put their jobs before their son, and when they let their fights divide their family, he felt abandoned and unloved. When my family left me alone on Jakku with absolutely nothing, I felt abandoned and unloved. We experienced the same things in different ways, and reacted in different ways. I became a bloody good scavenger, and he..." I feel a sudden wave of sadness and pity for the lost little boy who did the only thing he thought would get him the attention he craved. "He became Kylo Ren."

Luke looks at me intently. "Do you know the story of how Ben Solo became Kylo Ren?"

I nod solemnly.

"Do you believe there is still good in him? Can he redeem himself and return to the side of the light, despite all the pain and suffering he's caused?"

"No." I pause. "Maybe? I...I don't know. I don't think we should give up on him, but we shouldn't give him so many chances that he kills us off one-by-one until we get the message that there is nothing left of Ben Solo."

Luke studies me. "You pity him."

"No I don't, he's a monster and he deserves all the pain and suffering he's brought upon himself." Liar. I'm not sure if it's my own voice or the other voice I hear, but I ignore it.

"None of that matters here and now, anyway. There's nothing that can be done about him right now, so we should focus on the problem at hand."

I nod. "Yes, Master."

Luke pinches the bridge of his nose. "I've never heard of someone turning this power back around on the user, so it's hard to say if there's a connection between your interrogation and this new presence in your mind. My guess is that when you used his power on him and got inside his mind, you formed a connection between the two of you. A bridge, if you will. Can you still feel it?"

"Yes, it's still there." I squirm uncomfortably, not liking the idea of sharing my mind with someone - or something - else. Now, instead of feeling like a light tapping, the presence is more like a loud knocking, trying to get me to let it in. I push the feeling away and it diminishes slightly.

"Let me know if anything changes. If my suspicions are correct and it is Ben inside your mind, it won't be long before he learns to use the connection to track you down again. As soon as we complete your training here, you will return to my sister and the Resistance, where you will be safe."

"No!" My protest is louder than I intended and Luke raises an eyebrow. "If he can track me at any time, I need to leave now. I won't let him use me to find you. We both know what he's capable of, and what he will do to you if he finds you."

"What do you intend to do, then?"

"I, I'll...I don't know. All I know is I won't be the reason anyone else dies. I won't let him find you or the Resistance. I suppose I can return to Jakku, I know the planet better than anyone. He won't be able to find me if I--"

"I'm not letting you hide out alone on that barren planet again," Luke says sternly. "Right now all we need to focus on is your training."

"My training is not important! We need to come up with some kind of plan to--"

Luke interrupts again. "How do you expect to fight back if your training is incomplete? I can tell you from experience that it will not end well."

I sigh and rub the sore muscles in my neck. "Fine. Training first." I feel anger and tension rising in me, and I know the rest of the day will be unsuccessful.

"Let's continue from before. See how high you can lift the rocks."

I go into a handstand and close my eyes. Images of a dark metallic mask flood my mind. I can't concentrate, I can't see anything and the rage starts to boil up inside me, threatening to spill over as the voice in my head starts to laugh, mocking me and making my hands ball up into fists around the grass and dirt, and my teeth clench as the anger overwhelms me and fills every inch of my body-

"I can't do it!"

The three rocks break apart with a loud crack, sending shards in every direction. Luke throws up his arms to shield his face from the sharp pieces, then turns to look at me with concern. I'm sitting on the ground, fists full of dirt, and breathing heavily through clenched teeth.

"I need some space," I say, still seeing red. I'm not sure where the outburst came from, but I'm not sorry. I stand up and start for the treeline. As I get further and further from Luke, the presence in my mind grows stronger until it's all I can focus on. I think about the out-of-character rage, the exploding rocks, and suddenly I hear, as clearly as if they were standing right next to me, a voice.

Not the same voice, though. It's coming from the same place in my mind, but it's not the same. This one is darker, more sinister. It sends chills down my spine and freezes me in place.

Well done, Rey.