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It was nice here; of course, nice was somewhat of a neutral descriptor. One glaring thing this hideout wasn't, it wasn't home. This emerald green-blue world of balmy ocean breezes and foliage-rich landscapes was a delight a minute, very much like the planet Luke had been hiding out on all alone. This setting was a favorable mixture of sprawling tropics and rolling grasslands. Similarly, there were islands too, where rocky outcroppings built to towering mountains that seemed to reach beyond the lovely firmament. How could one planet hold this much water? She couldn't help thinking this often. Practically everywhere she'd explored there was cool, refreshing liquid beauty to enjoy, which she did to the fullest. They would be safe here, laying low from Ren and Snoke's virulent First Order. Chewie, who had been so good to see, and still mourning the loss of Han, had departed a while ago with B-88. The Wookiee was in search of a co-pilot, one who would be all too glad to jump into smuggling, that much he could face. Replacing Han, though painful, had to be done. In the meantime, the droid was a temporary substitute. Chewie had a true affinity with machines of many kinds as the years had revealed.

Luke had told Rey the name of this way out of the way place, on the fringe of the outer rim, but it was a real tongue twister. She had the habit of shying away from things not easy to pronounce, so she had taken to calling their port in the storm...'Stogagah,' or just ga-gah, for short. Thoroughly unoriginal, but she didn't care. Luke wasn't correcting her pronunciation, when she would say Stogagah, so she figured she wasn't too far wrong. And when in haste she'd say ga-gah, Luke would laugh. She knew it was as odd as it could be, missing her barren home world, but she did. Missed it as sure as Wampa snow creatures would miss their precious snow if they somehow got transported to Jakku. Just thinking that was preposterous, although stranger things than that happened in this galaxy. In all probability, any transplanted Wampas would most likely hate her home, or die for lack of frozen tundra they were used to.

A person thrust into what was unfamiliar normally missed what was customary, despite its hardships, which her life had been on Jakku. This new life was exciting, along with its uncertainties. Would she ever see Finn again? Or, wrap her arms around nit-picky Kabeeja, her cloth-wrapped wizened partner she shared 'scrutiny' space with in the marketplace? Was money-hungry Unkar Plutt still cheating honest, starving folks? She had embarked on a new life and she had the aches, pains, bumps, bruises and second thoughts about what she'd gotten herself into to prove it.

Rey sighed, the muscles in her bone-tired body like jelly, especially those in the back of her delicate neck. Once a very gritty neck, now one that glistened at the moment with clean, sweet-smelling water. Good thing these stone-lined pools of bubbling spring water existed to knead out the kinks. Training to be a Jedi wasn't for weak-willed wimps. It was a good thing she had started out strong. Saying it was grueling, backbreaking work would be putting it mildly. She had never worked this hard in her life, and she had culled refuse and scrap to eke out an existence, barely staying alive. How she got Luke to agree to train her, she would never know, but in the end her persistence to persuade him had swayed him. He swore he would not have her ending up like the other eager Force-sensitives, who had been slaughtered. And Rey had promised that would never happen to her. Finally, after Luke had contemplated long and hard, Rey's expert wheedling had won him over to her side. Luke had to admit, she was obscenely gifted; of course she was. Guided by the Force, Luke held off revealing why she was one of the best apprentices he had ever schooled. Well, he knew that when the time was right, he would overload her with a wealth of information. For the time being, he knew it was wiser to concentrate her focus. She needed time to reflect and absorb, grow her confidence that would come under his careful tutelage.

From what she had told him about her battle with Kylo, and her having survived the life-altering experience, his young apprentice still had so much to learn, and not a long time to learn it. Still, he'd made a vow to her and with himself. Being patient with her was vital. He had been reminded of his own arduous journey, trying to master the ways of the Force. But, with accurate knowledge, insight and grit, she was going to be something, something the likes of which the galaxy hadn't seen for a long time. She'd be a Jedi master, as was he. As Yoda, and those illustrious chosen ones before him had been. Luke was quick to repeatedly point out that he was merely a humble servant of the Force. Rey was convinced that he was the greatest master who ever lived. Far from that, Luke would inwardly chastise. And he would mindfully tell her, "We learn from one another as the Force guides." It wasn't necessary that she heard this from him, at least not in these early stages of her instruction. There had been, and in his mind, always would be two masters he'd had the privilege of knowing and benefiting from their wondrous discipline...Yoda and Obi-Wan, the latter especially. The man was sacrosanct in Luke's eyes, to this day.

Luke sensed how grateful Rey was for this period of complete relaxation, pleasure and a fragile peace that rolled off of her in waves, much like the actual waves lapping against the white sand shores of this enormous secluded atoll. Wisely, he had no intention of disturbing her. He soundlessly minced past her reclined form as she lounged with eyes closed, the mineral-rich, restorative waters of the natural hot spring soothing her. Ah, this pampering felt all kinds of good, that he knew. Observing Rey regale in contented bliss a few moments more, Luke smiled, pleased that she had sought him out. She was all he imagined she would be, the final piece in this puzzle he had been nowhere near solving. Awash in discernment, he'd leave her to her rejuvenation. As he went his way, he threw another look over his cloaked shoulder at the winsome girl, bestowing upon her his smile unseen, his heart full where it had been empty for so long a time.

Tendrils of the Force, in contortion, enwrapped and tugged Rey as she dozed, uniting her heart and mind. Her soft, tempting lips curled beneath her twitching nose. Her chest rose and fell, then her breath caught. Though she struggled, there was no calming herself. She was his prisoner again, and he would show her his true nature, consummately proud of who he was, and what he intended to become to her with the Dark side leading the way. The more Rey squirmed, the more intense her bondage became. As though her eyelids were sewn shut, she was forced to see in her mind's eyes Ren's graphic indecency. He writhed inside her as she throbbed. He held her fast in his consuming embrace as they descended into the abyss together.

"Get out of my head! You think you know me, but you don't! Never will!" Rey emitted, neither fiercely, nor as though she were down-and-out. "Release me-now!" She was strong in the Force this rapacious enemy had to admit. She was the prize, he would possess her. She dug fingers driven by reflex into the pool's raw stone finish, giving the impression that she was digging in her heels, unwilling to give an inch. Who did this fugitive from the Light side of the Force think he was? A cheap imitation of his infamous grandfather? Who, even though had mended his evils ways at the end of his reign, had never been fully forgiven by most sentient lifeforms in the galaxy. Why should they forgive after DV had caused so many so much harm for so long?

And now that Dark Lord's legacy had given rise to the First Order and its hallmark of madness.

"I...want you..." Ren's ominous voice slithered, poisoning her thoughts, wreaking havoc with any inner sense of peace her introductory training had begun instilling. What? Did he think his strident voice booming in her brain was enough to get her to knuckle under?

From a distance, Luke, obscured by tangles of thick bushes, observed, seeing how locked she was in her internal struggle. The word deadlocked skittered through his mind. As Rey batted her head from side-to-side, Luke stared at her more intently before he decided not to turn away to return to his makeshift dwelling, a lean-to made mostly of large, sturdy planchot fronds weaved with various mosses and vines. He needed his privacy as did Rey. The lean-to was adjacent to a remarkably spacious, appealing cave, Luke had stipulated she take. Its walls were smooth and its floor densely carpeted by contiguous naturally polished loomis tuffs. Any description that did walking on the cave floor justice would be as though one were walking upon invisible clouds. He and Rey loved ditching their footwear just outside of the cave entrance, then they would pick up a little speed to slide across the glass-like finish. Rey had gotten to know the venerable legend so much better. As prestigious, and mature as Luke was, his boyish side lurked beneath the surface. Force, or no Force, it was fun flying on two feet. Speeding over the sands of Jakku had never been this much fun. Rey enjoyed hearing about his youthful exploits on Tatooine. A wistful look would lodge in his eyes and soon Luke would pronounce Ben Kenobi's name with such reverence.

"Obi-Wan." Often, after Luke would sigh, allowing for the name to sink in, he'd go on to say, "Rey, I'm teaching you, and he is too. Obi-Wan's legacy lives on."

Rey would always nod and trust what was buried within herself; she believed Luke profoundly.

But fun was the furthest thing Rey was having right now. Kylo's presence, whether it be real, or frequently loomed as a malevolent figment to trash her dreams, mangled her mental health. Hearing his laughter made her cringe. As her skin crawled, he taunted and maligned her, then begged her to be with him. She needed to understand, he pleaded, but he never sounded sincere, more scornful and jeering. As though he were doing her favor by mistreating her.

"You don't know what you want." Skating out of his control, she struck back, "Don't say it's me since we both know that's not true!" Was his callous misuse of power over her meant to impress? Hissing, louder, Rey ordered, "What you're selling-I'm not buying. Now, go! I mean it-torture me all you like, I'll never give in. You're wasting your time if you think you'll snuff out the light that's been snuffed out in you. I loathe you. You're dead to me!" Her breath caught in her throat and the brunt of his invasive, bizarre tyranny subsided. Her eyes burned upon snapping open, and though she half-expected she would see him, in all of his fomenting glory, towering above her in the crystal clear pool, Kylo wasn't there in the flesh. Was she partly to blame, or was he fully responsible? Kylo's frightening good looks might cause a more susceptible, off-the-wall girl to cave, but if he thought Rey fell into that category, he was even more hopeless than she already thought. Ren might have been a favorite son when he went by the name of Ben Solo, but any resemblance to that confused boy, who'd gotten lost in the shuffle, had vanished once the vengeful shaping responsible for twisting him into the mess he was now had taken root.

Bright red, the color of intense blaster fire flashed before her eyes, then Force-lightning overwhelmed the volleys. "I'm not who you think I am," Rey muttered in a whisper as her head lolled forward before letting her entire body sink beneath the roiling bubbles of the babbling hot tub. "I'm what you couldl have been," she said, her air bubbles rising to the surface.

Luke felt her calm herself. Glancing a final time at the pool, he quietly left the grove altogether. He, embroiled in her thoughts, disappeared into the emerald forest, consumed by what Rey considered to be her failings. Attuned to what she felt, and how deeply she felt she had let Luke down, her master sympathized, having been down that same path before. She wasn't alone. She belonged, would take her rightful place. What Luke felt for Rey tingled within him, strengthening what they shared, binding them, never letting go. He would be with her, always. And she was going to be magnificent.