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Luke has considered the possibility that he isn’t needed. The Jedi did not create the Force, and there will always be Force-sensitives, whether the Jedi endure or not. It is only because of the Empire that their numbers have dwindled. Nature will, eventually, restore balance.
Perhaps the Jedi have seen their day. And perhaps the younger generation does not need a teacher to guide them.
Luke's life would be easier if this were true. He never chose this path.
But now there’s Rey. He can feel the Force radiating from her. He's almost forgotten what it's like. Maybe he's never felt it before. If not for her strength, it would have been easy to turn her away. But he knows he won’t be able to forget her. He won’t be able to live with himself if he doesn’t try to help her.
It doesn’t feel quite right, teaching anyone. He has little Jedi training, himself, and he has wondered if that’s why his previous efforts failed so horrifically. But who else does Rey have? If he mentors her, he might fail her. But if he doesn’t, he will have to live with the possibility of her turning to the Dark Side, or never knowing her own strength. Not giving her the chance seems worse.
Rey seems unclear about what she wants most. She wants answers from him, but she also wants to take him back to the Rebels (the latter being something she has apparently promised to do). Luke has known for some time that he will need to face Leia, but he isn't ready just yet, so he makes Rey a deal. He'll work with her for two weeks, and then he will return with her.
It isn't much of a deal—he's giving her both of the things she wants for nothing in return. But Rey has little to offer him besides a chance at redemption, which he doesn't particularly want, but has little choice but to take.
Rey is a good fighter, and that makes her difficult to teach. She’s used to relying on her physical reflexes, so much so that she doesn’t realize how much the Force aids her. When Luke presses her to slow down, to concentrate, it frustrates her.
They're practicing in a small clearing with an old practice droid. Rey is able to block most of the stun bolts, and Luke can feel the Force coursing through her, guiding her movements. But part of her is resisting that instinct. She relies on her physical senses too much.
Luke deactivates the droid and walks over to her. Rey, whose chest is heaving from her exertion, retracts the lightsaber blade. Her face shines with a sheen of sweat.
"Give it to me," Luke says. "Let me show you something."
She hands him the lightsaber and steps aside, over to where he'd been watching her. The lightsaber hilt is familiar in his hand, but it doesn't truly feel like his anymore. It's Rey's now.
He's wearing a light scarf, and he takes it off and ties it around his eyes. He asks Rey to activate the droid, and after a few moments of what must be confusion from her, she does.
This used to be challenging for him. Now it's a fairly simple exercise to sense the droid's position and when the stun bolts are fired.
He can sense Rey, as well. She's impressed, and this pleases him so much that it makes him ashamed for reasons he can't articulate. He's not averse to showing off, though it's true that age and experience have tempered that. His perspective of what's impressive has evolved.
But Rey makes him feel things he hasn't felt in a long time. He thought at first that it was just because she reminded him of himself, but a growing sense of dread tells him there's more to it.
When he takes off his blindfold, the first thing he sees is her dark eyes locked onto him, blazing with the strength of two suns. Her expression is intense and impressed.
That night, he dreams of her. They're on the beach, and he has his arms around her. He knows deep down that this is a dream, but her body is as warm in his arms as if she were real. He undresses her in a vague, dreamlike way, peeling off her layers until she's naked and pressed against him.
He wakes up suddenly in his dark bedroom. He's hard, and his dream was so real that he almost believes it happened. Slowly, he gets up and peeks into the other room, where Rey is sleeping on a mat on the floor, framed by the moonlight that streams in through the hut's window. Seeing how peacefully she sleeps makes him feel guilty, and he quickly closes the door, cutting off his view of her.
If it were just a dream, he could accept that. What shames him is how much he liked it. He doesn't want to think that he's attracted to Rey, but now, only three days into her tutelage, he has to admit that he is.
* * *
When it comes to sex, Rey’s expectations are low.
She used to get lonely sometimes on Jakku, and she learned easily enough that sex could almost always be found if one were open-minded enough and had realistic standards. But the desperate, fumbling encounters inevitably left her unsatisfied, and over time she’d learned to do without and to rely on herself in this area as she did in all others.
She isn’t used to desiring someone. For her, sexual desire is a mostly hypothetical experience, something she feels vaguely capable of but that was on shot sup ply on Jakku.
Luke is different. Meeting him could have been a disappointment—after all, how can a man live up to the legend that surrounds him? He hardly seemed like a real person before she first laid eyes on him. Instead, she finds herself more curious with each passing day. Even here, in his solitude, Luke is hiding himself. His heavy robes hide movements that are still athletic. His beard hides features that haven't lost their charm. His uncovered robotic hand is cold and mechanical, but when he helps her with a stance and puts his hands on her shoulders or elbows, his touch is soft and precise. She can't stop watching him and piecing together the man from the bits of legends that she's heard all her life. If anything, she finds him more intriguing now, as a person.
He's curious about her, too. She can tell. Life on Jakku has taught Rey to be aware of her surroundings, and how other look at her. At first she's pleased to see that Luke is impressed by her. Then she's surprised to see thinly-veiled desire.
She welcomes the possibility she sees. She's never met anyone like him before. He reminds her of herself, and though she's only known him a short time, she trusts him to understand her.
At night, she dreams of him. One night, she wakes up feeling on edge, like she really was just with him, and was rudely interrupted. She turns her head toward the closed door leading to his bedroom, and she can feel his presence on the other side.
It takes little courage to get up and step into his bedroom. He's on the bed, his back to her, and she climbs up beside him, kneeling over him.
He wakes immediately, and he jerks, startled. When he sees that it's her, he relaxes.
"I'm sorry," she says. "I didn't mean to startle you." She silently curses herself for sneaking up on him. She's like this, too—she wakes easily if someone is near.
"What is it?" he asks. He turns onto his back and sits up.
"Don't you know?"
Realization dawns on his face, and he frowns, saying, "Rey—"
She cuts him off with a kiss. She presses her lips against his and a warm tingle courses through her body like a small current of electricity.
Luke puts his hands on her shoulders and gently pushes her away.
"Rey, I can't. I won't"
"What do you mean?"
"I've failed too many people. I won't fail you, too."
"But I've seen how you look at me. I thought—"
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry you noticed it."
Rey blinks to disperse the tears of humiliation that are welling in her eyes. She'd felt so certain.
Wordlessly, she gets up and leaves the room. She can hear him calling to her as she exits the hut, but she doesn't look back.
* * *
Luke decides to give her some time. He can sense her, and though her anguish makes him ashamed of himself, he's relieved nonetheless that she's still on the island and isn't hurt. But when she doesn't return by mid-morning, he goes looking for her.
It's not a big island, and he finds her on the beach of his dream. When he sees her there, looking so similar to what he'd dreamt, he almost doesn't go down to her. But he's never been a coward, and he won't start being one now.
"You don't have to talk to me," she says when he comes near. "I understand. I was mistaken—that's all. You don't need to lie to make it better."
"You weren't mistaken. I've felt something since the moment I saw you."
She looked over her shoulder. "Then why?"
"Because you're my student now. I thought that's what you wanted."
"I don't care if you're not interested. But don't say it's for my own good. You don't know me. You don't owe me anything."
"The Jedi used to require celibacy. I never followed that rule, but I've failed as a Jedi master in many ways. I've asked myself what myou teachers would think ofor my feelings for you. I'm not sure they'd approve."
Rey raises her eyebrows. "The Jedi sound like idiots. And what if the Force is why I feel drawn to you?"
This is what he's afraid of. "I don't know. I don't trust my own judgement anymore." He puts a hand on her shoulder, worried as he does so that she'll flinch away. She doesn't. "Rey, I need you to understand—the last time I tried to train new Jedi, I failed, and they're dead."
Rey turns to face him. "I'm not your responsibility. I came here for you."
She kisses him, and this time he doesn't pull away. Her words are too reassuring when all he wants is to make live to her.
* * *
Rey leads the way back to Luke's hut. In the doorway, she takes his robotic hand in hers, leading him to the bedroom.
As he kisses her, there's something about Luke that sings to her and awakens something within herself that she didn't know was sleeping. Is it because of the Force? Is this why all her other attractions pale in comparison? It's all so confusing. She can't make sense of half his instructions. She doesn't know why anyone would want to fight blindfolded, as impressive as it may be.
Right now, in his arms, she begins to appreciate what being a Jedi means. It means loneliness. And why shouldn't they be together? Why shouldn't he want her? It's like he's the only other person in the galaxy right now, and she realizes that he feels the same about her. They're alone on this tiny planet. They might as well be alone in the galaxy. There's no one to judge them. She kisses him desperately as she feels him through his robe and pants, trying to touch him through the bulk. She works her hand down the front of his pants, feeling. When she finds his cock, it's warm hard under her hand.
She's never let anyone undress her before. On Jakku, she usually didn't take off all of her clothes. She was in too much of a rush, or she wanted to hold some part of herself back. But Luke is gentle as he undresses her, and he treats the act with such reverence that it makes her feel desirable—more than just a convenient fuck in a lonely trading outpost. She wants him to explore her. She wants to explore him.
He lets her undress him next. She runs her finger across a small scar on his shoulder before running her hand down his side, to his hip. She takes his hand and leads him to the bed.
Luke is still tentative. He touches her softly, barely grazing her skin with his fingertips. She isn't sure if it's because he thinks she'll break or if he's scared of what he'll feel if he ooens himself up.
She wants to reassure him. She wants him to realize that he's not the only one who can't help himself, and that he's not the only one who's taken on a responsibility that he wouldn't have chosen. Straddling his lap, Rey leans over and says softly into his ear, "It's okay. You don't have to deny yourself. We deserve this."
She won't let him blame himself when they're her desires, too.
She presses her pelvis against his cock and grinds against his thigh. She thinks she can feel his arousal in her mind, mingling with hers until she can't separate the two.
"Is it always like this?" she asks him. He looks puzzled, so she elaborates. "When two people can use the Force, is sex always like this?"
"I don't know," he says. "I've never tried it."
It surprises her a little that there's something he doesn't know. She doesn't think she's been guilty of idolizing him, but it's hard not to. She likes that there's something they can discover together.
She lifts her hips and inches forward. Slowly, she lowers herself onto his cock, letting him fill her.
His hands are resting on her hips, but it feels like they're on her back and in her hair as well, as though he has a few sets of invisible hands. Her neck tingles as though he's kissing her. She can feel the tickle of his beard even though he isn't touching her.
She's starting to get a little dizzy. Her whole body is tingling. But she finds the strength to thrust against him. Her vision starts to fade around the corners, and she gasps. She can feel herself being pulled into a vision, like before. Luke, sensing her distress, grabs her hands and squeezes.
"It's okay," he murmurs. "You're okay."
His touch grounds her. Images flicker through her mind, but they're not threatening. She sees two suns hanging in a yellow sky. She sees sand, but not Jakku sand. She sees thick pink clouds. She sees other worlds with terrains like she could never imagine. These are his memories, but they feel like her own.
When the visions end, she finds herself peering down at Luke's blue eyes. She runs her hands along his chest, delighting in the touch of her skin against his and the way it feels like electricity sparks between them. She braces her hands on his shoulders, supporting herself as she rides him and grinds against his groin. Luke is writhing underneath her, moaning her name. But his eyes are still open, locked onto hers.
When she comes, it's like a wave that radiates through her entire body. Luke gasps, as though he's experiencing it, too. And a moment later, he is. His orgasm reverberates through her like an aftershock. She whimpers from overstimulation, and collapses against his chest.
Afterward, Luke holds her. She's never been held before. Not like this.
He searches her face, and she can tell he's looking for signs of regret, or at least a confirmation that she's happy. She gives him a soft kiss, and then touches her finger to his lips.
"I'm glad I came here," she said. "I didn't know what to expect. I thought you might turn me away."
"I considered it. I came here for solitude. But I knew you were coming. I was prepared for it. Just not...this. You asked me if it's always like this. But I haven't met that many people like you before. There aren't that many of us. The Empire killed any Force-sensitives they found. If you were a few years older, you might be have been killed."
Rey frowns. She knows so little about who she is, and why she was abandoned. Did her parents know what she could do? For the first time in her life, she feels fortunate. Everything that's happened has led her to this.
"It seems like a burden," she says.
"It is," he admits. "I thought it would be easier, rebuilding the Jedi."
She rests her head on his chest and listens to his heartbeat below her ear. "But you're not alone now. I can help, if you teach me. Say you'll let me. Say you'll teach me."
He strokes her hair. "I'll teach you."