Light surrounded her, so bright that she couldn't see anything else. It felt like it shined through her, exposing every dark thought and action. Ashamed, Rey withdrew into herself, trying to hide from that judgement.

Feeling another presence, she lifted her eyes to see blackness. It looked so cold and lonely, but promised concealment. Unsettled, it writhed and jerked with anger.

Her eyes were drawn down to where the light and dark met. The sides overlapped and created a thin line of gray. Peace and balance radiated off it.

Rey stepped up to the line but didn't cross over. She hesitated before extending a hand. Neither overpowering like the light side nor smothering like the dark side, the gray line felt comforting as it conformed around her hand.

A black-gloved hand emerged from the dark side and gently clasped hers. Unbelievable power surged through her at the touch. Instinctively, she clutched the hand, not wanting to be alone again.

She looked up to see the owner of the hand. It took a while for an image to form—they blended in so well. Tall, they wore black, but something metallic on their face reflected the light behind her. Rey strained even harder to make out the shape of the mas—

The shrill cry right at her ear had Rey jumping hard. On impulse, she grabbed the controls—thinking they were in danger—but it took her a moment to see the blur of blue and white: the Millennium Falcon was still in hyperspace, safe from danger.

She had to recollect why she was back on the ship: she had convinced Chewie to let her go to the Supremacy—Supreme Leader Snoke's ship—alone, sure of her vision that she could turn Kylo Ren. At first, she believed she had gotten to Ben Solo, for he killed his master instead of her, and they killed all Snoke's Elite Praetorian Guards together. But then he had tried to persuade her to join him in taking over the Galaxy, and they fought. She escaped him once again.

Using Snoke's escape vessel, Chewbacca picked her up, and refocused on following the homing beacon General Leia Organa had given her to find the Resistance. The signal led to the mineral-rich planet Crait, where the First Order had their attention as well. She helped in the fight; through a projection of himself, Master Luke Skywalker delayed Kylo Ren as the remnants of the Resistance searched for a way out of the mountains. Rey also used the Force to open an escape blocked by boulders for the Resistance; they piled into the Falcon, and now they were headed to Akiva, hoping to regroup with rebel sympathizers.

Recognizing the weight on her shoulder, she looked down to meet Porg's concerned gaze. The little bird with big black eyes and white, orange, and black feathers was cute, but his cries could get annoying. He trilled again, quieter but with a questioning tone. Chewbacca in the co-pilot's seat echoed his small friend's cry.

"I'm alright; I'm just more tired than I thought," she said.

"You were using the Force," Chewie said. It hadn't taken her long to understand the Wookiee way of speaking through incoherent roars and warbles.

Rey looked over to see compartments open and small things usually tucked away on the floor. She needed to be more in control over her emotions when she fell asleep—the best way to do that was probably not nodding off.

"I'm sorry, Chewie." With her hand outstretched, she used the Force to lift all the things and place them back into their compartments and shut the doors.

As she did this, she noticed some black and orange feathers were loose on the floor. Rey looked back at the Porg Chewbacca had befriended back on Ahch-To. "Did I hurt you?"

He gave a sad cry, and his eyes turned pitiful.

She gave him a little hug. "Oh, I'm sorry, Porg. I didn't mean to. I'll get better control; I promise."

He trilled, assured of her words.

She looked over at the Wookiee. "But I think it best if I go get some sleep. You have everything, Chewie?"

He crowed.

Rey took Porg off her shoulder and sat him on the console between the pilot and co-pilot's seat, and headed for the door. It slid open, she shut it behind her when she stepped out into the quiet hallway, and went left.

With the completely vacant corridor, the promise she just gave Porg resonated in her head, and Rey hugged herself for comfort. She honestly didn't know how she could live up to her words. With Master Luke dead, she had no teacher; no one to help her find balance in the Force.

Kylo Ren had said he could teach her, but probably by showing her the Force through the Dark Side. And so, he wasn't an option, then or now, as the self-proclaimed Supreme Leader of the First Order. If he had turned to the Light and became Ben Solo again, she would've jumped at the chance to train under him. But he had remained Kylo Ren, the dark knight.

So, it was all up to her. She'd have to teach herself; basically, she was on her own again.

Ever since she had found BB-8 and eventually Finn two years ago, she had a feeling that her life would change. And it did. Sucked into running from the First Order with the ex-Stormtrooper and the droid. Met Han Solo and Chewbacca; thought she had found a father-figure in the smuggler. Found out that she was Force Sensitive; taken by Kylo Ren and interrogated. Saw Han Solo be killed by his son, almost lost Finn too, and had a lightsaber duel with Kylo as Starkiller Base was destroyed.

She left an unconscious Finn to seek out Luke Skywalker; finding him, she practically had to beg the reluctant Jedi Master to train her. During the months on his island, an unexpected connection developed between her and Kylo Ren—one where she could see, talk, and even physically touch him. Everything he told her clashed with what Master Luke told her, and him revealing more about himself just conflicted her more in her view of him.

When they touched hands, she saw Kylo turning to the Light, so she went to Snoke's ship to help him. But it had all been manipulated by the Supreme Leader to draw her out and complete Kylo as a Sith with him killing her. Her hope rose when Kylo killed Snoke and they fought together, but him taking his dead master's place crushed it.

Meeting all these new people had her thinking she wouldn't be alone anymore. But she lost her father-figure, lost her Jedi Master, and lost her friend with Finn turning to Rose Tico. She was the last Jedi. There was no one like her, except for her enemy, Kylo Ren.

How is it that she's still isolated?

Rey ground to a stop as her awareness shot up at feeling a familiar disturbance—a changing in the air.

"No," she whispered as she whipped around. The solid wall to her right had changed, growing deeper. She looked into a foreign room, mostly silver, with Kylo Ren sitting in a chair and reading some paper. His tousled black hair slightly hung in his eyes, nearly touching the scar running across his right cheek, and he wore his black attire like usual. At least he had a shirt on this time.

His dark brown eyes shot up; surprise, and something else briefly flickered in them.

"Snoke is dead. How is this still happening?" she demanded.

"Like I said before: someone much powerful than you or I must be connecting us." His deep voice rumbled with boredom, as if he was tired of explaining again. "So... Skywalker."

Rey didn't respond, just continued to glare at him.

His eyes widened as realization dawned on him. "So, that was the change I felt in the Force. Luke Skywalker is dead..." He looked off.

She couldn't tell what crossed his face before he turned away. The only emotions she had seen him show before were anger, despair, or pain; she didn't think that blank face could express anything else.

"Isn't that what you wanted? You wanted to know where he was so you could kill him."

Kylo's eyes shot over to her, sharp as daggers. "Don't presume you know what I wanted."

"Then what was it, Ben? Why did you need to know his location so badly?"

The corner of his full lips lifted into a smirk. "You think I would let you into my head?"

"You let Snoke."

The smirk disappeared. "I didn't let him—he forced himself in."

"So, you want my pity?"

Kylo jumped to his feet. "I want nothing from you, little Scavenger!"

Rey held her ground and kept her face placid, but Kylo Ren's tall form all in black and his sudden outburst had fear freezing her. For a second, she had forgotten how intimidating and terrorizing the dark knight could be. Ben Solo wasn't like that.

"Rey?"

She quickly looked to her right, not seeing the form of Poe Dameron in his orange flight suit coming down the corridor she had been facing—so focused on Kylo appearing.

His eyes scanned around her. "Who were you talking to?"

"No one. Myself—I was just talking out loud," she stammered.

Poe's eyes narrowed—he didn't believe her. "Are you okay?"

"Yes. I'm fine." She turned away before he could ask her another question to head for the pilot quarters. As she turned, her eyes passed over the wall where Kylo Ren had appeared. He was gone.