It was early afternoon when he felt it, a disturbance in the peace that surrounded the tiny island on which he had found his solitude for the last decade.

Luke Skywalker immediately opened his eyes from his meditation ritual in the temple and rose to his feet, quickly exiting into the sunlight and down the steps to the lush green overlook.

When he reached the edge, he looked down to the cliffs below and drew in a stunned breath when he saw the Millennium Falcon landing near the shore.

Luke's eyes narrowed.

It couldn't be Han. That was impossible. He was dead.

Luke had felt it through the force when it happened.

And though he was grieved beyond measure at the passing of his longtime friend and brother in law, part of him took satisfaction in feeling through the force that his former student and nephew, Ben, hadn't gained the power he had sought when he killed Solo, his own father.

Suddenly, his mind came back to the present.

If Han was dead, then it must be Chewie on board. But how had the wookie found him?

And why had he felt a disturbance in the force surrounding him on the island?

Luke's blue eyes widened as the ship's cargo bay door opened and R2 and Chewie came out first, followed by a young girl—a teenager really—tall and dark and strong.

Luke took in a staggered breath and immediately grasped his chest as he felt the force immediately flow aggressively through him—stronger than ever, seemingly just at the sight of the girl.

Suddenly, he realized that she was doing this to him

The force was strong with her.

That he could sense

Luke continued to watch the scene below, still trying to catch his breath, as the girl spoke to the wookie and the droid, then started up the steps on the side of the mountain to the temple.

His mind suddenly raced of its own volition, driven by the power of the force as it suddenly grew stronger by the presence of the girl as she grew closer to him.

There was a quick, searing pain in his chest and he closed his eyes as memories began to flow through him and he heard Obi Wan's voice.

"A Jedi must not know anger…"

And Luke saw a memory of himself ten years before, falling to his knees in anger and sadness as he beheld the dead bodies of the young Jedi massacred at his academy.

"He must not know hate or revenge…"

He then saw himself, light saber drawn, standing face to face with his nephew, Ben Solo, now beneath the mask of the Sith Lord Kylo Ren.

"He must let love and compassion inform all that he is…"

Suddenly a flash of images—Luke hugging Leia on Endor, A young Han smiling over his shoulder at him from the pilot seat of the Millennium Falcon, Seeing the kindness in his father's face as he pulled off Dark Vader's helmet before he died, Smirking as he pulled a beautiful woman with auburn hair and soft brown eyes into his arms and kissed her, Patiently teaching a group of Jedi young-lings basic saber skills, Ben Solo crying as he put a kind hand on his nephew's shoulder …

"But, fear is what a Jedi must never feel…"

He saw himself placing his robotic hand reassuringly on R2 D2 a decade ago and telling him he must go into hiding for the safety of everyone.

He saw himself handing his light saber over to Maz

"Fear is the precursor of hate and revenge. But, love...unconditional and overwhelming love... can also create fear..."

Luke saw a younger version of himself looking lovingly down at a small infant wrapped in blankets in his arms

"Fear of loss…"

He then saw himself kneeling before a small child—a girl—as he reluctantly put a gentle hand to the side of her temple

Then closing his eyes in pain and regret as he took off in his ship, leaving her behind while her young voice called out to him through the force, though she stood miles away on the planet's surface...

"No! Come back!"

Luke suddenly opened his eyes as the girl's screams finally died in the back of his mind.

He swallowed as he felt the force continue to flow through him, but any pain had now passed.

All he felt now was a radiating warmth humming through him.

Luke had just lowered his robotic hand from his chest, when he felt her presence behind him and her voice seemingly calling out to him again through the force, though this time it wasn't a scream from a the sandy surface of a distant planet, it was more of a gentle urging.

I've traveled a long way to see you. Look at me.

Luke took a breath to steel himself, then slowly turned around to come face to face with the young woman he had seen on the shore below.

As he gently threw back the hood of his cloak, his eyes betrayed what his heart suddenly knew as they locked eyes- the sharp angles of her flush face and the familiar soft brown eyes she had inherited from her mother...it was her.

He had seen a younger version of her every night in his dreams for the past decade.

And now she was here.

After all these years, she had found him.

Luke stared at her in stunned awe for a few moments, the silence palpable between them, until the girl, without breaking eye contact, reached down into her bag and pulled out Luke's old light saber.

Luke's eyes narrowed as he beheld the relic of his past—both relics of his past.

The girl now held it out to him with a quiet dignity and no words, waiting for him to step forward and claim it as his own.

He wanted to.

But, when he saw it, he was instantly reminded of the Jedi Code and of all the things that Obi Wan had warned him against.

He was painfully reminded of the rules he broken and those who had paid the price, including the scores of Jedi young-lings lying dead at his feet.

Confusion and uncertainty crossed the girl's face and Luke suddenly realized that she must have seen the conflict on his own.

She had to understand. This was his penance, his exile.

He could not will himself to take up the mantle of the Jedi again. He would not take the light saber from her.

But, he decided, if he couldn't will himself to claim his light saber, he could at least step forward and claim something else that belonged to him.

"Rey…" Luke spoke, his voice breaking slightly and his eyes softening as he took in the surprise on the girl's face as he slowly walked forward and began to close the distance to her

As he did so, there was suddenly a pull between them—a connection where the force had suddenly sparked and flowed between their bodies.

And it now seemed Rey was feeling it, too. She lowered the light saber and narrowed her eyes as they fluttered and she studied his face more intently, "Do—do we know each other?"

"We do." Luke acknowledged with a nod as he moved even closer, "We first met eighteen years ago. It was in the Autumn. I waited for you for hours and it wasn't until nearly dawn that you arrived into this world and were thereafter placed into my arms and was told I was a father—your father."

Rey's eyes widened as she felt the force continue to flow between them and release something that seemed to have been locked inside her—it was a memory.

A memory of the man standing before her, much younger and kneeling in front of her when she was a child on Jakku, tears in his eyes.

"I love you more than anything in this universe and I hope one day, you might forgive me for what I must now do." The long fingers of his left hand suddenly rose to her temple. "Now, close your eyes, my darling, and think of an island…"

Rey gasped as she blinked and tears came to her own eyes as she whispered, "The island."

She suddenly looked around her, taking in her surroundings before she looked up to Luke as he now stood before her, "This is the island that I've gone to so many times in my mind as I grew up. All those times when I couldn't sleep, when I was scared or alone, I closed my eyes and I came here. You left it for me, didn't you? The island. You must have taken my other memories—that is the only explanation for Kylo Ren not being able to find out anything about me...who I am or where I come from? All he saw when he read my mind was this island."

Luke nodded, "When I was forced to leave you on Jakku, I knew I had to take your memories to keep you safe in case the Sith Lords ever came looking for me. But, I couldn't bear to leave you with nothing. By then, I had already chosen where I was going to exile myself, so I left you the vision of the island so that you had something of me and when your mind accessed it—it was like you were here with me, only you didn't know it…"

"It's like I had the map to you all along," Rey said, smirking, "And Kylo had no idea."

Luke gave a sad smile in return as he raised his left hand to side of his daughter's face and thought of the infant that he once held in his arms, "I let you go all those years ago, thinking that I'd never see you again..."

"Well...surprise?!" Rey chuckled as she brought her hand to rest over his on her face and Luke smiled

"You're just as beautiful as I remember you," he said softly as he looked into her face, seeming to study every inch, "You have your mother's eyes."

"But, the force. The ability to feel it and use it..." Rey said, suddenly holding the light saber up in the space between them, "That I got from my father."