I've had this idea since April, but am just now getting around to writing and posting it. I am SUPER proud of it so far and am excited to do the rest of the story! This is cross posted on A03.

Bolded text is Artoo talking; italics are Rey's thoughts.

The title is from the song "Falling Away" by Big Scary. Go listen to it! It will probably make a teensy bit more sense in future chapters, but I promise it'll fit. :)

I don't own anything. I wish. Enjoy!

When the Millennium Falcon first breached Ahch-To's atmosphere, Rey's jaw dropped.

"There's so much water," she whispered. Chewie glanced over at her for a moment, much like the way Han did on Takodana; he tilted the controls for the Falcon down towards the water, barely above the surface. Water sprayed up on both sides, and Rey threw back her head and giggled.

Chewie looped around the largest island before slowly settling the ship down. Artoo rolled out into the pilot's cabin and whistled.

The cave entrance to the Temple is on the other side; however, there are two sets of stairs leading to the top. There is a high probability that Luke will be waiting up there for you.

"I know, Artoo; I saw them, too," Rey said. Artoo beeped something sarcastic and wheeled off. Rey sighed and shook her head.

She stood up, grabbed her staff, and looked at Chewie. "Well, what are we waiting for?"

He howled.

Rey stepped off the Falcon and took in her surroundings. There was just so much color. The blue of the ocean extended as far out as she could see, with green and black mountains dotting the skyline.

Rey turned, and up the side of the nearest mountain were the first set of ancient, worn stone steps. She started her hike, turning back once to look at Chewie and Artoo and wave. Chewie howled an encouragement, and Rey turned back to continue her journey.

The stairs seemed endless, and Rey really wished she had her speeder, especially for the journey back down. She finally reached the top clearing and huffed with exertion. The clearing was framed by several small, cracking stone structures.

"Whoa," Rey said under her breath. She reached out to touch one of the structures and ran her hand down over the crack. Rey walked on, fingers brushing the surface of every structure she passed. She looked on to the other side of the clearing; the tips of the other set of stairs peeked over unevenly.

All of a sudden, Rey sensed a blinding light presence behind her, and she stumbled. It was just as bright as General Organa's, if not brighter. She turned around, and a cloaked man was standing forty feet away with his back towards her.

Luke. Her stomach twisted, and she gaped for what felt like hours. She stumbled forward a bit, her knees weak with awe. The butterflies in her stomach whirled.

Finally, he slowly turned around to face her. He reached up and flicked back his hood. She drank in the sight of his face. He'd grown a lot older than he was in the holos Leia showed her. The blonde in his hair had faded to white, and so was his beard.

His eyes were just as blue as they'd been thirty years ago.

Rey blinked. She didn't know what she'd been expecting, but this wasn't it. Slowly, she reached into her duffle and pulled out the lightsaber - his lightsaber - and held it out towards him.

His gaze flickered down to his lightsaber and then back up to her face, the conflict clear in his eyes.

All of a sudden, the silence was broken by the sound of echoing footsteps.

Rey froze. Someone else is here, she realized. Her head snapped up, and she clenched her staff tight with her other hand.

Another man's head poked up from ascending the stairs. He had long black hair streaked with gray and dark blue eyes. Seemingly unaware of the moment he'd just intruded upon, he stopped behind Luke, reading the back of an empty box clutched in his hand.

"Hey, Luke, do we have any more Caf, or will I have to run out and-" The man reached the top of the stairs and looked up at Luke. His gaze followed Luke's to Rey, and then down to the lightsaber she was still holding out. He dropped the box of Caf, and it tumbled down the steps.

Luke closed his eyes in exasperation and let out a long, calming breath.

"Well," the man said. He grinned weakly at Rey. "Karabast!"

HUGE thanks to hotsam1 on Tumblr for putting up with my billions of headcanons and ideas for this. I'm on Tumblr, too - anakien - so come talk to me about this! I would appreciate any and all reviews you guys could give me! Hope ya liked it!