Disclaimer: I do not own anything. All rights belong to George Lucas and Disney respectively.

Chapter One: Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust

"And I still have other smothered memories, now unfolding themselves into limbless monsters of pain."

Jakku. It was a barren, ruinous wasteland located in a remote region within the Western Reaches that orbited closely to a red sun that scorched warmly on its best days and burned oppressively on its worst. Its dry heat swirled endlessly day and night, desiccating all things in its path in a never-ending maelstrom of fiery gusts of wind and rough sandy landscapes that had stretched out in a seemingly infinite dusky void. Just as dry and turbulent as its environment were its people who had managed to outlast the test of the time in such an unbearable planet through long years of suffering, acclimating, and finally evolving in its unforgiving climate.

Jakku—it was the desert wasteland planet famous for being the pinnacle of trading and interplanetary business. Jakku, it was home. Its relentless heat was what blanketed her in comfort like a warm thermal sheath of peace and tranquility. Its dry, parched lands were what padded the soles of her aching feet as she traversed the wastelands to scavenge for anything she could find. Its harsh and grim-faced people were what hardened her heart, what shaped her soul in order for her to endure and thrive to ultimately become the woman she was today. Jakku was home.

Now the once comforting sight of a blazing sun scintillating in all its malignant glory and the myriad hilltops of sand that burned like hot coals was gone, replaced with a cold metal ship even more oppressive than Jakku's legendary heat that surrounded her entirety, enclosing her like a caged bird—like a prisoner. Along with the cold, metal starship, came the sight of a vast landscape of space that stretched on like an endless void.

"I want to go home," she muttered harshly as she rubbed at the manacles that tied her down to the cramped starship's co-pilot chair.

The man next to her, the ship's pilot, quirked an inquisitive brow. "Surely, you don't wish to return back to those hellish wastelands," he murmured in resolution.

"I have to go back, please, I have to," she said quietly. "I don't understand why I'm being taken prisoner for not having wronged anyone, I...I haven't done anything against the Galactic Order, to-to The Republic, I mean... I haven't even done anything that could be considered incriminating in my entire life and yet..."

The man seemed unfazed as he continued to pilot the starship and gazed ahead, his dark brown eyes seemingly fixated at the streak of stars flying past them in hyperdrive.

"Yet, you pluck me from my home and treat me as if I'm a criminal.." Rey finished off as her now glassy eyes shifted downcast looking at nothing in particular—looking at anything but the solemn Jedi who piloted the ship with a frown that never left his countenance from the moment she met him.

"You are no prisoner, believe me—" he began and she looked at him pointedly with her gaze shifting towards her bindings.

He sighed. "Those handcuffs are to protect you from yourself... From trying to break free and escape to those wastelands again, or from preventing you to get any funny ideas about fighting your way out."

"So, essentially I am a prisoner. Don't sugarcoat it, Jedi."

"I have reiterated time and time again that you are to address me as Master Windu, not Jedi, not Sir Jedi, not Mister Jedi, nor Sir Baldman," he finished off distastefully.

She tried to hide her smirk at his last words and pressed her lips in a thin line. "Regardless, I want to go home."

"No."

She sighed and threw her head back in frustration. "But, why? Why are you forcing me away from my home, what did I do to have wronged you so?"

She just could not understand. One moment she was bartering her catch of the day—an external combustion engine from scraps she found off a broken starfighter left in ruins from the separatist settlement a few miles away in the badlands—in Niima outpost, a trading post where merchants from across the galaxy would sell and trade their goods, and then some idiotic merchant's child had tried to pickpocket her earnings and she had gotten so frustrated that something came over her. All of a sudden, the bag of two hundred druggats she had rightfully earned had slipped out of the Crolute child's hands and flew towards Rey within seconds. She was stunned, for something like that had never occurred before, regardless how strongly her emotions would fluctuate from time to time.

She felt a pulling within her core, as if some untouched coils had finally ignited causing the proverbial cogs to turn. That feeling within incited a strong force to overcome her, one that she could not fully comprehend for it felt so intangible and foreign. Then, she was thrust into some dark evocation, a memory of a young girl crying out towards her beloved family as they left her stranded on a wasteland. She cried and cried until her little voice grew hoarse. And then Rey blinked and the image was gone, she was back in Niima outpost standing dumbfounded like a fool.

However, the next thing she knew, she was being bombarded by two figures draped in Jedi robes, one whom had been a human much like herself and the other who was a female that bore the physical features of a Chalactan. At first, she was not surprised that the Jedi Order would be visiting Jakku, knowing that the Separatists had recently established an outpost to manufacture droids within the Goazan Badlands just a little ways north off the Niima outpost. But when they started to coerce her, then that was when she felt a little apprehension form in her gut. For what would two people hailing from the legendary Jedi Order want with a mere scavenger much like herself?

Then they had to go and tell her nonsense. Nonsense, such as the idea of them having felt her presence within the force and what was worse, they had the unmitigated gall to force her to come with them immediately so she could be "assessed" by the Jedi council. To which she refused and fled. She had ran, oh how she ran, but the Jedi were skilled and had caught her within mere minutes.

Since then, it had been days since she had been holed up in this dreaded vessel. Days. She was already so tired of how long each passing moment slowed in a long and tedious cycle, that she lost count on how many escape attempts she tried and how many days, possibly weeks had passed since the two Jedi had unceremoniously plucked her from her daily routine of living on Jakku.

"You are force-sensitive, in fact, you are strong with the force. We were drawn to your presence from a vision felt within the force, the source itself had been you. It is against the code to take on individuals who are far too old to be trained as a Jedi, however, you may be a special circumstance. You...You are considered a vergence, a phenomenon of the force has centered itself around your entirety. I have felt it, there is a strong pull of the force within you, so strong was this pull that I was able to identify your presence within a one hundred and sixty kilometer radius, and so has my apprentice Depa. Therefore, you must return with us to Coruscant, there, you will be able to enter the Jedi Temple where your force sensitivity can be properly assessed."

"Well, I'm not some training dog who should be treated as a pawn in the hands of the Jedi, I'm a human being. So, what makes you think I'm strong with the force? Aren't those who are strong with the force found at an early age and taken from their homes to train? I'm hardly even young anymore, I will be turning nineteen after the next lunisolar rotation."

"That is why you are to be assessed by the council. You won't be necessarily trained, I hope...I myself am confounded at the fact that you were not discovered earlier on and how for some strange oddity, you have been out of the Jedi Order's jurisdiction. We feel all things within the force, whether it be the most minuscule of presences, we feel it... However, you—"

"You didn't feel my force presence, right? Maybe I'm just an anomaly, maybe I'm not even force sensitive... You must have made a mistake. Please, return me back to my home," she pleaded.

"My master is never wrong in assessing a presence in the force," another voice piped in, as Depa Billaba came strolling in through the control room threshold.

"Please, just return me home. I have no business with you Jedi."

"As the master of the Order second only to grandmaster Yoda, I can do many things. However, that, I cannot do. The Order cannot ignore any individual who possesses such a strong force sensitivity much like yourself," Mace Windu finished, leaving no further arguments in their discussion.

Rey sighed at this.

There was a disturbance in the temple, Anakin could feel it in the force.

Most of the Jedi Masters were scrambling about upon the return of Master Mace Windu and the Jedi knight Depa Billaba, the master of the Order's former padawan. There were hushed whispers resonating throughout the halls and Anakin himself had picked up a few of the rumors circulating around, alleging the source of the disturbance after passing two fellow padawans near the corridor veering off the Room of a Thousand Fountains—where he had been meditating for the entire morning. They had murmured in hushed tones about Master Windu returning with a scavenger from his mission in Jakku and apparently, this was no mere scavenger, apparently, this scavenger was strong with the force.

This had piqued the young Skywalker's interest wholeheartedly.

He rushed towards the council meeting room where his own Master would probably be in as well. Obi-Wan Kenobi was to replace the previous seat of Coleman Trebor, therefore he was frequenting many of the meetings until official orders would finally be put in place. Since this was no formal meeting, often times the Jedi Master's would bring their own padawans to the council room. It was an effective way to show their apprentices a glimpse of the Jedi Order's formal sanctions in order for them to familiarize themselves with the Order's internal affairs. Anakin himself wanted to see the source of the commotion and he knew Obi-Wan would have no qualms with his padawan wanting to be by his side.

He entered the council room and immediately spotted his master who had undoubtedly saved a spot for his apprentice to join him. They shared a glance with one another, before the boy solemnly nodded to perch next to his master.

"There's talk within the temple about Master Windu's latest return," Anakin leaned towards the other man and whispered.

"So, there has," Obi-Wan replied with a contemplative glance. "What have you heard?"

"The padawans have been talking of a scavenger in Jakku with sensitivity to the force, is this true master?"

Obi-Wan turned towards his apprentice giving him a leveled gaze, but before he began to speak, the grandmaster Yoda and Mace Windu came striding in the room along with a party of other council members following behind them. The once chatter-filled room grew silent as all its occupants fixated their attention upon the entering party, and above all, at the single girl dressed in standard desert-wear familiar to the wastelands of the desert planet Jakku. Both Anakin and his master began to survey the girl, along with all the other Jedi Master's who had been in the room.

She was all coarse sand and dry heat. A thin, wispy thing with tawny hair, hazel eyes, and dry skin, gilded and tanned like the parched flatlands of the desert, while the eyes were like a mosaic of smooth stones eroded from the hot gusts of dry winds. A light dusting of freckles like sand splayed across the bridge of her nose only making her features more prominent. She was the desert.

All occupants of the room silently watched as Master Windu led the girl towards the center of the room. She trudged with slow, deliberate steps.

Anakin blinked once, eyes narrowed in scrutiny, he blinked twice. Yes, she was the desert indeed.

Despite the inherent diaphanousness of her visage and the feigned meekness of her gait as she ambled towards the center of the room, Anakin saw the markings of a marauder, one who traversed the desert on a daily-basis—it reminded him of himself being that he too had hailed from an impoverished wasteland once upon a time on Tatooine. She looked coarse and rough, the hardened lines on her face gave every indication of this. And indeed, the rumors he had caught wind of were in fact true, for he could feel the strong presence of the force within her as did everyone else in the room. It was strange.

"This here is Rey," Master Windu prompted as he cleared his throat, his hands were clasping the girls shoulder's as she glared at her feet. "I have rescued her from the wasteland in Jakku after sensing a strong pull of the force during my mission. She, I believe, is a vergence."

"A vergence, she is?" Master Yoda queried as he turned his gaze towards the girl.

"Yes, much like our resident padawan Skywalker, perhaps?" Plo Koon, one of the council members, had added.

"Yes, I believe so. Therefore, I have brought her back so we can assess her circumstances while adhering to the code. She may not be granted formal training, however, she has unbridled potential that can be put to use for the Order," Windu continued.

"Grant her training we might, if potential she has. Amongst other things age may be a problem, however," the diminutive green master continued.

"Yes, she is too old..." Master Windu nodded his head in affirmation.

"But you too, have felt a potential. That is why you brought her here, is it not Master Windu?" Obi-Wan finally spoke.

"Indeed, but formal training may prove to be far too difficult for someone to acclimate to at such an old age. All her years without conditioning of our code can lead to many shortcomings if she were to be trained, she could be more susceptible to the dark side," Plo Koon said.

"Yes, that was why I am hesitant with formal Jedi training," Master Windu conceded as he gripped the girl's shoulder.

"A pure heart, she has. No malevolence, I sense. Therefore, no problems we may find."

"May, may I speak?" The girl finally piped, her voice was hesitant and she failed to look anyone in the eye.

All eyes zeroed in on her and a wave of tenseness emanated off of her, which Anakin had caught through the force. He did not know why he was so attuned to her fluctuating emotions, he had been sensing it all the entire time. Her bewilderment, her frustration, her anxiety, everything, had undulated in waves that broke into the zenith of her demeanor. It was all veiled well, however, sheathed in a cover of feigned meekness and demure. He saw it all.

"I-I did not wish to be trained. I only wished to go home... I had no say in this, Mister Jed-I mean, Master Windu simply coerced me into following him. I didn't know I could use the force, I didn't mean to. But, I feel it now, I don't know what to do with it. I feel like it's calling to me, it made me see visions of my past, I don't know how. It's telling me that I belong here, I don't understand any of this," she said in a cracked lilt.

Rey was conflicted, a flurry of thoughts flooded her mind as she bowed her head from the scrutinizing eyes of all the Jedi in the room. She was hesitant at first about the situation in its entirety, deeming it unfair that she had been unceremoniously plucked out of her home world only to be thrust into a difficult situation like this. The Jedi were clearly at odds with her, she could sense an internal conflict within the room as all the members had argued with one another. Despite all this, she could not deny the imperceptible force that had been calling to her ever since she reclaimed her druggats from the pickpocket in Jakku. It was once intangible, this feeling, but as she let it fester within her, inciting many doubts of her previous thoughts of simply wanting to return home, she could not deny how palpable it felt now. This was the force, she knew it. Rey could only wonder why it felt like an awakening within, as if she had somehow been enlightened by a beacon of light that had laid dormant for the past eighteen years of her life. It told her to stay, maybe she should stay...

"However, the pressing matter is that you possess a great pull of the force within you. We cannot simply ignore your potential, you could become an excellent warrior if what Master Yoda says is true. A pure heart is the embodiment of the Light side, we as Jedi strive to fight for peace and ultimately balance in the force. You could do great things," Master Windu intoned.

"But if you're so conflicted with my age and not being able to properly keep to this Jedi code, why keep me then?" The girl questioned incredulously.

"You could be an asset to the Order," Another council member offered.

"Yes, she very much could be," Obi Wan agreed.

"So what shall we do Master Windu, Master Yoda?" They all turned towards the two men, seeking their ever-sapient decisions.

"I could train her," he replied and a jumble of whispers erupted within the room. "After all, it was I who found her and brought her here, it may as well be my responsibility. And of course, I will try to condition her to be a great Jedi just as my previous apprentices have been."

Depa Billaba grinned at her master's words and the entire body of both Jedi master's and high council members all nodded in agreement.

"Then train her, you shall," Master Yoda agreed.

"W-What?" Rey squeaked as her jaw dropped to gape at the men.

All eyes turned towards her in a silent nod of approval and in that very moment as she felt her face flush in embarrassment at the situation in its entirety, Rey wished she could just disappear.

She was led down the vast corridors of the Jedi temple by the man she was to call master, nodding silently each time he spoke to address her about anything and everything. Mace Windu had took it upon himself to personally tour her around the entire temple before showing her to her new living quarters.

"Why?" She finally voiced after only answering with monosyllabic replies their entire interaction. "Why have you brought me here, why have you taken it upon yourself to personally train me? From what I hear, your the Master of the Order—a position that holds a great deal of time consuming responsibility. Yet, you agreed to train me?"

"I saw your force vision," Windu replied in a somber tone. "Not many Jedi have the ability to be able to view a vision within the force experienced by another, but I saw yours. It is a rarity of course. I felt connected to you, oddly enough... I feel as if the force itself has told me to take you under my wing as my padawan."

Mace Windu halted in his steps and turned towards her, gazing at her intently as he did this. "Do you understand, Rey? The force is mysterious in its ways, but when push comes to shove, it reveals many things to those who are privy to it. The force beckoned me to reach out to you, to train you as my pupil. I cannot deny the powers of the force."

"So, is the force an entity? I don't understand how it works, all I can truly do is feel it. It has not revealed anything to me in such a way," Rey frowned.

"In time, you too, will understand the ways of the force. It is an omniscient pull that embeds itself within all living beings, within the very cracks of the universe itself. Those who are gifted with the ability to be attuned to it, become Jedi. We seek to uphold the balance that the force creates."

"So, essentially the force is the balance of the universe, dare I say?"

"In a sense, yes, to put it in the most simplistic view as possible."

"I see..."

"Judging from your earlier words, I must ask, do you truly wish to return home or are you willing to forego training as a Jedi? The choice is entirely up to you now, I cannot force you any longer."

"I-I did say I wished to return home, that much is true..." Rey hesitated. "But... There's something churning inside me, I feel it now, I felt it then in the first moments it revealed itself on Jakku but it was something I couldn't really comprehend much less understand. But being here, being surrounded by people who understand the fundamentals of the force and are able to manipulate it much like I somehow can, I realized that this feeling that had been tugging at me...it's the force, isn't it? I feel like I... I feel as if I should stay."

Mace Windu clasped his hands together and for the first time, from her very first encounter with him, a smile had erupted upon his face. "Well, I suppose I should leave you to rest for the rest of the afternoon. Dinner will be held in the mess hall within another hour, so for now, you are free to do what you wish as long as you stay within the bounds of the temple. Tomorrow is when your training shall begin, so I advise you to eat a good meal and get enough sleep for the day ahead. You will meet me in the Room of a Thousand Fountains where I will teach you meditation and basic force manipulation."

Rey nodded absorbing all the new information. "So, I'm free to do whatever until then?"

"Yes, within the bounds of the temple. If you so happen to get yourself into any trouble, I can sense you through the force and I will most certainly come running—this is my only warning to you, Rey. So behave," her new master chided.

"I will."

"Good. Now, I will show you to your permanent living quarters," he said as he veered off towards another hallway, his robes swishing behind him in his strides.

Rey followed him down a corridor where he informed her all the padawans would reside. It was a small complex of doors that lined a double sided hallway. Windu then ambled towards the very last door that led to the end of the corridor," This will be your room."

The automated doors retracted and Rey tentatively peered in. The sight of four plain white walls, a giant glass window, a small bed furnished in simple white bedsheets, and an unused set of an automated dresser slot built in the walls and its matching vanity met her eyes. Rey whistled as she surveyed her room. It was a luxury compared to her old makeshift home, she had lived in an abandoned ship off the Niima outpost back in Jakku.

"That door next to your bed leads to the bathroom. In there you have your standard shower and toilet. Toiletries and other amenities are already provided, however you can always amass your own collection over time like the other padawans who bring things back from their missions," her master grunted.

"Okay," Rey nodded.

"I'll leave you to it then, heed my advice and eat and get a goodnight's rest. I will see you during dinner," he finished off before exiting her room with the door sliding itself closed.

Rey sighed for what seemed the nth time she had been under the Jedi Temple and slumped on her new bed.

It was an outlandish feeling, actually having a real bed for once, not having some sleeping mat and old blankets to keep her warm. She had never in her life imagined having her own room, much less permanently residing in the Jedi Temple. To be quite frank, she truly believed that she would have been scavenging for the rest of her life. She did not mind it, however, scavenging had been one of the most integral aspects of her very existence—it was necessary for her survival in the wastelands of Jakku being abandoned as a young child. To think that she had just kissed her last chances of doing that was daunting to her to say the least. No longer would she be able to bask in the familiarity of the scorching heat synonymous to her old home, no longer would she have to constantly fight for survival or for food in her stomach.

Things were different, she could feel it.

And now... Now she would be training under the Jedi Order as a padawan, something she would have never even fathomed in her entire life. These last few days since she met Mace Windu and his former apprentice Depa Billaba had completely changed her life and she did not know whether it was for better or for worse. Only time would truly tell.

With a newfound resolve, Rey stood up from her perch and strode to the washroom. All she wanted to do now was wash away all the dirt, grime, and sweat that accumulated on her body and above all, wash away all the burdening thoughts that seemed to weigh so heavily upon her mind.

"You're fine," she told herself in a mantra as she stripped herself of her tattered desert wear and climbed into the shower.

She stared at the knobs in confusion forgetting that she had never used a shower before. Usually in Jakku, she would either rub herself clean with the dry soaps that merchants would sell in the outpost or simply dunk herself in the small oasis pond by her home. Not once had she ever used a shower, it only further supplemented her feelings of being in such an outlandish place. There was a chrome faucet head in the shape of a square hanging above the wall and a multitude of knobs stuck to the shower wall. Curiously, Rey reached towards one of the various knobs and twisted it clockwise. Immediately a stream of freezing water came raining down upon her and she cried out. Quickly, she reached for the knob adjacent from the one she had pulled and twisted it as well, praying that somehow it would fix this mess and much to her relief, the water gradually grew warmer.

Rey sighed to herself dreamily, she decided she liked showers.

After she was done, Rey toweled herself dry from one of the many towels hanging in display next to the shower and ambled back into her bedroom. She perused through the dresser only to find a dozen sets of Jedi robes surprisingly in her size. She wondered idly to herself about how they were able to fully stock her dresser with clothes that fit her size, much less figure out what her size was. Quickly now, she tied her hair back into its usual style and slipped the robes on. She turned towards the vanity mirror on the wall and smiled slightly at how similar the robes were to her old Jakku ensemble.

And then she realized with a frown that she was missing something important... her staff. Master Windu had confiscated it from her while on his ship when they traveled from Jakku back to Coruscant, she wondered if perhaps it was still in his possession.

"I'll just have to go find him then," the brunette muttered to herself.

Rey clicked on the entrance button of her door and cautiously stepped out as it slid open. Without looking she swiftly turned away to head down the hall not before bumping into another figure who had been passing down the hallway as well.

"Ow..." She muttered, rubbing her head as she found herself flat on the ground.

The looming figure she crashed into was also crumpled on the ground, groaning in unison. "You should be more vigilante of your surroundings next time or you might really hurt someone in the future," the clearly male voice muttered in tandem.

Rey looked up, startled at the low timbre his voice held and she unconsciously crawled a few inches back from him. "I'm sorry," she replied, before brushing herself off and standing up.

He was a tall boy, with tanned skin and chestnut hair cut in the standard padawan style—she knew that well seeing as all the padawan boys sported the braid. He opened his eyes and looked up at her with a neutral expression, his cold, gray gaze bore into her.

"I'm a little bit disorientated to begin with, I've been having a rather rough day as it is," Rey continued.

The boy stood up and frowned. "You're the girl, aren't you? The scavenger Master Windu found on Jakku." His voice sounded almost accusatory.

"I'm-I'm nobody."

"No, you're that girl. I was there in the council meeting, my master Obi-Wan is supposed to be replacing the new seat of a previous high council member," his last words were spoken with the utmost pride.

"Alright, so what if I am?" Rey finally retorted, still wary of the boy.

"What's your name?" He queried, bristling past her last statement.

"Why should I tell you?"

"It's best to make allies, especially under your circumstances. And eventually, everyone will most likely know your name. There's no harm in telling me to be honest."

She sighed and for a few passing moments, finally relented. "My name is Rey."

"Rey, just Rey? No surname at all?"

"No, just Rey."

The boy reached how to shake her hand in formal greeting now that they were introducing themselves. She gingerly took ahold of his grasp and shook back. His grip was strong and firm and his hands were calloused to the touch.

"My name's Anakin Skywalker," he said.

Preliminary Notes:

Rey is a scavenger, born and left on Jakku much like her original background. She is still highly attuned with the force, still a skilled pilot/technician, and still retains all the background skills that has made Rey fundamentally Rey. The only difference is, she is a born into a different era, the era before the rise and fall of the Empire, before the flourish of the New Order, before any of that Galactic political turmoil had spiraled out of control. Therefore, Jakku is not known as a junkyard planet, since no significant battles have occurred there yet. However, this shall be considered pre-TFA Jakku, a desert planet known as being the pinnacle of interplanetary trade and commerce. In its place, the separatists have built an outpost in a remote area within Jakku, which is why we find Mace Windu and his former student investigating the area. There was no possible way I could think of for the Order to allow Rey to be trained as a Jedi knowing that during this era, the Jedi code was stringently adhered to, therefore I simply marked her as a special circumstance, as a vergence. Honestly, this story was created because I simply wanted to test an idea of the sorts out, I wanted to see how it would be like if I thrust Rey into a different era. I hope you enjoyed it thus far and apologize in advance for any logical mistakes I have made, I do not want to disrespect any of the fans who have a strong following to the SW franchise. This is my disclaimer to the previous notion: I'm not adhering to a specific timeline, more so, I'm not going to adhere to canon with any specific saga.

Reviews are much appreciated.