WARNING: for mentions of torture and canon typical violence. Also, this fic contains no reylo.

Something is terribly wrong. Luke Skywalker is supposed to be a Jedi.

Luke Skywalker is a void that chills me to the bone.

"Luke Skywalker?" Finn asks, pulling me out of my stupor. "I'm Finn, this is Rey. We're with the Resistance. Your sister Leia sent us."

"What happened to you?" I demand, sounding as horrified as I feel.

Luke Skywalker raises a brow. The lack of emotions accompanying the expression is so disturbing. They aren't just hidden, they simply aren't there. Then Luke Skywalker moves, walking past me and Finn without a word. I can help but back away, the dissonance he's causing is so much worse when he's this near. Finn backs away as well. He isn't horrified in the same way I am, but the disturbance is not pleasant for him either.

I watch Luke Skywalker's retreating back, still struggling with the discrepancy of what my eyes are telling me is there and what I'm sensing. I see a person move.

I sense nothing.

"Rey, we need to go after him," Finn says and he's right, of course he's right. We need to go after Luke Skywalker.

"Something's wrong," I say instead, still watching the void that shouldn't be. Watch the way it disrupts the Force, the currents derailed where they should have flowed with him. Luke Skywalker is unsettling the Force simply by being. Or rather, by not being.

"Well yeah, that's why we need to go after him."

"No, you don't understand," I say, still unable to tear my eyes away from the void that shouldn't be. "Something is terribly wrong."

The void disappears behind a rock formation and just like that, I can no longer sense it. I can still feel the effects, the discord rippling through the Force, but that horrible absence is gone.

"I'm guessing you aren't referring to his impression of a mute?"

This time I manage to look at Finn.

"Finn, I can't sense him."

That shouldn't be possible. The Force is everywhere, in the earth, sea, sky, in machinery and energy. It's even present in the vacuum of space. This void, this complete and utter lack of anything, shouldn't be possible.

"...He could be hiding?"

I give Finn a look that tells him exactly what I think of his attempt to tell me what's going on with the Force. Finn sighs and rubs the back of his neck. He didn't believe his own words either.

"Didn't think so," he says. I return my gaze to the path below. The void that is Luke Skywalker is back in view, descending down the stone steps. Once again, my eyes are telling me there's a person there.

The Force tells me there's nothing.

"I'm not imagining things, am I?"

I don't need to ask what Finn is referring to.

"No, you're not."

No matter how much I wish he was.

"What's wrong with him? He's..."

Finn trails off, unable to put into words why Luke Skywalker disturbs him so.

"He's cut off from the Force," I say, my heart clenching painfully as I give voice to the truth. Luke Skywalker is cut off from the Force. It should be impossible yet somehow it isn't.

Things aren't supposed to be this way.

So why does it feel like everything is how it's supposed to be?

No, that isn't true. Not quite. It feels like everything is how it's supposed to be, but it also feels like the Force doesn't want things to be like this.

So why are they?

"Guess we're going to be here longer than we thought."

The quip makes a startled chuckle escape. I return my gaze to Finn, who's pleased with my reaction. He gives me a smile. I can't help but smile back.

"Guess so."

If Luke Skywalker is cut off from the Force, the situation is a lot more complicated than I thought it was.

How did this happen? Did someone do this to him?

No. He did it to himself. The Force is clear on that.

"Better get started then," Finn says, full of optimism and determination. It helps me pull myself together. I lift my chin with determination of my own.

"Let's go, Finn."

We start walking down the path. Luke Skywalker has a big enough headstart that we don't catch more than the occasional glimpse of him, but I discover that while I can't sense the void he is without seeing him, I can pinpoint the tangled mess around him if I focus.

The mess comes to a halt in the village. Which is conspicuously empty. All the people from before are gone. They aren't hiding in the huts, they left the village. The only one present is Luke Skywalker, inside one of the huts.

I march to the hut and bang on the door.

"Luke Skywalker, open up."

I can't believe I just said that. I can't believe I'm talking to Luke Skywalker.

I can't believe Luke Skywalker is cut off from the Force.

When there's no answer, I knock again. And again. I keep banging on the metal. I won't allow him to ignore me.

"Go away."

Luke Skywalker just talked to me!

Luke Skywalker told me to go away. Yeah, that isn't happening.

"If you don't open this door on the count of three, I'm going to break it down," I warn, unable to believe what's happening. This is ridiculous, we're dealing with Luke Skywalker. We're dealing with the greatest hero ever. He isn't supposed to act like a grumpy child. "One."

The door remains closed. I don't hear any movements either.

"Two."

Still no movement.

"Three."

No movement. Well. He can't say I didn't warn him.

I mentally rip the door off its hinges and drop it down the ground. Finn is duly impressed by the display of power, but I'm more focused on marching inside the hut.

The void that is Luke Skywalker is looking at me with a frown. I have no idea what the expression is meant to convey. Which is ridiculous, I spent an entire life reading people without the Force. Even in this life, it's only been a few years since I didn't need to focus in order to read people. Luke Skywalker's lack of being is throwing me off big time.

"Who are you?" Luke Skywalker asks. Ignoring the part of me that wants to swoon at having Luke Skywalker talk to me, I place my hands down my hips and lift my chin.

"I'm Rey and I'm bringing you home."

I might have had trouble reading his previous expression, but this one is clear as day.

Luke Skywalker is looking at me with scorn. I'm having genuine trouble comprehending this.

I ignore the part of me that wants to cry.

"I'm not going back," Luke Skywalker says in a firm voice.

"Yes you are," I counter, infusing it with the Force to show him just how determined I am. Then I realise how useless that is. He can't feel this.

"We need your help," Finn says, as determined as me. Unlike me, he's also calm. Mostly calm.

Luke Skywalker lets out a scoff. The sound is... mocking? I think?

Once again, I'm having genuine trouble comprehending just what's going on. Am I dreaming?

"You don't need my help."

My brain gets broken a little more. I'm pretty sure that Luke Skywalker sounded bitter.

What happened to him?

"We do," Finn says as earnestly as he feels. "The First Order destroyed the Republic fleet. We need your help."

"What do you expect me to do?" Luke Skywalker says. This time I have no idea what the tone is meant to convey. "Walk out with a laser sword and face down the entire First Order?"

Apparently the tone is meant to convey sarcasm. What's going on?

"What happened to you?" He's Luke Skywalker. He's supposed to be happy and hopeful and always willing to do the right thing.

Luke Skywalker's eyes narrow and his lips press together. He doesn't say anything.

"Han Solo and Princess Leia need you," I push, needing him to say something. Needing to break free of this awful nightmare I'm in. "Your family needs you. Are you going to abandon them?"

Of course he won't. This is Luke Skywalker. He never abandons his family.

So why isn't he saying anything?

The silence stretches for an agonising amount of time. When I realise what that silence means, my chest tightens painfully.

"You are." He's refusing to come back with us. He's refusing to help Princess Leia and Han Solo. "You're abandoning them."

Luke Skywalker closes his eyes and turns away from me. He still doesn't speak.

"You can't abandon them," I say, unable to believe what's happening. "You're Luke Skywalker."

Luke Skywalker's shoulders tense and I so desperately wish to know what he's feeling. How can he do this? How can he abandon his family?

"...I abandoned them a long time ago."

My breath hitches at the words that can't be true. This can't be happening.

"I can't help you."

The words are soft. I keep staring at his back with denial.

Luke Skywalker doesn't turn around.

"Go away."

I look at what is supposed to be Luke Skywalker. He's supposed to be a hero. He's supposed to be a Jedi.

He isn't supposed to be like this.

I storm out of the hut. Finn calls out and runs after me, worried, but I don't stop moving. I need to get away from that mockery of my childhood hero.

When Finn calls after me with increasing worry, I force myself to halt.

"Rey," he repeats and grabs my shoulder. "Wait, just wait. You can't give up."

I let out a harsh breath, rubbing my eyes as I resist the urge to snap at him.

"I'm not giving up," I manage to say in a fairly even voice. "But I need to calm down. I need to meditate."

Finn's worry makes way for surprise.

"Oh. Yeah, okay, that's cool. You go meditate."

I feel a faint smile grow at the sudden change in mood. It fades when I see the void appear in the distance.

"How long are you going to do that?" Finn asks and it lets me tear my gaze away from that horrible absence.

"Most of the day." Not just because of this whole mess with Luke Skywalker, but because of what happened on Starkiller Base and the events leading up to it. I'm going to be meditating a lot in the coming days.

Finn hesitates, lost in a way that makes worry rise. Before I can ask what's wrong, determination rises.

"Got it. You go meditate, and I'll try to change Skywalker's mind about coming back with us."

Ah. Finn was feeling lost because he didn't know what to do while I was meditating. Stormtrooper trauma at its finest.

"If anyone can do it, it's you," I say, speaking nothing but the truth. Finn, just by being himself, made me stop running. I have no doubt he'll be able to work his magic on Luke Skywalker as well.

I also don't doubt it's going to take time. We're going to be here a lot longer than expected.

My compliment makes startled pleasure rise. Finn gives me a bashful smile, looking very cute indeed.

"No pressure or anything," he jokes, and while part of him is nervous about failing, most of him is hopeful.

"Poor you," I tease, our banter easing some of my tension.

"You know I can tell you don't really mean that."

"How observant of you."

Finn chuckles.

We split up. Finn goes after Luke Skywalker, while I go to my ship to meditate.

I could go to another place. Could go to the peak that is a nexus for the entire planet, or to the tree that is the heart of the island. I could lose myself in the secrets calling to me from down below.

I don't do any of those things. I need to calm down. Discovering why I've been dreaming of this island can happen after.

Arriving at my ship, I find Artie hard at work at repairing the busted engine. It can't fix it completely, we don't have the necessary parts for that. But it'll do all it can to get the love of its life back in the best shape possible. The love of its life, which is the real Millennium Falcon. I'm not going to get over that anytime soon.

"Need help, Artie?" I ask. While I need to meditate, now that I'm here, the urge to fix my ship is impossible to resist. I managed until now because of the speed everything was happening with, but not that I have a moment to breathe, fixing my ship has turned into a maddening itch beneath my skin.

I can't believe that asshole damaged my ship like this.

I can't believe he's Luke Skywalker's nephew. And that's all the thought I'm going to give that horrible fact. I need at least a week of meditation before I can start dealing with who Kylo Ren used to be.

[Exhaust regulators A2 and A5 need to be replaced]

Artie's reply is absent. All its focus is on patching up our ship.

[This unit is capable of replacing the regulators]

R2-D2's delivers the statement with cheeky beeps, but all his attention is on me.

[This unit will fry Insane-Pile-Of-Junk's central processor if the unit tries to touch Gorgeous-Thing]

A startled chuckle escapes me. That amount of vitriol is extreme even for Artie.

R2-D2 doesn't react to the insult. All his attention remains on me. I grimace. I really don't want to talk about what happened. But R2-D2 deserves to know.

"Something's wrong with Luke Skywalker."

I realise my words might require some clarification.

Turns out, they don't. R2-D2 is overcome by sorrow. Sorrow, and a complete lack of confusion. He knew what state we were going to find Luke Skywalker in.

I can't be mad at him for withholding the information. Not with the kind of grief he's experiencing.

[...Query - did Bright-Dork inquire after this unit?]

Damn it. I was so caught up in how wrong everything is that I forgot to tell Luke Skywalker that R2-D2 is here.

"I forgot to tell him you're here," I say with an apologetic look. "But I can tell you where he is right now."

Or rather, I can tell where Finn is. Don't even have to focus to do so, his location is clear at the back of my mind, courtesy of our Force bond.

Just to be sure, I search for the mess that denotes Luke Skywalker's lack of presence. As expected, he's with Finn.

R2-D2 remains silent, reluctance warring with his grief. Then he comes to a decision.

[This unit will wait for Bright-Dork to come to this unit]

In other words, R2-D2 is avoiding Luke Skywalker. I understand.

Who wants to see Luke Skywalker like this?

I turn my attention to the exhaust regulators, needing a distraction from my thoughts. Fixing them makes me feel better. As for R2-D2, it starts verbally needling Artie. As the flight over revealed, R2-D2 is something of a troll. He's smart enough not to cross the line into the physical, though.

After patching up the exhaust regulators as best I can, I go inside my ship and settle down on top of the hyperdrive. I close my eyes.

Breathe in. Breathe out. Just be.

Just let go.

Slowly, so very slowly, I let go of my anger and frustration, my denial and despair. My love. My joy. I let the currents carry every feeling away, bad and good both, until I'm nothing but a vessel for the ocean that is the Force.

And the Force stops being an ocean. It becomes a painting, a song, a symphony. It becomes my body, my flesh and blood. My prosthetic and my clothes. It becomes the very air I breathe.

It becomes my ship. The circuits and couplings, the wires and systems. The damage done and the diagnostics being run.

It's the earth rising high and the roots reaching down. The water crashing against the shore, the animals and people dancing with all that is. The heart of the island, clinging to life with all its might. The peak where everything converges in the most breathtaking of ways. The secrets whispering down below. It's everything except the absence where there should be light.

It's beautiful.

I meditate for nine hours, nine minutes and nine seconds. Then I release my focus.

I feel wonderful.

After checking over my defenses, I stand up and lift my arms in a delicious stretch. Even with my injuries, I feel relaxed as only meditation can cause. Spiritual orgasms for the win.

Leaving my ship, I make my way to Finn. He's no longer with Luke Skywalker. I felt them split up during my meditation. While I can't sense the void that is Luke Skywalker now without putting in effort, I had no such trouble when meditating. And I sensed Luke Skywalker on the opposite side of the island. Finn, on the other hand, is on a hill near the village.

When I arrive, I halt with surprise.

Finn is surrounded by birds, several which have made themselves home in his lap. And yes, I knew there were birds with him, but I don't interpret things like normal when meditating. Dozens of birds surrounding Finn hadn't seemed odd.

It does now.

My surprise makes way for amusement. All the birds are relaxing in various ways. Some are sleeping, some are playing, some are eating, some are grooming either themselves or others.

Finn, seated in the middle of the bird pile, is completely enamoured.

I resume moving closer. When Finn notices me, he gives me a beaming smile.

"You alright now, Rey?" he asks.

"I am." Meditation centers me as nothing else can. "And I see you've made some new friends," I finish with a smile.

Finn lights up, delight and adoration flaring high.

"I have," he says while looking down at the birds in his lap. He gently pets one, making the bird purr with pleasure. "I named them."

He's awed as only someone who didn't have a name for far too long can be.

"This is Cuddles," he introduces, gesturing at the bird that's nuzzling his stomach. "That's Fluffy," he says while petting the exceptionally fluffy bird dozing on his knee. "And these are Siren and Munchies," he says, pointing at the final two birds in his lap. Siren reveals how he got his name by letting out a piercing cry. The reason Munchies has the name she has isn't hard to guess either. She's the chubbiest bird around and contently nibbling on some kind of berry. I'm sensing a theme here.

The theme turns out to be wrong.

"And this is Bird Rey," Finn says with a mischievous smile, petting the bird seated on his left shoulder.

The bird is giving me a suspicious look. She's also pressing up against Finn's head, possessive of him in a way that's more than a little funny to see.

"You named a bird after me?" I ask, amused. Finn tries to give me a serious look, but I don't need to be able to feel him to know he's faking it.

"She's really bossy."

I laugh. Finn is pleased.

"And this is Bird Poe," he says while petting the bird on his other shoulder. That bird is happily grooming the little hair Finn has.

"To what does he owe the honor of being named after Poe?" I ask while making my way through the mass of birds and taking a seat next to Finn.

"He's an amazing flyer."

Bird Poe stops grooming Finn's hair so he can puff up with pride. It's hilarious. Also interesting. These birds are clever indeed. Not sentient but close to it.

"You mean I'm not?" I ask with mock hurt. Finn responds with a look of false innocence.

"I'd have to see you fly more before I can answer that," he says like I haven't done some truly spectacular flying in order to escape that asshole. If the First Order doesn't have any stories about my flying, I'll eat every scarf I own.

"Challenge accepted," I say before nodding at the rest of the birds. "So did you name the others as well?"

Finn lights up again and happily introduces the others. I listen to him with a smile. This is just what I need.

I haven't forgotten about Luke Skywalker. Also haven't given up on bringing him home. But we can deal with that later.

We have time.

...

They need more time. The evacuation isn't finished yet, their people are still down there. They need more time.

They need to stall.

He takes a deep breath and steadies his nerves. Then he activates the comms.

"Attention! This is Commander Poe Dameron of the Republic fleet. I have an urgent communique for General Hugs."

Notes: This is part 2 in a series (with; The Force Has Awakened being part 1). But the only thing you need to know to understand this fic is that TFA happened almost like in canon, except Rey and Kylo Ren already had history before that, Finn didn't end up in a coma, and Han didn't end up dead. The result is that Finn went with Rey to find Luke Skywalker, while Han stayed behind with the Resistance. Also, Finn is Force-sensitive.