Rey and Ben froze for a moment, then both turned in perfect synchronous rotation to the source of the voice. There, not three feet away from them stood ... Luke.
He looked younger than Rey remembered, dressed in a Jedi robe and beardless. That's how he must have looked at the height of his life, she thought. He looked slightly translucent and a soft glow surrounded his figure. Rey looked her old master in the eye and could not initially classify her feelings completely. She thought she would feel joy in such a moment, but an unreasonable anger reveled in her. She was confused for a moment, but then she recognized the source of this anger; it was Ben, it was his feelings.
Ben stared at his uncle as well. He was suspicious and in a flash of rage, but could not fully relate his anger to the younger form of his old master. This Luke Skywalker was a stranger to him. Suddenly he felt a slight touch on his arm and winced slightly. It was Rey gently stroking his arm. Instantly he calmed down a bit.
Luke's eyes fell on Rey's hand on Ben's arm and he raised his eyebrows slightly. "It looks like you've largely ignored my teachings - as my nephew did before - and gone your own way to discovering the force, Rey from Jakku."
He spoke softly, without a trace of resentment and with the always typical hint of irony in his voice. He paused for a moment, folding his hands behind his back, and began to walk slowly and carefully, without taking his eyes off them.
Then, after a few moments, he continued, "And you seemingly made the impossible possible and tamed the beast, something that nobody could reach before you." His eyes fell on Ben, who stood frozen beside Rey, unable to do anything but look at his uncle's appearance.
Rey sat bolt upright at these words, she felt more anger now and she realized that this time the emotion was her own, because Ben's emotional world was now between shame, pain and resignation, which was undoubtedly because his uncle and master mistrusted him.
"Ben Solo defeated his beast himself, all he needed was someone believing in him and standing by him, something that was unfortunately missed in the past," she said calmly.
Luke stopped at these words, which served to clearly show his mistakes in the tragedy of his bloodline, and looked long and hard at her. Then, suddenly, he shrugged his shoulders and sat down on one of the rocks, folding his hands in his lap, and replied:
"This is an undeniable truth to which I can add nothing in my defense, as my master has already told me, the greatest teacher is failure," he looked at both of them, finally recognizing the strong connection between the two, and continued, "He also said that our protégés will eventually outgrow us ... obviously he is right. Now the question comes to me where that will lead us in the end."
Rey looked at him in confusion. She had expected resistance or rage and had to get used to the quiet, balanced Luke. Ben seemed similar, he was confused and at a loss. "Master Luke, are you real, did we call you to the force or is this a vision?" whispered Rey.
"I'm not a vision, but normaly just the strongest Jedi can connect with the Jedi who have gone back into the force, but usually only after long practice. The ability to summon a force spirit when they want, I've never heard of it. That means you both have very great force power yet. You must indeed have called me to you through the force, surely this will have a reason, it would be helpful if I could learn something more about it."
Since Ben still seemed unable to speak openly in the presence of his uncle, Rey began to tell the whole story since Leia's death. She tried to be complete, left nothing out; the salvation, the Jedi texts, their previous stages of development and the associated new forces and their final task.
The only thing she kept secret was the physical approach and the affection beyond the earmarked partnership that she felt for Ben and he for her. But Luke was not fooled. He could feel their strength connecting, he felt the love that burned in both, like the engine that drives all action.
'Maybe that's the key', he thought silently. He was astonished by the extraordinary story Rey told him and still wondering why the force had sent him to the two of them. He had not made much of himself as a master yet, that was clear....the last step ... closing the past ... that would have to be it! He was here to help them graduate with their past.
"Now that you've told me everything, it looks like I have to fulfill the task of supporting your last stage of development as a grey Jedi," he looked at both of them, "and I do not suppose that here the problem is with you, Rey! "
He looked at Ben with raised eyebrows, but he avoided his gaze. "My nephew has been kind enough to tell you very clearly that your parents were not very caring. You have suffered a lot for a while but I feel that you have made peace with your past, is that correct?"
Rey did not answer directly. She took a while to listen to herself and analyze her feelings. Yes, it was true, most of her life she had been spent waiting for the return of parents who had never intended to bring her back. The realization of the truth could have made her angry, disillusioned, or cynical, but it had not happened like that.
It had never been part of her nature to capitulate and so she had mourned for a while and then let the pain go. Of course it helped to find true friends in Finn, Rose and Poe and in Leia, Chewie and Han or even B-B8. But most of all, the connection to Ben was so strong now that she had no need to cling to the past. The future was waiting for her.
So she shrugged and said aloud, "That's correct, Master Luke, I've left my past behind." Luke nodded with a light smile. "That's very good, Rey."
Then he took a deep breath and slowly approached to Ben, who tensed more with each passing moment. "So I'm assuming that I was sent here to help you work through your past ...." Ben's gaze shot up at this speech and interlaced with the ingenious gaze of his uncle and former master.
"Are you ready to talk to me, Ben?" Rey could feel the wild and unbridled emotions that passed through Ben. She went to him and just took his hand. Immediately the inner storm subsided a little and he relaxed. Luke looked at her clasped hands in surprise but said nothing and waited.
Then Ben began to speak, "I remember the day everything changed. We flew with father to an important delivery to Endor. I was five or six years old and Chewie and I, we played Dejarik and I lost. I got so angry about it, that I lost control and nearly destroyed the ship with my anger, if you would not have forced me to calm down.
From that moment on everything changed, you did not talk to me anymore, and you gave the same instruction to everyone else, like Chewie or uncle Lando and other important people in my environment, until you would find out what was happening to me.
Then began the time in which no one spoke directly and openly with me, but only talked about me and whispered. I was still so young, I did not know why that happened, only that it hurt and as my anger and anxiety grew, my father and mother tried to behave normally, but the two of them also let me down." Ben had settled on one of the surrounding tribes again without letting Rey's hand go but his gaze had shifted into the past and his face and the tears that stood in his dark eyes showed all the pain of this time.
"When I was so lonely, completely isolated and without guidance, there was only one friendly voice in my head and that was Snoke's. He told me that everyone behaved that way just because they were jealous of mine because they would not understand me and be too small-minded. Only he could help me, only he would understand me and teach me. Bis Voice was in my mind all the time, constantly day and night, endless.... and after a few years l believed him."
Nobody spoke for a while, Ben's story hung heavily in the room, then Luke said quietly and with pain and regret in his voice: "I have never seen you as the child you have been. I always saw in you only the dark threat. If I had taken the time to look behind the façade, then I would have noticed your inner struggle and had to help you. I, who always wanted to help, failed in the main mission. It was my failure that drove you into Snoke's influence, not your actions. I'm so sorry Ben."
For a long time, they met their eyes in silence, the old Jedi master and the young nephew and former Padawan, matured into a powerful man, in whose eyes the painful years of his childhood were reflected by Luke's words.
Ben did not notice the tears running down his cheeks in a steady stream. He listened to himself to feel what his uncle's words were doing to him. He felt that the weight of responsibility for a big part of the past events removed from his shoulders. He felt the tight ring around his heart, the tank, which had been severely cracked since Rey entered his life, begin to dissipate.
"Ben, are you ready to forgive your parents, the confidants of your childhood, and especially me, can you allow this?" Luke looked at him with a strange look on those words and it took Ben a moment to realize that it was affection he saw in that look.
He lowered his eyes, listened to himself, then looked at Rey, who as always returned his eyes open and warm. He looked back to Luke and replied, "Yes, I would like to forgive you, I have now taken my own path, decided the right thing, the past has passed, I let it go and look ahead, I now understood: It's not about letting the past die, but accepting and letting it go. Essentially, I owe this recognition to a special person: That's you, Rey!"
He looked again at Rey, who now smiled happily and felt for the first time in his life ..... peace. They looked deeply into each others eyes and at that moment she also felt his healing.
The completion of the transformation this time began in a surprisingly soft and quiet manner. Glowing light began to spread where Rey and Ben were joined with their hands and slowly grew stronger and brighter, spreading over their arms to their entire bodies. They just let it happen, caught in the look and in the mind of each other.
Luke watched the process fascinated and then raised both hands defensively and shouted to them: "It looks like you're fine alone, I'll retire now. As we know now, you can call me again if you need guidance."
"Master Luke! ... U-Uncle Luke!" Exclaimed Ben.
With these words from Ben's mouth, Luke could not hide his emotion and joy, he now saw for the first time openly and confidently in the eyes of his nephew, saw the silent request and replied: "It is good, I understand, I will pass on your thoughts to both of youre parents and tell them that your mother was - as always - right and you have now taken the right path. I'm very proud of you and they too, I guarantee you!"
Ben nodded to his uncle as he slowly dissolved. Then he looked into Rey's eyes and both smiled in relief before they closed their eyes together to indulge in the transformation.