Chapter 16 - Vision (2/2)

Rey turned around and saw little version of herself, she looked around and noticed she had returned to Jakku but now she was watching her little self the day her family had gone away and left her in the hands of Unkar.

- ”Quiet, girl”- said Unkar while grabbing the arm of the small girl strongly and Unkar started to dragged her while she saw to the sky trying to reach something.

- ”Noooooo!!!!”- the little Rey shouted in desperation trying to free herself for Unkar in vain.

She saw an airship taking off and going out of Jakku. Rey did not know if she was the little girl again but the pain and frustration were very real. Rey noticed that she had tightly locked those memories to avoid the terrible suffering she was experiencing now.

Then again all changed and she was in the middle of a snowy forest and a gentle and familiar voice called her name. She felt so overwhelmed that she just started to run without direction trying to escape the place. However, the leader of the black armored guys blocked her path with the light weapon activated. He started to advance to her so fast that Rey did not have any time to even ȧssimilate the situation.

- ”These are your first steps” - said the gentle voice again and she noticed she was in the Maz castle chamber once more.

However, she was sweating intensely and she felt her legs had no strength. She was confused but she knew all she had seen was real. She heard steps and when she looked at the source, she saw Maz Kanata who was looking at her with tender eyes.

- ”What was that?”- asked Rey with a weak and terrified voice.

- ”It seems today there have been too many surprises”- said Maz while getting close- ”I had only noticed the other boy but you... you're even stronger...”

- ”I shouldn't have gone in there”- said Rey thinking she was referring to her being there and enter without permission. She tried to stand but her legs seemed made of jelly so Maz supported her and helped her keep her balance.

Rey felt mentally exhausted. She felt as she had run for hours non stop and the thickness of her surroundings was even more evident now.

- ”My dear child...you still do not understand how fantastic what you experience is”- said Maz who was looking at Rey with impressed and even one could say, envious eyes- ”That lightsaber was Luke's. And his father's before him. And now... it calls to you.”

- ”I have to get back to Jakku”- said Rey who felt that the desertic planet was the safest place for her now.

- ”Han told me...”- Maz said looking at Rey with pitiful eyes. She grabbed her hands tenderly- ”Dear child. I see your eyes. You already know the truth... Whomever you're waiting for on Jakku... they're never coming back.”

Rey felt a stung in her heart and started to cry since deep inside she knew this was true but it would be impossible to make Rey say this out loud.

- ”But... there's someone who still could...”- said Maz and Rey felt a strange wave of hope in her heart as if she knew who she was talking about. It was a name that should not mean anything but she automatically felt the words being articulated by her.

- ”Luke...”- and the name came out so naturally that she surprised herself. She cried even more but the pain she felt was less than before.

She did not know why but something was telling her that Luke Skywalker knew more about her and he was the key she needed.

- ”The belonging you seek is not behind you, my child... it is ahead”- said Maz ċȧrėssing Rey like a mother would do- ”I am no Jedi, but I know the Force. It moves through and surrounds every living thing... you can feel it, don't you?”

When she said this, it was as if a door had been opened before her as if light had been turned on before her and she could now see something she could not before. She started to undertand what was the sensation she had been feeling since before. Was this... the Force? She could not be sure and to be honest she was feeling too shocked right now to really care.

- ”Close your eyes... Feel it... The light...”- said Maz closing her eyes and smiling at what she was feeling- ”it's always been there. It will guide you.”

Rey did not need to close her eyes since she could easily feel something around her but she was too terrified to go deeper on it since she knew that the thing had forced her to see those things and she did not want to see them again. However, Maz seemed relaxed and even pleasant to feel it and Rey wondered if different people would feel different things since for now she was scared of the thing Maz called the Force, if that was really what she was feeling was.

- ”The saber... Take it...” - said Maz and when she said these words, she remembered what had happened before.

She felt this abundant energy inside her which seemed to wrap her and fill her. It felt nice but also alien since she had never felt anything like this before. She did not only feel light as Maz was describing but also she also felt this intense darkness which seemed to be inviting her to go deeper but there she could see that man with the red laser and the sound of the oxygen tube. Rey felt absolute terror and immediately opened her eyes and freed her hands from Maz'.

- ”I'm never touching that thing again. I don't want any part of this”- said the overwhelmed Rey and she just started to run out of the place.

- ”Hmm” - Maz wanted to stop her but she knew that it would only cause her more confusion so she just let her go. If that girl was really destined, she would follow the path sooner or later, she just prayed it would be in the light.

Rey ran and ran trying to forget and ignore what had happened but it was as if those images had been branded directly on her soul. Also, the thing surrounding her and filling her stayed there and there was no way she could stop it. She gave a last look at Maz castle and kept running trying to forget about everything that she had experienced.

- ”Just forget everything!”- she said while running into the forest- ”forget that lightsaber, forget the Force, forget Han, Maz, and Finn and if possible forget yourself!”