CHAPTER 3

Rukia walked out first and was examining her new tunic. "This is really breathable fabric! I can see why you wear it everywhere!" she said. Ichigo came out and commented next. "Speak for yourself! it's itchy as hell!"

Toshiro was the last to come out, and he was frowning. "Do you have anything smaller than this?" he asked, the robes clearly too big for him.

Luke looked at Toshiro and saw Yoda was submerged in a drawer of robes up to his legs upside down. Robes were being thrown out onto the floor as the small pointy eared man poked his head out and looked at the trio with wild eyes. "Hmmm? Try those you should! Heeheehe!" Pointing at the robes on the floor, one of which was obviously for a female.

Toshiro turned red with embarrassment. "Why you little green hermit! There is no way in hell I am putting on a girl's clothing!" he shouted loud enough to cause some younglings to laugh outside the door. Olivia fell over laughing and asked "Well what's your size? Negative five?"

=Afterward=

Once the trio was dressed in their fitting Jedi robes, they were instructed by Obi-Wan's spirit who presented them with training lightsabers and Rebellion pilot helmets. "You will use these training blades along with the helmets with the blinders on. The training droid will attempt to hit you with a stun bolt." Kenobi gestured to a sphere that was floating in the air in front of them. "What you are to do is to deflect it back at the droid, without using your eyes or other senses which the helmet will restrict."

"How the hell are we supposed to-OWWW!" Ichigo said, getting an elbow to the stomach from Rukia. "Be respectful of your teacher! you didn't question Urahara this much did you?"

Toshiro sighed. "Actually he was more disrespectful with Urahara. be thankful he doesn't have his Zanpakuto siding with him on this one." then Toshiro put on the helmet. "So we are to deflect a bolt of energy without the use of our senses? Hyōrinmaru… shall we?" and he began to concentrate. "Any tips you can give us, master Kenobi?" He asked as he failed to block a few stun bolts. Olivia drew her blaster at her hip and looked at Obi Wan like: 'Please let me shoot him for a laugh'.

"A Jedi can feel the Force flowing through him, it partially controls your actions but also responds to your commands." Obi-Wan said, giving them sagely advice but not giving too much away. "Your eyes can deceive you, don't trust them. A Jedi uses the force to sense things that his other instincts cannot."

"This would be alot-ouch-easier with-ow-Zangetsu to block these stupid bolts!" Ichigo said as he tried and failed to swipe at the droid instead of just deflect the bolts.

Rukia and Toshiro were doing a better job at keeping their emotions in check, having constantly meditated before this. Rukia was the first to be successful in her endeavor, and she lifted the visor smiling. "I felt something reaching out to me! Is that what the Force is?" she asked as Toshiro managed to deflect his own a few times before destroying the training droid. Lifting his own helmet he nodded. "It's definitely interesting to say the least. Like connecting with everything around you."

Ichigo was not having as much success, since he had never been good at sensing spiritual pressure, the Force was generally the same concept to him. Throwing the helmet to the ground, he walked out of the room shouting, "Keep your Force, I'll take my Bankai any day!"

Yoda sighed, his demeanor changed from the cooky old hermit they had seen him acting as before. "Remind me of training you, this boy does." Yoda said calmly to Luke before he wandered out of the room.

Finding Ichigo seated in an isolated area alone in the hallway, Yoda wandered over and seated himself next to Ichigo, looking up at the frustrated man's expression. "Look at you, and reminded of the days when I trained Luke, I am. When he came to me, reckless and doubtful of his own abilities he was...much like you doubt your own abilities to join your companions in this training."

Yoda closed his eyes, "Sense I do, that you wish to protect those you care about above all else. The force, make you stronger it can, know this you already do. But expect it happen overnight, you must not. Approach this with an open mind and calmness you must."

Yoda smiled up at Ichigo, "Seem to be the type to surrender, you do not. Face this as another challenge, perhaps you should." Yoda sighed, and told him the tale of Luke's past..of Anakin's fall from grace. He spoke of Order 66 and Anakin's eventual redemption because of Luke. Yoda looked up at him to gauge his reaction once finished.

Ichigo only half listened at first, but once Master Yoda mentioned the escapades of Lord Vader before his fall, he could no longer ignore his own curiosity. At the revelation of Vader's Salvation aboard the Second Death Star, he heard his hollow say ~"Is this hermit serious? You couldn't get rid of me even WITH the Force!"~ To which Ichigo responded by doing his best to ignore his hollow and ask Yoda the following: "I… didn't look at it that way. I suppose you suspect I am not just an ordinary kid then? What does the Force tell you about me?"

Yoda closed his eyes and concentrated. "Sense great power in you I do...but also great darkness. Your abilities you seek to use to help those you call Wholes in your world, you are known as a...Substitute Shinigami where you are from...yes? You are tasked with destroying monsters….Hollows they are called."

Ichigo's eyes widened. "If the Force can show you that much, then I can't give up so easily!" He stood up and clenched his fist. "With this hermit as my witness, I WILL master the Force!" he shouted.

Yoda sighed as his ears drooped, "A hermit, I am not."