So, Day 2 of the Midterm Marathon – we meet Yoda in yet another famous ESB scene.

Chapter Nineteen

~ Ben Kenobi ~
I chewed at my ration bar, only half-paying attention to whatever Luke was doing with R2. We had set up camp not far from where our two ships were, and I had dug a ration bar out while Luke fussed over R2. Meanwhile, I was reaching out to the Force; for some reason, it still felt like Dagobah was a threat, and I wasn't sure why – and that was not a good prospect.

Besides, I was still wondering why in the world the Grand Master would choose such a place for his exile.

Kya had explained everything to me earlier – the Clone Wars, Order 66, the Jedi Purge, the way the remaining Jedi had fled into exile and hid themselves. But it was one thing to hear it and see it in her memories, and quite another to actually live it.

As if reading my mind, Luke plopped down with a sigh and said, "Now all I have to do is find this Yoda . . . if he even exists."

The Force swelled suddenly, gathering with amazing power.

Master Yoda.

Trying not to tremble, I set my ration bar down. Luke, I knew, had not sensed it, and I would not ruin things by giving the game away.

"You sound like you don't believe my brother," I commented instead, crossing my arms. "Obi-Wan was a bit cracked in the head sometimes; but it was rare that he lied. Especially to his students."

"I know, Ben." Luke shifted restlessly, his gaze roving all over the jungle as if he was itching to get away. "I just . . . I don't know. This is not the place I would have chosen to hide had I been a Jedi Master."

I laughed. "I've seen worse hiding places. And been in them."

Luke turned his gaze to me. "What do you remember about this Yoda?" he asked curiously.

I hesitated. If what Kya had told me was true, then the Master Yoda here would be a great deal different from the Master Yoda I knew just as her Master Obi-Wan Kenobi had been different from me. The long Clone Wars, the clouded Force, the triumph of the Sith Lords, the destruction of the Jedi, the fall of the Republic – they all would have changed this Master Yoda. He would be in almost every way different.

So how could I answer Luke without giving everything away?

If there was one thing Kya and I agreed on, it was that it was not time for him or Leia to know. Not yet.

Finally, I answered cautiously, "He is wise. And different from anything you will expect. That is what makes him such a great Master; he teaches the lesson while giving it, and in some ways he is more memorable than any other teacher. But he can also be very . . . unassuming."

Luke frowned. "How so?"

"Just because we are good at fighting doesn't mean we always go in blasters blazing," I told him. "We were trained extensively in stealth too."

"Hmm."

I uncrossed my arms. "And why wouldn't a Jedi hide in this place?"

Luke shrugged. "I don't know." He hesitated, and his gaze grew distant, as though he was listening to the Force. "Still . . . there's something familiar about this place. I feel like . . . I don't know. . ."

"Feel like what?" something croaked behind us.

R2 screeched in surprise. Luke nearly leaped out of his skin, but he swiftly changed the move into a seize-my-lightsaber-and-spin-around-to-look-like-I-have-everything-under-control move.

I turned – and fought to contain my shock.

Sitting a short distance from us on a tree root was a wizened, short, strange green creature. He was under two feet tall, and that was stretching it. He was dressed in bland cream and tan robes – although "rags" was the more appropriate label, I felt – with a gimer stick in one hand. He was cowering against the sight of Luke's lightsaber, to all the world seeming completely terrified of us, and more specifically, afraid of Luke.

Master Yoda?

The Force rippled, clear and strong. This was the old Master, no doubt about it.

And yet . . .

And yet, despite all of Kya's warnings, all of her words, all of her memories, I still found myself reeling inside.

Master Yoda. . .

He was the greatest Jedi in history, and he had been my first memory in the Temple and one of my greatest teachers, supporters, and confidants. He was one of my greatest role models, alongside Qui-Gon, Master Windu, my friends, and Kya. He was the wisest, the most powerful, and the oldest of all the Jedi –

Reduced to this.

Luke was speaking, something along the lines of finishing his earlier sentence. I struggled to get back into the present.

"Away with your weapon! I mean you no harm," Master Yoda croaked.

As he spoke, his green eyes flickered to me and I felt a wave ruffle the Force. He could sense my distress, and he knew that I knew that he could sense it. He wasn't exactly comforting me, because to do that would be to condone it, but he was reminding me that a Jedi knows no emotion, a lesson every youngling learned, generally thanks to him.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, gathering the hurt, the confusion, the surprise, and then breathing it out.

I felt his approval, and then I shielded myself. We would talk later.

Luke, reluctantly, clipped his lightsaber back on his belt, crossing his arms and studying Master Yoda as if he was a bug Luke wanted to squash but was unsure of the consequences of doing it.

"I am wondering," Master Yoda continued, "why are you here?"

"We're looking for someone," Luke answered shortly.

I concealed a sound that was halfway a laugh and halfway a sigh. So. Luke still hadn't learned to use the Force to sense out everything and everyone around him. For if he had, I was pretty sure he would have ventured a guess as to this "creature's" identity. Or he could at least be more respectful.

"Looking?" Master Yoda repeated with another laugh. "Found someone, you have, I would say, hmmm?"

"Right."

Master Yoda hobbled forward a step, pretending to start to emerge from his nervousness when in fact he was calmer than even I was. "Help you I can," he offered. "Yes, mmmm."

Luke all but snorted. "I don't think so. I'm looking for a great warrior."

Pride suffused his voice as he spoke; it was clear that despite all my words, Luke still believed that a Jedi's greatest skill lay in his ability to fight, and fight better than anyone else could. Master Yoda's eyes met mine briefly as he hobbled closer, and I could see the same thought mirrored in his eyes.

"Ahhh! A great warrior." He paused, to shake his head and give a weary laugh. "Wars not make one great."

Master Yoda moved over to the one of the supply cases and began to rummage around. R2 squeaked his disapproval as Master Yoda then picked up Luke's ration bar and took a big bite out of it, which caught Luke's attention.

"Put that down. Hey!" He snatched the bar from Master Yoda's hand. "That's my dinner."

Master Yoda spat out the bite. "How you get so big, eating food of this kind?" he asked, disgusted, before returning to rummage through more of the cases.

"Listen, friend," Luke said impatiently, "we didn't mean to land in that puddle, and if we could get our ship out, we would, but we can't, so why don't you just – "

"Aww, cannot get your ship out?" Master Yoda interrupted teasingly.

I suppressed a laugh as Luke, finally, lost patience and snatched the entire case away. Of course, Master Yoda was not to be defeated so easily; he held on to the tiny power lamp he had snatched and continued to rummage through the items, occasionally tossing one rejected item after another over his shoulder.

"Hey, you could have broken this. Don't do that. Ohhh . . . you're making a mess," Luke exclaimed in annoyance, rushing after the flying items.

I turned away. If I didn't control myself now, I'd laugh and ruin everything.

~ Luke Skywalker ~
"Hey, give me that!"

I reached out for the power lamp the green creature had grabbed; it retreated, clutching at the lamp. I fought the instinct to groan, run forward, grab the stupid creature, and shake it until it fled in fear. I was done with all this meddling around – I wanted to either find Yoda and start training or find out that he wasn't here, leave, and go back to the Alliance.

"Mine!" the creature shrieked. "Or I will help you not."

"I don't want your help. I want my lamp back," I retorted. "I'll need it to get out of this slimy mudhole."

"Mudhole? Slimy?" The creature actually sounded offended at that. "My home this is."

Just then, R2 seized the lamp, and the creature and him went at it in a tug-of-war that seemed almost equal. The creature yelped as R2 beeped angrily, but it only tugged harder as R2 and he both refused to let go.

"Oh, R2, let him have it," I sighed.

The creature grabbed his stick and started whacking R2 with it. "Mine! Mine!" it chanted.

"R2," I said warningly.

"Mine!" the creature added with another furious whack.

R2 let go, albeit grudgingly. The creature reached over and playfully closed the section where R2 had displayed his grappling, and with a started squeal, R2 retreated.

"Now will you move along, little fella?" I asked, irritated and tired beyond measure. "We've got a lot of work to do."

I didn't expect the creature to start protesting.

"No! No, no!" he exclaimed. "Stay and help you, I will." He laughed. "Find your friend, hmm?"

I surppressed a snort. A friend? Yoda is no friend. "I'm not looking for a friend, I'm looking for a Jedi Master."

The creature's eyes grew big. "Oohhh. Jedi Master. Yoda. You seek Yoda," he said, his tone hushed and almost reverent for the first time, as though he was as faithful, worshipping disciple of some sort.

Nevertheless, my interest was piqued.

"You know him?"

"Mmm." The creature nodded. "Take you to him, I will," he promised. Then he laughed again, and the reverence left his tone. "Yes, yes. But now, we must eat. Come. Good food. Come."

With that, the creature waltzed out of the clearing, still laughing, and waving his lamp from time to time, calling, "Come, come."

I stared after the creature. Was it crazy? I wasn't going to leave camp just so that it could . . . well . . . if it knew Master Yoda. . . Maybe. . . That was my whole goal in coming here. . .

Movement at the corner of my eye caught my attention; Ben had stood and was staring expectantly at me. With a pang, I realized that for this entire encounter he had been so still and quiet I had nearly forgotten him altogether, for I was used to being alone and he hadn't participated in our little, ah, discussion.

"Well?" he asked quietly.

I knew of what he spoke immediately.

"I . . . What do you think?" I said instead. I wasn't a full Jedi, after all, and surely Ben would know the truth. . .

Ben looked faintly amused. "This is your quest and your training, Luke," he told me. "And therefore, I am here merely to help guide you; I cannot lead. That, you must do. It is part of being a Jedi Padawan, and part of leaning to be a Jedi Knight. No, Luke. You must decide what path you will take. I can only give advice."

I stared at the creature. I didn't have any foreboding feeling; in fact, it had lifted, surprisingly, shortly after the creature had wandered in.

And if it meant ill, well . . . I had a lightsaber. And Ben was here too.

"Let's go," I decided. "Stay here and watch after the camp, R2."