Seeing The Future

Chapter 29

Luke's face was upside-down and showing enormous strain. He stood on his hands, with Yoda perched on his feet, he was opposite Luke and Yoda were two rocks the size of bowling balls. Luke stared at the rocks and tried to concentrate. He couldn't get Yoda's words out of his mind.

Jedi do not feel emotion. Only compassion.

Loss pain and anger lead to the dark side.

If a Jedi you become. You have no attachments.

Yoda had told him to think about his options. He angrily told him that he was becoming a Jedi and would not fall to the dark side just because he was in love. He temporarily shook them from his mind and contracted. One of the rocks lifted from the ground and floated up to rest on the other."Use the Force. Yes..."

Yoda tapped Luke's leg, quickly, Luke lifted one hand from the ground. His body wavered, but he maintained his balance. Artoo stood nearby was whistling and beeping frantically. "Now... the stone. Feel it." Luke concentrated on trying to lift the top rock. It rose a few feet, shaking under the strain. But, distracted by Artoo's frantic beeping, Luke lost his balance and finally collapsed on to the ground. "Concentrate!"

Annoyed at the disturbance, Luke looked over at Artoo, who was rocking urgently back and forth in front of him. Artoo waddled closer to Luke, chirping wildly, then scooted over the edge of the swamp. Catching on, Luke rushed to the water's edge. The X-wing fighter had sunk, and only the tip of its nose shows above the lake's surface. "Oh, no. We'll never get it out now." Yoda stamped his foot in irritation.

"So certain are you. Always with you it cannot be done. Hear you nothing that I say?" Luke looked uncertainly out at the ship.

"Master, moving stones around is one thing. This is totally different."

He shook his head frustrated with Luke's inability to think the worst. "No! No different! Only different in your mind. You must unlearn what you have learned."

"All right, I'll give it a try." He sighed turning back to the swamp.

"No! Try not. Do. Or do not. There is no try." Luke closed his eyes and concentrated on thinking the ship out. Slowly, the X-wing's nose began to rise above the water. It hovered for a moment and then slides back, disappearing once again.

Luke's arm shook and he was breathing heavily. "I can't. It's too big."

"Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you? Hm? Mmmm." Luke shook his head.

"And well you should not. For my ally in the Force. And a powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings are we..." He poked Luke's shoulder."... Not this crude matter. You must feel the Force around you." He gestured between him and Luke. "Here, between you... me... the tree... the rock... everywhere!"

"Yes, even between this land and that ship!" Yoda said.

Luke was discouraged and stood up. "You want the impossible." He turned and walked away to sit on his own. Quietly Yoda turned toward the X-wing fighter, with his eyes closed and his head bowed, he raised his arm and pointed at the ship. Soon, the fighter rose above the water and moved forward as Artoo beeped in terror and scooted away. His beeping got Luke's attention and he stood up. The entire X-wing moved majestically, surely, toward the shore. Yoda stood on a tree root and guides the fighter carefully down toward the beach. Luke stared in astonishment as the fighter settled down onto the shore. He walked toward Yoda. "I don't... I don't believe it."

"That is why you fail." Yoda said and closed his eyes. Luke shook his head, bewildered.


Nadia was tired of all this running and she wondered how Luke was getting on and if he was getting trained right now. They weren't getting out of this mess and wherever they seem to be they were in trouble. "Captain Solo, this time you have gone too far."

Chewie growled, Nadia could see that Threepio was getting on Chewie's nerves now. "No, I will not be quiet, Chewbacca. Why doesn't anyone listen to me?"

Leia and Nadia looked at each other tiredly. "The fleet is beginning to break up. Go back and stand by the manual release for the landing claw." Chewie barked, struggling from his seat, and climbed out of the cabin.

"I really don't see how that is going to help. Surrender is a perfectly acceptable alternative in extreme circumstances. The Empire may be gracious enough..." Han nodded at Leia and she reached over and shut off Threepio, mid-sentence.

"Thanks."

Leia leaned forward. "What did you have in mind for your next move?"

"Yeah, it's getting really tiring now. God knows how much longer we will be flying for." Nadia agreed.

"Well, if they follow standard Imperial procedure, they'll dump their garbage before they go to light-speed, then we just float away." Han said, looking at the screen intently.

"With the rest of the garbage. Then what?" Leia said.

"Then we've got to find a safe port somewhere around here. Got any ideas?" He looked at the two girls suggestively.

"No. Where are we?" Nadia asked trying to tap on the screen.

"The Anoat system." He answered, patting her hand away.

"Anoat system. There's not much there."

Han seemed to look interested as something appeared on the screen. "No. Well, wait. This is interesting. Lando." He pointed to a computer mapscreen on the control panel. Leia slipped out of her chair beside Nadia and moved next to the handsome pilot, small light points representing several systems flash by on the computer screen. "Lando system?"

"Lando's not a system, he's a man. Lando Calrissian. He's a card player, gambler, and scoundrel. You'd like him." He smirked noticing Nadia's smirk and Leia's annoyed expression.

"Thanks." She said sarcastically.

"Bespin. It's pretty far, but I think we can make it." He said, and Nadia rolled her eyes at him.

"You think?"

Leia read from the screen. "A mining colony?"

"Yeah, a Tibanna gas mine. Lando conned somebody out of it. We go back a long way, Lando and me."

"Can you trust him?"

Han scoffed. "No. But he has no love for the Empire, I can tell you that."

"What? Then should we really be going there?" Nadia asked, looking at Leia for support. Chewie barked over the intercom. "Relax kid, everything will be fine. I promise." Han quickly changed his readouts and stretched to look out the cockpit window. "Here we go, Chewie. Stand by. Detach!"

Han leaned back in his chair and gave Leia an invisible smile. She thought for a moment, shook her head; a grin crept across her face and she gave him a quick kiss on the lips. Nadia looked stunned for a moment before smiling at the new couple. "You do have your moments. Not many, but you have them."


In the clearing behind Yoda's house, Luke again stood upside-down, but his face shows less strain and more concentration than before. Yoda sat on the ground below the young warrior. On the other side of the clearing, two equipment cases slowly rise into the air. Nearby Artoo watched, humming to himself, when suddenly he, too, rose into the air. His little legs kick desperately and his head turns frantically, looking for help. "Concentrate... feel the Force flow. Yes. Good. Calm, yes. Through the Force, things you will see. Other places. The future... the past. Old friends long gone."

Luke's face turned into a frown and he suddenly became distressed. "Han! Nadia! Leia!" The two packing boxes and Artoo fell to the ground with a crash, then Luke himself tumbled over.

Yoda sighed, "Hmm. Control, control. You must learn control."

He ran a hand across face and helped Artoo up. "I saw... I saw a city in the clouds."

"Mmm. Friends you have there."

"They were in pain." He said trying to figure out what it meant.

"It is the future you see."

His mouth opened in wonder, "Future?" He then turned serious as he recognized the meaning. "Will they die?"

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Sorry that I never updated on Sunday, I have been really unwell this last week. I also got bad neck pain now, it's just one thing after another…Thank you for the reviews and suggestions about Luke and Nadia's relationship. I guess you all will find out soon enough!

Enjoy the chapter! See you all Sunday.

Sarahmichellegellarfan1 xoxo