Yoda saw them all as his children. Each youngling that entered the Jedi Temple was special to him. That's why he took personal responsibility for their initial training. One day, they would grow to become the padawans of other Jedi masters. But in their earliest days, when they were still just children discovering the wonders of the Force, they were his.
The little old master smiled warmly. His pointed ears drooped comfortably. He leant on his wooden walking stick with both hands to support his diminutive stature, his razor-sharp finger nails scraping against the wood for his own amusement. His green, weathered skin might look old and weary, but it was still up to the task, and every line in that wise, welcoming face told a story.
Yoda could spend hours stood at the front like this, preaching whatever came to mind. He could ramble on about star systems and spacecraft and the art of war and peace or even just what he had for breakfast. But his favourite moments, the ones he treasured the most, were the ones where he was absolutely silent. Where he and all his children just stood and felt at peace with the Force. Well, almost all.
One youngster was shuffling awkwardly, the sounds of his robes brushing causing a distraction to all the others. His eyes were closed like the others but his little face was scrunched up in frustration. Yoda knew the type immediately: this one hated being stood still. Yoda cleared his throat slightly and watched as the boy cautiously opened one eye then slammed it shut again as quick as he could.
"A problem," Yoda spoke up, his smiling never fading, "Obi-Wan seems to be having." All of the younglings opened their eyes, hearing their master speak. Obi-Wan shifted uncomfortably. "Not feel the force, can you? Hmm." Obi-Wan shook his head and looked down disappointed and ashamed.
"Reaching out with your mind, you are. Not working, that is. Try something else, should you, hmm?" Yoda chortled to himself. Watching their young minds process the things he said always amused him, even when they reached their hundreds. Obi-Wan sighed.
The little boy was barely six years old. His floppy brown hair formed into a fringe, the same dark shade as his surprisingly strong eyebrows. His face was young and smooth, without lines. The pale skin was rounded in a youthful cherubim look, and a little sparkle shone from his eyes. Yoda remembered when he had been found at 3 years old. Older initiations tended to breed more restless younglings. With this one, Yoda had his work cut out for him.
"Reach out with something else, you should try," Yoda remarked offhand, and directed the other younglings with a wave of tiny green fingers to return to their meditation. They obeyed him without hesitation. Yoda watched amused as Obi-Wan reached out with his right hand as if to grab something, scrunching his eyes shut. "No," was the only advice Yoda offered him.
Obi-Wan dropped his hand, thought for a moment, then tried with his foot. "Feel anything, do you?" Yoda cocked his head to the side. "No," Obi-Wan admitted, lowering his foot back down to the ground. "Make a physical connection with the Force, you cannot," Yoda nodded solemnly. Obi-Wan opened his eyes. "I've tried everything," he whined, "nothing works. I'll never catch up with the others."
"No," Yoda snapped, "there is no try. Tried nothing have you. Done things, yes, done things you have. Failed at them, you have. But done, they are." Obi-Wan didn't take kindly to be called a failure and kicked at the ground in frustration. "I'm never going to be a Jedi!" He shouted. Some of the other Younglings risked peeking at that point but Yoda shot them a look and their eyes snapped shut again.
"Jedi?" Yoda said the word to himself as if he'd never heard it before. "Jedi..." he repeated in a lower tone, rolling it around his mouth. "Teaching you to be Jedi, I am not. Learn to be Jedi, when Padawan you are." Obi-Wan looked up, confused. "Then what are you teaching us?" He asked, cocking his head to the side. Yoda's only answer was a fit of giggles followed by a small cough.
"Closed, your eyes should be. Hmm?" Yoda's smile fell and he raised an eyebrow at Obi-Wan. The smile came back as soon as Obi-Wan's eyes were clamped shut once more. "But open..." Yoda lifted his stick off the floor and pointed it at Obi-Wan's chest, prodding him lightly, "this should be."
Obi-Wan reached for his robe to undo it but Yoda batted his hand away with his walking stick. Obi-Wan's eyebrows furrowed and Yoda noticed that now there were lines on his forehead. Signs that the boy was starting to think. Those lines would become symbols of his wisdom. His face relaxed. Yoda smiled.
"Think of attachments you must," Yoda instructed, now he had the boy's undivided attention. "Your parents, remember you will, hmm? And friends? Yes, friends. Perhaps teachers too. Silly green teachers." Several of the Younglings giggled at that. "Drive you, those attachments do. Take your connection away from the Force. Release them, you must."
"How am I supposed to forget them?" Obi-Wan asked.
"Forget them, you must not. But hold on to them, and only failure awaits you. Love, you must. But through the Force. Become part of your love for the Living Force, they must, hmm?"
Yoda felt his hands shaking and looked down to see his old trusted walking stick trying to break free from his grip. He released it willingly and stepped back. The shard of wood that had served him so well now levitated into the air, rolling onto its side and came to rest in the air, right in front of Obi-Wan's face. Yoda watched, marvelling at the child, as his stick hung there like it was suspended by wires.
Obi-Wan's eyes opened cautiously and the stick dropped to the floor with a thud, making him jump. He looked up at Yoda with accusing eyes like he thought the old master had thrown it at him. This made Yoda laugh once again. "Rest now," he said simply and all the younglings opened their eyes. Their lessons completed for the day, they began to trail out of the wide circular room. All except one. Obi-Wan stayed put until the two of them were alone.
"I thought you were training us to be Jedi?" Obi-Wan was so perplexed by this conundrum that Yoda observed for once in his life the boy seemed capable of standing still. "That's what the man told my parents when he brought me here." Yoda waved his hand and his walking stick flew back to his palms like a loyal dog. "And train you, he shall. Or another like him. But not Me. No. Not I..."
"Then what are you teaching us?" Obi-Wan stepped towards him without thinking. He was hanging onto Yoda's every word like never before. Yoda turned away, leaning heavily on his stick once more. The constant questions reminded him how young the boy was, and how old this little green Jedi had become.
"Name this planet, can you?" Yoda asked as a hologram of the water planet Mon Calamari appeared between them. Obi-Wan studied it for a moment then smirked and answered confidently: "Naboo." Yoda shook his head. Obi-Wan's face fell. "Who wrote the Jedi code, do you know?" Yoda asked next. Obi-Wan wracked his brain, those lines appearing on his forehead. "A Jedi Master?" He settled on as his answer.
Yoda didn't bother asking if he could be more specific. "Levitate my walking stick again," Yoda ordered now. Obi-Wan stared blankly at him. "Learn these things from me, you did. But remember them now, you do not." Obi-Wan looked down. He thought he was being told off. Yoda patted the boy softly on the shoulder. "Unimportant they are. Learn them one day, you may. Or may not."
"To teach facts, only part of a teacher's role is it. To teach skills, another. Some things, know you must. Learn them, when very little do you. To talk. To write. To read. To listen. But when learnt, what use do teachers have, wonder do I." Yoda laughed and sat down cross legged on his chair: a round, red-cushioned seat. Obi-Wan sat down in front of him on the floor, also cross-legged, like a mirror.
"Feelings, you will remember. Yes, hmm..." Yoda closed his eyes, smiling, "and role models, yes? And build from my lessons, do you, a sense of what is right and wrong, yes? Decide what is important or not, do you? Your sense of self, we are building. Self-confidence, self-image, self-esteem, all added to today were they not. To teach you who you are and what you can do, is my role."
"Create greatness, I cannot. See greatness, I can. To nurture it until you see it too, is what I seek to do. Teach you to be a Jedi, I will not. Teach you to be Obi-Wan Kenobi, I will."
Obi-Wan looked at Yoda, his young mind only beginning to comprehend what Yoda had to teach him. He shuffled restlessly, just like he always did. "What if I don't want to be Obi-Wan Kenobi?" He asked earnestly. "How will you know, if tried you have not, hmm?" Yoda raised an eyebrow.
Obi-Wan thought for a moment then smirked: "there is no try." Yoda laughed at that. "Then do or do not. And help you, I will."
"But what if I fail again?"
"Then fail with you, I will. And learn from it, we will."
Writer's Notes: My second go at a Star Wars short story and probably a more personal one. Teachers and teaching are quite key themes of a lot of my writing and a lot of my characters one way or another. Some stories you spend ages trying to think up, others just come to and you think 'quick write that down'. This was definitely the latter. I didn't know who the youngling was going to be until I had to make a decision. I felt it lent more weight and meaning to the story if it was someone we know, particularly someone who goes on to become an important teacher themselves. It's not so much a story about Yoda as about his message. I also think quite a few of the ideas and themes I want to explore in Star Wars are starting to show here but I'll save discussion of those for when they're more prominent in later projects.