Chapter 7: Jedi Training

Luke climbed up the vine in front of him. He had spent hours working his way through the swamp. Up and down vines, through marches, flipping over rocks and logs, jumping over roots, in and out of fog with Yoda strapped to his back teaching him about the Force the entire time. His breath was labored and his clothes were soaked with sweat, but he continued to run, drawing on the Force to fortify him as Yoda had been teaching him.

The old Jedi Master resumed his teaching as his student ran through a grove of trees. "Run! Yes. A Jedi's strength flows from the Force. But beware of the Dark Side. Anger... fear... aggression. The Dark Side of the Force are they. Easily they flow, quick to join you in a fight. If once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will, as it did Obi-Wan's apprentice."

Hearing this, Luke stopped his running and turned his head toward his teacher. "Vader. Is the dark side stronger?"

Yoda adamantly responded to his pupil's question. "No... no... no. Quicker, easier, more seductive."

This idea worried Luke. He did not want to fall to the Dark Side and not even realize it. "But how am I to know the good side from the bad?"

"You will know. When you are calm, at peace. Passive. A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack." The wisdom of Yoda's years came clearly through his voice as he spoke these words.

"But tell me why I can't..."

Yoda could see that he would get no farther with his pupil this day. His mind was not clear enough to respond to what he was teaching. "No, no, there is no why. Nothing more will I teach you today. Clear your mind of questions."

Mara looked at the diminutive Jedi Master at her feet like he had grown a second head. "Are you out of your mind? There is no way I'm going out into that swamp blindfolded. Who knows what I could step in not to mention…"

Yoda stopped her tirade and stamped his gimer stick into the mud to emphasize his point. "Learn to trust you must! Give your senses to the Force, guide you it can. If you let it. Catch you if you fall, I will. All powerful you are not." Mara looked down upon him scornfully. She did not appreciate being scolded like a child. "Must learn that do everything you cannot. To the dark side will it lead. Just as it did Vader." Mara grudgingly took the offered blindfold and put it on. "Good. Now, open your senses. Let the Force be your guide."

Mara hesitantly took a step forward, slowly building up her pace to a normal walk. Soon, however, she tripped over the exposed root of a nearby tree. Before she could fall into the mud, however, she was stopped in midair. Yoda looked at her precarious form with irritation on his face and it carried over into his voice. "Let go your senses you must. Deceive you they can. Trust the Force. The truth it will bring to you. Next time, catch you I will not. Your lesson you must learn."

Yoda lifted Mara back to her feet. "Now, begin." Mara began moving forward once more. She took a quick step in front of her, intent on showing her teacher just what she could do. However, she stepped into a puddle and was unable to get the footing she needed. She managed to throw herself backwards to avoid falling on her face and landed on her rear in the mud. She could hear Yoda come to her side. "Hmph. Impatience. A Jedi must be calm."

Mara brought herself back up to her feet and took a deep breath. She once again took a step in front of her, more deliberately than her previous attempt. This time, she managed to adjust her step as she reached another exposed root. A small smile crept onto her face once she realized what she had done. Her teacher encouraged her from his position walking beside her. "Good. Continue." Soon, Mara was able to run through the forest at a full sprint relying on nothing but the Force to guide her.

Yoda looked at the small boy before him. He could sense tremendous Force potential in him, as great as his grandfather's. The old Master stood silent for a moment, trying to get a read on the child's emotions. For his part, Ben sat relatively still before the Jedi Master in front on him. Yoda could pick up a sense of awe from the boy. Ben had never seen someone some bright looking outside of his family. The old Master was pleased with how well in tune with the Force the boy already was.

Finally, Yoda spoke to the boy. "Reach out. Sense the Force around you. Use your feelings you must." Ben's face scrunched up, trying to decipher Yoda's words. Finally, his eyes lit up when he picked up the intent of his instruction. The boy looked around the swamp and then shut his eyes. He instinctually called the on the Force and looked at the teeming life around him with his sixth sense.

Yoda smiled, feeling the sense of wonder from the small boy. "Truly wonderful the mind of a child is."

Luke sat in front of the tent they were using as a shelter, attempting to sense the life around him through the Force as Yoda had been teaching him. He was tracking a school of fish in a nearby pond when he felt a wave of irritation. He opened his eyes and saw his fiancé stalking away from Yoda's hut. Whatever he did this time must have really set her off. He rose to greet her.

Before Luke could even think to speak, Mara started to vent about her issues with their diminutive green teacher. "The troll had the nerve to say Ben was a better student than I am! And then he asked me to leave so they could get some work done!"

Luke did his best not to laugh. He had little doubt that Ben was a more patient student than Mara at times, but he'd never say that to her face. He decided it was best to try to calm her and find out what happened. "Mara, I'm sure he had his reasons. Tell me. What happened?"

Mara's gaze narrowed at Luke as she pointed her finger at him. "You're taking the little green goblin's side aren't you?"

Luke threw up his hands in a plaintive gesture. "I'm not taking anyone's side. I'm just trying to find out what happened."

Mara crossed her arms over her chest and looked at Luke skeptically before speaking. "We were over by the hut and I was trying to work on those spilt concentration techniques he was teaching to toss shake branches loose from the tree and then bat them away with my lightsaber. Then little balls of mud started to come at me." Mara pointed to the dark spots on the tank top she was wearing and Luke nodded. "I look over and Yoda and Ben were laughing. The little troll was encouraging this. When I told them to knock it off, the little troll had the audacity to tell me to be more patient. 'It's only mud' he said. And then he told me to leave, claiming Ben was listening to him more than I was."

Luke had to cover his hand to avoid laughing at the mental picture he was getting of his son and Yoda flinging mud at Mara. And knowing how intense she got, she probably missed something Yoda told her and he decided to teach her a lesson. He quickly sobered up at the sight of the glare Mara was giving him. "If you even think about laughing, you're sleeping in your X-Wing. I don't care how much pond is in the cockpit."

Luke gulped and nodded. He did not want to feel her wrath. Their attention was drawn away from their argument when they heard Ben giggling nearby. He was covered in mud next to a similarly grimy Yoda. "A cleaning the boy needs. No more teaching for today."

Mara just turned to Luke and smirked. "Have fun."

Luke watched dumbfounded as she walked away and turned to see Yoda doing the same in the opposite direction. He looked down on his son's smiling form. "Come on. You need a bath."

Ben simply responded "No bath" and took off into the swamp. Luke groaned and set off to give chase. Luke spent the next hour and a half chasing him down and finally getting the boy clean. Thankfully, the chase had worn Ben out so he fell asleep after a small dinner. Exhausted, Luke sat down in front of the tent once more. He looked down at his appearance and sighed. Now he needed to a cleaning himself. He was just thankful that he was able to rig up a water filter and heater in their shuttle's fresher so they could take real warm water showers while they were on planet.

Luke stretched out his weary muscles and groaned. He was about to get up to head for a shower when he heard Mara's voice from the entrance of their tent. "Tired?" Luke just turned and gave her a small glare. Mara smirked in return. "Serves you right for thinking it was funny." Luke just rolled his eyes and stood up to walk toward the shower. "You look dirty."

Luke spun around, about to give Mara a piece of his mind when he saw her walking toward him, swinging her hips and smiling seductively. His mind went into an entirely different direction at the sight before him. Mara put a finger under his chin as she slowly walked past him toward the ship's entrance. "Since you were such a good boy, I'll help you get cleaned up. Although we may get even dirtier in the process." Luke's eyes lit up and he followed her to the ship's ramp, his eyes focused on her swaying hips the whole way.

Yoda sat at the side of a small pond with his three pupils. Mara and Luke balanced themselves in a handstand while Ben sat off to the side with his legs crossed and eyes closed in deep concentration. A rock about the size of a fist floated in front of each, brought to rest at balance on top of another mossy stone triple the size of the first.

Yoda regarded the progress of each. "Use the Force. Yes..." He came up to Luke and Mara and tapped each on their arm with his gimer stick. Luke shakily shifted to balance himself onto one arm. Mara, on the other hand, was able to shift her balance with the skill of an expert gymnast thanks to her prior training. "Now... the stone. Feel it." Each began to shakily raise both rocks off the ground. R2 began to beep frantically from the edge of the pond. Luke's concentration wavered when he heard his droid's plea and that loss of focus soon spread to Mara and both lost their balance. The couple toppled in Yoda's direction earning them a sharp reprimand. "Concentrate."

Luke looked over in the direction of R2 who was now rocking back and forth urgently. R2 began whistling wildly causing Luke to follow the droid as he began rolling toward the edge of the pond. Luke reached the shore to find that his X-Wing had sunk deeper than when he had first crashed landed. Only the end of one of its wing still could be seen above the surface of the pond. "Oh, no. We'll never get it out now."

Yoda stamped his stick on the ground in irritation, but managed to speak in an even voice regardless. "So certain are you. Always with you it cannot be done. Hear you nothing that I say?"

Luke looked at the ship as Mara approached the edge of the pond as well. She saw the situation and turned to Yoda. "Master, moving stones around is one thing. This is totally different."

Yoda grew more irritated with the behavior of his eldest students and it reached his voice as he spoke to them again. "No! No different! Only different in your mind. You must unlearn what you have learned."

Luke and Mara began to focus together, hoping that if they worked together they may have a slim chance at success. Luke looked to Yoda and told him "All right, we'll give it a try."

"No! Try not. Do. Or do not. There is no try."

After turning away from their teacher's rebuke, Luke and Mara closed their eyes and stretched out to strengthen each other through the Force. They raised their hands in unison. Slowly the X-Wing began to rise from the water. First, a meter exposed, and then two meters. Yoda's face grew hopeful that his students could overcome their misconceptions. His hopes were dashed when the ship slipped down once more, this time becoming completely lost under the surface of the pond.

Luke and Mara returned to Yoda's side, panting heavily. Luke sat on the damp ground followed soon by his fiancé. Luke turned to their teacher, still breathing heavily. "We can't. It's too big."

Yoda gave his two pupils a stern look. "Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you? Hm? Mmmm." Luke and Mara both shook their heads at his statement. "And well you should not. For my ally is 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..." Yoda reached out and pinched each of their arms. "... not this crude matter. You must feel the Force around you. Here, between you... me... the tree... the rock... everywhere! Yes, even between the land and the ship!"

Frustrated with the way he was being treated, Luke turned to walk away as Mara met the eyes of the Jedi Master. "You want the impossible."

Yoda slowly made his way over to where Ben was still levitating the stones, having never lost his concentration before. "Come, young one. A valuable lesson we must teach." Ben nodded his head and followed Yoda to the edge of the pond. "The ship. Do you feel it?" Ben nodded once again, his eyes seeming to shine. "Good. Raise it."

"Yes, Master Yoda." Ben closed his eyes and raised his small hand. The X-Wing slowly began to surface, spilling swamp water from where it had seeped into the landing gear. R2 began to beep and whistle wildly at the sight, drawing Mara and Luke's attention. They saw Luke's X-Wing hovering over the surface of the pond toward the nearby land. The fighter set down gently and Ben opened his eyes once more.

Mara looked at her son in awe as Luke regarded Yoda amazed. "I don't... I don't believe it."

Yoda looked Luke straight in the eyes and spoke in a low tone. "That is why you fail."