Chapter 15: To Be a Jedi

The next morning, everyone awoke with a new sense of purpose. Yoda pushed his students hard, preparing them to face an uncertain future where he could no longer guide them. The days turned into weeks…

Luke returned from his trek deep into the jungle. The Force had guided him to a cave filled with glimmering crystals. He looked at the one he held in this hand. In spite of the dim light of the swamp, the gem seemed to glow a familiar emerald color. Luke had been drawn to this crystal above all others. This would be the heart of his new lightsaber.

Leia sat at the edge of the camp, staring aimlessly at a nearby pond. She had no idea that Jedi training would be this hard. In spite of reassurances to the contrary, Leia was frustrated with her lack of progress. Everyone else was ahead of her and she was struggling to keep up. Even her two year old nephew seemed more capable than her at times. Leia was tempted to give up when the frustration overtook her, but then it would all come back to her. Soon, they would get word from Chewie and Lando. And then she would need to have the strength to succeed where she had failed before and save Han. The man she loved. The man who was frozen in carbonite because of… Leia buried her face in her hands as the memory of Han's freezing at Vader's hand replayed in her mind once more.

Feeling Leia's anguish, Luke jerked his head up from the lightsaber casing on the workbench in front of him. He looked across the camp to see Leia curled up once more on a large rock at the edge of the camp. She had the potential to be a great Jedi, but was having problems calling on the Force. Luke set down his work and got up from the bench. His sister was still having trouble coming to terms with the truth about their father. He knew that on some level she was afraid of becoming like Vader and it was subconsciously affecting her ability to use the Force.

Luke stretched his arms above his head and twisted his torso. He had been sitting at the workbench far too long. A small smile came to his face when he saw Ben looking up in rapt attention. The boy was levitating the model X-Wing Luke had built for him with the Force, seemingly mesmerized by the flight patterns he was creating. Luke turned his attention from his cheerful son to his depressed sister and back again. He had an idea.

Luke walked over to where his son was seated and crouched down. The pair sat in silence for a moment, watching the model starfighter maneuver above them. Finally noticing his father's presence, Ben brought the miniature spacecraft down for a soft landing and smiled. Luke gave him a bright smile in return. "Do you know what we should do?"

Ben shook his head at his father's question. "No."

"I think the two of us should go over and see your Aunt Leia." A bright smile formed on Ben's face. His aunt was always nice to him and she let him do things that his parents wouldn't let him do sometimes. Like eat candy. His mother and father hardly ever gave him candy, but Aunt Leia always found a piece for him.

Luke stood up and extended his hand, knowing that his son agreed. Ben took his father's offered hand and the pair walked across the camp to where Leia was sitting. The somber princess turned her gaze away from the swamp as she heard the pair approach the rock on which she sat. Leia couldn't help but smile when she saw her nephew let go of Luke's hand and make his way over to her with a big grin on his face as Luke stopped short.

Leia patted her leg and the boy climbed into her lap, still smiling. The boy's smile soon faded, however, bringing a look of concern to Leia's face and, in turn, Luke's. She looked down at her nephew. "Ben, is something wrong?"

The boy hesitated for a moment, seemingly unsure of himself, before turning to gaze into Leia's eyes. "Why are you sad?"

A look of astonishment crossed Leia's face at his innocent question and she turned to see and equally astonished look on Luke's face. Leia turned back to find Ben looking at her curiously. Suddenly, it dawned on her. He must have felt her emotions in the Force. "I was remembering someone special."

Ben's face twisted into a look of confusion. He obviously didn't comprehend how thinking of someone special could make his aunt sad. Leia's voice held a sense of longing as she explained herself to her nephew. "He is very far away right now and I miss him very much."

A look of comprehension crossed Ben's face upon hearing this. "Like how I missed mommy and daddy when they were gone."

"Yes. Like that."

Ben turned up and stared into Leia's eyes for a moment. "You should try to remember happy things about them. That's what I did when I was sad that mommy and daddy were gone. It made me feel better."

Leia gave Ben a small smile. "I'll do that." Ben smiled back at his aunt triumphantly for a moment before wriggling off her lap. He quickly darted after a small lizard that crossed his path. Luke moved to stop him, but Leia cut him off by raising her hand. The boy just needed something else to keep his attention. She caught up with Ben as the lizard darted into a nearby hole. "Ben, why don't you show me what you were doing before with your model X-Wing?"

Completely forgetting his quarry, Ben's eyes lit up. He loved showing off his favorite toy. And now, he had mastered loops which made it even better. Without a word, Ben scampered off toward the other side of the camp, tugging on Leia' hand. Luke chuckled at the two. "I think he likes that idea."

Leia smiled to her brother over her shoulder as she followed her excited nephew. Luke was about to follow the two when he felt a hand on his shoulder and a warm feeling roll over him through the Force. He smiled as he looked over to the side to see Mara had returned from her run. She returned his smile and turned away to watch Leia and Ben retreat into the camp. When the two were out of sight, Luke turned to his fiancée. "How was your run?"

Mara tugged on her shirt to wring out some of the moisture that had accumulated due to perspiration. "Good. I assume Ben behaved himself in my absence."

Luke looked toward the camp where he knew Ben and Leia were. "His behavior was perfect."

Mara gave him a knowing smile. "He must have. I haven't seen Leia smile like that since…" Her voice trailed off, not wanting to bring up Leia's reaction to the truth about her father again.

Luke just wrapped his arms around Mara and pulled her toward him, ignoring the sweat covering her body. They were both still getting used to the idea themselves. But at least they had each other. Leia was still missing Han and it wasn't helping her ability to deal with her discovery. They hadn't even told Leia about their engagement because of Luke's fear that it would make her miss Han even more. But they would tell both of them, together, when he was with them again. "You can say it. Since she found out about our father. Leia's strong. She'll get used to it in time. Until then, we just have to give her the support we can." Mara just nodded and leaned back, taking comfort in Luke's arms.

Leia clenched her jaw as she focused her energy on the stones in front of her. At first, nothing happened. Her frustration was about to overtake her when she noticed the stone closest to her begin to shake. She took a deep breath to refocus herself. 'Patience. I have to be patient. It will come.' She closed her eyes, picturing the stones circling around her. Minutes passed and, finally, Leia opened her eyes. The shock of seeing the stones orbiting around her just as she had envisioned broke her concentration, causing them to fall. She looked to her teacher. Yoda looked at her with narrowed eyes, seemingly displeased. "Control you must still learn." Feeling his student's frustration return, the old teacher's timeworn face broke into a small smile. "…but done well today you have."

Luke closed the panel on his newly constructed lightsaber. He turned it in his left hand, inspecting the craftsmanship and testing its balance. Finally, he stood up from his stool and brought his right hand to the lightsaber's hilt. Angling his weapon away from his chest he murmured "Here goes nothing." Luke thumbed the activation stud and smiled upon seeing the emerald green blade come into existence. Luke gave the newly constructed weapon a series of test swings. Everything appeared to be in order. But it still needed a real test. Luke spun around, weapon still ignited, when he heard a familiar voice behind him.

"I know you're obsessed with the color of my eyes, but isn't this going a bit too far?" Mara's eyes held a mischievous glint as her lips curled up into a smirk.

Luke smiled at her and chuckled slightly at her comment. "I can't help it if they're the most captivating thing in the galaxy."

Mara rolled her eyes at his sappy statement. "Flattery will get you nowhere, Farmboy." She called her own lightsaber to her hand, bringing the violet blade to life. "Let's see how it works. I haven't been able to beat you since you misplaced your last one."

"Hey! The only reason you won that last sparring match was because you had Ben distract me. You were playing dirty bringing our son into a duel."

Mara's jaw was wide in mock indignation. "I did nothing of the sort. You just can't accept the fact that I beat you. I had nothing to do with Ben calling for you." Luke just looked at her skeptically as Mara smirked at him once more. "If you're so sure of yourself, would you care to place a wager?"

Luke gave her a confident grin and nodded, accepting her challenge. "Fine. If I win, you have to show me some of those special dancing skills you told me about."

Mara's eyes narrowed. He definitely wasn't going to hold back if that was on the line. "And when I win?"

"If you win, which is highly unlikely unless you start cheating again…" Luke took his prosthetic right off the hilt of his lightsaber and slowly curled and uncurled his fingers. "Well, let's just say I've been doing some fine tuning on the circuits in my right hand."

Mara's eyes grew wide at his innuendo. Neither of them would be holding back now. And even the loser seemed bound to win in the end. "You're on." Not waiting for Luke to acknowledge her acceptance of the wager, Mara swung her blade quickly and it met Luke's with a violent spark.

Leia found herself at the mouth of a cave deep in the swamps of Dagobah and hesitantly stepped in. Master Yoda had sent her out to find a crystal so she could begin building a lightsaber of her own. Once Leia had finally started to get past her doubts with the help of her family, she had quickly begun to catch up with her brother and Mara. Seeing her innocent nephew, she had finally realized, much as Luke had, that just being from the same lineage as Vader did not make someone prone to evil. Her doubts pushed aside, Leia now had a solid grasp on the basic Force skills like levitation and sensing. But now it was time for the more advanced learning, like lightsaber training. Leia had borrowed Luke and Mara's sabers as an introduction to the Jedi weapon. However, their lightsabers hadn't felt right in her hands. She needed to build her own saber. An extension of her own ability in the Force, not someone else's.

Leia ducked her head to make it through a low section of the cave. When she brought her head up, she found herself in a large room formed in the rock. Crystals of all colors were imbedded in the walls around her. Her eyes stopped on a blue-green crystal, the same color as Alderaan had been from space, gleaming in spite of the dim light of the room. She knew that was the one. That was the crystal that she would build her weapon around. She called the crystal to her with the Force and left the cave.

…and weeks turned into months. Finally, nearly nine months had passed since the training had begun anew. Luke and Mara had learned to match their already strong Force skills with a state of mind and purpose befitting a Jedi. Yoda had continued to challenge them, but they had not failed any of his tests since their return. The couple now had the conifidence in the Force to face anything the galaxy threw at them and the wisdom to know when they actually needed to use Force to accomplish their goals.

Able to finally move past the obstacles between her and becoming truly in tune with the Force, Leia's Force skills had quickly grown. She had even been able to construct her own lightsaber and was quickly becoming proficient with the elegant Jedi weapon.

Her abilities in the Force were beginning to rival Luke and Mara's, but she still lacked the assurance to call on them without fear. Leia still had to prove to herself that she could do it. She needed to finally go out and save Han.

Ben had grown into a very curious three year old. His Force skills were still above and beyond what would normally be expected for a child his age and his parents had quickly learned that he was incredibly empathic. They had learned to be careful with their emotions near the boy since he tended to react to any strong feelings in his vicinity. They had also discovered during an unfortunate incident with one of the larger resident lizards that he had trouble calling on the Force when panicked. Mara had grown very worried about her son's safety, but Luke had taken time to work with Ben. The boy could now call to his parents or Leia if there was trouble, a tremendous relief to all three.

Yoda's students sat silently in his cramped hut with worried looks on their faces. Something in the Force didn't feel right around the aged Jedi Master. Yoda looked up at his last students with a sad face, knowing his time was short. The old master had done all he could in the time he had. Now, it was up to his students to carry on without him. "Soon will I rest. Yes, forever sleep. Earned it I have."

Leia echoed the sentiments her brother had spoken months before. "Master Yoda, you can't die." Leia's eyes shone do to the tears that threatened to fall. He had taught her so much in the time she had spent on Dagobah. She had developed a soft spot for the old Jedi and the last thing she wanted was for him to die. Too many of those important in her life had been taken away already.

The old master looked upon his last student. His voice was weak and hoarse as he spoke. "Strong am I with the Force…but not that strong. Twilight is upon me and soon night must fall. That is the way of things…the way of the Force."

Luke nodded, accepting Yoda's words. Nothing could prevent death. Not even the Force. Luke could feel that it was Yoda's time, but he was still worried. How would they carry on without him? He finally gave voice to his worries. "But what of our training?"

Yoda's voice was hoarse when he spoke, motioning to them. "Luke, Mara, come closer." Wordlessly, the two moved to the bed on which there master lay. Leia stayed back, holding Ben in her lap. She knew that the boy needed comfort as she could feel his anxiety in the Force. Even Ben knew what was coming on some level. Reaching Yoda's small bed, Luke and Mara both kneeled as his side in order to look at him clearly. Yoda raised his hand and met the eyes of each of them in turn. "Confer on you I do the level of Jedi Knight. The start of a new Jedi Order you are. Continue the others' training you must."

Yoda coughed before continuing in a steadily weakening voice. "Dark forces are still gaining strength. Find the lost children you must. Pass on what you have learned. Know when it is time to act you will. The Force…will always…be with you all." Yoda's form stilled after he spoke these words. His last students looked on with watery eyes as the last of the old order faded from view, leaving only his threadbare robes.