Chapter 1
A Life Worth Saving, Part II
Yoda's smile broadened as he walked briskly toward the gathered throng. Every eye was watching him intently and silence washed over the crowd as he approached the circle of younglings who stood in four perfect concentric lines centered on an imaginary point, waiting patiently for the Jedi Master's arrival.
Yoda's eyes darted about, searching the crowd for the youngling migru female he had seen, but she was out of sight. He was stunned to find a wave of disappointment at her apparent absence wash over him. Not knowing what to make of it, Yoda shrugged inwardly and continued toward the ring of adorers.
When Yoda drew within ten meters of the circumference of the ring, the gathered younglings parted in perfect militarized synchrony to create a passageway for him. He was duly flattered by the reverence offered him, but was also viscerally disturbed. Resisting the shudder that threatened to spread through his body, he continued his casual gait as if nothing was amiss.
Just prior to crossing the imaginary threshold of younglings, a ten-year old migru boy who had broken through the lines of migru that had gathered and was standing calmly just to the right of his path caught his eye.
Yoda raised an eyebrow.
He looked at the child sternly but smiled inwardly at the youngling's audacity. The Jedi Master approached him slowly and noted with some consternation that the boy never averted his gaze. When Yoda stopped in front of the youngling, he noticed that the child had not reached the age of growing and was still only about half of his mature height. The boy's eyes were alight with admiration and respect, but Yoda also caught a slight glimpse of defiance as well. As Yoda opened himself to the Force he was surprised to find that the Force was stronger with the youngling than with most other migru. The boy was certainly not as strong in the Force as Yoda was, but he had more potential than many in the Order. Yoda was yet again amazed at how many Force-sensitive creatures existed in the galaxy that somehow managed to escape the watchful eyes of the Jedi Seekers. He wasn't sure if he was happy or sad for the boy. Perhaps, both.
Yoda knelt on one knee before the boy.
"Your name," Yoda said.
The boy seemed to be waiting for Yoda to continue but Yoda just stared into the youngling's bulbous brown eyes that were characteristically large on his tanned greenish-brown face.
"Broga," the migru child replied finally, raising his chin slightly as if in response to a challenge.
Yoda nodded, committing the name to memory but saying nothing for a long moment. "Your parents, here, they are?" he glanced over the boy's head then looked back at him. "Know, do they, that in my path you stand?"
Broga seemed to ignore the question completely "Visit us, your Jedi friends did. To take me to Coruscant, they wanted. But love me too much, my parents did."
Yoda's eyes widened at the insinuation. It was one that had passed through his mind more times than he could count. It was one that haunted Yoda the day he asked Gandol about his parents. Every Jedi was a child that was abandoned by his parents. Yoda's eyes narrowed into slits as he considered the child.
"Perhaps…" Yoda replied, at length. "…But a dangerous thing sometimes, love can be. Selfish, it can make you. Keep for yourself what you want, make you it can. Forget to do what is best, many people in love do."
Have you ever been in love?
Yoda drew his eyebrows together as he stared at the child in confusion. He had heard the question but the boy's lips had not moved. The voice was unfamiliar but it was accompanied by a visceral cold Yoda had never felt. It was not the cold one feels from the gust of wind as someone opens the door on a winter night.
It was the cold of death.
"Master Yoda," Broga asked innocently. "Join you, I would. Become a Jedi, like you, I wish."
The boy's words barely registered. Then, as quickly as the surge of cold had come, it was gone. He felt again the gentle warmth of Migruna III's twin suns wash over him. He scanned the crowd again not sure exactly what he was looking for. Everything was as expected. No one else seemed to have experienced what he had. Yoda frowned. This meant that either it hadn't occurred at all or it was entirely in the Force. The latter possibility concerned Yoda the most because the child didn't seem to be affected--which could only mean that it was directed at him. Yoda pondered this for several moments.
Then Yoda shrugged.
He noticed that the boy was still staring at him, so he redirected his attention. "Join the Order, you can."
A grin immediately broke out on the child's face. Yoda shook his head.
"But many tests, take you must. Your parents' permission, you must obtain. All adventure, a Jedi's life is not." Yoda pulled his lips tight and narrowed his eyes as his ears drooped low. "Many dangers, you will face. Live to Gandol's age, you will not."
The response seemed to take the wind out of the migru's sail. Yoda wasn't sure which statement actually accomplished this, but he was pleased nonetheless. He wasn't here to recruit Jedi. That's what the Seekers were for.
Broga began to turn away sadly and walk back to the crowds. Yoda sighed.
"Broga!" Yoda called out he unhooked his lightsaber. "Help me with my demonstration, you will." He tossed the lightsaber to the youngling and used the Force to guide its path into the excited waiting hands of the child. "To the outskirts of the ring, go. For my command, wait. When hear it you do, the lightsaber release."
"Yes, Master Yoda!" the elated boy ran with the prize through the gangway of younglings. He abruptly stopped after a few short steps and turned to face the Jedi Master with a confused look on his face. "What command?"
"Know you will, when my lightsaber, I require."
"A giant river with many currents, the Force is," Yoda said from the center of the ring. He turned slowly as he spoke to the crowd of younglings and tried to make eye-contact with as many of their awed faces as possible. The closest line to him was over twenty meters away, so Yoda used the Force to amplify his voice. He also took the time to look up into the surrounding trees to take in the migru who had gathered there to hear him. "Binds the universe together, the Force does." He pointed to the crowd and swept his stubby finger around. "You…me…everything."
"Lift something!" A petulant youngling shouted from the crowd.
The crowd chuckled but Yoda didn't respond.
"Aid you, the Force can," Yoda continued unfazed, "If call upon it, you do. Help you remove barriers…" Yoda smiled as the youngling who had shouted at him rose into the air above the crowd. A round of applause erupted and the younglings giggled in hysteria as the girl that Yoda lifted into the air floated gently to the ground in front of him. "Teach you, the Force can, that bridges barriers can become."
Yoda looked into the girl's eyes and noted with surprise that it was the same youngling that had caught his eye during the march. Yoda lowered his voice so only the girl could hear.
"Wonder, I do," Yoda smiled, "Why unafraid you were, when flying through the air without control." As she replied, Yoda found that he wasn't simply appreciating her exuberance. He realized that he was actually physically affected by her beauty. He noted, with surprise, that she was the most beautiful migru he had ever seen.
"Afraid of you?" the girl replied with a bright smile. "Never, Master Yoda. Trust you, I do." Her voice was intoxicating. Melodic and sweet. Her ears drooped just the right amount to draw the eyes to her bright red hair glistening under the suns. Her eyes were the brightest blue Yoda had ever seen in a migru or any other species for that matter. Her skin was an exotic deep brown hue that was very rare among his people. Yoda was distracted by the smooth contours of her breasts and hips and the perfect curve of her neck. He blinked several moments and shook his head in a desperate attempt to clear his mind.
"Master Yoda," she grinned broadly as she pointed to slightly above her tiny nose, "My eyes…up here they are."
Yoda bristled at the comment but it helped him regain his sense of composure immediately. He gave her a sidelong glance and turned away from her gruffly. She only smiled in response. Yoda called on the Force again and amplified his voice.
"My volunteer!" Yoda announced to the crowd, as he pointed at the youngling girl. The crowd yelled with mixtures of laughter and cheers. "Saying, I was, how powerful the Force can be."
With a flick of his mind, Yoda called down several large nuts from the very tops of the bending trees around him. The nuts were encased in a hard husk of wood and were a delicacy among the migru. Because the trees were so tall, they were usually only available in the winter months when the trees lowered themselves to the ground. When Yoda was done, there were nearly twenty nuts gathered neatly on the ground next to the young migru girl who regarded them impassively. This simple act by Yoda brought him riches far above those held by most of the migru on the planet. The awe-inspired crowd cheered at what they considered to be an amazing demonstration of power.
"When my head, I nod," Yoda whispered to the girl, "in the air, toss the nuts." She nodded in reply but said nothing.
Yoda turned back to the crowd and smiled. "In the Force, many abilities you will learn. A Jedi's strength flows from the Force. A conduit the Force is, for knowledge and defense." Yoda opened his palm and the youngling Broga threw the blade in the air, brimming with pride. It was almost as if he could hear Yoda calling the weapon in the Force before he had even raised his hand. The lightsaber flew through the air and landed in his waiting hand. A hush fell over the entire gathering as everyone grew desperate to see the blade ignite. "Knowledge, seen you have. Observe, now you will, the power of the Force. Size matters not. Only the Force."
Yoda nodded.
In an instant, four bending tree nuts flung themselves over thirty meters in the air. Yoda spun in astonishment at the migru youngling girl who stood next to the remaining nuts. She shrugged sheepishly. Now, in the Force, Yoda could see her control. She was not only strong in the Force, but she had managed to hide this from him! For a short moment, Yoda thought to speak but she cut him off with a gentle turn of her eyes toward the sky and the falling nuts.
Mischief filled Yoda's face and he grinned.
The Jedi Master leapt into the air and his lightsaber ignited. The green blade became a blur of energy that surrounded the falling nuts. As Yoda landed gently on the ground, the nuts remained suspended in the air, seemingly unaffected by Yoda's barrage. The crowd stared in confusion at the floating orbs but Yoda simply smiled at the girl and nodded.
She gazed at him in apparent admiration, and then she released her hold on the nuts. As she did, they broke apart neatly and fell to the ground, each in eight neat pieces.
The forest became a maelstrom of cheers. Everyone roared in amazement at the fantastic display. As the cheering continued, the girl began hurling the spheres at Yoda in rapid succession. Yoda's blade roared to life and he flew through the air, slicing and whirling and bouncing and cutting. Within seconds, every nut was neatly cut into eight perfect slices and Yoda stood in the center of the ring next to the beauty smiling widely and the thunderous applause.
With a gentle tug from the Force, the slices lifted into the air and began to distribute themselves among the younglings who celebrated the special treasure they were given.
"Not a Jedi," Yoda whispered out of the corner of his mouth to the girl as he waved to the crowd, "but strong in the Force are you. Learned control from someone, you did. Explain?" She stood solemnly next to Yoda, accepting none of the praise but looking out at the crowd with him.
"Know my mother, you do," she replied. "A Jedi Knight, she is."
Yoda turned to look at her in surprise. "Yaddle, your mother is? Mentioned children, she has not. Two young for mating, she is."
"Full of surprises, my mother is," she smiled. "Refused to let the order teach me, she did. Taught me the Force herself, she has. Much to learn, I still have." She turned to face Yoda and grew serious for the first time since he met her. "Hoping you would teach me, I am."
"No!" Yoda replied, his face stern. "No padawans have I had for fifty years. Like the freedom, I do. Besides…." Yoda turned away from her and looked back out at the crowd. He was amazed to realize that he couldn't even hear their cheers anymore and he wasn't waving.
"Besides what?" she asked earnestly.
"A distraction, you could become," Yoda replied tersely. After a long moment, his voice softened. "Your mother, a good teacher, she will be."
The girl grinned. "Teach me you will. Sense it, I do."
"No, I will not!"
"If say so, you do," she laughed louder.
So much pride. Perfect. And lust…that's unexpected…
Yoda froze. There was no mistaking it now. Whatever it was, the cold that accompanied the voice had grabbed hold of him like a vice and held him tightly. Then, as quickly as it came, the cold dissipated and Yoda could hear everything—the continuing cheers and the chuckles of the girl beside him.
"Feel that, did you?" Yoda asked, turning to face her with concern.
"Feel what, Master Yoda?" She looked confused.
Yoda's eyes widened and fear began to grip him. He searched the crowds again with desperate eyes. Everyone was looking at him. But there was only admiration in their eyes. Yoda didn't know what to make of what was going on, but he could sense something very wrong. And somehow, he knew it might affect everyone standing in the village—perhaps everyone on Migruna III. Yoda frowned.
"Nothing…." Yoda whispered. "Nothing at all…"
