Back in the turbolift, Luke keyed in the code for the main level. The child stared at the door, his entire body focused on the spot where the Mandalorian stood. This was not an easy day for the little one.
Luke thought back to the call he'd felt through the force weeks ago. The child's need to be taught, to continue building what he had begun so long ago – Luke shook his head slightly in disbelief- after years of chasing down every scrap and fragment he could find about the old Jedi order, here he held a child who had once lived and studied in the temple.
What kind of arrogant pretender was Luke Skywalker to think he had anything to offer this toddler more than twice his age? Who was he kidding?
No. This child needed to be taught. His connection to the force was like an old radio. Sometimes clear as a song, other times faint, staticky. Luke could help with this, he knew.
Also, through the force, he felt the child's love for his guardian. We are safe now he had told the force. From a certain point of view, this whole thing felt a little like kidnapping. Was this what it would take to rebuild the Jedi? Tearing beings from their loved ones and leading them to a life of uncertainty?
He shook his head again. Grogu glanced up at him. How much of Luke's uncertainty could the young one sense? Luke needed to be confident for the child, who deserved for his new life to feel stable and secure. He didn't need to worry about the insecurities of his protectors. Living half-trained was dangerous. Luke knew this painfully, memories of his reckless failure at Bespin always waiting in the shadows. The child was a danger to himself, and knew it. Within his call through the force had been an oil-slick of fear – the memory of a time he had used the force to harm a friend. Grogu had not understood the situation, to be sure, but he was too young to understand that. Instead he was bewildered. Sometimes using the force made him happy (a memory of stolen cookies in a sunny classroom). Sometimes using the force made the Mandalorian proud (a memory of a steel ball passing between Mandalorian and child). But the force also made the Mandalorian scared. Sometimes the force leapt to Grogu's aid in an emergency (a memory of a Mudhorn frozen in midair), but sometimes he couldn't draw on it. Luke shifted the child to a firmer perch on his hip and met the child's eye. "I'll teach you, little one," he murmured, "and maybe you will teach me, too."
The child had called to him through the force a few weeks ago. Luke was on Ruusan, speaking to a historian about relics from the Valley of the Jedi, when the force tugged at him, a feeling like stepping into deep water. "Excuse me," he murmured, cutting off the scholar, "I'm sorry-I'll be back shortly." He hadn't experienced anything like this since the vision calling him to Cloud City. At least had hadn't dropped anything or anyone this time, he reflected wryly. He reached out into the force and felt it: a call for connection. A child. I am Grogu. I have been away so long, the child said. Teach me. We are safe now, but I cannot protect him forever. Luke sank to the ground, the historian watching curiously, and closed his eyes, straining toward the child.
There. A planet, steep, boulder-strewn hills covered in scrubby forest. The deep core, he thought. Through the force, the memory of a gruff voice, human: Tython it said, tell them you're on Tython. Remember that so those Jedi can find you.
He strained toward the child, Grogu. I will come he thought, as hard as he could. But the child was gone. No- not gone. Dimmed. Exhausted from its efforts. Fixing the position in his mind, Luke had opened his eyes, stood up, and turned back to the historian. Thankfully, R2 was chirping in binary, attempting to make an excuse for his behavior- Jedi are very mysterious, you know, he'll be back to normal shortly.
Luke wound up his conversation as fast as he could – no easy task as the historian's every sentence had multiple sub-clauses, and was making his excuses for a hasty departure when terror washed over him, so potent that he'd gasped aloud. R2 beeped in alarm as Luke watched through Grogu's eyes as troupers snatched him up and brought him aboard an imperial light cruiser.
Burning with urgency, Luke and R2 all but ran back to the x-wing, barely sparing a thought to wonder if the man would be willing to help them again after such a brusque departure. Since then, they had been tracking Grogu's presence across the galaxy. This was no easy task- Grogu's sense in the force had dimmed, milky now instead of clear. The imperials must have drugged the little one. Reaching this sector, Luke had known they were close. For lack of any better alternative, he had begun flying search patterns. Grogu's sense in the force flickered stronger each time the drugs began to wear off, and when it did, Luke would hare off in what he hoped was the right direction, catching up to the ship bit by bit. It was a cold, cramped time for Luke and R2, zig-zagging though space and praying they wouldn't arrive too late.
Finally, Grogu had grown more alert, a sense of relief blossoming vaguely through the force. Not fully awake, but enough to work with. Enough to pinpoint the ship and learn that the gruff Mandalorian was present. R2 routed all available power to the thrusters and they raced toward the ship, still beyond the reach of his scanners. The light cruiser appeared in the scanners, followed by blips that brought Luke's heart into his throat. R2 identified them as Dark Troopers, twittering in alarm. If they arrived aboard first…. Luke took a deep breath, setting his fears aside in preparation for the battle ahead.
The elevator door opened and they set off toward the landing bay, R2 carefully weaving around the remains of dark troopers. Grogu lurched suddenly, clambering around to peer over Luke's shoulder. His feet balanced on Luke's arm, his squirmed anxiously, staring back toward the bridge.
What to say to reassure the little one? "You'll miss him," Luke murmured, thinking of his own choice nine years ago to follow Ben off of Tatooine. Did the force always require Jedi to lose their loved ones?This young one was so worried right now. Luke opened his mouth to reassure Grogu that he would be alright, Luke would keep him safe, but closer attention to Grogu's fears made him close his mouth quickly. What to say to this? Well, he could only try…
"He is encased in beskar. I'm sure he will be able to take care of himself."
The child radiated incredulity. You don't know him like I do. The trouble he gets into. Who will keep him safe now I'm gone?