Disclaimer: not mine

Chapter 32

Yoda stared at the two Younglings before him, compared to him everyone was a Youngling. This was the child Obi-Wan had taken guardianship of, had died to protect. He took in the boy's stance, wary but not aggressive which was interesting and not what he had expected. He was dressed in loose clothes for training and there was something….ah, one hand was prosthetic, a recent injury. He then studied Ahsoka, she had grown a lot since her days in the Temple. She too was wary and protective, standing slightly in front of the boy, making it clear that to get to him Yoda would have to get through her first. He had seen the last of their fight, they were both very good and neither had even touched the Dark Side. "Surprised to see me you are."

"I thought you were dead," Ahsoka admitted, not moving from her protective stance in front of Luke. If Master Yoda had come for him, he would have to get through her. he'd been the best swordsman in the Order, but it had been almost twenty years in exile while she had kept her skills sharp. Did she think she could beat him? It was doubtful, but she knew she could stall him if it came down to it, long enough for Vader to get to them. Three on one were a lot better odds. "Why are you here?"

"Many changes sensed I have."

"Sidious is dead. Alderaan was destroyed by Tarkin who has since been dealt with," Ahsoka offered, shifting her stance a little.

Yoda closed his eyes in grief, he had felt its destruction, although he had been unsure what had caused the mass deaths. Alderaan had always been an ally to not only the Order but to the democracy they had served. "Vader the new Emperor is?"

"No, Father has no desire to rule," Luke spoke up for the first time, he'd heard of Mater Yoda but…he wasn't exactly what he had expected.

"Your desire, what is?" Yoda asked, studying the boy and his very clear blue eyes, no sign of Sith yellow.

"To not have people trying to kill me would be nice," Luke shrugged. "I want to live in peace, get married, have a family. We're working towards peace with the Alliance already. Wedding date had been set as has the coronation."

"New Emperor you will be?"

"The Republic had faults, so does the Empire. We are trying to make something better from the remains of both. There will be an Emperor and an Empress, Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan."

That was surprising, that the daughter of Bail Organa would agree to marry Darth Vader's son. "Agree she has?"

"We've been courting for a while, the wedding is in three days," Luke moved away from Ahsoka to grab a drink bottle, still hyper aware of where the Jedi Master was. He felt his Father's concern from the Senate building and sighed, he doubted the two meeting would end well. He sent back calmness, trying to keep him from storming the building and escalating this meeting.

Yoda watched the boy move away from Ahsoka's immediate protection, arrogance or something else? He was puzzled by this boy, he was not what he would have expected from the child of a Sith.

"Father knows you're here," he warned. "Why did you come? You could have gone anywhere to find out what has been happening, why come here?"

Ahsoka looked between Master Yoda and Luke, not sure what was going on. Was it good the old Master hadn't drawn his lightsaber? She could feel Vader's approach from the Senate and wasn't keen on adding him to this meeting, not with his rage at Yoda and the rest of the old Council.

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He always kept an eye on Luke's Force signature, especially now when everything was balanced on an edge. It would not take much to throw the galaxy back into civil war and that was not something he wanted. Already, three assassination attempts had been thwarted by security and one by Ahsoka. Only one of those attempts had been aimed at Vader, before the coronation announcement had been made, after that his son had been the sole target.

What he was sensing now had his rage surge hot and uncontrollable. Yoda! He was here…he was near his son! He felt Luke reach out to him, sending waves of calm, trying to keep him from reacting and he forced himself to stay still. Luke would be Emperor in a matter of days, the one he would have to obey as head of the Navy…the only one he would ever willingly bend the knee to again. He had to trust his judgment, no matter how little he trusted the troll. He reigned in his anger, something that had become easier since Sidious' death, had the rage not been all his own? It made a sick kind of sense and was something the man would have enjoyed doing. in the end, he forced himself to continue the meeting rather than race back to face the old Master.

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Luke stood, easy and relaxed, before the Jedi. He wasn't a Jedi, he knew that, but he also wasn't a Sith. He had no issues with Yoda, other than the way he had treated his Father in the past, but that was the past. If they could work together that would be better, but he would not sanction a Jedi order like the one that Sidious had destroyed. If it was restarted then it would be a true religious sect as they had tried to portray themselves as, no longer would children be tested and sent to them, cut off from all family. Becoming a Jedi would be a personal choice once old enough to choose. If Yoda didn't like that then too bad. He was hoping to talk Ahsoka and maybe Ben into teaching those who needed Force training and didn't want to be Jedi, as long as they were taught self-control that was all they really needed.

Yoda could see the strength in this child, he was as powerful as his Father had been before becoming Vader and yet…it was a tempered strength, lacking the elder Skywalker's volatility. How had this boy grown here, at the seat of Sith power, and yet be grounded in the Light. He had touched the Dark, he could sense that clearly, and yet somehow it had not consumed him, twisted him into evil. He had felt Vader's rage at his presence since he was not attempting to hide but had felt it waver shortly after due to the boy. Perhaps they had not dealt as well as they should have with Anakin, but no one could change the past. "Hunted the remaining Jedi will still be?" he finally asked, testing.

"No, that is the first law I will change. But the Jedi will never be what they were. You got too close to politics and lost your way. Force Sensitive children will not be sent to the Order either. Joining the Jedi will be a choice when old enough to make that choice."

Yoda nodded slowly, it was more than he had hoped for in coming. Then again, he had expected things to be settled by lightsabers, something he was glad to have been wrong about, he was not getting any younger. "Know I would like to, how Obi-Wan died."

Luke blinked, hesitating before deciding on the truth. "He's alive," he finally admitted and saw Yoda perk up. "In gratitude for keeping me safe he was allowed to return to exile."

He had never dreamed Vader would allow his old Master to live should they meet again. Obi-Wan's shields were beyond anything he had seen from him during the war if he was able to hide his presence when Yoda had searched for it.

"Much to think of you have given me. See you again I shall," it was simple to slip away, in almost nine hundred years he had picked up many skills.

Luke stared at where the tiny Master had been a second ago. "So…that could have gone a lot worse."

Ahsoka snorted in disbelief, "Yeah, we could be dead."

The doors opened, and they tensed but it was Leia and Luke smiled at his fiancée. She walked over, and he drew her into his arms.

"You need a shower," she pushed him back and Luke laughed.

"As you command, Your Highness." He bowed and moved to the showers while Ahsoka laughed, glad for the release of tension.

TBC…

Sometimes Yoda is easy to write, other times it's like pulling teath.