Chapter Thirteen: The Long Road

It was hard for Anna at first to get over what Yoda had told her. Even though she knew that her feelings were not yet strong enough, it hurt her like nothing that she knew before. Never had she dated anyone, as she had never been inclined to. She was always the odd person out as she was growing up, fascinated in flying, and no one ever thought that she would amount to anything.

Training had taken her mind off of her emotions, and she was ever so thankful for that. There was nothing about training that was remotely enjoyable. Even though Yoda didn't look like he would be able to do what he did, he pushed her to her limits, constantly testing her. Still, she knew that she was making progress.

After a tiring day of training, all Anna wanted to do was rest and sleep for a little while, and rest her tiring muscles. Yoda had started her in the ways of the Force first, and she was convinced that it was the hardest part of all of the training. It was both mentally and physically exhausting, but she knew that training with the lightsaber was going to be a lot more on the physical aspect of things. Anna wasn't as weak as some people thought her out to be, but she was only able to do small repairs on her ship when it came to testing her strength. Standing on her arms while focusing on levitating objects seemed like a distant fantasy to her, until she was doing it.

It was getting into the later hours of the night, and Yoda had already retired to his bed. Anna was sitting up on the pile of blankets that had been set out for her to sleep in, her mind constantly wandering. She was trying not to dwell on anything, and just let her thoughts pass by, giving each one a look, but no serious action. She had been on the planet for two weeks, but tomorrow was the day that she would finally get to try out a lightsaber, and focus on that for as long as Yoda instructed her to.

Finally, she let herself fall down onto her back, looking up at the ceiling, suddenly remembering a time not too long ago when she had been under this roof, recovering from a crash that should have killed her. She found her mind travelling back to Luke, and she winced. Any memory that had him in it suddenly made Anna restless. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to rid the images from her mind so that she could sleep in peace.

The next morning came quickly, and Yoda was awake before Anna, as usual. She could hear his raspy voice in her head as she slowly returned to a conscious state. He was talking to himself, as he usually did, and Anna opened her eyes. Yoda was standing close to the fireplace, his back turning to her, and she sat up, rubbing her eyes as she turned her head.

Today was the day that she was most looking forward to. Never before had she held a lightsaber, but she had seen Luke wield one. Yoda turned as she made her presence more apparent. "First, assemble your lightsaber, you must," he said, and Anna shifted over to where he stood. She was somewhat used to the low ceiling in Yoda's home, and soon, her eyes drafted to the long handle sitting next to Yoda, and a magnificent stone that lay only a few inches away. "You got one of these?" she asked, almost out of breath. The stone was one that she had never seen herself, but she knew that people would pay tens of thousands to own one. It was a Krayt dragon pearl; one of rarest stones that she had ever laid eyes on.

"For a long time, I've had it," he said. "Use it well, I know you will." She smiled at his indirect compliment, and looked down at the hilt.

"Isn't this hilt type that of a Sith's lightsaber?" she asked, noticing the spaces for a double blade.

"Yes, but modified for a Jedi, it is," he said. Anna lighting set her hand over the cool metal hilt and looked up at Yoda.

"Now you must assemble your lightsaber," he said, and began his lesson. It was probably the only lesson that Anna had listened to with such a keen interest.

It took a good deal of time before the lightsaber was finally assembled. Krayt pearls were one of the most tedious things to use in a lightsaber blade, but it was worth it to see the colour of her blade as it lit up to be a beautiful pearl-white. She gripped the lightsaber in the middle, looking at both ends of the blade. It was such a powerful feeling that she got as she held her lightsaber, and she smiled at it. Her blaster seemed something like a child's toy compared to this.

Both Master and Student walked out to the area where she had done her Force training. "Let the Force flow through you," Yoda said. "Let it guide your blade. Think too much, do not."

Anna nodded and took a deep breath before she began to swing the blade at a nearby tree, and was almost in awe as the white blade flew so elegantly and so deadly through the air. It was almost effortless to wield, and Anna smiled as she got used to the feel of the double blade in her hand. She paused and allowed the dual-blades to withdraw into themselves, and then looked over at Yoda, who seemed pleased with her. "Thank you," she said. Words could barely describe the awe that she was feeling at her new, prized weapon.

Anna completely lost track of the time after that. Her work ethic had increased, and she knew it. It was in the final days when everything started to cool down for her, and she knew that she was nearly at the point where she could call herself a Jedi Knight. Yoda was also pleased with her progress. She still marvelled at her lightsaber, and never passed up on an opportunity to thank the old Jedi Master for his gratitude toward her. When it was time for her to leave, she was almost saddened.

Yoda watched as she began to load up her ship, her new title of Jedi Knight still sticking in her head. She couldn't stop smiling, repeating Yoda's words in her head over and over again, thinking that she was now a full-fledged Jedi Knight. Her prized weapon hung in her belt, the shining silver blade lightly tapping her thigh as she moved.

She looked over at Yoda, who was perched on a log, watching her intently while holding his wooden staff in front of him, leaning on it slightly. She hopped down from her ship and approached him. "Thank you," she said. "For everything. You have no idea what this means to me." Yoda laughed and nodded in a welcoming gesture.

"Great potential in both you, and Luke, I see," he said, and Anna smiled.

"I don't know what to say so that I can fully express my gratitude toward you," she said.

"You don't have to do anything," Yoda said, shaking his head. "A Jedi Knight, you are, and you have truly shown me everything."

Anna turned away and closed her eyes. Even though she still wasn't a big fan of Dagobah, she couldn't help but feel a little bit saddened. She turned back to look at Yoda, and brushed off her pants. "I'll return," she said. "With Luke, I promise you."

Yoda just nodded.

I was really excited to write this chapter, mainly because I did some research on lightsaber colours and nearly freaked out. I've just starting the climbing action part of this story, so there is still a lot more to come. I've also thrown some plot twists in there as well, because who doesn't love a good plot twist?

I've been thinking about the state of this story. I love all of you guys that are reviewing, following, and favouriting this, as it really does mean a lot to me. Whenever I see a new email from Fanfiction saying that someone has followed/favourited/followed my story, I always smile. I'm always getting new ideas about how to continue this story, and the current line that it's going down is setting up for me to do one of the most risky things that I've ever done in writing, and I really hope that you guys will love it. But we're not there yet!

I'm hoping to get one more chapter done on Sunday (August 3rd) because I'll be sitting in an airport for over an hour, and I always get there way too early.

Also, credit to highlander348 for giving me the double-bladed lightsaber idea!