Skywalker Rises

An Odd Confrontation

The Mandalorian had never taken off his helmet, and she had never asked about it. She was pretty sure he wasn't of the same species as his son and Yoda, because he was much taller than her. She had started thinking of her Master as 'Big Yoda.' The little boy was 'Little Yoda.' She never addressed the child as such, and she never heard the Mandalorian call him by any name at all. 

Their sparing was viscous. He didn't hold back, and it took everything she had to keep up. They couldn't best each other. He had his helmet, and whatever it could do to aid him, and she had the Force. Though she never used it offensively. That seemed like cheating. 

Little Yoda watched their sparing matches without a word. His huge eyes tracked his father's movements, though occasionally she felt them on her. He was even quieter than the Mandalorian. They weren't much for conversation, but they were good company. 

"Use your weapon," said the Mandalorian, a few days after they had started their ritual morning sparing routine. He tossed his staff away.

"My lightsaber? That's hardly fair." 

He retrieved his own sword and showed it to her. "I won't use the stick."

"Why? This is much more dangerous."

The Mandalorian pointed to Little Yoda. "Show him what your weapon can do. He must learn."

Rey extended her lightsaber and shrugged. "If you insist." 

She'd practiced with him enough that she trusted him not to use killing blows. But the live weapons added an aspect to her training she had desperately missed. This new training was useful. 

"You would have been a good Mandalorian," he said, after they had finished.

"I'm not sure if the Mandalorians would have been too pleased to have a Force user join their ranks."

"How long have you been a Jedi?"

"Not long. Not long at all."

He nodded to her and returned to his ship. Little Yoda continued to watch her. 

"Well," she said to him. "I can teach you something, I'm sure. Maybe you can teach me something, too. We'll just have to try it and see."

Little Yoda smiled and approached her. She searched around and found three wide, flat rocks. She laid them out in front of him in a row, and sat opposite him. She still towered over him. 

"Here's the exercise. Stack these rocks atop each other." 

She showed him, lifting one and placing it on the other. Then the third, on the top of the stack. She unstacked them and returned them to their original positions. 

He eyed the stones, and to her surprise, replicated the task. 

"Very good," she said. "Well, let's levitate. Have you ever done that?"

He shook his head. 

She placed her hands on her crossed legs and closed her eyes. Lifting herself off of the ground required more concentration than any other task. It defied gravity, and she had to constantly redirect herself from focusing on the wrongness of it. 

Little Yoda had a much harder time with this exercise. She wondered, belatedly, if different Force users were naturally talented in different areas, and what that would mean as a teacher. Add that to the list of things she need to ask Yoda about. Which was becoming alarmingly long since he hadn't returned. 

Rey closed her eyes again and allowed the boy time to work out the puzzle. It had taken her a while to get a hang of it, too. It was only fair to allow him the space he needed to fail without her watching him at every step. A grunt brought her back to the present, and the scene before her made her lose all focus and drop most of the way to the ground before she recovered herself and slowed her fall. She still collided painfully with the ground.

Ben stood there, hands wrapped around his throat. He was kicking and gasping. His toes scrabbled uselessly at the earth below him. Little Yoda stood with arm outstretched, eyes closed. Oh. Oh, no.

"Stop!" Rey placed a hand on his tiny shoulder. "Stop! Stop! He's a friend!" 

"He's dangerous," said Little Yoda.

"So are we," said Rey, her voice much calmer than expected.

Ben dropped to the ground, gasping and wheezing. Knowing he couldn't die didn't alleviate her alarm. Little Yoda watched with his wide, unblinking eyes. Ben held his hands up in surrender. 

"How did that just happen?" Ben finally said.

Since everyone else was on the ground, Rey dropped down onto her stomach so she was looking up at Little Yoda. What an odd confrontation.

"This is Ben," she said. "Ben, this is the boy I told you about. He's like Yoda."

"Yoda never Force Choked anyone," said Ben, his voice gravelly. "Jedi don't use it." 

"They don't use Lightning, either," said Rey. 

"I concede the point," said Ben. 

He sat cross-legged in front of them. His chest still rose and fell in great heaves. That made no sense. He didn't need air. He was a ghost! Maybe it was some kind of reflex, some effort to hold onto his lifelike qualities. 

The Mandalorian returned, having heard the commotion. "Are you alright?" She wasn't sure which of them he addressed. Then, he walked in front of them and stood right on top of Ben. 

Little Yoda nodded, and began to walk back to the Razor Crest. The Mandalorian followed. 

"He can't see you," said Rey. She pulled herself up and sat right in front of Ben, a mirror image of his posture. 

"I hope not," said Ben. "Otherwise, he's rude." 

Rey burst into a fit of giggles. When she had control of herself, she looked up to find Ben smiling at her. That smile was so nice. 

"You don't think he's using the dark side, do you?" asked Rey.

"I don't know. I didn't know the light side could be used for that particular attack. He's protective of you. I like him." 

"He hasn't said more than ten words to me since they arrived. It's good to know he likes me. How did he do that?" 

"My knowledge on being a Force Ghost is admittedly limited. I knew that we could effect the living world with the Force, but I didn't realise the reverse was possible."

"And it hurt you?" She wanted to reach out and put her hands on his neck, to sooth away the pain. 

"It hurt." 

"Doesn't it feel like we're missing something here? How can it hurt you?"

"It doesn't hurt as bad as what it takes for me to come here." 

"What? What does that mean?"

"Nothing." He grimaced.

Rey crossed her arms and set her jaw. "It's not nothing. Tell me. I want to understand."