Rise of the Teenage Conquerors

Episode 1.22

Stop it, she scolded herself. Luke failed, too, at least in the movie. And he still became a great Jedi Knight. I can make up for this. This failure doesn't define me.

Leana forced her mind to come back to the present, where she and Luke now balanced on their hands, palms pressed into the damp ground. Yoda was sitting on Luke's foot, but it had been a good twenty minutes since he had said anything. She could feel Luke straining, like she was, to hold the handstand, and could sense his pondering thoughts about what they were supposed to do next, the slight uncertainty touching his mind. Leana could sense it all so clearly, and she reveled in that feeling.

"So, what now?" Luke voiced.

Yoda didn't say anything.

Leana furrowed her brow. "Yoda? Master Yoda? What do we do now?"

Yoda still didn't say anything.

Luke and Leana exchanged a glance. "Master Yoda?" Luke called, his voice a little louder this time. Leana could hear the strain in it. "Master Yoda? What now?"

Only a snore answered their question.

"Is he sleeping?" Leana exclaimed.

"I think so," Luke said. "Let's see if I can wake him up." Carefully, he shifted his feet, drawing them away from each other slowly, so as not to affect his overall balance.

"Ahhh!" Yoda screamed as he slipped off Luke's foot and plummeted to the ground. "What did you do that for?" he demanded, scrambling to his feet and looking at Luke and Leana indignantly. The effect was rather a strange one, since they were still balancing on their hands, looking at Yoda upside down.

"We were asking what we were supposed to do next," Leana told him. "But you didn't answer."

"So you kicked me off?" Yoda demanded.

"I didn't kick you," Luke defended. "I simply moved my feet to get your attention."

"You're the one who fell," Leana pointed out wryly.

Yoda glowered at both of them. "See? This is why I dislike students. I'm going to direct you from the ground from here on out. Balance on one hand. Your left hand. Now!"

Luke and Leana lifted their right hands slowly, shifting their weight onto their left hand. Leana felt the increased strain of her muscles as she did so.

"Use the Force," Yoda instructed. "Yes. Now, the stone."

Luke gazed intently at a stone lying on the ground, and it rose into the air.

"Now you," Yoda said, nodding to Leana.

Leana focused on a second stone and touched it through the Force, commanding it to rise. It lifted into the air, wobbling slightly before stabilizing. Elation soared through her.

"Good job!" Yoda exclaimed. "I didn't expect you to get the hang of that so quickly. Now put them in the hole in that tree."

He pointed to the tree, the hole about five feet from the ground. It was just a little bigger than the stones.

"You want us to put a stone in there?" Luke repeated. "That's crazy."

"If that's crazy, I'm an old man," Yoda declared. Leana and Luke just looked at him. "All right, that was stupid. But do it anyway. That's what you get, for kicking me."

"All right," Luke agreed, as Leana was already guiding her stone through the air. Luke's followed her.

Leana was so focused on her stone, she almost didn't hear the astromech droids both whistling. Then she heard a thud and her concentration was broken. Dropping her legs down to the ground, Leana staggered back out of her handstand, glancing around as she came out in a crouch, right side up. The X-Wings had both started to sink into the swamp, and Luke had fallen on realizing that. Both their stones now rested at the base of the tree.