Luke and Leia - Rebels [2]

25: Reaching

Artoo watched from a tree in interest as Luke stood upside down on his hands, his face contorted in strain. He stared at the two rocks laying in front of him, then slowly but surely one started to float off of the ground and rest on top of the other.

"Use the Force. Yes..." Yoda praised his pupil, resting on top of one of his feet and observing intently. He tapped Luke's leg gently and quickly the boy lifted a hand off of the ground, grunting lightly in the process as all of his weight was now shifted to one arm. He wobbled slightly but maintained his composure.

Artoo started beeping and whistling frantically, rattling Luke's focus. The rock started to slip but he immediately focused all his effort on keeping it level, gritting his teeth and trying to block the astromech out.

"Now... The stone. Feel it." Yoda instructed. Luke concentrated on trying to lift the rock, doing so successfully until Artoo's squealing finally got the better of him.

He wobbled and couldn't keep the astromech's wails out of his mind anymore, and fell down with a loud oomph while Yoda yelled, "Concentrate!" on the way down.

Luke rubbed his smarting back and glared at Artoo in annoyance, wondering what in blazes all the fuss was about. The astromech rotated his head so he was looking into the distance, then back at Luke. He got the message and immediately hopped up, jogging fearfully over to the edge of the bog and staring at the now almost completely sunken X-Wing in despair.

"Oh, no." He grumbled hopelessly and ran a distressed hand through his hair. "We'll never get it out now."

"So certain are you." Yoda declared with an annoyed huff. "Always with you it cannot be done. Hear you nothing that I say?"

The young man looked back out at the X-Wing, which now was only visible from one of the four wings sticking above the surface of the bog. "Master, moving stones around is one thing; this is totally different."

The small Jedi's frustration grew at the denseness of the boy in front of him. "No! No different! Only different in your mind!" He sighed and stood up, walking slowly towards Luke. "You must unlearn what you have learned."

Luke stared down at the ship, doubt and hesitation clawing at him. "Alright, I'll give it a try." He murmured.

"No! Try not. Do, or do not." Yoda shook his head, his tone turning softer. "There is no try."

Luke frowned in confusion at that but still closed his eyes and lifted his hand, quieting his mind to the best of his ability with his limited practice. He felt the space between the ship and the water and started pulling, yanking, mentally at the X-Wing. His chest tightened and his face scrunched up as it felt like he was physically trying to pull it out as well, and the density and weight of the ship was just too much. He'd never tried to move anything of that size before, and because of his limited abilities in the Force it just proved to be impossible.

He opened his eyes and watched in dismay as the ship started to sink deeper, feeling his stomach sink with it. Every insecurity he'd had since the beginning about becoming a Jedi and being worthy of his father's legacy came rushing back through the cracks of optimism he'd built up over the few weeks he'd been on Dagobah, and the final blow was Yoda's disappointed sigh behind him.

Luke sank down into the ground, breathing heavily. "I can't, it's too big!"

"Size matters not." Yoda looked at the boy and gestured to himself. "Look at me; judge me by my size, do you?"

Luke reluctantly shook his head and Yoda nodded in approval. "And well you should not. For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow."