FLYING SOLO ➳ luke skywalker

NINETEEN! THE JEDI CODE

MORNING broke following a night of heavy rainfall and Analia trudged through the swap with her R5 unit at her side. As she walked, her mind strayed to Han. She had seen the Millennium Falcon soaring above the frozen plains of Hoth during the rebel evacuation, the first time in a long time she had watched the ship take flight without her on board. Where Han was now, she had no idea. She could only hope that he had already collected his debts and was en route to Tatooine to establish a new clean slate with Jabba the Hutt. 

Yoda's mudhut lulled into view and, as she drew closer, Analia heard a throaty voice saying "Young Solo" drift through the open windows. She halted and glanced down at R5, who gave a quizzical beep. Holding her finger to her lips to signal that the droid stay quiet, Analia crept towards the hut, crouching down and listening closely to the ongoing coversation inside.

"Forbidden for a Jedi is attachment," came the sombre voice of Yoda. "A temptation of the Dark Side, that girl is."

Luke scoffed. "Master Yoda, Analia is my friend, she—"

"Begin today's training we will," Yoda swiftly interjected. "Yes. Come now, Young Skywalker."

His cane clunked against the floor of his hut. Analia drew hastily to her feet, taking several paces back so not to reveal she had been eavesdropping. When Yoda appeared in the doorway, his attention fell straight to her. They held eye contact, Analia's heart racing, before he gave a cynical hum and a nod of his head, continuing forward on his path. Luke ducked out of the hut and brought himself back to his full height. When he too saw Analia, his eyes widened. She chanced a smile in his direction, a greeting he did not return. He only nodded, that familiar gleam in his eyes extinguished, and followed after Yoda.

"Yoda—" Analia started, but the creature was quick to respond.

"Stew on the stove, there is."

As Analia dished herself up her first helping of the day, breathing the earthen scent deeply, she felt indignation swell in her chest. A temptation of the Dark Side? She thought about what Luke had told her the night before, that Yoda suspected the cave that was supposedly infused with Dark energy had swelled when she arrived on Dagobah. Ludicrous, of course. And all in the old wizard's head. Still, she was furious that he would so carelessly put such notions in Luke's head as well.

When Analia found Luke training by the lagoon, he was balancing on two hands this time as opposed to one. Yoda had opted not to sit on his feet, instead choosing to stand before him and direct him from there. Two storage crates hovered a few inches above the ground as Yoda told Luke to concentrate, to feel the Force flow. R2-D2 whined in alarm as he too began to float into the air.

"Through the Force, things you will see, other places," Yoda explained. "The future. The past. Old friends long gone."

Luke's eyes snapped open. His arms started to tremble.

"Han?" he strained, and Analia choked on a mouthful of stew. "Leia!"

R2 plummeted to the ground with a wail alongside the storage crates, and Luke collapsed in a heap. Analia, who had perched on her usual seat of gnarled roots, had gotten promptly to her feet, on high alert.

"What about Han?" She made no effort to keep the alarm out of her voice. "Luke, what about Han?"

"Control, control," Yoda was chastisting his apprentice. "You must learn control!"

But Luke wasn't listening to either of them. He sat up unsteadily, his face a ghastly shade of white, and gulped.

"I saw . . . I saw a city in the clouds," Luke said breathlessly.