Skywalker Rises

A Game

Rey stared, shocked into silence, as Little Yoda disappeared again.

"You've got to be kidding me," said Ben.

He walked to were Little Yoda had just been standing, reached forward, and poked the empty space with his finger. Little Yoda flicked back into existence, a wicked grin on his face.

"Choking AND Cloaking?" said Ben to Luke and Big Yoda.

"Mm. Talented, he is," said Yoda.

"That's incredible," said Rey, dropping down to sit closer to eye level with Little Yoda. "Do it again."

Little Yoda complied, and vanished.

"What is this?" said the Mandalorian.

"Force Cloaking," supplied Luke.

Rey repeat him for the Mandalorian's sake. Poor Mando. He was the only one here who couldn't see all of the participants in the conversation.

"Your son is joined by Master Yoda, my teacher, Master Luke, a former teacher," Rey pointed to them as she named them. Not that it mattered. "And Ben is still here."

"Master Ben," he corrected, and she looked up to find a playful smile on his face.

She'd likely call him anything he wanted after few more nights in his bed.

Luke raised his eyebrows, and Yoda smiled his benign smile. Perhaps they knew about her forays into the past after all. Surely Ben hadn't told them what happened, though?

"What are you doing?" said the Mandalorian to his son.

Rey couldn't tell if he was upset. It came out in the same tone he used to ask what Little Yoda wanted for lunch.

Little Yoda looked to Rey, and she shrugged. She didn't have a clue what he was doing, either. She also didn't see any reason not to tell the Mandalorian. The Jedi were going to be a lot less secretive in the future.

"Hiding," said Little Yoda. "It's a game, Papa. Want to play?"

"I can't see his footprints," said the Mandalorian.

"Good attention to detail, he has," said Yoda.

"What footprints?" said Ben and Luke at the same time.

"Is that a function of your helmet?" asked Rey.

The Mandalorian nodded.

"Master Yoda says the boy is hiding them," said Rey. Being a go-between in a conversation where everyone was standing there was weird.

The Mandalorian cocked his head. "Do it again. This time, move, and let me guess where you are before you reveal yourself."

Little Yoda giggled, and blinked out of sight. The Mandalorian counted backwards from ten. Then he moved a handful of paces away from the group and pointed.

Little Yoda's giggles became an outright laughing fit as he appeared again in the exact opposite direction his father had guessed.

"See, Papa? It's a good game! I can beat you!"

"The tactical opportunities...," said the Mandalorian, at the same time Ben said, "If that could be weaponized..."

Rey shot Luke and Yoda her most disapproving glare. "He's a child. He doesn't need to be weaponized or tacticalized or any other nonsense. Why did you teach him this?"

She returned her attention to Little Yoda. "You've done a very good job. Just promise not to hide when we call for you. It makes us worry when we can't find you."

"Sorry, Master Rey," said Little Yoda.

"I'm not angry," said Rey. "I just want you to know that when you do something, even if you think it's a game, another thing you don't expect might happen. It's hard to know what that thing might be, and sometimes people get hurt. Does that make sense?"

Little Yoda nodded. He was brilliant, and more powerful than she could understand, but he was still a child. It was easy to lose sight of that with him. 

"Where were you when I was fourteen, Master Rey?" said Ben. 

"I think I was four," said Rey.

Ben's eyes widened. He probably hadn't realised how much of an age gap lay between them. 

"You are quite a bit older than me, Master Ben." 

"You're not older than me!" said Little Yoda. 

Ben laughed. She loved that sound. It wasn't something she'd heard much of over the past few years.

Yoda cleared his throat. "A student, Rey Skywalker, you still are. Gone, we will soon be. Learn, he must."

"Can you teach him more age-appropriate skills, then?" She looked to the Mandalorian, but he only watched his son and remained silent. 

"Are you OK with this?" she asked the Mandalorian.

"He should be able to use his power. Can you teach him this?"

"No," said Rey.

"In time, she will master it," said Yoda. "Mhm. In time. Other tasks, she must complete." 

Little Yoda pulled a shiny stone from his pocket and held it out to Rey. "I found this for you."

Rey took the offering, surprised by how happy it made her. 

"We should continue our lesson," said Luke. 

"How long have you been here?" asked Rey. "Ben said you would fade sooner the longer you spent."

"About this, do now worry," said Yoda. "Go and return, we will. Except for Ben. Stay with Leia, he will."

Ben exhaled. "I can help, too."

"Not with this," said Luke. "Yoda and I need to work with Rey and her student without any distractions."

"Come back soon, we will," said Yoda. 

Yoda and Luke vanished.

"Are we playing the game?" asked Little Yoda.

Rey smiled at him. "Not this time. Soon, though. Let's wait for them to come back, and teach us whatever it is they think is so important, and then I'll play with you. Maybe I can use the Force to find you."

"They know how to leave when they're ready," said Ben. "I still don't know how."

"Think of the other place," said Rey. "Save your time. Please."

She tried not to think too much about him fading, but she couldn't keep her eyes from drifting to his blurry edges. 

He gave her a sad smile, closed his eyes, and vanished. 

"Alright Mando, what's for dinner?"

She liked to tease him about cooking. Neither of them were very good at it. They'd been experimenting with different kinds of fish lately. 

"Can that droid of yours ask the Caretakers if we can join them for dinner?" said the Mandalorian.

Genius. Surely they knew better about cooking on Ahch-To than anyone else. "Let's go ask." 

Rey led her little band to the other side of the island, where she found C-3PO in conversation with the Caretakers. He waved to them, and Rey approached, hoping they had finally decided to forgive her.