Hearts of Rebels | Star Wars Fanfiction

Chapter XXV

She walked back down the tunnel and emerged from the cave. Everything remained the same as when she left it. Her belt still lay in the swamp, and the cave still emitted a sense of evil, but it had lessened now. She plopped down in the muddy shore of the swamp. Utterly exhausted from her endeavour.

The unmistakable voice and speech pattern of Yoda echoed through the clearing, making her jolt. She looked to her left to see him sitting on the same root as before. She had never been more relieved to see the little green creature and his gimer stick.

"Tell me, what did you see?" He asked her.

She picked up her belt and wiped off as much of the water and mud as she could. Rhea moved to sit down in front of the Jedi as drew lines in the mud with his gimer stick.

"I heard voices. Voices of memories that I tried to forget. Then I saw my Uncle. An Imperial killed him and... I couldn't do anything," She buckled her belt around her waist, trying to distract herself from the ordeal.

"And?"

She looked at him then took a sideways glance to the cave. She still felt the dread and the strange silent echoes of evil drift in her mind as she gazed in. He leaned forward waiting for her answer.

"And Luke. He killed Leia and Han. He was going to kill me, but he stopped. Vader killed him when he returned to the light, but he let me go,"

"Ahh," Yoda leaned back, letting a smile settle on his face. "Face your fears, you did. Faced them well,"

"My fears?"

Yoda then tapped the ground lightly bringing her attention back to him, he pointed to the cave, and she turned standing beside him to watch the darkness.

"Yes, the cave. Shows one's self, their greatest fears. A great deed it is, to overcome them. One himself, Skywalker could not accomplish. Learn a thing or two he could, from you," Yoda chuckled. He slid off the root, he stopped a foot away from her and poked her leg before hobbling off back into the jungle.

She groaned with exhaustion, but she straightened her shirt and brushed off the mud on her pants, quickly pushing herself up to keep up with the old Jedi.

"So, if they're my fears. Then they could never happen?" She asked as she fell in step with Yoda.

"Happen they could. Decide, the Force will," he sighed and shook his head.

"What did Luke see?"

"Saw himself he did, in Vaders place," Yoda lowered his head, feeling deeply concerned for their mutual friend.

"But I know him. He would never," She argued.

"Saw him yourself in the cave. Slaughter your friends, did he not, hmm? Perhaps you know not, young Skywalker as well as you thought," He rapped his stick against the mud splashing a few specks on her already grimy clothes

She didn't reply. She was sure the little creature would combat her with another lecture. She realised he had led her back to his home, They entered the hovel, and she sat back down in the same spot.

"Hmm?" Yoda waited a minute more for her to talk back than sighed. "Hmm, young Rhea Olesa. Great fear in you, I sense. There before the cave, it was not"

"Yoda... Master Yoda, what can I do? I can't just forget what I saw in that cave,"

"Protect Luke, you can. Yes hmm," Yoda chuckled as he began making more tea.

"How can I protect luke when..."

"When what?" He tilted his head to the side, with a bemused expression.

"When he's attached to me, Leia, Han, the rebellion! Jedi aren't supposed to have attachments, or so I read they weren't,"

"Changed, times have," Yoda handed her a new tea and she gratefully accepted it.

"But I can't be the reason for his downfall, I can't lose someone else," She murmured, watching the Jedi as he sat down.

"So certain of this, you are. Been blinded by false guilt, you have,"

"But the cave showed me so!" She exclaimed.

"Interpret the cave in many ways, one can. But true, only one is," Yoda said quietly, sipping on his own tea.

"I'm afraid of so many things. I'm not a Jedi. These things aren't as simple as they are for you and Luke!" Rhea set her tea down upset, not wanting to spill it.

"Listened to me, have you not, hmm? Hear master Kenobi did you not, hmm? Together the force binds us, sensitive to the Force to use it, one must be. Need to be a Jedi to feel the Force you do not," He leaned closer to her, his eyes wide.

"How do I know which one is true Master Yoda!" She choked back tears, wishing to be back with the Rebellion where things were much simpler.

"Open your mind, must be. To let the Force in. Guide you. It will,"

"I don't understand Master Yoda," She whispered so her voice wouldn't crack.

"Look within yourself child, know your true fears only you can," He hobbled over to her and placed his small hand on her arm. A sense of calm washed over her.

She took a deep breath and squeezed her eyes shut, letting the memories she had pushed so far away come back into her mind.

"I'm... I'm scared. That I'll be the reason we lose Luke to the Empire... to the Dark Side, but not just him, everyone... It'll be my fault. Like it was with so many others, but I don't want to push him away," She breathed out.

"Blame yourself, you cannot. Lost lives you have, mmm, to the Empire, yes, but your fault? It is not. A choice they made, yes, to risk their lives, as you do yours. Come their time has, as the force wills it. Stop it, you could not. What you have learned, pass on, you can. Protect young Skywalker, and your friends, you still can. But fall from this path, your fault, it never will be. Make the choice, only he can,"

"But how can I protect him if I can't stop him from making the wrong choice," she muttered.

"Not ready are you both, to take on the Empire, to take on Vader, to take on the Emperor. But take them on, you must," Yoda patted her arm kindly. "All is how the Force wills it, young one. Trust in it, you must, or forever fail. You. Will."

Rhea finished her tea in silence and spent the night in the little Masters old home.

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