Reckless • Han Solo

3.4 Family Above All

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

The air was damp and cool, no matter the step there would be mud that splashed on you. Ellia's boots sunk into the mud, and her white pants were sure to be ruined. Her eyes traveled to Luke who looked out into the sagging trees and pools of muddy water and pond scum, the silence occasionally being broken by the squawking of animals high up in the water.

Ellia was greeted by a warm yellow light that emitted from a small shack deep in the Dagobah swamp. Ellia could feel the force coming from the hut almost in waves, slow waves that kept getting weaker and weaker as their trip continued. The noise of a walking stick could be heard making Ellia meet the upward eyes of the green creature that was once a Jedi Master and her teacher.

Yoda looked frailer from when she was five, but his voice just as cheery. She could still feel that the force was strong with him, but not as it was in the years before. "Grown, you have," Yoda commented looking Ellia up and down. "Good job training Luke, you did."

Ellia mustered a teary smile as she looked down upon him. "I was fortunate enough to be taught by the best."

"Strong in you, the force is," Yoda told her. "In you must come," he said leading Luke and Ellia into the small hut.

Ellia seated herself in the cramped corner, Luke sitting beside her. Their identically colored eyes looked at Yoda from across the room.

"Hmm," Yoda hummed, "That face you make. Look I so old to young eyes?"

Luke turned his head and moved his eyes aways, but Ellia stared straight ahead. "Just woeful Master," she answered softly, "It was never supposed to end like this."

"Never predictable, the ending is," Yoda muttered pointing a green crooked finger at Ellia and Luke, "Sick have I become. Old and weak. When nine hundred years old you reach, look as good you will not. Hmm?"

He tried to chuckle but it came out as a cough. He hobbled over holding onto his stick. Ellia stood up, whacking her head on the ceiling, but rushing over to Master Yoda. "You just need help," Ellia said to him, helping him into his bed.

"Soon will I rest. Yes, forever sleep. Earned it, I have," Yoda told her.

"Master Yoda, you can't die!" Luke exclaimed with worried eyes.

"Strong am I with the Force...but not that strong!" Yoda exclaimed, "Twilight is upon me and soon night must fall. That is the way of things... the way of the Force."

"But we need your help," Luke pleaded, "I've come back to complete the training."

"No more training do you require," Yoda informed him, "Ellia, you have. Jedi Master now, she is. Already know you that which you need." He sighed and leaned back onto his bed. Ellia crouched down beside him and stared at him with a concerned expression.

"Then I am a Jedi?" Luke asked.

Yoda shook his head, "Ohh. Not yet. One thing remains Vader. You must confront Vader. Then, only then, a Jedi will you be. And confront him you will."

Luke scrunched his face up in agony, "Master Yoda... is Darth Vader, my father?"

Yoda's eyes filled with weariness and compassion. An odd, sad smile creased his face. He turned painfully on his side away from Luke and Ellia, "Mmm... rest I need. Yes... rest."

"Master," Ellia said softly, "He must know."

"Know who your father is, do you?" Yoda asked her.

Ellia shook her head. "I do not know Master. But I've come to peace with never knowing."

"Your father he is," Yoda told Luke, "Told you, did he?"