Shadows of our Past

VI

Anakin's POV

That night Kol Skywalker appeared as a Force ghost and bowed when he saw me and I returned the greeting. 

"I sense that you're still conflicted about learning from me," the wise Grandmaster stated.

"How can I learn from a force ghost? If you're not physically here then I can't possibly learn anything," I argued.

"I will find a way, there is much more to learn than about the physical uses of the force. The New Republic must learn about the Old Republic and you, need to learn about your past and history," 

"What about Master Yoda and the Jedi Council, I don't think they'd approve of having a force ghost teaching me how to explore the force more. They're bound to sense a slight change in the force and find out what's happening," 

"I will tell Yoda when the time is right but right now the Force is guiding me to guide you, if you accept, we must go into the depths of the temple to begin your next stage of training," 

I bit my lip and sighed before slowly nodding.

"I accept your teachings," I said.

Kol smiled at me and then began walking/floating towards the door.

"Wait, what if someone sees you?" I asked.

"No Jedi would be out and about at this time at night, I've been watching over you since you were born and I've seen you sneak around the Temple at night and hide in odd places when you heard someone coming. It'll be no different from that," 

"That's different," I muttered.

Never the less I opened my apartment door and we walked towards the elevator.

"Go down to the basement," Kol instructed. 

I pressed the button and we waited quietly as the elevator began to move down, the doors finally opened revealing the dusty dark hallway with doors and boxes covering the path. It was cold down here and a chilly wind swept through the place blowing cobwebs towards me, the elevator light spilled out lighting up a little bit of the hallway.

"Let's go," Kol said stepping out of the elevator.

I followed the ghost and ignited my dark blue lightsaber as the elevator doors shut and the warm yellow light disappeared. I looked around at the hallway and stepped over boxes and shivered as another chilly wind swept through the place and creatures scuttled along the edges of the hallway. 

"Can you move this box?" Kol asked.

I placed my foot on the edge of the box and kicked it away revealing a rusted trap door, I looked at Kol and then bent down and grabbed the rusted handle and yanked it up. Dust flew into the air and the loud creak echoed around the hallway and more cold wind blew up from the trapdoor. 

Kol jumped down first and I followed and braced myself for the landing that I couldn't see, I could just make out an outline of a room and when I tried to step forward I kicked a box.

"There's a light switch to your right," Kol said.

I blindly groped for the switch on the wall and finally found it, the room was bathed in a bright white glow and the light flickered on before dulling down a little. I looked around the large room and the cream coloured peeling paint on the wall and the hundreds of boxes covered in dust and cobwebs. I walked around the boxes and I could see what looked to be black tape and then a large slightly squishy and springy training mat that covered most of the floor with tape around the edges. 

"What is this place?" I asked.

"Well, it used to be a sparring room for Jedi who wanted to spar without holding back but over time it's been turned into a storage room," Kol explained looking around the room, "Can you move these boxes to the side?"

I nodded and reached out with my hand, the boxes rose into the air and I was going to move them all to the side but Kol shook his head and I lowered the boxes back to the ground.

"Move them with just your mind, don't use your body," Kol instructed.

"Only Master Yoda can move things without reaching out," I argued.

"That is true, but maybe it's also because no other Jedi usually tries, most Jedi think it's a waste of time but by doing this you can have an advantage against the enemy and it grows your connection with the force," 

I sighed and decided not to argue any further, the only time I've moved anything without reaching my hand out was when I'd lose control and things would blow over. I took a deep breath and sat cross-legged on the hard floor. I reached out with my mind and imagined the boxes being lifted into the air but nothing happened, I closed my eyes and felt the force flowing through the ground and everywhere around me. I moved the force towards the nearest box and imagined lifting it into the air and away, I heard a thump and my concentration broke, my eyes snapped open and I looked over to where I heard the noise. I had moved a box a few centimetres from where it originally was, a small bit of disappointment nagged the back of my mind.

"Even moving a box a few centimetres is a major achievement for your first time. Don't expect so much of yourself," Kol said, "And lucky for you, you have a full room of boxes to move,"

I looked around at all the grey boxes and sighed.

"Is that my first lesson?" I asked.

"It is indeed, when I come back here tomorrow I expect all the boxes to be moved,"

"No, wait-"

Kol's ghosts disappeared and my shoulders slumped and I sighed.

"Well that's just great," I muttered looking around at the boxes. 

It took me 6 hours to get the hang of it and the sun was beginning to rise, it was becoming easier and when I looked at a box it rose into the air and was placed down in the spot I wanted it to go.

A few hours after that I could lift all the boxes into the air just by thinking about it, all the boxes had been moved to the side and I looked around, satisfied. I climbed back out the trapdoor and went in the elevator back to the main floors. I sighed and walked back to my apartment, I could sense a slight shift in the force, the light side felt stronger and content and that's how I knew I was doing the right thing by following Kol.