1

"Feel it, don't seize it," Luke said patiently. "The first step is to recognize that it's there, got it?"

Leia rolled her eyes. "I'll try."

Luke barely resisted the urge to quote his old master's words at her. He closed his eyes and exhaled, feeling the force wash over him. Then there was a slight disturbance, like a ripple. His eyes snapped open. "Leia, feel it. Don't try and force it to do what you want. That's not the way of the jedi."

"Luke. I get it. You're the last jedi. You want it to go right. But I'm trying. Maybe if I practice-"

"Do, or do not. There is no try." Luke said automatically.

Leia sighed. Luke closed his eyes again, trying to become one with the force. He felt its pattern through his being. He breathed out slowly, and focused his attention on Leia. Good, she was reaching out, but not grabbing or pushing. But then, something changed. The pattern around Leia began to contract, pulling itself in towards her.

Luke focused on his sister, trying to understand why she kept on exerting her will on the force. A flurry of thoughts brushed by his mind. Emotion. Love? he wondered. He opened his eyes.

"You keep on forcing the force to follow your actions. You shouldn't make it do anything, you should just use the knowledge it gives you, or use the power that it gives you. To do anything else is not to be a jedi."

Leia pursed her lips. "Care to explain?"

Luke nodded. "Say a stormtrooper tried to shoot me. I would sense a slight shifting of the force, kind of how you feel the current of water when you put your hand in a pond. That shifting would tell you where the laser blast will go, as if it was displacing the water in front of it so you can feel it. With the knowledge of where it'll go, you can move your lightsaber and deflect it."

"Then how can a jedi read the future? You can't know where something will be in the future just by feeling a 'displacement in the water that is the force'," she said, sketching air quotes.

"It was just an analogy, Leia," Luke said, sighing. "The point is, you don't need to change the force to be able to use the force. It's not the way of a jedi."

Luke and Leia both closed their eyes.

He felt an immediate pull on the force.

"Stop trying to control it, Leia. It's not the-"

"Maybe I don't want to be a jedi!" she snapped. "Maybe I want to be in love! Maybe I care about Han more than being able to dodge laser beams or move things! Maybe I don't want this!"

Luke's eyes widened. "I- Leia, I-" he tried to reach out for her hand, but she recoiled. "I love him. I want to become a jedi, I know how much it means to you, but if it means I have to give up Han, then…"

Luke was silent. He stared at her with icy eyes.

"...Luke, I'm sorry, I love him- if there was any other way-"

"No," Luke said in a shaky voice. "I shouldn't have forced you to train with me, I know the way you feel about him, and it wasn't my place to-" he paused. "It's alright. I just need. Some time." He turned away. "To think."

Luke trudged back through the trees, brushing aside the tall grass with his fingers. He wandered through the woods ildy. If he tried hard enough, he could almost believe he was back on Dagobah. But then a gust of wind would ruffle his hair, and he would remember that it wasn't as humid on Endor. Glancing up at one of the tall trees that the Ewoks constructed their homes in, he sighed.

He wanted to get off this planet. Desperately. But the stolen shuttle that had gotten the strike team in had been crushed by an AT-AT, and Lando still needed to use the Falcon to shuttle injured fighter pilots from ship to ship to try and find a space in the medical bay.

Thoughts still brooding, he climbed the swinging rope ladder that would take him to the hut that the Ewoks had given him.

He reached his hut and sat on the floor. The bed was too small, Han refused to let Luke borrow the Falcon, even when Lando was done with it, and he was stuck here until rebel forces came and picked them up, which could take another day or two, since Ackbar's army was in shambles. His own triumph at the destruction of the Death Star II was overshadowed by the fact that he was the only trained force user left, and he had no apprentice. He wasn't even sure that he was a full jedi, no matter what he had told Palpatine. He took a deep breath and forced himself to remember that Yoda said that he would be a jedi if he confronted Vader. I am a jedi. I am a jedi.

He was still restless but dreadfully tired. What's wrong with me? He brushed his head back and stormed out of the hut, bumping his head on the low ceiling. Maybe a long walk would help. It might help with the boredom at least, Luke thought dryly.

He found himself, as he always did, in front of the funeral pyre.

There wasn't much left, a charred glove here, a cluster of wires there. For Luke, it felt as if he were being punched in the gut. He picked up the melted mask, dusting it off. Every time he had come here it was the same. He would look, pick up the mask and stare at it. Luke wasn't sure whether he wanted to destroy it or keep it or just leave it here.

"I knew I'd find you here," came a voice.

"Hey Han," Luke said without looking up.

"Why do you hang around this place, huh? Especially not with old Vader over there. I mean, I know he was your father and all, but-"

"Yeah I know, but he came back," Luke said, a touch defensively, pulling the mask closer to his chest.

Han shrugged. "You'd know better than me, kid."

Luke turned around so that his back was facing Han.

"What are you-"

Luke turned around, holding the charred mask over his face. "What do you think?"

Han was still for a long moment. Then the two burst out laughing.

"I had you for a second there, admit it!" Luke laughed. Han nodded, clutching his stomach.

"Ok seriously kid, stop, it's starting to freak me out," Han said, half smiling.

"All right, all right, Han," Luke said gently putting his mask down and raising his arms in a gesture of mock surrender. After a long silence, Luke sighed. "What are we gonna do, Han? It's like we don't have a reason to do anything now. Before, there was the Empire, but now…?" he trailed off, hoping that Han would have the answers.

Han shrugged. "The Empire's not gone, Luke. We still have plenty of work cut out for us. You'll find an apprentice, I'll marry," he paused. Luke sensed that Han was scared of being too forward with him, "Leia," Han finished.

"I suppose. I just don't know where to start," Luke said. "I might end up going back to tatooine after all," he smiled nervously.

Han nodded. "Assuming Mon Mothma and Admiral Ackbar don't send me on anymore 'diplomatic missions', I'll be right along with you, Leia too," Han said, clapping him on the back.