Size Matters Not

by ardavenport

"Feel the Force flow." Master Yoda's voice said, emphasizing the 'flooooow.'

Obi-Wan kept his eyes forward, his mind on every stride. He breathed hard, but the exertion felt natural, the Force coming through him as he ran. He could easily have run for another three hours. Obi-Wan could feel it in his legs and arms and in his fellow Padawans running with him.

The group neared the last turn of the long, wide corridor, passing in and out of shadow and patches of light under the spaced lumen panels above. They had nearly completed another circuit under the base of the Jedi Temple.

Umph!

Someone on Obi-Wan's right exhaled heavily. Obi-Wan heard Master Yoda grunt a few times as he settled himself.

"Mmmmmmmm, good, good," Yoda approved. "Feel it flow through you. In all of you feel it, not just your legs. Through the floor, through the Temple above. All around." The Padawans at the head of the group began the turn.

Obi-Wan knew it was coming. He kept his focus forward, trying not to anticipate. His feet pounded the duracrete floor, one foot after another.

"Ooommph!" The sound came out of his throat, but Obi-Wan did not break his stride.

Master Yoda now clung onto his back. Blunt claws tugged and climbed up his tunic. The weight of the small Master's body pulled on the tabbards on his shoulders. Clawed toes poked into his back.

Obi-Wan suddenly felt the size and weight of the Jedi Temple above, the planet below and the city all around, a taste in his mind of what Yoda felt all the time. The presence of the Force increased around him. He cleaved though its currents as he ran, his feet flying over its living energy.

"Good, good," Yoda said from just behind his ear.

The clawed feet pushed off of him and Yoda thumped onto the back of another Padawan. They had rounded the corner. Obi-Wan saw a group of robed figures gathered ahead of them.

He fixed his mind on the image that Yoda had shown him of the Force. It did linger, like a light toward which he ran, but it still receded before him. The figures in the distance did not look any closer.

Yoda hopped to another Padawan's back and continued speaking low. Obi-Wan listened to the tone without hearing the words. His sense of the Force and his connection to the other Padawans around him sharpened. Yoda hopped from one back to another, strengthening that connection among the herd of running students. Obi-Wan's steps became lighter.

One tall, thin Master stood out among the group ahead, her arms out, signaling the end of their run.

They all slowed, over thirty sets of feet, like a rain slackening.

Obi-Wan bent forward, breathing heavily. The air seemed thick with the Force. It felt good. Around him he saw a glow in the eyes of his fellow apprentices and knew they felt it, too. This hardly seemed like a test to him.

There was a thump and slapping of feet on duracrete. Obi-Wan saw Yoda neatly land on the ground and the Master who had signaled them smiled and bent low to hand him his gimmer stick. Yoda took it and settled in place.

Their Masters had returned. Many shades of brown robes flowed forward, around an invisible circular boundary with Yoda at it's center. Obi-Wan easily spotted Qui-Gon, among the tallest, over the heads of the others. He grinned. He hadn't seen Qui-Gon in three days, since the Masters and Padawans had been separated into groups for these tests. Qui-Gon looked pleased.

"You have done well, my Padawan," Qui-Gon told him, placing his hand on Obi-Wan's shoulder. Around them, other Masters spoke similar words to their apprentices.

"Thank-you, Master. You look like you have as well."

Qui-Gon nodded. "The Padawans my group tested were well trained. And quick learners when they needed to be," he added with a mischievous smirk. Obi-Wan wondered what that meant, but Qui-Gon pointed his attention toward Master Yoda, who tapped his stick on the ground for everyone's attention.

"Well, you have done," Yoda told them all, standing and turning to address the semi-circle of attentive Jedi around him. "Test you think this is?" he asked, his raspy voice rising. The diminutive, green Master stared them down from the knee-level of nearly everyone there. "No." He shook his head. "There is no test. Only learning."

Teach you I can, in only days, everything it is to be a Jedi. To [b]learn it[/b]," Yoda pointed his gimmer stick around at the group as if to poke each one of them, "A lifetime, you will need."

When you take your Trials, [b]learn[/b] from them you must, to become Jedi." Obi-Wan was only seventeen and the other Padawans in the group were years from their Jedi Trials as well, but their interest in Yoda's lecture perked up at the mention of that test for Knighthood.

Obi-Wan had wondered if this training was perhaps meant to prepare them for their future Trials, and this statement confirmed it. The Masters leading Obi-Wan's group had drilled them on all the basics of using the Force, intuitively, consciously and actively. Everything that they had already learned had been compressed into an intensive three-day schedule. From early morning to late at night they had been kept busy with lightsaber techniques, exercises, reviewing their knowledge of the Jedi Code, body and mind disciplines, deep meditations. Someone in the group had expressed surprise that so many years of training could be compressed into so little time, but the Masters had reminded her that how much they knew was not nearly so important as how they used it.

Yoda had appeared only at the end of this day to lead them himself through this last run. And now he reminded them again of the importance of their training. Yoda's green eyes scanned them all, apparently still finding them wanting.

"Learned you all have. Show what you have learned, you will. Run around the Temple again, the Padawans will. Your Masters will teach. As did I." Yoda nodded with a smug smile. Obi-Wan could see on the faces of the others that no one was quite sure what he meant by this.

One small white-haired old Master, Zerin, put his hand to his bearded chin. "Aaaaah," he mouthed and then tapped his gangly Padawan's elbow. When the youth, Popoe, bent down, the Master whispered something into his ear-hole. Popoe straightened again. Zerin got behind him and then nearly hopped onto his Padawan's back with Popoe catching his legs under his arms. With a nod toward Yoda from Zerin, the two of them set off on their run.

After exchanging a few more surprised looks, the Masters began getting behind their own Padawans.

Obi-Wan stared at Yoda, aghast. Then he looked up at Qui-Gon. He caught a wide-eyed expression of amusement on the older and much larger man's face. Nearby, his friend, Garen Muln bend down a little at the knees for his Master, a shorter and lighter red-haired woman. Clee Rhara easily hopped up onto Garen's back and they set off together.

Obi-Wan could see that Qui-Gon was not the largest Master in the room. Master Immy was a heavy-set Gamorod. But so was his Padawan. They thundered off with Immy looking over Yibhsh's head and broad shoulders.

Obi-Wan swallowed hard when he felt Qui-Gon's hands on his shoulders.

"He wants us to use the Force together," Qui-Gon whispered from behind him, close to his ear. Yoda cocked one long ear toward them, listening. Obi-Wan felt the Force gather around him.

"Ungh."

Obi-Wan bend forward. He staggered a few steps, finding his balance. His own connection to the Force trembled under the mass pressing down on him through his hips, knees and legs. The floor suddenly felt hardened under his feet.

"Move forward," Qui-Gon whispered. His long hair hung down over Obi-Wan's neck, tickling the skin. Qui-Gon's lightsaber jabbed him in the back on his left side. "The Force is with you, Obi-Wan. You've carried heavy weights before. You know how."

Obi-Wan's knee bent on the first step, but not too much. He pushed off into the next step and he felt the strength returning to his limbs again. Gripping Qui-Gon's legs tightly, he inhaled deeply on the next step and the next.

He swerved and they might have toppled over, but Qui-Gon shifted his weight to stabilize them.

They were going the wrong way and had nearly run over Master Yoda. Obi-Wan caught a glimpse of a green-eyed glare as he pivoted on one foot and thudded his next step back in the right direction.

"Breathe," Qui-Gon instructed. He was hunched over Obi-Wan's head, his hands grasping his shoulders remarkably lightly. Qui-Gon's huge booted feet stuck out before them. Obi-Wan's mind focused on Yoda and how easily he had ridden on his back. This was no different. Size did not matter, he reminded himself.

They ran near the end of the herd. Obi-Wan could see almost all the other Padawans ahead, their Masters' brown robes flapping behind them under the lights. Obi-Wan continued to breathe deeply. His feet pounded on the ground in a slow pace that refused to quicken.

"Feel what it is to run, Obi-Wan, the Force carrying you forward," Qui-Gon said, his voice low, urging him on. Obi-Wan could feel his Master's strength adding to his, like Yoda's but different, less intense but more familiar. It helped some.

"Could you move your lightsaber?" he asked. Another pair passed them, the Master's skinny legs wrapped around his Padawan's wide middle.

Qui-Gon's hand explored his lower back, searching through tunics and folds of robe to grasp the metal and plastoid that poked into Obi-Wan with every step. Suddenly free of the painful distraction, Obi-Wan sighed into an easier stride, not fast, but steady.

The strain on his knees and hips faded and disappeared. And Qui-Gon no longer bounced with every step like a counterweight. They moved together with no bumps or pulls between them. Obi-Wan's stride lengthened.

"You see?" Qui-Gon said, somewhere behind and above his right ear. "Now, slow your breath. You'll tire yourself out before we even get to the turn." Obi-Wan nodded, unable to speak. He was sweating. His throat sore with a tang of exhaustion in his nostrils, he kept his eyes forward. They kept pace with the runners ahead of them now. The first turn, under the corner of the Temple remained far ahead of everyone.

Obi-Wan felt a flush, like rain under his skin cooling his body. The running became easier. Again, he felt the floor, the air, the boundaries of the corridor through the Force, not just the around him, but through the whole length of the huge square under the Temple's thick gray dura-stone perimeter. Obi-Wan knew he felt it though Qui-Gon.

"How do you know Yoda wants us to work together?" he panted.

"Because he could not accomplish this if we did not," came Qui-Gon's easy answer. Obi-Wan swallowed, gulping air.

Again, he focused on running forward, but this time, consciously using Qui-Gon's strength with his own. His awareness increased. His body, with Qui-Gon's, moved smoothly through the currents of the Force, like when they sparred, where the sweep of their lightsabers and the strikes and clashes came with as much instant intuition as with fighting strategy. This was much simpler, but Obi-Wan saw the similarities. They were acting together.

Ahead of him Obi-Wan saw the first runners disappearing around the corner. He increased his speed, the strength coming to him easily. Qui-Gon chuckled.

As they neared the turn they passed a few slower Padawans, their Masters hunched over their shoulders and speaking words of encouragement. Yibhsh plodded along with a silent Immy on his back. Gamorod legs were immensely strong, but short and stiff. Obi-Wan's confidence increased as he ran around the turn and began the next length of corridor.

He was advancing on a small knot of runners, all of them carrying smaller Masters. Obi-Wan increased his pace again. The effort came easily to him, as if he were running with Qui-Gon's legs.

Qui-Gon chuckled again.

"Master?" he asked breathlessly.

"We're not running a race, Obi-Wan," he responded, his voice amused.

"Are we not . . . supposed to . . . . complete the run?" he asked, confused.

"Master Yoda said that you were to show us what you learned. And you have, very ably, my Padawan. And that I was supposed to teach. As he had."

"You have. . . .shown me much. . . . I can . . . . feel it. . . . through the Force."

"Thank-you," Qui-Gon acknowledged. "But if I am to teach as Yoda does, then I might be remiss in not pointing out our surroundings and urging you to see the connections between them and yourself." Qui-Gon's hand gestured forward. "For example, we are approaching the part of the Temple under the precessional entrance. Can you feel that?"

The long row of lumen panels on the ceiling receded in the distance ahead of them. Obi-Wan tried to estimate where the center of that stretch of corridor would be, under the entrance, but he failed. His steps slowed. He jerked his arms upward, repositioning his grip on Qui-Gon's legs. His next steps slammed down on the ground with his Master's full weight again.

"Calm, Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon said softly. His back was sweaty and hot under his tunic and robe, but again he focused on drawing strength from the Force, in his legs and through Qui-Gon.

"You are too easily distracted, my Padawan," Qui-Gon admonished. Obi-Wan clinched his jaw and concentrated on ignoring that statement.

"Don't [b]think[/b] about your surroundings, Obi-Wan. [b]Feel[/b] them, use the intuitive nature of the Force. Let it guide you to know what is all around you." Qui-Gon used his hand again, but Obi-Wan eyes stayed forward, his mind focused on his running. If the Force was to guide him then it would happen, or not. But he had to let one thought out.

"Should I also. . . . avoid talking. . . .about them. . . . .as well, My Master?"

Qui-Gon chuckled again.

"To teach, I am, as Master Yoda does," he reminded. Obi-Wan's jaw clenched, but he kept his focus forward.

When they reached the center of that stretch of corridor, Qui-Gon again began talking about the great entrance to the Temple, the statues and engraved images of the great Jedi of the Order, the steps and rare occasions of ceremony that traversed the precessional way. But Obi-Wan was ready for him.

He swerved, keeping his pace, but now running in a circle that spanned the whole width of the corridor directly under the precessional way. If Qui-Gon had to recite what he knew about that part of the Temple, then Obi-Wan would oblige him with a good 'view' of it.

Qui-Gon laughed out loud. The Force felt light and airy around them when he did that.

After a few circles, Qui-Gon expended what he knew or cared about the Temple's entrance and Obi-Wan moved on. Far ahead, some of the first runners turned the next corner. Obi-Wan sighed, knowing they would never catch up. But that did not seem very important anymore.

After that, whenever Qui-Gon began expounding on the Temple above them, Obi-Wan's path would loop into circles until the lecture was over. They spent a lot of time at the next two turns because Qui-Gon knew a lot about the spires above them. And Obi-Wan found that he did get a sense of the things Qui-Gon spoke of, the feelings and images behind the words. If he let go of his drive to finish their lap around the Temple, he could easily run and hear Qui-Gon as well. He let the Force guide him about whether or not he listened.

As they ran down the corridor at the back of the Temple one Padawan passed them, her eyes glowing, her face eagerly looking forward, and her Master looking at them curiously, because Qui-Gon was talking to himself about the ancient artifacts salvaged from the Jedi Temple on Ossus.

They neared the last turn when another Padawan passed them. Obi-Wan glanced their way and nearly lost his concentration when he realized that it was one of the pairs that had been ahead of them.

"I think Master Yoda must have thought that they needed to spend more time together," Qui-Gon commented in his left ear and Obi-Wan realized that they must be running a second lap around the Temple. He readjusted his grip, bouncing Qui-Gon a bit, but he kept his pace. Several more pairs passed them, on their second lap.

On the last stretch of corridor, within sight of Master Yoda and the others waiting with him, Qui-Gon suddenly found the Temple's storage and recycling facilities so interesting that he had to say something about them. Obi-Wan briefly considered going straight forward, but instead he ran in slowly advancing loops.

"The living areas are above us, Obi-Wan. Can you feel that?"

He could. It was late and many people were settling down to rest for the night. Thousands of Jedi lived in the Temple and many of them were high above, meditating, talking, sleeping in their own rooms.

By the time they finally slowed to stop before Master Yoda, Qui-Gon had discussed all the living space levels and what type of plants were in the common areas of each. Obi-Wan almost forgot to let go of Qui-Gon's legs when he stepped down.

Obi-Wan fluffed and straightened his bunched up and sweaty robe and then belatedly bowed to Yoda with Qui-Gon.

The small green Master shook his head slowly toward Qui-Gon as if in wonder about what he must be teaching to his apprentice. Then they all turned toward the sound of heavy footsteps.

Yibhsh, with Immy still on his back, came toward them at exactly the same tireless pace that they had started with. Both of their heavyset faces looked quite happy, their small red eyes alight with satisfaction. Obi-Wan did not remember hearing either one speaking in the corridor, but there seemed to have been some communication between the two of them.

After Immy had climbed down and they brushed each other's robes and tunics back into place, they bowed deeply to Master Yoda.

"Done well you have." Yoda's noted.

"Absolutely Master Yoda," Immy answered in a deep, low voice. Yibhsh nodded eagerly. Immy turned to Qui-Gon who smiled back his confirmation. "And learned much we have. From such a small lesson."

Qui-Gon placed his hand on Obi-Wan's shoulder.

"And for a lesson well earned and shared, my Master," Qui-Gon addressed Yoda. "Size matters not."

II==== END ====II

(This story was first posted on tf.n: 19-March-2007)

Disclaimer: All characters and situations belong to George and Lucasfilm; I'm just playing in their sandbox.