Chapter Nine

Luke was happy to see the Academy. When he hadn’t the last time, he’d gotten worried. Lisa probably was right that the last time he was here, he’d tried doing too much by attempting to make contact with the students. He’d been impatient, and even though he’d teased Lisa about it before, she was also right that a Jedi must know patience.

Sighing, he leaned back on the grass by the river. It really was very peaceful here; he wasn’t sure about the “nap within a nap” she’d suggested, but from where he was sitting, he could see the figures of the students swimming, training, lounging. Some of them seemed to be rinsing off some fruit, while another two had pieces of clothing they were trying to get stains out of by beating them with a rock.

At least here, nothing hurt. That, in his opinion, was the worst thing about his recovery – well, the pain and the fact that now he wasn’t allowed to move while he was awake. He hoped that particular restriction was lifted quickly; he’d never been very good at a sedentary lifestyle.

The students at the river began to scatter, and Luke felt the compulsion to follow them. At first, he ignored it. Lisa told me not to interfere, he thought, but then noticed one of the students. It looked as if they were beckoning him to follow. Frowning, he stood up, and the student beckoned again.

From behind him, another student came running past and met up with the waving one. Together they jogged off, but the urge to follow was still within Luke.

No interference, he promised. Just observation.

Luke caught up with the students and followed them to a kind of courtyard. Tables had been set up, covered with all sorts of exotic but delicious-looking food. He was positive the area had to smell amazing, and he wondered if probing the Force into granting him an olfactory sense would count as interfering.

Before he could consider it, however, a sharp sense of fear and longing hit him. The students seemed to feel it, too, because they were looking around for the source.

He followed them again to find a child sitting on the ground, knees drawn up to their chin. The girl with the tablet was nearby, speaking to the fearful one; Luke couldn’t hear the conversation, but he got the sense she was speaking in a calm and gentle tone.

The other students drew nearer, but not so close as to crowd the other two; more of Lisa’s influence was evident here, and Luke smiled.

He was able to sense the child on the ground was sad and afraid because they missed a loved one. A pang of worry spiked in Luke – that was not a practice he was including in his curriculum. Children would not be separated from their loved ones.

The students around the seated one all knelt nearby, but not too near. Luke sensed first that they were asking permission to get closer, and then the girl with the tablet and another, older student scooted right beside them.

The next sense was of them asking what the child needed –

because their loved one would be back soon, and they just had to wait a little bit longer.

Luke let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding and then smiled when he realized what was happening. It was more of Lisa’s teachings – consent, grounding, comfort. If she still had her forehead pressed to his, he hoped she was seeing this.

But not only that, he was seeing exactly what he wanted the new Jedi Order to be – not suppression of emotion, but controlled regulation. Fear was acknowledged, named, and dealt with in a healthy manner.

And everyone was supporting each other.

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