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Grogu crawled over to the side of the X-wing and placed a small hand on the window. The familiar blur of blue and black with flashes of stars flooded his view, with a blue-domed R2 unit visible from the ship’s window. Hyperspace travel usually calmed Grogu, gave him a sense of peace and focus. But those two feelings were very difficult for Grogu to find at the moment.
The Jedi piloting the X-wing must’ve felt Grogu’s conflict, because he turned his attention away from the ship’s controls and towards Grogu.
“Hello there, little one.” he said, pushing feelings of serenity and a state of calmness to Grogu. Grogu felt himself calm down with the Jedi’s bright force signature and reassurance.
“I know you’ve gone through quite an ordeal. You know, I mean what I said back there,” the Jedi continued. “I promise I will protect you with my life. And you’re welcome to see your father again anytime.”
Grogu remembered the nice lady Ahsoka’s words.
“He’s formed a strong attachment to you.”
“His attachment to you makes him vulnerable to his fears. His anger.”
“You’re like a father to him. I cannot train him.”
Why did the Jedi take Grogu? He must've felt Grogu's attachment to Buir, after all. So why was Grogu here?
“You don’t talk much, do you, little one?” the Jedi asked, interrupting Grogu’s thoughts.
Grogu pondered the action for a moment, and then decided to reach out and place a hand on the Jedi’s arm.
I can’t talk yet, Master Jedi.
Grogu watched as the shock crawled over the Jedi’s face.
“That’s...how did you do that?”
Grogu shrugged. My old masters taught me how to talk through the force.
“You’re trained? ”
Shame flooded over Grogu at the mention of his training. Yeah. A long, long, long, long, very long time ago. They…
The Jedi felt Grogu’s feelings of regret and sadness, and reached out another hand to rub his ears.
“I think I know. It was before the Empire, right? The old Jedi Order.”
Grogun nodded solemnly.
“Oh...little one...you’ve gone through so much.”
Grogu shifted uncomfortably and averted his gaze. Yeah, he’d seen a lot, but what could anyone do about it now? That night at the Jedi Temple still crawled at the corners of Grogu’s mind and he really didn’t want to focus on it at the moment. All of the pain. The suffering. The endless darkness. The sheer overflowing power of the force, the shift in not just the Temple, but the whole universe. And Grogu was the only youngling to survive the Temple.
“Little one, do you have a name?”
Grogu looked back at the Jedi. My name is Grogu, he said.
Master Skywalker cracked a small smile. “It’s very nice to meet you, Grogu,” he replied. “My name is Luke. Luke Skywalker.”
Grogu nodded in understanding. Thank you for helping my Buir and his friends, Master Skywalker.
“Of course, little one–ah, Grogu.”
Grogu wished he was still with Buir. He could still feel the fear and worry back on the bridge, as Grogu watched the figure of his dad become smaller and smaller as Master Skywalker carried Grogu away. But he knew that he was supposed to go with Master Skywalker. It was a feeling he had in the force, and these days, the force and Buir were the only things he could count on and trust.
“Grogu?”
Yes?
“I’ve noticed you have a very strong attachment to your father,” Skywalker said. Grogu wanted to crawl away and hide, expecting another familiar lecture on ‘personal attachments’.
“It’s very admirable,” Master Skywalker continued. “I’m very glad that you have someone that cares for you so much. Do you want to tell me more about him?”
Huh. That was definitely not the response Grogu had been anticipating. And talking about his dad was definitely something Grogu could do.
Master Skywalker held out his hands towards Grogu, as if asking Grogu if he wanted to be picked up. Grogu made a slight jump away from the X-wing’s window and into Skywalker’s arms. Grogu felt a familiar sense of comfort and relief as Skywalker gave him a hug; it reminded him of all the times his dad had held him close when Grogu was distressed.
He heard a small voice in his head, flowing through the force. It was hesitant, and a little unclear, but it was still there.
Can you hear me, Grogu? Master Skywalker asked, talking to Grogu through the force.
Yes! Yes, I can hear you, Master! Grogu let out a squeak of joy as Master Skywalker smiled and rubbed Grogu’s ears.
“The amazing thing about the force is that you can learn something new every day.”
Grogu nodded up at his new teacher and reached out to pat his cheek.
Can I tell you about my dad now, Master Skywalker?
“Of course, little one. I’m all ears.”
Grogu launched into an animated retelling of that one time Buir had saved the village on Sorgan with Auntie Cara, and all of the yummy snacks Grogu had located in the village marshes. Grogu didn’t even notice that he was no longer tensed up, and his hesitance was pushed to the back of his mind.
It wasn’t too long before Master Skywalker had to interrupt Grogu’s description of the icy planet his dad and the Frog Lady had gotten stranded on to tell Grogu that it was time for landing.
“There it is, Grogu,” Master Skywalker said as Grogu strained to see through the X-wing’s window from Master Skywalker's lap. “That’s Yavin 4, your new home.”
Grogu felt a small smile spread across his mouth. He had a good feeling about this.
…
Grogu felt multiple force signatures rushing in his and Master Skywalker’s direction, and Grogu started to panic. The last time he felt force signatures moving so fast it was because of…
No. Grogu didn’t want to think about that night right now. He forced the memories to the back of his mind, and willed himself to focus on the present.
Master Skywalker raised his hand to lift the top of the X-wing. He held Grogu snugly in his arms as he jumped out of the small ship and landed soundly on the ground. Grogu watched from the safety of the Jedi’s arms as five new figures approached, with a large brown figure and shorter human trailing rather far behind.
Grogu could barely focus on who was saying what as the group burst into conversation and bombarded Master Skywalker with questions. Grogu instinctively further curled into Master Skywalker’s robes at the surplus of noise. Then, a brown-haired woman with a rose-gold lightsaber at her belt crossed her arms and gave a pointed look to the rest of the figures, who immediately quieted down.
“Well, thank you for that, Leia,” Master Skywalker said, and then turned down to a curled up Grogu.
It’s okay, Grogu, Master Skywalker said, speaking to Grogu through the force. They’re just all excited for a new student. Is it okay if I put you down?”
Grogu paused, and then nodded. He’d have to get to know everyone eventually, so he might as well rip off the medtape now. Grogu felt himself be placed down at the ground as the group looked at him eagerly, and Grogu resisted the urge to sprint away and find some slimy bog snacks. It was then that a black-haired boy sat down to get to Grogu’s level and reached out a hand.
“Hi! My name’s Ben Solo,” the boy chirped. “I like fixing stuff and watching holo-films. What about you?”
Grogu slowly reached out to take Ben’s hand, and carefully projected words towards the black-haired boy through the force.
Hi Ben! My name is Grogu. I like frogs. For added effect, Grogu projected an image of a blue striped frog to Ben. Grogu watched in delight as Ben’s smile widened.
“That’s AWESOME! You know, there’s alotta marshes not too far from the Temple. We can go frog hunting sometime!”
Grogu squealed in joy and patted Ben’s hand aggressively as Ben laughed.
I would LOVE to go frog hunting, Grogu responded. Ben scooted next to Grogu.
“Welcome to Yavin 4, Grogu!” Ben announced, his hands gesturing wildly to the space around them, and a blue-skinned Torgruta girl walked closer to the pair as well, with another Torgruta trailing behind her. The girl shoved a hand towards Grogu, mimicking what Ben had done.
“Hello, new friend!” she said with a cheery tone. “My name is Kila Ja’le.” The blue-skinned Torgruta, Kila, gestured to the figure behind her. “And this is Terro, my baby si—”
“I’m not a baby!” The shorter Togruta interrupted indignantly.
“Yeah, you are.” Kila replied without missing a beat.
“Are not!” Terro shot back.
“Are so!”
“Are not!
“Are so!”
“Are not—”
Grogu snickered and sent a message to Ben. Are they always like that?
“Oh, every single day,” Ben responded as a taller figure approached Grogu and Ben, crouching down. He looked to be humanoid, but had green patches of skin and what seemed to be stubs of lekku on his head. The green humanoid gave Grogu a wave.
“Hey there, Grogu. I’m Jacen Syndulla. Nice to meet you,” he said.
Nice to meet you too! Grogu sent back.
Jacen then pointed to the brown-haired woman with the lightsaber, who was talking to Master Skywalker. “That’s Master Organa,” He explained. “She sometimes helps us train. She’s also Master Skywalker’s brother.” Grogu nodded at Jacen, and was able to take note of the resemblance between the two. Both Jedi Masters had a similar aura of power and determination, and yet they were still distinctly different.
Grogu felt a spark of panic come from Jacen, who had just noticed that Kila and Terro’s verbal fight had begun to get more physical. Jacen grumbled something that was probably explicit as he got up to try and break up their fight. Ben made a goofy face towards Jacen as he left, and then turned back to Grogu.
“So, how was the flight?” Ben asked. “Uncle Luke’s X-wing is pretty cool, right?
Grogu ogled at Ben. Uncle Luke?
“Uh huh,” Ben confirmed, and pointed over at Master Organa. “That’s my mom.”
Grogu nodded again in acknowledgement, but was swiftly distracted by a new presence.
It was a familiar presence.
Slimy.
Jumpy.
Tasty.
Grogu looked around frantically just as Ben tapped him on the shoulder. Grogu turned his attention back to Ben and watched as Ben pointed a finger to the east, near a small pond.
Grogu knew exactly what was in that puddle, and looked up at Ben.
Ben looked back at Grogu.
“So. Wanna go frog hunting?” Ben asked, with a mischievous look on his face.
Oh, hell yeah, Grogu replied.
Without another word, the two students set off for the frog-filled pond.