Way of the Force

Disclaimer: George Lucas was responsible for the birth of Star Wars while
Rumiko Takashi created Ranma 1/2.

< >: Thoughts

[""]: Chinese language

Chapter 1

Gathering of Force

Deep within the mountain forests of Japan...

It had been a long and hard first few months as the boy named Ranma Saotome
began his training as a Jedi Knight. Jarrick had taken the child away to a
small retreat hidden deep in the woods near Mount Fuji, and began raising
him as the first of a new generation of the Jedi Order. Naturally of course,
the boy had wanted to go back to his father, but the Jedi Master managed to
convince him that returning to his father would not be the best for him.
With a little Jedi mind-enhancement, the teacher from space enabled the
still-innocent boy to recall every detail of his training with Genma and
explain that what he did in the past was wrong. Taking things from others
without paying was called stealing. Going into other peoples' homes and
living there while the owners were gone was trespassing, as well as breaking
and entering. And thinking only of martial arts was limiting. The lad did
not have much of the basic knowledge that a boy his age should have. His
sense of right and wrong was skewed, and his very being was beginning to
mirror that of his father's.

That would not do. The boy was dangerously vulnerable to temptation to the
Dark Side of the Force. The Jedi Master was determined to not make the same
mistake as Obi-Wan Kenobi had done with Anakin Skywalker. Jarrick did not
want Ranma to become another Vader. And so, Jarrick Yor began instructing
Ranma to unlearn all that he had learned under Genma.

It hadn't been easy. Apparently, his father had ingrained his morals and
values into the boy and they had become a integral part of Ranma's psyche.
Ranma was unaware that nearly all of his lessons were criminal, and the Jedi
Master had to use all of his mind-manipulation abilities to break him out of
those habits. It was extremely hard when the two had to venture into town
for supplies. The boy was a regular kleptomaniac and stole whatever he could
get his hands on, making the owners angrily chase him about. To Ranma, if
they could not catch him, then whatever he took was his to keep.

However, with patience, persistence and a LOT of apologizing, the Jedi
Master was successful in getting Ranma to kick those habits and instilled
some good morals in him. The boy now had a better sense of right from wrong
and was starting to show some manners toward others. When they had first
met, Jarrick was appalled at how rude the boy was and his table manners were
atrocious! He'd seen rancors eat cleaner and a LOT less than this child!
Ranma could probably devour an entire bantha and still be hungry!

However, in time, Ranma finally began to respond to the new lessons in moral
development and social skills. In a few months time, Jarrick determined that
Ranma was cleansed enough from the training in the Anything Goes to begin
instruction in the ways of the Force.

----------

"What is this... Force?" The boy asked as he and Jarrick were in a clearing
near a lake.

The Jedi Master gestured to the scenery all around them as he explained.
"The Force... is the very essence of all the things around us. The trees,
the lake, the air... even you and me. All of these have one tie or another
to the Force. It is what surrounds and binds us. Everything... from the
tallest mountain to the deepest valley... from the tiniest insect... to the
very souls of people. It thrives within everyone and everything. Without the
Force... there would be no existence."

"You mean... it's like chi?" Ranma asked. He had been told of the power that
martial artists are able to draw on to augment their strength, speed and
even strike from a distance.

"In a way." Jarrick tentatively. "I have encountered those who have mastered
chi. However, what you call as chi is only a small fraction of the Force as
a whole. It is limited to the personal power within oneself. Every living
thing has chi, but the Force surrounds us and EVERYTHING... the rocks, the
grounds, the clouds... everything! The Jedi are able to draw upon the Force
from ALL things, as well as from within themselves."

"You mean... like magic?"

"Some people call it that, when they do not understand it. However, it is
MUCH more than anything you know of, or have been told of. Even the greatest
of martial artists are insignificant, next to the overwhelming power of the
Force."

"You're lying! There's no such thing as a Force! You're making this up!"

"Oh really?" Jarrick smirked as he made a simple gesture with one hand.
Ranma then found himself levitated five feet off the ground. The boy
frantically flailed about for a handhold for fear that he would come
crashing down. Then he looked down and saw that he was hovering in midair
with nothing but some unseen... 'force' holding him up. Unlike the chi
techniques which allowed a person to levitate oneself, Jarrick instead
focused on the Force that surrounded the boy to hold him up, thereby not
putting any strain on himself. A minute later, Ranma was carefully set down
on his feet as Jarrick released his hold on him.

Ranma looked up at his teacher in awe. "H-H-How did you do that? Are you a
magician? Can you teach me how to do that?"

The Jedi Master smiled at the boy's eagerness to learn. He nodded as he
knelt down to look into Ranma's eyes. "Yes, Ranma. I shall teach you that
trick and many more. You have great potential Ranma; far more than that
nitwit father could have ever seen. You are destined for greater things and
I shall make certain you attain your fullest potential."

Ranma then became mesmerized by the penetrating gaze of his sensei as
Jarrick established a mental link with the boy. For one, brief instant,
Ranma was given a glimpse of the Force in its entirety. The sensation was
overwhelming and made the youth tremble. Then the feeling passed as they
came back to reality.

The Jedi Master stood up and took out his lightsaber, holding it up for the
boy to see. He then ignited it, causing a shaft of blue-white light to
appear. The boy gasped as he saw what appeared to be a blade of pure energy
that was about a meter in length. He became entranced at the metallic hum it
produced as his master waved it about. The sound changed in pitch as the
blade swished back and forth.

A minute later, Jarrick deactivated his weapon and clipped it back onto his
belt. Now, it was time for the training to truly begin.

----------

A year later...

Jarrick was pleased at the progress that Ranma had been making over the past
twelve months. The boy was quite talented and he did indeed have a very
strong tie to the Force. They had spent long hours strengthening not only
Ranma's physical body, but also his mental control and discipline. With
Genma's teachings no longer hampering him, Ranma was able to tap into the
Force to augment his abilities without having to rely on his personal stores
of chi, which would have drained him faster at his tender age. The Jedi
Master did instruct the lad on chi use as well, having observed the
techniques on manipulating it during his travels on Earth. However, he kept
the fact that he was not of Earth from Ranma, deciding instead to wait until
he was old enough to know the truth.

Martial arts was also an integral part of the training as Jarrick had become
acquainted with several styles. Seeing that they were an excellent way to
train the body and raise one's consciousness, as well as the fact that Ranma
was a sponge when it came to martial arts, the otherworldly sensei used
those principles in his teachings.

However, the body was not the only thing that Jarrick trained Ranma in. He
also focused on the mind as well. Though Ranma balked at the thought of
learning things that had nothing to do with martial arts, the old Jedi
maintained that knowledge was a very important factor to the Force. He did
not want Ranma to be limited only to the fight, as his idiotic father had
intended. Being a Jedi was more than just being a great warrior. In the
words of his own teacher Yoda, wars didn't make one great.

Eventually, Ranma's basic knowledge included more on reading skills,
penmanship, mathematics, and a few basic science concepts. The boy was going
to have to know about technology as he will need the knowledge in order to
construct his own lightsaber.

But for today, Ranma was going to have to learn some totally different
things. The two were now in Kyoto and heading toward a neighborhood that the
boy was starting to recognize. It was one of the very few happy memories
that he had during his time with Genma.

Though he began to have a suspicion of where they were heading, he still had
to ask.

"Master?"

"Yes, Ranma?"

"Where are we? Why... are we here?"

The Jedi Master looked at his seven-year-old disciple for a long time before
replying. "We're here for three reasons, Ranma. First, we're going to set
right something that your father did, which hurt someone very special.
Someone that was very close to you."

Ranma then brightened as he said, "Ucchan? We're gong to see Ucchan?" He
became very excited at the prospect of seeing his good buddy again after all
this time.

Jarrick nodded, but remained serious. "Yes, but the second reason why we're
here is because you need to know a few things about... Ucchan."

"What do you mean? Ucchan was the best friend I ever had! I could never hurt
him!"

"Her."

"Huh?"

"Ranma... Ukyo is a girl."

"No way! He can't be!"

"She is. I saw all the signs in your memories and there was no mistaking it.
You were too young and unaware to know it at the time. Ukyo IS a girl. And
she was very hurt when you and your father took her cart and left her."

"The cart...? But Pop said that it was a gift and..."

"I'm sorry to say this but he LIED to you. I saw it through your memories.
He stole that cart, plain and simple. I did not wish tell you this Ranma,
but it is something that must be rectified before we continue on with your
training. I had reached out with the Force and sensed her sadness and anger
at you. She thinks that you threw her away and stole her family's cart, but
I know that you were unaware that you were causing her pain. So we will see
her again and set things right."

"But..."

"Do not worry, Ranma. Though she is angry at you for what your father had
done, she will understand that you did NOT know that she was a girl and of
the promise that Genma had made and broken with her family. And there is the
third reason why we are going to see her and her father."

"What is it?"

"I know just how lonely you have been and I thought that you might want to
be with someone you like. And there is something I need to discuss with
Ukyo's father, while you go play with your friend."

"Okay, but..."

"No more questions for now, Ranma. I shall tell you more later."

As Jarrick let his senses guide him and Ranma to the Kuonji residence, his
thoughts focused on the task at hand. He had received a strong impression
from Ranma about this girl Ukyo Kuonji. Lately, he had been feeling certain
stirrings in the Force when they neared Kyoto during their training
journeys. The sensations he felt were similar to what he had detected in
Ranma's memories about his childhood friend and deduced that this girl's
family must have strong ties to the Force. If that was the case, then
Jarrick just may have found another candidate for Jedi Knighthood and a
training partner for Ranma. Perhaps this Ukyo might become even more to
Ranma than just a playmate.

----------

"So that is the reason why you were so eager to engage your daughter to
Ranma." Jarrick remarked as he took a sip of tea. As he sat opposite to
Haruka Kuonji in his home, he glanced outside and saw Ranma joyfully play
with the man's daughter. It had been a shaky reunion as Ukyo had tried to
pound the living daylights out of her former friend. However, with Jarrick's
influence, and the new mental and physical skills he had taught to his
protg, they had managed to calm the girl down and convince her and her
father to listen as they began explaining why they had come. A short while
later, with a few helpful nudges of Jedi Power, the tension between the
Kuonji family and the Jedi was lessened.

Jarrick turned his gaze back to Ukyo's father as he continued with his
explanation.

"Yes... I am... dying. A year ago, a doctor had diagnosed that I had cancer
and that I only had about a year and a half, perhaps two, to live. I had
wanted to make certain that Ukyo's future would be assured before I left
this world. Had I known that Ranma's father would be so dishonorable, I
would have never offered him the yattai to him as Ukyo's dowry."

The Jedi Master nodded. "Yes, well I can neither bring back the yattai nor
correct the year of pain that Ukyo had suffered because of the broken
promise. However, I can help you and your daughter."

"How?"

"I can heal you."

"But the doctor said that my condition was incurable!"

"By normal standards, yes. However, I know of several... shall we say,
unique methods?"

"What kind of methods?" Haruka asked slowly.

"The kind of methods that I wish to teach to your daughter. I would like to
take her on as my disciple, to train along with Ranma."
"But she can't! She is the heir to the Kuonji School of Okonomiyaki Ken!"
Haruka protested. However, Jarrick held up a hand and smiled.

"Do not worry, Kuonji-san. I have no intention stealing away your heir. You
will be free to train her in your family's fighting style. From what I
sensed in her, she will make a fine martial artist. She'll also make a good
sparring partner and companion for Ranma. He does need the company. However,
I also sense in Ukyo, an even greater potential in another field. One that I
am currently training young Saotome in."

"Another field?"

Jarrick Yor smiled as he glanced back at the two youngsters.

----------

A few weeks later...

"Why are we here, Master?" Ukyo asked as she, Ranma, her father, and Jarrick
traveled down a rocky pathway. The group were currently making their way
through a small valley in the Quing Hai province of China, somewhere near
the Bayankala Mountain Range.

"We're here to see an old... friend and to keep a promise." Jarrick replied
as he continued to lead the others through the wilderness.

As she followed Ranma and his strange sensei, her thoughts went back to that
day when she and her Ran-Chan were reunited.

----------

Flashback...

"Hey, Ucchan! You wanna see a trick?" Ranma asked as he pointed to one of
the heavy lawn ornaments that decorated her backyard.

"What kind of trick?" The girl asked.

"Look at this!" The boy held out a hand with the palm facing up and closed
his eyes.

Haruka's daughter gasped and her eyes went wide as she witnessed the heavy
stone object begin to tremble and shake. Ranma's brow furrowed harder as he
applied more control over the Force and slowly, the lawn ornament began to
rise. It shakily lifted off the ground and hovered for a few seconds some
three inches off the ground. It then came back down with a thud as Ranma
lost his hold on it.

"H-H-How did you...?" Ukyo was in a state of disbelief. That ornament
weighed close to fifty kilos and Ranma lifted the thing off the ground
without even touching it!

Ranma grinned as he answered. "Master Jarrick is teaching me all kinds of
stuff along with my martial arts! Betcha I can tell what your favorite color
is!"

"Huh?"

Ranma looked into her eyes and became silent. A minute of silence passed
before he nodded and said, "You like the color blue, your favorite number is
seventeen and you used to have a teddy bear named Sinako!"

"How did you know?! I never told you that!" Ukyo gasped.

Ranma shrugged while grinning after demonstrating a little Jedi
mind-reading.

----------

End of Flashback...

That little incident alone had made Ukyo edgy when her father informed her
that they would be traveling with Ranma and the Jedi Master and that she
would be training along with her friend in what was called 'Force' training.

The past weeks had been quite strenuous, pushing both her physical and
mental abilities to the limits. Sparring with Ranma was far more intense
than their old game of battling for a free okonomiyaki. In addition to her
own sessions with her father in the Kuonji School of Okonomiyaki Ken, she
also trained with Ranma in several other styles. As a result, her unarmed
skills had become more refined and she was able to hold her own against
Ranma longer, without having to fall back on her spatula weapons.

However, the new Jedi trainee's most intensive lessons did not come from
learning martial arts, but from being instructed in the usage of the Force.
Like Ranma, she too was skeptical about an unseen power that surrounded
everything. However, with a few demonstrations, she became eager to learn
how to control such power.

At present, she wasn't quite as strong as Ranma in how to manipulate the
Force, but her sensitivity to the environment around her had increased and
she was just starting to develop an enhanced form of intuition. It wouldn't
be long before that ability would become something akin to precognition, the
ability to see the future. Her levitation powers were only strong enough to
lift pebbles and leaves, but it was a start. As Master Jarrick had often
told her, size was meaningless. In demonstration, he levitated a ten-ton
granite boulder twenty feet into the air from fifty feet away.

As for Ukyo's father, he had already been convinced that his daughter would
benefit from Jarrick's teachings. After all, the Jedi Master had given him
an extra forty years of life, at least. Haruka Kuonji had never felt better,
after the Jedi Master had healed him of the cancer that had been eating away
at his body. The pain in his chest was nonexistent and when he visited his
doctor, he received a surprising and welcomed report. The doctor could not
explain it, but said that the x-ray showed no sign of the cancer. His best
theory was that Haruka's disease had gone into remission, but even the
damage that the cancer had already caused to his body's tissue was gone.
There was just no rationalization for what had happened.

In actuality, Jarrick had employed both technological and metaphysical means
to cure Haruka of his affliction. After the Kuonji patriarch had agreed to
let the Jedi Master train his daughter, the otherworldly sensei had placed
him into a Jedi healing trance to slow the cancer's advance through his
body. Then, with some applications of the Force, he systematically destroyed
all the cancerous cells without harming the healthy cells. Then, he took the
man to a place where his body could regenerate all that the cancer had
damaged. Jarrick still had his space cruiser hidden away... and its
rejuvenation chamber with its bacta fluid.

A day later, Haruka awoke in his own bed, feeling healthier than he had ever
been.

Ukyo's father did not bother to ask Jarrick how he had accomplished this
miracle. He was happy enough that he had been given back his life and the
opportunity to see his daughter grow up. Already she was starting to
resemble her mother, his long-lost Michi. And he was also given an another
opportunity. He might also see to his daughter's happiness... with Ranma.

----------

["Halt! State your business!"] The fierce female warrior said as she and her
fellow guard barred the group's way at the gate of the Amazon Village.

Jarrick however, stood without fear as he gazed at females. He motioned
Ranma and the others to move back a bit as he took one step toward the
women. Just as they were about to point their spears at him, he spoke to
them in a calm tone... in Japanese.
"I have business with one of your Elders."

Though the guards did not speak a word of Japanese, they still responded in
their native tongue as if they understood the Jedi Master completely.

["You have business with one of our Elders."] Both of them said at the same
time. They both put up their spears and took relaxed poses.

"There is no need for conflict." Jarrick added.

["There is no need for conflict."] The Amazons repeated.

"You shall take us to Cologne."

["We shall take you to Khu Lon."]

The two guards then gestured for the others to follow as they led the way to
the matriarch's house. As they made their way through the village, Ukyo
whispered to Ranma.

"I'll never get over how he DOES that!" She had already seen him use that
same trick to get the lowest bargains when they shopped for supplies.

Ranma nodded. He then had a disturbing thought of how easily one could
commit crimes with such a technique, but he quickly pushed that idea away.
He had already been down that road with his father and did not wish to
repeat it.

When they came to a large house located near the center of the village,
Jarrick turned to their guides and said with a smile, "Thank you. Now you
must return to your posts."

["We must return to our posts."] The two women said simultaneously as they
gave their visitors a polite bow and walked back toward the front gate.

The group were still watching them leave when the front door of the house
opened.

"Well, well... I THOUGHT I sensed someone very familiar. Still playing your
mind games, I see. That's quite a trick, but it WON'T work on me. One of
these days, I'm going to figure out how you do that."

The group turned and saw an extremely aged woman standing at the door. She
was only about two feet tall and had long, silver hair. She wore flowing
green robes and had a gnarled, wooden staff that was twice her height, slung
over one shoulder.

Jarrick gave the Amazon Elder a polite bow. The others followed suit. Then
the Jedi Master addressed Cologne in a friendly, but firm voice.

"I have no doubt that you will." He said in answer to her remark. "Still, it
is good to see you again, Cologne."
"Yes. It's been some time. Yet, you did return as you promised, seven years
ago."
"Yes. So... is she ready?"

Cologne nodded. "Yes. I believe she is." She turned back toward the door and
called out to someone. "Come out here, child!"

A minute later, a young girl that was the same age as Ranma and Ukyo
emerged. She was cute little thing with a mass of purple hair and a kind of
bubbly appearance. She wore a pink, silk pantsuit and a pair of matching
sandals.

["Say hello to your new instructor, Xian Pu... in Japanese."]

The girl looked up at the man and greeted him in broken Japanese. "Hello...
me Shampoo. You is new teacher?"

Jarrick nodded as he felt the connection between this little girl and the
Force. The potential that he had sensed in her, when he came to this place
seven years ago during his travels, was now more apparent. The number of
potential Jedi Knights on Earth was raised to three.

To be continued...?

Author's notes

Well, I didn't have anything to do at this time, so I expanded this story to
the next chapter. I won't be giving it as much attention as the others, so
don't expect frequent updates. Furthermore, it will be going a little slower
when I do write about it, as I want to describe more in detail of Ranma and
his friends' training as they are being groomed to become Jedi. They're not
going to be meeting up with the Tendos for a very long time to come.
