Star Wars

Junior Jedi Knights

3

Promises

by Nancy Richardson

OCR: Ãîëîäíûé Ýâîê Ãðûçëè

upload: 29.XII.2005

The figure loomed above him. Anakin tried to shield his eyes from the

brilliant glare of the golden globe. Tried to see the being whose body was

outlined with a shimmering blue line.

"Young Anakin Solo," a voice whispered, a hand beckoned.

Anakin followed the glow of the being away from the globe. As he

walked, he felt darkness pulling at the loose cloth of his orange jumpsuit.

Fear fluttered in his belly, but he followed, using the Force to calm the

racing of his heart. The figure stopped before carvings in the crumbling

stone walls of the ancient Massassi Palace of the Woolamander. The hand

flickered with pale blue sparks as it swept over the message. Anakin's eyes

scanned the symbols. He and Tahiri had finally been able to read them after

returning from Yavin 8.

Anakin read their message out loud.

"Peace to all. We are the Massassi. Our children have been imprisoned

by the evil Jedi Knight Exar Kun. Locked deep within this palace, hidden in

the glittering sands of a golden globe, they await. The crystal that holds

them prisoner can only be unlocked by children, strong in the Force and

dedicated to the battle of good over evil. If you are the ones, enter the

globe and lead our children to freedom."

The figure nodded, then fell to its knees before Anakin, head dropped.

Anakin sensed its torment.

"Tahiri and I are the ones," he heard himself say. "Don't be afraid-we'll fight this battle."

The pale blue line around the figure began to spark and flicker until

it faded into the darkness. The being still knelt before Anakiin, unmoving.

Anakin bent down and reached out his hand. The figure slowly lifted its

black hooded head and let out a roar filled with hatred and darkness.

Anakin leapt away as it began to laugh in rolls of icy thunder. Eyes the

color of blue gray burning coals fixed upon Anakin, held him with their

power. The figure rose, unfolding into a creature twice its original size.

It continued to laugh, and Anakin felt swallowed by the darkness of

its hollow cries. He ran, not knowing which way he traveled in the cavity

of the palace. The black-robed being followed, howling in mad glee.

Anakin

reached the secret room that housed the golden globe he and Tahiri had

discovered months earlier.

They had instantly sensed its evil, and pledged to understand, unlock,

and free the prisoners that cried from its core. His back to the globe,

Anakin watched as the black-robed figure approached, once again fixing him

with those burning eyes. He backed up until he couldn't move any farther

without touching the globe. There was a powerful field around the crystal

sphere. Tahiri had tried to touch it and had been thrown against the stone

walls of the room. Anakin wasn't going to make the same mistake. He held

his ground.

"I'm going to fight you," Anakin shouted. "Tahiri and I will use the

Force to break the evil curse. We're the ones the Massassi wrote about:

`strong in the Force and dedicated to the battle of good over evil'!

You

can't stop us-"

"Why would I want to stop you, boy?" the figure laughed. "I am you!"

The creature threw back its hood, and Anakin stifled a scream that

welled up from the very core of his being and threatened to escape his

trembling lips. He stood looking at his own face. Only his eyes were

different. Instead of being a pure ice blue, they had been replaced with

burning gray coals that smoked and sparked.

"Didn't you hear me, boy?" the figure snarled. "I'm you, you fool.

You

knew, you've always known that you were meant to serve the dark side -

to

use the Force for evil. It's in your blood. Your grandfather served us

well, helped us defeat the Jedi Knights. You were named after him, after

Anakin Skywalker who became Darth Vader. Stop fighting us and embrace the

dark side...."

"It won't work," Anakin said calmly, summoning up the Force to control

himself. "I know who you are."

The figure hissed, recoiling from the power in Anakin's voice.

"You're a follower of Exar Kun, the evil Jedi Knight who enslaved the

Massassi race thousands of years ago by imprisoning its children in the

golden globe. You're not me, and you never will be," Anakin went on,

walking toward the robed figure. "Tahiri and I are going to fight you, and

break the curse of the golden globe."

"This is not over, young Anakin Solo," the figure said angrily.

Then

its form began to waver in the golden light of the globe. Moments later, it

had completely disappeared. Anakin turned back toward the globe.

He

listened to the cries of the children from inside its swirling sands.

Soon,

he thought. Soon Tahiri and I will come to this place and attempt to enter

the globe and lead you to freedom.

"Soon, soon, soon..."

"Soon what?" Tahiri asked as she shook her best friend awake.

"Anakin,

wake up, you've been dreaming."

Anakin stared groggily up at Tahiri. Her green eyes were impatient,

and he struggled to sit up.

"What time is it?" he asked.

"Time for us to have a serious talk," Tahiri replied. "We've got a

problem. I've been called to see Master Luke Skywalker. And I know why.

I've been at the Jedi academy for six months, and it's time for me to make

my decision about whether or not to return to my tribe or remain here."

"I thought you'd already decided to stay," Anakin said. Not only was

Tahiri his best friend, but they were a team. A team pledged to solve the

riddle of the globe.

"I have," Tahiri replied. "But it's not that simple. Master Luke and I

agreed with Sliven, the leader of my tribe, that I'd return to Tatooine to

make my decision. I've got to figure out a way to persuade Master Luke not

to make me return. Right?" Tahiri didn't wait for a reply. "I mean, we've

finally translated the ancient symbols in the Palace of the Woolamander.

It's time to enter the globe-I can't go to Tatooine now! Aren't you going

to say something?" Tahiri asked.

"I was just waiting for you to run out of breath," Anakin explained.

He swept his long brown bangs out of his eyes and met Tahiri's questioning

look. "I don't think it's going to be as easy as you think," he offered.

"If you gave your word, and Uncle Luke did too, he's going to want you to

return to Tatooine."

"I'll take care of it," Tahiri said. "Don't worry, I'm not going

anywhere." With that, she strode out of the room to meet Luke Skywalker in

the Grand Audience Chamber.

Anakin felt a sense of unease as his friend left. His dream had left

him feeling anxious. The idea that someone might know about him and Tahiri,

and their plans to enter the globe, hadn't occurred to him before. If Kun's

evil followers knew about them, it would mean that the battle in the depths

of the Palace of the Woolamander would be all the more difficult.

He

thought about that first time he and Tahiri had found the palace, They'd

snuck out of the academy and rafted the river. A storm had forced them to

abandon their raft and seek shelter. They'd found the palace, its strange

carvings, and then a hidden spiral stairway that led deep into the

crumbling site. As they'd descended, evil had coated the stones like thick

black fungi, and dark whispers and threats had streamed through the dank

air.

And then they'd seen golden glitter, speckled along the walls and

seeping from behind a secret doorway. Anakin shook off the memory.

Tahiri's

right, I've got to stop daydreaming and focus on what's happening now.

Anakin hoped that Tahiri would be able to persuade Uncle Luke to let her

remain on Yavin 4 while making her decision. The time had come to break the

curse. A moment of worry reached out with fluttering yellow fingers and

touched Anakin's mind.

We are the ones, he thought. But are we strong enough to enter the

globe?

Luke Skywalker studied the look of defiance. Green eyes flashed, and

white blonde hair surrounded a stubborn nine-year-old face. Luke's blue

eyes didn't falter as he waited for the child to speak. It would not be

long. Tahiri was rarely lost for words. Luke thought about the time she and

his nephew, Anakin Solo, had snuck away from the Jedi academy.

They'd

returned to the Great Temple in the middle of the night. Tired and dirty,

Tahiri had immediately begun chattering, trying to take all the blame for

the adventure, trying to keep Luke's punishment from extending to Anakin.

What Luke hadn't told either of them was that they were two of the most

promising students he'd ever seen. There was no way he would expel either

student. They would make great Jedi Knights one day-if they could keep out

of trouble long enough to learn to use the Force.

Trouble seemed to find Tahiri and Anakin. Only last week they'd

returned bruised and battered from Yavin 8, where they'd gone to help

another candidate, a Melodie named Lyric, survive her changing ceremony.

While on Yavin 8, the two candidates had fought giant black rodents,

vicious snakes, and a red-bristled spider that trapped its prey in thick

black webs and consumed it alive. Luke Skywalker believed that experience

was the best teacher in the use of the Force, but Anakin and Tahiri always

rushed headlong into dangerous situations.

That worried Luke. Still, their ability to use the Force to control,

alter, and manipulate the energy field generated by all living things was

impressive.

"I won't go," Tahiri said defiantly, stamping her bare foot down on

the cool stones of the Great Temple. She'd refused to wear shoes since

she'd come to Yavin 4. On her home planet Tatooine, gritty sand and a

burning-hot desert were a daily reality, and foot coverings a necessity.

"You won't make me go," Tahiri said again, although this time her

voice faltered.

"You're right," Luke replied. He moved to the large open window in the

Grand Audience Chamber. Beneath him the lush jungles of Yavin 4 steamed in

the midday sun. Majestic Massassi trees, their bark a rich purplish brown,

reached up toward the pyramid-shaped Great Temple. The temple was the home

of future Jedi Knights, beings from across the galaxy who studied at the

academy in order to one day use the Force for peace and knowledge, and in

the battle against evil.

Tahiri walked over to Master Luke and stood beside his brown-robed

form. She stared down at the jungle, at the greens, purples, and reds that

made up a landscape she'd once dreamed about. Dreamed of in the heat and

endless sand of her planet. Luke Skywalker understood Tahiri's frustration.

He, too, was originally from Tatooine. He'd spent eighteen years working on

his uncle and aunt's moisture farm. The boredom had threatened to suffocate

him. But there had been something else, too.

"I never knew my father," Master Luke said softly to his student.

"At

least not the man he was before he turned to the dark side to serve the

evil emperor Palpatine. I never knew my father, Anakin Skywalker, when he

was a Jedi Knight, determined to use the Force for good. And when I finally

met what he'd become, Darth Vader, it was too late. It's true that he did

turn from evil in his last moments, but there wasn't time for us to develop

a relationship before he died."

Luke paused for a moment.

"Do you understand what I'm saying to you?" he asked Tahiri.

"You were an orphan in a way, too," Tahiri began slowly. "But the

difference is that I won't ever have the chance to meet either of my

parents. The Tusken Raiders said they're both dead."

"What about Sliven?" Luke Skywalker asked.

"He's the leader of my tribe," Tahiri answered evenly.

"Nothing more?" Luke asked.

"I guess he's the only family I'll ever have," Tahiri replied softly.

"Returning to Tatooine may be the last chance I'll have to see him."

"You owe that to yourself, and to him," Master Luke said. "Still, it's

your decision. I'm certain you'll make the right one." He turned and strode

out of the chamber. It's not so simple, little one, he thought as he left.

Not so easy to give up the only family, the only father, you've ever known.

That in itself will test all of your power, and your ability to control

your own inner Force.

And perhaps, just perhaps, your decision to remain at the academy will

change. If that happens, we'll lose a promising student. But, as much as

this would disturb me, your happiness is more important. Luke took the

turbolift down to the hangar. He found the supply ship captain, old

Peckhum. Peckhum had just unloaded crates for the academy. Now he was

preparing to take a delivery to a planet only hours from Tatooine.

Luke asked Peckhum to prepare his ship for a detour to Tatooine the

following morning. When Peckhum asked how many passengers, Luke didn't

hesitate.

Three, he replied. There was no way Tahiri would travel home without

her best friend, Anakin Solo. And no way that Luke would allow them to go

alone. Tatooine was too dangerous a planet. And Luke had a strange feeling

that Tahiri's family, the Tusken Raiders, were dangerous as well.

Anakin watched Tahiri nervously finger the rough sand-colored pendant

that hung from her neck. Since they'd boarded the shuttle at the academy

and shot into the darkness toward the Outer Rim Territories and the planet

Tatooine, Tahiri had been silent. That worried Anakin. His best friend was

rarely quiet. For a time, Anakin contented himself with thoughts of the

golden globe, and the furry white Jedi Master named Ikrit that he and

Tahiri had found sleeping at its base.

Ikrit had discovered the globe over four hundred years ago.

He'd

immediately sensed that he could not break the curse, so he'd curled up

beside the globe to wait for those who could. Although he knew little about

the web of evil around the globe, Ikrit had a strong feeling that if an

adult tried to free the golden sphere's young prisoners, the globe would

shatter into a thousand shards of crystal.

Anakin and Tahiri hadn't told Master Luke about the globe, its curse,

or their plans to destroy the evil that had festered in the belly of the

Palace of the Woolamander for thousands of years. This was something they

wanted to try to handle themselves. Tahiri was still running her small

fingers over the pendant. Anakin could make out two rough prints on the

surface of the oblong charm. Tahiri felt his eyes, and turned to face him.

"It was given to me by the leader of my tribe," Tahiri offered softly.

She held the pendant up for Anakin to see. "There are two thumbprints in

its center. Sliven told me years ago that they are my parents' prints."

"He knew your parents?" Anakin asked in surprise.

Tahiri had told him she knew nothing of her family before the Tusken

Raiders.

"I can only guess that he did," Tahiri replied. "But other than the

pendant and those few words telling me who the thumbprints belonged to,

he's never given me another clue as to who my parents were."

"But why not?" Anakin asked.

"I don't know," Tahiri answered. "I used to beg Sliven, really beg him

to tell me about my mother and father. He would never answer, although I

felt pain in his silence. After a few years, I stopped asking...."

Tahiri

trailed off.

Anakin sensed his friend's torment, and her fear.

"Tahiri, what are you afraid of?" he asked. "You don't have to go."

"I don't know," Tahiri said softly. "But it's more complicated than

that. Sliven knew it would be, and so did Master Luke. Anakin, don't you

see - I'm not like you. I don't have a brother and sister, or a mother and

father who were heroes of the Rebellion. I don't know who my parents were,

or how I ended up with my tribe. All I know is that the Tusken Raiders are

the only family I've ever known. The only family I have. If I choose to

remain at the academy, I'll lose them forever. I'll truly be an orphan."

Tahiri turned to look out the shuttle window, her unseeing eyes filled with

tears.

"There's more, isn't there," Anakin asked softly.

"Yes," Tahiri admitted. "I feel so mixed-up right now. I'm about to

return to the only home I know. It's a place I hate and love, both at the

same time. Just as I hate and love the Tusken Raiders. My life is as

confusing to me as the golden globe. Except, unlike with the globe, I don't

have any clue about who I really am. I don't even know if Tahiri is my real

name, or just a name given to me by Sliven."

Tahiri paused and gulped for air.

"Anakin, you have a family, a history. Even though being the grandson

of Darth Vader frightens you, at least you know where you came from, who

you came from. All I have are these two thumbprints. I'm afraid that if I

don't return to the Raiders for good, I may never have the chance to find

out who I really am. But if I do, I'm afraid I'll discover I'm meant to be

something other than a Jedi Knight."

Anakin recognized the look on Tahiri's face. It was the same desperate

cry for help he'd seen when, after being tossed from their silver raft,

she'd thrashed in the river's water, struggling to survive. The same look

she'd worn on Yavin 8 when a reel-a giant violet-colored snake-had wrapped

her in its coils and tried to crush her. The look reminded Anakin of how

much they'd been through together. How much they'd learned about

themselves, and their strengths in the Force. He'd used the Force to keep

Tahiri from drowning in the river, and he'd actually probed within the body

of the reel with his mind, to force the creature to release its hold on

her. Together they'd even toppled a purella, the giant red-bristled spider

with glowing orange eyes that had been poised to devour them, slowly.

And then they'd learned from an elder Melodie on Yavin 8

the

information that they'd needed to read the Massassi symbols in the palace

and break the curse. But to do that, they had to work together, as a team.

Anakin was certain that neither of them was strong enough in the Force to

wage the war alone.

"You once told me that no matter who my grandfather was, I was meant

to become a Jedi Knight and use the Force for good," Anakin said softly.

"The same goes for you. I understand that you want to know your history,

but is it as important as the lives of the children trapped inside the

golden globe? Only you can know which is more important. But whatever you

decide, I'll always be your friend.... Okay?" Anakin said gently.

"Okay," Tahiri said with a nod. Anakin didn't tell Tahiri that even if

she chose to remain on Tatooine, he'd still attempt to break the curse.

To

fight the good battle, even though he knew in his heart that without

Tahiri's strength he would never leave the depths of the Palace of the

Woolamander alive.

"Five minutes to landing," old Peckhum transmitted back to Anakin and

Tahiri.

The Jedi instructor Tionne glanced back to make sure her two charges

were seated. Luke Skywalker had sent her to watch over Anakin and Tahiri on

Tatooine-to make sure that nothing harmed them. And that Tahiri returned to

the Jedi academy, if she wished. Anakin strapped himself in and readied

himself to meet Tahiri's people. But nothing could have prepared him for

what lay minutes away, beyond the safety of the shuttle's cool silver

hatch.

Anakin threw himself in front of Tahiri. Above him, three Tusken

Raiders growled, their tall, broad forms masked in strips of white

material, their faces covered with gray breath masks and dark round

protective goggles. Held high in each of their hands was an axelike metal

weapon with a double-edged blade that glinted beneath the harsh twin suns

of Tatooine. They moved forward to attack.

"Get back in the shuttle," Anakin commanded his friend.

Tionne stepped forward, her silver eyes flashing. Anakin could sense

the hostility and raw anger that came from the group of Raiders.

"It's all right," Tahiri said calmly. "They're from my tribe."

Tahiri took a step out from behind Anakin and Tionne and moved toward

the Raiders.

"Are you sure?" Anakin asked uncertainly as he watched Tahiri walk

forward. The three Raiders parted, and a fourth, who had been hidden behind

them, emerged. He, too, held the axelike weapon high, and Anakin tensed.

He

was ready to spring forward if Tahiri needed him. Tahiri grunted toward the

fourth Raider. It was a deep, guttural sound that Anakin had never heard

from his friend. The Raider growled back.

"It's okay, Anakin," Tahiri said softly without turning away from the

Raider. "His name is Sliven, and he's the leader of my tribe. I'm greeting

him and introducing you and Tionne. Neither of you were expected-that's why

the Raiders took a battle stance."

Anakin nodded, but neither he nor Tionne took their eyes off the

Raiders. Sliven moved toward Tahiri, lowering his weapon as he walked.

Then

he let loose a string of grunts and growls, connected by a dialect Anakin

could neither recognize nor understand.

"He wants to know where my robes and foot coverings are,"

Tahiri

began.

Sliven stared down at the girl, his adoptive daughter, as she gazed up

at him. Her green eyes, the color of the water he had hunted all his life,

were unreadable. Then she spoke to him, making the harsh language of the

Raiders sound soft.

"I just told him that one of the conditions I made when I entered the

academy was that I no longer had to wear robes or shoes," Tahiri told

Anakin. Her translation was cut short by several deep barks.

"He says that some things never change, and my stubborn nature is one

of them," Tahiri explained with a grin.

Anakin followed Tahiri and her people away from the shuttle.

They'd

landed at a special spot in the desert, where Tahiri had been expected.

As

they walked, Anakin squinted in the bright sunlight to study his

surroundings. Endless yellow desert stretched out before him.

Anakin had hoped they'd land in Mos Eisley, Tatooine's infamous city.

Because of its remote location, Mos Eisley was known throughout the galaxy

for attracting thieves, pirates, and smugglers. It was there that his

father, Han Solo, first met his uncle Luke and the Jedi Master Ben Kenobi.

Uncle Luke and Master Kenobi had hired his father to pilot them to Alderaan

in his freighter, the Millennium Falcon. That was the beginning of

adventures that led his father and uncle to rescue his mother, Princess

Leia Organa, from the Death Star and Darth Vader, Anakin thought with

pride.

The heat rolled in thick waves over the sand. Anakin felt his jumpsuit

beginning to stick to his back as sweat rolled down in time to the beat of

his heart. Tahiri walked in front of him, talking to Sliven. The other

three Raiders walked to the side, scanning the desert for hidden enemies.

Tionne walked in silence, her large eyes never leaving the Raiders.

Several

times Anakin sensed danger, but the group traveled safely up and down

rolling sand dunes. Sliven's deep voice interrupted Anakin's thoughts.

The

Raider motioned for Anakin and Tahiri to follow him up yet another sand

hill.

"Bangor!" Tahiri cried when several large, brown, furry animals came

into sight. One of the animals raised his head at the sound of her voice

and began to tug at the thick rope that held him to a wooden stake in the

sand. Tahiri raced forward and stretched out her arms. The animal bumped

his soft brown nose against her side. Tahiri reached up and scratched

between his long, spiral horns. Sliven growled beside Anakin.

"He repeats that some things never change," Tahiri translated with a

giggle.

Although Sliven's words sounded gruff, Anakin sensed something beneath

them, a caring that he hadn't expected. After all, the Sand People, as the

Tusken Raiders were also known, were famous for their aggressive, violent

nature. They'd been known to attack the settlements of moisture farms on

Tatooine, to steal and fight, and many times to kill. In the back of

Anakin's mind, he wondered if that wasn't how Tahiri had ended up with

these people. Perhaps they had attacked her family's settlement and killed

her parents.

Anakin pushed the thought away. It was too gruesome to think that

Tahiri might have lived for most of her life with people who had killed her

parents.

"Anakin, come meet my bantha," Tahiri called over her shoulder.

Anakin walked toward the three-meter-tall creature.

"His name is Bangor," Tahiri began.

Sliven cut in abruptly with a string of grunts.

"Sliven says that we don't name our banthas." Tahiri turned to face

the leader of her tribe.

"Well, I do," she shot back in Basic.

Anakin looked confused.

"Oh, Sliven understands Basic, although I don't know where he learned

it. But he pretends he doesn't, so I usually speak in his language,"

Tahiri

explained slowly, so that she could be certain Sliven understood her words.

The Raider didn't reply. Anakin studied the bantha beside Tahiri. He'd read

that the Sand People used them as beasts of burden, and that they could

survive for weeks in the desert without food or water. He reached up and

petted the creature. Bangor turned its large brown eyes toward him, gently

blinking long lashes.

"Bangor is an orphan, too," Tahiri said. "He was found wandering alone

in the desert shortly after I was found by Sliven."

At that, the Raider growled fiercely.

"Sliven is angry," Tahiri explained to Anakin. "He says that I'm not

an orphan. He says I'm a Raider, and that we've wasted enough time and must

return to the tribe before dark." Tahiri frowned at Sliven, then whispered

softly to Bangor. The bantha knelt, and she climbed aboard his back.

Then

she reached down to Anakin and pulled him up behind her. The bantha gently

rose to his feet. Sliven pulled Tionne up behind him. Then he barked, and

the banthas trotted away from the outskirts of Mos Eisley toward an expanse

of desert which looked endless.

Anakin was suddenly overcome by the feeling that he and Tahiri were

traveling into unspoken danger.

They had been traveling for hours. Anakin felt the heat of Tatooine's

twin suns beating down on his head. Tahiri had pulled the collar of her

orange jumpsuit up to protect her face from blowing sand. The grit of the

desert filled Anakin's mouth and eyes. There was no way to keep the sand

out. Anakin wondered if this was what it was like for the young spirits

trapped inside the globe. He hoped not.

An hour before, Sliven had offered the Jedi candidates some cloth to

wrap their heads, and two pairs of eye protectors. Tahiri had declined for

both of them, although she did accept shoes for herself. She was being

difficult, but Anakin understood. His friend felt torn. Tahiri had thought

it would be easy to make the decision to stay at the academy. But now that

she was here, the decision would be more difficult.

No one spoke during the journey into the desert. Sliven led the group,

but didn't utter a word.

"Is it always this quiet?" Anakin finally whispered to Tahiri.

"Yes," she replied. "Now you can understand why I talk so much. In all

my years here, I don't think I said as much as I would in one day at the

academy. And don't think I didn't try," Tahiri added with a laugh. "But the

only one who would ever talk to me-really talk, once I learned his

language-was Sliven."

"He's not talking now," Anakin noted.

"He will," Tahiri said. "He will, because he's the reason I'm here.

Sliven is the leader of our tribe, but he's more than that. He's the one

who found me. The Sand People are nomads, traveling in small tribes within

the harsh desert. They're experts at survival, because above all else

they're practical. The weak are left to die. Only the strong, those who can

care for themselves, are part of the tribe. And outsiders, any outsiders,

are of no concern. Especially children who don't belong to the tribe."

"But you were an outsider, an orphan child," Anakin interrupted.

"Yes," Tahiri said softly. "And for some reason Sliven chose to take

me into his tribe. To care for me in the only way he knew how.. I didn't

grow up with a father or mother like you did, Anakin. But Sliven was as

close to a father as I'll ever know. He taught me how to scavenge for food

and water, how to train and ride a bantha. And how to fight with a

gaderffii stick. "Sliven knows that if I choose to remain at the academy

the tribe will refuse to take me back. I think that having me return to

make my decision was Sliven's way of giving me one last chance to remain

with the tribe, and with him."

"It sounds like he truly cares for you," Anakin offered.

"Cares?" Tahiri weighed the word thoughtfully. "In his own way, I know

he does. But he's never cared enough to give me the one thing in my life

that I wanted. He has never told me the story of how he found me. And if he

truly cared, he would give me my history," Tahiri ended sadly.

"Are you sure he knows?" Anakin asked.

"I've sensed all my life that he knows more than he's said,"

Tahiri

replied.

Sliven barked once, and the banthas halted at the top of a large sand

dune. Anakin looked around them. There was nothing in sight-no structures,

no other Raiders.

"Can you feel them?" Tahiri whispered to her friend.

"Who?" Anakin whispered back.

"The tribe-they're all here," she replied. And, as if on cue, some

twenty Raiders topped the sand dune to the left of the group. Silently they

walked toward the Jedi candidates. Tahiri commanded Bangor down, and the

bantha knelt so that she and Anakin could drop to the ground. Tahiri stood

erect, her blonde hair blown back from her face by the licks of a hot

evening breeze. The suns were beginning to set, casting a pale pink shadow

along the dunes. Anakin watched his friend as she faced her tribe.

There

was confusion in her large green eyes, but there was also a resolve he

hadn't seen there before.

The Raiders who had traveled with them moved to join the rest of their

tribe. All except Sliven. He stood one meter to the right of Tahiri.

A

female Raider's voice rose from the group and spoke.

"Her name is Vexa," Tahiri. said, not trying to hide her dislike.

"She

says welcome home."

The Raider stepped forward. She, too, was covered from head to toe;

only her voice indicated that she was a woman.

"She says that they did not expect me to return. They did not expect

me to fulfill the promise."

"What promise?" Anakin asked under his breath. He sensed that Tahiri

was uncertain, but his friend said nothing. The Raider continued in her

strange, rough dialect. Tionne stepped forward. Seeing Anakin's confusion,

she began to translate.

"Sliven said you would come, that you would fulfill the promise he

made many years ago. I myself am sorry to see you, for two reasons.

First,

I do not think you will survive, and the tribe will gain nothing by your

death. Second, if you do survive, Sliven will remain the leader of our

tribe.

"There are many of us who do not wish to follow Sliven. Years ago he

showed his weakness. He brought an outsider into our tribe, one who was a

child and could not add to our strength. If you survive, you will prove

that Sliven was right, that you did grow into an adult member of our tribe.

If that is the case, Sliven will continue to lead us. If not, he will die,

for that is the promise he made."

Tionne paused.

"You knew this," Tahiri said in a flat voice as she turned toward

Sliven. "You made this promise and never told me about it. All my life you

taught me how to survive in the desert, and I thought you taught me as your

own, as one you cared for, maybe even loved. But you taught me so that one

day I could fulfill a promise you made without my permission-a promise that

might end my life or save your own."

Sliven was silent.

"What did he promise?" Tahiri quietly asked Vexa.

As Vexa spoke, Tionne translated for Anakin.

"You will be taken deep into the Dune Sea, which borders the Jundland

Wastes. It is the place you were found, a desolate place not often visited

by Sand People. You will be left there without food or water, alone-or if

you prefer, with the boy. I suggest you go alone-there is some chance that

your skills may enable you to survive, but the boy is not from Tatooine,

and he will be a burden to you. You willl be left to find your way back to

this tribe. To do so will mean using your strength and wits to find your

way safely through the Dune Sea, across the mountains and the canyons of

the Jundland Wastes, and then through the harsh, hot desert. "You have one

week. During that time we will remain in this exact spot. If you do not

return to the tribe in that time, we will know that you have either been

captured by enemies or have not survived. Whatever, if you return to the

tribe later than seven days from your departure, you will also have failed

to fulfill the terms of the promise. But Tahiri-you do not have to do this.

"

Tahiri thought for a moment, then spoke.

"What happens if I don't?" she asked.

Tionne gave Tahiri an incredulous look. How could the child even

consider agreeing to such a thing? If Luke Skywalker had known that this

was why Sliven had asked that she be returned, he would never have allowed

Tahiri to go back to Tatooine, Tionne thought. And there was no way she

would allow the child to fulfill Sliven's promise. Tahiri's safety was

Tionne's responsibility.

"What happens?" Tahiri asked again. This time Sliven slowly answered

in Basic.

"You will be returned to your ship," Sliven said. "And then shuttled

back to the Jedi academy."

"And you'll be put to death," Tahiri said more to the tribe than to

Sliven.

Sliven nodded.

"Why should I attempt to fulfill the promise?" Tahiri asked Sliven as

she turned to face him. Her green eyes glowered from beneath ash blonde

brows.

Sliven replied slowly. There was sadness in his voice.

"Years ago I did what I did to save your life. You may not believe

that right now, but there was no other way for me to persuade the tribe to

accept you."

"Even given that," Tahiri said quietly to Sliven, "why should I risk

my life now so that you can live?"

"Because even if you do die," Sliven replied, "you will do so with the

knowledge you've sought all your life: the history of your family, of who

you really are."

Sliven moved forward, placed both hands on Tahiri's shoulders, and

looked into her eyes with his own darkly goggled ones.

"That, too, was part of the deal, little one. You could only be told

your history if you accepted the promise."

"Why?" Anakin interrupted. "That's cruel!"

"I agree, Anakin, the bargain was cruel," Sliven said. "But telling

Tahiri her history was to be a reward of sorts from the tribe if she ever

chose to fulfill the promise. And not telling Tahiri until that point was a

punishment to me from the tribe. They knew she would ask, and that I would

want to tell her the truth. They knew it would be difficult for me to keep

Tahiri's history from her-that it would take the strength they had begun to

believe I lacked."

"Tell me my history," Tahiri said with glowing eyes. "I accept the

promise."

"No!" Anakin cried out. But he couldn't stop the words from leaving

Tahiri's mouth, any more than he could take them back once they had settled

heavily on the sand.

Anakin glowered at Tahiri. How could she agree to the deal Sliven had

struck? How could she put her life in danger, and the lives of thousands

inside the globe? Then he remembered what he'd told her on the shuttle only

hours before. He'd said that no matter what happened on Tatooine, he would

support her. Tahiri might beat the odds Vexa had spoken of and survive.

If

that happened, she'd finally know her history. And, perhaps that would give

her the peace of mind she needed to forever leave the Raiders and return to

the academy. Anakin stared off across the endless sea of sand.

"I'm going with you," he finally said to Tahiri.

"She might be right," Tahiri replied with a nod at Vexa. "I do know

about survival in the desert - although I've never had to live without the

tribe. You don't know anything. It's goring to be hard enough for me

without you tagging along."

"Stop, Tahiri," Anakin interrupted. "It doesn't matter what I know

about the desert. I'm good with the Force and a great problem solver.

We're

a team, and that's the end of the discussion."

Tahiri nodded, then turned to Sliven.

"Wait," Tionne said in disbelief. "If you think I'm going to allow

either of you to accept this deal, you're very wrong. Neither of you.

are

going into the desert, and that's final," she said sternly.

"Tahiri's made her decision," Sliven interrupted. "Tionne, the tribe

will not allow you to interfere. You will remain with us for one week.

If

the children don't return, we will take you back to the spot you've agreed

to meet your shuttle pilot."

Tionne's silver eyes clouded with worry. There were too many Raiders

to fight.

"Tahiri, please rethink your decision," she said with forced calm.

"Tell me my history," Tahiri said to Sliven. Her voice was a command.

Sliven nodded, then led Anakin and Tahiri away from the tribe.

Tionne

watched the three walk away. There was absolutely nothing she could do to

stop them. Vexa called out from behind them.

"She says we leave at dawn," Tahiri murmured.

Anakin turned toward the female Raider. Although he couldn't see her

face, he was sure that she was smirking. And he could sense that she was

pleased by Tahiri's choice. There was an old hatred inside of her that

Anakin could almost taste. When they had moved from the tribe, Sliven

gestured for Tahiri and Anakin to sit. They settled across from the Raider

in the cooling sands of the desert.

Sliven pushed several tattered blankets toward the Jedi candidates.

Now that the sun had set, a chilly breeze blew across the desert. Soon the

frigid night that Tatooine was known for would wrap them in its cold hands.

Anakin and Tahiri covered themselves with the blankets. Then, in a voice

full of years, sand, and sorrow, the Raider began Tahiri's story.

"Your father's name was Tryst Veila, your mother's was Cassa.

They

were moisture farmers on Tatooine," Sliven began. "As you know, we have

always lived in uneasy peace with the farmers on this planet. Your parents

were no different. No different, except that for a small moment in time I

knew them-and cared for them. "Almost six years ago to this day, there was

a battle between my tribe and a group of smugglers who were hiding from

their enemies in the desert. These smugglers tried to steal our food and

water, and I was hurt in the battle. When the fight ended, I had been

separated from my tribe and wounded to the point of near death. I had lost

my bantha and was traveling by foot in the desert when I saw your parents'

farm. I had lost blood, and hadn't had water in several days. I crawled to

their doorway. Your mother, Cassa, found me passed out several meters from

her front door. She dragged me inside her home, peeled away my robes, and

treated my wounds.

"It took almost two months for me to heal. Several times in the first

weeks I almost died, and I would have if not for Cassa and Tryst.

They

showed me kindness I never knew existed. "Tahiri, you were not quite three

years old when your parents cared for me. I remember your mother running

her fingers through your blonde hair, the same color as hers. And I can see

your father, his laughing green eyes the shape of your own. And you-you

were fascinated by my eye protectors and the cloth of my robes. You would

crawl onto my sleeping pad and giggle as you traced my goggles or wound my

tattered robe around your fingers. And it was from both you and your

parents that I learned to understand and speak Basic. That is what later

helped me to teach you the language of the Raiders.

"It took two months for me to heal. During that time Tryst and Cassa

cared for me. They fed me and tended my wounds, and allowed me to play with

their daughter-a being full of light and happiness. When I was strong

enough, I helped your mother with light chores. One day, I even fashioned

Tryst his own gaderffii and taught him how to fight with it. He learned

quickly-it was strange how he fought, sensing my movements almost before I

made them, just as Cassa could feel my emotions without hearing me speak."

"They were both sensitive to the Force," Anakin said quietly.

Sliven nodded.

"Since that time with Tryst and Cassa, I have often thought the same

thing," he said. "For I saw the identical abilities in Tahiri that I

noticed in her parents. That is why I wasn't surprised when the Jedi

Master, Luke Skywalker, and the Jedi Knight, Tionne, asked to take Tahiri

to their academy. I knew that the Force was in her blood-and I let her go

with the Jedi because I couldn't deny her that tie with her parents."

Sliven turned back to Tahiri and paused before he began again.

Anakin

could sense that the Raider was in pain. Tahiri leaned forward, caught by

his words.

"As I said, I taught your father how to fight with the gaderffii.

Soon

he could beat me without even trying. And it wasn't because I was still

wounded-in those months with your parents I had regained most of my

strength. My hesitation to leave is one of the reasons that Cassa and Tryst

were killed. You see, I didn't know that my tribe was still searching for

me. But one of the wounded had seen me trudge away from the battle. And it

is my people's way to search for a wounded leader before they name another.

"The morning my tribe found me, Tryst and I were sparring with our

gaderffii. He was winning, of course-I can still hear your mother's

laughter as she watched us. It was a moment of happiness, being there with

them. And then the air was filled with battle cries. Moments later your

parents were dead. My tribe had thought that I was being attacked, and they

had struck to save my life.

"I remember standing there and hearing your shrill cry from inside the

farmhouse. It was almost as if you knew, as if you felt. your parents'

death. I raced inside and picked you up. Vexa followed me. `Leave her to

die,' she instructed. `You are back with your tribe now.' And that is why I

made the bargain. I didn't make it, out of selfishness. It was the only way

I knew to save you. And the years I spent training you to live with the

tribe were not spent so that you could one day keep the promise and save my

life. I taught you as a father...." Sliven's voice finally broke.

"Finish," Anakin said softly to Sliven.

The Raider began to speak again.

"I made the bargain with my tribe that afternoon as we sat outside

your farmhouse. We argued fiercely. `Leave her,' they said. `She is not one

of us.' Vexa was driven half crazy by my idea of bringing you into the

tribe. She said that I was weak, not fit to be a leader. But l couldn't

leave you, not after your parents' kindness and my fondness for you. So I

agreed to the terms of a promise Vexa thought up. You would live with us,

during which time I would be responsible for you. When you were nine years

old, the age when Raider children are considered full working members of

the tribe, you would have to leave us or fulfill the promise to show you

belonged.

"If you refused, we planned to take you to Mos Eisley and leave you in

the city. There, you'd have to find work, a family, or a friend to care for

you. The chances of that would have been slim. I was secretly relieved when

you were invited to the Jedi academy. That meant that you would have

another choice if you decided that the deal I struck was too difficult to

accept. If you chose to honor the promise, I would be allowed to tell you

your history. If you did not survive, or refused the bargain, I would give

up my life.

"Before we left the farmhouse, I made a thick paste and pressed

Cassa's and Tryst's thumbs into it to make a print. When the paste set, I

carved it into a pendant and placed it on a strip of leather. It was the

only way I could give you something of your parents.

"I knew that this moment would come. That you would learn that I was

the cause of your parents ' death, and that I made a promise to save your

life, which bought you six more years, but years of not knowing your own

history. Still, I don't think I could ever have prepared myself for the

hatred you must feel for me. Perhaps I am as weak as Vexa believes me to

be, after all."

Tahiri studied the Raider who had been a father to her, the only

father she remembered. She thought of her parents, whom she'd just learned

had been very much in love, and who had died because of a misunderstanding.

Her fingers caressed the thumbprints of her pendant, and then she spoke.

"I don't hate you, Sliven," Tahiri began. "You didn't strike my

parents down. And those who did thought they were protecting you.

My

parents cared for you because they chose to, just as you chose to care for

me. And I know now that you cared," Tahiri added. "One other thing: Caring

doesn't make you weak-it's what made my parents ' love strong, and what

makes my friendship with Anakin strong." Tahiri paused to understand the

jumble of her thoughts before she continued. "What I choose to do now isn't

on your shoulders, Sliven," Tahiri stated. "You bought me my life, and now

what I do with that life is my decision. I've accepted, not because I had

to, but because I know it's the right thing for me to do. I owe you thanks

for my life, and for being the man I know as my father. And if I survive, I

want your thumbprint in a pendant next to those of my parents."

Anakin met his friend's gaze. He was surprised by her ability to

understand Sliven's motives. There was no anger in her voice, only

acceptance and peace. Sliven rose and nodded at Tahiri before he left the

two Jedi candidates alone. It was clear that Tahiri had deeply moved him.

Anakin reached over and touched Tahiri's shoulder as he watched crystal

tears run slowly down her face. They were sad tears, but at the same time

they were good. Tahiri now knew who she was, and in the knowing she was

free to become a Jedi Knight, if she chose.

Massive hands gripped the front of Anakin's Jedi academy jumpsuit and

hauled him to his feet. He shook his grogginess off like a bad dream and

prepared to fight. Tahiri, too, was ripped to a standing position.

Anakin's

ice blue eyes swept over the situation. They were surrounded by Raiders,

who growled and snarled madly.

"Tahiri," he said roughly, "are you all right?"

"Fine," Tahiri replied in a voice still coated with sleep.

Together

they were pushed toward Sliven, who sat alone in the sands.

What is going on? Anakin thought, trying to control the confusion he

felt at their treatment.

"It must be time," Tahiri replied.

Anakin saw that pale pink scribbles of dawn had bathed the golden

sands in soft rose. Some wake-up call, he thought grumpily. Sliven nodded

once at Anakin and Tahiri, then allowed five Raiders to take them to their

waiting banthas. The large animals stood silently, their long, shaggy brown

coats curling down to the sand. The Jedi candidates were barely settled

aboard Bangor when a loud grunt signaled the banthas to ride. Anakin noted

that Tahiri didn't look back at Sliven as they started across the dunes

with a dull kick of sand. He didn't see Tionne watching as they raced off,

a small humanoid Jedi Knight surrounded by a crowd of Raiders. If Anakin

had seen Tionne, he would have been alarmed at the look of worry and fear

written across her features. A day passed, then another. The only sounds in

the desert were the crunch of ban.tha hooves. The terrain stretched out

endlessly as Bangor followed the five Raiders deeper into the desert.

The

group stopped twice each day-once during the sweltering heat of midday to

sip water and eat brown lumps of food, which tasted vile and which Anakin

didn't want identified, and at night, when the suns set and the desert

became so cold that his fingers grew numb.

Then Anakin huddled with Tahiri beneath the thin blanket the Raiders

provided. That afternoon, the group had climbed quickly through low, sand-colored mountains. Anakin had sensed fear in the fierce Raiders. He'd been

too hot and tired to ask Tahiri 'what they could possibly be afraid of.

Now, as they lay against Bangor for warmth beneath the dark covers of the

night sky, Anakin was once again too exhausted to talk. He watched Tahiri

scratch her bantha's scruffy neck. The creature stared at Tahiri with soft

brown eyes, and Anakin could sense the bond between them. He fell off into

a dreamless sleep. Thoughts of how he and Tahiri were going to survive in

the desert without food and water slid unanswered to the sand. They would

wait in this spot until tomorrow. There was no water in the Dune Sea.

Not

that Anakin had expected any as they traveled through the sea-a vast desert

expanse that stretched thousands of kilometers. It was hard to believe that

an area could be more barren than the desert and the Jundland Wastes.

But the Dune Sea was, Anakin thought bleakly as he scanned the never-ending sand. Midway through the third day, the Raiders began to travel more

slowly, cautiously. What could be dangerous out here? Anakin wondered.

His

thoughts were cut short when one of the Raiders barked and all the banthas

halted. Must be time for lunch, he thought without relish. Anakin slid off

Bangor and gave Tahiri a hand down. The heat of the day hadn't lessened

with the onset of afternoon. Tahiri's hair was matted down with sweat, and

her lips had begun to crack from the beating rays of the suns. As the two

children sank to the ground, one of the Raiders grabbed Bangor's lead rope

and drew the bantha toward him. Then, in a flash, the Raiders remounted

their banthas and tore away from Anakin and Tahiri, bathing them in a

prickling shower of sand. Neither moved as they watched the Raiders race

into the distance. They saw Bangor struggle to pull away from the line, to

return to Tahiri, but he was held firmly to the group. The Raiders topped a

dune and disappeared from view.

Anakin scanned the Dune Sea through squinting eyes. He and Tahiri sat

in the center of an unending desert. Above them the twin suns of Tatooine

beat down relentlessly. There were no life-forms in sight. Just sun and

sand. Sand and sun.

"Any suggestions?" Anakin asked Tahiri.

"By night, the tracks left by the banthas will be covered by blowing

sand," Tahiri began. "Let's follow them until they disappear. At least

that'll head us in the right direction."

"It's a start," Anakin said feebly. "What about food and water?"

Tahiri replied, "That will depend on what we come across."

There was a hard glint in her green eyes. Anakin couldn't help

remembering something he'd read about the Sand People. Survival was the

rule. Survival at all costs. He began to trudge beside Tahiri. They rose

and fell over the dunes, their eyes never leaving the bantha prints, which

were already beginning to fade beneath the blowing sands. Hours passed, and

the twin suns of Tatooine began to set. And then, without warning, the

trail disappeared and Anakin and Tahiri were left alone, truly alone.

Or were they? Anakin wondered as a sense of danger raced down his

spine like lightning. Were they alone?

The sand beneath Anakin's feet began to shift. Before he had the

chance to run, the desert floor rumbled and shook. Tahiri lost her balance

and fell beside him, then began to roll downward, toward a pit of sand

several meters away that neither Jedi candidate had noticed in the fading

light.

"What's happening?" Anakin yelled.

Tahiri's hands clawed at the sand as she continued to slide away from

her friend. Her small fingers ran through the grains like water. Then her

legs dropped over the edge of the pit, and in a flash she disappeared from

view. Anakin threw himself forward, staring into the pit. Tahiri's fall had

been broken by a small dirt ledge, a meter from the edge. Anakin reached

for her, his fingers just managing to grasp her hand. He tried to pull her

back up the sandy hill, but it was all he could do to hold her in place.

Tahiri's frightened green eyes locked on. Anakin's. He pulled harder, and

slowly he began to draw her out of the pit. Tahiri dug her knees into the

dirt walls and scrambled up the sliding terrain.

Suddenly, Tahiri's feet shot out from beneath her. She struggled as

she lost her footing, then gave a small cry as she slid back down to the

ledge.

"Give me your hand!" Anakin called to his friend.

Tahiri reached up again. But something made her turn the instant

before their fingers met. When she did, fear rolled over her in a tidal

wave and she dropped to her knees and out of Anakin's reach. A thick, puce-colored tentacle emerged from the depths of the pit and snaked through the

air. Tahiri froze in terror.

The tentacle whipped through the pit, searching for the prey it had

sensed. Three more tentacles snaked upward and joined the first.

"Tahiri, grab my hand!" Anakin cried. Still his friend didn't move.

I

can't reach her, Anakin thought with growing frustration and terror.

Anakin

crawled forward on his stomach, dug his toes into the sand, and leaned:into

the pit.

He reached down and grabbed at Tahiri's jumpsuit. The creature in the

pit sensed his movement, and tentacles lashed toward the Jedi candidates.

Anakin stopped breathing, his fingers frozen on Tahiri's suit.

The

tentacles brushed along the walls of the pit, searching, searching.

I've

got to get her out of here, Anakin thought. He could barely control his

panic as he watched the tentacles draw nearer. Tahiri slowly turned to her

friend.

"What is it?" Anakin mouthed to Tahiri. Tahiri shook her head. She had

no idea what the creature was, only that it wanted to wrap them in its

tentacles and draw them downward. It doesn't matter what it is, Anakin

thought. He could sense the creature's hunger.

"Climb," Anakin mouthed to Tahiri.

She didn't move. She was frozen in panic, her green eyes were fixed on

the tentacles as they danced through the air. Anakin tightened his grip on

Tahiri's arms until she turned to face him again.

"Climb," he said again. This time his ice blue eyes flashed, and his

word was a command that rang with the power of the Force.

Immediately,

Tahiri turned and began to scramble up the dirt and sand wall behind her.

Anakin drew her up, helping her keep her balance when she slid. He could

sense the creature's tentacles moving toward them. The moment Tahiri's

hands reached the edge of the pit, Anakin leaned back and yanked her out.

Then they ran. Anakin and Tahiri ran until the creature and the pit

were four dunes behind them and their lungs ached. And when they fell to

the sand, gasping for breath and sweating in the stillness of the desert

night, they didn't notice the cold. All they saw was the beauty of the

stars, and all they felt was the relief of their own freedom. And when

sleep swept over them like the blowing of the desert sand, they gave

themselves up to its hands.

Anakin awoke, facedown, in the warm desert sands of Tatooine. He felt

his belly rumbling in hunger, and his throat burned with thirst. Sand clung

to his eyelashes and crusted along his mouth. He reached up to wipe the

grains from his face. His senses came alive. He smelled their company

before he saw them.

"Anakin, we've got a slight problem," Tahiri said softly as she rolled

to face her friend. She motioned with her head toward the brown-robed

creatures that stood in a circle around them.

"What are they?" Anakin asked as he wrinkled his nose. Whatever the

beings were, they smelled rotten, he thought.

"Jawas," Tahiri whispered. Anakin remembered hearing about the

scavenger race from his uncle Luke. Jawas were rodent - like beings that

traveled in bands, searching for wrecked ships to salvage, vehicles to

steal, and discarded hardware to collect. Anakin studied the meter-tall

creatures. There were ten of them, and they jabbered and pointed at him and

Tahiri, their yellow eyes glowing.

"I think they're trying to figure out if we're worth something or if

they should just leave us in the desert," Anakin said. If the Jawas left

them, he thought, he and Tahiri would die of thirst, hunger, and exposure.

The Jawas moved toward the two Jedi. Tahiri rose to her feet.

"Careful," Anakin whispered.

"They aren't really dangerouLs," Tahiri said softly.

"In fact, they usually like humans, because we're the ones they sell

their scavenged material to."

"I'd be willing to bet that we don't exactly look like paying

customers," Anakin grumbled as he stood up. The Jawas quickly decided that

Anakin and Tahiri weren't worth bothering with and began to walk away.

"Strange that they're walking," Tahiri murmured.

"They usually travel in sandcrawlers."

"What are sandcrawlers?" Anakin asked with interest.

"They're huge ore haulers that human miners brought to Tatooine years

ago. They expected to make a fortune in the Wastelands. But they discovered

that there's not much worth mining out here. So, they left the haulers and

the Jawas took them. Jawas use the sandcrawlers to find and collect metals

and wrecked machinery. The deserts here are full of junk. Galactic battles

have been fought near Tatooine for hundreds of years. And whatever falls

from space and lands here is preserved by the dry climate. Jawas find

wrecked ships, droids, and other machinery, which they fix and sell in Mos

Eisley or to moisture farmers in the desert."

Tahiri watched silently as the Jawas walked away from them.

"Anakin, let's follow them," she suggested with a glint in her eye.

"Wherever they're camped, there's got to be food and water."

Anakin and Tahiri began to tag along with the Jawas. If they noticed,

they didn't turn around.

"At least we're heading toward the Jundland Wastes," Anakin noted with

a nod toward the mountain peaks that had appeared as they crested a dune.

"So why do they smell so bad?" Anakin asked Tahiri as they trudged

through the sand.

"Sliven once told me that the Jawas love their smell," Tahiri began.

"They use scent to identify each other, to sense health, anger, or sadness.

To us, they stink. But to them, scent is information."

"I wonder what information they got about us," Anakin said. He didn't

need Tahiri to answer. Fear, hunger, thirst, confusion; that about summed

up their smells. Over an hour later, the Jawas stopped walking.

"Must be home sweet home," Anakin said as he spied what had to be a

sandcrawler. The machine was a dull brown, its hull ravaged by wind storms

and the suns' rays.

"If they've got that thing, why walk for hours in the sand?"

Anakin

asked Tahiri.

"It must not be working," Tahiri said as she squinted at the

sandcrawler.

"Sandcrawlers are pretty old. And even though Jawas are good

mechanics, sometimes a machine just stops working and can't be fixed."

"I bet I could fix it," Anakin said softly as he walked toward the

vehicle. The Jawas let out alarmed cries and raced to block Anakin's path

to the sandcrawler.

"That is," Anakin added, "if they'd let me near it."

"Hey, guys," Anakin said with a smile. "I'm not going to hurt your

sandcrawler, I just want to try to fix it for you."

He watched as one of the Jawas lifted a canteen to his lips and drank

deeply before passing the water to another.

"How about if I fix it, and you guys give my friend and me some of

that water?" Anakin wheedled. The Jawas didn't reply. In fact, they ignored

him. Anakin thought about the time Tahiri had been drowning in the river on

Yavin 4 and he'd used his voice and the Force to command her to struggle,

to swim. Could he do the same thing with the Jawas?

Tahiri saw the glint in Anakin's ice blue eyes.

"What is it?" she asked. "I was just thinking that maybe I could use

the Force to command the Jawas to let me into their sandcrawler. If I can

fix it, maybe they'll give us a ride to the Jundland Wastes, and some food

and water... It's a dumb idea, right?" Anakin said in embarrassment.

Tahiri replied slowly.

"You've done it before, and I think it's our best chance. You've got

to try."

Tahiri gave a sharp whistle and the Jawas turned to face the Jedi

students.

"Here goes nothing," Anakin murmured as he faced the Jawas. "Let me

into the sandcrawler," he said in a soft voice. The Jawas jabbered, but

still blocked Anakin's path. It was clear that the sandcrawler, working or

not, was their most valued possession.

"Let me pass," Anakin said more strongly. One of the Jawas moved

aside, but the others let out a string of sounds and the creature stopped

in his tracks. It's not working, Anakin said to himself in frustration.

His

throat burned from speaking, and his head felt light with hunger. I've got

to calm myself, got to believe that I can succeed, he thought.

Anakin

closed his eyes, and the next time he spoke his voice carried the power of

the Force.

"LET ME PASS, NOW!" he called. The Jawas moved aside. Anakin walked

toward the vehicle, his ice blue eyes glinting in the midday sun.

He

climbed inside and disappeared from view. Tahiri trotted after her friend

and followed him inside the sandcrawler. It reeked. Anakin tried not to gag

at the stink inside the vehicle. He sensed that Tahiri, too, was trying not

to let the smell overcome her. Anakin had never been inside a sandcrawler,

but he'd also never seen anything mechanical that he couldn't figure out.

When he was only two, he'd amazed his brother and sister, the twins Jaina

and Jacen, by taking apart a droid. and putting it back together.

He

quickly found the control panel deep within the vehicle and began to

tinker.

"Can you fix it?" Tahiri asked her friend. Anakin ran his hands along

the tangle of cables and wires that trailed from the control panel.

"I think I've found the problem," he began excitedly. "There's a short

circuit in a connector." Anakin studied one of the cables.

Its surface was slightly darker than the rest.

"It's this one," he murmured. "Tahiri, can you find me another cable

in that junk?" Anakin asked with a wave of his hand toward the pile of

broken-down droids and machinery the Jawas had collected. Tahiri began to

rummage through the metal scraps.

"Will this work?" she asked as she held up a meter-long cable.

"No," Anakin replied. "Its got to be longer."

Several minutes later Tahiri held up two more cables. Anakin selected

one and replaced the burned out cable.

"Let's see if this will do the trick," Anakin said softly.

He

connected the cable to the control panel, then leaned over to push the

sandcrawler's start-up button. With a deep, rasping rumble the sandcrawler

hummed to life. Anakin and Tahiri emerged, to the cheers of the Jawas.

The

Jedi candidates were handed water jugs and brown lumps of food. They drank

deeply, the liquid soothing their throats and splashing into empty bellies.

When they'd eaten their fill, Tahiri turned to the Jawas and thanked them.

Then she pointed at the Jundland Wastes, at herself and Anakin, and at the

sandcrawler. The Jawas understood, and beckoned Anakin and Tahiri toward

the sandcrawler.

Soon the Jawas and the Jedi candidates were headed for the craggy

mountains in the distance. And the smell that had tightened their stomachs

no longer made Anakin and Tahiri feel sick. Now it was the smell of new

friends. Anakin stared out the window plate of the sandcrawler.

The

Jundland Wastes loomed before him, its jagged rocks and canyons signaling

that too soon the ride would be over and they would once again be traveling

by foot.

Beyond those canyons, Anakin thought, is Tahiri's tribe. And we have

five more days to find them. His thoughts wandered as the twin suns of

Tatooine set over the desert, transforming its glittering golden sands into

darkness.

The sandcrawler reached the scattered rocks that signaled the

beginning of the Jundland Wastes on their third morning in the desert.

The

Jawas drove the battered sandcrawler until they could no longer navigate

the rocks, then ground to a halt.

"Thank you," Anakin said to the Jawas as he and Tahiri prepared to

leave the sandcrawler. One of the Jawas grabbed his arm.

"What is it, little guy?" Anakin asked. "Don't you want us to leave?"

Anakin sensed that the Jawa wanted to tell him something. Maybe he smelled

Anakin's and Tahiri's confusion and fear. Maybe he smelled danger in the

distance.

Unfortunately, Anakin couldn't understand the Jawa's speech.

And

neither could Tahiri. Finally, the Jawa filled two rough cloth packs with

food and water and handed them to the Jedi candidates. Once again, Anakin

and Tahiri thanked their new friends. Then they climbed out of the

sandcrawler and into the beginning of the Jundland Wastes. One of the Jawa.

s called out after them, and they caught two gaderffii sticks that were

tossed through the air. The Jawas must have recognized the smell of bantha

and Raiders on Anakin's and Tahiri's clothes and skin.

Tahiri and Anakin hoisted the makeshift packs onto their backs.

They

used the gaderffii sticks to help them walk along the rocks. And, although

he didn't ask, Anakin sensed that these were weapons they might need.

"Tahiri, I need to stop for a minute," Anakin gasped several hours

later. The travel was strenuous, and it was taking its toll. Tahiri was

used to the heat, the sun, the dry climate. For Anakin, who'd lived his

whole life in the city of Coruscant,

Tatooine was a harsh planet. Tahiri handed Anakin a jug of water, and

he drank sparingly. Both Jedi candidates ate some of the brownish lumps of

food. Then they began traveling again, bathed in the glare of the sun.

A

high-pitched scream filled the air.

"Tahiri," Anakin whispered behind his friend, amazed that she hadn't

stopped at the horrific cry. "What was that?"

"That was the scream of a womp rat," Tahiri said quietly. "But it

wasn't about to attack us. That was the cry of a wounded rat. I know the

sound-I've fought a lot of rodents over the years."

Anakin and Tahiri wound their way along the canyons of the Jundland

Wastes, the desert beyond now in sight and within their grasp. But Anakin

sensed a growing fear in Tahiri. And he again had the disturbing feeling

that they were not alone. Several high-pitched screams filled the air, so

bloodcurdling and drawn-out that Anakin and Tahiri both dropped to the

ground behind a large rock.

"More womp rats," Tahiri whispered.

This time the screams had shaken her. Anakin started to rise.

He'd

fight the rodents with his gaderffii stick if they were going to attack.

"Those were death cries," Tahiri said, sensing Anakin's intentions.

"Something killed them."

"Another rat?" Anakin asked hopefully.

"I don't think so," Tahiri replied. "They rarely attack each other."

"Let's get out of here," Anakin said, grabbing Tahiri's arm and

pulling her up. "Whatever's out there, we don't want to wait for it to find

us."

"It's a krayt dragon," Tahiri said, her voice dripping with dread.

"I've sensed something following us for the last hour."

Krayt dragons were large carnivorous reptiles that lived in the

mountains surrounding Tatooine's Jundland Wastes. Some thought that the

dragons no longer existed, that they'd become extinct when settlers came to

Tatooine, exposing them to various infections as well as hunting them for

food and trophies.

"I thought krayt dragons were! pretty rare," Anakin said to Tahiri.

"Tell that to the one stalking us right now," Tahiri replied with

fear.

All thoughts were wiped out of Anakin's mind as a rock-crushing roar

filled the air. And this time, it was not the sound of a womp rat.

This

time it was full of the venom of a different creature. A creature that

towered over the Jedi candidates, its massive jaws spread open to reveal a

red forked tongue and rows of black teeth that glistened with the greenish

ooze of womp rat blood.

"Krayt dragon," Anakin said grimly. The beast was perched on the rocks

above them, its head covered with seven black horns, its back ridged with

sharp bony nodules and a jagged dorsal spine. The creature's scaly green

body was tipped with claws of crimson that matched its reddish eyes-angry

eyes, divided by black slit-shaped pupils that stared intently from Anakin

to Tahiri and back again.

Anakin slowly stood.

"Leave us alone," he commanded in a voice touched with fear and only

weakly ringing with the Force. The krayt dragon hissed, but made no move to

leave the Jedi candidates.

"LEAVE US!" Anakin called out. The dragon screeched, then struck out

like lightning, one massive limb batting Anakin into the air. He landed on

the rocks, ten meters from where he'd stood. The dragon's claws had ripped

through his academy jumpsuit and made five bloody gashes across his rib

cage. The sliced skin burned, but Anakin sensed that his wounds weren't

deep.

"I'm all right, Tahiri," he called. That's when he heard her scream.

Anakin bolted to his feet in time to see the monster moving in on Tahiri.

"Stop!" he cried. But the reptile kept advancing toward his friend.

"Fight him, Tahiri!" Anakin yelled.

Tahiri rose and tried to strike the dragon with her gaderffii.

The

creature's crimson eyes flashed as it batted the weapon from Tahiri's grip.

Then Tahiri was covered by the dragon's dark shadow. Anakin scrambled

across the rocks. He had to save his friend. The dragon turned as he

approached. Tahiri was pinned beneath its front legs. The monster's red

tongue flicked toward Anakin, as if tasting him.

"Let her go!" Anakin growled at the loathsome creature. The dragon

charged Anakin, its eyes flashing. Anakin's ice blue eyes narrowed as he

stared at the advancing monster. There has got to be a way to defeat it, he

thought.

But a split second later the creature grasped him in its jaw and

turned to romp rapidly through the canyon. Tahiri bolted to her feet.

To

save Anakin, she had to trail the krayt dragon. She ripped her pack off her

back and tore after the beast. It would take all her strength to keep up

with the creature, but if she lost sight of it, she wouldn't be able to

help her friend. So, you've decided Anakin is enough for dinner, Tahiri

thought grimly as she climbed after the creature. She could feel Anakin's

fear as he was carried away. Tahiri raced through the rocks. She only hoped

the dragon's lair wasn't far away; the pace was quickly wearing her down.

I won't let you down, Anakin, Tahiri thought. There are all kinds of

strength-that's what Master Ikrit once told me. And I'm going to find the

one that will defeat the dragon. If the creature sensed her as she

followed, it didn't let on. In fact, it seemed to have completely forgotten

Tahiri existed. She wondered if the krayt lost its desire to hunt and kill

once it found its prey. Tahiri followed the dragon for fifteen minutes as

it wound along the rocky canyon.

Her breath escaped in ragged streams. She was exhausted, but she

wouldn't stop to rest until she had saved Anakin. The monster was widening

the distance between them, and Tahiri forced herself to quicken her pace.

She hoped that wherever it was heading, there wouldn't be any more dragons.

Fighting one was going to be; hard enough. Suddenly, the dragon

disappeared.

Tahiri's heart sank. Had she fallen so far behind that she'd lost the

creature? She stared in every direction - there was no sign of the dragon

or Anakin. Her shoulders sagged in defeat and she slowly sat down on a

large boulder. Her eyes filled with tears and she angrily shook her head to

get rid of the unwanted saltwater. Out of the corner of one eye, Tahiri

noticed a dark hole between two large rocks. She leapt forward. From out of

the hole rose an oily smell that burned her eyes and made her gag.

She crouched and peered down. She couldn't see anything in the

blackness. Tahiri grabbed the rough edges of the hole and dropped in, her

body sliding several meters before coming to a stop at the mouth of a rocky

tunnel that stretched deep within the mountain. Must be home, she thought

wryly. Then she began to creep along the tunnel. Several times she had to

step over the remains of what she could only assume were Raiders, judging

by the white tattered robes that covered the skeletons.

The carcasses of womp rats also lined the tunnel. Tahiri tried to

ignore them as she snuck along. Anakin was crouched in the center of a

basically round room, the only light there filtered through small holes in

the ceiling that were exposed to the surface of the mountain. As Tahiri's

eyes adjusted, she saw that the lair was also littered with the skeletons

of womp rats and some brown-robed remains.

The dragon was rustling on the far side of the room. Now that he had

Anakin, he didn't seem to be in too much of a rush to eat him. Must be

saving him for later, Tahiri thought with deadly calm. All the fear that

had initially coursed through her veins had drained away. In its place, she

felt the strength of the Force surging through her. There was no way she

was going to allow the krayt dragon to hurt her friend. Anakin sensed

Tahiri's presence. He raised his face and peered into the darkness.

Slowly he rose to knees, then gained his feet. Tahiri stepped out of

the shadows and moved to Anakin's side. The side of his academy jumpsuit

was drenched in blood, and Tahiri stifled a cry. Anakin grasped her hand

tightly, and for a brief moment their eyes met. The look they exchanged was

one of calm and resolve. They would fight this beast together.

The krayt dragon turned and rose on its hind feet. A thin screech

rolled out. Its dinner was being threatened, and that made the reptile

angry. Very angry. Slowly the dragon advanced on the Jedi candidates.

And

in a flash it had snatched Anakin and pinned him beneath its clawed feet.

"My voice didn't work," Anakin groaned to Tahiri.

"So we've got to try something else." He stared into the razor teeth

that; lined the creature 's jaws. "And soon, because its breath will kill

me if its teeth don't first."

Tahiri stared desperately around the lair for a weapon. Her eyes

stopped on a large boulder that jutted out on the far side of the room.

Maybe I can distract him, she thought, and then we can try to run.

Tahiri

closed her eyes and focused on using the Force to pry the boulder loose.

Nothing happened.

"Any ideas?" Anakin gasped as the dragon stared down at him with

hungry eyes.

"Believe and you succeed," Tahiri murmured to herself as she continued

concentrating on the rock. Moments later there was a thunderous crash.

The rancid breath of the reptile rolled over Anakin in hot waves.

It

opened its jaws wide, preparing to crush and consume him. Tahiri stood in

the center of the dragon's lair, her eyes closed. There was a thunderous

crash behind the dragon, and clouds of dust and sand filled the room.

The

reptile whirled and raced toward the noise. It must think something is

attacking from behind, Tahiri thought as she opened her eyes and watched.

Anakin leapt to his feet and raced to Tahiri's side.

"Run!" he cried as he tore toward the tunnel.

"No," Tahiri called after her friend. "The dragon is too fast-it'll

just catch us and bring us back. We've got to stand and fight it."

"But it's too strong," Anakin exclaimed.

"We can't."

The dust cleared, and Tahiri watched the dragon slither away from the

boulder she'd dropped. The reptile turned back. to its prisoners, crimson

eyes flashing that it would not let them get away. She noticed several

large rocks lining the ceiling of the cave, only a few meters in front of

where the dragon now stood.

"We have to trap it beneath those rocks," Tahiri murmured.

"Anakin,

we've got to try to drop those boulders on it," Tahiri said as she pointed

to the outcropping of rocks. Anakin nodded, and the Jedi candidates began

to focus. There wasn't much time. Tahiri sensed that the dragon was about

to dart forward.

She repeated part of the Jedi Code to herself: There is no try, only

do. And, as the words faded away, so did her fear and frustration.

Tahiri

heard the boulders begin to move, a grating sound combined with dropping

dust and pebbles. She opened her eyes and watched as the krayt dragon began

to move forward.

"Now, Anakin!" Tahiri cried. "Drop them now!"

In a split second, five large boulders hurtled down through the air

and landed with dull thuds on the krayt dragon's tail. The reptile roared

with frustration as it tried to reach the Jedi candidates. Its tail was

firmly pinned beneath the boulders.

"Now let's get out of here before the dragon gets those boulders off'

Anakin said,.

On their way out, Tahiri grabbed several abandoned canteens of water.

Whoever had brought them into the dragon's lair no longer needed them, and

she and Anakin would need all the water they could find to cross the mesa

region of the Wastes and the desert beyond, Tahiri thought. It took the

night of their fourth day and all of the fifth to cross the mesa.

They

slept for two hours each during the hottest part of the day, one keeping

watch, then the other.

Once, Tahiri spied a tribe of Raiders in the distance, but the group

didn't seem to notice them. By the evening of day five, Anakin and Tahiri

reached the desert. They were almost out of water, now only taking small

sips from the one battered green canteen they had left. Tahiri's lips were

cracked from the dryness, and her pale skin was red and burned from the

harsh suns. Anakin's gashes from the krayt dragon had stopped bleeding, but

they had begun to fester, and infection had set in. He winced as he bent to

put the water jug back in the pack.

"Does it hurt very badly?" Tahiri asked as she gently touched the side

of his tattered jumpsuit. Anakin smiled at his friend.

"Not too bad," he replied. "It's not important. What matters is

figuring out how we're going to find your tribe. We've crossed the Dune Sea

and the Wastes, but we don't have enough water to survive much longer.

And

we only have two days left to fulfill the promise." Tahiri stared at her

friend. He looked terrible.

His skin was deep pink. His eyes were ringed with purple circles.

The

gashes on his side were infected. He needed medical attention and food.

Something sparkled in the distance and caught Tahiri's eye.

"Wait here," Tahiri called to her friend as she trotted off.

"Where are you going?" Anakin asked.

But if Tahiri heard him, she didn't reply. Ten minutes later Tahiri

stood before the sparkling object she'd spied in the distance. It was a

hubba gourd, a tough-skinned melon covered with tiny reflective crystals.

She picked it up and returned to her friend.

"What is it?" Anakin asked when Tahiri tossed him the oblong melon.

"It's a kind of fruit," Tahiri explained. "Hard to digest, but it's

food." Tahiri pulled her multitool out of her pocket and began to carve up

the melon. She and Anakin ate slowly. When they were done, Tahiri took the

hubba rinds and placed them over the gashes on Anakin's ribs.

"Raider medicine?" Anakin asked with a wry smile.

"Sliven taught me that the rind of the hubba gourd helps stop

infections," Tahiri said. "Your cuts are already infected, but this might

slow it down." Tahiri tore some material off the sleeves of Anakin's

jumpsuit and bound the rinds to his rib cage. Then she sat down to consider

their options.

What we need is a bantha, Tahiri thought. That wasn't exactly right.

What they needed was her bantha, Bangor. Bangor would be able to lead them

back to the tribe.

"Which way?" Anakin asked, interrupting Tahiri's thoughts.

Tahiri

scanned the horizon. Sand dunes everywhere and no sign of her tribe.

They

could be just over the next dune or a hundred kilometers from where they

now stood.

"I've always felt a deep bond with Bangor," Tahiri said.

Anakin stared at his friend, wondering why she was talking about her

bantha. Tahiri continued,

"I believe that banthas are more complicated than my people know.

Bangor has always been able to sense my fears."

"A lot of creatures have the ability to sense fear,"

Anakin

interrupted.

"It's not just that," Tahiri replied. "There were times in my life

when I needed Bangor-if I was sad or lonely, he always came to me. It was

as if he heard me calling him for comfort."

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Anakin asked.

"Yes," Tahiri said, meeting his eyes. "I'm going to try to call Bangor

to us. We're almost out of food and water, and we're definitely out of

strength," she added gravely. "If we don't get to the tribe soon, we'll die

out here."

Anakin stared at the horizon. The suns were beginning to drop, and

soon night would come. Their sixth night. They had only one more day to

find the tribe. If they failed, for whatever reason, Sliven would be put to

death.

"Tahiri, it's not working," Anakin said softly almost two hours later.

Tahiri didn't reply. "We should start walking again," Anakin gently

suggested. He stared at his friend. The strips of cloth she'd torn from the

bottom of her jumpsuit and used to cover her head were crusted with sweat

and sand. Hollow green eyes stared up at him. But he didn't have an answer.

Suddenly Tahiri's listless eyes flashed.

"Let me try to call Bangor again," Tahiri said. "You try too, Anakin,"

she instructed. "Maybe he'll hear our voices calling if we work together."

Anakin nodded. He didn't have the heart to deny Tahiri's request.

Together they reached over the rolling dunes with their voices and called

the bantha with the Force. They stood back to back, calling Bangor over and

over again. Finally, they sat down in the sands, leaning against each other

for support.

"Maybe we should sleep and then try again in a bit," Tahiri murmured,

her eyes already closed. Anakin huddled next to Tahiri as the night

blanketed them with its cold threads. His last thought before sleep carried

him away was that when he awoke it would be day seven.

"Quit it," Tahiri mumbled as a dry nose nudged her. Then her eyes shot

open. Bangor stood above her, his brown eyes staring kindly down at his

friend. From his neck dangled a thick rope that was frayed at the end.

The

bantha had broken his line to come to their rescue. Tahiri struggled up and

hugged the bantha as he snuggled his head against her shoulder.

"Thank you, Bangor," she said softly. "Anakin, wake up and tell me if

I'm still dreaming!" Tahiri cried to her friend.

"You're not dreaming!" Anakin croaked happily when he saw Bangor.

Moments later the two Jedi candidates were on the bantha's back.

"Please take us to the tribe, Bangor," Tahiri said. The bantha began

to lope across the sands. Anakin and Tahiri said little during the journey.

Both were thinking about what fulfilling the promise meant. They had gained

strength in the Force, and had learned that working together produced more

powerful results than they had dreamed possible.

Bangor began to slow.

"Do you need some rest?" Tahiri asked the bantha. They had been loping

across the desert for almost five hours. It was early evening, and Bangor

had begun to weary. Now he quietly walked up a sand dune, coming to a rest

only when he reached its crest.

"Is he all right?" Anakin asked Tahiri. But before she could answer,

he saw why the bantha had stopped. Below them was Tahiri's tribe.

Anakin

could hear Vexa's words ringing above those of the rest of the Raiders.

The

tribe stood behind her. They appeared to be having some kind of meeting.

Sliven stood apart from the Raiders. Only Tionne was by his side.

"What's Vexa saying?" Anakin whispered to Tahiri as they slid off

Bangor and hid behind the dune.

"She's asking the tribe to declare us dead," Tahiri began to

translate. "She says that when the suns set, seven days will have passed

and we will have failed to return."

Sliven's deep bark interrupted Vexa.

"Sliven says that we still have two hours. He asks the tribe to wait,"

Tahiri explained.

Vexa began to grunt and bark angrily. She raised her gaderffii toward

Sliven.

"She says Sliven is weak, and it is time he left the tribe forever."

Tahiri rose and walked to the top of the dune. Anakin followed his friend.

"Stop," Tahiri barked.

All eyes turned to the crest of the dune. Vexa's disappointed cry

couldn't be mistaken. Tahiri, Anakin, and Bangor made their way down the

dune. Tahiri walked up to Vexa.

"There is no honor in your actions," she said. Then she turned to the

rest of the tribe.

"We have returned before the suns set on the seventh day. Sliven is

still your leader." The tribe members moved from Vexa to stand behind

Sliven. A Raider brought two water jugs over to Anakin and Tahiri.

Tahiri

cupped some water in her hands and held them out to Bangor. The bantha

drank deeply as Tahiri buried her face in the creature's thick fur.

"Thank you," she whispered. Bangor nuzzled against Tahiri, then moved

back to the rest of the herd. After Anakin and Tahiri drank, Tahiri walked

over to Sliven. Tionne joined Anakin, her worried eyes scanning his wounds.

There would be time to talk about what had happened later, Pionne thought.

For now, it was enough that Anakin and Tahiri were alive. Together Anakin

and Tionne watched as Tahiri spoke softly to Sliven.

"He said that he's glad in his heart that I survived,"

Tahiri

explained when she returned. "He hopes that all my worry about who I am has

ended. In his mind, I'm a Raider. And he believes I should stay with my

tribe."

"And what do you believe?" Anakin asked. His heart skipped a beat.

If

Tahiri stayed on Tatooine, he would lose his best friend, and alone he

might not be able to break the curse of the golden globe. Still, he

wouldn't try to sway her decision. She had to do what was right for her.

"I'm glad we succeeded," Tahiri softly began. "I now understand that I

was never a Tusken Raider. The skills we both used to survive weren't the

skills of a Raider. We used the Force. And now I know that I'm meant to

attend the academy. To grow strong, and to use that strength to break the

curse of the golden globe, and one day become a Jedi Knight."

"What about Sliven? Won't you miss him?" Anakin asked.

"That's the hardest part," Tahiri said sadly. "I love Sliven, but I

know that I belong at the Jedi academy, not with the Sand People."

"Then let us leave here," Tionne said. "I've got to do one last thing,

" Tahiri said quietly. Anakin watched as his friend walked back to Sliven

and told him her decision. The Raider nodded once, then reached inside his

robes. He held out a roughly shaped pendant. In its center was his

thumbprint. Tahiri unclasped the chain from her neck and threaded the gift

through it. When she reclasped her chain, two sand-colored pendants hung

from it. On them were the prints of her parents-all three of them.

"You will always be a part of me," Tahiri said softly to Sliven.

"In

my heart, you're my father. Please take care of Bangor for me-he's yours,

just like I'm yours," she whispered, swallowing a lump in her throat.

Tahiri moved forward and wrapped her arms around Sliven's waist. The Raider

hugged his daughter back.

Anakin awoke with his side on fire-the gashes from the krayt dragon

were now infected stripes of oozing yellow pus. Tionne sat by his side,

placing a cold compress to his forehead and medicating his cuts.

Old

Peckhum clucked and worried as he guided the Lightning Rod back to Yavin 4.

Anakin knew the old supply courier had been upset by his and Tahiri's

appearance when they'd returned to his ship from the desert.

"We're both fine," Anakin had reassured him.

But he allowed Peckhum to help him into the supply ship, wincing in

pain as he was lowered onto a sleeping pad. Tahiri and Tionne sat beside

him the entire return trip. Anakin drifted in and out of consciousness,

burning with fever.

So much has happened, Anakin thought as the ship sped through the

atmosphere. Only a week ago, I wondered if Tahiri and I were ready to

attempt to enter the golden globe and free the Massassi children. Now I

know that we're strong enough.... Together we've used the Force to escape a

giant tentacled creature, befriended Jawas with help from the Force, and

defeated a krayt dragon. Anakin's thoughts swirled with dizziness, fever,

and fatigue. He did not even hear Peckhum's voice signaling that they would

soon land on Yavin 4.

Luke Skywalker waited for the Lightning Rod's cargo bay to open.

Slowly the massive jaws of the bay yawned wide, revealing Luke's nephew and

Tahiri. Luke was pleased to see that the girl had returned. She belonged at

the Jedi academy. He moved forward to greet the Jedi candidates.

"Welcome home-" Master Luke began. But his words caught in his throat

as he stared at his students. Anakin struggled to stand and walk down the

cargo bay's ramp. Old Peckhum held one of his arms tightly, steadying him

as he walked. Anakin took several tottering steps, then fell forward.

Luke

anticipated his nephew's collapse, and caught the boy in his arms.

Gently he lowered Anakin to the ground. Anakin's academy jumpsuit was

shredded on one side, revealing five gashes. There were dark circles under

his eyes, and bruises were visible on his neck and hands. Tahiri knelt by

her friend. The girl did not look much better, Luke thought in dismay.

Spots of dried blood lined her jumpsuit in a pattern that looked like jaw

marks. She, too, looked tired and hungry.

Luke's eyes met Tionne's for a brief moment. From her look of torment,

he knew she'd tried her best to protect the children.

"Hi, Uncle Luke," Anakin said with a small voice.

"What happened?" Luke asked in a voice full of worry.

"The Tusken Raiders had a little more in mind for me than just

deciding whether or not to remain with the tribe," Tahiri replied.

"We'll talk later," Luke said quietly to Tionne. "Right now, you are

both going to the medical droid." With that, he swept his nephew up in his

arms and strode toward the turbolift, with Tahiri trailing.

Anakin awoke. He was lying in his room, a medical droid hovering in

the corner, his uncle seated beside his bed. Anakin stared down at his

ribs. They were bandaged in soft, white gauze.

"You're awake," Luke Skywalker said. Anakin smiled. "And you can

smile; that's good," Luke said softly. His pale blue eyes reflected his

concern.

"Is Tahiri all right?" Anakin asked.

"Yes," Luke replied gravely. "And she told me what happened. If I'd

known what the Raiders had in mind, I would never have allowed either of

you to go to Tatooine. Sliven gave his word that neither of you would be

harmed...." Luke's voice trailed off.

"His word was worth more than you know," Anakin said in Sliven's

defense. "Tahiri chose to fulfill Sliven's promise-he didn't force her,"

Anakin added. Anakin saw a look of doubt shadow his uncle's face. "It was

something she had to do," he tried to explain. "I don't think she could

have returned to the academy if she hadn't... and I couldn't let her go

alone."

"Your mother wanted me to send you home," Master Luke said, changing

the subject. "Han and I persuaded her to let you stay at the academy.

You're bruised, you haven't had enough water, and those gashes were

infected," Luke said, pointing to Anakin's ribs, "but there wasn't any

serious damage."

"How long have I been sleeping?" Anakin asked.

"Two days," his uncle replied. Anakin tried to sit up, and fell back

as a sickening wave of dizziness washed over him. "It's going to take a few

more days before you're ready to get up," Luke said gently.

Anakin settled back against his pillows. He didn't like the idea of

waiting. The time to break the curse was already thousands of years

overdue. But a day or two more wouldn't matter. And Anakin knew that he'd

need all his strength to enter the globe and free the children. He resolved

to get well quickly.

Luke Skywalker studied the intensity of Anakin's ice blue eyes.

He

understood all too well that his nephew and Tahiri were tied together by

more than their bond of friendship. They were true Jedi, and someday they

would become powerful Jedi Knights. From what Tahiri had told him of their

adventures on Tatooine, they were already well on their way. But, he

worried that these two Jedi candidates were in the habit of rushing

headlong into dangerous situations.

What if they found themselves in one they weren't ready for?

"Regardless of whether or not Tahiri needed to learn her history, it

was foolhardy to risk your lives in the deserts of Tatooine,"

Luke

Skywalker said softly. He watched Anakin's face fall, and couldn't continue

his attempt to rein in his nephew. "Still, you used your minds and the

Force well."

So well, Luke thought in amazement, that he could hardly fathom the

strength still to be developed in the candidates. Anakin's face beamed up

at his uncle.

"Now get well, or Leia will never forgive me," Luke instructed.

Luke

Skywalker sat beside his nephew as he slept. He wondered if the strange

feeling of untold danger he'd sensed before sending the children to

Tatooine had been a premonition of the promise Tahiri had chosen to keep.

Luke closed his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. At least the children

were safe.

He was in the depths of the Palace of the Woolamander. The damp,

rotting smell of evil flowed in invisible currents along the crumbling

stones. He moved toward the small room, bathed by a sickly sweet smell that

oozed around his head, filled his ears, and attempted to enter his mouth.

Still, he was calm.

He knew what had to be done. When he reached the room, he walked

toward the crystal sphere. The swirling golden sands cast a yellow gleam

along his extended arm. He opened his hand and placed his right palm on the

surface of the globe. A jolt of pain began at his fingertips and traveled

the length of his arm in a white-hot torrent. And then the voices began.

"You will fail," they called from the darkness. "You will be swallowed

by the dark side. Swallowed into the belly of evil, where you will live

forever, tortured and twisting in agony. It doesn't have to be that way,

boy," a single voice said from the darkness.

He recognized it. It was the evil follower of Exar Kun. The being that

had haunted his dreams.

"Join us now, and the glory of the dark side will be yours.

You

already belong to us," the figure hissed. "You just don't know it yet."

He

let the voice fall from him, until it lay in an oily black pool at his

feet. Then he extended his other palm to the globe, and let the now

familiar pain cascade through his left arm. This time it did not stop at

his shoulder. Instead, it continued to course through his body, wrapping

his torso in a vice grip of pain.

"I am coming," Anakin called out to the children inside the globe

through clenched teeth. "I am coming, and nothing can stop me."

"Anakin?" Tahiri called from the side of his sleeping pad.

"Anakin?

Are you all right?"

Slowly, Anakin woke. He stared up into the worried eyes of his friend.

She looked better. There were still traces of bluish rungs beneath her

eyes, and her sunburned face was beginning to peel, but the light was back

in hE!r emerald green eyes.

"Are you all right?" Tahiri bubbled. Without waiting for an answer,

she continued. "I was so worried. I mean I was pretty sick too, but Master

Luke said that you had an infection and a fever. Do you still have one-a

fever, I mean?"

Anakin grinned. He hadn't heard Tahiri's customary chatter since

they'd begun their adventure on Tatooine. It was nice to see that she was

back to normal.

"Bantha got your tongue?" Tahiri teased.

"As usual, I was just waiting for the chance to get a word in

edgewise," Anakin replied.

Slowly, he sat up. He felt better, much better. He moved toward the

open window and stared out into the jungle. "Are you ready, Tahiri?"

he

finally asked.

"Yes," Tahiri replied from behind him.

"Are you?" Anakin nodded.

"Are you certain you are strong enough?" a deep, raspy voice called

from the corner of the room.

It was Ikrit. The Jedi Master, his white fur and the stones of the

Great Temple strangely blending, scurried from the corner and leapt onto

the window ledge. "After all," he rasped, "this is only one battle of good

versus evil. There will be others, if you are not up to the fight."

Anakin stared into Ikrit's round, brown eyes. Eyes that told nothing.

Eyes that waited passively for their decision.

"There are some battles that have to be fought, regardless of the

risks or odds. Light versus dark, good versus evil. Those battles can't be

ignored,"

Anakin said softly.

"What if we're not strong enough?"

Tahiri asked with uneasy concern.

"I believe that we are," Anakin replied. "If we ignore the workings of

the dark side of the Force, then we allow evil to triumph. And if that

happens, it won't just mean the lives of the children trapped within the

globe-it will cast a shadow of darkness on our own lives."

Tahiri nodded.

"Evil can't be ignored," she agreed. "Regardless of the risks."

"Then may the Force be with you," Master Ikrit rasped.

With that, he scurried out the window, made his way down the pyramid-shaped wall of the Great Temple, and disappeared into the jungles of Yavin