Something that made him the same as his grandfather.
"No, Anakin, I didn't mean that you are anything like Darth Vader.
It's just that we're trusting some strange voice inside your head," Tahiri
explained. "How do we know that the voice is good?"
"I just know, Tahiri," Anakin replied in a trembling voice. "And I'm
going to figure out a way to sneak out of the academy in the next few days.
"
Tahiri stared at her friend. She understood why Anakin was so upset.
It wasn't just the voice in his head. If he got caught, she knew, a lot of
people would be disappointed in him. His mother and father, his brother and
sister. Luke Skywalker. Tahiri didn't have to worry about anyone caring
whether or not she was sent home. That made it easier to take the risk.
Still, Anakin was driving her crazy. She fixed her friend with an irritated
look.
"Is there a problem here?" instructor Tionne asked her students as she
walked up to their desks.
"No problem," Anakin replied. "Except that neither of us seem to be
able to lift this two-kilo weight off our table with our minds," he said as
he pointed to the work he and Tahiri were supposed to be doing.
"Then maybe you're doing something wrong," Tionne replied.
Both students turned and focused on the large hunk of metal that
Tionne had easily lifted onto their desk. The metal moved a centimeter at
most. Anakin looked around the room. Several of the other students had
succeeded in lifting an object with their minds. Across the room were two
students who looked like huge black flies. They had each lifted their
weight. Now they were happily buzzing. Anakin stared at them. They weren't
stronger in the Force than he and Tahiri. He was sure of that. So why
couldn't he and Tahiri perform this feat?
"We're not concentrating," Tahiri said, interrupting his thoughts.
They tried again, but the metal would not move.
"All of you have different strengths," Tionne said. "You are here to
figure out where your strengths lie."
In frustration, Anakin squeezed his eyes shut and forced his mind to
reach into the object. Be light, he commanded. At the same time, Tahiri was
focusing on lifting the object. Anakin opened his eyes just in time to see
the metal shoot toward the classroom's ceiling.
Wham! It struck with a thud. Both Anakin and Tahiri lost their
concentration and barely avoided being hit by the weight on its way back
down. It landed on their table. The table broke in two.
"Good," Tionne said, hiding a smile. "You're learning your strengths."
The rest of the students began to laugh. Anakin scowled. Tahiri
giggled.
"How did we do that?" Tahiri whispered to Anakin when the class had
settled back to work.
Anakin shrugged.
"Beats me. It's weird, but I was asking the metal to be lighter and
when I opened my eyes it was shooting toward the ceiling. What'd you do,
Tahiri?"
"I just tried again to lift it," Tahiri said. "Guess we somehow make a
good team," she added. She looked at Anakin and said softly, "Okay,...
Anakin, if you say the raft will be there, then it will be there. And don't
think I'm not coming with you. Wild banthas couldn't keep me from sneaking
out to the river. After all, I've never been rafting before - except in my
dreams. Did you know that?" Tahiri didn't wait for an answer. "There's just
one thing I've got to tell you before we go, Anakin: I don't know how to
swim."
"I already figured that out," Anakin said with a frown. "I guess
that's one of the reasons we've got to be aboard that silver raft together.
" Anakin tried to smile at his friend. But in his heart he was scared. What
if he couldn't save Tahiri when she fell into the river? What if his dream
came true?
Tahiri tiptoed across the floor of her bedroom. She quietly slipped
pushed gently on it, then poked her head into the hallway. No one was
there. She crept down the hall. Her bare feet padded softly on the smooth
stones. When she reached Anakin's door she knocked once. Anakin had been
waiting for his friend. He pushed his door open and Tahiri quickly went
inside. It was almost midnight. All of the instructors and students at the
academy were sound asleep. But Tahiri and Anakin had not been able to
sleep. They needed to plan how they were going to sneak out of the academy.
Tahiri curled up on the cushion next to Anakin's bed. Anakin sat
crosslegged beside her.
"What if we both pretend that we're sick," Tahiri suggested to her
friend.
Anakin made a face. "Both of us? They'll never believe we're both
sick," he said.
"Why not?" Tahiri asked. "Well, first of all my uncle Luke knows that
I've rarely been sick in my life. If I pretended to be sick he'd be really
worried. He'd probably call my parents and send me home."
He frowned. "Maybe we should just sneak out at night," he said. "After
all, everybody is asleep."
Tahiri shook her head. "It won't work," she said.
"Why not? We'd have hours to explore," Anakin said.
"Because in the dream it's daytime," Tahiri explained. "We have to do
exactly what we do in the dream, otherwise we're not following our destiny.
"
"Tahiri, I don't think we should blindly follow what you believe is
our destiny," Anakin replied. "Following our destiny is a pretty romantic
notion. It's important, but we have to take other things into
consideration."
"Like what?" Tahiri demanded. "Are you talking about that strange
voice again?"
"Yes and no," Anakin began. "I think you're right that we are in some
way meant to take the silver raft of our dream down the river of Yavin 4.
And I think we're meant to do it together. But not just because we've had
the same dream. I think there is a lot more involved. And yes, I do mean
the voice inside my head. It's real, Tahiri," Anakin said softly. "It's
real, and it's not just any voice. I'm just about certain that it's the
voice of a Jedi Master."
"How do you know that?" Tahiri cried in surprise.
"I just do," Anakin said. "And the voice leads me to believe that we
are both needed somewhere. I don't know where, or why, but it is the voice
that I'm following, not just the call of destiny."
"So where does that leave us?" Tahiri asked. "Are we going to raft the
river at night?"
"No, I think you're right about going in the daytime, for two reasons.
First, it is light in our dream, and that fact may be important. But
second, and more important, we should go during the day simply because we
don't know where we're going or what we're looking for. Whatever it is we
are being drawn to will be easier to see in the light."
"So will we," Tahiri said slowly. "I know that you don't want to think
about this, Anakin, but there's a good chance that we are going to get
caught. We might even get sent home."
Anakin frowned. He knew that Tahiri was right. "I guess we should just
figure out how to sne
ak away from the academy. And after we raft the river
we'll try to get back without anyone seeing us. But we shouldn't count on
it," Anakin finally said.
"So how do we sneak out?" Tahiri asked her friend.
Sneaking out of the academy was going to be hard. The instructors
would be able to sense their emotions. They would have to be very careful
to hide their excitement. It took several hours before Anakin and Tahiri
came up with a good idea. Each afternoon the students were given two hours
of free time before dinner. The friends decided that they would leave the
academy during this period. The only problem was that two hours wasn't a
lot of time. Especially since Anakin and Tahiri didn't know exactly where
they were going. But it would have have to do. More and more, Anakin felt
certain that he and Tahiri were being called to the river for a reason-and
that it was a matter of grave importance.
"What day do you want to go?" Tahiri asked Anakin. He sighed before he
answered. "I guess tomorrow afternoon. That means you only have to fall
into the river one more time in the dream," Anakin said with a small smile.
He knew that falling into the river was terrifying for Tahiri. He didn't
want to make her do it any more than she had to.
"Where should we meet?" Tahiri asked her friend.
"The hangar bay in the bottom of the Temple. It has an exit door that
opens into the jungle," Anakin said.
"How do you know that?" Tahiri asked in surprise.
"It's that voice in my head again," Anakin explained. Tahiri frowned.
Anakin didn't say anything, but he knew that she was worried that they
were trusting that voice too much. After all, it could be leading them to
use the Force for evil. Anakin sighed. There was only one way to find out.
"We'll leave after our morning class and go down to the hangar," he
said firmly. "Then we'll sneak out of the Great Temple and make our way to
the river."
Tahiri nodded in agreement. With luck they could get back to the
academy before the bell for the evening meal, she thought. She didn't want
to think of what would happen if they didn't return in time.
"I guess we should get some sleep," Anakin said with a yawn. It was
almost dawn. In a few more hours the bell for the morning meal would ring.
"It's a good plan," Tahiri said as she stood up from the cushion. Her
orange jumpsuit was rumpled. And her long blonde hair had fallen out of her
braid. It hung loose around her shoulders. "Hey, Anakin, if we do get
caught and get sent back home, can we still be friends?" Tahiri asked.
Anakin smiled at Tahiri. "Sure thing," he replied.
But he knew that his home planet was far away from Tatooine. If he and
Tahiri were sent home they might never see each other again. Anakin met
Tahiri's green eyes with his blue ones. He could see she also knew this
might be their last few hours as friends.
"Sweet dreams," Tahiri said before she left Anakin's room.
Anakin fell asleep quickly. And he had the river dream again. Except
this time both he and Tahiri were in the raft. Anakin was in the back,
paddling hard.
Tahiri sat in front, gripping one side of the raft. The water was
crashing in waves over the sides. The wind howled and tossed the small raft
sideways just as a gigantic wave slammed it. Tahiri was thrown backward.
Anakin turned to spot her in the water, and the surprise of what he saw
almost made him fall in too.
"Oh no," Anakin moaned when he saw that Artoo-Detoo was now in the
raft with him. "I can't be expected to sneak out with that noisy droid," he
cried. But even as he searched the water for Tahiri he knew that tomorrow
he would bring Artoo with them. If Artoo was in the dream, then he was
meant to be a part of the adventure. Anakin knew that, but it didn't mean
he had to like it. A soft bell rang in the distance. Anakin realized it was
time to wake up and begin the adventure for real. He rolled over and slowly
opened his eyes.
"Tahiri, there's been a slight change of plans," Anakin whispered to
his friend over breakfast. "We have to take Artoo-Detoo with us."
Tahiri's jaw dropped. "I don't understand. Why should we take Artoo?"
Tahiri didn't receive an answer. She studied her friend for a moment
before she spoke again. Anakin looked exhausted. Ever since he'd begun to
have her dream, tired purple circles started to appear under his eyes.
Tahiri, on the other hand, had slept wonderfully the last few nights. She
hadn't had the dream once.
"Anakin," Tahiri began again, "you've got to be kidding. We can't take
that droid. He'll ruin everything. We can't even understand him. And if he
fell into the river we'd never be able to get him out," Tahiri added
without stopping for a breath.
"He was in my dream last night," Anakin said softly. "That means that
we might need him wherever we're going."
"And we might not need him," Tahiri said with a scowl. "I thought we
weren't going to follow our dreams without question," she added.
"Better safe than sorry?" Anakin asked his friend.
"That's true," Tahiri sullenly admitted. "Well, how are we going to
get him to sneak away with us?"
"Leave that up to me," Anakin said with a little smile.
It was hard to concentrate on schoolwork that morning. Both Anakin and
Tahiri kept looking at their wrist-chronometers. They were excited,
nervous, and scared. It seemed like years before class was over. When the
other students had filed out of the room, Anakin sauntered over to
ArtooDetoo.
"Hey, Artoo, want to show me around the rest of the Great Temple
during my free time?"
The droid bleeped several times.
"I take it that means yes," Anakin muttered. "Good. There's just one
thing. We need to develop a way to understand each other. Let's start with
one beep for yes and two beeps for no, okay?"
Artoo beeped once.
"Let's go, buddy," Anakin said with a smile. Anakin and Artoo headed
away from the group down one of the hallways. Tahiri quickly caught up to
them. The three rounded a corner and Anakin checked to make sure no one was
behind them. Once he was sure they were alone he and Tahiri began to race
down the hallway. Artoo whistled in surprise, then scooted to follow them.
Anakin knew that his uncle Luke had probably asked the droid to keep an eye
on him. He'd banked on Artoo's following him once he and Tahiri started
running. Tahiri's bare feet slapped on the stone floor as they tore down
the stairs that led to the hangar bay.
She didn't see Anakin stopped in front of her until she'd crashed into
his back. He didn't have to warn her to be quiet. She immediately spotted
Luke Skywalker and Tionne. They were walking down a hallway on a lower
level. A door opened to their left and the two Jedi disappeared inside.
Anakin and Tahiri both sighed in relief and then began to run again. By the
time they reached the hangar both were out of breath, and Artoo had stopped
beeping. Anakin and Tahiri opened a large wooden door and slid into
darkness. Artoo followed behind them. They began running
their hands along
the stone walls, seeking the exit door.
"I can't find it," Tahiri said in a desperate voice. Then a thought
struck her. "Anakin, the lower level of the Temple is partially
underground. How can there be a door?" Tahiri cried.
"There has to be some kind of exit to the jungle," Anakin whispered in
the darkness. "The voice said so. We must be doing something wrong." Anakin
dropped to his knees and began searching the floor of the storage room.
There was a chance that they were looking for the door in the wrong place.
His fingers ran along the smooth surface. All of a sudden his left thumb
caught on something. It was a thick crack. He traced the crack with his
fingers. It was in the shape of a large square. "Tahiri, I think I've found
it," he called.
Tahiri ran over to Anakin and saw the outline of a trapdoor on the
floor beneath her.
"How do we open it?" she asked. Artoo began to beep-beep. "Quiet, you
silly droid,"
Tahiri whispered angrily. Artoo kept double-beeping.
"He's saying no," Anakin said under his breath. Anakin looked up and
saw the droid standing by a large wooden handle in the wall.
"You're trying to tell us that we're doing this all wrong, aren't you,
" Anakin whispered to the droid. "Give it a try your way, Artoo," he said.