Selina's hopes came true, and her son was eligible for a place in the Order. This was confirmed by Master Plo when, in gratitude for saving her son, the woman invited all four Jedi to her home, hoping that it had not been too badly damaged by the pirates. But, as it turned out, Selina's house was not very rich and did not attract much interest from the looters, who only turned it upside down without taking anything. Asoka recognised the house; it was the one she had seen from the ship's window, with a box of scattered toys lying next to it.
"Tail!" Anakin exclaimed fondly, picking up the unknown animal with a red tail that she had dirtied and hugging it to himself.
"Annie," Selina said reproachfully, looking at him. "You're a big boy now, you'll be ten in a week.
"But Dad gave it to me," the boy objected, without even thinking of letting go of the toy. He went into the house with it to help his mother tidy up the kitchen, at least. Asoka soon joined him, putting the dishes away in the cupboard and wiping the dust off them, then starting to chop vegetables for the soup. At the same time, she decided to tell Selina about her son:
"Tell me, how did Anakin turn out to be so gifted?
"I think it's hereditary," replied the woman without a hint of surprise. "Men on the Skywalker side are often born sensitive to the Force. This is the third case in their family.
"Really? I've never heard of that," said Asoka, setting plates on the table. "I always thought that heredity wasn't important for the Force, that it chose the chosen ones regardless of any factors.
"As you can see, anything is possible," Selina did not argue with the girl, but continued to think as before. "And I think that my son can become no worse than his famous ancestors, if you allow him to, because, as far as I know, he is well past the age limit for adoption.
"That's true, but I was accepted at the age of ten," Asoka reminded her of a significant example. "And, as you can see, I have been studying successfully for five years. Ask my teacher if he has ever regretted it.
Perhaps he did, but Master Plo, like Master Unduli, did not mention this to Anakin; they did not say anything about Ahsoka and Baris, as they were much more interested in the abilities of the youngest Skywalker. At that moment, he was enthusiastically telling the adult Jedi and young Barris about how he had encountered the Force. Most of the story consisted of "feats of clumsiness," as his companions called them. These consisted of him constantly dropping things, often even on them. He also told them about a dream he had recently had, in which he fought an enemy with an unusual sword. Anakin even described what the sword looked like and drew a picture of it, and then...
"Look, I think it turned out pretty good," said the boy, proudly opening a drawer in his desk and pulling out a long, shiny object made of silver and black metal, very similar to the hilt of a lightsaber. "But I can't figure out how to make the blade. Nothing works, I heard you need a crystal, but the ones I found in the lake didn't work, they only produce a very scattered light.
This was quite surprising, and the Masters were amazed. Never before in the history of the Order had a student been able to assemble a sword from memory based on a dream. Alone. Without the help of adults. And, as they later discovered, he had assembled it very skilfully, with every element in its place. Only one thing was missing.
"The crystal is not a problem," Barris told him when he put the sword back together. "When they bring you to Ilum, you will find it, or rather, it will find you. For crystals sing a song that only those for whom they are intended can hear."
"Barris," Master Unduli immediately rebuked her. "Don't rush things. We haven't even decided whether to accept him into the Order, and you're already promising him the title of Master.
"Forgive me, teacher," Offee bowed her head. "I only said what you told me when I took the ceremony.
"Exactly, Barris," Luminar pointed out. "When you accepted."
But before Offee could answer, Anakin revealed a new detail from his recent past, or more precisely, another dream:
"Yesterday, I saw the battle again, or rather, the training session with my mentor.
"Can you describe it?" asked Master Plo, clearly having already made up his mind about the talented child.
"I can!" Anakin replied eagerly. "It was a young woman, more like a girl, of the Togrut race. She had light orange skin and large blue eyes. She was very cheerful, but sometimes sad."
This made the Masters and the apprentice fall silent for a moment, as if they were going through the minds of all the members of the Order, but clearly finding no one who fit the description. To be honest, the only person who came to mind for all three of them was Master Shaak Ti, but she wasn't quite what the boy had described. However, it was not worth attaching too much importance to what he had seen in his dream. Besides, as Master Yoda often said, the future is constantly changing and there can be any number of possible outcomes.
"It's as if I'm her first student," Anakin continued. "She was made a Knight before her time.
The Masters said nothing more, but continued to listen to the boy's stories and examine everything he showed them. These were drawings depicting battle scenes and a portrait of his mentor, a young Togruta, drawn in great detail, even down to the pattern of white lines on her face, which seemed familiar.
"I even talk to her sometimes. In my mind," explained Anakin, pointing to the image of the girl. "She understands me better than anyone else, sometimes even better than my mum."
The last drawing in the folder was a vague silhouette drawn in black pencil, revealing a figure almost completely hidden by a black cloak that reached almost to the floor. Only black boots with slightly pointed toes remained visible, and on the head was a large, deep hood, strangely raised above the crown of the head by two sharp bumps, casting a shadow over the face, which was already almost completely hidden by the hood, leaving only the indistinct outlines of the eyes. However, despite all this vagueness, it was precisely these that were the most memorable feature of the strange figure. The eyes were striking in their detail and in how clearly the young artist had managed to convey their expression. There was emptiness in them and a special feeling of hatred that lingered in the soul, accompanied by bitter regret for this feeling.
"Who is this?" asked Offee, bringing the drawing closer to her eyes.
"That's a fallen Jedi," Anakin explained without hesitation. "He was betrayed by those close to him and fell to the Dark Side. I heard that this happens, and soon I had a dream about fighting one of them, and in the morning I tried to draw him. Or rather, her, I felt that it was a girl.
No one had seen anything like it in a long time. That alone was enough to at least present Anakin to the Council. That is, if he wanted to and his mother did not stand in the way of her son's choice. At that moment, Selina entered the room and called everyone to the table. They were immediately surrounded by a cloud of unusual aromas emanating from the soup made from local vegetables and stuffed fish from the lake. The dishes tasted just as good as they smelled. Only one person did not enjoy them, swallowing each bite with visible difficulty, lost in thought and unsure how to broach the subject that was tormenting him. This man was about to turn ten in a week, and his fate was now being decided by five people.
"Anakin," Selina spoke first, "Tell me, honestly, do you want to follow the will of the Force and accept the fate of your ancestors? Whatever your answer, I will understand and accept your choice.
"Mother, you know what I want more than anything," Anakin replied, pushing his plate away. "But if you tell me to stay with you, I will, because you are alone after my father's death and you will obviously need support.
The woman thought for a moment, then replied:
"Don't worry about me, son, follow your heart, your father would approve. As for me, I won't be alone, there is someone who will take care of me, a very decent man, although poor, he has already asked me to marry him, but I haven't given him an answer yet.
Now it was Enakin's turn to be surprised. He simply froze with his mouth open, not knowing how to react to what he had heard, but prudence prevailed:
"Don't make him wait for an answer, mother, follow your heart, you always taught me that. Be happy, that's all I want.
"Annie," Selina said with a tender smile, rising from her seat, walking over to her son, hugging him tightly and kissing him on the top of his head. "Thank you for your kind heart. I'm glad you understand what is meant for both of us.
It was the best decision possible and the best option for the future. The result was Anakin's suggestion to take a walk around the village and then go swimming in the lake. Barris agreed to go for a walk with Anakin and Asoka, but refused to swim, saying that she did not want to take her clothes off in front of strangers, as this was against the traditions of her people. Asoka, however, gladly agreed.
"You don't know what you're missing," Tano smiled, taking off her red tunic and tight-fitting trousers, leaving her in her knitted underwear, then jumping into the cool, light blue water with a battle cry. As mentioned earlier, Asoka loved water and, after the arid Tatooine, could not get enough of its abundance. Now, without any inhibitions, she splashed around in the lake, sometimes floating on the surface, sometimes diving deep and resurfacing to spray fountains of sparkling droplets around her. Anakin did not leave her side and, swimming energetically towards the middle of the lake, covered Asoka with a wave created by the Force. She responded by sending him one of her own. The water in the lake foamed and bubbled like boiling water. Barris stood on the shore and watched the two with obvious contempt and secret envy. After all, no one had ever even offered her the chance to have such fun. What's more, none of the Order's Padawans had ever even thought of inviting this proud girl to have fun or at least just talk to her about something unrelated to their apprenticeship. She diligently pretended that she didn't care, putting on a mask of proud indifference, while inside she was deeply hurt by such an attitude towards her, dreaming of simple joys, but not even trying to change the general opinion of her in any way. Things got even worse for the Mirian when, after swimming to their hearts' content, Anakin and Ahsoka sat on the shore and talked about what would happen when he was taken to the Order.
"Can we be friends? When I'm at the Temple," asked Anakin, plucking a blade of grass and chewing on one end.
"Of course," Ahsoka smiled, doing the same thing. "You'll tell me everything, and then we'll start training together. Maybe I'll fly with your group to Ilum.
"And when you feel sad, tell me and I'll give you my Tail. You can hold it close to you and you won't feel so bad anymore," said Skywalker, also smiling. "I know it's not customary to complain or be sad in the Order. Just come up to me and say, 'Tail,' and I'll understand everything.
"But what about you? Didn't your father give it to you?" Asoka was surprised by the generosity of his soul.
"Yes, that's right, and he also said that joy and happiness must be shared, because they are the only things that become greater when you give some of them away," the boy explained with unchildlike seriousness.
He was right; positive emotions should always be shared, while negative ones should be eradicated or, more accurately, released far away, into the depths of the Great Force, allowing them to dissolve so as not to harm oneself or those around one. What would the new student say when he heard this on his second day after joining the clan of young lings?
***
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