“It isn’t power I seek,” Anakin said, his lightsaber tangling with the Sith’s again. The shock of the blow made him grip his lightsaber with both hands.
“Then you lie,” the dark Lord said, stepping back. “How else will you save that poor, weeping mother you abandoned if you do not have power?”
Anger surged again. Anakin whirled, his lightsaber circling, his body taut. The blow passed through his enemy.
The Sith laughed. “Don’t you remember, boy? I am just a vision. Your vision. I am the Master you secretly want. I am the one who will deliver to you what you most desire.”
“No!” Anakin screamed. He launched himself forward. Again and again he tried to strike a blow, using every technique he had mastered. The Sith’s own lightsaber whirled in a circle, deflecting Anakin’s moves.
With a cunning twist, the Sith flipped Anakin’s lightsaber from his grasp. It spun in the air, then disintegrated into pieces. Then he reached out a hand. Anakin felt the Force move against his body. He flew through the air and hit the cave wall. His head hit the hard stone and he slid down. When his head cleared, he found himself sitting on the floor, the pieces of the lightsaber in his lap.
“The dark side can deliver what you most desire,” the Sith Lord said, leaning over him. Anakin could feel his hot breath on his cheek. How could a vision have breath?
“Admit it,” Qui-Gon’s killer said. He raised his lightsaber for the killing blow.
Anakin summoned up the last shreds of his defiance. He stared down his foe. “I have created you. I can make you go.”
His arms still over his head, his lightsaber pulsing, the Sith smiled. “But I will return. I dwell inside you.”
He disappeared, and there was only blackness. Anakin looked down. A completed lightsaber lay in his lap, the very lightsaber the Sith had tossed to him. Was it real? He picked it up and turned it in his hand. He gripped it, and it seemed solid against his fingers, a perfect fit. He activated it, and the shaft of the laser glowed blue, surprising him.
Anakin stood, locking his knees so that his legs wouldn’t tremble. When he was sure he was in complete control, he hurried back to the mouth of the cave.
Obi-Wan was sitting cross-legged in a meditation pose, waiting for him. Surprised, he rose to his feet when he saw Anakin.
“Are you real?” Anakin asked.
“Yes, I am real.” Obi-Wan gripped Anakin’s arm. “You see?”
Then he caught sight of the lightsaber. Anakin had deactivated it but held it loosely by his side. “What’s this?” He held out a hand, and Anakin gave it to him. He gave Anakin an incredulous look. “You made this?”
“I… I must have,” Anakin said. He did not want to tell Obi-Wan about his vision of the Sith. “You appeared to me. You told me to go into a trance state. I felt the Force very strongly.”
Obi-Wan handed the lightsaber back to Anakin. “This is a good sign, Padawan. You let your feelings guide you. Look what you accomplished. When you allow your instincts to take over, they will not fail you. Remember in the battle of Naboo how you destroyed the Droid Control ship? The Force is always with you.”
Anakin nodded. He took comfort from the pleasure and pride in Obi-Wan’s voice. Every Jedi went through trials to build a lightsaber. He had overcome terrible visions. He had won. He would not think of the words that the Sith Lord had spoken.
Obi-Wan’s comlink signaled. He spoke into it and listened intently. Then he cut the communication and turned to Anakin.
“We are wanted back at the Temple,” he said. “The Council has a mission for us.”
A mission! The thought crowded out the disturbing visions. Anakin sprang to his feet. He clipped his new lightsaber onto his belt. At last he could be a true partner to his Master. He would not think of his disturbing trance, the mystery of how the lightsaber was made. It did not matter. This lightsaber had made him a Jedi.
CHAPTER 4
“You’re fidgeting,” Obi-Wan told Anakin.
They stood outside the Jedi Council Room at the Temple. The small waiting area had comfortable seating, but Obi-Wan preferred to stand, and Anakin couldn’t sit still. The minutes ticked by, and still they were not called.
“Why do you think Chancellor Palpatine will be in the meeting?” Anakin asked, taking in a slow, deep breath to still his muscles.
“I don’t know.”
“But you suspect.”
“Speculation is a waste of time. Especially,” Obi-Wan added, “when you are waiting for the Jedi Council.”
“You sound like a droid,” Anakin grumbled. “Can’t you tell me how you feel?”