[Junior Jedi Knights] - 01

1

The Golden Globe

by Nancy Richardson

“Anakin, we’ll miss you,” Leia Organa Solo said to her son.

Leia and her husband, Han Solo, stood with their younger son, Anakin, by the silver shuttle that would take the boy to Yavin 4. That was the moon where Leia’s brother, the Jedi Luke Skywalker, had created a Jedi academy. The academy was built to train people to become Jedi Knights, protectors of freedom and justice. Only beings who had shown they were skilled in working with the Force had been invited to attend the academy. Anakin was one of those chosen to attend the first session created for younger children and aliens.

Anakin was sensitive to the Force. He had been aware he possessed the ability to alter, understand, and control his surroundings ever since he could remember. It was just little things. Anakin could feel other people’s emotions if he tried really hard. He could lift small objects with his thoughts.

Added to these talents was the fact that he was smart. Very smart. Even his own sister and brother-the twins Jaina and Jacen-admitted that their kid brother was a genius. By the age of five, Anakin knew how to take apart computers and put them back together. He loved any kind of puzzle, whether it was taking apart machinery and learning how to rebuild it or figuring out difficult word games with his mind. When Anakin turned eleven years old his parents agreed it was time for him to attend the Jedi academy. Anakin showed too much ability to be kept at home.

When Jaina and Jacen returned from their time at the academy, his parents agreed to send their younger son there to study. Leia wouldn’t have been able to bear sending all of her children to Yavin 4 at one time. She would have missed them too much. Jaina and Jacen had now returned. It was Anakin’s turn to leave. Leia studied her younger son. Anakin was about 150 centimeters tall. He was slender and had brown hair that constantly fell into his eyes. He had Luke’s eyes-ice blue and full of strength and curiosity. But his quiet nature and concentration came from his mother.

Leia smiled. Perhaps her younger son would grow up to help rule the New Republic, as she did. Or perhaps he would become a starship pilot and a Rebel hero like his father, Han Solo. If Anakin did grow up to be like his father, Leia wouldn’t have a moment’s peace, she knew. She would always worry about the trouble Anakin might be in. But for now Anakin would live on Yavin 4, a safe, quiet moon orbiting the giant gas planet Yavin.

Leia knew that her brother Luke would take care of his nephew. Still, she couldn’t help worrying about her child. She sensed that the Force was very strong within him. And while she was proud of his power, she worried that it might lead him into danger. Anyone who had the power to become a Jedi and use the Force for good also ran the risk of being lured into using the Force for evil and personal gain-that was the dark side of the Force.

Leia watched Anakin say good-bye to his brother and sister. She almost wished that Anakin had a twin too. That way he wouldn’t be alone on Yavin 4. Her younger son did not have many friends. His brother and sister and the droid See-Threepio were really his closest companions. “Stop worrying, Leia,” Han said to his wife. He could hear her worry as clearly as if she’d spoken. “Come here, kiddo, and say good-bye to your old dad,” Han called to his son. Anakin came over to hug his father. Han ruffled his son’s hair. Then he brushed it out of Anakin’s eyes.

“I’ll be fine, Dad,” Anakin said.

He could feel his father’s worry, just as he could feel his mother’s. His kid was so strong, Han thought. But for a moment he, too, worried about the power of the Force in Anakin. Then Leia pulled her son into a tight hug.

“Call us if you need anything,” Leia said. Or if you want to come home, Leia thought.

“I promise,” Anakin answered his mother. Then he stepped inside the shuttle and waved to his family from the window by his seat. Anakin was all alone now. He settled back into his chair to think. Anakin thought about his parents and their fears. What they didn’t understand was that their younger son had not been afraid to leave his home planet of Coruscant. Anakin had seen the look of worry in his mother’s eyes as she and his father had said good-bye to him.

But Anakin wasn’t worried. He was traveling to Yavin 4, where Uncle Luke had created a Jedi academy to train the young who were gifted in the Jedi ways. Anakin knew that just as his twin brother and sister Jacen and Jaina were sensitive to the Force, he was too. No, Anakin wasn’t afraid, but he was silent during the journey to Yavin 4. There would be so much to learn in the next few months, and Anakin wanted to think about what lay ahead.

“We’ll be landing in five minutes,” the shuttle commander informed his young charge.