[Junior Jedi Knights] - 01(11)

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 her orange jumpsuit over her nightgown and moved silently to the door. She 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





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 sneak 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.