“I won’t go,” Tahiri said defiantly, stamping her bare foot down on the cool stones of the Great Temple. She’d refused to wear shoes since she’d come to Yavin 4. On her home planet Tatooine, gritty sand and a burning-hot desert were a daily reality, and foot coverings a necessity.
“You won’t make me go,” Tahiri said again, although this time her voice faltered.
“You’re right,” Luke replied. He moved to the large open window in the Grand Audience Chamber. Beneath him the lush jungles of Yavin 4 steamed in the midday sun. Majestic Massassi trees, their bark a rich purplish brown, reached up toward the pyramid-shaped Great Temple. The temple was the home of future Jedi Knights, beings from across the galaxy who studied at the academy in order to one day use the Force for peace and knowledge, and in the battle against evil.
Tahiri walked over to Master Luke and stood beside his brown-robed form. She stared down at the jungle, at the greens, purples, and reds that made up a landscape she’d once dreamed about. Dreamed of in the heat and endless sand of her planet. Luke Skywalker understood Tahiri’s frustration. He, too, was originally from Tatooine. He’d spent eighteen years working on his uncle and aunt’s moisture farm. The boredom had threatened to suffocate him. But there had been something else, too.
“I never knew my father,” Master Luke said softly to his student. “At least not the man he was before he turned to the dark side to serve the evil emperor Palpatine. I never knew my father, Anakin Skywalker, when he was a Jedi Knight, determined to use the Force for good. And when I finally met what he’d become, Darth Vader, it was too late. It’s true that he did turn from evil in his last moments, but there wasn’t time for us to develop a relationship before he died.”
Luke paused for a moment.
“Do you understand what I’m saying to you?” he asked Tahiri.
“You were an orphan in a way, too,” Tahiri began slowly. “But the difference is that I won’t ever have the chance to meet either of my parents. The Tusken Raiders said they’re both dead.”
“What about Sliven?” Luke Skywalker asked.
“He’s the leader of my tribe,” Tahiri answered evenly.
“Nothing more?” Luke asked.
“I guess he’s the only family I’ll ever have,” Tahiri replied softly. “Returning to Tatooine may be the last chance I’ll have to see him.”
“You owe that to yourself, and to him,” Master Luke said. “Still, it’s your decision. I’m certain you’ll make the right one.” He turned and strode out of the chamber. It’s not so simple, little one, he thought as he left. Not so easy to give up the only family, the only father, you’ve ever known. That in itself will test all of your power, and your ability to control your own inner Force.
And perhaps, just perhaps, your decision to remain at the academy will change. If that happens, we’ll lose a promising student. But, as much as this would disturb me, your happiness is more important. Luke took the turbolift down to the hangar. He found the supply ship captain, old Peckhum. Peckhum had just unloaded crates for the academy. Now he was preparing to take a delivery to a planet only hours from Tatooine.
Luke asked Peckhum to prepare his ship for a detour to Tatooine the following morning. When Peckhum asked how many passengers, Luke didn’t hesitate.
Three, he replied. There was no way Tahiri would travel home without her best friend, Anakin Solo. And no way that Luke would allow them to go alone. Tatooine was too dangerous a planet. And Luke had a strange feeling that Tahiri’s family, the Tusken Raiders, were dangerous as well.
Anakin watched Tahiri nervously finger the rough sand-colored pendant that hung from her neck. Since they’d boarded the shuttle at the academy and shot into the darkness toward the Outer Rim Territories and the planet Tatooine, Tahiri had been silent. That worried Anakin. His best friend was rarely quiet. For a time, Anakin contented himself with thoughts of the golden globe, and the furry white Jedi Master named Ikrit that he and Tahiri had found sleeping at its base.
Ikrit had discovered the globe over four hundred years ago. He’d immediately sensed that he could not break the curse, so he’d curled up beside the globe to wait for those who could. Although he knew little about the web of evil around the globe, Ikrit had a strong feeling that if an adult tried to free the golden sphere’s young prisoners, the globe would shatter into a thousand shards of crystal.
Anakin and Tahiri hadn’t told Master Luke about the globe, its curse, or their plans to destroy the evil that had festered in the belly of the Palace of the Woolamander for thousands of years. This was something they wanted to try to handle themselves. Tahiri was still running her small fingers over the pendant. Anakin could make out two rough prints on the surface of the oblong charm. Tahiri felt his eyes, and turned to face him.