'Anakin, down!' was the urgent call I heard. Without needing to see anything, I knew that something had gone terribly wrong. I heard a speeder coming towards the ship, and I saw Master Qui-Gon drawing out his lightsaber and igniting it. The bright flash of green clashed with red as he started dueling with that strange being that we had been encountering, in the Force at least.

I heard the usual buzzing of the lightsabers, and from the cockpit, I could see Master and the horn-headed-guy's weapons clashing. Master Qui-Gon seemed to be facing slight trouble; he had told me before that fighting wasn't his thing anymore, that he had grown 'too old for this sort of thing'. I didn't believe him, or rather, I chose not to believe him.

'Come on, Master!' I urged him in my mind. I knew that this alien had been affecting him more than he thought I understood. I always wondered why in the galaxy he would think that I didn't know what he was thinking. He was my Master, after all. Of course I knew him better than anyone did, and vice versa.

He was unsure if it was just a bounty hunter well-trained in the Jedi martial arts, or if it was truly a Sith Lord. I knew that if he really was a Sith Lord, which I felt was a bit improbable; it would have much heavier implications as it meant that the Sith had been hiding all these years, only to come back with a darker, more powerful enemy to be feared by everyone.

I didn't like that prospect. In fact, I was scared by that thought. I might have even been thinking that I thought it wasn't a Sith was just to comfort myself. But then again, I didn't want that to happen. Which Jedi Knight, or even a youngling, would actually want the Sith to come back?

I tried to bring the Nubian lower to the ground, in a position easy for Master Qui-Gon to jump onboard, but in a place that would be hard for the strange-dark-lord-thing to get onboard. I felt a bump from the back of the ship, then a 'Hurry up, Obi-Wan. Get out of here now!'

Thank goodness he was still very much alive. I didn't need a second shout. Not even having time to be relieved that he was back safe and sound, I jerked back the controls, put the ship into full throttle and sped away. All that I saw left on the barren wasteland below us was a figure in a cloak with a red and black head, turning off his red lightsaber. I set the Nubian to autopilot and left the cockpit.

There was this blond-headed boy of approximately 10 years of age, carrying a small black bag, looking at me curiously. Instead of returning his gaze, I gave Master Qui-Gon an equally curious look.

'Hi, I'm Anakin!' the boy stuck his hand out.

One spontaneous little guy. I smiled, trying hard to conceal my surprise. 'Obi-Wan.'

'Are you a Jedi too?' He spoke in an incredulous tone, as though I were the first one he had seen.

'Yea. Well, I'm training to become one.'

'Cool!'



Anakin oozed an aura of… of courage, of something unique, something indescribable. Something that even Master Yoda didn't possess.

No, wait, it's over 20 000! The reading's off the charts!

… it might be possible that he was conceived by the midicholorians themselves.

Once again, my mind went back to the prophecy of the Chosen One. The one to bring balance to the Force.

Then a strange thought popped into my mind. Would I be training Anakin? After Qui-Gon would be me…

He's too old. Too old to start training as a new Padawan.

Ugh, I was thinking of the future again. I really had to heed Master Qui-Gon's advice to focus on the future, but not at the expense of the moment. And what was I doing, fantasizing about training Anakin? You're losing your head and gaining more ego, Obi-Wan, I scolded myself. Stop that.

I went back to the cockpit, leaving Anakin's voice behind me as we went past the atmosphere of Tatooine. As we escaped into space, I wished I could leave my troubles behind on the desert land of the planet we were leaving.

Sigh. Troubles. Sometimes I wondered why people wanted to be Jedi. They didn't know what rules bound us behind those walls of the Jedi Temple, what kept us going all the time, what many things we weren't allowed to do. I wondered if Anakin was really doing the right thing; if he had been the one to choose the path right for him. Sometimes, I wondered myself, who chose to put me in the Jedi Temple.