Author - Jedi_Linewalker (from the Jedi Council forums)
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Anakin,

Things that you never suspect can be life threatening, potentially. Its not trouble to look after a friend. I'm sure you do the same with Kitster, yes? Your mother had mentioned a lung infection, and I wished to be sure you were over it. I also needed to take a midichlorian count. A high count indicates the amount of potential, as a Jedi, someone has. We normally test if possible for infections and such, yes, in unsafe environments, or where medical care is limited in availability or access.

Asking questions is a way to learn. Its important that you learn about life and about things. I understand this need, and am glad you're interested in learning of us.

The Council, like all Jedi, care about people, Anakin, slave or free. The problem is that the galaxy has billions of people, and the Council is only 13 people, and the Jedi as a total are not quite 11,000. There's only so much that can be done at one time. Making people's lives more rewarding and worthwhile is what we strive to do. But things have to be done in a certain order, a certain way, for them to work. For example, if you need fruit to make juice for 100 people tomorrow afternoon, you don't plant a fruit plant this morning to get the fruit from. Your dream is not stupid. No dream is truly "stupid," Anakin. Some may be unrealistic or fanciful, but dreams are part of who and what we are. Dreams can be hope. You should never lose hope, for if you do, there's little left to live for. Hope for a better tomorrow is what drives us through today.

Yes, you were born with the ability. Its simply become instinctive after simply using it all your life. You've developed the instincts for using and understanding the information that your senses tell you. I'm sure they do look at you oddly, because I doubt many of them would know what you were talking about indeed. Most non Force sensitive people don't consider why Jedi appear to have such faster reflexes than they do, they just assume its simply a matter of training.

Yes, there are many dangers to such a thing. Pod racing is very dangerous, but you know this. Its a shame that you've had to be exposed to such terrible things, especially at such a young age, but the knowledge of what you're doing will help you. Just remember to let your instincts guide you, and you should do well.

I'm pleased you see me as such, Anakin. You're quite the nice person yourself, you and your mother. Such openness and kindness to strangers is a thing rarely seen in this galaxy. I worry about my friends, yes, and others as well. I'll show you some things to get you started before you begin your actual training. Self control and focus are a very good set of skills to master early in training. That sounds like a fun idea.

It can be, I'm sure. Some even find it relaxing. You're quite good, from what I've seen.

She mentioned a former boyfriend recently, and I think its still former. I didn't inquire further than what she volunteered.

Most are, yes. Rare is it a Jedi's family lives with them, unless they also are Jedi. But many times they live nearby, or in some cases, the children are orphaned, and raised by the Temple entirely.

I'm sure you will, Anakin. Such a thing is a good thing to dream of. Coruscant is the capital of the Republic, so yes, the governing body, namely the Senate, is there, along with many other important groups of people and places. Politics can be a very boring thing, yes. I tend to avoid them as much as possible.

They can do many things. They can sense people and emotions, some can even levitate and bring to them things they want, like a toy, for example. Its generally little things. The telekinesis example is an extreme example, but it has happened.

Potential Jedi are tested for ability with the Force in two ways. First, their cells must have a midichlorian count higher than 7,000. Secondly, depending on the age at which they're discovered, they must pass a small battery of tests, which vary depending on the tester and circumstances.

If we can get you to where you can be trained, you'll learn to use one. Its part of your training, and something you truly need to know, to fulfill your place in society.

Most people do. I've kept in decent shape from almost constant training, and its been postulated that people from my world have a slightly longer lifespan than most other species of humans. Of course, no one knows for sure.

They need to be protected because they are vulnerable to it. They don't have the mental and emotional conditioning needed to fight it, and it can corrupt them easily. The Dark Side of the Force is part of the balance of nature. For example, you have day, so you must have night. There's light, and there's darkness. It's much the same here. The Dark Side of the Force is the side Jedi don't call upon or use. Its power is evil, dark, seductive...it can give you great power, but that power has a price. We Jedi train to use the Light Side of the Force. It doesn't yield nearly as much power, in the early parts of your training, but your patience is rewarded as you study and grow in the Force. You learn to wield that power responsibly, and fairly. No, I didn't live with my parents. It was hard, yes, most of the time. Its only natural that it would be. I had to learn to let go of that attachment, to let go of what I feared to lose, so that I could function as I needed to. This doesn't mean that I don't love my parents. Not at all. It simply means that if I'm faced with a situation in which I either save them, but a city or planet die because I saved them...or saving the city or planet, but them dying, I can make that choice. Loved one or not, every life is precious. Its a selfish act to kill thousands to save two. Its a selfless act to save thousands, but sacrifice two, especially when they know the sacrifice is for the greater good. All of us lived in the Temple. Our rooms were in the same area of the Temple, at least, for that age group. As I grew older, so did my friends. We'd often visit one another and such, yes.

I knew because of the strength of the connection with the Force that you have. You should never use what you learn in anger or aggression, Anakin. These are paths to the Dark Side. They leave you open and vulnerable to its calling. Using a wrong to correct a wrong doesn't make it right, if that makes sense? A Jedi uses the Force for defense and knowledge, never for attack or aggression. Slavery is evil, but there are ways around things other than violence, other methods that can be used.

The Council can only interpret what they see and know. Everything else is colored by someone else's perception. No one is infallible, not even a Jedi. We may disagree, yes, but you can disagree with someone and still like and respect them. They respect my word and my ability, but everyone has a different viewpoint and perception. Not all Jedi sense, know, or feel the same things about the same situation. Many is the time I should have heeded my Master's feelings, or Master Yoda's feelings, and I didn't. My perception was different, and I acted on it. It didn't always turn out very badly, but there were times when it did, and when listening to their feelings would have improved the outcome. Its simply that I follow my instincts, and most of the time they're right, but not always. Everyone has to be wrong sometime. I'm a bit of a maverick, because I often differ in opinion from them, but difference in opinion can cause someone to re-evaluate their position, and make a change for the better.

SOmetimes some do. Bounty hunters are basically like private soldiers for money. They don't care that someone or something is important to the galaxy, they only care that someone is paying them a lot of money to do whatever it is, generally either capture, or kill, someone. Sometimes that someone is a Jedi. They're selfish people, caring only for what they want or need, at the expense of everyone else. This is one of the things Jedi teach against. This is a path to the Dark Side. Dark Jedi are evil, yes. Anyone can use something good in a bad way. For example, the small torch you use at Watto's shop to fix some parts is a good thing. You repair things with it, and you help someone in the process. That same torch can be used to cut into Watto's safe and steal his money, which is a bad thing, or you can use it to melt someone's face, or other body part, and kill them, which is definitely a bad thing. The torch is innocent. It only does what its used for. The person using it, however, would have committed an evil act by doing so. Most Jedi are good, but there are a few that sometimes decide to stop working for everyone's interest and advantage, and start working for their own instead, seeking power. They often wear robes like what they wore as a Jedi. Sometimes they wear black instead of brown. Usually you spot a Dark Jedi by his presence in the Force, his attitude, and his manner. I don't know about the black suits and breathing loudly, but a very special, and dangerous, kind of Dark Jedi with very special and evil training, called Sith, often carry red lightsabers. They could look like that I suppose. Sith generally wear black robes.

I would suppose it depends on the species of the person, as some humans have odd colored eyes, and such. The histories and information in the Temple tells us that a strong connection to the Dark Side of the Force often can warp or change a person's appearance, often manifesting in eyes that have tured red and yellow. The wrinkled skin sounds like someone either extremely old, or someone extremely scarred. The electricity is a Sith Dark Side power. No Light Side Jedi would use such a power, because of its nature. It sounds very much like you're dreaming, or have dreamed, of Dark Jedi and Sith. Yet another indication of your connection to the Force.

I hope so as well. The future will unfold as we go, but hopefully that will be the case. Unfortunately, the parts aren't commonly found. The casing and power supply is generally fairly easy to get, but the crystals and the emitter are very hard to find. If I'm able to train you, you won't be here. You'll get your chance.

Yes, that's very much the case. They'd want to kill you, or train you in their ways, ways of evil. It'd be very much like slavery, yes, but probably a lot worse. You'd eventually be happy to be in their service, you'd want to be there. This is what I mean by the Dark Side corrupting you. Leaving you open to that is very dangerous.

I'm hoping to be able to take you with us when we go. If not, I'll be returning. Regardless of the Council's decision, its not safe to leave you here as you are.

Free will can be a very good thing, and most of the time, it is. When one actively and knowingly chooses evil, to me, that's a bad thing.

He's a very good Jedi, and much more like the sort of Jedi that the Council often wishes I was. I'm too "independant minded" for their taste. It is possible, yes. Its not often done, but it can happen. An attachment is an emotional bond that makes you afraid of losing whatever it is that you love. If you're afraid of losing something, then an enemy can take that thing, and with that thing control you...say for example, someone was to kidnap your mother, and tell you that either you do as they wish, or they kill her. No one wants their mother to die. A Jedi wants no one to die, period. But when you accept that if you do the right thing, namely stopping the people who've kidnapped your mother, its possible that your mother could die in the event. You would, of course, do everything to prevent that, but its still possible. When you can do that, you've let go of that attachment. Your love for her is no less, you love her the same. But instead of doing the wrong thing because they threaten you with her, you do the right thing. I hope that makes some sense. Ideally, and truthfully, yes. Letting go of the attachment is a way of expressing that love for them, and for life in general. Its a complicated concept, and I understand you'll most likely have trouble understanding it for awhile. I was accepted as a padawan and trained with my Master almost three years when I finally understood it. I was almost 15, after being trained since birth.

You could, yes, but that would be going against the rules of the Order, and you'd end up trying to keep it a secret, which is a lie and a deceit, and that, too, is a path to the Dark Side. The Rules of the Order, the Jedi Code, don't always make sense, but they are made with a good reason and intent. The Jedi Code was written long ago, and finally put in the form we know of now by a Master named Odan Urr. He lived several centuries, but knew the first two Jedi to ever live, and from their combined experience, they wrote the Code, which corresponded with life as it was at that time. Life has changed somewhat since then, and while I don't always agree with the Code, I usually agree with the spirit behind it, if you can understand that. They do support marriage, when the Jedi getting married is capable of doing what must be done for such a union to exist. Attachments also cause emotional chaos, which is dangerous. Far too easily Jedi with attachments find paths, unknowingly, to the Dark Side. Jedi children aren't born to just Jedi. Theoretically, they can be born to anyone. The Force chooses who to connect deeper with, and who not to.

To the best of my knowledge, it was several centuries ago. Its a practice they've observed for quite some time.

Yes, it will. I'm glad you're confident, my friend. I did. The droid handled your flag quite well. The announcers seemed to be average con artists, which is what you expect at such a thing. They were, of course, paying tribute to this Jabba. Its a good idea to keep the one you work for happy, I guess.

When you force an opinion on someone against their will, and notice, this doesn't apply to a law, with a fair amount of understanding and legal representation, but when you take away that ability to choose by forcing it, you're taking away a right given to them by God. That means, essentially, that if you're that dictator, you're placing yourself in equal or greater importance than God. That's a place I'd never wish to find myself, for example. Whether someone's ideas or opinions are "okay" or not isn't the issue. The fact that you're forcing those ideas and opinions on others, taking away their right to choose, is the issue. There are many things you can think of that would make it seem okay, on the surface. By "you," I mean anyone, not you specifically. Yet, just because an animal looks harmless doesn't mean it is harmless. The same goes for people. Just because someone seems to be right, that doesn't make them right.

Tatooine is considered marginally habitable because it doesn't possess enough water and resources to sustain a planetary population. That's why you have moisture farmers that use vaporators to draw moisture from the air and clouds, and condense it into water. There probably is, at the poles. Whatever's there, it doesn't look like sand. Possibly ice. Trees are typically large plants with green leaves and tough skins on the stems, or trunks. Most planets considered habitable do have significantly more water, yes. Of course it would be weird to you, having grown up here...just as it would be weird to a Mon Calamarian, who lives on a planet made almost entirely of water. There's very little land on Mon Calamari.

Yes, Naboo has a lot of water. That much water together looks like a bluish white landscape, stretching to the horizon in all directions, but where you're standing. It generally has currents, eddies and waves that ripple and move across it. Sometimes, large, dangerous storms form over water, called hurricanes. This doesn't happen often though.

No, there's enough subterranean water, and ocean, to make it very habitable, though some may argue with that assessment. The oceans are transversed by large bridges, platforms, and the like. Houses, businesses, and so forth are built on these platforms and such over the water. The city is about as big as Tatooine, because the planet is about that size. At the Temple, you'd be pretty high in the air, and there's grounds around the Temple that are more than enough to move around on.

Killing is not a pleasant thing, no.

Be careful, Anakin, and may the Force be with you.

Qui-Gon

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Note 9 Continued

Anakin,

That's quite alright. I don't mind at all.

Congratulations, that you did. We are in your debt, my friend, and we are very appreciative. At the very least, I'll make sure that Watto doesn't try anything foolish, but hopefully can accomplish more. Time is of the essence for Padme's people.

Of course you do. I was simply reminding you. Obi-Wan will tell you, I'm a bit over-emphatical about some things.

You're quite welcome. I figured the sale would look better coming from an adult, rather than a young man, because they'd be tempted to cheat you. Of course we can.

The future, as I said before, is always in motion, and generally fairly cloudy. Every moment is another chance to change the future.

Anakin, your friend is simply being a Rodian. Rodians are, by nature, aggressive and confrontational. I'm sure he means it, but its not entirely just him being mean. Fighting is not a good thing. This is giving in to anger, and anger is a sure path to the Dark Side. Its natural that you're angry, and of course it upsets you that someone would say such a thing, but because they say it doesn't make it true. Reality is reality, regardless of what someone believes, or doesn't believe. He may believe you cheated with every molecule of his body and soul, but that doesn't mean you cheated any more than his words mean it. You won, fairly, no matter how hard he believes you didn't. What is, is.

I hope that you listen to these words before you do something rash. Anger is normal, but it is an emotion that we must hold in check. Once the Dark Side gets ahold of you, it digs its claws in deeply, and refuses to let go. I'm on my way.

Qui-Gon