Chapter One

I ran through the sand, feeling more of it slide into my boots scraping my skin against the leather as I rushed home. Tattooine was a scorching desert planet where nothing exciting happened except pod racing. My owner Watto, let me leave work early today and while I would have liked to go home to my family, I promised my brother Anakin that I would bring home some pod parts. "I hate sand." muttering as I sat down, getting more sand in my back pockets and emptying my boots. I wiped the outside of my goggles, thankful these lasted as long as they were to protect my eyes. I sighed looking up at the sun setting, the sky was always so beautiful this time of day. My thoughts drifted to a young man with blue eyes, the bluest I had ever seen. He was in my dreams every night. "I wonder if he's real or just a figment of my imagination to survive this hell hole of a planet." Sighing, I felt a feeling I'd occasionally get in my chest. I felt that something was coming, I couldn't explain what it was. I put my boots back on, thankful to have the sand out of them to protect my aching feet. I needed to get these parts to Ani.

The Next podrace was in a few days, and Ani was working overtime to make sure our broken pods were flyable before the race. I knew nothing about fixing these hunks of junk, but Ani was a pro. I could fix small things around the house, but not pods. This race would help us be a step closer to saving more money. I could get us the paggets and put it toward the amount on my mother's head. I was the best human pilot on this planet, my brother coming in close second. I started reaching him when he was old enough and started showing interest in racing. It was honestly the only fun thing to do on this planet. He was getting almost as good as I am. Our mother Shmi, and I are still slaves. Anakin was also but we were able to pay for him to be free. Anakin still works at Watto's shop with me, but it's to help raise more money for our price. It helps keep him out of trouble, if he's not at Watto's shop, he's fixing our Pods.

I've been trying to earn enough to free myself and our mom, but we both had a humongous price on our heads, something that would take me a lifetime to pay. My cost was higher, I was younger and more resilient.

I entered our house to see our mom preparing dinner. "Ani, isn't home yet?" I sat down, placed my bag on my chair, and stared at the table with the light I left that still needed fixing. She nodded her head as I put the paggets from my latest scavenging expedition into our jar."Watto let you go early," Anakin announced happily, coming into the house, and sitting down next to me. His blonde hair was dirty from all the sand that had been blowing, and his cheeks were covered in dirt stains that hid his tanned skin. "I've been working on the pods, I still need a new ignition switch." he pouted.

"I got a surprise for you, Ani," I took out the two parts I picked up from my scavenging trip and slid it over to him. That frown was quickly replaced by an ear-to-ear smile as he looked at the pieces of metal I put on the table, getting sand everywhere. "Kida! This is amazing!" he glanced behind me at our mom, "Mom, I'm going to put this by the pods. I'll be right back." he ran out of the house.

"What on earth did you find?" our mother walked over, laughing at Anakin. She had her brown hair in a bun. Her clothes were dirty and had new stains, most likely from cleaning the junk Watto assigned her. "I got him the ignition switch he needs and also new steering bars for my pod." I told her with a shrug.

"You just made his whole day, Kida." She kissed me on the top of my head as she continued making dinner.

I replaced the wires in the light, making it flicker on. I screwed the back of it in place as I stood up on the chair to put the light back in the ceiling. I walked outside to fetch my brother for dinner, but I stopped in my tracks. I looked out on the horizon, a strange feeling coming over me again. I continued to scan the area, expecting to find something, but unfortunately, nothing was there, just like all the other times.

"I feel it too." my brother stood next to me, looking in the same direction. "What do you think it means?" I shrugged, putting my arm around him, guiding him inside. Anakin and I were unique, so our mother said. I know every parent says that, but, in our case, it's true. I could lift stuff with my mind, and sense things, such as before. I never knew what they meant. I just know something is going to happen. My brother had the same gifts as I did. He's still learning to keep himself under control, and for a nine-year-old, he is outstanding. I, however, had trouble controlling my emotions. I got very defensive if someone tried picking on my brother. Strangers walked past him, and some were rude, or looked down at my mother, which angered me, and usually, something ended up breaking. My mother gave me things to fix if I was angry to help clear my mind. I helped Mom clean up from dinner and then went outside on our balcony to watch the stars.

Every night after we ate, Anakin and I sat outside and looked at the stars. I laid sideways on the ledge, tucked my arms behind my head, as Ani sat by my head.

"So I had another dream last night," I interrupted the peaceful silence, "you got your green lightsaber, and I had a blue one."

"I had the same one, except, this little green man with a cane was giving me a test, and they made me cut my hair except for a braid." he made a disgusted face. He was very attached to his hair.

I looked up at Anakin, trying to imagine him with short hair, "You would look very mature for your age." I smiled and laughed at the look he gave me. Anakin and I have had dreams of setting off to see the Galaxy and coming back to free the slaves. I wanted to be the best Jedi pilot and fighter the galaxy ever had, while Anakin intended to be the best at everything. "I had a dream about a young girl, I think she was around our age, and a man with a beard came to our planet."

Before he could answer, we both gasped as a shooting star passed, making the same wish every time we saw one. To get off this planet.

"We'll get there one day," I told him, having heard his thoughts, "I can feel it."