Star Wars - Episode I Journal - Anakin Skywalker Read Online Free PDF Page A

my other friends were playing outside, and when they saw me come out with Qui-Gon and my bag, they knew something unusual was going on. I told Kitster I was free and going off planet. Of course,
    I couldn’t tell him why. He told me everyone wanted me to stay because I was a hero. That made me feel a little bad.
    Then he told me I was the best friend he’d ever had, and that made me feel good.
    A little way down the street, Qui-Gon was waiting for me. I started toward him, but when I looked back I saw Mom standing in the doorway of our hovel. That was the only place I remembered living. And she was the only person in my family. I felt a lump in my throat and a big sadness inside me. I went back to her and told her I couldn’t do it. I just couldn’t go off and leave her.
    Mom reminded me of the time I climbed the Great Dune to chase the banthas away before the hunters could shoot them. It was a broiling hot day and I never thought I’d make it to the top, but I knew I had to try. I even collapsed a couple of times. But somehow I’d made it.
    And because of that, a small herd of banthas had lived.
    Mom said this was one of those times when I had to surprise myself. I had to do something I didn’t think I could do. Because, like saving those banthas, something good would come of it.
    I had to let go.
    When I asked her if I would ever see her again, she gazed back at me and nodded. I’ll never forget what she said: “What does your heart tell you?”
    It was strange, but right then my dream came back to me. I could see now how it might all indeed come true. I would come back. I would become a Jedi, then someday return and free all the slaves.
    “Yes, I think so,” I said.
    Mom smiled and nodded. “Then we will see each other again.”
    Knowing that gave me the strength to go forward.
    I joined Qui-Gon. We had to go to Watto’s shop first. I would have preferred to never see my former master again, but there were forms to fill out that guaranteed my freedom. And the transmitter hidden in my body had to be deactivated.
    Watto grumbled once or twice about how unfairly he felt he’d been treated, but when Qui-Gon shot him a stern look, he got quiet—fast.
    Qui-Gon wanted me to hurry back to the ship, but there was one last stop I had to make before I left Tatooine. I had to go back to the market and find Jira.
    I found her at her stand and told her I’d been freed and that I was going away. Then I gave her some of the credits from the sale of my Podracer and told her to get herself that cooling unit I’d promised her.
    She gave me a hug and said she’d miss me.
    I turned and started away with Qui-Gon. We hurried through the hot, sun-blasted streets of Mos Espa. I was surprised by the feeling of homesickness growing inside me. Miss this hot, barren place? I couldn’t believe it. And yet I knew I would.
    Suddenly Qui-Gon swung around. The glowing blade of his lightsaber sliced through something hovering in the air near us. I was amazed. I thought my fakes were good, but they were nothing compared to the way Qui-Gon reacted.
    The thing he’d cut out of the air was about the size of a loaf of bread. Now sliced in two, its parts lay sparking and fizzing on the ground. Qui-Gon kneeled down and studied it carefully. I asked him what it was. A probe droid, he said, but unlike any he’d seen before.
    He looked around quickly. The droid was a bad sign. A moment later we were running as fast as we could toward the ship.

    We ran across the hot sands on the outskirts of Mos Espa. I wanted to ask Qui-Gon why we were running, but I was too busy trying to keep up with him. Soon I could see the Nubian spacecraft ahead, standing on its landing struts. She was a beauty. Sleek with swept-back wings, she was as fine as any spacecraft I’d ever seen.
    Without warning Qui-Gon wheeled around and yelled at me to drop. I did what I was told, and not a second too soon. A dark-cloaked figure on a speeder bike shot over me. If I’d been