Free Star Wars - Episode I Journal - Anakin Skywalker by Todd Strasser Page A

me.
    Qui-Gon’s body was placed on a funeral pyre. We watched in silence as Qui-Gon Jinn disappeared in flames. Then white doves were released.
    It was hard for me to watch. In the short time I’d known him, Qui-Gon had been more of a father to me than anyone I’d ever known. I thought back to the day I’d first met him on Tatooine. How we’d gone to my home to get out of the sandstorm. How I’d told him I suspected he was a Jedi Knight because of the lightsaber he carried. How he pretended maybe he’d simply killed a Jedi and taken the lightsaber. How I said no one could kill a Jedi Knight.
    And how clearly I remembered that sad moment when he sighed and said, “I wish that were so.”
    As if even then he’d suspected…
    I used the cuff of my uniform to wipe away tears. I felt Obi-Wan’s hand on my shoulder.
    “He is one with the Force, Anakin,” he said softly. “You must let go.”
    I looked up into Obi-Wan’s face and was surprised by what I saw. His expression was open and concerned. I could feel his caring as we shared the loss of someone we had both admired so much. With Qui-Gon’s passing, something had changed between us.
    I asked him what would happen to me now.
    Nothing could have prepared me for Obi-Wan’s answer.
    “I am your Master now,” he said, tightening his grip on my shoulder. “You will become a Jedi. I promise.”

Time to Go

    Obi-Wan just stuck his head in the doorway and said that we are leaving in five minutes. It’s time for this journal to end.
    So much has happened. I will never be the same as I was on Tatooine. It is clear that my life will be different from Kitster’s, different from my mother’s, different from anyone’s that I’ve known before. I have faith in Obi-Wan’s promise: My training will begin soon.
    My travels will continue. I will go to planets and have experiences I cannot begin to imagine. I am both frightened and excited.
    Wherever the path leads, I am ready.

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