With every word old Ben spoke, Ahsoka's eyes grew wider with amazement and a desire to learn as much as possible. It was no surprise, for he was talking about the girl's greatest dream — joining the Jedi Order. She had heard about it often since childhood and understood a lot, as she was very mature for her ten years and easily picked up useful information from conversations with people. This was especially evident because the girl preferred the company of adults who had seen a lot in the galaxy, such as travelling merchants, to her peers. How much interesting information these weary, life-beaten citizens of the republic knew. They often came to the auto parts shop run by Watto, where Asoka performed various duties, most often the dirtiest work, and each time they told her where they had come from and what they did there. Asoka listened to them while patching up another carriage or fixing a faulty engine. These stories made it even more interesting to study the spare parts and mechanisms, which were her second passion. Engines had always seemed alive to her, and when she worked with them, she felt as if they were talking to her and telling her their stories. But, as mentioned earlier, she was most attracted to stories about the distant and mysterious Jedi Order. She was simply mesmerised by thoughts of the amazing feats and good deeds performed by these unusual servants of the Great Force, who had given their entire lives in the name of peace and justice in the galaxy. When Asoka first heard about the Jedi, she didn't remember, it seemed to her that this knowledge had always been with her, that it was born with her imagination. It was born and became the girl's main thought. How many times at night, after a hard day's work, did she fall into a deep sleep and see these special warriors dressed in light robes and holding laser swords that glowed with a cold neon light? Then it seemed to her as if she were standing in their ranks, shoulder to shoulder with them, fighting the merciless evil that was oppressing the peaceful population. And for some reason, it was usually her father who played the role of the victim of fate, and their master who played the role of the evil one. Watto was rude and very greedy, he often didn't pay wages and just as often punished people not for their misdemeanours, but simply to vent his bad mood.
"Bastards! Freaks! Who allowed you to show your faces to me when I'm hungover!" he would often shout at the children when he was drunk, and sometimes he would even hit them, if he could catch them. Oh, how many times in her dreams Asoka personally turned him into pieces of smoking flesh. She and her sword, for some reason she always saw it as green. These thoughts greatly brightened her difficult existence and gave her hope that someday someone from the Order would accidentally wander onto Tatooine and knock on their shop door. But time passed, and the Jedi never came here, probably because this planet was not part of the Republic. It was controlled by the Hutts, leaders of the criminal world, creatures who were unscrupulous and very capricious in every sense of the word. Few would willingly associate with them; even their own kind kept their distance, let alone peaceful citizens. And so the only thing left for Asoka to do was wait. Wait and hope that a miracle would happen and she and her father would be freed, because they couldn't escape on their own due to the slave sensor implanted under their skin, which would immediately explode if they left Tatooine.
"The desert is merciless. It takes everything from you," the locals often said, and Asoka had no reason not to believe them; not everyone could find salvation in knowledge, as she had. There weren't many of them on Tatooine itself, as the locals, mostly narrow-minded and uneducated, could tell very little about the big life that existed beyond their dusty sphere. However, there were few other sources of information here either. Holocrons and even printed media were almost non-existent, and reading and learning were generally frowned upon. When they weren't working, people entertained themselves by drinking cheap drinks in the cantinas of Mos Eisley. There were few exceptions to this rule, among them Asoka's father and old Ben. And so, the girl knew life mainly from the stories of visitors and from conversations with this kind old man. He had seen a lot and enjoyed sharing his impressions with the girl. But the most interesting and important things Ben was telling her now.
"You see, Asoka, the Great Force is not really a deity, but something that is common to all of us. It is everywhere, like air, like the atmosphere," said the old man in a measured voice. "It created everything in the galaxy and each of us, and in a sense, we are also part of it. However, it's not that simple, my girl. There is also a special advantage that She gives to some of the intelligent beings living on different planets. This, as I have already said, is the ability to feel Her, use Her and, to some extent, understand Her. Through this, She becomes an ally and friend throughout life and after death. Much can be achieved with the help of the Force. Great knowledge, great power and serious skills. In return, She asks only one thing: to serve Her and not betray your ideals, as well as not to neglect Her gift, if She has given it to you.
"What is this gift?" Asoka finally managed to say.
"The gift is that the Force gives its chosen ones special cells that exist in their blood, and thanks to these cells, they become receptive to the Force. If they don't have them, it won't work, no matter how much you train, even with the best masters. It can only be obtained by birthright," old Ben explained readily and looked out the window at the darkening sky, where stars would soon appear. Evening was falling, and Asoka had to go home, because her father would be worried. But she didn't want to leave; she needed to learn more about the Force.
"How can it manifest itself if you don't know about it? Are there ways to detect it?" she asked about the gift, knowing that the answer would not be long in coming. And it wasn't:
"You see, the Force, if it is within you, will reveal itself sooner or later. And it will do so on its own, unexpectedly for you and without your will. You won't even know what you did when you did it. For example, you'll stop a falling object in mid-air, or just look at it, and it will fly into your hands, or you'll stop yourself from falling and prevent yourself from breaking.
Ben deliberately gave this example and mentioned it last to see how Asoka would react. These words made the girl think and fall silent for a long time, drawing parallels in her mind.
"And once, when I was knocked down, I was flying towards the rocks, but at the last moment I managed to jump out. I don't remember how I ended up on top of one of the rocks. On the high top," the girl said quietly to herself.
"It's a pity that only I noticed it and that it's of little use," Ben said mysteriously. "Ah, if only it had been earlier.
"Before what?" Asoka asked mechanically, expecting to hear complaints about old age, but instead she heard...
"Before I became a hermit and gave up my life's work forever, and the Force punished me for it with loss and a serious illness that robbed me of my gift.
Asoka's eyes widened to the size of saucers on the shelf above the table. She couldn't believe that Ben was also... like her... no, more accurately, that he knew the Force... and she... no, nonsense, it couldn't be. And yet she made up her mind:
"You were sensitive to the Force? You knew the Jedi?
"My dear, the Jedi Order is an elite organisation in every sense of the word. It is made up of the best of the best, whose abilities are both exceptional and capable of further improvement. Not everyone who was sensitive to the Force passed the selection process and made it to the Temple; many were rejected for various reasons. But the luckiest ones were those who passed all the tests, were accepted into the Order, and were first assigned the position of junior apprentice. But even that was not a reason to rejoice. After all, if, upon reaching the age of thirteen, none of the adult Jedi wish to accept you for further training, you will be sent back or to the service corps. So, simply having abilities is not enough to call yourself a Jedi. The path to this lies through humility and hard work, as well as through the approval of your elders, which is very difficult to achieve, I can tell you that," Ben said, becoming more and more enthusiastic and captivating his young listener. "How do I know all this, you may ask? I was one of them. I spent many years in the Order and even held the high rank of Master.
"And you left the Order? Why? To live here? I'll never believe it!" Asoka even clapped her hands in amazement. It was so incredible to think that someone could willingly trade Coruscant for Tatooine, not even for all the riches in the world...
"It's not that simple, girl," the old man interrupted her, "I didn't leave the Order, it left me, through my own fault. I seriously violated the rules and was expelled. They stripped me of my sword and my former merits. And I ended up here, or rather, we ended up here.
With these words, Ben opened the cupboard door and took out a very old holoprojector. Pressing one of the buttons, he turned on a three-dimensional image of a slender young man dressed in the same clothes as the Jedi, only instead of white, they were black, and he was embracing a short, fragile young woman with her dark hair styled high and a very friendly face. On his other arm sat a small, fair-haired boy, no older than three, who smiled and waved at the camera.
"Who are they?" asked Asoka, clearly understanding that this photograph was important to old Ben.
"My big secret and my great sorrow," the man replied seriously, his eyes becoming sad. "You see, my child, a long time ago, before you were even born, I was one of the best Jedi Knights. This girl in the photo became my apprentice. We were very close, and then we fell in love. The Order strictly forbade personal relationships, believing that they would only harm the greater cause. Yes, you heard me correctly, the life of a Jedi is full of difficulties and restrictions, and few are willing to voluntarily sign up to forever give up both a personal life and free time. As my teacher said when he accepted me as a student: "Your life will be difficult. Without rewards, without regrets and without pity. Your path lies before you, and only you must decide whether to do what you cannot not do. Your life will be hard, but you will discover who you are."
"And you decided otherwise?" was all Asoka could ask, not quite understanding what he was talking about.
"That's right, Asoka, but at first I didn't object to it, because at thirteen, many things seem different than they do later. I thought I could handle such a burden. And that conviction remained unchanged for many years, until I became an independent Jedi and saw the smile of Alison, my apprentice. I felt a strange feeling when I saw her, but I didn't immediately realise that it was wrong and unacceptable, and once I did, I couldn't stop. I didn't think she felt the same way about me. Later, when Alison was eighteen, we confessed our feelings to each other and decided to fight it, fearing expulsion...But we couldn't. Love proved stronger than us, and we began to hide our relationship. This worked until she realised she was expecting a child. The Council found out and gave us a choice: either we break up, or we are expelled from the Order. They didn't say anything about the child, as if it didn't exist. That was the most upsetting thing of all, and we decided to leave on our own.
"And you settled here?" Asoka asked in a strange voice, deeply moved by the story.
"That's right, we returned to my homeland and became farmers. Soon Agor, our son, was born in this place." Ben sighed heavily. "He was a wonderful child, we loved him very much. He knew about our past and also wanted to become a Jedi. We didn't discourage him, although we warned him of the possible consequences. But everything changed when, at the appointed time, Alison and I went to Coruscant to the Jedi Temple. The Order simply did not accept him, saying that there was something in him that a Jedi should not have.
"And did they send him to the barracks or let him go home?" Ahsoka was determined to find out all the details of the story; old Ben had never spoken to her like this before.
"It's much worse than that, my child," the old man's eyes grew sad. "I think you can know the truth. Yes, he was denied admission to the Order, but he was not denied something else, something that contradicts him. Something where the Force is just as necessary, but for completely different purposes. Destruction. A thirst for power. Enslavement. This organisation was called the Sith Order. They stole my son and kept him for themselves. I haven't seen him since, and his mother couldn't bear the grief and died of a broken heart. I have been searching for my son for many years, but all traces have been lost, hidden by the Dark Side. Beware of it, Ahsoka, if the time comes and the Order finds you.
Togruta felt sincere sympathy at these words and could not say a word all the way home, even though she wanted to talk to her father, she could not bring herself to say anything. In the end, she refused to eat dinner and even forgot to repair her broken kar, and went to bed. But she couldn't fall asleep for a long time and tossed and turned until dawn, thinking endlessly:
"I wonder if Ben was telling the truth or just trying to comfort me? No, that's unlikely, it's not like him. He was a Jedi, and they don't lie. But if that's the case, then I am too... no, I don't think so. Although... I feel so sorry for his son, poor thing, stolen by the Sith. Why do they want him? Nasty Sith! Just like our Watto! They only think about themselves! I'll never be one of them!"
And with that decision made, Asoka finally fell asleep, and in the morning...
***
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