"I'll kill you!" he shouted to the shadowy figure. The shadowy figure laughed.
"I will!" Anakin ran at the shadow and could not reach him. The vision disintegrated into particles of light.
With a last despairing look, Shmi disappeared as well.
In frustration, Anakin slammed his hand against the cave wall. Blood began to ooze from fissures.
You cannot save her, a voice said. No matter how many times you tell yourself you will. It is a dream. She lives the nightmare.
"Stop," he begged. "Stop."
As if the cave itself had heard him, everything stopped. The cave wall was smooth again. What had looked like blood was now just moisture. The darkness fell around him like a heavy blanket.
Shakily, Anakin moved forward. He felt sweat trickle down his forehead and cheeks. Ahead he saw a faint gleam on the floor of the cave.
"The crystals," a voice said.
He turned. It was Obi-Wan. His Master smiled at him. "It's time."
Anakin's step quickened. He leaned down to examine the cave floor. The crystals grew in intricate formations. Even in the dark cave, they glowed.
He passed his hand over them without touching. He felt vibrations emanate from them. Slowly, he chose the three that seemed to speak to him. To his surprise, it was easy to break the pieces free. He placed them in the pouch hanging from his utility belt.
"Before you begin, you must meditate," Obi-Wan said. "Go into a trance state, Anakin. Cleanse your mind. Then your feelings will guide your intent."
Anakin sat on the floor of the cave. He emptied the contents of the pouch onto his lap. He held the three crystals in his palm. They had a strange warmth.
Accessing the Force was not difficult for him, even now. He felt it rise around him
Slave trader. Slave raider.
The name on everyone's lips on that terrible day.
Raider, trader, raider, Anakin's brain chanted nonsensically.
Remembering hovered above him, just out of reach. He could only feel the dread it would bring.
Then memory bloomed inside him. It filled his blood like a poison.
Every detail rushed at him, just as he'd sworn to recall them that day.
He remembered the cool, crisp day on Tatooine. A picnic. Flowers woven through Amee's braids. The sweet taste of fruit pastry. And then the sudden shock of hurrying through their row of quarters, seeing faces unrecognizable from terrible fear
He had burst into his quarters and seen his mother, her legs tucked up against her chest, as if protecting herself from a blow. She had looked up and he had glimpsed terror on her face No! He had not meant to remember that!
The cave! It had been a memory as well as a vision. Anakin understood that clearly now. The events clicked in with frightening vividness. He had suppressed the memory with an act of will. But he had not been able to shut it out forever.
Now memory had chosen to return at this moment, while members of the Jedi Council had their eyes on him. Anakin almost groaned aloud.
Obi-Wan sensed something. He shifted his weight slightly, drawing a bit closer to Anakin. The unspoken message was clear: I am here, Anakin.
Hang on.
But Anakin was already conquering his shock. He told himself that he was meant to remember now, in this place. Shock hardened into resolve. He had felt Krayn in the cave. He might have been the figure chasing Shmi.
Even though Anakin had never seen the pirate, he knew him. He knew the terror he had spread.
At last there was a chance he could face him. How lucky to have been given this assignment! His hand moved unconsciously to his lightsaber hilt.
"With all respect to the Council and the Senate," Obi-Wan said, "I am not certain that we are the correct team for this assignment."
Anakin could not resist an incredulous look at his Master. What was Obi-Wan doing? They were the perfect team for this assignment!
"The Council might recall that Anakin was once a slave himself," Obi- Wan continued. "He is sensitive to this issue. And as a young Padawan "
"I am not too young!" Anakin broke in. "And I'm not too sensitive!"
Mace Windu fixed his dark gaze on Anakin, the forbidding look that could cause even a senior Jedi student to suddenly remember each tiny infraction of the rules he or she had committed since the age of five. "We will ask you to speak when we wish your opinion, Anakin."
Anakin was cowed by Mace Windu's reprimand. Mace Windu turned to Obi- Wan with the same severity.
"Do you have doubts about your Padawan, Obi-Wan? If so, you must state them. Certainly they are not obvious to the Council, since only recently you stood in that very spot and vehemently argued that he was ready for the trip to Ilum to fashion his own lightsaber."
So Obi-Wan had to fight to take him to Hum. Defiance flared in Anakin.
His chin lifted. So what? If the Council still had hesitations about him, they would soon learn differently.
"Please forgive me for interfering," Chancellor Palpatine interrupted softly. "I think I understand Obi-Wan Kenobi's hesitation. Even in my limited knowledge of Jedi procedures, I understand that Anakin Sky-walker is a special case. Naturally the Jedi would wish to protect him more so than another Jedi student."