Star Wars Volume 2 Chapter 18 A Life-or-Death Decision
In Anakin's memory, there has never been a better day on Tatooine than today. Although the hot twin sun was still blazing in the sky, it could not burn his skin. The breeze blew without the uncomfortable dust of the past; he quickly walked through the crowded streets and alleys of Mos Espa.
No need to fear those vicious interstellar smugglers anymore.
Only when the fresh air of the early morning hit his face could he be sure that everything was free; he was far away from Watteau and its shop, and far away from the past that he could not bear to look back on.
Only when he passed by the stacked simple houses in Mos Espa did he relax his pace and look at the place with some sadness; all his friends were there, they were also slaves, and sometimes when some fate that had to be faced happened, he could only look at this place sadly.
Just like a long time ago, the little girl named 'Ami' and her mother.
Soon, Anakin quickened his pace and ran towards his home; Shmi was waiting outside the house, her hair tied back with some silver metal ornaments, which added some vivid colors to her. She usually dressed plainly, but today she smiled beautifully.
"Anakin, slow down!" She said with a smile, "There's no need to rush about moving."
"But if you were here, I would be worried about you!" Anakin looked at her seriously, with an indescribable fear in his eyes.
Shmi felt a little sad in her heart. She pressed his head in her arms and whispered, "It's okay, everything is over." Shmi clearly felt his fear. The days on Tatooine were not as comfortable as they seemed. Ever since Anakin became conscious, he had a deep fear.
It was the fear of being separated, but also the attachment to her.
This fear reached its peak when he was seven years old and they almost lost each other.
"It's okay, Anakin. You have the courage to protect me, don't you?" Shmi pondered his face and said softly, "Go buy some fruit! I heard that your teacher has guests."
"Yes! They are two Jedi Knights, with lightsabers hanging on their waists, the kind you know." Anakin's eyes were full of anticipation, and he jumped out of her arms, "Then I'll go first."
He ran as fast as a young deer. Whenever he met smugglers and mercenaries looking for trouble, he would show the handle of the shining blade at his waist so that no one would be so blind as to stop him.
"I must protect myself and my mother." Anakin still remembered what he had said to Chen Ang a few weeks ago, "My power will protect those I cherish and do the right thing."
"You're doing very well." Chen Ang praised him, and then beat him horribly. "But you need to be really strong, and of course, you also need wisdom, otherwise you wouldn't be so stupid as to say these words now!"
Anakin remembered that he was knocked to the ground without any resistance. Chen Ang held a wooden sword and said to him, "How much ability you have, how much responsibility you bear. Your sense of responsibility is so great, so you must be in urgent need of strength. Now, get up and practice this sword technique three hundred times!"
These trainings were not useless. At least now Anakin was ferocious enough to scare off those villains who were looking for trouble, and his light blade was sharp enough.
But Chen Ang said to him: "You lack the killing spirit."
Anakin asked him how to possess murderous intent, and Chen Ang answered him: "When you have a feeling of powerless fear and sadness in your heart, and a kind of anger that makes you swing the sword for love, you will naturally possess these. It's not that you are not decisive enough, but you still lack some experience."
"Some experience that will make you determined to pick up the sword."
Anakin quickly took the sweet fruit from an old woman, and suddenly heard a noisy quarrel coming from behind, and even the sound of a woman crying.
"What's going on?" Anakin asked curiously. He felt a little uneasy in his heart, as if the scene from three years ago had reappeared again.
"Slave raid." The old woman who hurriedly packed up her stall told him, "Hurry up and find a place to hide. The damn space pirates are here again. They are armed with guns and suppressors. They will capture whoever they want. Many people have been kidnapped like this, and their families have never heard from them again."
Anakin started running, as fast as a leopard, and quickly approached his home. Along the way, he saw many scenes of distress, but being always willing to help others, he did not dare to stop. An indescribable fear tightened his heart.
Just around the corner of his home, he saw something that made his heart explode. It was a small silver hairpin that had just been on his mother's head.
"No!!!" Anakin yelled, his vision starting to blur. He rushed towards his warm little home and looked around frantically. Everything seemed intact except for a warm shadow. His most precious thing had disappeared without a trace.
"Mom..." He couldn't help but shout loudly, angrily raised the hilt of the light blade, and stood at the door shouting loudly.
"Run, Anakin, your mother has been taken away by Jabba's men. Go find someone to save her!" His neighbor, Didi Crownera, shouted at him from the door.
A tall creature with a ferocious face suddenly grabbed her hair and threw her to the ground. "Look! I found the fish that slipped through the net. Haha!"
It had a ferocious smile on its face, carrying a hideous alloy knife, and walked towards Anakin.
Anakin's eyes were cold, so cold that it made him feel uneasy. He raised the hilt of the sword in his hand tremblingly. Uncontrollable anger and regret surged in his heart. "When there is a kind of powerless fear and sadness in your heart, and a kind of anger that makes you swing the sword for love, you will understand what to do."
Chen Ang's instructions made him snap the last string in his mind. He swung the blazing light blade in his hand fiercely with unprecedented decisiveness and resolution. He kept Chen Ang's teachings in mind and hit the weakest point of the alloy knife with the light blade in his hand.
Using shockwaves and energy, he forced it to reveal its flaws, and then launched an attack like a violent storm. The light blade drew an arc, and with Anakin's roar, it cut off its limbs.
The fiery energy raged through its limbs. Anakin picked it up and grabbed it in his hand. One of the alloy claws stopped in front of his eye socket. "Where did you take my mother?"
The pirate wailed without answering, and then he was treated even more horribly. The intense pain made his mind suddenly clear, "They went to the gate!" he screamed.
Anakin threw its body aside, swung the blade in his right hand, and cut off its head. He looked at Didi Crownella apologetically, and after seeing her stand up despite the pain, he hurried to the city gate.
Along the way, tears welled up in his eyes. She might disappear without a trace, might be injured and killed, or might be scared now. These terrifying thoughts were unbearable for Anakin, and he could only hold the light blade in his hand tighter.
Until he saw that shadow, that warm and familiar figure. She was surrounded by the crowd and was roughly pushed by the mercenary. For a moment, Anakin saw the clear fear on her face, and the shock made him unable to move for a while.
He had never seen his mother afraid before, she had always been the epitome of calm to him, and in one moment she revealed to him a lifetime of fear.
When she saw him, that crazy look immediately disappeared from her eyes, leaving only a deep worry and heartache. "Go!" She silently mouthed to him.
But Anakin did not listen to her this time. He drew out the light blade in his hand and was carried by the crowd towards the group of pirates. The worry in Shmi's eyes became more and more serious, and her anxiety seemed to overflow from her brows. She tried desperately to give him a look, but could only watch him helplessly as he approached the crowd step by step.
Shmi suddenly closed his eyes and rushed towards the pirates with determination, attacking them fiercely with his hands.
"No!" Anakin shouted. He couldn't bear to see her die like this.
A big hand pressed his shoulder, and a familiar voice came from his ear, "I once taught you how much ability you have and how much responsibility you bear, but you don't seem to take it to heart!"
The stern voice and suppressed anger did not frighten Anakin. He burst into tears of joy and held the big hand anxiously, "Teacher, save her!"
