Memories Ch. 4-2

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Anakin yawned and walked into the living room. He scratched at his head and looked at the array of boxes and cartons that were stacked near the front door.

"Ugh. I guess I need to unpack this stuff today." He said to himself.

A soft moan of pain came from the direction of the hallway, and Anakin looked that way to see Sannah slowly walking towards him, an arm crossed over her stomach. She looked up at him, and he could see the pain in her eyes. "My stomach burns."

Anakin laughed, and replied, "Well that's what you get for asking for food so late."

"I wasn't asking for food!" she snapped back as she drew closer.

"Oh? Then what was it for?"

"It was for your face!" She came to a sudden halt a meter or so away from Anakin, surprise etched on her face at her admission.

Anakin smirked. "My face?"

"Uhm..." She dropped her head and looked around.

Anakin laughed, and her head snapped up, fire flashing in her eyes.

"You just wait and see," she threatened.

He laughed again, and she turned around and stomped back towards the bedrooms.

Still chuckling, he looked around at the boxes again, a sight which sobered him immediately. He sighed, not really wanting to unpack. The door buzzer rang and before he could move it opened. He watched silently as Mara Jade walked into the apartment. Today she was wearing traditional Jedi robes and her son, Ben, was held in the crook of one of her arms.

Smiling, she asked, "Where's Jaina?"

Anakin thought for a moment, and then replied, "She had practice today, so she's probably over at the Academy."

"Great. I needed to give her this data disc. Guess, I've got to add that to my list of chores."

Anakin held his hand out. "I'll take it to her."

"Are you sure?"

Anakin nodded his head, and replied, "Yeah, I wanted to watch her practice anyways."

Mara Jade grinned at him and handed over the small disc. "Thanks, Anakin. That will save me a lot of time."

Anakin nodded and then turned away to yell back into the apartment. "Sannah, I'm running an errand and will be back in a bit."

Her voice was small and distant. "Good."

He chuckled and followed Mara out the door. They rode down the lift together in silence. As they stepped out of the building into the bright morning sun, Anakin started heading towards the Jedi Temple while Mara began the walk over to the shopping district. Anakin threw Mara a wave and then turned a corner around the building, happily humming a song to himself as he walked.

Shortly, he was walking through the gates to the Temple, when he heard a voice from behind him call out, "Anakin!"

He turned and saw Kiori Dinn walking towards him. He smiled at her and waited until she was closer.

"Hey Kiori, do you have practice today as well? Or are you here to study? You and Jaina are always so serious."

She shook her head. "No, I'm not on one of the 'saber teams. I... I just came here to get out of the house for a bit."

"Ah," Anakin replied. "A fight with your parents?"

Her eyes clouded for a moment. "Something like that." Then her face brightened as she smiled once again. "You need to be nice to Jaina. She's been real lonely for all the time that I've known her."

"Lonely?" Anakin said.

"Yeah," Kiori replied. "Just... be nice to her. She deserves to be happy, and..."

She did not finish her sentence, but instead walked around Anakin, continuing on towards the main entrance of the Jedi Temple. Anakin watched her walk away. The way she moved, it appeared as if she was carrying a heavy burden on her shoulders. As if there was some knowledge, something, that was weighing her down. I wonder what's wrong? He thought to himself.

Then he shook his head, and made his way around the Jedi Temple, heading towards the saber training area there. Suddenly standing in his path was the white-furred creature. It sat back on its haunches, its head cocked to one side as it watched Anakin. He stopped in his tracks, looking to the left and the right, trying to figure out what was going on. Frowning, he looked closer at the animal. It had soft looking fur, and large ears that rose up from the head and then bent down to drag along the ground. Its large eyes shifted in color-a rolling mixture of greens, blues and yellows.

For a moment, he knew that he had seen those eyes before.

The creature spoke. "Ikrit."

Anakin frowned. "What does 'ikrit' mean? I don't understand."

"Ikirt!" The creature demanded, slapping one small paw to its chest.

"Are you hungry?" Anakin asked while shaking his head.

With a sound that was almost a sigh, it bounded to its feet and dashed away, heading towards the edge of the jungle that was nearby. Anakin watched it run away, frowning as he did so. With a shrug of his shoulders he continued on towards the training area.

Soon the angry buzz of lightsaber blades caught his ears and he continued on. He found an area blocked off by a well-manicured hedge, the sounds of the sabers coming from the far side of it. He turned, following the hedge wall until he came to the opening and then stepped into the saber training area.

He stood in the entry, watching the four young trainees as their blades flashed around them. He recognized Jaina and Raynar, but the other two Anakin didn't know. One was a human male a few years older than Jaina, with well-chiseled features and stony eyes. The other was a lithe Twi'lek girl. They were all dressed in similar outfits; Corellian style pants, leather boots that stopped just short of their knees, and linen tunics.

One of the instructors stood by them. She was dressed in lizard hide armor which showed off long legs. Bits and pieces of shells were braided into her hair, and after a few minutes, he attached a name to her face: Kirana Ti. Anakin watched, awestruck, as the four students flipped around each other, their blades constantly moving blurs of light. A show of acrobatics and sword handling skills.

After a few minutes, the four stopped and bowed to one another and then started listening to something that Kirana Ti was saying. Anakin walked further into the area, and then called out, "Jaina!"

Jaina's head snapped around, away from Kirana Ti and focused on Anakin. A bright, happy smile lit up her face and she jogged over to him.

"Hey Anakin. What's up?"

"Nothing. Aunt Mara asked me to bring this to you," he said while holding out the data chip.

Jaina took it and slid it into a pouch on the side of the belt she was wearing. "Thanks Anakin."

Movement beyond Jaina drew his attention and he focused that way to see that Kirana Ti and Jaina's teammates were standing behind her.

The Jedi Master nodded her head in his direction and said, "Hello Anakin, it's a pleasure to see you again."

"Thank you, Master Ti." Anakin said while bowing to her.

As he straightened, Jaina gestured towards her teammates. "This is my saber team. You know Raynar already, that other guy there is Ganner and the Twi'lek is Daeshara'cor. Guys, this is my little brother, Anakin."

Anakin waved as everyone happily greeted him. After the niceties were over, the others went back to the center of the training area and started stretching again. Jaina cast a quick look behind her and then turned back to him grinning. "Thanks again, Anakin. But I've got to finish training."

"Do you mind if I stay and watch for a little bit?"

She thought for a second, and then shook her head. "Nope. Just don't get in the way."

He nodded his head, and then went to sit on one of the benches which lined the inside of the hedge wall. A few minutes later, the still air was cut with the snap-hiss of igniting lightsabers.

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