Memories Ch. 5-3

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Anakin watched as Jaina dashed down the stairs. Once she had disappeared, he turned to walk down the hall. He wandered a bit, until he arrived at the hallway where he had met with Tenel Ka the previous night. As he once more turned down that hall, he saw her standing there, staring out the same window as before. Today she was dressed in the more traditional Jedi robes rather than the leather armor, but her hair was still tied back into a single, long braid. There she is, he thought.

He walked up to her and leaned against the glass. "Hey, Tenel Ka."

She did not respond.

"We met about here last night."

She still did not respond.

He frowned for a moment, before continuing. "So, why were you here last night? And what was up with that sword?"

She still did not respond.

She talks less than I do, he thought to himself as his frown deepened. "Uhm... are you part of a play? Or some club that uses real swords rather than lightsabers? And what is a demon?"

She still did not respond.

He sighed. "Oh come on, give me an answer. You can answer 'yes' or 'no' or anything at all would be okay."

She finally looked away from the window; amusement flashed through her gray eyes as she simply said, "Yes."

Anakin arched an eyebrow at her. "You didn't have to take that so literally."

She just turned back to look out the window, not bothering to respond to him verbally. He sighed again.

A call came from down the hallway, "Tenel Ka! Sorry!"

Anakin turned that way, to see Eryl walking towards them. She stopped a few paces away from them, a shocked expression on her face. She quickly schooled her features. "Huh, oh, uhh, hello, Anakin. Were you having a conversation with Tenel Ka?"

Anakin glanced at Tenel Ka, waiting to see if she would respond. After a few seconds, he realized that she wouldn't so he turned back towards Eryl. "Well, Tenel Ka just confessed to me her undying love."

Eyrl's grin grew even larger. "Oh! A love confession! How sweet." Then she glanced around the hallway. "Though, not the most romantic place to do it at."

Anakin snapped his head back to look at Tenel Ka, noticing that she was just calmly watching Eryl and himself. He sighed, and said to her, "You know that you're supposed to deny it, right? Now she believes me."

Confusion colored Eryl's features.

"It is not a fact." Tenel Ka said.

Anakin sighed. "It's too late now."

"So," Eryl said. "If it wasn't a confession, then what were you talking about?"

Anakin shrugged his shoulders. "Just normal things."

An amazed expression appeared on Eryl's face as she looked away from Anakin and towards Tenel Ka. "You were talking to Tenel Ka about normal things?" She returned her attention to Anakin, a big grin appearing on her face. "So, do you want to eat lunch with us?"

Anakin thought about it for a moment, and then slowly nodded his head.

He fell into step behind Eryl as she led them all through the temple, up to the Grand Audience Chamber and then through a hidden door at the back of the stage until they came to a another stairwell which led to a small alcove overlooking the larger chamber. Anakin looked around, and then leaned over the edge to look down the winding staircase that led up here.

"This must be the highest point inside the Academy."

Eryl nodded her head as she spread out a blanket. After she had smoothed it out, the three of them sat down on it, Eryl and Tenel Ka across from one another with Anakin off to the side. Then Eryl pulled out a couple of bundles tied up in large napkins.

Setting the bundles down, she grinned as she said, "Here we go!"

She deftly untied them, revealing a number of trays of lunch foods. Eryl looked between Anakin and Tenel Ka. "Eating lunch like this makes it taste even better."

Anakin nodded his head, "Yeah. It's kind of like a picnic."

He then picked up the first bite and tossed it into his mouth, chewing happily. He grunted with pleasure as he swallowed.

Eryl glanced at him, her head tilted slightly to one side. "What's wrong?"

"Delicious..." he began, an awed expression appearing on his face. He looked up from the food and directly at Eryl. "So, you made this?"

"Yes..."

Anakin straightened slightly. "Then you pass."

"Pass what?"

"To become my wife."

Eryl giggled at him. "You must not have high standards if this is all that it takes to become your wife."

"No," Anakin replied, shaking his head slightly. "This is delicious, it's even better than my aunt's cooking."

"Thank you," she responded with a slight blush.

Anakin looked away from Eryl's blushing face and noticed that Tenel Ka had been steadily eating while he and Eryl had been talking. As he watched, she picked something else up and popped it into her mouth. Eryl caught Anakin's stare and turned to watch Tenel Ka as well.

With both of them watching her Tenel Ka stopped eating. Her eyebrows came together in a scowl as her eyes flicked back and forth between the two of them.

Anakin looked down at the food again, and then with a grin, asked, "Do you want something?"

Tenel Ka watched him for a moment, and then in a soft voice said, "Tempari."

Anakin calmly grabbed one of the plates and placed a piece of the tempari on it, and then passed it over to her, saying, "Here."

She ate the food and Anakin grinned. Then he grabbed all the trays and pulled them closer to himself.

"What are you doing, Anakin?" Eryl asked.

Anakin ignored her and thought to himself, I feel like I win when I get her to talk.

He finally looked up at Tenel Ka and said, "If you want something, I'll get it for you. Ask for anything you want."

"Nerf sausage," she replied.

"Yes!" Anakin yelled. Then he looked down at the trays in front of him. "Nerf sausage is one of the big, gray ones."

He picked her plate back up and put some of the sausage on it and then passed it back to her. As she ate it, he asked, "Do you like nerf sausage?"

"I don't hate it," she responded.

"Do you like the nerf? Or the sausage?"

She chewed as she thought for a moment. "Nerf."

Eryl giggled again and then said, "You're definitely a very interesting person, Anakin."

Before long, the food was gone and the three cleaned up their mess. Tenel Ka and Eryl began to walk down the stairs. Then Eryl stopped and turned back to look at him. "If you want, you can eat with us again."

Anakin nodded his head, saying, "Well, you've already seduced me with your cooking."

Then Eryl turned to look at Tenel Ka, who had stopped when Eryl had. "Does it bother you to have him eat with us?"

Tenel Ka slowly turned to look at Eryl. Then she looked up at Anakin. A moment later she returned her attention to Eryl. "Not really."

Eryl clapped her hands happily. "Great! Then I'll cook enough for three from now on."

"I'll look forward to it," he said. The girls once more started down the stairs, and he then called out, "I'll see you later."

Once they had disappeared, Anakin started down the steps and walked back into the Grand Audience Chamber. He looked around for a moment and then walked over to one of the windows. He looked out, and saw a small figure standing in one of the gardens. From his vantage point, he could just make out the shawl she had wrapped around her shoulders.

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