Memories Ch. 6-4

Previous Post

---

Anakin closed the distance between them, stopping a few steps away from Nelani. As he looked down at her, she continued to smile happily up at him. Finally, he said, "What are you doing here today?"

She lifted her chin a bit more, staring into his eyes. "Why are you here?"

"I just came to watch my sister practice," he replied.

Nelani frowned for a moment and then looked around the garden. "But there's no one practicing here."

Anakin's eyes narrowed for a moment, and then he looked over her head towards the fountain. "Well, truly, I was thinking of digging a trap. One designed for people walking around when they're sick and supposed to be in bed."

"Wah!" She replied, her eyes widening slightly. Then she half turned away from him, glancing towards him from the corner of her eyes. "I don't like it when people say things like that."

Anakin arched one of his eyebrows. "Nelani?"

"Yes?" She replied, turning to face him fully once again.

"Have you been waiting here since noon?"

Surprise flickered onto her face, and she smiled at him hesitantly. "Yes... yes I was."

He sighed, slowly shaking his head. "It's because you do things like this that you're not getting better." He painted a stern expression on his face. "What do you think you're doing?"

Her face dropped, and she glanced away from him. "It's kind of weird," she said. Then she turned from him fully, watching the fountain. "I know no one is here... but I'm standing here and no one comes. But I couldn't move away from here. Maybe being caught in that feeling... In the end, being alone until now..."

Her head lowered slightly as she paused in her speech. After a moment, she spun around towards him, a hesitant smile on her face, as she said, "It's kind of stupid, isn't it?"

She moved, so that one of her shoulders was facing Anakin, then a breeze snapped through the garden and she shivered. Anakin sighed and took off his jacket, draping it around her shoulders. "Yeah, it's stupid."

She paused, standing still as if she were a trapped animal. Finally she lowered her head, and twisting the edges of the jacket in her hands, murmured in a soft voice, "It's warm."

He stood there, his hands on her shoulders and then looked up at the sky. The sun was just beginning to touch the horizon, casting the normal blue hue of the sky into a symphony of reds and oranges.

"The sunset is amazing," he said with a touch of awe in his voice.

She turned, and leaned her back against him, looking at the sunset. "Yes," she replied.

"Nelani?" Anakin began. "Answer me something... honestly."

"If it's not my weight or my sizes... then I guess I can answer."

"Why do you come here everyday? Do you have a reason?"

She paused for a moment, and then replied, "I don't know myself. I guess I'm searching for the reason I don't know." Then her voice took on a mischievous tilt. "How was that as a response?" She glanced over her shoulder, looking up at him. "It was a wizard response, wasn't it?"

"Nope."

Her eyes widened and she stepped away from him so that she could turn to face him. As she moved, he dropped his hands from her shoulders. "That was mean," she said. "I thought so hard on the answer."

Anakin chuckled and then glanced towards the horizon again. "Shavit."

Nelani looked scandalized. "Such language. What's wrong?"

"I'm supposed to meet someone in the shopping district at sunset. I'm late. Not good."

He turned to go.

"Anakin!" Nelani called out. He paused and looked at her.

She held out his jacket towards him. "Your jacket."

He felt himself blush slightly as he took it from her. "You'll be okay getting home?"

She nodded her head.

"Then bye!" he called out as he ran from the garden.

A short while later, Anakin darted into the courtyard in front of the theater. He paused at the entrance, looking around for Tahiri.

Then he saw her. She was sitting on a wooden bench, her head bowed, an air of melancholy surrounding her. "Tahiri!" he called.

She lifted her head, looking towards him and instantly the expression on her face changed from one of near despair to a brilliant smile.

"Anakin!" she called back.

He ran the rest of the way over to her, and between pants, said, "Sorry I'm late, I had a lot to do."

"No," she replied. "I'm just glad you came."

Anakin looked down at her. "What? Didn't feel like dressing up today?"

He then turned and started walking towards the doors to the theater.

"I like this shirt." She said as she fell into step beside him. Then she started to giggle, a bright, happy smile lighting up her face.

"Are you that happy to see a movie?"

"Watching a movie is fun..." she began. "But what I really like is when the person I'm waiting for comes. Then I can be glad that I was waiting."

"Sounds like you're making things up."

"No! I wouldn't do that."

Anakin watched her as they walked; watched her smile. The way the joy seemed to shine through her eyes. And the way her hair seemed to bounce with her every step. "Waiting, huh..."

Something in the way she talked about waiting, reminded him of something. But like so many other things, he couldn't grasp the memory fully. He could only get the knowledge that there should be a connection there. He sighed and gave up trying to figure it out as he opened the door to the theater, holding it for Tahiri to enter.

Anakin stopped before a poster advertising one of the movies currently playing. Tahiri stopped beside him. "I wanted to see this," he began. "It's supposed to be really scary. Supposedly they banned it on Garqi because some old guy had a heart attack during it."

He looked down at her, and noticed that she was biting at her lower lip. He nodded his head towards the doors that led into the theater. "Come on, let's go inside."

He walked that way, hearing the shuffle of her steps behind him.

---

Next Post