Memories Ch. 7-1

Previous Post

---

Anakin's eyes snapped open. He looked up at the ceiling in the dark, wondering what woke him. Stretching out with the Force, he reached for his sister and found her in a deep sleep. About to roll over and go back to sleep himself, he reached for Sannah in the Force as well, and felt the mischievous tint of her thoughts approaching his room. Sighing, he slipped out of bed and folded his blankets so that in the darkness of his room it appeared he was still sleeping in the bed. Then he went and stood in the corner near the door.

A few moments later, the knob turned and the door opened a crack. He could hear her mischievous chuckle from the far side of it, and slowly shook his head. The door opened the rest of the way and she snuck in, heading straight for his bed.

As she reached for his covers, Anakin stepped out from his hiding place and slapped the lights control. The bright overhead lights flooded the room, and Sannah jumped backwards, yelping in surprise. She spun around to face him, and Anakin just watched her for a moment.

Finally, he asked, "What are you doing up this late?"

"Uhmm..." she began. "I came over to play!" Then she smiled brightly, tossing her hands into the air.

"You're lying," Anakin accused. A flash of metal attracted his attention, and he focused on the object she held in one hand.

"What's that?" he asked.

She dropped her hands, and looked at the pair of scissors she was holding. Her brow creased slightly, and then she smiled as she looked up at him. "I... I... I wanted to make paper dolls with you!"

Anakin looked at her for a moment. "You were going to cut my hair weren't you?"

She quickly began waving her hands. "No! Not at all." Then she started looking around the room. "Where's some flimsies..."

Then she glanced towards his desk, where he had a stack of flimsies in a neat orderly pile. "Ah! Found it," she exclaimed happily.

She turned her back on Anakin and rushed to the desk. He could hear the snips of the scissors.

"Hey!" he called out, uncertain of what she was doing.

Within moments, she turned back to him, and held out a string of human shapes cut from the flimsies, a bright smile lighting her face. She stepped towards him, and held out the dolls in his direction. On instinct he took it.

"This is such fun!" she said.

Anakin looked closer at the paper dolls, noticing some text on the paper. He then took a closer look, and groaned at what he saw. "This... this is my homework." His eyes snapped up from the cut up paper to Sannah. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Was it important?" She asked innocently.

Anakin sighed and covered his face with one hand. "I copied it from Jaina... and I know I can't turn it in like this..."

She just smiled happily at him, and danced from the room, calling out over her shoulder, "Good night!"

He watched her go, and then turned his attention back to his desk - and the small shards of his homework.

"Geez..."

------------------------------

The next morning, Anakin sat across from Jaina as she happily spread jam over her sliced toast. Under her breath, she kept repeating the phrase "strawberry jam," making a sort of song out of it.

Once she returned the knife to the jar of jam, Anakin asked her, "You've always liked strawberry jam, haven't you?"

She nodded her head. "Yeah. It used to be something special we'd get on vacation or when mom had some free time--but since Aunt Mara took up cooking, she's enjoyed making jams and jellies so she always makes sure that I have some."

Movement attracted Anakin's attention and he looked towards the doorway, noticing Mara leading Sannah into the kitchen. He watched as Sannah rubbed at her face and then dropped into the chair next to Jaina.

Jaina turned to her and said, "Good morning, Sannah. You're up early."

Sannah nodded her head. "Yeah, I was woken up..."

Mara snickered. "You have to work in the crèche today. You don't want to be late on your first day do you?"

Sannah sighed. "Work..."

Anakin arched an eyebrow as he looked at her. "If you don't work, you shouldn't eat. Try working hard."

Mara suddenly gasped. "That's right! Since she found a job, we should bring that out to celebrate!"

Anakin's eyes snapped to Jaina's and he found the fear he felt mirrored in her eyes.

Sannah turned to watch as Mara darted from the room. "What's 'that?'"

Mara returned to the kitchen within moments, carrying a jar filled with a honey colored substance. She proudly set it onto the table. "It's my special jam."

She then looked at Sannah. "You've not tried it yet? Right?"

Sannah leaned forward to get a closer look at the jam, and then nodded her head slowly. "Yeah, this is my first time seeing it."

Mara then turned to Anakin and Jaina. "Won't you eat too?"

Jaina quickly raised her hands. "Sorry, Aunt Mara, but I'm full now."

"Yeah, me too," Anakin said, nodding his head in agreement.

He then glanced at Sannah, noticing that she had removed the lid and was sniffing at the jam. She glanced towards Mara. "It smells weird."

Anakin watched in horror as Mara spread a large dollop of the jam onto a slice of toast. Jaina's thoughts flickered across the Force and into his mind. She sure is spreading a lot.

Anakin nodded his head and sent back to her, all we can do is watch.

Mara then handed the toast to Sannah and said, "Eat up and get ready for work."

Sannah grinned happily at Mara. "Then, thanks!"

She put the toast to her mouth and took a large bite. Her eyes suddenly widened, tears forming at their corners.

"How is it?" Mara asked. "Do you like it?"

Without removing the toast, Sannah glanced at Jaina who quickly averted her gaze. Then she looked up at Mara, who was still happily smiling down at her. "Make sure to eat it all."

Sannah made a small whimpering sound in the back of her throat.

Mara looked down at the jar, and said, "And don't forget, we have a lot of it left too."

Then Sannah made the small whimpering sound again, as she swallowed.

---

Next Post