Memories Ch. 7-2

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Anakin and Jaina walked out of the apartment building together. They turned down the path, and side by side began the hike to the Jedi Temple. After they had gone a short distance, Jaina looked up at Anakin.

"I wonder if Sannah is okay."

"She definitely ate it all," Anakin replied. "She won't go against Aunt Mara."

Suddenly Jaina stopped and stared at something. Anakin continued for a couple steps before noticing that she had stopped. He then turned and looked at her. Glancing over his shoulder, he looked for what had caught her attention. On top of the wall surrounding the house they were walking next to, sat a white bundle of fur that was curled into a ball asleep.

"It's cute!" Jaina exclaimed.

"What is it?" was Anakin's reply.

"It's a whisperkit! It's a cute whisperkit!"

Anakin arched an eyebrow. "Doesn't look that cute to me."

She turned on him, stomping one foot as she did so. "That's not true! You're strange."

Then she turned back towards the sleeping animal. "I'm going."

She started walking towards it, and Anakin reached out and grabbed her arm. "I thought you were allergic to whisperkits."

She glanced over her shoulder at him. "That's true," she began. Then she turned to face the whisperkit again. "But... but it's cute!"

"Don't you remember--you touched one when we were younger and couldn't stop sneezing for two days?"

She nodded her head. "Yeah, but it's cute."

Then she started pulling against him, trying to free her arm from his grip. "Jaina!" he called out. "Listen to me!"

Finally she broke his grip and rushed forward, pulling the whisperkit off the wall and cuddling it to her chest.

Anakin dropped his head and sighed.

A short while later, Anakin and Jaina walked into their classroom. He had a scowl on his face. Hers was flushed and her eyes were slowly leaking tears. Then she sneezed.

Ignoring her, Anakin took his seat as Jaina took hers. A couple minutes after he had sat down, he noticed Raynar and Kiori walk into the room. They stopped by Jaina's desk, noticing the tears on her face.

"Was Anakin being mean to you again?" Raynar asked.

Jaina looked up at him. "He's always mean, but this..."

"Ah," Kiori said catching on to what must have happened. "Your dander allergies." She then looked over at Anakin. "You should have kept a closer eye on her."

Jaina spoke up in his defense. "He tried to stop me, but the whisperkit was just so cute."

A cough from the front of the room attracted their attention and they saw Master Horn standing there, staring at them sternly. "If the four of you are finished, I'd like to begin my lesson."

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Anakin stepped into the meditation garden. Nelani stood there with her back towards him, her shawl wrapped around her shoulders. A brisk autumn wind whipped through the garden, shaking the tree leaves-leaves which had already began their change, a mixture of reds and oranges and blues.

As if she sensed him, she turned to face him, a smile coming to her face. "Hello, Anakin," she said.

He continued forward, stopping a few steps away from her. "So you came here again today."

She nodded her head. "Obviously."

"If you have that much energy, why don't you start training?"

"Walking is fine," she began, quickly adverting her eyes from him. "But Master Cilghal said I can't begin training just yet."

"Why not rest at home then? If you get better, you'll be able to start right?"

She slowly nodded her head as she considered her words. "But I feel that if I stayed at home, then I would just get worse and worse."

Nelani began to slowly walk through the garden and Anakin fell into step beside her.

"Anakin? Do you remember the promise?"

"Promise?" he asked, confused slightly by her sudden change in topic.

"Yes, you promised that you would go swimming with me."

"Yes..." He replied. "I also remember saying I probably wouldn't go in very deep."

She stopped and turned towards him, smiling brightly. "I'm looking forward to it."

She watched him for a moment more and then waved at him, saying, "Bye."

He nodded his head in reply, and watched her walk away.

Once she had disappeared around the corner, he checked the time on his comlink and then rushed back inside, running through the temple until he arrived at the Great Room. He then slipped behind the stage and dashed up the stairs. Eryl and Tenel Ka were already sitting, and Eyrl was portioning out the boxes of food. She smiled at Anakin as he crested the stairs.

As he finally got to the top, Eyrl said, "Thank you for joining us today, Anakin."

He nodded his head and dropped onto his butt and crossing his legs across the blanket from Tenel Ka, while Eyrl sat to his right.

"Thank you," he said to Eyrl as she handed him a small plate. Then he glanced at Tenel Ka. "So, did they come out again after I left?"

Tenel Ka ignored him, focusing instead on eating.

He sighed. "You can answer, 'yes' or 'no'."

Her eyes flickered up at him for a second before returning back to the food laid out between them. "No."

Anakin thought for a moment. "So sometimes they don't come out?"

She nodded her head, popping a small piece of fruit in her mouth as she did so. From the corner of his eye, Anakin noticed the confused look on Eyrl's face at the arcane nature of his and Tenel Ka's conversation.

Finally her curiosity got the better of her, and she asked, "What are you two talking about?"

Anakin suppressed a grin as he replied. "Her constipation."

Eyrl's eyes snapped open as wide as they could go and her head slowly shifted so that she faced Tenel Ka.

Who was calmly and quietly eating a piece of cheese.

The silence stretched between them and Anakin finally hung his head. He lifted it, looking directly at Tenel Ka. "If you don't deny the things I say, she'll believe me."

Tenel Ka looked at Anakin, her grey eyes seeming to bore into him. Then she turned her attention to Eyrl. "That is not a fact."

Anakin sighed.

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