Memories Chapter 5-1

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A dream...

I'm watching a dream.

A dream where I'm waiting for someone.

Sitting on a bench in the midst of a crowd... all by myself. Waiting for someone who I knew wouldn't come.

Waiting for someone who wouldn't come, no matter how long I wait….

No matter how many hours, days, or years...

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Anakin looked down the hallway and saw her. She was tall, thin and had a warrior's physique that was displayed prominently by the red and green leather armor she wore. One hand grasped a long, ornate sword. Her gray eyes flashed as the moonlight passed over her but her face remained impassive and calm. She appeared almost devoid of emotion and feeling, looking more like a marble statue than a real person.

She stared at him with those cold, gray eyes and Anakin could feel his stomach do a flip. He advanced slowly, cautiously.

"I'm Anakin."

She did not respond.

He stopped a few paces away from her, and continued. "We saw each other a few days ago. My sister, Jaina, ran into you."

He frowned for a moment as she still did not respond.

Gesturing towards the sword she held, he said, "So, what are you doing with that? Are you practicing for some sort of play or a pageant?"

She turned her head away from him and looked out the window.

He felt a flicker across his Force awareness and turned around, looking down the hallway from which he had come. It was empty. He frowned, knowing he felt something that way. Then came that flicker again, it almost felt familiar, but still he saw nothing. Clouds covered the moon, plunging the hallway into shadows. Anakin started to turn back towards Tenel Ka, and from the corner of his eye saw movement.

Before he could react, she was rushing past him and had thrust him against the far wall. He slammed into it with a grunt, and then rolled around to see her running down the hallway, the sword held low. She jumped forward, and sliced down at the empty air, landing in a crouch.

Anakin frowned, wondering what was happening. Carefully, he walked towards her. As he neared, he could see that she was breathing heavily, her chest heaving with each inhale and exhale.

"What's happening?" he asked.

She stood up and still did not respond. Anakin noted that she had gotten her breathing back under control. She stood there, with her back to him and then began to walk away. He reached out and grabbed her shoulder.

"What is it? What are you doing here?"

She slowly turned towards him. Her face an impassive mask as she spoke her first words to him, "Go away."

Anakin frowned at her. "Not until you tell me what you're doing here."

She sighed and then speared him with her gaze. " Because I am the one who hunts demons."

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Anakin pushed open the door, and called out, "I'm home."

Jaina came walking out from the living room to stand before him. "Welcome back, did you bring my notes home?"

Pulling the datapad out from a pocket, he said, "The spoils of war."

She grinned happily and took it from him, replying, "Thank you!"

Anakin stepped further into the apartment. "You know, the security at the Academy isn't that great. I think I might steal Uncle Luke's desk next time."

She frowned. "I don't want that."

Anakin chuckled. "I think I'll go get a bath now."

He walked to his room, as Jaina went into hers. As he entered, movement caught the corner of his eye and he turned towards it to find himself looking at his reflection in his mirror. He stared at himself for a moment and then said, "What was that?"

Sighing, he stripped and then wrapped a towel around his waist. He then left his room and walked down the hallway to the 'fresher. Without bothering to knock, he opened the door and stepped into the room. A blast of warm, humid air struck him, and he looked down at the tub to find Sannah in it, a mound of bubbles surrounding her. A soapy cloth held in one hand and was raised to her opposite shoulder.

Shock registered on her face, and she stared at Anakin while he stared back.

"Hey... Hey!" He finally managed. Then he lifted his hand to scratch at the back of his head. "Sorry, I wasn't paying attention and didn't notice you in here."

She just continued to stare at him. He frowned for a moment and wondered just what he should do. Before he could figure it out, he realized that he was speaking, "Well, to meet in a place like this, it must be fate." He took a step further into the 'fresher. "So, let's take a bath tog-"

She finally reacted, her scream cut him off in mid sentence and he stepped backwards out of the room quickly, holding up his hands.

"Hey, I was just joking."

A wave of water slammed into him, and he sputtered in shock. Then a bottle of some type of cleanser slammed into his nose. Finally, she pushed past him and darted out into the hall. Anakin rubbed at his nose, glanced around him and then continued on into the 'fresher to take his bath.

Around a half hour later, he stepped out of the bath, and looked to the left to find Sannah standing a short distance down the hallway, a towel wrapped around her chest, her dark brown hair hanging limp against her head and her arms crossed beneath her breasts. Shivers wracked her body as she stood there, staring at Anakin.

"What's wrong? That puzzled face," he said.

"I'm not puzzled! I'm so cold, I could cry."

He shrugged his shoulders. "I guess you were always puzzled like that."

Her lips compressed to a thin line for a moment. "It's not that I'm puzzled, it's that I'm living with someone dangerous like you."

"It would have been just fine for us to bathe together," He replied. "After all, since we live together, something like this has to be okay, right?"

"Like that would hachoo." Her body bent slightly with her sneeze.

"Making up words?"

Anger flickered on her face. "'Like that would happen' and my sneeze just got mixed together."

"It's because you jumped out without drying off." Anakin replied, a knowing smirk on his face.

She stared at him for a moment more and then walked closer and tried to push past him to go into the 'fresher.

He stopped her. "Sannah, can you say 'One who hunts demons' ten times real fast?"

Sannah looked at him, and blinked her eyes a few times. Finally she nodded. "One who hunts demons... One who hunts demons... One who hunts de-"

She stopped suddenly in mid-sentence, a hand flying to cover her mouth. After a moment, she lowered it, and looked up at Anakin again, this time with pain in her eyes. "I bit my tongue."

Anakin laughed and said, "I thought you would."

She pushed him out of the way. "Remember this," she warned and then she stormed into the 'fresher, slamming the door behind her.

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