Secret Rendezvous

Secret rendezvous, she suddenly realized, were only fun when they stayed secret.

Much to Tahiri's dismay, this rendezvous had not stayed secret. She watched in utter shock and dismay as most of the Jedi that were near their age, plus a few non-Jedi that were close friends with Anakin's family emerged from hiding and screaming "Surprise!"

She just didn't know what to say.

Which of course meant that her mouth was running without her actually being in control of it. Though she would never tell Anakin that particular fact.

No, secret rendezvous were nowhere near as fun when they were no longer secret.

So, she looked around, trying to find the one person who knew what her plans regarding this rendezvous were. Finally, she saw her. The girl she had to punch for ruining her plans. Anakin's sister, Jaina.

Jaina was a few years older than her, and had the curves to prove it. Though she was a bit shorter than Tahiri, and perpetually covered in grease, she even now was the subject of glances and looks taking a bit more than a glance.

Tahiri was just glad that she wasn't competing with her over Anakin's attentions; bad enough that she was competing with both Rar twins as a set and Sannah.

She slipped her hand out of Anakin's and stomped her way through the crowd until she stood next to Jaina. Jaina for her part was ignoring Tahiri, focused much more on her conversation with Zekk as they discussed whether purple korsch or green korsch were the better tasting.

Tahiri couldn't stand korsch at all, so she had absolutely zero concern for their conversation. Instead of waiting for a break in it, she pushed Zekk out of the way, tossing him a malicious grin, and said, "I'm stealing Jaina for a bit."

Before either could protest, she grabbed the older girl by the arm and dragged her off into the corner just as somebody turned on some loud, thumping music.

"What's wrong," Jaina shouted into her ear.

For a moment, Tahiri wondered if she should tell Jaina in such a public place but she realized then that with the music as loud as the others had turned it on, she didn't have to worry about being overheard.

"You kriffing well know what's wrong," she finally screamed in response. "I told you my plans for tonight."

Jaina's eyes widened slightly, as her mouth formed a slight "O" shape. "I'm so sorry Tahiri, I had forgotten all about it when we planned for tonight, and I thought you knew we were planning the party when you grabbed Anakin and pulled him away and said that the two of you would be back later."

"No! I didn't! That was what we agreed I'd say so you'd get everyone out of the apartment."

Tahiri could feel the beginnings of a headache, as some part of her wondered why the kids that were raised on the Core worlds liked this thumping music. As Jaina answered her, she realized that she had actually spoken her internal musings.

Waving away that, she then asked, "Well, how am I going to get some alone time with him when all these people are here?"

Jaina shrugged her shoulders, as she replied, "I don't know."

"It's your fault so you have to tell me."

Jaina's lips twitched into a frown. "Why do you want that anyways?"

Tahiri thought that Jaina was just so slow sometimes. She knew that most of their mutual friends knew of her crush on Anakin, and she was fairly certain Jaina's twin brother knew.

Sighing, she screamed at Jaina, "Kriff, Jaina, you know I'm in love with Anakin."

She blinked as she suddenly realized two things.

The first was that the music had stopped about the same time as she had said the word "know." The second was that she could feel Anakin's Force presence blazing brilliantly as always, though this time he was right behind her.

Horror etched itself onto Jaina's face as Tahiri's started burning a bright red, visible even through her perpetual tan.

Slowly, she turned to face Anakin, looking up into his blue eyes, she swallowed. He had a slight blush on his cheeks, and his eyes twinkled with amusement. AMUSEMENT! Her eyes flickered around all of their friends, before settling onto Anakin once again.

He opened his mouth to say something. She just knew that it was something that she did not want to hear, so instead she just quickly shook her head, and pushing past him, darted away.

No, she thought to herself yet again. Secret rendezvous were definitely no fun when they weren't kept secret.

She ran from the room, heading deeper into the Solo's apartment.

She ran past four doors, and darted into the fifth. It was a bedroom, and she sat on the edge of the bed, and covered her face with her hands as tears began to flow.

So, it was there as she sat on the bed, her face covered with her hands, tears streaming down either cheek, that he found her.

He laid a gentle hand on her shoulder, as he spoke her name, "Tahiri?"

She looked up at him, and blinked through the tears. His face had stilled, his ice-blue eyes actually warm for once, and she found that she just could not look away from him.

"Are you okay?"

She nodded her head slowly. "Y-yeah, I'm okay..."

He grinned, "Good. Uhm..."

She sighed as she watched him, wondering yet again what it was that always seemed to draw him to her. He was the son of the Chief of State, the nephew to THE Jedi Master. What in the Force would he ever see in her. She wasn't even that pretty; especially compared to others, like his sister or Alema.

"I don't know how to answer that," he said.

In horror she realized that once again, she had just spoken the thoughts as they ran through her head. She once again lowered her face into her hands, as she felt tears burning her eyes.

"But, I do have to say that I think you're the the most amazing girl I've ever met."

She blinked, and slowly lifted her head until she was able to see him. With the back of one hand, she scrubbed at her eyes, trying to wipe away the tears. She felt her mind, and her mouth, go perfectly still, as if everything about her could not believe what he was saying.

"Y-you... do?" She finally managed to stammer out.

Grinning slightly, he held out his hand towards her. "Yeah, I do."

She smiled, and slipped her slim hand into his, and allowed him to pull her into a standing position. Once there, he wrapped his arms around her, and leaned in close.

"For the record," he said, that grin still tugging at one side of his lips. "I'm in love with you too."