Memories, Ch. 21

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Anakin once more recognized the dream.

They were standing inside one of the Massassi temples, silk webs where everywhere, a weak shaft of light came in through one of the windows. They stood side-by-side, staring down into the darkness. He reached down, and found a thigh bone. Frowning at it, he stuck the bone into the web and twirled it, wrapping the web around the end of the bone. Then he pulled out a multitool from his pocket, and turned on the igniter, setting fire to the webbing.

Tahiri stepped into the shaft of light, holding the small, winged doll he had given her. The one he had told her would grant wishes. She raised it up by the thin string loop that came from the back of its head, watching as it swung back and forth in front of her eyes. They were dark with fear, glittering slightly in the flickering light of their torch.

"For my second wish.... I wish that we'd always be together. That we'd be here training with each other; that I'd get to go home with you; that you'd always be my friend. That you'll always be by my side." She looked up at him. "Is that okay?"

He nodded his head. "I promised that I'd grant anything that I can." Then he smiled at her. "Tell you what. This is our special place. It's not the praxeum, but it's our school. One just for us, where we don't have to deal with tests or training. Where we can do whatever we want, and whenever I come back for training, we'll come here."

She smiled back at him. "And we'll have canapés every day for lunch?"

He snorted with laughter. "Well, everyday is a bit much..."

"But we'll meet here, right?"

"Right."

"Good," she replied. "Then it's a promise.

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His alarm clock went off, and he sat up. He looked around, and sighed. Then he rolled out of bed and stretched. Walking over to the clock, he pressed the button to deactivate the alarm. He continued forward, walking towards the door to the balcony, his fingers trailing lightly over Tahiri's backpack as he walked past it.

He opened the curtain, staring out at the bright morning sunlight. He lifted his hand, staring down at the dirt that stained it, the dirt that was still caked beneath his fingernails.

In his mind, he heard Tahiri's voice once again. I'm sorry, Anakin. I... I don't think I'll be able to meet you anymore.

Sighing, he allowed the curtain to close and went to get ready for his day.

Once clean and dressed, he walked into the kitchen. Mara looked up from her cup of caf and nodded her head once, sharply. "Good morning, Anakin."

He smiled weakly for her, and glanced over, noticing Jaina already dressed and eating a slice of toast. "And I see you're up early this morning."

The toast paused just shy of Jaina's mouth. "So, Tahiri didn't come back last night?"

"Yeah," he replied, turning away from his sister.

"What could have happened?" she asked. "Could she have gone home?"

He felt Mara's stare, and turned towards her. One of her eyebrows arched slightly. "Anakin, if you're not feeling well, I'm sure I can convince your uncle to give you the day off."

He merely shook his head in reply, walking into the kitchen to get his breakfast.

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Anakin had lunch with Jaina in the Academy's cafeteria.

He pushed the food from one side of his plate to the other, not really hungry.

Jaina chewed thoughtfully, "So you don't have any way to contact her? Not her address nor her comm number?"

"Nope," he replied sullenly. "I never asked her for them."

She finally noticed that he wasn't eating. "You've got to eat properly. You've not touched your lunch, and you didn't finish your breakfast."

He shook his head. "I just don't have any appetite."

Jaina lowered her head slightly. "You really love her, don't you..."

Frowning, he lifted his head. "What did you say?"

She quickly shook her head. "No, it's nothing."

After training was over for the day, Anakin retraced the path he had traveled with Tahiri the night before. Following the river, deep into the woods until he came to the broken, blasted Temple. He stared hard at the rubble, wondering what had happened there so many years ago.

Sighing, he turned away, and went back to the town. He found himself wondering through the shopping district, ending up in the small park which contained the bench that he would meet Tahiri at.

He dropped his chin to his chest. It was as if he could almost see her sitting on that bench, an angry scowl on her face as she chided him for being late.

He sucked in a deep breath of air, fighting back the urge to break down into tears.

"Anakin!" Jaina called out from behind him.

He turned, and saw her walking towards him.

"Have you found Tahiri yet?" she asked when she got within a few meters of him.

"No," he replied. "I had thought... had hoped, that she'd come if I waited here, but..."

"Here? Why?"

He smiled. "Because I always waited for her here."

"I see..."

Later, they were sitting at one of the small tables at Poltz. Jaina with a cup of tea in front of her, Anakin nursing a cup of caf. Jaina slowly stirred some sweetener into her cup, and then set aside her spoon.

She lifted her eyes to stare at him. "I asked some of the other trainees, the ones that have non-Jedi family. None of them know anything about a school near that burned out temple."

"Okay," he replied, taking a sip of his caf.

A strained silence stretched between them, and he noticed Jaina frowning at him, yet he couldn't bring himself to care.

Finally, she broke it. "Did you find what Tahiri had lost?"

"No," he replied. "Come to think of it, everything's just strange. That temple. Tahiri's lost item... and... and why don't I remember?"

He sighed as he stared out the window.

"Don't worry," Jaina said, smiling at him. "I'm sure she'll come back, after all you've got her bag, and it's her favorite, right?"

"Yeah," he replied, a weak smile appearing on his lips. "That's right."

He knew what his sister was trying to do, and though in his heart, he wondered if he would ever see Tahiri again, he was still happy that Jaina was trying so hard to cheer him up.

Then Jaina started waving her hand at a waitress, and he looked up. She was grinning, as she called out, "Excuse me! Can we get two strawberry parfaits over here please?"

The server droid beeped in acknowledgement and rolled back towards the kitchen.

Anakin frowned at her, and she smiled brightly at him. "If you eat something tasty, you'll cheer up."

He chuckled, shaking his head slightly.

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Anakin and Jaina stepped into their apartment. He looked around and saw Mara Jade sitting on one of the couches, bouncing Ben on her knee.

"Hey, Aunt Mara. We're home," he called out to her.

She looked up and over at them. "Welcome back."

"So, did Tahiri com while we were at the Academy?"

Slowly, Mara shook her head. "No."

"I see," Anakin replied, frowning down at his shoes.

Then he walked down the hall towards his room. He could almost make out Jaina and Mara talking, but pushed it from his mind, and went in. Dropping his school bag on the floor by the door, he walked over to his desk, and picked up Tahiri's bag. He opened it and once more looking in all its pockets, frowning at the fact that it was perfectly empty.

"Nothing that might be a clue," he muttered under his breath.

Dropping into his chair, he spun it around so that it faced out the window. He could see a slice of sky and noticed that it had taken on the orange and red hues of a sunset. His voice was nothing but a pained whisper, as he said, "Tahiri..."

There was a knock on his door, and he turned back towards it as Jaina pushed it open.

"Hey Anakin, have you done your assignment yet?"

He frowned and shook his head.

"Good," she replied, smiling at him. "Then we can split up the workload."

Five minutes later, they were sitting on stools beside each other at a workbench in her room, their assignment spread out around them.

He looked at his sister, frowning slightly. "You do know that we don't have to work together on this."

She nodded. "I know. But we have an easier workload like this. It's not just for you that I decided to do it this way, you know."

Anakin barked a short, sharp laugh. "Ah, so you're just after making your life easier."

"Well, then, does that mean you're going to do all of it by yourself?"

She smiled brightly at him, and he sighed, looking down at the workbook he had opened in front of him. "So, which ones am I in charge of?"

Leaning towards him, she pointed out a few different problems.

A short while later, he finished making notations in his datapad and then lifted his head, and looked around. He frowned as he saw Jaina stretched out on the floor, snoring lightly.

"Hey, Jaina. If you're going to sleep, sleep on your bed."

"Go 'way, 'Kin. I'm sleepy."

He sighed, and shook his head. Standing, he walked over to her bed, and pulled the comforter off of it, and then returned to her side, and gently laid it out over her.

Sighing contentedly, she pulled the cover up to her cheeks and snuggled down into it.

Smiling, Anakin turned away and left the room, pulling the door closed behind him. Right before he closed it, he looked back into it, and said, "Thank's for cheering me up."

Then the door was closed, and he walked across the hallway, returning to his own room.

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A stiff cold breeze slashed through his light jacket. True Night had fallen, and with it came nearly freezing temperatures and nearly perfect darkness, made worse by the darkness of the forest they were traveling through. The only part of his body that seemed warm was his right hand, where it was tightly clasped by a pair of hands. He cast a glance over his shoulder to see who was clinging to his hand, and saw a 9 year old Tahiri. He turned back to face the direction he was walking.

"Anakin, it's dark out here," she whined, a hint of fear in her voice. "I'm scared."

"Don't worry, I'm with you," he replied.

"Yeah..."

He tossed another grin over his shoulder. "Besides, that temple is in a clearing, there'll be more light there when we get there."

They walked a dozen more meters in silence, when she suddenly squeezed his hand tighter. "Don't let go of my hand, okay?"

"Yeah, I have you tight."

She fell into silence again, and they stepped out of the forest into the clearing to look up at the temple. Ominous in the daytime, it sent a superstitious chill racing down his spine looking at it in the nearly perfect darkness.

Tahiri pulled her hand from his, making a gasping noise. She rushed over towards the bushes and began digging. A few moments later she pulled a metal canister with a faded Alliance symbol on its side. Standing, she lifted the canister up and held it out towards him. "Anakin? Have you ever heard of a time capsule?"

He frowned. "Yeah, it's something you put stuff into and bury or put into space so it can be looked at sometime in the future."

Her smile dazzled him. "Do you think we can use this for that?"

He took the canister from her and unscrewed the top, looking into it. "Yeah, I think it's airtight. What are you going to put into it?"

She took the canister, leaving him holding the lid, as her free hand dug into her pocket. She held up the small doll that he had given her, and said, "This!" She paused, frowning slightly. "Or do you not want me to?"

"You can, but you still have one wish left."

"I've had two wishes granted," she said as she smiled down at the small doll. "So that's enough for me. This last one is for the future me... or... or it's for someone else who needs it."

"But... but I'm the one who grants the wish."

She dropped the doll into the canister, and took the lid from him, screwing it on tight. "Good luck then."

She giggled as she knelt down, and grabbed a stick. Using that, she quickly dug a hole and then dropped the canister into it. After covering the canister up, she stood, wiping her hands on the legs of her jumpsuit.

Anakin looked around, frowning. "Will we be able to find it without any markers?"

"We'll definitely be able to find it," she replied, beaming a smile at him. "When there's someone who needs it, it'll appear."

A short while later, they are once more at the Praxeaum, standing just outside the bright glow coming from the still open hanger. Tahiri turned towards him. "Tomorrow, we're going back…"

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The next day, Jaina and Anakin walked together, heading towards the Temple.

He looked over at her. "Hey, Jaina, why did you stay on Yavin all these years?"

She stumbled slightly, and then looked at him for a moment, before turning away. "I... I had to complete my training. I was Aunt Mara's apprentice after all."

"Ah," he replied. "That's right. So, you two spent a lot of time together?"

She quickly nodded. "Yeah. I love her a lot, and she's helped me through a whole bunch of things."

"But wasn't it lonely without ever seeing mom or dad?"

Jaina lowered her chin for a moment. "A little, but they did come here to Yavin a few times. And there was Aunt Mara and Uncle Luke."

"I see."

"But you're here now, so I have even more family."

He chuckled. "True."

Then she lifted her face towards the sun. "But it would be nice for Tahiri to come back..."

After training was over for the day, Anakin, Raynar and Jaina were in the woods on the path leading to the remains of the temple from his dreams. The one which Tahiri had told him was her school.

Raynar looked over at him, leaning against the shovel he was using. "And are you sure that Tahiri's lost... thing is here?"

Anakin nodded his head. "Yeah, at least this is near where she was digging."

"Well," he replied, once more digging the shovel into the ground. "I've got nothing better to do right now, so I'm good."

"Sorry, and thanks."

A few minutes later, Jaina sighed. "It's not around here at all."

Raynar looked over at her. "Well, if there were a few more people, we could probably find it faster but..."

"But," Jaina continued for him. "We can't help it since we can't ask Kiori."

Anakin grunted, not really interested in talking about Nelani. He felt his two companions staring at his back, but just continued digging. After a few moments, he heard them begin to dig once more.

Suddenly, Jaina's spade clunked against something hard. Both Anakin's and Raynar's head snapped towards her, as she drugged her hands through the loose dirt. With a quick tug, she yanked out the shell of a mouse droid. Holding it up so they could see, she shook her head. "This isn't it, is it?"

Anakin sighed, and turned back to his own hole. "No..."

As night neared, the three turned back to the path, and looked down it, seeing the three dozen holes they had dug.

"We'll probably get yelled at if we don't fill them in," Jaina said, weariness weighing on her voice.

Wiping his brow with his sleeve, Raynar looked up towards the sky. "Could it have gotten dug up by someone else?"

Anakin turned away, and dropped to the ground. "It's possible, but..."

"But it could still be buried, right?" Jaina chimed in. "So, let's keep looking for it, okay?"

"That's right!" Raynar joined in.

"Yeah," Anakin replied, turning to look up at them.

Raynar smiled, and took a few steps forward, and shoved the shovel into the dirt close to a stunted, young tree. He pulled out a shovelful of dirt, and tossed it to the side, and repeated the process. This time though, the metal edge thunked loudly against something.

"Hey!" he called out. "Could this be it?"

Anakin scrambled over, Jaina a few seconds behind him.

He reached the hole Raynar had dug and could make out the edge of the canister. Reaching in, he pulled it out, holding it up towards the sun. The Rebel Alliance symbol even more faded with time. Carefully, he unscrewed the cap and looked inside of it.

A smile brightened his face. "This is it!"

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Anakin leaned against the balcony. In his hand he held looped string attached to the small winged doll and watched it twist in the wind. Jaina stepped out onto the balcony, and walked towards him.

"Do you think that's a clue for finding Tahiri?'

Anakin frowned for a moment. "I'm not sure." Then he looked over at her. "And sorry for making you do so much for me today."

Jaina shook her head. "It's not a problem. It was kind of fun, actually."

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The next morning, someone was shaking him awake.

"Anakin! Wake up Anakin. We have to eat breakfast."

He opened his eyes, squinting against the bright sunlight, and saw Jaina leaning over him.

"Anakin," she continued. "If you don't wake up, we're going to be late for classes."

Screwing a fist against an eye, he sat up in bed. "This has got to be a dream."

"It's not a dream," she replied. "Hurry and wake up."

Anakin shook his head. "I couldn't possibly be being woken up by Jaina. It... It's not natural..."

"You're being kind of mean, Anakin."

She shoved his shoulder, and stormed from his room. Chuckling, he quickly got ready for class, and went down for breakfast. Jaina was already eating, while Mara was in the kitchen getting the container of caf.

He sat down in his place, and looked at her. "Why are you up so early?"

She laughed. "Well, I just wanted to wake you up for a change."

Mara snorted in amusement. "It would be kind of nice to see this happen every day... but I guess I'd miss the usual routine."

Mara poured him a cup of caf, and then filled her own cup up as well. She then turned and went back into the kitchen.

Jaina watched her for a moment, and then turned towards him. "Both Sannah and Tahiri are gone, so... Aunt Mara liked it when it was lively; you're not going to disappear to are you?"

He grinned at her. "Of course not. This is my home now."

Jaina watched him for a moment, and then nodded her head. Together, they turned and looked at Mara.

She paused, a scowl coming to her features. "What?"

Jaina grinned. "What's for dinner tonight?"

Mara lifted a finger to her chin for a moment. "I hadn't thought about it truthfully. Is there something you were wanting?"

"Strawberry cake!"

"Strawberry again?" Anakin asked, dismayed.

Jaina turned towards him. "If it's strawberry, I don't mind if it's for breakfast, lunch and dinner."

"Fine," Mara replied. "I'll get a cake while I'm out shopping."

Jaina smiled brightly. "Thanks Aunt Mara."

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Anakin and Jaina calmly walked side-by-side, heading towards the Temple. Neither spoke, but Jaina still had a smile on her face from Mara's decision to get a strawberry cake for desert that night.

They stepped off the bridge, and stopped to stare at the Temple in the distance. The morning sun gave it a golden hue. Jaina paused, and then her head shifted slightly, so that she was staring at a broken down, old transport sitting at the edge of the field used for Jedi transports.

"Hey, Anakin do you remember..."

Anakin looked at her for a moment, and then shifted his gaze out to the transport. An image of a ryshcate flying from someone's hands flashed through his mind.

Just before he could focus on who he was seeing, Raynar ran up towards them.

"Hey, you two," he called out. "You better hurry, or you'll be late for class."

Jaina looked down at the chrono strapped to her wrist, and replied. "Shavit. We're going to be late."

Then she was running towards the Temple, only a few steps behind Raynar. Sighing, Anakin started following them, walking at a much more sedate pace.

A short while later, he was sitting in Master Horn's class, once again not paying attention to the lecture. Instead, he stared out at the garden where he used to meet Nelani for their talks. Suppressing a sigh, he glanced at Kiori's empty seat, and then moved his attention on to Jaina, who he noticed was enthralled with Master Horn's lecture.

As he watched her, a memory slipped out, and overtook him.

He was sitting on a bench on the ground level of the Temple. Tears streamed down his face, and his body shook with the sobs. His grief in the memory was a palatable thing; slamming across his awareness.

"Anakin!" he heard a young feminine voice call out.

Lifting his head, he watched as Jaina ran towards him. She was dressed in the simple Corellian style clothes they wore while on Coruscant, and in her hands carried a box.

"Anakin!" she called again, as he dropped his head back to his chest; the tears and sadness refusing to leave him as she continued speaking. "I'm glad that I got to find you before you left to go back to Coruscant."

She slowed to a stop a few paces away, and he could feel her stare; her concern.

"Anakin... I... I'm sorry... I made this for you." She held out the box, and lifted the top away, revealing a ryshcate. The smell of the warm cake tickled his nose, and his body hitched again. "I... it took me a long time, but I was able to make it on the way out here. Dad helped me a little, but I really did most of it."

She paused, as if waiting for his response.

Then she continued once more. "Mom and Dad told me what happened to t.... Will you accept this? D-dad said that ryshcates are used to celebrate life so... I thought it would be okay..."

He lifted his head, as a dark, black rage overtook him. Anger, hate and pain flared in his heart, and he bolted to his feet. In one simple movement he knocked away the ryshcate from her hands, sending it tumbling to the ground. Then he lifted his fist over his head, his body straining with the desire to strike his sister. A dark voice whispered in the back of his mind to hit her; to take out his grief and pain on her.

She yelped in surprise as the cake fell away; cringing back from him.

He snapped back to the present, his mouth dropping open as he realized what he had done to Jaina all those years ago.

At that moment, the door to the classroom opened, and Master Salusar stood in the doorway. His face was strained and pinched somehow as he nodded to Master Horn. Then he focused on Jaina.

"Jaina, could you come with me please?" he paused for a moment, his attention shifting slightly to Anakin. "And you as well, Anakin."

Jaina shifted her focus onto him for a moment, and he merely shrugged his shoulder as he stood up. Together they walked out into the hallway, shutting the door behind them. Kam stood there, his back straight. After a moment, he turned back towards the two siblings, and sighed.

"Jaina... we've just called your Uncle back from his diplomatic mission to the Remnant because... well... your Aunt Mara was in an accident this morning."

"Wh-what happened?" Jaina stammered out.

"She... she was returning to the apartments from the bakery, and a transport just lost control. One of those silly, mechanical failures that no one can predict. It struck her head on, and she's currently in the med-center." He paused, scrubbing at his face for a moment. "They're not entirely certain that she'll make it through."

Anakin felt empty inside, as Jaina shook her head. "No... no... no… not Aunt Mara too..."

She dropped to her knees, and covered her face with her hands as her shoulders began to shake.

Not quite knowing what to do, he knelt beside her, and wrapped an arm around her.

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Memories - Ch. 19

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Anakin recognized being in the dream. He felt it in the way his limbs hung wrong on his body. The way that he felt dwarfed by the doorways in the Jedi Temple, and the adults that walked past him. He knew it in the way that he did not really have control over his body, the way he seemed more observer than participant. He glanced over and saw Tahiri, young, dressed in an orange jumpsuit, her hair a wild mass of curls and waves, bare feet whispered quietly on the stone as they walked the halls.

"This session is almost over, isn't it?" she asked him.

He nodded his head. "Yeah. That's why we have to do go down the river tomorrow."

"And then after that, you're going home?"

"Yeah," he replied, lowering his head slightly. "Jaina and Jacen are coming back for their session, so I'm going home to visit Mom and Dad."

"But you'll be back?"

He looked over at her again, and quickly nodded his head. "Of course."

She stopped walking. "C-can you promise me?"

He took a few more steps and then stopped as well. Slowly, he turned to look at her. She stood there, head tilted downward slightly, a frown edging her mouth and her eyes were large and green, with tears lining them. In her hands, she clasped the small angel doll that he had given her at the start of the term. The one his father had helped him pick out. He walked back towards her.

"It's a promise," he replied, grinning at her. "Everything will be all right."

"Promise?" she asked lifting her head to look up at him.

"Yeah, It's a promise."

"Yes," she said, a smile coming to her lips.

Anakin glanced at the doll for a moment. "That doll that I gave you..."

She lifted it slightly, "This one?"

"Yeah, it's not an ordinary doll. It's a magical doll that can grant wishes." She blinked her eyes a couple times, and he grinned at her as he continued speaking. "You think I'm lying to you, don't you?"

"A little," she replied.

He shrugged his shoulders. "But it's true."

"Really?" she exclaimed, her mouth dropping open.

He nodded his head, once sharply. "Yup, but it can only grant three wishes. And no more wishing for more wishes, you'll have to take into account the person granting the wishes."

She clutched the doll tight against her chest again. "Who's going to grant them?"

He grinned at her again. "Me, of course."

"I see..."

"So I can't grant any wishes that are impossible for me, either. Now, say any wish you want."

She tilted her head slightly, thinking hard. Then she focused on him again, smiling broadly. "All right, I have my first wish, and here it is. Please don't forget about me."

Anakin felt his mouth open in shock, and he blinked twice.

Tahiri had closed her eyes, and just continued talking. "Even if you go home, because it's your brother and sister's turn for training, please remember me from time to time. And think, 'Right, I met that strange, Tusken girl that wouldn't stop talking.' That's enough, so please... don't forget. That... that's my first wish." She opened her eyes again. "Is that okay?"

He snapped his mouth shut, and nodded his head quickly. "I told you, I'd do anything that I can. I promise. I'll never forget about you, and that I'll come back to Yavin. When I do, we'll have some canapés together."

She smiled brightly. "Yeah."

Anakin bolted awake, a thin sweat covering his body. He pushed the blankets off of him, and swung his feet out of the bed, clutching his head in his hands. The flickers of the dream still preyed on his mind, and he wondered why he was dreaming of Tahiri.

Sighing, he got out of bed, and walked to the door to the balcony. He pushed it open, and stepped out. A cold wind whipped through his hair, cutting through his sleeping clothes, sending a chill down his frame.

He leaned against the railing, and looked down at the ground far below. Then he lifted his face, to star at the stars. He watched, and as he did so, memories of Nelani flashed through his mind. All of events from the night of her party, two days ago. The way she had smiled at him. That single kiss. Then the way she had just disappeared.

"Anakin?"

Startled, he looked up and over, to see Tahiri walking towards him. "'Ri?"

"You'll catch a cold if you stay out here too long."

"Leave me alone," he replied, walking away from the rail to lean against the wall.

She giggled and jogged closer to him, gripping onto the railing, leaning over the side. Then she dropped back to the flats of her feet and looked up at the sky. "Do you think it'll be raining again soon?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "Probably. The rainy season isn't that far off."

"You were thinking about Nelani again, weren't you?'

"You heard about her illness?"

"From Jaina," she replied. "And Jaina said she heard it from Kiori."

"I see."

"Is her illness that serious?"

"Yeah..." he said, frowning slightly. "Actually, I don't know that much either. All I know is that she can't come outside for a while."

"I see," Tahiri said a hint of pain in her voice. "Well, I hope she gets better soon. If there's anything I can do, I'll do it." She then turned to look at him. "Just like you comforted me so long ago."

He shook his head. "I didn't do much."

"That's not true. If you hadn't comforted me, I don't think I would have ever been able to smile again." She pulled her necklace out from beneath her sleeping shirt, and showed him one of the pendants on it. "And actually you gave me this as well."

He looked at the pendant, a brown stone; smooth, attached to her necklace by a twisted piece of wire. He felt a frown form onto his face, and he wondered just when he had done so. "I gave you that?"

"Yeah," she replied. "Around the time when you were supposed to go back to Coruscant." She pulled it out a bit further, so she could get a better look at it. "Anakin?"

He focused on her again, "Huh?"

"Do you remember when you gave this to me?"

Slowly, he shook his head. "No, I don't... sorry."

"Oh," she replied, eyes falling again. "Actually, I don't remember that much about that time either." She let the pendant go, allowing it to drop against her breast again. "I, I was hoping that you would remember, but... Let's go back inside."

He straightened slightly, surprised at the sudden shift in topic.

Tahiri smiled at him. "We need to get up early tomorrow for Jaina's match."

"Yeah," he replied. "You're right."

She turned to look up at the sky again. "I hope that it's sunny tomorrow."

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Anakin, Mara Jade and Tahiri stepped into the dim cavernous room that was used for lightsaber tournaments. A crowd had already gathered, giving the room the atmosphere of a sporting event back on Coruscant. He looked around, waving at some of the other students that he knew from training. Finally, he spotted his sister, and called out, "Jaina!"

She turned towards him, and jogged over, a grin coming to her face.

"Everyone came," she said as she wrapped Anakin in a hug.

"Good luck, Jaina," Tahiri said.

"My apprentice doesn't need luck," Mara responded dryly.

Anakin shook his head slightly. "Dad would say that since she's a Solo, that's all she really needs."

Mara frowned his way. "Watch it, Solo."

Anakin laughed, and turned back to his sister. "Do make sure you put on a good show. I don't want to think I wasted this prime sleeping-in morning for a half-hearted attempt."

Jaina scowled at him, and flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Keep it up, and I'm sure I could convince Aunt Mara that you need to participate in these things."

Tionne, the Master in charge of training with Jaina's team stepped out from a side door, and waved Jaina over. For a moment, her eyes seemed to lock onto Tahiri, but then she frowned and turned away. Jaina waved at the three of them, as she started to jog off. "I'll talk to you later."

Tahiri twisted her head around, and pointed towards a space on the top set of bleachers. "Look Anakin, we'll be able to see better from up there."

She then grabbed his arm and dragged him towards the bleacher. He cast a glance over his shoulder and saw that Mara was shaking her head as she fell into step behind them.

Once they had gotten settled into seats, Tahiri leaned towards him. "Do you think Jaina's going to win? She'll win right?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. She's not very nervous. Seems to me she'd be more nervous for the match."

Tahiri scowled at him, and slapped his shoulder. "That's not true! Jaina will win for sure."

Looking down at her, he grinned slightly. "You're the one that said you were worried."

Her eyes popped open wider, and then she dropped her head. "I did, but..."

The distinctive snap-hiss of a saber igniting drew his attention, and he turned towards the ring. Jaina stood in the center, an older Rodian he didn't know facing her. Standing to her left was Daesha'cor, on her right was Ganner and behind her was Raynar. In a similar diamond formation behind the Rodian were three other Jedi Knights: a second Rodian, this one female, was standing opposite Daesha'cor, while Miko Regalio faced off with Ganner and a human that Anakin didn't know was in the back position for the opposing team.

Standing in the center of the ring, was his Uncle Luke. He was speaking soft words to both teams. Anakin watched his uncle for a moment, seeing how tired he appeared.

Tahiri leaned over towards Anakin. "Isn't that your Uncle?"

"Yeah," he replied.

"I didn't know he was on Yavin right now."

"He came back," Mara responded; her eyes glued to the field, watching both her husband and her apprentice. "For this tournament. After this, he has to go back to Coruscant for more meetings."

Anakin focused back on the field, as Luke stepped away. Then the two teams rushed forward, their sabers flashing in bright arcs only to flare into white when they connected.

Jaina jumped and twirled, her blade always perfectly positioned to block the saber of her opponent; then she would twist and turn the block into an attack.

"Wow," Tahiri whispered.

He could hear the smirk in Mara's voice. "That's my apprentice. She's the best one out there, as usual."

Anakin chuckled, and continued watching, as one after one, Jaina's team defeated the opposing teams. Finally, it was the last match for the team events. Before long, Ganner had knocked Wurth Skidder to the ground, and with the tip of his saber drew an infinity symbol in the air, showing a kill point for the final member of the opposing group.

The crowd erupted into cheers, with Anakin and Tahiri standing up and screaming along with them. He noticed that Mara merely sat there, a superior smirk on her face, as she watched the two teams shaking hands in the center of the field.

After they had left the fields, Luke walked to the center, and raised his hands. Silence dropped over the gathered people. "Now, it is time for the singles competition."

He nodded towards the corner, and Anakin watched as Miko and a Twi'lek female he didn't recognize walked out onto the field. He proceeded to ignore the battle, and chatted with Tahiri instead.

Two hours later, the final singles match was being held. Jaina was squaring off against Raynar.

Anakin leaned forward, watching the two intently, wondering just how well Raynar would be able to do against Jaina. Since they spent so much time training together, he thought they should be fairly evenly matched.

Luke stepped away from between them, and gave the signal for the match to begin.

Jaina charged forward, her blade coming in low. She thrust up and to the left, and Raynar jumped high, slashing at her exposed back.

She dropped to the ground and rolled. She got to her feet in a single, fluid movement, and darted forward again, her saber slashing in a right, left, right pattern.

Raynar stumbled backwards, his blade constantly parrying Jaina's blows, but leaving him unable to attack.

She pulled back, and Raynar darted in with an attack. She ducked the blow, and swept his legs out from beneath him. Popping back into a standing position, she quickly made the infinity symbol above his chest.

As Jaina helped Raynar to his feet, Anakin chuckled to himself, pleased that she was able to so easily best her opponents.

Luke then gave out the awards for winning the various competitions. Jaina stood up there by their uncle, a happy grin on her lips. As she was getting the medal for winning, she saw Anakin and the others in the bleachers, and waved. Tahiri jumped up from her seat and waved back.

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Anakin sat across from Jaina. They were in Poltz, at a table next to the big bay windows that looked out onto the street. Anakin lifted his cup of tea, while Jaina lifted her strawberry parfait. The touched the rims of their glasses together, as Anakin said, "Congratulations on winning."

She grinned for him, mischief flashing in her eyes, "Thanks, Anakin."

"So, did you comm and tell Kiori about your win?"

Jaina nodded her head, "Yes, she sounded happy. She also said that she's sorry that she couldn't be there in person."

"I see," he replied.

She took a bite of her parfait, and looked out the window. "So Anakin, have you gotten used to Yavin?"

Anakin arched an eyebrow at his sister. "What's this all of a sudden?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "It's just that when you got here, you were worried about not being happy here. That you were worried about the past. Do those things still bother you?"

He shook his head, and peered into his tea. "Yes and no. Most of the time I don't even think about it."

"I'm sure," she replied, grinning slightly as she took another bite of her desert. "But, I like it here, so I want you to like it as well."

Anakin took a sip of his tea, and looked out at the pedestrians on the street. After a moment, he turned back to Jaina. "You don't have anyone that you like do you?"

"What?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "Just something Raynar said. You're popular, everyone likes you, but you keep everything in. You hide behind these walls."

Jaina sighed, and took another bite of her parfait. "I used to. There was a boy that I liked back on Coruscant."

"Wow," he replied. "That was a while ago. What happened?"

She shook her head. "I, I was rejected."

"And you haven't seen him since?"

"I saw him once after that rejection. Things... they didn't go well that time."

Anakin frowned at glanced out the window again. He watched, as a young boy, maybe 8 years old ran from a girl about the same age. In his hands he held a scarf, which the girl was obviously chasing after. The girl stopped and dropped to her knees, putting her hands over her face, obviously crying, and Anakin had to chuckle as the boy quickly turned back to the girl, handing her the scarf.

Anakin focused on Jaina again. "So there's no other boys out there?"

Laughing, Jaina shook her head. "No, that one was enough." She took another bite of her parfait, and then grinned up at him. "Well, I could tell you about this one boy I met, not the one I liked, but another one. It was about six years ago or so. He was head over heels for this one girl, had no clue about it though."

"So what happened between them?"

She chuckled. "Oh, he's still crazy about her."

"That's devoted."

"Well, he can be mean sometimes," she replied. "But when he sees someone in trouble, he has to stick his nose into it." Then she chuckled. "Of course, he doesn't seem to realize that he does so."

Anakin shook his head. "Sounds like a personality that is asking for trouble."

She smirked at him. "Oh, definitely."

A short while later, they were walking towards their apartment building. Anakin looked around at the stores that lined either side of the street, and then at Jaina. "Should I buy you something to celebrate your victory?"

She looked up at him, surprise on her face. "Really?"

"Although," he continued. "I don't have much on me. I had to use money rather frequently lately."

Jaina thought for a moment, and then looked into the shop they were passing. "Then..."

She stopped, and went into the shop. Anakin backed up and followed her in. Walking over to one of the display counters, she picked up a single red marble, holding it up to the light between her forefinger and her thumb.

"This," she said. "I want this."

"I've got enough to buy you something better than that."

"No," she said, smiling as she shook her head. "It's pretty, and it's the color of strawberries."

He shrugged his shoulders, and passed over his credit chit to the shopkeeper. A few minutes later, they were walking down the street. Jaina holding the marble up towards the sun, one eye closed as she stared at it. She grinned and said, "It really is pretty."

Snorting, Anakin replied, "And you're weird too. Comparable to Tahiri actually."

Jaina stopped walking and lowered her arm. "Hey, Anakin..."

He stopped, and turned back towards her.

She continued, "Don't give Tahiri too much trouble, okay?"

"If anything," he replied. "I think I'm the one who's getting all the troubles."

Jaina sighed and shook her head. "You don't understand. Tahiri is..."

"Tahiri is what?"

She turned away from him, refusing to meet his eyes. "It's a secret."

"Give me a hint," he said, raising a finger.

"It's meaningless for me to say it," she replied as she began to walk past him.

"Hint two," he said, raising a second finger.

"Nope. You only get one."

He turned, watching her as she walked past him, frowning slightly.

"Bonus chance!"

"There's none of that."

He jogged to catch up to her.

"Special chance?"

"Now you're just making things up."

"Attack chance?"

"You're not making any sense."

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Anakin recognized the familiar sensations of a dream; the surreal quality to his sense and emotions, the feeling of once more being a child.

He was running down the hall, hunting for someone. Darting in and out of the other students and the instructors.

Finally, he spied her, sitting on a bench, kicking her legs, the pink of her toes flashing rhythmically as they swung in and out of the shadows beneath her seat. She stared at the ceiling, looking bored and chewing on her lower lip, and in her hands, she held a small package, wrapped tightly with a string.

"Tahiri!" he called out.

She lifted her head, her green eyes flashing with delight, as she jumped up off the bench. "You're late, Anakin."

"Sorry," he mumbled between pants. "To keep you waiting."

She shook her head. "I almost thought we weren't going to be able to do this today."

"Me too, actually," he replied. "I thought Uncle Luke was going to give me some extra lessons. Sorry, I made you wait."

"Anakin, uhm..." She then thrust the package she was holding towards him. "These are for you. They're cookies that I made."

"Handmade," he asked, taking them from her. "Thank you."

He untied the ribbon, and fought to keep the shock and fear off of his face, but what he saw in the package scared him. They were lumpy, and had a black tint to them, the smell of charcoal drifted up to his nose. His eyes flicked up to Tahiri, where she stood in front of him, a blush shining bright through her tanned cheeks.

"I'm sorry that I couldn't make them very well," she said.

He plucked one out of the bag, and lifted it to his lips. He bit into it, and then crunched down harder when a piece wouldn't come off. He tried to swallow the bite without tasting, but it still touched his taste buds, and he had to forcibly suppress a shudder.

"So, how is it," she asked, her eyes large and green.

"It's good," he lied to her.

The fear fled her face, being replaced by a brilliant smile. "That's great!"

Anakin looked around, shoving the remaining cookies into one of the pockets of his orange jumpsuit. He reached out and grabbed her hand, and together they darted towards one of the Temple's exits. As soon as they left the building, the warm humid air struck them, sweat started running down their faces and backs, as they went further and further from the Temple.

Then they stopped, both awestruck by the river that thundered past them. It was a good ten meters across, fast moving, and they had both seen it before in their dreams.

Tahiri gasped, and then said, "I, I've never seen so much water in one place before.

Anakin blinked rapidly, and then looked around. "Where is it?"

"Where's what?"

"The boat," he muttered, looking around. "In the dream, there's a boat, a silver boat."

The looked for a few more minutes, but when they couldn't find the boat, they slowly made their way back to the Temple. Once they had gotten back to the bench, Tahiri sighed.

Anakin scratched at his hair. "I guess we'll have to try again tomorrow."

She frowned for a moment. "It's not long before you have to go back to Coruscant, right?"

He nodded his head. "Yeah, but I have a few more days before that happens. We'll try again tomorrow."

"Great," she said, beaming at him. "I'll be waiting for you here then."

Anakin's eyes snapped open. He knew that he had been dreaming; that he had been reliving a memory. Yet the harder he clung to it, the quicker it flickered away. Finally, he gave up, and got out of bed. He glanced towards the door to the balcony, and walked over to it. His hand lingered on the handle for a moment, and then he slid it opened and stepped out.

A gust of wind tugged at his pajamas, and he frowned up at the stars, wondering why he couldn't remember anything.

"Anakin?"

He turned and saw Tahiri standing there in her pajamas. She was rubbing her shoulders as she watched him. She padded over to him, her bare feet barely whispering across the permacrete of the balcony. Leaning against the wall beside him, she looked up and said, "So, we're out here again."

Chuckling, he smiled at her and said, "Yeah. You're not stalking me are you?"

"It's a coincidence," she replied, lowering her face to look at her toes as she wiggled them. "I had a dream and woke up."

"That is a coincidence," he said. "I had a dream as well."

She lifted her face to look up at him again. "What kind of dream?"

"I forgot."

She giggled. "Well, maybe we had the same dream."

"As if."

Anakin looked up at the stars as silence settled over them. They watched together the timeless parade of the night.

"Hey," he began after a few moments of silence. "How much do you remember from six years ago?"

"Bits and pieces," she responded, chewing slightly on one of her knuckles. "I know we were together almost every day, but..."

He snorted. "You have a lame memory."

She made a disgusted noise in the back of her throat, and twisted her head to the side. "So, do you remember?"

Smiling, he shook his head. "To tell the truth, I don't remember either. Ultimately, I was able to remember with Sannah and Tenel Ka, I wonder why..."

"Well, it was six years ago. But..." Anakin turned to look down at her, and found her staring at him, her green eyes flashing with delight. "... even after six years, I still have my necklace, and you're right here in front of me. Isn't that amazing?"

"Is it that amazing?"

"Yep," she replied with a quick nod of the head and a big smile. "I think it is."

The next day at lunch, Anakin was sitting across from Raynar, who was poking at his nerf steak with his fork, one hand propping up his head. Sighing, he looked towards Anakin. "Why are we eating lunch together, alone?"

Anakin took a bite of his protatoes and shrugged. "Can't be helped. Kiori's out still and Jaina had to talk to Master Tionne about the team stuff, as you should know."

"I just feel so melancholic all of a sudden."

Anakin shrugged again, and took a bite of the fish he had as a main course.

A few minutes later, Raynar spoke again, "I hear Nelani is doing well."

"I see," he replied, a grin tugging slightly at his lips.

Once he returned to class, he started staring out at the meditation garden where he would often meet Nelani. Suddenly, he missed her, and wished to see her down there in the garden once again, with her shawl around her.

"Anakin," Jaina's voice cut through his ruminations. He looked up at her, and she grinned at him. "Training's over for the day."

Startled, he looked around and found that only the two of them remained in the classroom.

"Oh," he replied, then standing he left the Academy grounds, heading towards the shopping district.

Before long, he was wandering through the district, something tugging at his soul, causing him to frown.

Suddenly a weight dropped onto his back, as arms wrapped around his neck. Tahiri's voice was warm and loud in his ear, "Anakin!"

Grinning, he responded with a simple, "Hey, Tahiri."

She dropped off of his back, and titled her head slightly. "You're not surprised today?'

He shrugged, "I think I'm used to it now. Surprise attacks just won't work anymore."

Her face scrunched up in anger as she balled her fists and stomped. "They're not surprise attacks!"

She looked around, and then raced over to a bench. "You know, six years ago, I used to wait for you on a bench just like this." She dropped into the seat, and looked down at the ground. "I always arrived first, and would have to wait for you to show up."

Chuckling, Anakin walked towards where she sat, kicking her legs. When he stopped in front of her, she lifted her face, and with a grin said, "You're late, Anakin!"

He smiled at her. "Sorry, I'm a bit late."

"Not just a bit, a lot," she shot back. When he didn't respond, she lifted her head, and noticed the faraway look in his eyes. "Hey, what's wrong?"

He shook slightly, and grinned. "No, nothing. So, you're here looking for your lost item, have you found it yet?"

"Actually," she replied, some of the brightness seeming to flow from her. "Not yet..."

"Well, I'll help you out."

Her face transformed as she smiled up at him. "Did you come here just for that?"

"I just happened to pass by," he responded. "I'm not that nice."

With another bright smile, she stood up and they began to search once again.

Two hours later, they found themselves back where they had started, both of them now sitting on the bench, Tahiri looking depressed.

"I couldn't find it again," she complained.

"Don't be so sad," Anakin said, smiling at her. "I'll help you look again tomorrow."

A small, sad smile came to her lips. "Sorry I made you come along."

"Don't worry," he replied, shaking his head. "I had time to kill anyways."

She folded her hands and then placed them in her lap. Frowning, she looked down at them, watching her hands as they sat there. "Sitting here like this reminds me of those times. Before coming to Yavin, I was alone. I mean, I had my father Sliven, but he wasn't really my father. I didn't really have a friend until you came to talk to me."

"Yeah, I remember that," he replied.

"Have you ever lost an important person right in front of you?"

The tone of her voice, the wavering tears that threatened to fall from her eyes, all of it pricked at his heart. He opened his mouth to say something, anything, but nothing would come out.

Finally, she continued speaking. "I... I have. I couldn't do anything. I was forced to face the fact that I was a powerless child. All I could do was call..." She blinked, and one of those threatened tears became realized and slowly traveled down her cheek. "All I could do was call out my mother and father's name until my voice died, and I couldn't speak anymore."

The tear reached her chin, and fell to splatter against her hands. "I don't want to feel that again. Have you... have you had that experience?"

"I..."

Then images slammed into Anakin.

Sannah playing on the ground with Ikrit, mute and childlike from the Changing.

Sannah slipping into the dark waters.

Tenel Ka trembling from pain and exhaustion.

Tenel Ka slamming her sword through her chest.

Nelani from the moments leading up to that single kiss, and when she disappeared.

Finally, an image of the river, a silver boat, and gathering clouds slashed through his awareness.

"Tahiri, is... is Nelani... d-" he stopped speaking, and covered his face with his hands. He fought against the tears that wanted to come, and could feel his body shaking. Tahiri placed her hand on his back, and leaned towards him.

"What's wrong, Anakin?"

He bolted to his feet, and started walking away from her.

"Anakin," she called out after him, scrambling to her feet, and jogging to catch up to him.

After he had walked a good three meters, he stopped, and waited for Tahiri.

She arrived moments, later and walked around in front of him. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes.

"Sorry," he said. "I'm fine now."

"So," she replied, the tears leaking from both of her green eyes as they seemed to pierce his soul. "You have experienced it. You have lost someone important right in front of you."

He didn't reply, just watched her face, as the tears ran down both of her cheeks, freely flowing for their shared pain.

"Anakin," she said. "Don't look at my face, okay? I'm sure it's all messy from the tears and everything. So, close your eyes."

"Yeah," he replied, and did as she asked. Hiding the world behind his eyelids.

Her voice floated to him from the darkness. "I'll close my eyes, too."

Then he felt the gentle, feather-light touch of her lips against his. He almost opened his eyes, but was afraid that if he did so, she would disappear. Instead he reached down, and clasped his hands around her arms, ensuring that she stayed there with him.

In the light of the setting sun, they stood there kissing for an eternal moment.

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Next Post

Memories - Ch. 18

Previous Post

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Anakin sat at his desk, staring out the window, watching as the sun crested the horizon in the burning glory of dawn. His eyes were rimmed with red, dark circles hung beneath then. Suddenly, his alarm went off, an annoying beeping noise. Sighing, he stood up and crossed over to the nightstand and pressed the off button. Taking a final look at the rising sun, and the landscape he had spent the entire night staring at, he left the room and went to the refresher to get cleaned up.

After getting dressed, he walked into the kitchen to find Tahiri and Mara working at the counter, rolling out dough. Mara looked up at him, and arched an eyebrow. "Good morning."

He lifted his eyes, and quickly nodded his head. "Good morning, Aunt Mara."

"Wow, Anakin," Tahiri cut in. "You're looking bad this morning."

He straightened his posture, and grinned. "I'm Corellian. I'm perfect."

"You don't look that perfect to me this morning," Tahiri shot back.

Mara snickered. "Go sit down, Mr. Corellia. Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes."

Anakin smiled at his aunt, but as soon as he turned away to take his seat at the table, the smile fell off his face.

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Anakin slowly walked towards the Academy, automatically following the streams of students that were doing the same thing. His thoughts had taken a dark turn once again, as he was focused on Nelani and Kiori.

Suddenly, someone slammed hard into his back. He stumbled forward and let out a short yelp of surprise. Spinning around, he was about to snarl something at whoever had ran into him, but the words died in his mouth as he found himself staring at Nelani's smiling face. His heart hammered.

She tilted her head slightly. "I'm sorry. But I was just so happy to see you that I felt that I absolutely had to run into you. You understand, right?"

"Yeah, good morning," he said, grinning, as he bumped his shoulder against hers.

He started walking towards the academy and she fell into step beside him. Looking down at her, he asked, "Did you make a lunch again today?"

She quickly nodded her head. "Yes, and I have the utmost confidence in it."

"Good," he replied, chuckling. They then stepped from the bright sunlight of the outside, into the cool dimness of the Academy itself. "Let's eat it together."

"Sure," she said, beaming happily at him. "At lunch, I'll come to your class..." Her chin dropped to her chest for a moment, pain flaring in her eyes before it was once again hidden behind her smile. "On second thought, let's meet in the cafeteria."

"Yeah," he replied, nodding his head.

Then she was running off to her lessons. Anakin watched until she had disappeared, and then went to his classroom and looked in. When he didn't see Kiori, he turned and started searching the various places he knew she liked to hide. Finally, he found her, standing on the observation level on the exterior of the Academy. Her arms were folded across her chest as she watched a flock of birds in the distance.

He stopped a few paces from her. "I was looking for you."

She responded, but did not turn to face him. "When I'm doing this... When I'm standing here like this, I can almost believe that time has stopped. But it's a lie. Time will never stop."

"You don't look so well. You should get some more sleep."

"Winter is coming. Did you know that? Soon, all these gardens will always be empty and barren." She pointed towards one of the gardens, and Anakin looked at it, recognizing it as the one that he used to meet Nelani in. "That garden is always empty in winter. No one goes there. But during the spring, after the rains have come and gone, then people will wander in, filling it, smelling the flowers."

Anakin nodded his head. "So you knew that she was out there, waiting for you, every day."

Kiori lowered her head, and spun around, walking past Anakin without looking at him. Then she started down the steps. Silently, he watched as she disappeared from view.

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Anakin was sitting at the same table they had used the day before, Nelani once more on the far side of the table from him. Also the same as the day before, a massive amount of food was in front of him. He grinned at her. "I want to throw you a birthday party."

She looked up from her lunch, and worried sy her lower lip slightly. "Birthday party?"

"Yeah," he replied. "I won't push, if you don't really want one, but I think it'll be fun."

"Not at all!" she responded, shaking her head. "I'm happy about it." She paused, and scratched at her nose for a moment. "But who else would you get to attend?"

"Well, there's Tahiri, and then I was going to ask 2 or 3 of my friends. It'll be a small party, but you know how it is."

Nelani nodded, a finger finding its way to her mouth where she began to chew at a knuckle. "I see..." Then she looked up at him, smiling. "Well, I'll be looking forward to it then."

After he had finished eating, they walked the corridors aimlessly, chatting about nothing in particular. His stomach complained at eating so much, and seeing a bench, he dropped down onto it. Then he stretched out, lying across the bench. Nelani slipped in beneath his head, allowing it to rest on her lap.

"My stomach's stuffed," he muttered.

"I'm sorry. I know I packed too much..."

He shook his head slightly. "It's fine. I just couldn't see wasting any of it since it was all so good."

He closed his eyes for a moment, and inhaled deeply, smelling the light scent that she wore. Then he opened his eyes, and looked up at her, to find her staring down at him. "Nelani? Let's skip out on the rest of training today."

Her eyes opened wider and her mouth parted slightly.

"Anywhere's fine. We'll go where you want to. While you still can."

Her eyes softened, their look of surprise fading slightly. "What's this all of a sudden?"

"Ah, well..."

"You talk like we won't get to see each other anymore, soon." She grinned mischievously. "You're such a bad boy, trying to talk a younger student into skipping out of school with you."

"I tried to draw you to the dark side," he responded dryly. "But I guess I failed."

She patted his head and he rolled off of her and the bench, as she stood up. "Well, I'll be going back to my lessons now."

Anakin nodded his head. "Yeah, I'll see you after school then."

She smiled brightly for him, and then darted off down the hall. He watched her disappear, and then dropped back to the bench, covering his face with his hands.

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They stood just outside the shopping district, next to one of the many rivers which ran throughout the area. Its babble served as a soothing counterpoint to the subtle murmur that came from the shopping district. Nelani lifted her arm and pointed towards the horizon. Anakin's eyes traced where she was pointing, to find himself staring at the setting sun. The oranges and reds of it gave the illusion that the whole expanse of the heavens were on fire. Her voice was soft with awe, "It's beautiful."

"Sunsets aren't that rare of a thing," he said, grinning slightly.

"Still," she responded, turning a frown his direction. "There's such a thing as 'mood.'"

He rubbed at his hair for a moment. "The things girls say make no sense."

She turned away from him, focusing once more on the sunset. "It's so dazzling."

Silently, he watched as she closed her eyes and basked in the warm sunlight. His eyes prickled and he had to look away from her. Had to look at anything besides her.

Later that night, he was sitting on the floor in front of his bed. Tahiri and Jaina were in his room, sitting on his bed watching him.

"So," he began. "I'm throwing Nelani a birthday party tomorrow."

Tahiri bounced up straighter, a grin coming to her face. "Really? Tomorrow's her birthday?"

"Well, no... her birthday is the day after tomorrow. But tomorrow worked better for her… schedule. So we're having it tomorrow."

Jaina frowned as she tugged at a strand of her brown here. "So, uhm... who is this Nelani girl? Is she in training?"

Anakin gave a quick nod of his head. "Yeah. She's been sick a lot so she has missed most of the training while she was on planet. Which means that she doesn't have a whole lot of friends. That's why I thought we could celebrate with her."

Tahiri clapped her hands together. "I'd be glad to." She then turned towards Jaina. "What do you say, Jaina? You know it'll be fun."

The older girl shook her head slightly, her frown flickering to a smile. "Well, I have practice after classes, but if I can make it, I'll be there. Worst-case is that I have to leave half-way through, after all the tournament is coming up soon."

Anakin grinned at his sister. "That'd be enough. Thanks!"

The next morning, Anakin once more was hunting Kiori. He first looked at the top of the Academy, and then searched a few dozen classrooms. He finally found her in the hidden corridor that led to the sulfur springs deep beneath the Temple. She leaned against the wall a few steps below him, her long hair hiding her face, as she kept her chin pressed tightly against her chest.

"There you are," Anakin said to her, not really expecting a response. "Today's the last day that Nelani will be able to come to school. After her birthday tomorrow, she'll either be in bed at home or at the hospital. She won't be able to go outside."

Kiori started up the steps, brushing past him. As she did so, she said, "I don't want to talk about it."

"I'm throwing her a birthday party," he said. "I want you to come as well."

She stopped. But for a slight tremble to her shoulders she was perfectly still.

Anakin watched her for a moment. "It'll be today after school. At Poltz."

"I won't be there," she replied.

"Nelani is living her life to the fullest. Right now. How much time she has left is not the issue. Do you mean to tell me that you won't acknowledge her as your little sister, even now. At the very end?" He paused for a moment, noticing that her shoulders had begun to shake harder. "Do you know why she came to the Temple every day? Why she stood out there in that garden every day? She wanted to have lunch with you."

Kiori's head lifted up, and Anakin took a few steps closer to her. Part of him felt bad for the things he was saying to Kiori. He knew that it was hurting her. But he knew that this distance between the two sisters was hurting them worse.

He continued speaking. "I heard that you two had made a promise once. That you two would eat lunch here once you were both training to be Jedi. She was looking forward to that. She was looking forward to going to school with her sister, having lunch with her sister and even walking home afterwards with her sister. She dreamed of those mundane events. Those everyday things."

He watched as a shiver raced down her body. Then she began walking again. He took a step closer towards her, and called out, "We'll be waiting, so make sure you come."

Then she was running. She disappeared around a corner, the echoes of her footfalls reaching his ears for a few moments before they to were gone. Anakin snarled, his fist striking out at a wall. Frustration and pain hammered at him, and he took in a deep breath, holding it for a five count before slowly exhaling. Finally, his emotions calmed once again, he returned to his classroom, noticing that Kiori refused to meet his eyes.

Sighing, he took his seat and attempted to pay attention to Master Horn's lecture.

After class, he walked out of the main entrance of the Temple. Standing by the gate, her customary shawl wrapped around her shoulders was Nelani. He noticed that she had changed from the orange jumpsuit to her usual clothes. When she saw him she lifted an arm and waved--her smile lighting up her face and warming his heart.

"Anakin!" she called out.

He looked her up and down. "So, you changed, I see."

"Yes," she replied, blushing furiously. "Since class got over early, I figured that I had time."

He chuckled. "Well, I think that it's a good thing you decided to change. After all, I don't think orange is really your color."

She pouted, and turned her head away slightly. "I don't like people who say things like that."

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

Anakin looked up at the sign. In bold, aurebesh it read: Poltz. He grinned. This was his favorite restaurant on Yavin, and the location for Nelani's birthday party. She stood beside him, staring up at the frontage as well. He felt her gentle pull as she reached out and tugged on his jacket. Smiling, he looked down at her.

"I'm a little nervous," she said, wringing her hands.

"Don't worry," Anakin replied as he placed one of his hands over hers, giving them a gentle squeeze. "They're all good people."

He released her hands and then stepped forward. He opened the door, holding it for Nelani. She hesitated for a moment, and then went in. He stepped into the building as well, allowing the door to swing shut behind him.

"Anakin!" someone called out.

He looked into the dining area and saw his friends sitting at a table, Raynar waving at him. "Anakin, over here."

"Hi, Nelani!" Tahiri chimed in.

Anakin grabbed Nelani's hand and dragged her to the table, introducing her to Jaina, Rayner and the young Twi'lek girl that was in Nelani's session. They then sat down, Nelani taking the seat at the head of the table, Anakin in the chair to her left. Anakin took a moment to look around the cafe, noticing that as usual it was filled with trainees from the Jedi Academy.

The server brought out a large ice-cream cake, with fifteen candles flickering slightly.

"Happy Birthday," the group called out to her, as Tahiri threw handfuls of confetti into the air.

"Um," Nelani began, happily smiling. "Thank you... thank you very much."

He grinned at her, and nodded his head. "Well, blow out the candles."

"Yeah," she replied and then took a deep breath and blew out the candles.

Soon, the cake was served out, and they were all eating.

"So," Raynar said to Anakin. "Nelani was the girl that came and got you the other day. I knew I had seen that face from somewhere before." He then focused on Nelani. "You're the one that used to stand out in the garden all the time."

Anakin chuckled and then nodded his head. "Oh yeah, that's right. Raynar was the person who pointed her out to me. That was either my first or second day back."

Raynar flicked his spoon out of his bowl, and pointed it at Anakin. "That's right! And you laid your hands on her without my permission!"

Jaina snickered, as Anakin smirked at Raynar. "Don't say such misleading things."

"Seriously, let's think about this," Raynar said as he waved his spoon at Anakin again. "There's Nelani, Jaina and... Tahiri," As he spoke he moved his spoon from person to person. "And there's even this young lady who's in Nelani's class." Then he turned back towards Anakin, leaning into him slightly. "And you're also close with Tenel Ka and Eyrl from the level above ours."

Raynar jumped out of his seat and pulled Anakin from his, quickly getting him in a head lock. "You.... you're as bad as that General Calrissian fellow! You... you Corellian!"

"Raynar," Jaina sighed. "It's not that way from Anakin's viewpoint." Then in a lower voice she said, "Besides, not all Corellians are like that."

Tahiri chimed in between bites of ice cream. "You're not making much sense to me."

Anakin struggled against Raynar's arm, trying to disentangle it from his neck. He snarled, "I'm going to knock you out!"

Jaina sighed again, and then picked up a jar filled with a red substance, and passed it to Nelani. Nelani turned it over in her hands, looking at it and Anakin heard Jaina say, "This is from our Aunt Mara and me. It's homemade strawberry jam."

"I love strawberry jam," Nelani replied as she beamed happily at the jar.

Raynar finally let Anakin go and he dropped back into his seat, rubbing at his neck. He tossed a glare in Raynar's direction.

Movement drew his attention and he watched as Tahiri lifted up a plain, brown paper bag high into the air. "And this is from me," she said, and then blushed slightly. "Sorry, I didn't have time to pick out presents."

Anakin arched an eyebrow, and smirked at the blonde girl. "So you bought her canapés?"

"This is from me," the Twi'lek girl said, interrupting any comeback Tahiri might have made. She then lifted a basket of cupcakes.

Once the presents had been gathered in front of Nelani, Jaina looked them over, and said, "Wow, they're all sweets."

"But I love sweets," Nelani replied a pout coming to her lips.

Anakin laughed. "And she's not saying that to be polite. Her food of choice is ice cream."

The group laughed, as Nelani blushed slightly. Anakin grinned at her and winked, causing her blush to deepen even more. Turning from her, he glanced up at the chrono hanging on the wall, seeing that it was almost time for them to end the party.

Raynar leaned closer towards Nelani. "If ice cream is your food of choice, then you've got a serious maladjusted diet. Let me take you out and get some real food sometime."

Then Jaina sat up straighter in her chair, looking towards the door. "Kiori?"

Anakin's and Nelani's head snapped that way. Kiori stood in the doorway, one hand picking at her lip, the other supporting her as she leaned against the door jamb. She stared at the floor, looking as if she was still deciding to run away or not.

"So, Kiori was invited too?" Jaina asked Anakin.

"Hey Kiori!" Raynar called out.

Anakin turned to look at Nelani, seeing the sadness that flickered across her face as she watched her older sister.

When Kiori did not move from her spot at the door, Jaina called out again, "Kiori?"

As Anakin watched, Nelani turned away from Kiori and faced forward, staring intently at the empty bowl that had contained her ice cream.

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

Kiori sat across the table from Anakin. She stared straight ahead, not turning to look at her sister. He flicked his eyes to look at Nelani, and noticed her still staring at her empty bowl, as she chewed on her lower lip.

"Anakin," Jaina said, confusion giving her voice an odd lilt. "You invited Kiori as well?"

"Kiori!" Raynar exclaimed, cutting off anything Anakin might have said to Jaina. "Let me introduce you. This is our guest of honor, Nelani. Uhm, oh yeah, what's your last name again?"

Anakin frowned at Raynar for a moment, and then pushed back his chair and stood up. "Now that we're all here, let's get this party started!"

Silence greeted him, and he looked around, noticing the tenseness between all the girls.

He dropped back into his seat, and frowned down at his own empty plate.

Without speaking, Nelani stood up and picked up Kiori's plate, dishing her out a helping of the ice cream cake.

"Oh," Tahiri said, frowning slightly. "I could have done that."

Nelani shook her head. "It's all right. I don't mind." She then set the serving in front of Kiori. "There. Please eat it if you like."

She settled back into her seat, lowering her head to look once more at her plate.

"Thank you," Kiori replied, without moving her gaze.

"The parfaits here are really great, too," Jaina told her friend.

Her voice was almost dead sounding. "I'll have one later."

Anakin watched as Jaina and Tahiri exchanged confused glances. He sighed, wondering if this was as good of an idea as it had originally seemed. He looked between the two sisters, and noticed that they both seemed even more depressed than they had before. In fact, it was the saddest he could remember ever seeing Nelani.

Raynar leaned over and whispered into his ear, "Hey, what's with this awkwardness?"

Anakin leaned closer to him. "I'll explain later. Just please... make this place lively."

"Looks like there's a story behind this," Raynar said with a grin. He then gave a curt nod of his head. "You got it."

He reached down and grabbed a bag out from beneath his feet, and then stood up and darted to the rest room. He returned a few minutes later, dressed in the same sequined, white jumpsuit that Anakin remembered him wearing at the Dance Festival.

He jumped up onto his chair, and stuck one hand onto his hip and pointed the other straight into the air. "All right! This is a party, and with it, comes a dance!"

Raynar began to shake his hips from side to side. "I plan on making my triumphant return to the dance scene from the fiasco that was the Dance Festival."

Anakin looked around, and noticed that Tahiri had a hand covering her mouth while Jaina looked mortified. Nelani and Kiori both had matching looks of shock on their faces, eyes opened wide, mouths hanging slightly.

After a moment, Jaina said, "Raynar, you're seriously going to dance here?"

He pointed at her. "You know it."

The waitress stepped up, and tapped him on the shoulder. "Sorry, sir. But I don't think you should be dancing here. That'd probably disturb the other customers, so..."

Suddenly, one of their classmates yelled out, "No, it's fine. Let him dance, so long as he makes it interesting."

Another student in their class, this time a young Arconian, yelled out, "Yeah, dance for us Raynar!"

Then to the waitress's dismay, all the students began to cheer.

Raynar waved at them, and said, "Thank you!" He then turned back to their table, and held his hand out towards Kiori. "So Kiori, if I may have your hand?"

She recoiled from him, her eyes opening even wider. "I... I'm fine..."

Anakin chuckled and looked at Nelani. "Why don't you dance, Nelani?"

Horror flickered onto her face, and she began waving her hands and shaking her head. "No! I, I'm fine, too. Really."

He sighed, and then stood up and looked at Raynar. "Well then, I guess that I must be your partner."

"Are you serious?"

"I'm serious," he shot back. "What, I'm not good enough for you?"

He poked Anakin in the chest. "Of course you're not good enough. You're not Kiori."

Anakin grinned and grabbed Raynar's hand. "Now, now. Don't be so modest about it."

He then flung him around, in one of the Corellian two-steps that he had learned the year before.

"Oh, fine," Raynar muttered, and Anakin dropped his hand.

Then they began to try to outdo one another in the most outrageous ways they could move their bodies.

The crowd around them were laughing, and Anakin winked at Tahiri as he saw her wiping away a tear from her eyes.

Finally, he started squishing his face with his hands, as he noticed Nelani trying her best to not laugh.

He glanced over at Raynar, and noticed him on the ground flopping around like a landed fish.

A quick glance at the two sisters revealed them almost laughing. Then they looked at one another, and their faces fell once more.

As the two boys continued to make fools of themselves to the laughter of their friends, Anakin watched, as Nelani for the first time, began to stare at her sister. Quietly watching her, as she slowly took her first bite of the cake.

A few moments later, she dropped her gaze again, once more watching her empty bowl.

An hour later, the group stood outside of Poltz. Anakin stood in the center of the group, to his right stood Nelani and on his left was Raynar, Tahiri, Jaina and then Nelani's classmate. Standing a few paces away, watching the distant sky stood Kiori.

"Well, that was embarrassing," Jaina said.

Anakin laughed. "Oh? But you were laughing hard."

"Are you all right, Nelani?" Tahiri asked. "You look tired."

"No," she replied. "I'm fine. I had a lot of fun. I enjoyed spending time with everyone."

Nelani looked over at her sister, and then dropped her gaze slightly.

"Nelani," Jaina said, leaning forward, grinning. "Let's have lunch together next time."

Nelani's hand shot to her mouth, as she straightened. "Can I?"

"Me too," interjected the young Twi'lek.

Then Tahiri chimed in, "Me too!"

Anakin frowned at her. "You can't. You don't train at the academy."

She pouted up at him, and he suppressed a chuckle.

"I'm in too," Raynar said. "It's pointless to let Anakin have all the fun."

Anakin sighed. "I told you to not say things like that. Someone could easily misunderstand you."

"Why?" Raynar asked. "Don't you want to make a cute girl like her your girlfriend?"

Kiori sighed, lowering her head slightly, shifting it so she looked at him. "You really don't have an eye for girls, do you, Raynar?"

Anakin and Nelani both sat up straighter, startled. He focused on Kiori. He watched her for a minute, and then began to grin. "Mind your own business, Kiori."

She looked at Anakin, her eyes narrowing slightly. "It is my business. Because Nelani is... Nelani is..." She lowered her head and closed her eyes. Anakin noticed that everyone in the group was staring at her, and he could not help but smile. After a heartbeat, she lifted her head again, and opened her eyes, and smiling, said, "Nelani is my little sister."

Nelani inhaled sharply, as the rest of the group shouted out, "Little sister?"

Kiori smiled at Nelani, tilting her head slightly. "Isn't that right, Nelani?"

Nelani opened her mouth. Then closed it. She inhaled deeply, and then slowly exhaled.

Raynar spoke up before Nelani could reply. "Then why didn't you tell us sooner? Could it be-"

Anakin smacked him on the back of his head. "Zip it."

He looked down at Nelani, seeing the brilliant smile on her face.

Kiori smiled in return, and then held her arms out towards the rest of the group, herding them away from Anakin and Nelani. "Come on," she said. "Let's be off."

After she had taken a half dozen steps, she spun around to look at them again. "Nelani, uhm... Let's chat a lot later."

Nelani nodded her head. "I'd like that."

Then Kiori turned on Anakin. "Anakin, take care of my little sister."

She then turned, and jogged to catch up to the rest of the group.

Anakin looked down at Nelani who was watching her sister. After a moment, she lowered her head. "Thank you so much, Anakin," she said. "You made me so happy."

He grinned at her. "Happy Birthday, Nelani." He watched her for a few more minutes, and then shifted his gaze up towards the setting sun. "Where should we go now?"

She shifted to look up at him, her head cocked to one side, an eyebrow lifted in question.

"You still have time, right?" he asked. "I'll tag along where ever you want to go."

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

Anakin watched as Nelani once more played the Whack-a-'Wok game. The rubberized mallet coming down a split second after each holographic Ewok disappeared. Finally, she was fast enough and slammed the mallet down onto one of them. The score counter flickered up a digit. Then the game was over.

She spun around towards him, grinning broadly.

He bought her an ice cream to celebrate.

An hour later, night had fallen, and they still walked through the shopping district, watching as the shops and vendors closed down for the night. He looked over at her, and saw the happy smile she still had on her face.

"You don't have to go home yet?" he asked.

"That's right," she replied. "I told my parents that I would be home late tonight."

A brisk wind sliced through the street, and he looked towards the horizon, and saw storm clouds obscuring the stars in the distance. Then he noticed that Nelani had stopped. Frowning, he turned towards her, and saw that her head was lowered, a frown flickering on and off of her face.

"Uhm... Anakin? Do... do you think we could hold hands?"

He felt the surprise slash through him, and watched as she blushed brightly, and tucked her chin even tighter against her chest.

Then he stretched out his hand, reaching for hers.

Her eyes lifted, slowly followed by her chin, and he smiled at her. She smiled back, and then blushed once again.

Hesitatingly, she reached out and slipped her hand into his. Electric fire raced up his arm as the soft tips of her fingers slid across his calloused palms.

Then their hands were clasped together. He smiled at her, and she walked forward, and they once more took up their stroll. This time, hand in hand.

Before long, they were at the park. Their park. As usual it was abandoned, this time, even the street vendors were gone. Nelani sat on the edge of the fountain, keeping Anakin's hand clasped in hers. He settled down beside her.

Silence stretched between them for a time.

Finally, he said, "I'm a little tired."

"Yes," she replied, giggling slightly. "Especially since I dragged you around to so many places. But I have gotten better at the Whack-a-Wok."

He laughed. "Yeah, you've got a knack for it."

They fell into silence again. Anakin watched her from the corner of his eye, watched as she struggled to find the courage to say something. So he simply waited, quietly holding her hand.

"I don't know how to thank you," she said softly.

"I haven't done much."

"You're a strong person," she replied. "Stronger than me."

"No, you're the strong one."

"No I'm not," she said, as she lifted the hand that he held onto, releasing her hold on his fingers, as she pulled the sleeve down, revealing her inner wrist, and the thin white scars on them. "I... I slit my wrist once before."

Anakin inhaled sharply, and looked at her, his mouth hanging open slightly.

She continued her story. "It was the night I met you. I did it with a utility cutter. It was the opening day of the third semester. I saw my sister leave her room, and then I did the same. I carried only this shawl, which until then I had rarely used." She lifted one corner of the shawl, looking down at it. "Kiori gave me this shawl, exactly one year ago today. I begged her for a present, and so she gave it to me a day early." She lowered the shawl, and reached over to clasp his hand again. "I bought the utility cutter at the store, and then bought a number of other things as well. Even though I didn't need them. I took the long way home, wanting to admire the scenery here one last time, and that was when I met you and Tahiri.

"I remember that night. In my room, the lights turned off... I was all alone. I couldn't hear or see anything. I couldn't feel anything. I couldn't think of anything. It felt like I was cut off from the entire world. Trapped in my room, merely waiting to die.

"It felt like I had wandered into the wrong place. The wrong world... The wrong life. As I made that first cut, I thought I heard some laughter. It belonged to the two people I had met that afternoon.

"I remembered the way they laughed. Their joyful faces. I was miserable and crying, the blood dripping from the wound on my wrist. Then... Then I was laughing. Then the tears, the tears that wouldn't come even when my sister told me I wouldn't see my next birthday started leaking out. They were tears that came out from laughter, but I couldn't stop them.

"Then I realized that I was crying because I was sad. After... after I had laughed and then cried, I couldn't cut myself anymore." She chuckled lightly, and looked up at him. "Maybe that was the miracle."

Anakin shook his head. "No... that's your strength."

"I'm weak," she replied. "I'm a weak person who can't live without someone else supporting her."

"That's fine," Anakin said, conviction making his voice firm. "Everyone needs support from others. I do. My uncle does. Besides, it's called a miracle because there's a chance that it might come true."

"Maybe you're right."

He squeezed her hand. "Can you make a promise with me?"

"A promise?"

"If a miracle does happen, then you'll treat me to a cafeteria lunch."

"Okay," she replied, her voice hitching slightly from unshed tears. "It's a promise."

The wind whistled through the trees.

"Anakin? I had fun today."

"I had fun as well."

"I'd like to go to that cafe again. Just one more time."

"Yeah."

"And I'd like to walk through the shopping district with you."

"Yeah."

"Today," she said. "I made a new friend at school. She said let's go out and have fun next time."

"That's great," he replied.

"There's still so many places I want to go. Things I want to see and do," she said as she looked up at him. "I don't think I want to die." Then she dropped her head, too once more look towards the ground. "I don't think I should have grown so close to so many people."

"You don't think so?"

"No," she replied. "Because I'll make those people suffer the same way that my sister has."

Anakin lifted his head, and turned to face her. He tightened his grip slightly on her hand. "Nelani, I'm glad that I got to know you."

Her head snapped around to face him, her eyes wide. "Really?"

"Of course," he said with a smile. "I'm not lying about it."

She straightened up slightly, a smile coming to her face. Then she seemed to deflate again. She tilted her head to the side, and smiled weakly. "Was I able to keep smiling?"

Startled, he opened his mouth, but did not know how to respond.

"Was I able to keep my smile on the whole time?"

"Y-yeah," he finally replied. "You were fine."

"I'm glad," she responded. Then she looked over at the clock that stood in one corner. It read just a few minutes until midnight. "It's almost time."

Anakin looked that way, and then nodded his head. "Yes, it is."

"When midnight comes, I'll finally be sixteen years old."

"Yeah."

Finally, the minute hand clicked over, and the clock displayed midnight. He watched a smile appear on her face. Wistful. Melancholic.

Then he reached into his bag and pulled out a package, holding it out towards her.

"Happy Birthday, Nelani."

Grinning, she took the package from him, and then looked up at him. "Can I open it?'

"Of course."

Carefully, she unwrapped it, revealing a new sketchbook and a package of styluses. A smile brightened her face, as she looked up at him.

"Go ahead and fill those pages," he told her.

"Yes," she replied. "I will." Then she hugged the book close to her chest. "Thank you, so much. I'll treasure it."

"Anakin?" she began, lifting her head towards him.

Without thinking, he moved his head towards her, and suddenly her lips were pressed against his. Time seemed to stop.

All too soon, she was standing up, the sketchbook clutched to her chest, a flush burning her face. "I... I'll go buy something warm to drink. Will you wait here for me?"

Before he could respond, she dashed towards the corner of the park which contained vending machines. Gingerly, he touched his lips with his fingers and realized that he could still taste her.

He lifted his head to watch the clouds in the sky, and got lost in his thoughts. Then he looked over at the clock tower, and realized that she had been gone for ten minutes already.

She's sure taking her time, he thought. Then he looked down at where she had been sitting and realized that she had taken the basket of sweets that she had gotten at her party. Startled, he stood up, and took off running in the same direction she had. He entered the vending area, and looked around, but the only thing he saw was a still steaming cup of caf holding down a sheet of flimsie from the sketch book he had just given her.

Slowly, he walked forward until he stood before the flimsie, and then he read the words written there: Thank you, so very much. Goodbye.

He clenched his teeth as he read the last word once more, fighting back the tears.

"Happy birthday, Nelani."

---

Next Post

Memories - Ch. 17

Previous Post

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Anakin walked back towards the apartments; his feet shuffling against the hard-packed earth. He felt a frown pulling against his lips, and struggled to switch it to a smile.

Failing miserably.

He got on the elevator and watched out the window as it lifted towards the top floor. Sighing, he got off, and went into his apartment.

"I'm home," he called out.

Ikrit came sauntering into the room, his large, blue eyes focused on Anakin, watching him.

Next, Tahiri dashed into the room, a bright smile on her face. "Welcome back!"

He gave her a small smile, and bent down to pick up Ikrit. "How's Mara doing?"

Ikrit shuffled around and lay across his shoulders, as Tahiri answered. "She's feeling much better. Jaina took her over some porridge just a little while ago."

"I see," Anakin replied, as he pulled Ikrit off of his shoulders. Holding the creature with his hands under the forelegs, Anakin watched the blue eyes for a moment. Then he turned Ikrit around, and passed him off to Tahiri.

She took him, and cuddled him to her chest, her head tilting to one side as she watched Anakin. "What's wrong? You don't look that good. You're not getting sick on me are you?"

He shook his head and walked around her, heading towards his room. "It's just because it's starting to get cold outside."

Anakin walked into his room, and closed the door behind him. He leaned against it for a moment, squeezing his eyes shut. Then he sighed again and crossed over to his bed, dropping onto it. He rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling, recalling portions of the conversation he had just had with Kiori. After she had regained a bit of her composure and they had begun to walk along the river bank.

So Nelani knows this?

Yes, Kiori had replied. I told her because she begged me to.

Are you absolutely certain, he had asked, and even now his frown deepened at the hint of panic which was in his voice. There's no chance of a mistake? They're certain that... that she won't make it to her next birthday?

That's what the doctors say. Even if she does make it to her next birthday, she won't last much longer than that. Kiori had paused here, and wiped away an errant tear. I haven't even told Jaina. She's my best friend here, and I kept this from her. But what can I do? I don't want her trying to take care of me. But... you... you've been friends with Nelani. I felt that you should know.

Yeah, he had replied. Thanks for letting me know.

They had reached the end of the walkway, and Kiori paused, looking off in the distance to the houses on the far side of the shopping district. Well, my house is over this way. Good night, Anakin.

He watched as she began to walk away. Kiori wait! he had called out. She stopped, turning to look at him again. Nelani's birthday. It's in just a few days right? Are you sure you want to keep avoiding her like this? There's not much time left.

She turned away from him. She smiles when she's with you?

Yeah, I've never seen her tears.

She nodded her head once, sharply. I see, she had said and then began to walk away again.

He had called out after her again, but she had ignored him. She just continued walking until she had disappeared into the darkness of the night.

Staring at the ceiling, he wondered what he was supposed to do. How he could fix things. His fist flashed out and slammed against the bed, and he growled slightly.

"Anakin?" Tahiri called from the other side of his door. "I'm coming in!"

She opened the door, and stepped into the room looking around. "It's dark in here," she complained. "Why don't you turn on some lights? Here, I'll do it for you, all right?"

"No," he said between clenched teeth. "Please don't."

"Why?"

"When it gets bright I turn to ashes," he replied and then felt the bed shift and Ikrit's form curling up beside him.

Tahiri giggled and walked further into the room. She settled beside him on the bed. "Are you some type of night-creature now?"

"You need something?"

"No," she replied. "Not really. I just felt that it would be better to stay close to you."

"Mind your own business," he snapped at her.

"Right...."

He sighed. "You're so strange."

"Right."

Closing his eyes, he felt his lips twitch into a small smile. "Thanks."

She did not respond and before long he felt the bed start to shift as she began to kick her feet.

As he began to drift off to sleep, he felt her moving, stretching out beside him. Part of him wanted to tell her to go away, to leave him be. But only a part.

The next morning, he sat in his usual seat, staring out the window as Master Horn taught the day's lesson. Idly, he remembered that at one time the curriculum which his Uncle had developed for the Jedi Academy had not involved rote learning of this nature.

Suppressing a sigh, he shifted in his seat, and turned back to look at the empty seat where Kiori usually sat. He stared at it for a moment, before facing forward once again.

When lunch rolled around, he walked out to the garden where he usually met Nelani.

He frowned when he found it empty. So, both sisters are absent today.

At the end of the school day, he slowly walked home, stopping on one of the many bridges. He stared at the water as it reflected the orange glow of the setting sun at him. Shimmering as the wind rippled the water's surface.

Dark thoughts plagued him.

If it's a lost item, we can search for it together. If it's against a demon, we can fight together. But Nelani is....

He lifted his head, facing towards the heavens and where Yavin 8 is just now beginning to shine through the Yavin-light.

Hey Sannah? What did it feel like for you? What can I do for a girl with only a small bit of time left?

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

Lost in his thoughts, Anakin began to wander through the shopping district. He ignored everything; he allowed his feet to lead him on an aimless path as he considered how he could help Nelani. Before long, it was night and the sound of a fountain imposed itself onto his awareness. Lifting his head, he look around, finding himself in the same park where he had spent so much time with Nelani a few days before.

He frowned, and walked closer to the fountain, stopping a few paces from it, watching the water and the spotlights kept deep in the pool. The lights slowly cycled through colors, and he sighed, and looked around the fountain.

His heart thumped hard in his chest when he saw Nelani. She was sitting at the edge of the fountain, her hands pulling her shawl tight around her shoulders as she stared at him.

He swallowed; his throat was suddenly dry.

Standing, she said, "This place is more beautiful at night."

He walked over to stand close to her. Stopping, he watched her for a moment, and then focused on the fountain again. "I think I prefer it during the day. The nights here are getting chilly."

"That's a pity," she replied as she turned to face the fountain as well. "I'm just happy that the fountain is still running at this hour."

The wind shifted and a fine mist of water covered them. They both jumped back, and Nelani let out a tiny yelp of surprise.

"Kriff, that's cold," he snapped. "Isn't there a plug or something?"

"You can't clog it even if there is one. It's too beautiful. Don't you want to keep staring at it? Forever and ever."

Sadly, he looked down at her, noticing the wistful expression on her face. The silence seemed to stretch out between them.

"When I was little," she began. "Back on Llord, there was a fountain that looked quite a lot like this one. My family and I would go there occasionally, because I was a little healthier back then. I... I had ice cream with my sister. I wanted to eat some with her again." She closed her eyes and breathed deeply. Opening them again, she looked up at him. "I don't remember any other time that was more fun than that time."

He smiled and nodded his head. "So, that means our date came in second."

"No," she said, shaking her head. "The date with you was equally fun."

"What sweet words."

"No, it's true," she responded. "If I had more time, I'd probably come to like you more and more. Even though... Even though I shouldn't like anyone..."

He fought to keep a frown from his face as she turned around and sat down on the edge of the fountain again. After a moment, he sat beside her.

Her voice was soft, when she next spoke. "There's so much that I've got to apologize to you about. But, I think there's even more things I need to thank you for."

Anakin looked over at her and noticed that she was staring down at her hands. He shifted his gaze to his feet, fighting once more to keep a tight reign on his emotions. To not let his sadness show on his face or leak out through the Force.

"So," he began slowly. "What is your illness?"

"It has a long, very complicated name. But it's something that won't heal with more medicine or shots or Bacta… so I forgot what it's called." From the corner of his eye he saw her lift her head towards the stars, a hint of a smile on her face. "It's useless to remember it after all. Knowing what it's called doesn't help it and there are other things I'd rather remember. When we came here for training, Kiori came back to our quarters and told me about that garden. We made a promise to eat lunch there one day."

"Nelani, Kiori, she treats you..."

"I know," Nelani broke in, a pained smile on her face. "That's why I try not to see her as well."

"Why?" Anakin demanded. "Didn't you two used to get along?"

She slowly shook her head, a frown marring her features. "It's because that's all I can do for her right now."

Anakin watched her. He blinked his eyes, trying to figure out how best to respond. After a moment, her head turned towards him, and her customary smile was back in place. "Anakin? Can I ask a favor?"

He closed his eyes, and sighed. Then he nodded his head as he replied, "Yeah, I'll listen to anything."

"Please treat me as a normal girl. When I'm with you, I can go back to the happy days."

"The happy days?"

She nodded her head. "Yeah. Going to school and having lunch with everyone. Walking home with my friends from my classes. Even getting yelled at by my parents when I'd play outside late at night, even though Kiori was with me. Those days when I had ordinary, happy days. So, I want you to treat me like I'm in those days. If you can, as if..." She closed her eyes, and dropped her chin to her chest for a moment. Then lifted it, and opening her eyes, continued speaking, "as if you were my brother."

He watched her for a moment. He was not certain how to respond, and felt oddly melancholic over being referred to as her brother. Finally, he nodded his head, once sharply. "Okay, I promise."

"Really," she said, as her head snapped to look at him, her eyes bright and wide.

He grinned at her. "If I'm good enough for you."

"Thank you," she replied, smiling brightly for him.

They sat together for a while longer, the silence stretching between them both comfortable and comforting. Finally, she yawned and stood up.

"I've got to go home now."

He stood up, and nodded his head. "Will you be at school tomorrow?"

"Yes," she replied. "Something that might surprise you may happen tomorrow."

He lifted his hand and waved it in her direction. "If it's another portrait, you don't have to draw it."

"It's nothing like that," she scolded, and then stomped her foot and half-turned away from him. "I don't like people who say things like that."

"Don't get mad, I was only joking."

She lifted one hand to her lips to chew on a knuckle. "It was mean, even for a joke."

"I'm sorry. I'll treat you to ice cream if you spare me."

She faced him fully once more, a smile coming to her lips. "In that case, I've got to forgive you."

He arched an eyebrow, and gave her a quick grin. "You're easy to satisfy."

In response, she just giggled.

She waved at him, and then began to walk away. Heading towards her home. He watched her for a moment, his frown pulling his lips down. He lifted his face to the sky, staring at the distant stars. Then he looked towards Nelani again, as she slowly walked away from her. Pain clutched at his heart.

"Nelani!" he called out. She slowed and turned towards him. "Is it too late? Is it really? Is there no chance that you can recover?"

She lowered her head slightly. "I may. If a miracle happens." Then she lifted it and smiled. "But remember, it's called a miracle because it doesn't happen."

Turning away from him once more, she slowly moved off into the darkness. Anakin watched until she had turned a corner and disappeared. Then he finally wiped away the tears that had been sliding down his cheeks.

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

Anakin returned home to find dinner waiting and a note from Jaina saying that she had turned in for the night already. He quickly warmed up his dinner, and as he sat at the table to eat, heard Ikrit walking up behind him. He grinned at the furry creature, and then turned back to his meal, quickly eating it.

After cleaning up the dishes, he walked into his room, Ikrit darting between his legs, almost tripping him. Shaking his head, he looked around and saw Tahiri sitting at his desk, her head resting on its surface, soft snores coming from her direction.

He stood over her, watching her for a moment. "So you were waiting for me," he whispered.

Smiling, and not quite understanding why, he pulled the chair away from the desk and picked her up. Then he carried her down the hall to her own room. Carefully, he laid her in her bed, and pulled her blankets up over her. He smiled down at her, and brushed her bangs back away from her face.

"Sweet dreams," he whispered, and then left her room to return to his own.

The next morning, Anakin was eating a bowl of porridge. Across from him, Jaina was sitting, all but falling asleep in her chair. Next to her, Tahiri was in similar straits.

Mara sat in the empty spot next to Anakin, and glanced between the other two girls. "Jaina, I expect to see all but asleep at breakfast, but this is something new for you, Tahiri."

The young, blonde girl sighed. "I know, but I had bad dreams all last night."

"Dreams?"

"Yeah," she replied. "I dreamed that I was getting carried away somewhere by ghosts."

Anakin put his bowl down, and used a napkin to hide his chuckles. "Strange. I wonder why you'd have such a dream."

"I don't know," Tahiri replied, a pout coming to her lips. Then she screwed her fists against her eyes, yawning.

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

Anakin stared down at the garden from the window of his classroom. He was frowning, though he did not really realize it. She said she would come.

"Anakin!" Raynar's voice slashed through his concentration, and he jumped slightly. His head snapped around, to find Raynar standing in front of him, arms clasped behind his back, a large, silly grin on his face. "It's lunchtime..."

He frowned at his friend. "I know... and you're smile is creeping me out. Stop."

Raynar collapsed across Anakin's desk, and tilted his face to look at him. "What's wrong? Don't you have any energy?"

At that moment, Jaina walked past. "Anakin? Are you going to eat with us in the cafeteria today?"

"Yeah," he replied, his head twisting slightly to look out at the empty garden. "Since my lunch-mates are gone..."

Raynar stood up and looked towards Kiori who had been sitting quietly in the back of the classroom. "Kiori! Let's go get some lunch."

"Forget it," she snapped. "I don't have an appetite today."

Jaina walked closer to her friend, leaning down slightly. "Are you sick? Do we need to take you to Master Cilghal?"

"I'm fine. Leave me be."

Raynar dropped into the seat in front of Anakin, and leaned closer to him. "Do you think something's happen to Kiori?"

Anakin shook his head. "I don't know."

"Anakin!" Someone from the other side of the classroom called out his name.

Frowning, he looked that way, as the student spoke again. "Anakin, someone's here to see you."

He felt his mouth drop open as he saw her standing in the doorway. She wore the orange jumpsuit common to the students in the level below his. Over the jumpsuit, there was a traditional Jedi Robe which almost seemed to swallow her.

He blinked a few times, and felt himself standing up without consciously moving.

The girl caught him staring, and with a blush burning her face, bowed slightly.

"Nelani," he muttered aloud.

Raynar jumped up and grabbed the collar of Anakin's tunic. "You've... you've gotten your hands on one of the younger students?"

"What kind of nonsense are you-"

His rant was interrupted by Kiori abruptly pushing back her chair, and storming from the room. Raynar looked after her for a moment, and then started chasing her down. "Kiori! Where are you going?"

Anakin looked to Nelani, and from across the room could see the tears shining in her eyes. He looked up at Jaina and saw her staring at the doorway that Kiori had disappeared through.

"I wonder what's wrong with her," Jaina asked.

Anakin shook his head. "You go to Kiori too. I have an... I've got something I need to do."

With that said he brushed past Jaina and walked towards Nelani, his heart pounding heavily in his chest.

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

Anakin stepped out of the food service line with a plate of curry in each hand. He glanced around the cafeteria, and finally spied Nelani sitting at a table halfway across the room from him, trying to look at everything at once.

Laughing to himself, he walked towards the place she had chosen and put her plate in front of her, sitting down in the seat across from her.

"So, this is what the cafeteria looks like... I kind of expected there to be more... well... on Llord, the cafeterias have these walls with all these little doors. You walk up to one, and put a credit chit in and then you open the door and pull out whatever type of food you want. It's not like this at all."

Anakin ignored her musings, and locked eyes with her. "Is it all right for you to suddenly show up for training like this?"

Nelani nodded her head quickly. "I have the doctor's permission. She said I can attend for the rest of the week."

Anakin quickly counted the days in his head. That means she'll be here until the day before her birthday.

She finally seemed to notice the plate of food that Anakin had put before her. She leaned over slightly, and sniffed. "It looks spicy."

He arched an eyebrow towards her. "The curry here isn't that bad. My dad makes it better though." He then dug his spoon into the brown stew-like mixture and brought a bite to his mouth.

Looking up from his plate, he noticed Nelani staring at him. He frowned for a moment. "What's wrong? Eat up."

She blinked a few times and then picked up her own spoon. "Y-yes..."

Tenderly, she put a bite in her mouth, chewing methodically. As she did, her face grew red, and she began to whimper slightly.

Anakin leaned forward. "Are you okay?"

She dropped her spoon back onto her plate, and grabbed up her glass of water, and quickly took three large gulps. She closed her eyes and put the glass back onto the table. When she opened her eyes again to look at him, he noticed the tears that rimmed them. "Well, truthfully... I can't take spicy food at all."

"What? What about horseradish?"

"I don't even want to see it," she responded, averting her head from him.

"Mustard?"

"I don't want to hear about it." She then covered her ears with her hands.

"Tabasco?"

"It's the enemy of all humans, everywhere," she snarled.

"Ice cream?"

Her entire mannerisms shifted. Going from the panicked, fear from when he was asking about spicy foods to an almost angelic smile, her hands pressed palms together, index fingers centimeters from her lips. "I love it!"

"Why did you have me order curry for you then?"

She looked down, a rosy tint coming to her pale cheeks. "Because, I wanted to eat the same thing as you."

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

Anakin and Nelani walked side by side down the path near the river. The setting sun struck it, changing the surface to the color of molten silver. Dancing across the ripples was the reflection of the setting sun. As they walked, their hands would occasionally brush across each other, and every time it happened, Anakin could feel his face flame with embarrassment. They turned at a crossroads, taking a bridge over the river, one which headed away from the Jedi Temple and towards the shopping districts. He rubbed at his stomach. "Man, I'm still full from eating so much at lunch."

She shrugged her shoulders. "I ate enough."

He laughed slightly. "Just make sure you order something that you actually eat, tomorrow."

She grinned up at him. "Should I make a lunch tomorrow then?"

"Sure," he replied, nodding his head. "That'll save money as well."

"Good! I'll make your share, too."

Anakin blinked, and looked down at her, to find her smiling up at him. "My share?"

She nodded, and turned her head to look at the river. "Yup. Your share."

Before long, they reach the path that would take Anakin on towards the apartment he shared with his sister. They stopped, and Anakin scratched at his hair, feeling a blush crop up on his cheeks again.

"Uhm," he began. "Tomorrow, let's stop somewhere special, all right?"

She smiled brightly for him, "Where?"

He laughed. "That's a secret."

She pouted, slightly. "Fine. We'll go to your special place tomorrow. But don't forget to look forward to the lunch I'm making you."

"Don't worry," he replied, a grin tugging at the right corner of his lips. "Even if it tastes horrible, I'll eat all of it."

She scowled at him, and turned partly away. "I don't like people who say such things."

"I'll see you tomorrow then?"

She turned, the scowl on her face dissolving into one of her brilliant smiles. "Yes, tomorrow."

Turning away from him, she headed down the path which would take her through the shopping district and to the residential section on the far side of it. Anakin stood there watching her as she walked away. Frowning, as he realized that if Kiori was right, he only had a few days left of being able to see Nelani's smile light up her face.

The next day at lunch, Anakin stepped into the cafeteria. As soon as he entered, Nelani stood up and started waving at him. Her smile once more brightening his world. He suppressed the dark emotions that threatened to well up.

"Anakin!" she called out. "Hurry up, Anakin."

He grinned and started walking towards her.

"Right here," she said, pointing towards the empty chair set across from hers. "That seat's open."

Anakin smiled, and nodded his head. "Thanks for saving a seat for me." Then he reached out and scruffed her hair, causing her to giggle. "Good job."

She laughed. "Well, I tried my best."

He shook his head as they both sat down, and Nelani pulled out two packages, snatching the lids off of both. "Tada!"

Anakin blinked his eyes as he looked between the two boxes. Both filled with various finger foods, sandwiches and sliced fruit. "Wow... there sure is a lot of it."

Nelani nodded her head quickly. "Yeah, it's packed."

Pointing towards one of the boxes, he looked at her. "Is that one yours or mine?"

She grinned again. "Nope. They're both yours." She then reached down beside her and lifted up a much smaller box, setting it on the table in front of her. "This is my lunch."

He looked at the box, frowning. "That's tiny..."

She straightened slightly in her seat, her head tilting a few centimeters to the left, as he said, "Please eat it all."

"I did promise," he replied, picking up the first of the triangular sandwiches. "Well, one's attitude towards a challenge is important to anything."

"What do you mean?"

He chuckled. "Don't let it bother you."

A half hour later, Nelani set a glass of water in front of him, as he leaned back in his chair. Both of the large boxes were empty save a scattering of crumbs and a few pieces of crumpled parchment.

She looked at him, worry shining in her eyes. "Was it a lot?"

He snorted in amusement, picking up the glass of water. "Just a little," he said and then took a sip from the glass.

"I'm sorry," she replied, blushing. "It was a lot of fun making it, so... And there was so many things that I wanted to make you..."

Taking another sip, he put it down, and smiled at her. "It was delicious. And because they were delicious, it all fit into my stomach."

"Really?" she asked, beaming with pride. "That makes me happy."

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

After school, the two were in Anakin's favorite bistro, Poltx. Located in the middle of the shopping shopping district, it had wide bay windows in the dining area, where one could sit and watch pedestrian traffic without being noticed. Sitting on the table in front of Nelani was an empty dish, the last traces of some ice cream still visible in its bottom, while he had a half-drained cup of caf. She looked up at him, and said, "It's been a while since I've been to a place like this."

He grinned at her. "Well, everyone needs a break every now and then."

"Yeah," she replied slowly.

"So, how was the ice cream here?"

"It was great!"

He smiled at her, and pushed his credit chit into the slot on the tabletop, settling their bill. Then he stood and helped her up, and together they left the bistro and turned right, walking deeper into the shopping district. Anakin noticed that they were nearing the doll shop, and he slowed down so that Nelani could look in the window. Front and center of the display was a life-sized Jawa doll, which Anakin could only frown at and wonder, Why would someone want to buy a Jawa doll?

Nelani leaned closer to the glass, as if she couldn't quite believe what she was seeing. "This... this is a really strange doll shop." She paused for a moment, her head moving slightly. "Looks like there's a lot more of them in there as well."

"I don't understand any of them," Anakin said. "It's probably better if we stay away."

She straightened and looked at him. "Let's go in."

"You want to?" he asked, his back straightening slightly. He saw her staring at him, her eyes silently pleading. "Well if you want to...."

He felt someone staring at him, and he lifted his gaze away from Nelani to find Kiori standing at the corner, not two dozen paces from them. As she stared at Nelani's back, Kiori's body was held rigid in shock. Slowly, Kiori lowered her head, and then backed away, sliding around the corner and disappearing from sight.

He focused on Nelani again. "Ah... uhm, I actually forgot something at Poltx's. Why don't you head inside first and check things out while I run and get what I forgot." He walked around her, and then called out over his shoulder. "I'll be right back, you wait for me here. Okay?"

Without waiting for her response, he darted around the corner and looked around. He saw Kiori running down the street and he gave chase.

"Kiori!" he called out. "Kiori! Wait!" He growled slightly when he realized she was ignoring him, and he put on more speed, catching up with her, and stopping in front of her. "Stop running away from me. Let's have tea or something with Nelani. You're concerned about her too, right?"

Kiori refused to meet his eyes. "I don't know anyone named Nelani." She then pushed him out of the way and started walking again. "Out of my way."

Anakin twisted around, and called out her name, but she was already gone.

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

Darkness had fully fallen, and Anakin stood next to Nelani on one of the many bridges around the town. He stared at the black river, frowning slightly at the occasional flash of silver either from a fish or from one of Yavin's other moons.

"That idiot," he mumbled under his breath, and feeling Nelani's gaze on him, lifted his head and smiled at her. "Ah, uh... don't mind me... so what was it? About the shop we stopped by?"

Nelani watched him for a moment, and then turned her attention towards the store. "Well, the shopkeeper was nice. He gave me detailed explanations about everything, and made all sorts of suggestions." She smiled slightly, and Anakin turned his back onto the river to lean against the railing, as she continued talking. "But I turned them all down because I didn't have any money."

He felt the feather-light touch of her hand on his shoulder, and he turned to look at her, seeing the concern in her large, blue eyes. "Did something happen, Anakin? You're staring off into space."

"No," he replied, kicking off the wall. "It's nothing. So, what kind of stuffed animals were there?"

"Really strange ones," she responded as they began walking across the bridge again. "Like a giant acklay and a Hutt."

"And a Affytechan, right?"

Nelani's eyes widened slightly. "There was such a thing there?"

He laughed. "Yeah."

Thoughts of the plush Affytechan brought memories of Tenel Ka to mind. Especially something she had said the time he had visited her in the hospital with Tahiri. He frowned slightly, as he struggled to remember the words. Finally, he did: There is someone near to you, who is trying to turn away from her pain. You need to give her strength.

"Hello," Nelani's voice cut through his wandering thoughts. "Anakin?"

"Oh, sorry," he replied, giving his head a quick shake. "So, which did you like more? The acklay or the Hutt?"

"Rather than those two, I liked the one in the window. The Jawa."

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

Anakin looked at the balance on his credit chit, and then at the handful of specific denomination credits he had scattered on his desk. Sighing, he picked up the credit chit again and moved from his desk chair to sit on his bed, dropping his head into his hands. "And that's my budget," he muttered.

Someone knocked at his door, and he looked over at it. "Come in," he called out.

The door cracked open, and at about his chest level, Ikrit floated into the room, holding him up were two tanned hands. "Good, Ikirt!" Tahiri called out from behind the door.

Giggling, she pushed the door the rest of the way open, and walked in.

He watched her for a moment, and then said, "Oh, it's only you." He then once more turned back to the glowing number on his credit chit. "What do you want?'

She plopped onto his bed beside him. "I just came to tell you that no one's using the 'fresher if you want a shower right now." She then glanced over at his credit chit. "Are you going to buy something?"

"Yeah," he said, and then looked over at her. He noticed the thin chain around her neck, and frowned for a moment. "You're always wearing that necklace, right?"

She fingered the necklace for a moment, and then nodded her head. "Yes, I do. It was a present from someone and means a lot to me."

Anakin nodded and looked away. "Speaking of presents, it's almost Nelani's birthday."

"Are you going to get her something?"

He turned to look at her again. "What do you think I should get?"

She grinned mischievously. "Canapés!"

He arched an eyebrow at her. "That's your personal preference."

Her grin turned into a full smile. "Then money."

Frowning, he looked over at her again. "You're oddly serious with that."

She began to chew on a finger tip, and then pulled it out and replied, "But if I have money, then I can buy canapés."

He could feel the beginnings of a headache, and he slowly began to run at his temple with his left hand. "Please, get your mind off of food."

She sighed, and looked down, clutching Ikrit tighter up against her chin. After a moment, she lifted her head to look at him. "Then rather than buying her something, why don't you do something for her? Do something that will make her happy."

Anakin pulled his hand away from his forehead, and slowly lifted his head to stare straight at the wall in front of him, his arm held forgotten halfway between his lap and his head.

Tahiri kept on talking. "You could take her somewhere fun. Or treat her to good fun. Isn't there anything that Nelani would like to do?"

He dropped his hand to his lap, and then looked at Tahiri. "What would make Nelani happy is to spend some time talking with Kiori." He worried at his lower lip for a moment, and then bolted into a standing position. "I've got it!" he announced.

"Anakin?"

He nodded his head quickly. "Yeah, this has to be what I need to do. This is something I can do for Nelani?"

"What is it?" Tahiri asked.

Anakin looked down at her and smiled.

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