The Truth
The truth hit her, and it hit her real hard.
She indeed, was in love.
Again.
For weeks she had tried to avoid the fact, but even now she was getting used to it.
She had hated it the first time, and she hated this time too.
She would always hate teen-aged fancies.
Especially when it came to guys.
She had hated being in love with some one because of the fact that it wouldn't last.
Not if she was just a teenager.
When she was old enough, when she could tell true love, then she would.
But she had just begun to learn love, and it was a treacherous path, full of treason and betrayal.
She hated it.
The worst part was that she was in love with a guy she knew too much about.
WAY too much.
That was only half the problem though.
The other half was her teenage pals.
"Although, the more I chew on it, the more I see my 'friends' are, as the Proverbs would say, just 'friends' who love my money and not me." It was the truth. Her friends liked her only because she was popular with other kids. The other guys. "Pff, no female in my regiment really cares" Ariel's normally bright face became rather dark, even in the brightly lit hallways of the Jedi sanctuary.
"Why hello, Ariel. What brings your fair eyes to the floor today?"
Ariel jerked her head up, alertly surveying the hall. It was Obi-Wan who had, oh so poetically, caught her attention. He was about five and a half feet tall (and still growing) with short, brown hair. He stood like a wall in front of her, with his feet spread wide, and firmly rooted in the ground. She groaned to herself, and hiding her displeasure at being flirted with, said aloud to Obi-Wan:
"Matters that would only confuse you, oh male one.," She smiled a charming smile, and then reassured him, "I'm just thinking hard outside of my room."
"Ah." It was clear that Obi had no understanding whatsoever, but he did not show it that way and pretended to understand. "Well, have fun then."
Ariel grinned, "No worries, thinking is very enjoyable."
"See you then."
"Bye."
Ariel sighed and walked further down the hallway, hanging her head and keeping her hands in her pocket. If any one who knew her at all would see her he would not be so easily fooled by the insincere answer she had given to Obi.
No, it would be no good if He came along.
Not, "no good".
Disastrous.
Absolutely disastrous.
Fortunately she was almost to her classes. They were the only time she could be certain she wouldn't be bothered, as she had private classes with her master, Master Kunin Dore. She had passed the trials after only ten days of training, but even though she and he had both beaten Master Windu and Master Fisto, two famous swordsmen, Master Windu had declared that he wanted them to have more training.
At last she arrived at the library for her lessons. Today they would read about the Sith Lords, who they were, how they came to be, and how they were destroyed.
Ariel knew plenty about Sith.
Ariel knew the truth about the Sith.
Like the fact that Chancellor Palpatine was the Sith Lord the Council secretly longed to destroy.
And that Dooku was now a Sith.
Dooku was training dark acolytes.
She knew this.
He knew it too.
Together, they knew quite a bit.
But she tried not to keep her mind on him.
"Greetings, Master." She bowed low, putting on a sincere smile.
"Greetings, child." Master Kunin was tall, and had broad shoulders. He had blond, shoulder length hair that he let hang loose. His eyes were green, and was almost always wearing the sly grin he wore now. "How are you?"
Straightening, Ariel replied in a pleasant tone that she was fine and was happy that she could have some time spent in peace. "I hope, that is." She added uncertainly, seeing the grin on her Masters face widen significantly.
"Well then, I hope having company will be peaceful enough for you." Seeing raised eyebrows on his Padawan's face, he quickly explained, "You see, I decided that you know enough about the Sith, and that you would be better off studying your family tree.
"And well, you see, only Master Yoda knows anything about that.
"So: you'll need to have lessons with him
"and I don't have a clue as to how he plays his lessons!" Master Kunin finished with a broad and reassuring smile, which brought back a small smile to his Padawan's troubled features.
"OK." Ariel's eyes brightened at the mention of Master Yoda; it was after all, his fault that she had survived two weeks after birth, at least according to his tale.
"Come, we'll go together." For once, Master Kunin's grin was gone, and instead there was a pure smile that stretched from ear to ear.
Ariel returned the smile, and for a moment her teen-age turmoils were forgotten.
For a while that is.
It's kinda hard to hide from those things.
Just kinda hard to avoid humanity.
Especially when you're kinda human.
Or kinda elvish.
They're quite similar that way.
Way too similar for some.
That's just kinda the truth.
Kinda.
Ariel cautiously advanced on her old friend, her aged Master, the kind Master Yoda. She had had a dangerous feeling, and as she warily approached him the feeling grew. Was she really here to learn of her family tree, or was there something Master Yoda had hidden from Master Kunin? Who could know.
Certainly not Ariel.
She couldn't trust anything.
She couldn't trust herself,
She couldn't trust her Masters.
She couldn't trust him.
She could barely trust the truth.
What a world to have to live in.
She slowed to a stop not a meter away from Yoda, and silently sat down on the floor. There she stayed, watching, listening, feeling, waiting for her Master to greet Yoda.
To her surprise, Master Kunin had already gone, leaving her alone with her lesson. A lesson she was uncertain if she wanted it to be begun.
As one, Yoda and Ariel sat together, silently, not one reacting to the other. They sat such for a few minutes before the door slid open, and light steps advanced. There was the soft rustling of fabric as the newcomer seated himself. Another few minutes passed, and Ariel tensed instinctively as Yoda began to speak.
"With whom do you sit, child?" A sensitivity test. Great. Reaching out, she felt her surroundings. Two life forms, Yoda and... Him.
A slight sense of thrill and dread simultaneously filled Ariel's soul as she immediately recognized the other male presence as the presence of Nick, him. She receded away from his mind, respecting his privacy and hiding her own feelings at the same time. Her greatest question was, why had Master Yoda brought him here if she was going to be learning about her family tree? Were they going to learn about two different places or what?
The same question was evidently on Nick's mind too, for he quickly questioned Master Yoda:
"Master, I sit, but I do not understand why I sit in the presence of the one I sit with. I came here to study my family tree, or so I was told."
"I second the motion." Ariel said, feeling intoxicated and in need of some fresh air.
Master Yoda stared intently for some time, then asked quietly:
"And what do you know of your family tree hm? That you have a mother and a father? Have you siblings? Cousins? Aunts and Uncles? That you surely have, do you not?"
"Master, how am I to know, for I was taken almost at birth from my mother, by you." Nick replied carefully, trying to identify the trick in Yoda's seemingly innocent question.
"Precisely. I have no memory of my mother, nor my father, and I do not know anything of them, save the little that you told me." Ariel gritted her teeth in an effort to calm herself, "And little indeed you told me." It wasn't that she was angry at Master Yoda, no, in fact she wasn't angry at all. She was confused, because Yoda had told her that he had kidnapped her from her mother 'almost at birth', as an effort to save her from the torments she would've faced otherwise. So then, did Yoda have a hobby of saving children from their parents or what was up with Nick's statement that 'I was taken almost at birth from my mother'?
Yoda gazed carefully at the two of them, and Ariel felt uncertainty growing in her. She had to let go, to trust her master but she couldn't bring herself to do it. She herself lowered her gaze and stared at the floor, trying to grasp at herself and gain control.
"What ails you, young one?" Yoda's gravelly voice did not calm Ariel's rushing mind. What was worse, she sensed two pairs of eyes grinding into her head, not just one. Which meant she was the center of attention. Great. Just what she needed.
"Argh! Yoda knows me too well for me to lie, and I don't want to be weak and... DANG! I'm wedged in between the hammer and the anvil" Ariel thought miserably glaring at the blue-ish floor in this room. She took a shuddering breath, and then jerking her head up into a locked gaze with Master Yoda, she said between clenched teeth,
"Let's just go on with our family tree lesson."
Yoda nodded quietly. He sat for a few minutes, staring into nothing. In these few moments, Ariel was able to get a grip on herself and loosen her tense muscles. She was also able to realize that Nick wasn't quite himself either (although that didn't comfort her very much; on the contrary, she felt even more tense on the inside) for reasons she couldn't quite explain. She was going to go 'be a fool' and just jabber away, but Yoda began to speak for her.
"Your families' truth, hard to explain, it is. For nearly fifteen years now, living together in ignorance, you have been." Yoda paused briefly as Ariel and Nick traded wary glances reflecting curiosity and tension. Yoda sighed heavily looked with tenderness upon his two most prized students. Any slight misunderstanding could send them careening to the dark side, and everyone in the Jedi Order (except for them it seemed) knew that such a thing would cause nothing but ultimate trouble, possibly ultimate destruction of the Jedi. "Brother and sister, you are. Evil emperor, your father is, and a mighty queen your mother is. Kidnapped you, I did, to protect you and your mother from your father's wrath. On your father's side, two uncles you have. On your mother's side, an aunt you have. Two cousins from your mother's side, you have already, and more are coming, or so I sensed. Believe..."
Ariel, who had quit quit listening to Yoda a long time ago, was listening to the unbelieving screams of her mind's shock. In her mind she saw a large tree with many names inscribed there, and the largest two were next to each other: Ariel and Nick.
"So hold it, I can be officially in love with him and it would be legitimate? How is this happening!? I can be honest!? What does he think about this!? And why the frigates did Yoda wait so long to tell us this!?" Ariel's world began spinning so fast she could hardly grasp at what she was thinking. She fell back, closed her eyes and allowed her jumbled thoughts to roam and float her away to nowhere. One question kept on coming back, however. 'What does he think about this?'
What did Nicholas think of all this?
That is was a great turn in his life?
That it was a terrible turn in his life?
That something good would happen because of it?
Ariel spent another few minutes of thoughtless thinking, but then she knew it was over. If Yoda had quit speaking, she didn't know, (she hadn't really comprehended much after his first statement, and didn't care to know otherwise) but she did know she really needed to know some other things.
Opening her eyes and ears to the world, she heard Master Yoda saying something like they were dismissed for the day and the other Masters would be notified of their excused absence and that he hoped they would talk it over and bla-bla-bla. The world hadn't stopped whirling in circular motions, and Ariel found herself staggering to her feet in order to go to her room and recuperate.
However, before she made her first step she felt a firm grip on her arm. Her eyesight began to clear, and things slowed in their whirling circles. She shook her head, steadied herself and found herself leaning on a strong arm for support. Moving forward as if she were in a dream, she discovered herself being lead up to her room.
She fell onto her bed and held her head in her pillow for a short while, trying to calm herself. She was oblivious to the world, she could only lay in shock, clutching her soft pillow to her head.
Eventually the world quit spinning and she was able to sit up without immediately falling back. Ariel looked about her and started when she saw Nick sitting on the floor in front of her.
"I didn't want to presume I was a welcome guest, but my room would not be a good place to do this," he started quietly, staring down at his strong hands. Ariel slowly slid down off of her bed and sat down across from him, keeping her eyes on him- no, on her brother.
"Yes...?" she prodded gently, feeling calm for the first time that day.
He slowly looked up into her eyes and said quietly, "I just want you to know... it is a great honor to be able to call you my sister and that, well..." Nick looked down at his hands again, ears turning bright red. "That, well I kinda, well," taking a deep breath, he clenched his eyes closed and in one breath said: "ilikedyoubeforeallthisandhopeitwillboostourrelationshipsowecanenjoysiblinghoodandseriouslycanyouverifytherumouraboutyouandAnakin?"
Ariel suppressed a laugh and replied in one breath, "seriouslyhavenoclueaboutnoAnakinrumoursonoworriesandagreewithallyousaidincludingthefactthatIlikedyoubeforeallthiseverhappened."
Nick's made a really surprised face, and then the two broke out grinning sheepishly across the room. Ariel stood and helped Nick to his feet.
"So just one question. Did you actually hear who our mom/dad are?"
"No." They stared some more at each other and broke out laughing.
"Guess that Yoda's first words kinda caught us off guard, eh?"
"Oh yeah. I'm glad he got us outta classes... I'd die if I had to go to something like, one on one dueling."
"No kidding there." Ariel laughed some more. "Wanna go on a walk?"
"Yes, indeed, I would."