Title: Eviction
Author: Lyraeinne
Characters/Pairing: Jacen, Jaina. Zekk, Anakin, and Winter mentioned.
Rating: G
Era: Pre-YJK. Say, Vision of the Future or thereabouts
Word Count: 797
"But why you?" Jacen persisted. He held the slab of congealed drinking chocolate in one hand, waving it to emphasis his frustration. "I mean, you'd think it would be obvious how much my pets are sick of having nothing but the side of Anakin's workbench to look at."
While they pondered the question, Jaina took the chocolate back from him and took another careful bite. For something that made such wonderful drinks it was really not very good, but they'd spent the better part of the day planning their raid, going to great lengths to insure it was necessary for Winter to be in the nursery fresher supervising a team of cleaning droids rather than in the kitchen watching them dismantle the food prep machine. It seemed wrong to let it go to waste now.
"Maybe it's because I'm a girl?" she ventured at last. She handed the chocolate back to Jacen and wiped the greasy residue on her pants. "I mean, they didn't ask Anakin either."
"Maybe," Jacen said, though he was clearly unconvinced. He broke off a piece and ate it dutifully. "But that doesn't really make sense. Since you got your hair cut you don't even really look like a girl anymore."
"Thanks," Jaina said. She took the chocolate back and took another bite. "Maybe it's because of Zekk. Maybe Mom thinks the nursery's too crowded when he sleeps over."
"But we don't think it's crowded," Jacen said. "We like Zekk. And anyway, it's not like we don't have, like, eight bedrooms that nobody ever even uses. He could have his own room if he wanted."
"We like Zekk," Jaina said. "But Mom thinks he's dirty. I heard her telling Dad the last time he was over. And yesterday she said he wasn't allowed to sleep in my bed anymore. Not allowed." She drew out the word, trying to imitate Mom's acidic tone.
"Zekk is not dirty," Jacen said defensively. "He just thinks taking a shower is a waste of time. And he really has a point, you know. Did you know that by the time I'm a hundred I will have spent seven whole years in the sanisteam? All that time standing there doing nothing."
"Ew," Jaina said. "That is a waste of time. Just think about how many times we could beat Chem Wars: 823 by then?"
"Exactly what I thought," Jacen agreed. "Zekk knows everything."
Jacen was still holding the chocolate, so Jaina took it away from him and sucked on the other end. "Well," she said. "If you really think about it, it's obvious what's going on. Classic isolationist tactics." Intergalactic History with Threepio did have its benefits. "I mean, she wants me to move all the way to the other side of the apartment. Not even next door, or whatever."
"Well, what about when Anakin has a nightmare?" Jacen said testily. "They're not even thinking about him. Or me. He's not going to go all the way down the stairs and through the kitchen to get to you. He's going to be sleeping on me. Drooling on me. Every night."
"I know," Jaina said. "And they've always liked you way better, too."
"Only sometimes," Jacen said, diplomatically.
They sat in silence for a few minutes, listening to Winter arguing with the cleaning droids and Anakin occasionally interjecting unhelpful advice. They probably had another minute, maybe two. Jaina hopped off the counter and reached for some of the crinkly blue wrapping to put the rest of the chocolate in. She slid a little on the mat still covering up the gouges in the marble from the last time they'd stolen Dad's moon graft boots. "We should save the rest for Anakin. He played good defense."
"He's not going to want it with your spit all over it," Jacen said. He wiped it off on his sleeve and handed it back to her. She wrapped it carefully, folding the edges down in the middle while Jacen relinquished his hold on the cabinet and jumped down.
"Jaina," he said. He hesitated, looking down at the scuffed tiles rather than at her face. "It's sort of the end of an era. You know?"
"It is not," Jaina said, but the words felt a little fake even as she said them. "You can visit."
"Yeah," Jacen said. He still didn't quite meet her eyes. "Still not the same."
"Yeah," Jaina said. She twisted the edges of the plastic in her hand, watching the chocolate melt a little more from the heat in her palm. "But it's not going to stop us, right?"
"Nope," Jacen said. He did smile then, and it was close enough to his normal smile that she knew it was going to be alright. "They should know better."