Disclaimer: I think that I don't own Star Wars goes without saying, and so does that I'm making absolutely no profit other than my own amusement from this.
Atris sat quietly on a rock twice her size, trailing chubby six-year-old fingers in the water of the pond. She stared absently down at the ripples she made in the clear liquid, wondering why Master Vandar had put her in the meditations class that was a year below her. She wasn't bad at it, she just had better things to do and think about. Like memorizing history texts and practicing her lightsaber forms.
Peh-too! Some small object sailed past her shoulder and landed in the water, making a tiny splash. She whirled around to search for the source of the projectile, and came face to face with one of the boys in her meditations class. What was his name again? She did a quick run-through of all the children's names alphabetically, listing them off and giving each one a face until she came to this bantha-brain. Lyrin. Lyrin Arin. Poor thing, she thought vaguely, what a name.
"What do you want?" she demanded. He came toward her and crouched on the rock beside her, greyish eyes peering at her from under long lashes. He had black hair, kept in the standard padawan style, but none of that mattered. Atris refocused her attention on waiting for his response.
"Want a cherry?" he asked with a wide smile, offering a container of them to her.
"No, thank you," she said and turned her gaze back on the water.
"Okay," he said easily and was silent for a moment, and then, "Watcha doin'?"
"I'm thinking," she said testily. "Something much better done in silence. Alone."
"You can't think on an empty stomach," he informed her, popping another little red fruit into his mouth. A moment later, he spit the seed into the pond. "Want a cherry?"
"No," she said firmly, "And don't do that. It's not good."
"Why?" he asked.
"Because it isn't," she told him. "Now go away."
"You're hungry," he declared.
She stared at him. "Why would I be hungry?"
"Because you got annoyed easily," he said simply. "Want a cherry?"
"If I have a cherry, will you go away?" she asked, taking measured breaths to keep herself from becoming angry.
He shook his head. "But I'll just keep asking if you don't."
"Why do you care if I have a cherry or not?" she questioned.
"'Cause I like cherries," he said as if it explained everything. When it was made obvious by her expression that it did not, he continued, "And I like sharing things I like. Want one?"
"Fine," she agreed at last and took a cherry from his container. She bit into it and then used a fingernail to dig out the seed, which she deposited carefully onto the rock so that she would remember to throw it out later. He stared at her.
"What are you doing?" he asked, looking appalled, his nose scrunched up and his forehead pulled into a frown.
"Taking the seed out," she said, eating the rest of the berry.
"You're s'posed to do it with your mouth," he said as though it was extremely obvious. "Then you gotta spit it as far as you can."
"I prefer my method, thank you," she said, and turned her face away.
"Aw, come on," he said, "just try it."
"Why don't you bother someone else?" she asked irritably. "I'm busy."
"You're just sitting there," he pointed out, "not even reading or nothing."
"I'm thinking," she told him again. Honestly, this child was stupid. Would it kill him to go away?
"Think later," he ordered. "Have another cherry and spit the seed."
"I would really—" when she opened her mouth to speak, he put a cherry in her mouth, effectively cutting off her sentence and giving her no choice but to chew it. She did, and found the pit in the centre. She struggled a bit to separate it, but once she had it, she stored it under her tongue while she swallowed the rest, intending to indulge this silly boy so that he'd leave her alone. "Alright," she said, "Now what?"
"You spit," he said, and demonstrated—to her ire—into the pond. However, she realized as she looked around, there was nowhere else to spit it except the grass, but that would make a nasty surprise for someone walking barefoot. Reluctantly, she gathered her air and put the seed on the tip of her tongue, pressed against her lips, and blew.
It didn't go very far, in fact it hardly made it off the rock, but it did go, and to her surprise, she enjoyed it immensely. There was something rather daring about it, breaking the rules like this. She found herself wanting to smile, and before she knew what was happening, she was reaching for another cherry.
"See?" Lyrin grinned, "It's fun!"
She nodded and chewed her berry. This time, now that she knew how to do it, it went a little further. A fish came up from the depths of the pool and swallowed it, and to her horror, Atris's face split into a smile. No, no, no! Calm! There is no emotion! Get that stupid smile off your face, Atris!
But she couldn't. It was stuck there, and it only grew as she spit cherry after cherry into the water until she actually giggled. Then Lyrin spat a seed at her and it bounced off her robed arm, and she glared at him. In retaliation, she shot one back at him, and another, and another, while he returned fire. Finally, laughing, she launched herself at him and bowled him over backwards with her on top, tussling in the grass and spitting cherry seeds at each other. And then one seed was deflected off the boot that had suddenly appeared beside Atris's head. She followed the foot up along the leg with her eyes and at last to a face to find Knight Vrook standing over them disapprovingly.
She scrambled off of Lyrin as though he was red hot, but couldn't stop laughing. The giggles bubbled up from the little box that they'd been locked away in for so long and the flood wouldn't end. She knew she would get in trouble for so many things, but for once, she just didn't care.
