Under the Stars

A/N- This fic was inspired by the song "Under the Stars" from the Lion King Soundtrack. Thank you to Hans Zimmer for the wonderful instrumental. Kudos to TLK and Timon for the beginning reference to fireflies.

This is set post Dark Journey but is mostly AU.

Thank you for reading,

-Don "QuixoticQuest"

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If the night sky were to be described in some way some would call it "fireflies, fireflies they got stuck up in that big bluish black thing." The sky certainly had that same appearance tonight. Little dots glowed like freshly lit candles and amid the navy blue background they shone more brightly, even when they were about to fade, they flared before disappearing. No one would know how much it hurt the already blue sky to lose a star, just one of billions. The flames would ebb and then burn out before that star had even begun to resemble the many that had come before it. There was a sobering feeling to that, one that Tahiri, being a nameless girl from Tatooine with little to her name but Jedi Knight,

It might have been something Tahiri would have thought about in the past but she didn't like to think about things as much anymore. Mostly she just wanted to ignore all her thoughts and emotions since they all led in one direction. The one she'd been trying to ignore for the better of the past few months.

She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to shut out the pain that had begun to surge through her entire body. No matter how many times she pretended that the emptiness wasn't there, it remained like a gaping hole in a space station just waiting to suck her into its airless abyss. She certainly felt cold enough for it to be true, lying out on the grass freshly soaked from the rainstorm in the afternoon. Though the rain itself gave Tahiri enough cover to sneak out of the Academy to the jungle below where she found a small clearing to lie back on the grass to star gaze in hopes that the environment would help her to forget everything that had happened since... she shook her head fiercely and immediately squeezed her eyes tighter and only reopened them as a small glowing dot streaked across the blue sky.

If the force had heard her silent wish, it didn't comment on it. Besides, Tahiri had long given up on foolish beliefs like tossing a coin into a fountain or good luck charms. Even the stars, which had always held a special meaning for Tahiri because she'd come from Tatooine, where the planets and stars were symbolic.

She remembered her father, Tryst, telling her the story of her own star, "Your name, Tahiri, means 'child of hope,'" He pointed to the little blue dot in the sky, "That star is called 'Tahiri' and its meaning is 'hope.'"

At the time, Tahiri had believed her father, she had hung on to every story he had to tell, every word, every song and truly trusted that he had known what he was talking about. Now Tahiri knew he hadn't. Tryst Veila certainly hadn't known that he and his wife, Casa, would be killed by the clan of the Tusken Raider they had taken in to heal and care for. He didn't know that Tahiri would be raised by the same clan and then later go on to be trained as a Jedi Knight. He certainly didn't know that in about five years time Tahiri would fall in love and it wouldn't be with just anyone. She had fallen in love with Anakin Solo.

He had been hope to her. He had been the rock in the midst of an ocean of uncertainty. There didn't seem to be anything Anakin Solo couldn't have made Tahiri believe in. If he had told her the stars were a symbol of hope, she would have believed it. If he had told her to jump with him, she'd do it. She trusted Anakin more than she had trusted anyone else before. It almost seemed ridiculous that it had happened so fast. Their first meeting, their friendship, which Tahiri had pretty much forced on the reluctant Anakin Solo, and then soon after their realization of feelings that Tahiri would never have guessed were possible. All of the emotions tumbled across her and soon she didn't even know what to do about them. It had almost come to an abrupt end when she got mad at Anakin while they were trapped in the airless locker during the Yuuzhan Vong war. She accused him of thinking she was a child when he had thought the opposite. Of course Anakin would never have said what he meant outright, but she had soon found out what he'd meant soon after she had accused him.

Tahiri's lip twitched into a half smile. Anakin's lips had been the softest most amazing thing she had ever felt both physically and mentally since it had sent a strange sensation through her mind, like Anakin's entire being for that moment had melded with hers.

She shifted slightly and looked up as she noticed a star flickering brightly in the sky. Its flare almost seemed to explode in magnitude as the entire star was swallowed by a bright glow of life before it silently faded away. Tahiri knew she only knew that it had happened because she'd felt the force changing as the life of the star left. Something lingered after it though. Even though that life was gone, there was still the force that had filled it. Tahiri's eyes reflected the glowing dot as another star budded through the blue and remained a tiny but still visible flame.

As the light settled back to resemble those of the stars around it, Tahiri's eyes began to droop and soon she was curled up on the grass. The stars blazed on and from the spot where the little star had faded a streak of light shot once more across the sky.

Tahiri sat up slightly and then groaned as she felt how damp her jumpsuit really was by now. The morning light was already filtering through the trees. Tahiri turned to her side only to realize she couldn't move because something was weighing her left side down. She tentatively reached back and then started slightly when she traced the arm wrapped around her waist and then slowly rotated.

Tahiri's face nearly lost all its color and then regained it in a flash. A familiar grin swept across the face as two ice blue eyes slowly glowed brightly at her.

"Morning," He said with a gentle touch to her cheek. With her mind in a complete twist she decidedly looked away from him and then up just the last star faded as the sun rose.

Tahiri then turned back to face the person lying next to her, his head rested on his hand. "Are you really…" Before she could finish she felt the same warm comfort spreading through her body and slowly she slipped into the mind of the person kissing her. Flashes of two young kids in a boat with an R2 unit, lips pressed to one another in a locker, a temple with moss all over the walls, and then finally the memories of a girl with blonde hair flooded Tahiri's mind. They were all of her.

"Does that answer your question?" Tahiri frowned and then shoved him back.

"You could have said something, Anakin!"

"And when would I have done that? I just woke up and I was here!" Anakin rubbed the back of his neck nervously. Tahiri blinked.

"Really?" He nodded.

"Yeah, I don't have any clue what I've been doing for the past months either," Anakin turned his head to see Tahiri's shocked expression. He softened his gaze and tentatively touched her arm and then drew back slightly but before he could pull back completely Tahiri reached behind his neck and pulled his lips onto hers. After a moment she broke and simply wrapped her arms around his shoulders. He slowly brought his arms around her and behind them still glowing in the sky was a tiny blue dot.

-Fin-

Thanks for reading and please review if you have the time! =)