BETTER DAYS

By Sapadu

A/N: Yes, I know I've been gone for a while. In my defense, I've had work and LOTS of writing for other stories to work on. Chapters for Prince and CMC SHOULD be coming. In the meantime, to try and get myself back into the groove of their stories, I decided I needed to write another Star Wars fic. So... yeah, this is the grease to get the gears turning again.

On that note, this is just a collection of asides that I couldn't work into the original stories because they'd interfere with the plot or story-telling. These are more of day-in-the-life, character driven one-shots. So, we'll have stories from Princess, Prince, CMC... pretty much any of my on-going stories. Hell, if you guys ask nicely, I could even do some of the shots I normally don't do.

Story 1: Name-calling

"Trike?" Triclops didn't open his eyes. He knew that voice, and he knew that name. And, of course, since there was only one person who lived in this apartment aside from him, that made it so much easier to guess. But, honestly, he was sleepy. He hadn't slept well at all this whole week. He just wanted to stay in bed.

"Trike." And the reason for his horrible sleeping... part of it was because he was, after all, a teenage boy and he was living with another teenager, a girl whom it was no secret he liked, and the two of them, thus, shared a mattress. But the real reason...

"Triclops, I know you're awake." Kendalina's foot was on his shoulder, shaking him. It took every ounce of willpower he had not to budge, even to pull the blanket back over his head. The real reason...

"Goddamnit, would you get up already, you big freak!"

This was the real reason.

Triclops stayed where he was.

"Fine! Sleep in! I'll just laugh at you when you're late for your shift." Triclops heard their door slide open, then shut, and he was alone in the apartment, faking sleep.

Two minutes later, he sat up.

It wasn't that he was sleepy, it wasn't that he was hungry, it wasn't like they'd had a big fight, and it certainly wasn't that he was going to be late for work in the nursery.

But... would it really kill Kendalina to wake him up... a little more romantically, just every once in a while?

-Name-Calling-

"Medic Orewahime, please report to Exam Room Four. Medic Orewahime, to Exam Room Four." The disembodied voice over the loudspeakers chimed. Triclops paused in rocking, then started again when the youngling in his arms started to fuss.

What had Kendalina done, now? The clinic's supervisor only ever made Kendalina report for clinic duty when he was really mad at her for something – it was the only punishment that really worked, as Kendalina couldn't stand the tedious work of fixing bacta on skinned knees, bandaging broken fingers, and administering shots.

While he was thinking about Kendalina, when was the last time he heard anyone call her that name? It was always 'Medic Orewahime this', 'Medic Orewahime that', and the occasional 'Where the hell is that damn girl?' He almost never heard anyone say 'Kendalina'. He wasn't even sure what the word would sound like, coming from the mouths of any of the other beings they worked with or saw on a daily basis.

And, really, when was the last time he had called her by name?

It was things like this that kept Triclops working in the nursery instead of actually growing as a person and getting a different job.

He took his lunch break with Kendalina that day. Through the whole meal, he didn't say a word, and she watched him, almost like a bird of prey.

"Trike, what's wrong?" She always knew when something was bothering him. He was never sure how she did, if it was something about how Kendalina understood him, or if it was just because he was that transparent, but it was always welcome.

"Kenda..." Triclops tried to muffle his voice in his sandwich. It wasn't easy to ask, especially when it seemed like such a trivial question, "...Has... have you heard anyone... call you by your name... recently?"

Kendalina bit down on a cracker with a loud snap.

"Not really." She grumbled, "I mean, it's not like I really want to hear anyone say it... Names are things that you've gotta take care of."

Triclops didn't look up – he knew that Kendalina was a little touchy about her name, given that her legal, birth name wasn't 'Kendalina Orewahime', but rather 'Girl Zuka'. He didn't quite mind. After all, he himself didn't have any real name to speak of.

But it was still somewhat ominous the way the was so defensive as she spoke.

"So... do you want me to call you Kendalina..." He asked. Kendalina looked up from her lunch and shot him such a venomous glare that Triclops immediately amended, "...Just every now and then?"

Kendalina frowned for a moment.

"No." She finally said, in her best 'Isn't that obvious' voice.

Something in Triclops' gut cringed.

"But... what about..." He asked, timidly.

"I said no, Trike." Kendalina stopped him before he could even start, "I don't like it."

She hadn't stopped Master Retaw from calling her 'Kendalina'. Triclops couldn't help but feel a little bitter.

"Is that why you won't call me Triclops, anymore?" He asked, half under his breath but still audibly.

"Trike, just drop it!" Kendalina snapped, standing up and dusting the crumbs off her hands. Triclops kept his mouth shut, knowing what Kendalina was prone to do when she was really agitated. Besides, they were at work. If Kendalina went into a surgery or got a patient when she was unhappy, she was liable to make a mistake or something.

Triclops wasn't upset enough to want that to happen.

He looked back up when he heard Kendalina groan. She'd stopped in the doorway back into the clinic, both her hands on her hips and her head drooping onto her chest. When she turned back around, Triclops could see, even from this far away, that she was annoyed.

"If it's really bugging you THAT much..." She started, "I'll let you in on a little secret."

Triclops blinked and tried not to look as hurt as he felt.

"I do have one special name. It's very important to me, nobody else knows what it is, and there is only one person in this whole kriffing galaxy that I will let call me by it."

For just a moment, Triclops felt like she'd punched him squarely under the ribs.

"...What... name is that?" He asked, knowing when Kendalina wanted him to ask.

Kendalina huffed, folded her arms, and looked him squarely in the eye.

"Kenda." She said, almost defiantly.

Triclops almost dropped the remainder of his sandwich.

"Now, I gotta go. See ya after work." Kendalina pressed the 'Door open' button and disappeared back inside. Triclops remained where he was, completely shocked into silence.

Well... that did answer... a few questions. Maybe.

The rest of the nursery staff was quite surprised to see the strange, white-haired boy whistling when he came back from his lunch break.

A/N: Yeah... comments would be appreciated, inspiration would be killer, and some assurance that nobody's formed a lynch mob because I haven't updated might not be too bad.