Title: First Festival

Author: Obit the Kid

Characters: Jaythen Talari, T'narr Kresson, Kaai Dajani, Marcus Kaavi and Eryck S'val.

Summary: Jaythen experiences his first Winter Festival under as an apprentice to T'narr.

NOTE: It's helpful to have previously read a couple of my other stories with T'narr and Jaythen to understand them a little better, but not completely necessary.

"He never asks for anything and he's not mentioned the Winter Festival at all."

"Perhaps he's embarrassed to ask about a celebration? You know how stuffy some Jedi are, especially the Council, about material things and celebrating and…blah! It's all nonsense. You raise a child the right way and they appreciate all those things the Council carps on, they don't take advantage of them. He's probably been brainwashed to follow the code."

Elder Jedi Master, Kaai Dajani, never shy about his dislike for some of the Council's ways, moved his holographic chess piece to the right, countering the move made by his former student, and current Jedi Master, T'narr Kresson.

"Your move. Don't worry about him not asking, that just seems to be his way. He's not as needy as some padawans can be. You should probably take the first step though and ask him what he wants for the festival, T'narr. You know, kids, Jedi or not. Give them permission to ask for something, they'll do it."

"Yeah," T'narr's chess piece moved to the right. "Still, I don't think that's it. I don't think he's waiting to be asked. It's something else. I don't even see any interest there. Most padawans his age, even if they aren't worried about gifts, are at least into the spirit of it all. The colors and music and lights and decorations all around the city. Jaythen just goes about his normal routine as if there's nothing different about this time of year."

Kaai puffed out a deep breath, shrugged and blinked his dark blue eyes. "Maybe he had a bad experience in the past? It wouldn't surprise me with the trauma he's had." There was a brief pause as he scratched at his short graying-to-white beard. "How about you just ask him."

"No." The younger man's dark eyes met those of the elder man in surprise. "No. I can't just come out and ask him. What if you're right? No, I can't intrude there."

"You certainly can. You intruded on me countless times, and don't deny it. Ask him, T'narr. You are his teacher. More importantly, you're his parent. He's been with you for almost a year now. Don't start holding back. He trusts you too much for you to worry about him and not say anything about it. Ask him or I will, Padawan. I mean it."

T'narr smirked at the old title coming out. His former master still used it on occasion for affection or for a direct order. This time it was a little of both.

"After all, an eight year old boy can't go through Winter Festival without a gift! That's just wrong. That goes for any apprentice, for that matter -even former ones. And even their old masters." Kaai winked at his own apprentice of the past. "And if you buy me underwear again this year, I will embarrass you like never before, understand?"

Another chess piece moved. T'narr put his hands up. "Check mate and there's nothing wrong with underwear. It's a necessity."

"And something I can buy on my own, thank you very much."

"Okay then, shall we discuss the time you helped me make a new light saber and you surprised me at Winter Festival by finishing the last and most difficult part, and then giving me the completed saber – with a pink blade!"

"Now hold on one second," Kaai said as he tried without success to not grin from ear to ear recalling the memory. "That was an honest mistake and the fault of that damned troll. Somehow. He's always responsible for these things, right? Oh and we did fix it."

"We did…a week later, after multiple trips to the training gym. Do you know how many of my age-mates ragged on me after that?"

Kaai nodded and smirked. "My guess would be, a lot. I know I would have."

"I figured as much, but don't you think…"

T'narr was interrupted by the appearance of the subject of their conversation. Padawan Jaythen Talari wandered into the apartment and immediately sat down in the third chair near the two older Jedi.

"Hi Master. Master Kaai."

Kaai cleared his throat and scratched at his beard, artfully aiming his chin towards T'narr. The younger master offered a reluctant growl, but took the cue.

"Jaythen, classes are over early today."

"Yes. Master N'kow got sick. She said something about drinking too much milk this morning, and it didn't agree with her. She's allergic to milk, but she keeps drinking it anyway. I don't think I'd keep drinking something that made stomach turn over and made my skin break out in black spots. It was weird! Did Master Kaai beat you again in chess?"

"What do you mean again? We've hardly played this game in the last year."

With that note, Kaai begin to pull his long frame away from the table. T'narr stopped him. "Freeze, Kaai. What nonsense have you been filling my padawan's head with?"

"Who me?" He tried not to smile, but Jaythen was watching him with that certain humorous beam in his eyes that always meant he was waiting for the two Jedi to start one of their famous light hearted bickering wars. "I don't fill that boy's head with anything except truth. And truth is I beat you the last time we played, bested you good too."

"One time! One time! You conveniently forgot to tell him about the 47 previous victories that I claimed?"

"Sheesh! 47, huh? Over how many years was that? A bit anal with the score keeping, aren't we?"

"I have to be, otherwise, your embellishment takes off and never finds a landing pad. Now, tell him the truth." When Kaai hesitated, T'narr playfully threatened him with, "Okay then. I'll have to tell him about the time that you were put in front of the Council after you'd come back from the planet Rotteen where you'd eaten all that food those people threw at you, because as you said, it tasted like ecstasy, and turns out it was all spoiled and naturally didn't sit well with your stomach or…other parts of your body, so you ended up spending the next three days in the bathroom because you couldn't…"

Large hands flew up. "All right, all right. Remind me to disown you tomorrow, will you? Okay, Jaythen, here's the truth…"

Jaythen smiled through the entire scene, knowing it was all in fun and jest and happy to be a part of it. He only beamed further when Kaai told him that he'd actually only ever beaten T'narr in chess once in his entire life, and that happened to be the last time they'd played…and also that he thought T'narr let him win.

"You wanna learn chess, boy," Kaai whispered over to Jaythen, "You come to me. I can teach you all the wrong moves to make so that an extraordinarily long and tedious game can be cut short in half the time and then you can move onto more entertaining things. Yup, I can show you all the tricks on how to lose with grace and style. And with speed."

Laughs echoed through the room - one old and experienced - the other young and innocent. Then Kaai did get up, pushing his long whitening hair out of his face. "I'm gone. You two enjoy your evening." He throat-cleared again towards T'narr. "See you both soon."

Jaythen waved to the tall, lanky man, his piercing green eyes shining bright. "Bye, Master Kaai!"

Once gone, T'narr tried to think of the best way to approach the subject that had surfaced between he and Kaai about the apprentice. After several minutes of thought and longer minutes of Jaythen staring at him, he figured it was just best to dive right in.

"So, Jaythen, have you decided what you want for the Winter Festival? Each apprentice gets one gift. Sometimes it's a surprise, but for this first one, I wanted to make sure you get something you really want."

Jaythen immediately lost the smile from his face and looked down towards his hands. Fingers fiddled with each other on his lap.

"Jaythen?" T'narr asked, suddenly concerned at the swift change in mood.

"You don't have to get me anything, Master. There's nothing I need."

"Nonsense. We all need something. We can go out tomorrow and shop around. You can skip classes, we can waste the day."

When the boy didn't respond or even look at him, T'narr became more worried. Despite his emotional problems and traumas of the past, Jaythen was generally a happy child. It was unlike him to withdraw without some difficult reason. The master took hold of his elbow, motioned for him to stand and then to sit on the couch in the common area.

"No secrets, Jaythen, right?"

Jaythen shook his head, but still didn't respond.

"You haven't mentioned the Winter Festival or asked about it at all. You don't even seem to acknowledge that it's here. It's not usual behavior for one your age. It's okay to tell me what's going on, Padawan."

Young shoulders shrugged as he looked into the gray eyes and rustic brown face of his teacher. A face he trusted more than any other. After a few extended seconds, he spilled the beginning of his story. "It's just that, I never got to celebrate it before."

T'narr sat back in surprise from his spot on the chair a few feet from the learner. "What? You…Surely your crèche masters let you honor the festival. Sharing gifts with other students, putting decorations up?"

"We had an uneven number of students in my class. The masters let everyone pick who they wanted to get a gift for. I never got picked, so I never got a gift. It was okay though. Most of them weren't very nice to me anyway, so getting nothing was better than getting a lump of coal-wood."

The big master's heart about broke hearing Jaythen's story. He'd known all about the difficult time he'd had prior to being taken as a padawan. A lot of other classmates made fun of him for his emotional issues. He'd managed to adapt as best he could. And it appeared that one way he adapted was to not even attempt to join in with the festival activities where it was clear he wasn't welcomed.

"Jaythen…"

"It's really okay, Master. I don't need a gift, see? I got something better than any of my class-mates could ever get me. I got taken as an apprentice by someone who cares about me."

Not often did T'narr find himself stuck with a lump in his throat, but it happened right then and there and he couldn't figure out how to form words around it. Part of him wanted to throttle anyone who'd ever hurt the boy. Thankfully, the more sensible part of him found its way forward and decided that he'd give Jaythen the best present he could - his very first Winter Festival celebration.

He could do that now that he realized he could speak again.

"Thank you, Padawan," he finally managed. "That means a great deal to me."

"That's why I don't need any gift that tells me what I already know." Jaythen smiled, got up, walked to his master and threw his arms around the big man's neck.

"I told you that kid was something else, didn't I, T'narr? And I told you there was something in his past. Poor boy. It's a wonder it wasn't completely wrecked after his crèche days. May be even sadder that these things were allowed to happen. Probably that damn trolls fault again. All things considered though, he came through it well enough. So, what's the plan then? Because I know you're not gonna just sit here and let the holiday pass without something. You've got a plan in that big head of yours."

T'narr gave his former teacher a look. "My head is not big. Anymore."

"Used to be."

"I grew into it, okay? And yes, I have a plan. I got him a gift and I'm going to find decorations for the apartment later tonight. And I got a peace tree. With lights to string up and white and red ribbons too." A pause before T'narr reached a hand under the couch. "This is what I got him."

The small paper book set softly into Kaai's aged, pale hands. The book was old. Really old. But the condition wasn't all that horrible considering. The cover held a drawing of a warrior in a cape and a metal sword, standing in front of a huge fire-breathing beast. The art work was fine detail and beautifully colored. Kaai fingered the pages lightly. "This is that book he loves so much. Azair the Draigon Slayer."

"First edition. Wylen, my book store owner friend got it for me. He's been digging after this one for several months now. One of only a few still left in the galaxy. Think he'll like it?"

"Like it? He'll sleep with it under his pillow if he can. Honestly, T'narr, I can't think of anything he'd love more, we'll other than just spending time hanging out with us old geezers."

T'narr laughed. "Well, I invited another old geezer, Marcus, to dinner tomorrow evening. Jaythen's become close friends with his apprentice, Eryck, in the last few months. I figure between the five of us, it's as close as we'll get to spending time with actual family. And hopefully a new tradition for Jaythen. No more spending Winter Festival without a gift and without people around him who love him."

"Ah, he's a good boy, T'narr," Kaai said as he patted his fellow Jedi on the back. "And new traditions are wonderful things. Hard to believe another festival is upon us, isn't it? Wasn't but yesterday that you were hounding me about what kind of present you were getting from me and trying to influence me by studying and training extra hard the week before. I knew all your games. You loved gift getting as much as gift giving. Huh. Where do the years go?" Kaai gathered up his robe. "I'll see you tomorrow morning then."

Daylight broke over the city-planet. The sun caressed the railing on the balcony of T'narr's bedroom. The big Jedi, sitting cross-legged there, ran a hand though his thick black hair, tying it off in a braid that settled between his shoulder blades. He soaked in the first rays of sun after a night of little sleep and busy errands. This was the first Winter Festival morning that he'd ever share with his apprentice. It had to be perfect.

The cool wind blew at the few stray strands of hair. T'narr took a satisfying deep breath before listening through the open door for the light padding of his padawan's feet behind him.

"Good morning, Master T'narr."

"Good morning, Jaythen. Happy Winter Festival."

T'narr turned to catch the boy's eye as the young face flushed slightly. The older Jedi smiled and stood, placing a hand on the smaller shoulder. "You haven't been in the common area yet, have you?"

"No, Master."

"Good. Go on in and see."

Jaythen scurried away and stopped just as suddenly as he entered the common room. His jaw fell open and his eyes lit up as he took it all in. The room was decorated from floor to ceiling with lights and ribbons in every color imaginable. Joyful music played softly in the background. And the centerpiece of the room was the most beautiful peace tree anyone had ever seen. Over seven feet tall with shining green leaves, sprouting out puffy bright blue flowers. Under each flower was a ribbon of red or white. At the top of the tree was a magnificent cobalt star that seemed to beckon light out into every direction. Under the tree lay a single box. Small and rectangle shaped, covered in glittering white paper and tied with a single crimson ribbon.

T'narr stood next to the padawan, taking pride in his holiday abilities. It hadn't been easy sneaking in and out of the apartment without a sound or wandering the shops in the city below to find exactly the decorations he was after. But he'd done it, and it looked stunning. Jaythen said as much a moment later after roaming the room and touching just about everything.

"Master this is stunning! Did you do all this? When did you get all these things? Where did you learn to decorate like this? You did this all last night?"

"I take full credit. I've always had a knack for decorating. You'd never know that by looking at this apartment on a normal day, but I have some talent in that area. This is how Winter Festival should be celebrated. It's a day and a time for joy, not for selfishness and ignorance as you have experienced in the past. "

Small hands stroked the ribbons on the peace tree and then his eyes traced each of the eight points of the topping star. It sank in to Jaythen that his master had done this all for him. He turned around and ran to T'narr, tossing his arms around his waist and burying his head in the soft tunic.

"Thank you, Master," he muffled out then pulled away. "You did this for me. I…I love it. It's everything that I always imagined Winter Festival morning to look like. The colors. The lights. The music. Just like you said. Thank you."

"You deserve to celebrate this thing the right way. And…the box under the tree. That's yours. You wouldn't tell me what you wanted, so I improvised. Something I'm getting good at with you around, by the way." T'narr winked at the boy and motioned for him to get the gift.

When Jaythen ripped the paper off and pulled the box open, he grabbed the item inside and almost immediately hugged it to his chest. "Master! Is this the first edition of Azair? Where did you find this?"

"Our friend Wylen of course. He said he knew that in your hands, it would be treated like the treasure it is. I did well, huh?"

Jaythen again launched himself at T'narr for another hug. This time the landing was hard enough to venture an 'ooof' from the older Jedi.

"Happy Winter Festival, Master," the boy said as he stepped back and looked up at his teacher. "It's the first festival gift I've ever gotten and it'll be the best one I ever get. But..." Then he remembered something. "I didn't get you anything."

"I know you didn't, and I didn't expect you to. I've seen my share of festivals, Padawan. I didn't need a material gift to know that this would be the best festival day ever. But I do need your help with something. Before Kaai gets here, I need help wrapping his gift."

Jaythen nodded eagerly. "What did you get him?"

"Underwear."

"Underwear? Master!"

"And he'll try and get me back for it, but he can't. You know, he's all talk these days."

As if on cue, the lock code on the door was triggered. T'narr pushed Jaythen back into the hall. "In my room. Paper is on my nightstand. Wrap it good, then I'll distract him and you can put it under the tree."

Kaai strolled in looking younger than his 100 standard years. A new tunic layered under a carefully cleaned robe. He held out his arms to his former apprentice and wrapped the big man in a hug. "Happy festival day to you, Padawan."

Now it was T'narr's turn to flush a bit. That old title always got him. "And to you, Master. Will you do us the honor of your famous festival breakfast?"

"I certainly will. Last thing we need is Jaythen falling out from food poisoning on this day because of your horrid cooking. And speaking of?"

"He'll be out in a minute."

"You outdid yourself with the adornment this year, T'narr. Jaythen loved it, didn't he?"

"And then some. Hopefully, he'll forget all about the unfortunate festival past he's had. You should have seen his face when he opened the book - pure elation. That contagious smile of his about busted off his face."

"Good for you. Good for him. A new tradition has begun - for the both of you. Now, I'll get to cooking and you get to finishing the wrapping of my gift. Go help the boy, would you?"

Unable to hide his laugh, T'narr wasn't surprised Kaai knew exactly what Jaythen was doing at the moment. The man had a keen sense for sneakiness.

After a fulfilling breakfast stuffed into Jedi bellies, Jaythen handed T'narr's gift to Kaai.

"I know what this is," Kaai said deliberately.

"Maybe you do, maybe you don't. Only one way to find out."

Kaai tore off the paper in eager anticipation, despite being correct about what was lurking under the wrapping. "Ha! Underwear. I knew it. And my promise holds true. Expect my revenge. Although…I did need new underwear. My old stuff was a bit…"

"Kaai!" T'narr put his hands up. "Come on! We don't an update on the state of your under garments."

"Then you shouldn't open that door, should you? Mmm hmmm." He tossed the underwear to the side and reached into the inside pocket of his robe. "Anyway, enough of that." Pulling out two small round wrapped objects, he handed one to T'narr and the other to Jaythen. "From me to you."

The objects lost their wrapping quickly and both Jedi sat puzzled. The things looked like rocks, but they weren't. They were too lightweight and to…well, they just weren't rocks. Jaythen held his up and tilted his head at the sudden whistling-humming sound. It had come from the not-rock. He turned the object over, then around, then down, then in circles. Each movement created a different sound. Motioned in the right pattern and one could create a song. The quicker the object was moved, the louder the sound. T'narr's not-rock was the same, but with a lower key and for the next full minute, the two of them tossed their gifts around and around and around until the wailing sounds were bouncing off the walls. And until Kaai called an end to the concert.

"Enough! Don't you want to know what they are?"

The master-padawan pair replied in unison. "Yes!" Then Jaythen said, "It's so weird and so funny and so neat at the same time."

"These are called," he lifted his own not-rock out of his belt pouch, "musical stones, and yes. They may not look like rocks, but they are. Just strange ones that sing. They need light and movement to sing though, so if you want the thing to shut up for a while, just hide it in your belt pouch for darkness, or in your night stand drawer, or someplace similar. I found them on Jarcus III. Interesting little planet. Well, more odd than interesting really. They do this thing every afternoon where they dance through the streets without any…oh, never mind. Long, weird story and today's not the time to…Ooof!"

Kaai was tackled in a hug, and his story was brought to a sudden halt as the wind was knocked out of him by the small human-shaped torpedo.

"Thank you, Master Kaai. I love it! My second Winter Festival gift ever! And the most unique."

"It came from me, it had to be unique."

T'narr followed Jaythen's lead, but without the breath-reducing hug. "Okay, so this is better than underwear. Yes, thank you, Kaai. I do enjoy your uniqueness in both personality and gifts. Always good for a smile and bit of fun."

The trio spent the rest of the morning together, then headed to the training gym for a bit of exercise. T'narr also had Jaythen fit in an hour of meditation before their evening plans.

Those evening plans rang the door chime just before the six hour, hands full of bad-for-you deliciousness packed in those well-known brown bags from Dex's Diner.

The large blue-skinned, four-armed jovial Jedi, Marcus Kaavi, was welcomed into the apartment, shadowed by the most average human boy apprentice in the history of the Jedi Order. Eryck S'val was brown eyes, brown hair, average build, average personality. He was in every sense of the word…average. But he was Jaythen's best friend and his only real friend in his age group. The pair had been invited to spend Winter Festival evening to share in friends, food, holo's and mirth.

Marcus immediately ran the table on greetings, hugging each one of the trio and slapping them on the back, as his wild dreadlocked hair flew in all directions. "Happy Festival to all! I've got gifts for all three of you, and before you start belly-achin' about no gifts, don't say a word, ya hear? My choice. Your gift to me is inviting me and my padawan over for the evening for warmth and laughter." He set the food bags down as Eryck did the same. The boy then went over to Jaythen and gave him a tight hug.

"The room looks really great, Jaythen. We only decorated a little bit. The last mission we were on didn't get us home until two days ago."

"Master T'narr did all this to surprise me. I've never had all this celebration before. Oh, come in my room, Eryck. I want to show you the gift he got me."

The boys hurried to Jaythen's bedroom, and the host apprentice pulled the paperback book from his glass protected book-shelf and handed to his friend. "It's a first edition. I didn't even know any of them still existed."

Eryck, always appreciative of the simple things in life, touched the cover of the book lightly. "The drawing is beautiful. I can't believe he found it is such good shape, I mean for how old it is. I bet you were really surprised."

"You have no idea," Jaythen returned a smile as he carefully set the book back on the shelf. "This is my first ever festival gift. I love it more than anything. Oh and Master Kaai," he reached into his belt pouch, "got me this, and he got Master T'narr one too. Listen. It's a musical stone."

Cocking an eyebrow at the silvery sounds coming from the tiny rock, Eryck held his hand out. "Can I try it?" He turned and lifted and spun the rock just like Jaythen and T'narr had done when they received them. "Who knew rocks could sing! That's really neat, Jaythen. Oh yeah, I should give you this now." Now it was Eryck's turn to search his belt pouch. He set a long flat object in Jaythen's hand. It was wrapped in sparkling purple paper. "Open it."

For a minute, Jaythen looked shell-shocked. This whole festival thing being new to him, and him not completely understanding what it was really all about, he began panicking that he hadn't gotten Eryck a gift. T'narr and Kaai were one thing, they understood the situation of the past and all its details, but Eryck only had some minor memories from their time as initiates when the two didn't really know each other. But now, on the most important day of the year for friends and family and he'd started to believe that he'd let his best friend down.

Eryck, however, was having none of it, seeing the look on Jaythen's face and knowing that panic. "It's okay, Jaythen. This is our first festival as friends. That's really all that matters. That we get to spend the evening having fun and worrying about nothing. I had to get this for you though. I saw it in a shop during our mission. Open it."

Panic receding; Jaythen gently pulled the paper off the flat object. Under the wrapping was a brightly marked and thicker piece of holographic paper, or paper-like substance. Green eyes furrowed a bit in confusion.

Eryck jumped in to explain before his friend could get any more confused. "It's a bookmark. An old fashioned kind, Master Marcus says. You just place it in the page where you finish reading for the day and you don't have to worry about losing your spot. No more bending the pages of your favorite books. I know how much you love those old books and hate to mark them up. Oh and the holograph image, if you turn it sideways, it shows a draigon breathing fire and flapping his wings."

That a small item so non-complex in its use and so beautiful in its appearance, was given by one of the few people in the galaxy that Jaythen trusted, was enough to blur his vision and send several tears sliding down his young face.

"You like it?"

"I do." Finding he couldn't say anything more, he decided to embrace his friend instead. Jaythen found himself doing a lot of hugging today – something that meant only one thing -that he'd finally found a place to belong.

After a few long seconds, Eryck broke the hug and they returned to the kitchen where Jaythen proudly showed T'narr the bookmark. Marcus, standing nearby, placed a hand on his learner's shoulder, so very proud of the unselfishness that was Eryck S'val.

Dinner was next and the quartet stuffed themselves silly on everything that was bad for them, including sugared pala cakes for dessert. The couch and chairs in the common area barely held them all and seemed to want to groan under the added weight of the evening.

They started a comedy holo vid, followed by another, which then led to stories from each of the masters. Long ago days - especially for Kaai - when they were students and of course some of the more hilarious times spent during festival days. Jaythen and Eryck sat slumped shoulder to shoulder on the couch, taking every last detail in. The evening was a simple one and the shared between the five of them was pure worry-free enjoyment. None of the group had blood family that they were close to. The Jedi were their family – as a whole. But this collection here, they were becoming family in every sense but blood. And that was more important to them than any material gift they could ever have or want.

The night eventually ran late. The boy had slipped into sleep mode sometime during the third holo. Jaythen's head leaned on Eryck's shoulder and Eryck's head had fallen forward. Positions that would be painfully awkward the longer they stayed that way. Marcus figured it was time to call it a night.

"Another Winter Festival day done. Comes and goes so fast. I better get my boy home before he starts drooling on your couch there, T'narr."

T'narr lifted Jaythen's head away from Eryck, so Marcus could boost the boy into his arms. "These kids today, you'd think they never eat as light as they are. T'narr. Kaai. Thank you for everything. It was nice to see how close these boys have become. It's good for both of them. We'll be around tomorrow. You know how the day after can be."

All three Jedi hung their heads and solemnly said, "yeah", knowing that all the build up and the day itself often led to quiet days to follow.

"Sparring gym tomorrow at noonish then?" Kaai said smiling, before giving them the 'what did I say' look. "Okay, okay. No noon. How about before dinner? It'll help us out of our post-festival funk and work off some of these added pounds. Good night, Marcus. Thanks to you both for visiting."

Kaai sat back down after their guests had left. "I should go. I'm not used to these late nights. My body is thinking that it's morning." He glanced at the wall chrono. "Huh. Well, it kinda is. Okay, I'm gone. T'narr, you gave that boy a day he'll remember forever. Nothing flashy, nothing out of this world, just simple and fun. You make a fine teacher and an even better father. I'll see you soon."

"Thanks, Kaai. That means a lot coming from you."

They shared a smile and Kaai leaned his head to T'narr's and rested temple against temple for a moment -his people's way of greeting and leaving loved ones.

"Tomorrow then. Get some rest."

"Don't forget your underwear."

"Funny, Padawan. Very funny."

T'narr's smirked face turned away from the closed door and toward the sleeping form on the couch. He lifted his apprentice and into his bedroom, settling him in bed and pulling the covers over the eight - almost nine year old child. With a pat on the hand, he turned to leave. Jaythen's voice stopped him.

"Master?"

He came back to the bed and knelt beside it. "You aren't supposed to be awake, young man."

"I missed the last couple hours of festival day, didn't I?"

"You did, but there wasn't much there, just another holo vid and three grumpy old Jedi rambling on about the past."

Jaythen grinned. "I like hearing grumpy old Jedi ramble about the past. It's funny."

"You should have lived it. Now, close your eyes and sleep." The master moved from his kneel and was about to leave when the boy spoke again.

"Master T'narr?"

"Yes?"

"This was my best day ever." A classic Jaythen smile and then, "Thank you."

"I hope you and I will have many more best days. I think with Kaai and Marcus and Eryck, it's just a matter of time before another best day comes along." T'narr tossed a hand through his learner's hair. "Sleep now."

"Yes, Master." T'narr got up and went to leave again. And again he was stopped.

"Master?"

"Yes, Padawan."

"Happy Winter Festival."

It was T'narr's turn to grin. "Happy Winter Festival to you too, Jaythen."

And then one final time, the scene repeated itself.

"Master?"

"Jaythen."

"Did Master Kaai remember to take his new package of underwear home?"

This time T'narr didn't just grin, he laughed out loud.

The end.