* * *
An hour later Selan found them still engrossed in making dinner. Kirney sat at the table, a bowl in her lap and another on the table in front of her, slicing her way through a load of mushrooms and cursing under her breath all the time.
"I guess we won't have to teach you how to curse like a Corellian," Selan remarked dryly. "Sounds like you already mastered that art."
Kirney paused her slicing and sent him a withering glare. "Having been exposed to Wraith Squadron has taught me everything I didn't need to know. And what I managed to forget Kolot taught me again."
Myn's father laughed lightly and walked over to his wife. "Yes, he is quite inventive. And vicious." He reached out, trying to dunk a finger into the dip she was preparing, but Jaleela swatted his hand away.
"Keep your dirty fingers out of the food," she chided and gave her husband a little shove.
"Hey," he complained and a pout formed on his face. "Someone needs to check if it's seasoned correctly."
Jaleela pointed at the door with her spoon. "Out!" When he didn't comply with her order she took a half-step in his direction and threatened, "Go now, or I'll have you chop onions for the rest of the evening."
Raising his hands he started walking backwards to the kitchen door. "Okay, okay. No need to bring out the gigawatt lasers and heavy mortars." Then he stopped and jerked his thumb at the large window. "By the way, have you taken a look outside recently? The clouds have dropped low and the sky is overcast. The weather forecast said there's a good chance that it'll start snowing in the evening."
Twisting around in her chair Kirney looked out of the window and saw that Selan was more than right. The sky, which had been clear until noon, was now dull with clouds and visibility had dropped to a few hundred meters. She squinted her eyes and tried to make out the skyline of downtown Coronet City but found that she couldn't.
In a few hours visibility will be nil, she thought, ever the pilot. Fog will develop and shroud everything. Flight Conditions will be horrible and Traffic Control will have their hands full with guiding ships in.
"Snow on Midwinter?" Jaleela gave a snort of disbelief but Kirney noted that her expression was wistful. "How probable is that? It'll stay dry if we're lucky. If not it'll rain. That's all."
"How little faith ye have," her husband gibed. "It's Midwinter for Sith's sake. Be positive!"
Jaleela tilted her head and gave him a patient stare. "And when was the last time we had snow on Midwinter?"
"That was ..." He trailed off and frowned in concentration. "That must have been ..."
"Almost exactly twenty years ago," she said matter-of-factly and put her hands on her hips again. "Myn was eight and had never seen snow before. He was so fascinated by it that he caught a really bad cold and had to remain in bed for a week afterwards."
"He acted irresponsibly as a kid?" Kirney exaggerated her disbelief and widened her eyes. "I thought he came into the galaxy fully developed at the age of ten."
"We haven't shown you those holos, yet," Jaleela said wryly and sent her a wink.
"And he'd be mad at you if he knew you still have them." Selan narrowed his eyes at his wife. "You told him they were gone."
"I lied," she said simply and gave him a sweet smile. It died, however, when her husband sent her a hard stare and she returned the favor in kind.
Kirney watched the developing staring match half fascinated and half horrified. When she remembered the staring matches between Kolot and Tonin, and the time these could take, she decided to be brave and intervene. She cleared her throat and raised a hand, like a good student would to attract the attention of the teacher. Two identical smiles turned her way and she suddenly felt like a little Bantha cub facing two hungry Taoparis.
"Yes, dear?" Jaleela's voice was dripping with fake geniality.
Kirney flashed them a smile that seemed to beg for forgiveness. "What's the deal about snow on Midwinter?"
Myn's father cleared his throat and drew himself up to his full height. "That pertains," he said like a teacher would when lecturing a dull-witted student and even raised an index finger at a lecturing angle, "to the emotional ideal of Midwinter. Every Corellian has a personal ideal for the holidays, but for most of us snow is part of it."
"It goes back to the first settlers," his wife added. "The first settlements were established in the northeastern plains and they were snowed in each winter. With the environment so unfriendly for a good five months people placed a heavy emphasis on Midwinter to break up the monotony, because they couldn't leave their houses for days because of the raging blizzards."
Kirney's face remained blank, a telltale sign of her incomprehension, so Selan asked, "Have you ever seen snow?"
"No." The redhead shook her head. "The only snow on Coruscant was in the glacier region and I never ventured there."
"And afterwards?"
"Never." Kirney shrugged. "My assignments were either tropical, completely urban or in space."
The wistful expression was back on Jaleela's face. "Once you've seen it snowing you'll understand," she said with conviction.
"Ah." She didn't really understand, yet as she reminded herself, but she was beginning to see why a snow-covered landscape on Midwinter was such an issue for the Donos family. Coronet City was a nice place, located in a zone of mild climate and few weather extremes, but snow in winter was a rare thing for its inhabitants due to the geography. A number of mountain ranges formed a semi-circle around the city, running from the north all the way to the south-east in a distance of about a hundred klicks. If air currents chased clouds towards it from the polar region they would be pushed against the northern or eastern flanks of the mountains. They'd have to drop their watery cargo in the form of thick snow flakes there and cross the mountains's crests but the plain around the capital city would miss out. "I see."
"I doubt it," Selan muttered dryly and moved back to his wife's side. He gave her a kiss on the cheek but his left hand reached around her form to dunk a finger into the dip.
"Selan!"
He withdrew hastily and licked the cream from his finger as if taunting her. Then he left the room and the two women heard him laughing. But his laughter stopped abruptly and his raised voice resounded through the first floor. "Kolot! Where are the cookies? I just refilled that bowl."
Kirney just bit her lip while Jaleela snorted with laughter. "At least someone appreciates them," the older woman said wryly and sent the redhead a wink.
Kirney smiled, shook her head and returned to slicing mushrooms.
* * *
Yet another hour later Myn's mother finally ushered her out of the kitchen. Kirney moved into the living room and found Selan and Kolot sprawled on the couch, watching the simulcast of the annual Midwinter Slingball match between the teams from CPD's Starfighter Command and Ground Forces.
"Left flank! The left is totally open!" Selan gestured at the holoprojector. "No, don't ..." He groaned as the pass to the right was intercepted by the other team. "Where did they find that guy? He's blinder than a Givin frozen in carbonite!"
"Although I bet he's a lot quicker than you these days," she drawled with a challenging grin and moved to sit on the couch as well. "Move over."
Kolot moved to comply while Selan assumed a tragic expression. "It's not nice to hit a guy where it hurts."
"I haven't played Sabacc with you, yet," she quipped and grabbed one of the ale tins from the low table. "What's the score?"
"Fifteen to eight for the snubfighter jockeys," he grunted in obvious displeasure and sent a scowl her way. "You are supporting ground forces, aren't you?"
Kirney laughed. "I've been a snubfighter jockey, remember? You must know where my loyalities lie."
Suddenly a piercing whistle came from the speakers and the cam zoomed in on the wildly gesturing referee. A cloud of players in the red of the Ground Forces clustered around him, obviously displeased by a decision he'd made.
"That was never ever a foul," Selan groaned and sat back, covering his eyes with a hand.
"Kolot thinks this sport strange," the Ewok spoke up. "Makes no sense. Kolot greatly prefers watching bouts of Teräs Käsi, K'thara or Echani."
"That's just your violent nature," Kirney kidded and took a sip of her ale.
The Ewok gave a snort. "Combat sports much easier. Two contenders and who remains on feet wins. Easy."
"You are scaring me, Kolot," Myn's father remarked and tossed down the remnants of his ale. "Here we are, in our living room, watching the Midwinter Slingball match and you're thinking of the most violent of sports. What happened to the festival of peace and love?"
Kolot simply flashed him a toothy grin.
The holoprojector winked out. Three faces frowned at the no longer functional device.
"What the ...?" Selan grabbed the remote control and stabbed the power button. Nothing happened.
"Maybe set to timed switch off," Kolot said.
Myn's father shook his head. "Then it should have reawakened when I hit that button here." He pressed his thumb on the power button again and again. Nothing. The turned the remote control around and pried open a small cover to reveal the power cells. He frowned ... The indicator light was green, showing almost full power.
Kirney cleared her throat and elbowed him lightly, jerking her head at something to their left.
Jaleela was standing near the passage into the main corridor, lazily tossing up a small piece of machinery. She said nothing and stared at the other occupants of the room wearing an expression of strained patience.
Selan narrowed his eyes at the little device in his wife's hands. "That's one of the fuses from the main fuse box," he stated with conviction. He darted a quick glance at the holoprojector. His eyes widened in disbelief. "You didn't ..."
"I did." Jaleela shoved the fuse into a pocket and crossed her arms. "The avian will be done in a little while. So I think it's time for the ryshcate, isn't it?"
"But the Slingball match," Selan said and made a helpless gesture at the non-functional holoprojector.
"Is of no importance." Jaleela raised an eyebrow at her husband. "The Ground Forces Team lost last year, the one before and the one before that. Why should they win now?"
Myn's father assumed an expression of wounded pride and Kirney had to hide a smile behind her hand.
"Allright." Myn's mother clapped her hands. "Kolot, Kirney – set the table. Dishes and glasses are in there, cutlery is in the drawer below. Selan – kitchen. Caf. Now!"
Three persons scrambled from the couch and hastily moved to comply with her order for Jaleela's tone hadn't left any room for objections. And something told them that her wrath was not something to be invoked out of sheer carelessness.
Satisfied that her instructions were being followed with utmost precision and speed Jaleela turned around and moved back into the kitchen. The ryshcate was almost ready and she'd have to take it out of the oven before it became dry and too crispy.
When she returned to the living room carrying the ceremonial Corellian cake she had to hide a smile at the sight that greeted her. The table was set as custom dictated with dishes, cups, glasses and cutlery laid out in an immaculate pattern. A bowl on the left contained a collection of cookies while the central part of the table was empty, obviously left bare for the plate with the ryshcate, and steam was rising from cups filled with the caf her husband had made. But what roused her amusement were the three people sitting at the table: hands folded in their laps, faces showing a wide-eyed expression of innocence ... They looked so much like obedient if somewhat impatient little children awaiting the signal that the time for gift giving had come.
Kolot sniffed appreciatively. "Smells good."
"Why, thank you," Jaleela drawled and put down the plate. "You two are aware of the customs involving ryshcate, aren't you?"
Kolot and Kirney both nodded, but the Ewok's gaze was firmly fixed on the lightly steaming cake whereas the redheaded woman kept up her expression of mock innocence.
"Good. I'd have hated having to explain those right now." She held out a hand to her husband, palm up, and felt a knife placed in it. When she glanced at him she noted that he sported the same expression of fake innocence she saw on Kirney's face and she had to bite her tongue to keep the smile off her face.
Scoundrels, she groused inwardly but even her inner accent betrayed her amusement.
She swiftly cut the ryshcate into several pieces and then proceeded to deposit one on each of the plates on the table. She remained standing and took her own piece of ryshcate, rising it upwards like a glass for a toast. The others remained seated but also picked up theirs.
"We share this ryshcate," she said the traditional words solemnly," like we share our celebration of family. We love all members of it, and we think of them, wherever they are at the moment. To family."
"To family," three other voices said in unison before the four of them took a bite of the spicy cake.
Kirney was surprised that saying the words Jaleela had chosen didn't bother her. Quite the opposite – saying them felt good. The Donos family had accepted her in their midst, regardless of her past and what she'd done to their son, but something in her had kept her from totally accepting their support and love. She guessed it was a remnant of the guilt she still felt for her actions on behalf of Imperial Intelligence, or maybe an underlying fear of becoming too close to people. Having been cast out by the New Republic and losing the stability and support of the deep friendships she'd entered there had been a traumatic experience. Suddenly she'd found herself drifting, without anchors, without direction, and had been forced to start building herself a life from scratch. She had made herself a name in the galactic transport business but she'd shied away from the personal aspect of life, had refrained from building herself a real home.
If I have to move on I better have not much to leave behind, she'd always told herself. Don't get emotionally attached. Don't let yourself get hurt again.
But right now she didn't want to be that kind of stranger anymore. She smiled slightly as the spicy flavor of the ryshcate washed away the last remnants of the walls she'd placed around her heart. She savored the crisp of the vweilu nut splinters and the smooth taste of Brandy, swallowed and felt a sense of well-being emerge in her guts that had nothing to do with the punch of Corellian Brandy.
It was the feeling of belonging, of being a part of a group who accepted her totally, unconditionally. Her head swam slightly and she fought to keep the tears from falling as her mind caught up with the enormity of the emotion ... and suddenly Corellia became her home as opposed to just the planet she lived on. It was such simple a change, yet so dramatic in its consequences. Yes, she decided quietly. No more dwelling. Time to start living.
Suddenly Kolot rose, which meant he moved to stand on the chair he'd been sitting on, and turned his gaze on the elderly couple. "Kolot not most eloquent person, but would like to say something. Kolot greatly appreciates invitation today," he said somberly. When he darted a glance at Kirney a corner of his mouth rose in a very human smirk. "And not just for the food."
The four of them chuckled at that.
"Since Kirney freed Kolot from Iron Fist most people saw Kolot as curiosity, as source for amusement. Few looked deeper, most saw only cute Ewok." He shrugged. "Kolot first bothered by lack of respect but now Kolot no longer angry, just disappointed. How can people really know others when not looking beyond stereotypes?" He shook his head. "Acceptance and respect Kolot found here very refreshing. Donos family treated Kolot like individual, not like stuffed animal come to life. Kolot very grateful for it and honored to know humans just as accepting as Kirney."
There was a momentary pause as he seemed to think how to phrase the following. "Kolot also grateful for the total acceptance given to Kirney despite past. Donos family not judged her because of what Kirney did. This rare gift and Kolot knows Kirney cherishes it. But Kolot also no could help but notice Kirney hold back." He waved a paw at Tonin, who sat quietly in a corner but kept his photoreceptors focused on the table and was probably recording the whole thing. "Tonin told Kolot of past for Kirney would not speak about it. So yes, Tonin and Kolot do more than arguing." He flashed them a grin and even the astromech chirped what sounded like an imitation of a human giggle. "Kolot realized that Kirney not made many friends here. Oh, has some, but inconsequential ones. Not real friendships. Kolot thinks Kirney afraid of putting down roots here, afraid of growing close to other people and being forced to leave behind when forced to flee again. Kolot no thinks this healthy, Kolot thinks Kirney should let go of fears and start living again. Make friends, real ones, and accept open arms of Donos family." He sat down again.
"Very profound," Selan said with a nod at the Ewok. "You're showing more empathy than most people possess. And I think you're entirely right."
Kirney darted glances to Selan to Jaleela to Kolot and back. Was she really that transparent?
Jaleela gave her a gentle smile. "I agree with Kolot and my husband. You have kept people at a distance, dear. Even us and we know about your past, because you and our son told us. I understand that you have to keep the secret, but does that really mean you have to keep yourself apart from others?"
"No, it doesn't," Kirney admitted with a long sigh. "When I had to flee from the New Republic Fleet at Kidriff I left behind everything that mattered something to me: my friends, camaraderie, sense of belonging, trust ... I had nothing left, nothing but my skills and my intention to harm Zsinj as much as I could before I died.
"I didn't die, though, and got a second chance at living a good life. But still the loss of so many things haunted me and deep down I was afraid of letting others get this close to me again for I knew that there may come the time when my secret comes out and I have to flee again." She gave a small helpless shrug. "But you are correct. Few people get a second chance in life and I'd waste mine if I kept isolating myself. So let me add my thanks to inviting us over today. And for setting my head straight," she added with a smirk that was directed at her Ewok chief pilot.
"Good." Kolot looked pleased with himself. "Now can Kolot have another piece of ryshcate?"
The three humans burst out laughing. Some things apparently never changed.
* * *