Homestead

Chapter 10. Saleucami Wedding Song

They were almost late for the wedding.

Suu had been uncomfortable leaving, checking and rechecking the locks on the doors to the house and barn. She'd hovered around the nunas most of the morning as well. They'd let them run free range, in hopes of the creatures having some ability to escape if they were threatened. The eopies were locked firmly in the barn.

Still, it had taken Cut's careful pressing to get her to leave. Life could not come to a halt because of fear.

He drove the speeder while she fretted, hands tightening into the blue fabric of the sundress she wore. Cut had done an extra check of the homestead's perimeter the night before, with the military grade blaster he had brought with him, now loaded, in hand. She did not feel silly for her worries, but had to repeatedly tell herself her family was safe, and with her. Shaeeah and Jekk were wedged into the space on the seat between herself and Cut, both of them trying very hard not to fidget from excitement.

When they arrived at Ossa's family farm, there were already large numbers of speeders clustered around the grounds, and there was a pleasant hum rising from the chatter of the guests, occasionally punctured by roars of laughter or shouts of welcome. Musicians tuned instruments in a corner, and torches were already staked into the ground in anticipation of Saleucami's early evenings. For now, the sun was still out, shining as brightly as it ever did on their dim planet, lending warmth and brightness to the scene. The four of them piled out of the speeder, Suu with pie in hand, and made their way through the milling crowd to add her sweets to the table. Already, it seemed to groan under the weight of the desserts, growing heavier every moment.

The Gran were a people of communities. Ossa's family farm was a good size, with several families of cousins, aunts and uncles, all living in the small houses that sat across from a large, shared barn and workspace. Ossa's family was everywhere, the more extended portions of it pouring in from similar communities across the county, joined and increased by friends and neighbors, Gran, Wroonian, Twi'lek and human, even the periodical Weequay wandering through. The place was a riot of color, style, species and age. Several children went screaming past, and Shaeeah and Jekk instantly looked up to her, mouths open and drawing breath to ask permission.

"Not yet," Suu shaded her eyes with a hand, looking towards the center, where a few Gran males were starting to push people aside and clear a path. "It's going to start in a few minutes. I want you two with us until after the ceremony. Then you can play."

"Okay," they chorused, aiming jealous looks after the game of tag running by, but willing enough to go along with the promise of playing later.

"What now?" Cut asked, quickly backing aside as a pair of elderly Gran females bustled past with trays of sweets. He was looking between the swelling crowd and the table stacked with desserts with no small amount of amazement, mouth open and eyes darting everywhere, drinking it all in.

Suu almost laughed at his expression. Then she did. This was a good party. A Gran wedding on Saleucami was always a good party. She could not live her life being terrified. Her family was here, safe, and her friends were getting married. She sighed, then smiled warmly. "Now, we get in line. Come on." Then she added, in a mother's warning tone, "Shaeeah." She leveled a look of 'I see what you're doing' at her daughter, who was failing to be at all subtle in her attempt at stealing something off the dessert table. "After the ceremony."

Shaeeah made a sour face, but dutifully followed the others as they worked their way into the crowd. Suu stood on her toes and tried to skim the surface of the crowd, to pick out friends and acquaintances. She caught Chios's eye at about the same time he noticed her, waving.

A moment later, the family was standing in front of Chios and Elis, both of whom were beaming. Elis reached out and kissed Suu politely on the cheek in greeting. "How are you, dear?"

"I'm well, thank you," Suu began to reply, only to be interrupted with astonishment as Chios swept forward, planted himself in front of Cut, looked him up and down with a stern glare - then grabbed a startled Cut in a bone crushing hug that nearly took him off the ground, laughing uproariously the whole time, shouting: "Cantina man!"

Suu sighed, covering her face with a hand. Elis laughed, swatted her husband in the head and cheerfully scolded him about picking up adults. Cut staggered backward, utterly confused, when Chios dropped him. Shaeeah and Jekk burst into laughter, then began shouting greetings, turning the attention of the two elder Wroonians to the children.

Before the greetings could proceed any further, there was a sharp whistle from the center of the square, and a quiet began to fall as people stopped talking, resettling themselves. Cut sent Suu a querying look.

"It's starting," she said, edging herself closer to him, speaking lowly, nodding towards the center, where there was now a sizeable clearing. Two older Gran couples were standing in the middle, across from each other. "Ossa and Arybas's parents," Suu explained, leaning closer to Cut's ear. There was a stir in the crowd, and they were close enough to make out the figures of Ossa and Arybas, walking steadily through the clear path towards their parents, hand in hand, both decked out in cheery shades of red and orange, bits of pounded gold jewelry catching in the sunlight and sparkling. They were both beaming.

Ossa's parents, then Arybas's, began to speak in Gran, the words indistinguishable to the non-Gran in the audience. "I don't know specifically," Suu continued lowly, giving Cut a small smile when he turned to look at her, "But essentially, they are welcoming their new daughter and son into each other's families." Hugs were now being exchanged between the older couples and the new one, the two older females excitedly embracing the now rather unwieldy Ossa. Suu chuckled a little. "They are also very pleased that their Mother Goddess, Doellin, has already blessed them. It is a very good portent for the union, that they are already starting a family of their own, and adding to the community."

Cut was smiling at her. She smiled back, enjoying the closeness. If they were not in a crowd, she'd lean over the rest of the way. She could almost feel the warmth from his skin. It was quite hard to resist doing so anyway. At least until she saw Chios watching them like a proud matchmaker. Her lekku twitched in embarrassment and she turned her head away from Cut, in time to watch the two sets of parents place their children's hands together.

The crowd erupted into cheers. It was a simple ceremony. Now was the complicated part.

"I hope you are coordinated," Suu whispered to Cut, teasingly.

"Coordinated?" he asked. "What's happening?"

She grinned and took one hand, Elis grabbing the other. All around them, people were taking up the hands of the friends, families, neighbors, strangers that stood nearby. Shaeeah took Suu's free hand, and Jekk's with the other in imitation. Some people were starting to bounce up and down in anticipation of what was coming.

Then there was a drum roll, and the shouts and whistles of several men, and the entire crowd began to move. Music struck up a steady beat, strings and flutes swelling the sound behind the drums and the voices singing in Gran, male and female calling to each other and answering. "Left first," Suu warned, and Cut barely had time to grasp what was happening as their line suddenly lurched to the right.

She swung his hand and called, "Like this! Watch me or Elis." Then, as slowly as she could without interrupting the growing flow of dancers, placed her feet solidly on the ground. Left over right, right out from left, left behind right, right out, left back, again, again. Then repeat, left over right, right out from left. It was a simple combination, over and over, the speed picking up as the chains of people picked up the pace, first timers adapting to the steps and rhythm, moving more and more rapidly and smoothly as the music carried them along. The chains began to break, as some began to move out of the dance.

"Mom!" Shaeeah called, desperately trying to keep up. She was mostly going left over right, left over right, then sashaying along when her shorter legs couldn't keep up. Jekk was alternating between hopping and running. "Can we go play?" Shaeeah shouted over the music and the sound of stomping feet.

Suu released her hand, and a moment later, she and Jekk broke off, darting through the dance to join the groups gathering around the edges of the dance floor. Shaeeah's hand was replaced by a young male Gran's, who was leaping along to the music with familiarity. She turned to Cut, who was watching his feet, but keeping up pace with some ease now. He turned to her with a huge smile.

They were carried along with the dance, hand in hand, Suu's skirt swirling around her as the pace picked up again, the steps becoming filled with more and more bounce. Then Elis released Cut's hand. She waved as she and Chios faded back into the crowd.

"What do I do?" Cut shouted at her, realizing there was no one's hand there to grab.

"You lead!" Suu laughed back. "Keep your hand up, don't slow down!"

There was a moment of panic, then a kind of delighted determination suffused his face, and he pulled their chain off into a new direction, coiling it around one of the groups of elders sitting now on the sidelines, chattering. As they found themselves in the middle of the dance again, they burst into cheers, waving to familiar faces in the line.

Suu laughed, lekku flying out as they danced.

It was growing late.

Suu sent a troubled look back towards Cut, who Chios had finally cornered off alone. Suu shook her head, hoping Chios wasn't saying anything too embarrassing. Cut was red enough that it was visible even in the firelight provided by the torches. The crowd had begun to thin, and those who lived farther away had left. Those with small children were also starting to head back towards the speeders, and Suu wanted to return home as well.

Arybas and Ossa were ebullient, greeting guests and pressing food on people. Suu was still stuffed, and had just enough spice wine to feel pleasantly light, the liquid keeping her feet from hurting too much from all the dancing.

She wandered now, looking for Shaeeah or Jekk. They weren't anywhere in the clearing. She frowned, looking at the dessert table, now thoroughly eaten through. Most of the children had been hovering in this area, with easy access to the cakes. There was a scrawny teenage Wroonian boy standing there now, stuffing his face so fast she thought he would choke. He was warily watching people, and froze when Suu approached, almost dropping the slice of pie in his hands as he fumbled with it.

"Have any of the younglings been by here, recently?" she asked. "Twi'lek, in particular?"

He shook his head vehemently, then stopped, backed up a step, and pointed at the table itself. Suu puckered her lips into a thin line, then bent and lifted up the cloth draping it. Several children had curled themselves into bundles underneath, sleeping. As a distinctive pair of mottled peach-and-blue lekku came to her notice, she reached under and gave one of Shaeeah's headtails a tweak. Her daughter bolted upright, and a few other kids moaned as they were forced to shift around. Several of them had food smeared on their mouths, clothes, and hands. Shaeeah appeared clean. Jekk, when he sat up beside his sister, had a smear of pink cake smashed on his cheek. He looked a little bleary-eyed, blinking solemnly at her. "I'm sleepy," he said.

Suu smiled as they began to crawl out. "Come on. We're going home."

Cut parked the speeder, then opened the door as quietly as he could.

He reached into the back of the truck and picked up Suu's blaster rifle. Suu remained in her seat, Jekk's head in her lap. Both of the children were sleeping again, Shaeeah slumped over with her head hanging down. Cut moved swiftly between points: the door to the house, behind the house, then around the barn, checking, looking, his blaster poised and ready. When he turned away from the barn, smiling, she breathed a little easier.

He opened the front door, propped it open, looked around inside, then returned empty handed. Suu climbed out of the truck, pulling Jekk with her carefully. He mumbled something in his sleep, then his head lolled. Suu smiled and propped him up against her shoulder, shutting the speeder door with a foot. Cut was in a similar position with Shaeeah, who was hanging bonelessly in his grasp.

She kept the lights off. Cut shut the door behind them, and they climbed the stairs.

The children's room was slightly larger than Suu's room. For the time being, it was separated only by a curtain, now open. Suu placed Jekk in his bed. Cut placed Shaeeah in hers, each of them quickly tugging off shoes and placing them on the floor. Blankets were lain over them.

They crept out into the hallway, peering inside. Suu leaned against Cut, resting her cheek on his shoulder for a moment. He placed an arm around her waist, then leaned in and closed the door.

They stood in the hallway. Cut turned back towards the stairs.

Suu did not move with him. Then she placed her hand over the one he had resting on her hip, and moved in the opposite direction, tugging him with her.

She stopped after a step, to turn and look at him. He met her gaze. "Would you like to stay tonight?" she asked.

He nodded once, somberly, then began to smile.

They moved three steps down the hallway, and closed the door behind them.

Sometime later, Cut finished what he wanted to say two nights earlier.

"I love you."

Then, much to his happiness, Suu replied, "I know. I love you too." Then she kissed him.

And they slept.

I pretty much made up the entire 'Gran wedding ceremony', taking what the Wookiepedia says about Gran culture and tried to apply it. If anyone happens to have the Punjabi Wedding Song from the Bride and Prejudice soundtrack, that's pretty much what this chapter is set to.

Many thanks to everyone who has left such kind reviews to this story! Trina, doctor anthony, Ms. MaraJade, The Elven-Spear, darthritter86, Jadedsnowtiger and Stardust Katrina! You're all awesome! Thank you for supporting the story.

There is only one more chapter left, plus an epilogue. I hope you all enjoy!

~Queen