Child of the Light: Chapter Ten
By Jayde Star
Jayde was having so much fun catching up with friends that she hadn't seen in a while, that she left the party to meet Len on the roof a little later than she planned and she didn't have to time to change before hand, so she was still in her new dress, but she did have a chance to get a jacket so she wasn't too cold. But Len was already fifteen minutes late and she was starting to get worried. She was just about to leave the roof and go back to the party when an out of breath Len finally came running to join her.
"Sorry…gasp…..I'm late ….. wheeze…..got caught up." He apologised in between catching his breath.
"Are you okay? Why are you late? I was beginning to worry." Jayde said.
Len finally caught his breath. "Sorry, I got caught up with family. When I noticed the time I tried to call and let you know but you'd already left your place. But I got here as fast as I could." He then hugged Jayde around the waist "Forgive me?"
"I guess so." Jayde smiled as she put her arms around his neck, "But you need to give me a better reason than that."
Len answered that by kissing her.
"That's better," said Jayde when they finally pulled away. "Just make sure you're not late next time. Though, if you're going to apologise like that every time, maybe you should."
Len smiled and finally noticed what Jayde was wearing. "Nice dress, is it new?" he asked.
"Yeah," Jayde replied. "Mum and dad got it for me while they were away. How mum convinced dad to get it I'll never know. Maybe they felt guilty that they missed my birthday and they had to make it up to me."
"Well it's very nice and it really suits you. You look beautiful in it."
Jayde blushed. "I did plan to change before I came up here, but I was running late as well."
"Well, I'm glad you were. Otherwise I would have missed seeing you in that dress. And that would be highly unfair. So how was the party?"
"It was good. I haven't seen a lot of hose people for a year or two and it was good to catch up. I thought maybe I could convince you to come down to the party with me. You could meet all my friends."
"I've met most of your friends already. Besides I thought we could spend some time alone together." Len put his arm around Jayde's shoulder and pulled her to him.
Jayde pulled away a bit. "No, you've met all my friends from school. I'm talking about the people I've known pretty much all my life. The one's who are like family to me."
"I can meet them all some other time." Len argued.
"But the chances of them all being in the one place at the same time again any time soon is pretty remote. Besides, you must be the only person I have ever met that wasn't eager to meet all the people my family is friends with. Everyone considers them heroes of the Rebellion and New Republic for the most part. Who turns down the chance to meet that many famous people all in one go?" The more Jayde thought about it the more upset she got. "Are you embarrassed to be seen with me?"
"Of course not." Len was annoyed by that comment. "I just want to be alone with you."
"But we can be alone anytime. When will you get a chance to meet these people again? And I don't get a chance to see these people very often so I want to go back. I'll see you later, but if you do change your mind, you'll still be welcome." Jayde started to stalk off.
"Jayde, wait!" Len grabbed her arm.
"Let go of me Len. I'm going back to the party." Jayde tried to pull away, but Len held on.
"Please, can't we talk about it? Don't just go running off angry."
"Len! Let go! You're hurting me!" Jayde was in tears now, but Len still wouldn't let go.
* * * * *
Jayde and Len weren't the only people who had the idea to go up to the roof. On the opposite side to them, two other people had just arrived and were talking together.
"See, I told you it was beautiful up here." Said David Antillies to his companion.
"Yeah," Sandra replied. "Beautiful, but I'm cold. Can't we go back to the party?"
"In a minute, I just wanted to spend a bit of time with you alone. Or are the people I know more important than the person I am?" He asked.
"The person you are is more important, of course. It's just that…" Sandra was interrupted by a noise from the other side of the roof.
"What was that?" David asked.
"It was probably just the wind, Dave." Sandra said, "Don't worry about it."
David listened again. "No, it sounds more like people arguing."
"Well, leave them to it, it's none of your business."
"Maybe I should just check it out." David listened again. "Hang on, that sounds like Jayde's voice, I'm going to check that she's okay." David ran off at full pelt before Sandra could even get a word out.
"David!" She called after him, then started walking to follow him.
* * * * *
David arrived just in time to see an amazing sight. Len had his hand tight around Jayde's left arm and she seemed extremely upset. David was about to step in to stop it, but all of a sudden a light surrounded Jayde and pushed Len away into a wall. He was lucky he hadn't been facing the other way because he would have gone flying off the roof if he had.
All of them stood or sat there in shock for a moment. But David recovered first, after glancing at Jayde to see if she was okay, he moved over to where Len had fallen.
"Are you okay?" David asked.
"Yeah, I think so." Said Len.
"Pity," said David. His voice became low and menacing, "If Jayde hadn't done whatever it was that she just did, I would be hurting you a lot more. Then I would hand you over to her brothers, sister, uncle, cousins and dad. Oh, and I don't think Mara would take too kindly to you hurting her little girl. And, after they had all finished with you, I would make sure any friends of the family who wanted a shot, had the chance. She's got a lot of people who are protective of her. Now, get out of here before I change my mind about letting you go."
With that Len just ran as fast as he could. He was scared and he knew it wouldn't be long before Jayde's family found out, so he planned to be as far away as possible by that time.
David turned back to Jayde to find that she had collapsed to the ground and was sobbing uncontrollably. David kneeled down beside her and hugged her tightly. "It's okay, he's gone down. I think I scared him off."
Jayde half-laughed at that, but it sounded more like a hiccup.
"Are you okay? He didn't hurt you did he?" David asked worriedly.
"Yeah, I'm okay, he only hurt my arm a little." Jayde was crying less now "Is he okay? I didn't mean to hurt him."
"He was fine, just a little shaken. What did you do?"
"I don't know exactly. It's only happened once before and then it saved me from falling out of a tree. Please don't tell my parents, they'll only get upset."
Before David could reply a voice said, "So, some little girl is more important than me. Call me when you're ready to be around adults."
David looked up to see Sandra stalk off the roof.
"Sorry about spoiling your date." Jayde apologised.
"That's okay, she wasn't that important anyway. You know me." David winked at her.
Jayde just rolled her eyes. But she did smile just a bit. "I want to go home now."
"Okay, I'll take you."
"No, it's okay, I'll be fine."
All of a sudden Luke, Mara and Ben Skywalker came running on to the roof. Mara saw Jayde first and went straight to her. "What happened?" She asked, "We all felt you were in great distress, then there was a surge in the force and we came running. I had to force the twins to stay and look after the guests. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine mum. It's just that…that….uumm, well…." Jayde trialed off as she looked at the ground. She was too upset to tell anyone what happened, so David told them for her. Including the part about the light. He had to, the surge in the force had told them something was up and they asked him out right.
Once they had been told and Jayde had calmed down, they went back to the party. Though Jayde did just go to her room at first, but eventually the idea of missing out on catching up with friends she hadn't seen in a while convinced her to rejoin the party. David kept a protective eye on her once she did and was one of the last people to leave.
Len tried to call later that night to try to apologise, but Jayde wouldn't talk to him and even if she would have, everyone would have talked her out of it.
tbc
That took forever to write. Major mental block. But, what do you all think?
By Jayde Star
Jayde was having so much fun catching up with friends that she hadn't seen in a while, that she left the party to meet Len on the roof a little later than she planned and she didn't have to time to change before hand, so she was still in her new dress, but she did have a chance to get a jacket so she wasn't too cold. But Len was already fifteen minutes late and she was starting to get worried. She was just about to leave the roof and go back to the party when an out of breath Len finally came running to join her.
"Sorry…gasp…..I'm late ….. wheeze…..got caught up." He apologised in between catching his breath.
"Are you okay? Why are you late? I was beginning to worry." Jayde said.
Len finally caught his breath. "Sorry, I got caught up with family. When I noticed the time I tried to call and let you know but you'd already left your place. But I got here as fast as I could." He then hugged Jayde around the waist "Forgive me?"
"I guess so." Jayde smiled as she put her arms around his neck, "But you need to give me a better reason than that."
Len answered that by kissing her.
"That's better," said Jayde when they finally pulled away. "Just make sure you're not late next time. Though, if you're going to apologise like that every time, maybe you should."
Len smiled and finally noticed what Jayde was wearing. "Nice dress, is it new?" he asked.
"Yeah," Jayde replied. "Mum and dad got it for me while they were away. How mum convinced dad to get it I'll never know. Maybe they felt guilty that they missed my birthday and they had to make it up to me."
"Well it's very nice and it really suits you. You look beautiful in it."
Jayde blushed. "I did plan to change before I came up here, but I was running late as well."
"Well, I'm glad you were. Otherwise I would have missed seeing you in that dress. And that would be highly unfair. So how was the party?"
"It was good. I haven't seen a lot of hose people for a year or two and it was good to catch up. I thought maybe I could convince you to come down to the party with me. You could meet all my friends."
"I've met most of your friends already. Besides I thought we could spend some time alone together." Len put his arm around Jayde's shoulder and pulled her to him.
Jayde pulled away a bit. "No, you've met all my friends from school. I'm talking about the people I've known pretty much all my life. The one's who are like family to me."
"I can meet them all some other time." Len argued.
"But the chances of them all being in the one place at the same time again any time soon is pretty remote. Besides, you must be the only person I have ever met that wasn't eager to meet all the people my family is friends with. Everyone considers them heroes of the Rebellion and New Republic for the most part. Who turns down the chance to meet that many famous people all in one go?" The more Jayde thought about it the more upset she got. "Are you embarrassed to be seen with me?"
"Of course not." Len was annoyed by that comment. "I just want to be alone with you."
"But we can be alone anytime. When will you get a chance to meet these people again? And I don't get a chance to see these people very often so I want to go back. I'll see you later, but if you do change your mind, you'll still be welcome." Jayde started to stalk off.
"Jayde, wait!" Len grabbed her arm.
"Let go of me Len. I'm going back to the party." Jayde tried to pull away, but Len held on.
"Please, can't we talk about it? Don't just go running off angry."
"Len! Let go! You're hurting me!" Jayde was in tears now, but Len still wouldn't let go.
* * * * *
Jayde and Len weren't the only people who had the idea to go up to the roof. On the opposite side to them, two other people had just arrived and were talking together.
"See, I told you it was beautiful up here." Said David Antillies to his companion.
"Yeah," Sandra replied. "Beautiful, but I'm cold. Can't we go back to the party?"
"In a minute, I just wanted to spend a bit of time with you alone. Or are the people I know more important than the person I am?" He asked.
"The person you are is more important, of course. It's just that…" Sandra was interrupted by a noise from the other side of the roof.
"What was that?" David asked.
"It was probably just the wind, Dave." Sandra said, "Don't worry about it."
David listened again. "No, it sounds more like people arguing."
"Well, leave them to it, it's none of your business."
"Maybe I should just check it out." David listened again. "Hang on, that sounds like Jayde's voice, I'm going to check that she's okay." David ran off at full pelt before Sandra could even get a word out.
"David!" She called after him, then started walking to follow him.
* * * * *
David arrived just in time to see an amazing sight. Len had his hand tight around Jayde's left arm and she seemed extremely upset. David was about to step in to stop it, but all of a sudden a light surrounded Jayde and pushed Len away into a wall. He was lucky he hadn't been facing the other way because he would have gone flying off the roof if he had.
All of them stood or sat there in shock for a moment. But David recovered first, after glancing at Jayde to see if she was okay, he moved over to where Len had fallen.
"Are you okay?" David asked.
"Yeah, I think so." Said Len.
"Pity," said David. His voice became low and menacing, "If Jayde hadn't done whatever it was that she just did, I would be hurting you a lot more. Then I would hand you over to her brothers, sister, uncle, cousins and dad. Oh, and I don't think Mara would take too kindly to you hurting her little girl. And, after they had all finished with you, I would make sure any friends of the family who wanted a shot, had the chance. She's got a lot of people who are protective of her. Now, get out of here before I change my mind about letting you go."
With that Len just ran as fast as he could. He was scared and he knew it wouldn't be long before Jayde's family found out, so he planned to be as far away as possible by that time.
David turned back to Jayde to find that she had collapsed to the ground and was sobbing uncontrollably. David kneeled down beside her and hugged her tightly. "It's okay, he's gone down. I think I scared him off."
Jayde half-laughed at that, but it sounded more like a hiccup.
"Are you okay? He didn't hurt you did he?" David asked worriedly.
"Yeah, I'm okay, he only hurt my arm a little." Jayde was crying less now "Is he okay? I didn't mean to hurt him."
"He was fine, just a little shaken. What did you do?"
"I don't know exactly. It's only happened once before and then it saved me from falling out of a tree. Please don't tell my parents, they'll only get upset."
Before David could reply a voice said, "So, some little girl is more important than me. Call me when you're ready to be around adults."
David looked up to see Sandra stalk off the roof.
"Sorry about spoiling your date." Jayde apologised.
"That's okay, she wasn't that important anyway. You know me." David winked at her.
Jayde just rolled her eyes. But she did smile just a bit. "I want to go home now."
"Okay, I'll take you."
"No, it's okay, I'll be fine."
All of a sudden Luke, Mara and Ben Skywalker came running on to the roof. Mara saw Jayde first and went straight to her. "What happened?" She asked, "We all felt you were in great distress, then there was a surge in the force and we came running. I had to force the twins to stay and look after the guests. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine mum. It's just that…that….uumm, well…." Jayde trialed off as she looked at the ground. She was too upset to tell anyone what happened, so David told them for her. Including the part about the light. He had to, the surge in the force had told them something was up and they asked him out right.
Once they had been told and Jayde had calmed down, they went back to the party. Though Jayde did just go to her room at first, but eventually the idea of missing out on catching up with friends she hadn't seen in a while convinced her to rejoin the party. David kept a protective eye on her once she did and was one of the last people to leave.
Len tried to call later that night to try to apologise, but Jayde wouldn't talk to him and even if she would have, everyone would have talked her out of it.
tbc
That took forever to write. Major mental block. But, what do you all think?