After those last two chapters, I needed something fluffy and sweet. Hope you guys like it!

Asajj had always been a light sleeper, but it wasn't the clap of thunder that woke her. It was a feeling more visceral, more internal. The Force trembled around and within her. Not frighteningly or threateningly, but enough to rouse her from her dreamless sleep. Once she was actually awake, she was able to pinpoint the source of her unease.

She carefully unwrapped Obi-Wan's arms from around her, much as she hated to leave his warmth, and swung her legs off the bed. The chill of the Tatooine night made her flesh prickle despite the barrier of her nightshirt. She looked back to make sure he was still asleep before standing and walking the few paces to the tiny bed across the room.

Thunder rolled outside the walls of their home, flashes of lightning preceding each clap. Electrical storms were a common occurrence this time of year. Asajj hated them; the sound of thunder had always meant the promise of rain to her. But not on this wasteland of a planet. Here the skies teased but never delivered the precious liquid. But that was neither here nor there at the moment. All of her attention was focused on the bundle curled up on the mattress against the wall.

"Nala," she whispered gently, carefully sitting down as one hand went to the blanket her daughter had thrown over her head. She tugged, but Nala's grip on the material was strong. "Sweetheart, come out from under there." The ball curled tighter into itself, making it that much harder to pull the blanket away. Asajj sighed. "I promise, the thunder can't hurt you. It's just noise. You're perfectly safe."

An even louder boom rattled the door to their small hut as if to spite her assertion. Asajj sent a mental insult to the sky before scooting closer to the terrified bundle. She thought for a moment, then settled on a new tactic.

The first words were shaky as she consciously tried to remember her native language, but once she got going the lullaby flowed from her lips like water. The song was told from a mother's point of view, of the fierce, undying love for her child that not even death could sever. It was one her own mother had sung to her so long ago before sending Asajj away into slavery. Asajj had always wondered how her own mother could sing that song to her and then give her away. But she harbored no ill will towards the woman who had birthed her; from what she remembered, Asajj knew her mother had fought to keep her, but it was Mother Talzin who had persuaded her to give her up to save the coven. It had to have been heartbreaking.

She shook the thoughts from her head and returned her attention to comforting her own daughter. Nalaya was what mattered now, not her own past. Her voice seemed to calm the girl; at least her shaking had stopped. Even the storm outside seemed to ease as the lullaby went on.

About halfway through Asajj was able to pry the blanket away from her daughter's strong grip. Bright blue eyes, still wide with fright, looked up at her beneath a shock of dark hair. Asajj offered a warm smile. She stroked the backs of her fingers against Nala's cheek as the final words of her song faded away into the silence. "Better?"

A flash of light and a low rumble shattered Nala's calm. Although farther away and nowhere near as loud as previous claps, it was enough to send Nala into her mother's arms and cling to her with a strength that belied her youth. Asajj closed her eyes as she silently cursed the Tatooine sky again, but she didn't push Nala away. Instead she ran her hands in slow circles on her back. Knowing neither of them would get back to sleep if she tried to make Nala stay in her own bed, Asajj gathered her child into her arms and carried her to the bed she and her husband shared.

Obi-Wan lay propped up on one arm, watching the two most important women in his life as they came towards him. Asajj blinked at seeing him awake, but didn't say anything. She simply laid Nala on the mattress and climbed on after her. "What's wrong, little one?" Obi-Wan whispered. "Did the storm frighten you?" Nala released her mother and rolled into her father's chest, burying her face in his loose shirt. He chuckled warmly before holding her close; his hands seemed to dwarf her tiny body, but there was utmost gentility in his touch. "It's okay to be afraid, dearest one. But you shouldn't let your fear control you. Fear can only hurt you if you let it."

Asajj rolled her eyes as she settled in behind her daughter. "Must you do that now? Can't you wait a few years before indoctrinating her with your Jedi rhetoric?" Her slender fingers pulled Nala's face from her father's shirt and turned her onto her back. Asajj smiled down at her, her irritation at Obi-Wan momentarily forgotten. "So long as you have us, nothing can ever hurt you, Nalaya. I promise." A kiss on the child's forehead sealed that promise. "Go back to sleep."

Obi-Wan shook his head good-naturedly then pulled them both into his arms. One of Asajj's draped across Nala to rest on his waist. Although she was still afraid of the storm should it return, little Nala did indeed feel safe in her parents' embrace. The warmth and love between them was as effective as the lullaby her mother had sung for her.

Now that the storm had passed and her parents enveloped her with their love, Nala let out a short yawn and promptly fell back to sleep.