Lan Wu swam beneath the waves of the jungle lake as she often did. She explored its depths, swimming with confidence, no longer afraid. She'd conquered her fears of deep water, feeling self assured that she was strong and capable of defending herself. As she looked into the crevice at the bottom of the lake she suddenly felt a tap on her ear flap. She glanced up at Nemo. The Mon Cala boy pointed upward to the surface of the lake, indicating it was time to go.

Lan Wu nodded as they swam upward. They broke the surface and began wading to the shore. She and Nemo joined the other teens as they began making their way back to the temple. As they went Nemo grinned at her side playfully.

"Hey Lan Wu, guess what I found."

"What?" the Gungan girl asked curiously. Nemo smiled as he reached into the pockets of his robes and pulled out several mussels. The Gungan girl blinked before she excitedly leapt at him, reaching for the mollusks while Nemo laughed and kept them just out of reach.

But Lan Wu kept trying to grab at them. Mollusks and such were some of the Gungans' species favorite foods. And she hadn't had any in a long time since her arrival on Punjam Hy Loo. She leapt onto Nemo's back, hand outstretched as she reached for the delectable creature just out of reach.

"Ah ah ah, say please Lan Wu," Nemo teased as kept his arm outstretched.

"Please!" Lan Wu said before her tongue shot out. It wrapped around one of the mollusks before retracting back into her mouth. She spat the mussel into her hand before cracking it open and sucking the fleshy creature out.

"Mmmmm!" Lan Wu crooned. She licked her lips with a smile. "Dat's so good!" she said happily.

Nemo chuckled as he tossed another into the air. Lan Wu followed it with her eyes before shooting out her tongue to snatch it out of the air. The other younglings chuckled at the sight. They continued toward the temple, Nemo carrying Lan Wu on his back while occasionally tossing up a mussel that she would snatch out of the air with her tongue, almost like a game.

The younglings laughed at their antics before arriving at the temple. Nemo set Lan Wu down before tossing up one last mussel. Lan Wu eyed it as it arched downward and shot her tongue out. It disappeared into her mouth before she cracked it open and sucked out the mollusk.

She hummed in happiness as she savored the delectable treat. As she did the younglings were approached by Rapunzel.

"Lan Wu," she said to grab the Gungan's attention.

"Yesa?"

"You have a visitor. You're father is here," she revealed.

"He is? Whera?" Lan Wu asked excitedly.

Rapunzel rubbed the back of her head. "Well…"

A few minutes later Lan Wu had followed Rapunzel outside to the entrance of the temple. She found a sail barge and several Kinnaran alongside her father.

Nak-Dur Yoggur was an older, deep blue Ottola Gungan. He was dressed in leathers similar to what most of his people wore. He had mustache like tendrils and wrinkles on his face. And he was currently clinging to the railing of the sail barge for dear life as the Kinnarans tried to assure him he was fine.

The older Gungan male, while no stranger to water and even dry land, had never been on anything that flew until just recently. And the view of the landscape below was a tad…overwhelming. It could hardly be helped since the Kinnarans preferred to live off the ground in the mountains and their floating city.

Lan Wu smiled at the sight of her father before calling out to him. Nak-Dur snapped from his frozen trance at the sound of his daughter's voice.

"Lan Wu!" he called out jovially. With a smile he slowly inched his way off the sail barge, gripping and pulling himself along the rails before jumping off and onto the cliff edge. He sank to his knees for a moment, panting and heart racing before looking up and rushing to his daughter wit arms outstretched.

He hugged her tightly with a happy smile and laugh. "Lan Wu, isa so bombad to see yousa again!"

"Mesa m happy to see yousa too!" Lan Wu said sincerely as she hugged her father close.

Nak-Dur pulled back before glancing back at the cliff's edge. "Mesa don't likein heights. Let s goin inside," he suggested with a shudder. Lan Wu nodded as she and Rapunzel led him inside the temple.

Once safely away from any sharp drops Nak-Dur relaxed. He glanced around the temple, having never seen a structure made within stone. He also glanced curiously at the Kinnarans, having never seen a species like theirs on Naboo before.

And then finally he took a look at his daughter. He could hardly believe how much she'd changed. She was once stocky, with her eye stalks seeming unsuited to her face and strange looking. But her constant physical training had made her lean and she'd filled out nicely, with everything fitting like it should. She had also had a bit of a growth spurt. She still had the tendency of not tying her ears back like most female Gungans did, making her look like a bit of a tomboy. But he found that one unchanged feature endearing, glad to see she hadn't completely changed.

He and Lan Wu took a seat at a table so they could speak. Rapunzel left them to themselves.

"Lan Wu, look at howa much yousa have grown," Nak-Dur said as he gestured at her in amazement. Lan Wu smile shyly. "Yousa are berry berry pretty," he told her.

"Tanks," Lan Wu said with a smile.

"So, how yousa been?" he asked her. Lan Wu smiled as she recounted her time on Punjam Hy Loo. From training, learning to use the Force, to making friends, female friends, and lastly her mission to the ocean planet where she'd finally overcome her fear of deep water.

Nak-Dur smiled at his daughter in pride as he extended a hand out toward her. He placed it on her shoulder. "Yousa have made wesa people proud Lan Wu," he told her sincerely. "And misa know yousa mother woulda been proud too," he added with a nod. Lan Wu smiled in joy as she thought of her mom.

She held her father's gaze and smiled back.

"Lan Wu!" Lan Wu turned her head and saw her friends approaching. She smiled before leaping up.

"Dad. Theysa mesa palos," Lan Wu said as she introduced all her friends. Save one.

Lan Wu glanced around in search of Nemo, her closest and best friend on the planet, only to find him nowhere in sight. She asked the others where Nemo was, but to her confusion none of them knew. That couldn't help but mak Lan Wu disappointed. She really wanted her father to meet all her friends, especially her best.

But the others said Nemo would likely turn up soon enough. So they offered to show Nak-Dur around. Lan Wu agreed as they led her father around, showing him to their quarters, her room, the training area, the pool in the temple, and the flying elephants stabled there. Nak-Dur walked around, amazed, and occasionally tripping with a few slight missteps. The rocky and cracked ground threw off his footing ever so slightly.

As they went Lan Wu kept glancing around for Nemo. But there was just no sign of the Mon Cala teen. As they went the younglings asked Nak-Dur what he did. He explained that he was a trader between the Gungans and the Naboo. Or at least he had been before the Empire and the Gungan's self imposed exile. He still managed to trade in secret but his business had taken a bad turn at the moment.

Still, he was optimistic that things would change, that the Empire would fall and the Republic would be restored and that the Gungans and Naboo would be friends once again.

Nak-Dur smiled as he watched Lan Wu talk to her friends so easily, especially the girls. After her mom had died Lan Wu didn't know how to relate to girls, leading her to become a bit tomboyish and prefer the company of plants over other children. He'd had no idea what to do to help her. And he had been burdened by having to hide his sadness and focus on her. But now, she'd blossomed, making friends on this world, allowing him to finally mourn his wife now that he knew she was fine.

Hours passed as the day wore on, and as the younglings sat at a table eating dinner Nemo finally appeared. He approached casually, like he hadn't been missing for hours. Lan Wu narrowed her eyes at him and leapt up before approaching.

"Where yousa been?" she asked in annoyance. He seemed unhurt and fine, leaving her no cause for concern.

"Sorry. Rapunzel said your dad was here so I thought I'd hit the lake again," Nemo explained before he lifted a small sack in his right hand up for her to take. Lan Wu did, quickly opening it and being greeted by the sight of many mussels.

Lan Wu released a giddy squeal and swung her bag of mussels around in joy. "Ok. Yousa forgiven," she told Nemo. The Mon Cala teen smiled before they both approached the table.

"Dad, disa be mesa best palo, Nemo," Lan Wu introduced with pride. Nak-Dur smiled as he extended a hand and shook Nemo's metal one.

With the hours passing into the evening Rapunzel came to get Nak-Dur. He nodded as he stood up to follow her. Lan Wu followed along as the sail barge awaited her father outside the temple. Nak-Dur gave his daughter one last hug before he pulled back.

"Yousa gonna be bombad Jedi Lan Wu. But never be forgetting where yousa comes from. Or wesa people," he whispered to her. From under his shirt he produced an object carved from wood. Lan Wu recognized it as an Atlatl, a small throwing device used for throwing the Gungan boomas.

Lan Wu accepted it, a reminder of her heritage and her people's own warrior spirit. She looked up to her father as he smiled down in pride and nodded. With one final pat on the should Nak-Dur climbed onto the sail barge. He held tight to the rails and swallowed, but with a breath he took a hand off so he could wave goodbye.

Lan Wu waved back until he disappeared into the distance. She was happy he'd come. And a little sad he had to go. With a smile she looked down to the atlatl in her hand. She gave it a swing, liking the feel of it in her hand.

"Hey Lan Wu." Lan Wu looked up from the atlatl and glanced back at Nemo coming out of the temple to check on her. "You ok?"

Lan Wu smiled at him and nodded.

"Mesa bombad Nemo," she paused to glance down at the atlatl again. "Mesa bombad."

new chap. Who should I do next?