Disclaimer: George Lucas owns Star Wars. I am not making any profit from this work of fanfiction.

Author's note: Ryn gets lessons in womanhood, while Anakin is interrogated in a bathtub.

CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE

It wasn't the housegirl who returned with brightly colored clothes, but Gunryth. Ryn was rinsing out her hair when she felt a draught on her back and turned to see that her foster-sister had pushed aside the tapestry that hung over the doorway and entered.

"Ermais told me you wanted greens and blues," she said, by way of greeting. "I have brought some of what was ready to hand."

"Oh." Ryn felt her cheeks heating. "I didn't mean to ––"

"Hush," said Gunryth. "It is well. I wanted to do it." She sat down slowly on the foot of the bed. "I have a question, however."

Ryn eyed her warily from the depths of the tub. "Yes?"

"Is this to do with that Skywalker boy?"

Ryn considered. "it probably wouldn't have occurred to me if we had never met," she said slowly. "Why? You think I shouldn't do it?"

Probably Gunryth was right. Probably she shouldn't do anything different. This was no time to embark on a journey of self-discovery; they had real problems.

"I didn't say all that," Gunryth said, reading her without difficulty. She frowned and shifted her position, making her breasts play with her neckline in ways that Ryn's never would. "A woman should always be ready to change because of a man, and never willing to change for a man."

Sometimes I think you just like to obfuscate. Ryn rinsed lather off her bare arms, trying to sort out Gunryth's meaning. "So I ought to stick to my old clothes?" she said finally.

Gunryth sighed, her patience clearly taxed, and Ryn knew she'd just managed to do it wrong somehow. Again.

"Why do you want to wear green tonight?" the adept asked her patiently.

"Well," Ryn said, scrambling to collect her thoughts. "I walked in and thought how much I loved the colors in this room. And then I wondered why I never wore them on my own body. And then I realized that I didn't have what you might call a reason." She slicked the wet hair back from her face to see Gunryth better, checking to see if this was the right answer. "It seemed like as good a time as any to start."

"And what has this to do with Skywalker?"

"What?"

"I can sense your longing. It is for the boy, yes? Skywalker?"

"Uh," said Ryn. "Yeah." She bit her lip. "I told you already, I wouldn't have thought of wearing colors before we met." She couldn't hold Gunryth's stare and looked down. "And I want to know if he will look at me differently," she muttered sullenly.

"Ahhh," said Gunryth. She sounded vindicated.

Ryn scowled, resentful of her own foolishness. What had she been thinking?

Was she a bird, to try and attract a mate with her plumage?

Belatedly she remembered that it was usually the male birds who did that.

So am I a man in this scenario?

Her head was beginning to ache.

"Areth'ryn," Gunryth said gently, and Ryn looked up. "Are you ready to know love?"

To an Outsider that might not have meant much, but Ryn knew.

Anakin.

Her voice only shook a little. "Yes."

Gunryth smiled and picked up a towel. "Then come here."


"You're really beautiful," Bridein murmured, running fresh water through his hair.

"Uh," said Anakin. Thank you would have been a more appropriate answer, but he was still trying to find his way back from Men aren't beautiful.

Bridein didn't seem to mind. "So strong," she said, her voice dropping throatily. "Such tanned skin. It's like you're made out of sunlight." She bent closer, abruptly, her breasts bouncing gently at chin level, and kissed his damp forehead. "I can see why Orun Ri-Domna is so taken with you."

That meant Ryn, probably. "She's not –– we're not ––"

Bridein nodded. "I heard. She told Gunryth in front of the hall that her love was unrequited." She ran lathered hands down Anakin's back. "That took more guts than I'll ever have."

If he kept her talking, maybe he wouldn't have to think about the way her hands felt on his skin. "Why's that?"

"Well ..." Bridein shrugged. "To be rejected in love is always painful. But Orun Ri-Domna spoke without shame." Thoughtfully, she added, "I'd always heard she was an upright sort."

Something in her statement bothered him. He backtracked. "Shame?"

"You know," Bridein said. "Being rejected and all that. Not that you didn't have your reasons!" she added quickly. "I just don't understand why Gunryth Ri-Domna had to question her before the hall. I hate to see anyone humiliated like that."

Anakin's sense that all was not well was beginning to sharpen into a Bad Feeling. "Humiliated?" he repeated. "I don't think I like the sound of that."

"You wouldn't be a very nice person if you did," Bridein said. "But it's not your fault if she does not stir your ... feelings." Anakin had the distinct impression that she had edited whatever more explicit term she'd been about to use. But before he could call her on it, Bridein pulled back a little to look him in the face. "Is it that you don't like girls?"

It took several seconds for her meaning to penetrate, and then Anakin cringed. "No!" he said hastily. "I mean, yes! I mean ... girls, yeah."

"Ah," said Bridein, but she looked dissatisfied.

"What?" asked Anakin.

"Nothing," she said quickly, reaching for the soap. "It is none of my business."

That wasn't stopping you before, Anakin thought. He reached up and caught her wrist. "Tell me," he insisted.

This made Bridein blush, as climbing into the bathtub with a stranger had not. She looked down, her soapy wrist twisting lightly in his grip. "I just ... if you like girls, and she likes you ..." She glanced up at him under tawny lashes. "Why not please each other?"

Anakin wondered, briefly, if it were some sort of secret pastime for Lorethan women to torture men about their sexual choice.

He took a deep breath and tried to expel his frustration with it. "Ryn is my friend," he said, slowly and distinctly. "I don't want to take advantage of her."

Bridein pulled free, but she looked thoughtful rather than displeased. She soaped her hands again and began lathering his thighs, but Anakin held grimly to his focus.

"Why would it be taking advantage?" Bridein asked eventually. "If she wanted to do it?"

Anakin gave up his half-hearted attempt to get the soap back from her and focused his concentration instead on redirecting his bloodflow to where it belonged. "Jedi are not allowed to love," he said, because sometimes the truth really was easier. "It wouldn't be fair to Ryn."

Bridein grew still, looking down at the sudsy water. "So you won't ... uh ... enjoy her ... because you care too much?"

Anakin couldn't tell from her tone whether she thought this was good or bad, but at least it was mostly true. "Um," he said warily. "Yeah?"

Bridein breathed deep, practically glowing with enthusiasm. "That may just be the most romantic thing I have ever heard!"

"Um," said Anakin again, pretty sure something had gotten lost in translation. "What ––"

"Sh." Bridein pressed a soapy finger to his lips. "Just let me take care of you tonight."