Caibideil 28

Two Months Later

Ahsoka watched the younger padawans and padawan hopefuls sparring, Barriss standing beside her. Both were wearing more formal attire than they had been wearing recently, due to a special occasion. She tried to squeeze what it was out of her friend, but to no avail: begging, puppy eyes, and threats of violence had all failed to unseal her lips. Lips that were currently biting down on her knuckle as she watched Petro get tossed around like a ragdoll by Gungi, the Wookie youngling who had not yet been chosen as a Padawan. If Ahsoka was a knight she might have picked him, after all he was a great student, never complained when she had been around, always wide-eyed and open-eared… Wookies did have external ears, right? No matter, and in addition to that she was one of the few Reformists, and few Jedi in general, who spoke Shyriiwook and thus one of the only ones who was physically capable of teaching him. Placing a comforting hand on Barriss's shoulder she murmured, "It's ok Barriss, it's just training. He won't get hurt…"

Petro landed face-first in the dirt in front of them, with even Gungi wincing at the angle he fell at.

"Too badly," Ahsoka finished as Barriss ran to her padawan, and quite recently her and Riyo's legally adopted son considering the Reformist Order wasn't a legally recognized entity yet (although the legal battle was currently being fought), in a mad dash that only a mother can run with. Ahsoka half-smirked and thought about how her friend probably would have done it anyway. Picking him up off the ground, she checked him for any broken bones or other serious injuries while Petro quietly begged her to stop worrying as much as she was, as she was embarrassing him. A few of the other padawans, particularly the girls, started to giggle at Petro being coddled by his master.

"Master Offee… Master… MOM! I'm fine!"

Barriss stood upon ensuring that Petro hadn't been too hurt, a nasty scrape or two but nothing serious. "Come on then, let's get you cleaned up for the... event later."

"Oh yeah!" Petro exclaimed, "I almost forgot! See you later Gungi!"

The Wookie waved as Petro got dragged off by his master/mother.

Ahsoka had an idea; if pressing Barriss did nothing, then maybe she'd get Gungi to talk. She leaned down to eye level with the youngling and smiled sweetly, "Gungi… do you know what the event later is supposed to be?"

Gungi, averting his eyes, replied in Shyriiwook, "Nope. Sorry Padawan Tano, I don't have a clue. I just know it's a formal event."

"Gungi," Ahsoka replied flatly, and pointed to her eyes, "Look at me. Look at me." The Wookie met her eyes, "Tell me you don't know what it is."

"I don't know what it is."

"You're lying to me."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You don't want to irritate me Gungi."

"Are Jedi supposed to threaten children?"

"Gungi, I'm only four years older than you, and I'm not threatening anyone… yet."

"I'm not supposed to say what it is."

"So you do know?"

"Uh…" Gungi immediately bolted out of the courtyard at top speed, leaving Ahsoka to sigh in exasperation. She couldn't fathom the secrecy behind everything, all she was told was to dress for a semi-formal event and these heels were killing her feet. Why she let Aayla and Barriss talk her into buying them she didn't have a clue; she wasn't even totally sure if they properly fit, she normally wore a 5 ½ but had never even heard of this brand before and they were probably sized weird. She wasn't even told the time so she could change shortly beforehand and wear something that didn't give her blisters for the rest of the day. She sat down and took them off for a moment. If they didn't bust by the end of the day, she was absolutely going to refund them, or at least exchange them for something that actually didn't make her want to scream with every step.

On the issue of steps her montrals picked up a familiar footfall behind her. Somebody trying to sneak up on her. Lux? That's impossible though, Lux wasn't due back for another month. Her suspicions were confirmed through the Force though, as she whirled around on the bench and sprung into his arms, "Lux!" she yelped before kissing him.

As he twirled her around to go with the momentum, he broke the kiss and set her down, "Worst part about being with a Jedi? I can never sneak up on you and surprise you."

"Force or no Force, you still aren't sneaky."

"Oh really? What about-"

"That was a fluke, and if Anakin ever heard about you stunning me, he'd have your skull for an ashtray."

"I still got you."

"Shut up," she ordered before kissing him again, "Why are you back? I thought you weren't due for another month!"

"I made a special trip."

"Oh? Is there something special?"

"Any moment with you is special."

Anakin called from beside them, "Yeah, she's special alright." Jabbing his mechanical thumb to the stairwell, "Come on. It's starting. And put your shoes on."

Sighing in defeat, she resigned herself to putting those damned heels back on… to climb four flights of stairs… holding in every. Whimper. Of. Agony. She had been shot, stabbed, beaten, shocked, poisoned, and had rolled down a great many very sharp, jagged rocks in her time and all that had nothing on these heels. She'd gladly do all that ten times in one day if it meant she never had to wear heels again in her life. She hadn't even worn heels on her wedding day, granted that was partially because Lux was self-conscious about his height compared to hers despite it being a little above average for a human male, but still.

Upon entering the makeshift Council Chambers, the entire council stood in a semi-circle, all in formal attire or the more traditional members wearing their old ceremonial robes. Anakin, Luminara, Obi-Wan, Shaak TI, Kit Fisto, Plo Koon, Quinlan Vos, and one ceremonial empty seat for Master Yoda, as his affiliation had never been officially declared and both sides of the schism claimed him as an official Grand Master. "So… is anybody going to share what's happening or is there some more secrecy?"

"Ahsoka," Anakin proclaimed, beaming with pride, "kneel."

Now it finally clicked. She was being knighted. Shaking with anticipation, she knelt onto both knees. She had long awaited this day, ever since she was a youngling running around with the Clawmouse Clan. Her heart was pounding so hard she could barely hear the masters all recount the reasons she deserved it. As Anakin, still grinning ear to ear, undid her padawan braid, pocketing it as a memento. As the masters then ignited their sabers and met them over her head and said, in unison, "Rise, Knight Tano," retracting their blades to simply stand before their own faces as she stood. She could hardly believe it; she was finally being knighted.

Two hours and a change of shoes later she was still shaking. She was a knight. A knight! She and Lux were going to grab dinner to celebrate later, as the reality of the situation she had so often fantasized about set in. Of course, flinching from the bones in her arch loudly and painfully clacking back into place as she rubbed her feet also helped bring her back to reality.

"Ouch," Lux muttered, looking at her now trashed shoes, unreturnable from the droplets of blood now staining the inside, "You wore those shoes for how long?"

"Six hours."
"Yeah you didn't buy the right size."

"I kind of figured that out for myself."

"Mudhorns run really small. A 5 ½ for most shoes is like a 7 or 8 for them."

"Fat lot of good that does for me now."

"Are you sure you want to go out tonight?"

"I absolutely want to go out tonight," she yelped the last syllable as another loud *clack* sounded from her arch.

"Because we could just order food and stay in. Maybe-"

"Don't even," Ahsoka interrupted.

"I'm not saying we can't celebrate but-"

Again, Ahsoka interrupted, with a kiss this time, and muttered into his ears her plans for after dinner. As he went red, she had to laugh, "Go get reservations."

Anakin and Luminara had been steadily, quietly dating for two months at this point. While not being extremely overt and obnoxious about it, they hadn't even kissed in public and had barely kissed in private, word spread among the Reformed Order and even the Orthodox Order like a Kashyyk wildfire. She was still in her more formal dress, which was far less revealing than the one she had been semi-forced into wearing for their first date, and was playing with Leia, bouncing her on her knee as Anakin came back in from changing Jinn's diaper. "So how does it feel?" she asked.

"How does what feel?"

"You know what I'm talking about."

"Do I?" Anakin played dumb.

"Your Padawan becoming a knight!" she exclaimed in mock annoyance.

"After everything she's been through? She's earned it," he replied happily flopping onto the couch beside her and putting an arm around her shoulders. "How did it feel when Barriss was knighted?"

Luminara smiled, "It was the proudest moment of my life."

"Now I thought Jedi Masters weren't allowed to feel pride?" Anakin mocked.

"Shut up!" she chuckled as Leia gummed her sleeve. Her dress was a deep blue, almost black but not quite. She was slowly, very slowly, expanding her wardrobe's color pallet. A limiting factor of course always being budget. Without the stipend from the Republic the Reformist Jedi had to take up odd jobs, start their own businesses, or seek private sponsorships for income. She was trying to find work but with a relatively blank resume and no real marketable skills it was increasingly difficult, especially at her age, but Anakin had set up a mechanic shop with his, now former, Padawan not too far from the monastery. She had been approached by a small-time fashion studio for modelling but she wasn't comfortable taking that job just yet and hadn't mentioned it to Anakin. It was in the back of her mind though. Turning the baby to face her she cooed at her "Hi! You are just too pretty! You're so cute!"

Leia babbled in the way babies often do as Luminara turned to face Anakin again. What she was going to say was quickly forgotten however with "Mama." Both adults snapped their attention back to the infant in shock.

"T-THAT WAS HER FIRST WORD!" Anakin practically shouted, eyes wide, immediately grabbing Leia and praising her, trying to get her to say it again, trying to get her to say "Dada," kissing her little forehead while she tugged at her father's blonde beard.

Luminara on the other hand was in stunned silence, she hadn't birthed this child, she wasn't even sure if anything would really happen between her and Anakin, and this baby had, with her first actual word, called her "Mama." She subconsciously grabbed Jinn, sucking away on his pacifier, and held him in her lap as she was trying to process what had just happened, what would happen later after the excitement of Leia beginning to talk wore off. Would he be angry that his daughter had called her "Mama?" Would he see it as some form of replacing Padmé? Was she trying to replace Padmé? She had no answers for that question.

Shaak was going to try one last time to get Ki-Adi Mundi to join them, granted she had said that the last time was the "last time" and the time before that, but they needed him desperately. As the commlink projected his hologram, it revealed he was on a boat with a fishing rod, wearing sunglasses and a floral shirt, straw hat, and shorts.

The Cerean male immediately groaned in aggravation. He had clearly been hoping for another droid-call to inform him of his nonexistent speeder's extended warranty. "How many times do I have to tell you woman?! I am not going to join your new Order!"

"Ki-Adi," Shaak tried to interject.

"I am trying to enjoy a nice fishing trip with my family, I don't need you ruining it!" Due to his species naturally low birthrate, particularly of males, he was one of the few Jedi permitted to wed in the old days taking five wives in accordance to his people's customs; now Windu was forbidding even endangered or otherwise rare species to propagate in the Orthodox Order. The boat however was empty save for him.

"Yes… with your family. I can definitely see them in that boat."

"Look you try dealing with five mothers-in-law and tell me you don't need to leave for a few minutes alone before you go insane."

"Please Ki, your statements were the ones wh8ich founded our Order!"

"Don't care."

"Ki-Adi."

"Call again and I'm filing a restraining order."

"That seems a bit extreme."

"You and various other members of your 'Reformists' have left no fewer than 10,000 messages in the past month. DO YOU REALIZE HOW MUCH THAT COSTS?!"

"We need your expertise, your wisdom, guidance."

"I. AM. RE. TI. RED," Mundi shouted, "Look, what if I just paid you to go away? Would that help? PLEASE! 100 credits a month! 200 even! Just leave me alone!"

"That wouldn't even do anything, much less what we need you for."

Mundi sighed, "You know, I could have sworn I blocked your frequency two weeks ago"

"I had it changed."

"Of course you did. Look, if you call me one more time, I am calling the police. GOT IT?!" with that threat he disconnected the frequency.

Shaak sighed in defeat.

Obi-Wan watched Satine knitting quietly in their little living room. He wasn't even aware you could knit without needles or some kind of tools, but here she was using her own fingers as a loom. What she was making this time he had no idea, just seeing a sewn something crumpled into a ball on her lap as he casually untangled the yarn and fed it to her constantly working hands. He didn't even think she noticed he was helping, not that it particularly mattered, he was enjoying the peaceful moment. She was wearing a plain gown, no makeup, hair a complete mess, and she was the most beautiful woman in the galaxy as far as he was concerned. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed the trash can. Another negative pregnancy test.

She reached for the scissors and cut the red yarn, removing her fingers from her creation and wriggling them to get circulation back to them. Sighing in satisfaction she held it up to inspect it, "There!" she declared happily, revealing a sweater she had made according to Korkie's measurements.

How in the seven Corellian hells she managed to make an anagrammed sweater with just her fingers he would probably never know, but it was definitely a skill she had mastered. Smiling she cleared his throat, snapping her attention to him, "Oh! Obi! How long have you been there?"

"About an hour and a half."

"Has it already been that long?!"

"Yep."

"Obi-Wan!"

"What?"

"You were supposed to let me know when it was over so I could go congratulate her!"

"She's celebrating with her husband; we'll go talk to her tomorrow."

Riyo was stuck on Coruscant, much to her displeasure. Her best friend had just been knighted as a Jedi and her wife was on the other end of the galaxy. She was listening to the other senators deliberate Padmé's civilian military service bill over holocall as the Senate chamber was still under construction from the bombs months ago. She was pretty sure this 40,000-member holocall was probably setting a galactic record. Why she had to be on Coruscant if they were doing this via hologram, she had no idea, and although they technically all were supposed to include their facecams her data pad didn't have enough pixels to show even half the senate as anything more than a multicolored blob. Granted with half a pixel dedicated to each member of the senate that was to be expected anyway. Barriss was supposed to come back with Lux three days from now, and then she would bring her bride to Pantora to finally meet her family. Oh joy. She silently prayed that her father wouldn't say anything about her marrying a Mirialan and her homophobic aunt wouldn't be there at all. The little green and red flashing buttons for "Yes" and "No" popped up on her screen. Selecting "Yes," she was finally able to exit the call.

Her poor data pad was practically on fire the CPU was so hot. Biting her lip she considered putting it in the refrigerator for a few minutes to keep it from actually frying. Doing so, she scheduled for a droid to come pick her up in approximately one hour. Mindlessly cracking her knuckles she pondered if she wanted to try and cook something tonight or just order something from somewhere. What day was it? Oh yeah, her and Barriss's show came on tonight. Surely, Barriss wouldn't mind if she went ahead and watched it, right? She'd be watching it too, so it'd be like they watched it together in a way. Mindlessly ticking away the minutes until the shuttle arrived to take her home with random bits of paperwork, she placed an order for Twi'leki food and bid her intern, a Pantoran male a few years younger than herself, a good night. She chuckled thinking back to the days she was still in the closet and there were mutterings of her being, intimate, with said intern. If either of them were straight or single it may have been possible, but her then-girlfriend and his boyfriend just laughed at the rumors, never missing an opportunity to make fun of them for it. She was about halfway to 500 Republica, casually flipping off the Jedi Temple as they passed it, when she suddenly remembered her data pad.

Quickly calling the intern, who thankfully answered, "Cha! Are you still at the Senate?"

"I was about to walk out the door, why what's up?"

"I left my data pad; would you be so kind as to take it out of the freezer for me? Just put it on the desk."

Silence.

"Cha?" Chuchi hoped that the connection hadn't been interrupted.

"Dare I ask why it is in the freezer?" Cha inquired.

"Because the Senate is stupid."

More silence. "Good enough a reason for me," the man finally replied, "Let me call Karl and tell him I'll be out a few minutes later."

"Thanks! Love ya! Bye!" They were always so casual together, maybe that was why there had been rumors. Because clearly a man and a woman of similar age cannot be friendly and informal unless they're sleeping together.

Swiping her keycard and entering her apartment she checked her order's progress: another ten minutes. Switching on the holoprojector, she found the frequency for their show, Skippy the Jedi Droid. The premise was so utterly beyond ridiculous but the writing was so cute and funny that they were hooked and believe it or not the overall plot was quite intriguing even if each episode seemed completely stupid: An R-5 astromech droid is somehow Force-sensitive and wanders the galaxy righting wrongs, each episode seemingly totally disconnected from one another until the characters start coming back, plotlines crossing and melding, enemies becoming unlikely allies and friends becoming bloodthirsty maniacs. Not to mention that it was actually impressive when the lightsabers came out. She didn't know what drugs the writers were on when they made up the show though.

Hearing a knock she opened the door and paid the delivery girl a generous tip before going back to her sofa and opening the box. Getting the chopsticks out she started to nibble on her food as the commercial for some local mom-and-pop hardware store played. The name piqued her interest as Barriss had mentioned doing some freelance work for them writing a commercial jingle. Her paintings rarely made more than a few hundred credits each so she turned to other artistic outlets for a more significant income. Riyo was curious about what could have earned her wife a solid 1500 credits, not hearing Barriss's voice until:

Would you look at all that stuff…
They've got Allen wrenches, gerbil feeders, toilet seats, electric heaters
Trash compactors, juice extractor, shower rods and water meters
Walkie-talkies, copper wires, safety goggles, radial tires
BB pellets, rubber mallets, fans and dehumidifiers
Picture hangers, paper cutters, waffle irons, window shutters
Paint removers, window louvres, masking tape and plastic gutters
Kitchen faucets, folding tables, weather stripping, jumper cables
Hooks and tackle, grout and spackle, power foggers, spoons and ladles
Pesticides for fumigation, high-performance lubrication
Metal roofing, water proofing, multi-purpose insulation
Air compressors, brass connectors, wrecking chisels, smoke detectors
Tire gauges, hamster cages, thermostats and bug deflectors
Trailer hitch demagnetizers, automatic circumcisers
Tennis rackets, angle brackets, Duracells and Energizers
Soffit panels, circuit breakers, vacuum cleaners, coffee makers
Calculators, generators, matching salt and pepper shakers!

I can't wait, (no I) I can't wait (oh when)!
When are they gonna open up the door?
I'm goin' (yes I'm) goin', I'm a-goin' to the
Goin' to the (hard) ware I'm goin', really goin' to the
Goin' (hard) I'm goin' to the (hard) oh yes, I'm goin' to the
Hardware store!

Blinking in surprise at Barriss's apparent singing ability and how much she could do with one breath, having done that entire take in seemingly about ten seconds without pause. She'd definitely talk with her about not being totally honest about her lung capacity. Oh Barriss was definitely not going to be wearing the shock collar any time soon.

Leia and Jinn were finally put to sleep and Luminara and Anakin placed the twins in their crib. Anakin smiled and wrapped an arm around Luminara's waist pulling her closer as she rested her head on his shoulder. They silently watched the babies sleep for a few minutes before heading into the living room to bid one another good night.

"I had a wonderful time today." Luminara was being quite sincere, despite feeling uneasy about Leia calling her "Mama" she had to admit part of her heart melted, the part that wasn't having a heart attack.

"I did too," Anakin smiled, stroking her cheek with his left hand. Caught off-guard for a moment when Luminara leaned up to kiss him, he held her close for a few seconds as their lips danced, breaking and meeting again and again. "You know, it's a long way back to your place."

"Anakin," Luminara asked coyly, "are you asking to sleep with me?"

"Yes, wat, no! Erm ,well, not like that, just."

She kissed him again, "I need to grab some pajamas and my toothbrush. Tomorrow, absolutely"

"I have an extras toothbrush and some old clothes you could wear."

"Nice try," she teased as she walked out the door, a smile on her face only to run into Barriss and Petro. "Oh! Barriss, uhm, what are you doing here?"

"You know how Ahsoka is my neighbor?"

"Yes?"

"The walls are thin."

"Oooooh."

"Yeah, so I was going to ask Anakin if we could stay on his couch but if you two are going to be doing the same thing we can leave."

"WE WERE NOT!"

"Uh huh," Barriss confirmed in total disbelief.

Anakin interjected before they could wake the twins, "Sure Barriss my couch is open."

"Thank you."

A/N: *wearing aviator goggles and flying a WWII era propeller plane* HELLO BOYS! I'M BAAAAAAAACCCCCKKKK! Sorry about the long wait, and hey! It's earlier than expected because Chanukah hasn't started yet! I just needed some time to 1) study for finals, as much as I wish I could get paid to rite fanfiction… well if I could do that then it wouldn't be fanfiction I guess it'd be canon or at least an official AU comic, 2) give my brain a hard reset. I was having some extremely dark thoughts and needed to remove pressure in order to keep me from hurting myself or maybe even other people. I DON'T want to go down that dark road ever again, and the past two years have been by far the most traumatizing and horrific in my life, and that's even counting an extremely traumatizing childhood. Currently looking for both a therapist and an apartment to get away from my family home, I love my mom but at 21 you have to leave the nest, you know? Especially when there's a ton of religious tension. Anyway, I'll update as often as I can now that the semester is over, but with the holidays coming around Idk how often that will be, maybe it'll be daily, maybe it'll be twice. Who knows? Two more chapters to go for this and then it's sequel time.