Luke sat in a meditation position on the sands of Tatooine, his legs crossed and his hands at his sides. The sun heated up his black tunic like an oven and the sand burned his skin through his pants. It grew increasingly harder to keep his mind off the pain. He would have to stop soon, or his skin really would burn. He felt a dry wind bring a moment of relief, lifting his hair and rippling his tunic. He drew a hot breath, savoring the peace and stillness of the sea of sand. As he let it out, a crash sounded from the house behind him followed by angry voices. He sighed. The ground shook with an explosion. The voices were replaced by a single shriek of surprise and terror. Luke decided he'd better not take any more deep breaths. He from the scorching sand and headed for the house, Salmina's angry voice floating to his ears.
"-look at this mess! Clumsy! You should be smart enough to know not to turn the cooker up that high!"
"Huh! What happened to your 'cooking experience'? You were standing right there!"
"Do you really think I would cook something called 'womp rat pie'? My job was the vegetables."
"Oh," responded Jessi in a mocking tone. "So a couple of carrots took up all of your tiny concentration?" Luke shook his head. Jessi should know better.
"Listen, hero wannabe, the main dish was your responsibility. If you can't handle that, you're not going to get anywhere being a Jedi." Salmina's voice was deadly low and her tone dangerous. There was silence. Luke walked faster, using his good hand to spin himself into the entrance.
Brownish goop hung from everywhere. Any conceivable ledge was sticky with it. Salmina and Jessi stood in the middle of the room facing each other. Brown streaked Salmina's black hair and stained her pale skin and black clothes. Jessi's tan clothes were speckled and her blonde hair was almost impossible to see. Luke almost laughed, but choked it down when he saw the looks on the girls' faces. Salmina's dark eyes gleamed irately at Jessi, whose light eyes were narrowed and lips were tight. Both had clenched fists. Luke knew that Salmina would strike first, and even though she was a couple years younger he knew she could harm Jessi badly. She'd proved this before. Jessi would also fight back, presenting him with a bigger problem. He quickly stepped between the two and did his best to look as stern as possible.
"What happened?" he asked both of them. They stared at each other, daring the other to answer. Finally Jessi seemed to make up her mind about something and spoke first, looking at the floor.
"I, uh, turned the cooker up too high, then spilled Culea powder. It exploded, and uh..." she pointed shyly at the wall were a lump of rubble claimed to be the remains of the unfortunate cooker, her head still lowered.
Now Luke allowed himself to loosed a little and smiled comfortingly at poor Jessi. She felt the change and looked up, relaxing a little herself. Luke turned to Salmina, assuming the stern expression. "Is this what happened?" Luke felt her give a little at Jessi's confession, but he still detected an undertone of fear and anger. She looked him straight in the eye, daring him to accuse her, trying to prove she would not be upset by this incident. "Yes, sir," she said firmly. Steady. Straight. Professional. Like a Kimiro. He nodded an acknowledgement. "Get cleaned up," he said, "then clean the kitchen. I'll make supper." They filed out of the kitchen.
Soon the kitchen was silent. Luke thanked the Force that neither of them had enough courtesy to insist that they should try again. Not only did he not want them fighting more, but 'womp rat pie' just didn't sound appetizing.
"-look at this mess! Clumsy! You should be smart enough to know not to turn the cooker up that high!"
"Huh! What happened to your 'cooking experience'? You were standing right there!"
"Do you really think I would cook something called 'womp rat pie'? My job was the vegetables."
"Oh," responded Jessi in a mocking tone. "So a couple of carrots took up all of your tiny concentration?" Luke shook his head. Jessi should know better.
"Listen, hero wannabe, the main dish was your responsibility. If you can't handle that, you're not going to get anywhere being a Jedi." Salmina's voice was deadly low and her tone dangerous. There was silence. Luke walked faster, using his good hand to spin himself into the entrance.
Brownish goop hung from everywhere. Any conceivable ledge was sticky with it. Salmina and Jessi stood in the middle of the room facing each other. Brown streaked Salmina's black hair and stained her pale skin and black clothes. Jessi's tan clothes were speckled and her blonde hair was almost impossible to see. Luke almost laughed, but choked it down when he saw the looks on the girls' faces. Salmina's dark eyes gleamed irately at Jessi, whose light eyes were narrowed and lips were tight. Both had clenched fists. Luke knew that Salmina would strike first, and even though she was a couple years younger he knew she could harm Jessi badly. She'd proved this before. Jessi would also fight back, presenting him with a bigger problem. He quickly stepped between the two and did his best to look as stern as possible.
"What happened?" he asked both of them. They stared at each other, daring the other to answer. Finally Jessi seemed to make up her mind about something and spoke first, looking at the floor.
"I, uh, turned the cooker up too high, then spilled Culea powder. It exploded, and uh..." she pointed shyly at the wall were a lump of rubble claimed to be the remains of the unfortunate cooker, her head still lowered.
Now Luke allowed himself to loosed a little and smiled comfortingly at poor Jessi. She felt the change and looked up, relaxing a little herself. Luke turned to Salmina, assuming the stern expression. "Is this what happened?" Luke felt her give a little at Jessi's confession, but he still detected an undertone of fear and anger. She looked him straight in the eye, daring him to accuse her, trying to prove she would not be upset by this incident. "Yes, sir," she said firmly. Steady. Straight. Professional. Like a Kimiro. He nodded an acknowledgement. "Get cleaned up," he said, "then clean the kitchen. I'll make supper." They filed out of the kitchen.
Soon the kitchen was silent. Luke thanked the Force that neither of them had enough courtesy to insist that they should try again. Not only did he not want them fighting more, but 'womp rat pie' just didn't sound appetizing.