"Hey, wait up you guys!" A high pitched voice yelled from behind them.
The three masters looked back over their shoulders to see four of the children from the class sprinting toward them.
"Ben," Luke said, greeting his nine-year-old son as the boy caught up with him. "How come you and your cousins aren't up with the others?"
"Raine took my practice saber and threw it into the brush," Ben admitted shamefacedly. "Cherith gave him a good punch in the stomach for it."
"Now Cherith," Luke chided. "What have I told you about hitting others?"
The dark-haired girl, who happened to look nearly identical to the one walking back on her other side, frowned at the jedi master's scolding. She glanced over to Kyp, looking for help. "Uncle Kyp, he really deserved it this time!" She whined, her wide green eyes pleading with him.
"Don't look at me for help when you know you did something wrong!" Kyp cried, shaking his head at her. "I'm not even your real uncle. You listen to your Uncle Luke when he says no hitting."
The young girl pouted as she hung her head sadly. Li'aa smiled slightly as she remembered the number of times when Ch'aanlei and her father had to tell her to stop hitting her brother. It wasn't a good thing for a child so young to be violent, but a little sibling rivalry never hurt her.
"I told you so! No hitting!" The girl Kyp had called Aurora chimed in, and she was rewarded with a "drop dead" glare from her twin sister.
"Dad, isn't there something you can do about Raine?" Ben asked, frowning slightly as he thought hard on the problem. "Can you please ask Kyp to zap him with force lightning? Pretty please?"
"Ben!" Luke exclaimed in an appalled voice as he stared attentively at his son. "I can't believe you're plotting revenge! I'd hope you would have better judgment than that!"
"I know! I'm just kidding," Ben said, trailing off. "I just wish there was something you could do so he'd leave us alone."
"You could always ignore him," Li'aa suggested. "That always worked with my brother. After a while he just got bored."
"Raine doesn't get bored from picking on us," Aurora explained. "He says that we're three times the fun, all because Cherith can't keep her hands or her mouth to herself!"
"That's not true!" Cherith yelled adamantly. "I remember you saying something nasty to him a few days ago!"
"Only because he grabbed your arm and left a mark after you swung at him!" Her sister argued back.
"You both are crazy," The dark-haired boy muttered softly as he shook his head in a similar fashion to his Uncle Luke.
"Anakin, they're just upset," Luke assured him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You don't need to call them names because of it."
"I'm just sick of getting picked on because of them," Anakin said intensely.
"Well, then do something to make them stop reacting to this bully," Li'aa suggested. "Something non-violent, of course."
"Of course," Anakin nodded, calming down a bit. "I'm not into hitting people like these two!"
"Nuh-uh! Cherith is the only one that hits people, Ani!" Aurora cried defensively.
"Auri, I'm not in the mood to argue about this," Her brother warned her. "I just want to eat dinner. That's all!"
"I agree with the kid," Kyp said, patting his stomach. "All that running around has me famished!"
"I wonder what the food-processing droids cooked up for us tonight," Cherith said in an excited murmur.
'Probably more tasteless mush,' Li'aa considered, but Kyp was right. All the running around did make one hungry. She was ready to eat an entire rancor even though she ate only an hour earlier.
"You know," Kyp whispered, leaning over close to her ear. "We recently upgraded the features on the processors. Now they produce meals that might be more to your tastes."
"Really," Li'aa said, grinning happily. "Thank you for telling me about that. Not that the flavorless mush of the day wasn't wonderful."
Kyp snorted slightly from her comment on the food. "I'm glad you liked it. You'll definitely like the newer food even more. It was so spicy that it nearly blistered my tongue when I tried it!"
"I'm sorry to hear that," She giggled, hiding her grin behind her hand. "N'aanwarians don't really cook with humans in mind."
"Now she tells me!" He groaned back.
"Didn't Brodey let you try it when you visited for his wedding?" She asked with curious interest.
"He made my food mild and told me never to try anything that he referred to as authentic N'aanwarian cuisine," Kyp explained as he pushed the buttons on the machine and caught the grey mush in a bowl as it came out.
"Heh, I guess my brother can be mature from time to time," She considered, looking surprised. "You still went against his advice and tried it?"
"I never claimed that I had common sense," Kyp pointed out, laughing as she tried to operate the machine but only made a huge mess out of the counter.
"I guess not," She responded slyly.
"So, what have you been up to since you unleashed my brother into the galaxy four years ago?" She asked as they sat down across from one another at a table in the center of the great hall.
"Unleashed?" Kyp questioned, raising an eyebrow at her. "Don't tell me he's been misbehaving!"
"Well, he's been preaching the ideas of democracy to the people," She snorted, giving him an uncomfortable grin. "I guess it depends on your cultural standpoint. Father thinks he's misbehaving."
"I'm sure he does!" Kyp exclaimed. "Your family's enjoyed over a thousand generations of dynastic rule, am I right?"
"You are correct on that," Li'aa stated, slapping her hand down on the table. "But along comes my visionary brother and all hell breaks loose!"
"You can blame that on his little visit to this galaxy," Kyp laughed. "If he hadn't been here during a period of war then he might not have truly appreciated what it meant to have freedom."
Li'aa leaned back in her seat, staring at him warily. "Just because the people of your galaxy have one or two experiences where democracy came out on top doesn't mean that it's a superior form of government," She said, slightly annoyed.
"There's a reason why my family stayed in power since the beginning of N'aawarian society, and it's not because we murdered all the opposition."
"Ok, so your family murdered only some of the opposition," Kyp condeded and was rewarded with an icy glare.
"Not funny," She snapped, kicking him in the shin under the table.
"Oh, and the ones that didn't were assassinated," Kyp added and then threw his hands up in defense as she took a swipe at him. "Hey, this is straight from the nerf's mouth! Your brother told me all about your family."
"Did he tell you about my great-grandfather?" Li'aa asked slyly.
"I don't believe so," Kyp said thoughtfully, scratching his chin. "Care to enlighten me?"
"Maybe some other time," She giggled, grinning widely in an almost evil fashion. "It's a long story. One that can't be told well with food in your mouth. But I will tell you that he holds the record for executing traitors to the crown."
"Sounds like a nice guy," Kyp jeered with a smirk. "Is he still living?"
"What do you think?" She asked while biting her lower lip. "Once people caught on that he was nothing but a tyrant the attempts on his life began. It was only a matter of time before he got the boot."
"Have any members of your family ever ousted one another for the throne?" Kyp asked curiously.
"I'll bet they have," Li'aa admitted, cocking her head to the side. "I don't know of any specifics, except that my father was dethroned by my uncle for a number of years. He didn't kill him, but I imagine that some of my ancestors have killed each other for power. It's not something that they teach in N'aanwarian history," She added with a chuckle.
"I'm sure that they wouldn't allow it," Kyp said, nodding in comprehension. "Brodey told me that your family is so closed off from the public that your father went ballistic the first time he made headlines."
"Well, when the crown prince trashes a bar with some of his hoodlum friends then it tends to grab people's attention," She cried, laughing harder. "Brodey was always a handful for my father. They always were screaming and sometimes they'd even come to blows with each other. I just remember hearing it when I was little. My brother and I would crouch down at the top of the stairs and listen in on their conversation until somebody would catch us and send us back to bed."
"That's horrible," Kyp whispered, suddenly feeling pity for her. "I can't even imagine what that must have been like for you."
"Spare me," She said sardonically. "I grew up in the lap of luxury and nobody was ever violent toward me. Brodey was always a kind and supportive older brother even though he was a poor role model, a drunk, and on bad terms with my father."
"It still must have been a nightmare," He gushed softly.
"Not another word," She stated threateningly. "There are plenty of other people out there who deserve your sympathy more than a princess like me."
"Fine, I'll shut up," He muttered, turning back to his food. He was in the middle of a mouthful when another question came to mind. "How is your brother?" He asked in a muffled voice.
"He's fine," She said brightly. "Haven't had the chance to view that message I gave you?"
"Not yet," He said, shaking his head. "I've been running around all day."
"Well, that should tell you all you need to know, except for one thing I just found out earlier today," Li'aa explained.
"Which is?"
"They're going to have another baby," She said cheerfully with a twinkle of delight in her eyes.
Kyp snorted once in amazement. "Those two breed like ewoks!"
"That's what I said, but I guess that they want a large family," She shrugged. "Who am I to complain? I'm going to be an aunt again!"
"That's definitely-" He began before a loud crash from the other side of the room drew their attention.
"Give it back, you big jerk!" Cherith screeched at the top of her lungs as she lunged for her bowl of dessert.
"What's the magic word?" The tall boy known as Raine sneered back. He idly lifted the bowl just out of reach with every frustrated jump the smaller girl made.
"Gimme!" She screamed, catching him by surprise and swiftly punching him in his unguarded abdomen.
"Cherith!" Kyp yelled forcefully as he jumped from his seat to intercept her before her fist collided with the boy a second time. She immediately recoiled as he grabbed her wrist and became more subdued. "What did I tell you about hitting other people?"
"That it's bad?" She muttered back, not looking him in the eye.
"And you shouldn't do it," Kyp added convincingly. "There are many other ways to resolve an argument."
"What do you suggest?" Cherith asked defiantly, raising her voice to him.
The conversation was interrupted by a furious wail coming from behind Kyp. They turned in the direction of the sound only to discover Raine standing there, his face red as an Imperial Guard's uniform with chocolate dessert dripping down over his eyes.
"She flung that at me!" He bawled heatedly, his voice increasing in pitch until it almost cracked.
"What?" Aurora asked innocently as Kyp shot her a dark look. "I resolved it peacefully," She said with a shrug.
Kyp had almost opened his mouth with an answer when an equal amount of dessert flew through the air and landed right in the middle of Aurora's hair. The young girl looked like she was about to break down in tears, but instead of getting upset she grabbed a bowl of grey mush and decided to get even. The handful that she scooped from the bowl arched through the air and splattered all over the front of his uniform.
"Aurora," Kyp said apprehensively as he spotted the other children gathering food to toss across the mess hall at each other. "Maybe you should have thought of a better way to deal with this situation."
The entire room erupted in disarray as various types of food became airborne. Some of the bolder students took their chance to peg the others, while the rest, including Kyp, sought shelter under the tables.
"Having a little trouble doing your job?" Li'aa teased as she suddenly popped up by his side.
"Hey, don't forget that it's your job too!" He protested, poking her in the shoulder as he tried to avoid flying runyip stew.
"I just started today!" She yelled back. "Maybe you've forgotten that I had almost a whole standard day's worth of travel before I got here!"
"You're still here to do your job," Kyp pointed out. "Now, there's a food fight going on out there and there aren't any adults to break things up. What do you say we go and put an end to all of this?"
"Sounds like a plan to me," Li'aa sighed wearily as he looked down at her jumpsuit and imagined it encrusted with food.
"I told you that hitting was a good way to resolve things," Cherith said in a know-it-all voice as she poked her head under the table to look at them. Kyp simply frowned disapprovingly back at her.
"Everybody, hold- " Kyp managed to yell before grey mush engulfed his face. He scraped his fingers across his eyes, struggling to see again before the next projectile came his way. A high-pitched shriek to his left told him of Li'aa's similar circumstances. He'd turned his head to look at her through the eye holes in his food mask when another clump of food hit him square between the eyes.
Kyp fought once again to clear the food from around his eyes. When they finally focused on Li'aa he discovered that she was stifling a laugh with one pudding-covered hand. Something clicked inside his head and he reached for the nearest plate, grabbing a large handful of casserole and chucking it back at her.
Li'aa gaped at the casserole as it slithered down her front and then turned her open-mouthed look up at the older jedi master. Her wide-open mouth gradually closed to form a smirk as she sprung into action, grabbing a bowl of greens, walking up to him, and turning it upside down on top of his head in one deft motion.
From that point on there was no going back. The two reached for whatever they could find and threw it at each other, attempting to be the first to cover the other from head to toe.
"How do you think this hawkbat pot pie would look as a hat?" He asked slyly, grinning as he smooshed it down on her head and made sure that a nice coating covered her hair.
"Probably about as good as this grey stuff would look as underwear," She said mischievously while pulling the neck of his jumpsuit out so she could stuff a handful inside. Kyp yelped in violated surprise as he felt the cold mush slide down his back.
"You!" He shouted complainingly at her, shaking his head as she looked at him proudly.
"What about me?" She laughed, admiring his perturbed appearance. He looked like a fosh who'd just had his feathers ruffled. "What are you going to do to me, Durron? Remember, hitting people is wrong!"
"Yeah, Uncle Kyp!" Cried a food-covered creature from the other side of Li'aa. "Hitting people isn't a good way to deal with conflict, remember?"
"I'm not going to hit you," He sighed, offering her a handshake of truce. "I'm just going to return the favor."
Kyp moved his other hand to the back of her jumpsuit's collar and pulled while he summoned the bowl of stew she'd been eating into his hand with the force. The jumpsuit barely stretched so he gave it another tug. Still nothing.
"Having trouble?" She asked sweetly. "Need my help?"
"Yeah. If you could change into something a little less tight then it might just help!" He growled critically.
"Is that so?" She questioned darkly, the smile evaporating from her face. "Well, Mr. Fashion Police, you can take your opinion of my outfit and stuff it right where that grey mush is located!"
Kyp began laughing before he realized she was actually serious. Stuffing his opinion where the grey mush was would have been lenient compared to the scorching pain that shot through his eyes and nasal membranes when the stew came in contact with his face. He doubled over and crouched down into a squat, unable to make a sound through the agony.
"Kyp!" She gasped, legitimately shaken by the sudden turn of events. "Oh gods, Kyp! I'm so sorry!"
"It's going to be a while before his sense of smell returns. I did what I could with the chemical burns, and he should be seeing clearly before the end of the day, but the rest is all up to him," Hamysh Renton, the Academy's jedi healer, said as he looked up at the small gathering of people around Kyp's prostrate form.
"Is he going to be blind?" Cherith asked, a pitiful expression on her face as she poked her head in between the taller adults to look at her Uncle Kyp.
"It's only temporary, Cherith," Luke said softly, patting the girl reassuringly on the shoulder.
"Yeah, I can see some things already," Kyp said hoarsely, coughing as speech irritated the burned areas in the back of his nasal passages.
"Kyp, I just wanted to say again that I'm so sorry about all of this," Li'aa gushed apologetically, reaching out to take hold of his hand.
"Li'aa, for the thousandth time, it's okay," He sighed as he looked up at the blonde-haired blur and squeezed her hand. "I just think it's time for me to go back to my room and get some rest."
"Definitely," Luke agreed, glancing at his chronometer. "Kyp, I'll make sure that your classes are covered tomorrow in case you need more recovery time."
"Thank you, Master Skywalker," Kyp said with a somber nod before pushing his aching body upright on the thin medbay cot. He cringed, wishing that he'd asked Hamysh to do him a small favor and heal the many bruises that now covered his body. However, being able to see again was a welcome gift. He'd have to deal with the bruises on his own.
"Need any help getting back to your room?" Li'aa asked, tossing her blurry blonde hair back over her shoulder and observing the pain he was going through as he tried to get to his feet. The others had already left, leaving just the two of them and Hamysh in the room.
"I'm blind, not crippled, thank you," He snapped, trying to sound annoyed by her offer. Secretly, hidden deep down inside his soul where nobody could see, he enjoyed having her around him. He just wasn't ready to admit it.
"Well, your mobility isn't too impressive either," She scolded, pursing her lips together as she offered him both of her hands. Kyp gratefully accepted and she pulled him to his feet, slipping an arm around his waist to support him.
"I don't need THAT much help," He complained, but the uneasiness on his feet when she released him told her otherwise.
"Kyp, do me a favor," Hamysh groaned as he turned off the equipment in the medbay. "Let her help you. I don't need any more work for tonight."
Li'aa's arm resumed its place around the small of his back as she escorted him out the door into the long breezeway. The spicy scent of the jungle's flora carried on the gentle night breeze, catching her nose as it wafted by. She cast a sidelong glance at Kyp, feeling sorry for him for so many reasons. He wouldn't be able to smell anything, and therefore taste anything, for a while, and sometime in between class and the medbay he'd developed a limp. All of it was her fault, of course, because she never seemed to think that far in advance. She didn't consider the fact that he was older, and therefore was less likely to heal after taking a beating. Not to mention that if she'd had any foresight whatsoever she would have known that the food she threw in his face would hurt him.
"Stop beating yourself up over all of this," He ordered softly. "I'm not such a crotchety old man that I can't heal from this in a day or so."
"I know, but if I wasn't so stupid- "
"Stop," He warned, his voice increasing in pitch at the end of the word. "I don't want to sense any more negative thoughts coming from you. Look on the bright side. It was a great food fight while it lasted."
"Yeah, you're right," She giggled melodically, a smile slowly returning to her face as her eyes sparked mischievously. "Did you ever get the grey mush out of your pants?"
"No, but that's first on my agenda once you get me back to my room," He muttered, pretending to be cross with her. She easily saw through it and laughed aloud at his expression.
"You'll get your chance real soon, so don't worry," Li'aa said while concentrating on getting him down a small flight of stairs. After that it was just a short walk along another breezeway to his door.
"Thank you, m'lady," He said formally with a small bow before he limped his way inside.
"You're welcome, Kyp. Goodnight," She said simply, closing the door behind her as she left.
Li'aa stood with her back to the door and her eyes closed. Heaving a sigh of frustration, she slid down into a sitting position on the flagstone floor. She was doing it again. She'd been around him for less than a day and already she felt like the same giddy seventeen-year-old with a crush on a handsome, older stranger. It was ridiculous. She plainly knew that any relationship they might forge was destined for ruin. So why couldn't she stop thinking about him?
"I need clarity," She whispered to herself, standing up again and brushing herself off. She knew just the place to go.
The three masters looked back over their shoulders to see four of the children from the class sprinting toward them.
"Ben," Luke said, greeting his nine-year-old son as the boy caught up with him. "How come you and your cousins aren't up with the others?"
"Raine took my practice saber and threw it into the brush," Ben admitted shamefacedly. "Cherith gave him a good punch in the stomach for it."
"Now Cherith," Luke chided. "What have I told you about hitting others?"
The dark-haired girl, who happened to look nearly identical to the one walking back on her other side, frowned at the jedi master's scolding. She glanced over to Kyp, looking for help. "Uncle Kyp, he really deserved it this time!" She whined, her wide green eyes pleading with him.
"Don't look at me for help when you know you did something wrong!" Kyp cried, shaking his head at her. "I'm not even your real uncle. You listen to your Uncle Luke when he says no hitting."
The young girl pouted as she hung her head sadly. Li'aa smiled slightly as she remembered the number of times when Ch'aanlei and her father had to tell her to stop hitting her brother. It wasn't a good thing for a child so young to be violent, but a little sibling rivalry never hurt her.
"I told you so! No hitting!" The girl Kyp had called Aurora chimed in, and she was rewarded with a "drop dead" glare from her twin sister.
"Dad, isn't there something you can do about Raine?" Ben asked, frowning slightly as he thought hard on the problem. "Can you please ask Kyp to zap him with force lightning? Pretty please?"
"Ben!" Luke exclaimed in an appalled voice as he stared attentively at his son. "I can't believe you're plotting revenge! I'd hope you would have better judgment than that!"
"I know! I'm just kidding," Ben said, trailing off. "I just wish there was something you could do so he'd leave us alone."
"You could always ignore him," Li'aa suggested. "That always worked with my brother. After a while he just got bored."
"Raine doesn't get bored from picking on us," Aurora explained. "He says that we're three times the fun, all because Cherith can't keep her hands or her mouth to herself!"
"That's not true!" Cherith yelled adamantly. "I remember you saying something nasty to him a few days ago!"
"Only because he grabbed your arm and left a mark after you swung at him!" Her sister argued back.
"You both are crazy," The dark-haired boy muttered softly as he shook his head in a similar fashion to his Uncle Luke.
"Anakin, they're just upset," Luke assured him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You don't need to call them names because of it."
"I'm just sick of getting picked on because of them," Anakin said intensely.
"Well, then do something to make them stop reacting to this bully," Li'aa suggested. "Something non-violent, of course."
"Of course," Anakin nodded, calming down a bit. "I'm not into hitting people like these two!"
"Nuh-uh! Cherith is the only one that hits people, Ani!" Aurora cried defensively.
"Auri, I'm not in the mood to argue about this," Her brother warned her. "I just want to eat dinner. That's all!"
"I agree with the kid," Kyp said, patting his stomach. "All that running around has me famished!"
"I wonder what the food-processing droids cooked up for us tonight," Cherith said in an excited murmur.
'Probably more tasteless mush,' Li'aa considered, but Kyp was right. All the running around did make one hungry. She was ready to eat an entire rancor even though she ate only an hour earlier.
"You know," Kyp whispered, leaning over close to her ear. "We recently upgraded the features on the processors. Now they produce meals that might be more to your tastes."
"Really," Li'aa said, grinning happily. "Thank you for telling me about that. Not that the flavorless mush of the day wasn't wonderful."
Kyp snorted slightly from her comment on the food. "I'm glad you liked it. You'll definitely like the newer food even more. It was so spicy that it nearly blistered my tongue when I tried it!"
"I'm sorry to hear that," She giggled, hiding her grin behind her hand. "N'aanwarians don't really cook with humans in mind."
"Now she tells me!" He groaned back.
"Didn't Brodey let you try it when you visited for his wedding?" She asked with curious interest.
"He made my food mild and told me never to try anything that he referred to as authentic N'aanwarian cuisine," Kyp explained as he pushed the buttons on the machine and caught the grey mush in a bowl as it came out.
"Heh, I guess my brother can be mature from time to time," She considered, looking surprised. "You still went against his advice and tried it?"
"I never claimed that I had common sense," Kyp pointed out, laughing as she tried to operate the machine but only made a huge mess out of the counter.
"I guess not," She responded slyly.
"So, what have you been up to since you unleashed my brother into the galaxy four years ago?" She asked as they sat down across from one another at a table in the center of the great hall.
"Unleashed?" Kyp questioned, raising an eyebrow at her. "Don't tell me he's been misbehaving!"
"Well, he's been preaching the ideas of democracy to the people," She snorted, giving him an uncomfortable grin. "I guess it depends on your cultural standpoint. Father thinks he's misbehaving."
"I'm sure he does!" Kyp exclaimed. "Your family's enjoyed over a thousand generations of dynastic rule, am I right?"
"You are correct on that," Li'aa stated, slapping her hand down on the table. "But along comes my visionary brother and all hell breaks loose!"
"You can blame that on his little visit to this galaxy," Kyp laughed. "If he hadn't been here during a period of war then he might not have truly appreciated what it meant to have freedom."
Li'aa leaned back in her seat, staring at him warily. "Just because the people of your galaxy have one or two experiences where democracy came out on top doesn't mean that it's a superior form of government," She said, slightly annoyed.
"There's a reason why my family stayed in power since the beginning of N'aawarian society, and it's not because we murdered all the opposition."
"Ok, so your family murdered only some of the opposition," Kyp condeded and was rewarded with an icy glare.
"Not funny," She snapped, kicking him in the shin under the table.
"Oh, and the ones that didn't were assassinated," Kyp added and then threw his hands up in defense as she took a swipe at him. "Hey, this is straight from the nerf's mouth! Your brother told me all about your family."
"Did he tell you about my great-grandfather?" Li'aa asked slyly.
"I don't believe so," Kyp said thoughtfully, scratching his chin. "Care to enlighten me?"
"Maybe some other time," She giggled, grinning widely in an almost evil fashion. "It's a long story. One that can't be told well with food in your mouth. But I will tell you that he holds the record for executing traitors to the crown."
"Sounds like a nice guy," Kyp jeered with a smirk. "Is he still living?"
"What do you think?" She asked while biting her lower lip. "Once people caught on that he was nothing but a tyrant the attempts on his life began. It was only a matter of time before he got the boot."
"Have any members of your family ever ousted one another for the throne?" Kyp asked curiously.
"I'll bet they have," Li'aa admitted, cocking her head to the side. "I don't know of any specifics, except that my father was dethroned by my uncle for a number of years. He didn't kill him, but I imagine that some of my ancestors have killed each other for power. It's not something that they teach in N'aanwarian history," She added with a chuckle.
"I'm sure that they wouldn't allow it," Kyp said, nodding in comprehension. "Brodey told me that your family is so closed off from the public that your father went ballistic the first time he made headlines."
"Well, when the crown prince trashes a bar with some of his hoodlum friends then it tends to grab people's attention," She cried, laughing harder. "Brodey was always a handful for my father. They always were screaming and sometimes they'd even come to blows with each other. I just remember hearing it when I was little. My brother and I would crouch down at the top of the stairs and listen in on their conversation until somebody would catch us and send us back to bed."
"That's horrible," Kyp whispered, suddenly feeling pity for her. "I can't even imagine what that must have been like for you."
"Spare me," She said sardonically. "I grew up in the lap of luxury and nobody was ever violent toward me. Brodey was always a kind and supportive older brother even though he was a poor role model, a drunk, and on bad terms with my father."
"It still must have been a nightmare," He gushed softly.
"Not another word," She stated threateningly. "There are plenty of other people out there who deserve your sympathy more than a princess like me."
"Fine, I'll shut up," He muttered, turning back to his food. He was in the middle of a mouthful when another question came to mind. "How is your brother?" He asked in a muffled voice.
"He's fine," She said brightly. "Haven't had the chance to view that message I gave you?"
"Not yet," He said, shaking his head. "I've been running around all day."
"Well, that should tell you all you need to know, except for one thing I just found out earlier today," Li'aa explained.
"Which is?"
"They're going to have another baby," She said cheerfully with a twinkle of delight in her eyes.
Kyp snorted once in amazement. "Those two breed like ewoks!"
"That's what I said, but I guess that they want a large family," She shrugged. "Who am I to complain? I'm going to be an aunt again!"
"That's definitely-" He began before a loud crash from the other side of the room drew their attention.
"Give it back, you big jerk!" Cherith screeched at the top of her lungs as she lunged for her bowl of dessert.
"What's the magic word?" The tall boy known as Raine sneered back. He idly lifted the bowl just out of reach with every frustrated jump the smaller girl made.
"Gimme!" She screamed, catching him by surprise and swiftly punching him in his unguarded abdomen.
"Cherith!" Kyp yelled forcefully as he jumped from his seat to intercept her before her fist collided with the boy a second time. She immediately recoiled as he grabbed her wrist and became more subdued. "What did I tell you about hitting other people?"
"That it's bad?" She muttered back, not looking him in the eye.
"And you shouldn't do it," Kyp added convincingly. "There are many other ways to resolve an argument."
"What do you suggest?" Cherith asked defiantly, raising her voice to him.
The conversation was interrupted by a furious wail coming from behind Kyp. They turned in the direction of the sound only to discover Raine standing there, his face red as an Imperial Guard's uniform with chocolate dessert dripping down over his eyes.
"She flung that at me!" He bawled heatedly, his voice increasing in pitch until it almost cracked.
"What?" Aurora asked innocently as Kyp shot her a dark look. "I resolved it peacefully," She said with a shrug.
Kyp had almost opened his mouth with an answer when an equal amount of dessert flew through the air and landed right in the middle of Aurora's hair. The young girl looked like she was about to break down in tears, but instead of getting upset she grabbed a bowl of grey mush and decided to get even. The handful that she scooped from the bowl arched through the air and splattered all over the front of his uniform.
"Aurora," Kyp said apprehensively as he spotted the other children gathering food to toss across the mess hall at each other. "Maybe you should have thought of a better way to deal with this situation."
The entire room erupted in disarray as various types of food became airborne. Some of the bolder students took their chance to peg the others, while the rest, including Kyp, sought shelter under the tables.
"Having a little trouble doing your job?" Li'aa teased as she suddenly popped up by his side.
"Hey, don't forget that it's your job too!" He protested, poking her in the shoulder as he tried to avoid flying runyip stew.
"I just started today!" She yelled back. "Maybe you've forgotten that I had almost a whole standard day's worth of travel before I got here!"
"You're still here to do your job," Kyp pointed out. "Now, there's a food fight going on out there and there aren't any adults to break things up. What do you say we go and put an end to all of this?"
"Sounds like a plan to me," Li'aa sighed wearily as he looked down at her jumpsuit and imagined it encrusted with food.
"I told you that hitting was a good way to resolve things," Cherith said in a know-it-all voice as she poked her head under the table to look at them. Kyp simply frowned disapprovingly back at her.
"Everybody, hold- " Kyp managed to yell before grey mush engulfed his face. He scraped his fingers across his eyes, struggling to see again before the next projectile came his way. A high-pitched shriek to his left told him of Li'aa's similar circumstances. He'd turned his head to look at her through the eye holes in his food mask when another clump of food hit him square between the eyes.
Kyp fought once again to clear the food from around his eyes. When they finally focused on Li'aa he discovered that she was stifling a laugh with one pudding-covered hand. Something clicked inside his head and he reached for the nearest plate, grabbing a large handful of casserole and chucking it back at her.
Li'aa gaped at the casserole as it slithered down her front and then turned her open-mouthed look up at the older jedi master. Her wide-open mouth gradually closed to form a smirk as she sprung into action, grabbing a bowl of greens, walking up to him, and turning it upside down on top of his head in one deft motion.
From that point on there was no going back. The two reached for whatever they could find and threw it at each other, attempting to be the first to cover the other from head to toe.
"How do you think this hawkbat pot pie would look as a hat?" He asked slyly, grinning as he smooshed it down on her head and made sure that a nice coating covered her hair.
"Probably about as good as this grey stuff would look as underwear," She said mischievously while pulling the neck of his jumpsuit out so she could stuff a handful inside. Kyp yelped in violated surprise as he felt the cold mush slide down his back.
"You!" He shouted complainingly at her, shaking his head as she looked at him proudly.
"What about me?" She laughed, admiring his perturbed appearance. He looked like a fosh who'd just had his feathers ruffled. "What are you going to do to me, Durron? Remember, hitting people is wrong!"
"Yeah, Uncle Kyp!" Cried a food-covered creature from the other side of Li'aa. "Hitting people isn't a good way to deal with conflict, remember?"
"I'm not going to hit you," He sighed, offering her a handshake of truce. "I'm just going to return the favor."
Kyp moved his other hand to the back of her jumpsuit's collar and pulled while he summoned the bowl of stew she'd been eating into his hand with the force. The jumpsuit barely stretched so he gave it another tug. Still nothing.
"Having trouble?" She asked sweetly. "Need my help?"
"Yeah. If you could change into something a little less tight then it might just help!" He growled critically.
"Is that so?" She questioned darkly, the smile evaporating from her face. "Well, Mr. Fashion Police, you can take your opinion of my outfit and stuff it right where that grey mush is located!"
Kyp began laughing before he realized she was actually serious. Stuffing his opinion where the grey mush was would have been lenient compared to the scorching pain that shot through his eyes and nasal membranes when the stew came in contact with his face. He doubled over and crouched down into a squat, unable to make a sound through the agony.
"Kyp!" She gasped, legitimately shaken by the sudden turn of events. "Oh gods, Kyp! I'm so sorry!"
"It's going to be a while before his sense of smell returns. I did what I could with the chemical burns, and he should be seeing clearly before the end of the day, but the rest is all up to him," Hamysh Renton, the Academy's jedi healer, said as he looked up at the small gathering of people around Kyp's prostrate form.
"Is he going to be blind?" Cherith asked, a pitiful expression on her face as she poked her head in between the taller adults to look at her Uncle Kyp.
"It's only temporary, Cherith," Luke said softly, patting the girl reassuringly on the shoulder.
"Yeah, I can see some things already," Kyp said hoarsely, coughing as speech irritated the burned areas in the back of his nasal passages.
"Kyp, I just wanted to say again that I'm so sorry about all of this," Li'aa gushed apologetically, reaching out to take hold of his hand.
"Li'aa, for the thousandth time, it's okay," He sighed as he looked up at the blonde-haired blur and squeezed her hand. "I just think it's time for me to go back to my room and get some rest."
"Definitely," Luke agreed, glancing at his chronometer. "Kyp, I'll make sure that your classes are covered tomorrow in case you need more recovery time."
"Thank you, Master Skywalker," Kyp said with a somber nod before pushing his aching body upright on the thin medbay cot. He cringed, wishing that he'd asked Hamysh to do him a small favor and heal the many bruises that now covered his body. However, being able to see again was a welcome gift. He'd have to deal with the bruises on his own.
"Need any help getting back to your room?" Li'aa asked, tossing her blurry blonde hair back over her shoulder and observing the pain he was going through as he tried to get to his feet. The others had already left, leaving just the two of them and Hamysh in the room.
"I'm blind, not crippled, thank you," He snapped, trying to sound annoyed by her offer. Secretly, hidden deep down inside his soul where nobody could see, he enjoyed having her around him. He just wasn't ready to admit it.
"Well, your mobility isn't too impressive either," She scolded, pursing her lips together as she offered him both of her hands. Kyp gratefully accepted and she pulled him to his feet, slipping an arm around his waist to support him.
"I don't need THAT much help," He complained, but the uneasiness on his feet when she released him told her otherwise.
"Kyp, do me a favor," Hamysh groaned as he turned off the equipment in the medbay. "Let her help you. I don't need any more work for tonight."
Li'aa's arm resumed its place around the small of his back as she escorted him out the door into the long breezeway. The spicy scent of the jungle's flora carried on the gentle night breeze, catching her nose as it wafted by. She cast a sidelong glance at Kyp, feeling sorry for him for so many reasons. He wouldn't be able to smell anything, and therefore taste anything, for a while, and sometime in between class and the medbay he'd developed a limp. All of it was her fault, of course, because she never seemed to think that far in advance. She didn't consider the fact that he was older, and therefore was less likely to heal after taking a beating. Not to mention that if she'd had any foresight whatsoever she would have known that the food she threw in his face would hurt him.
"Stop beating yourself up over all of this," He ordered softly. "I'm not such a crotchety old man that I can't heal from this in a day or so."
"I know, but if I wasn't so stupid- "
"Stop," He warned, his voice increasing in pitch at the end of the word. "I don't want to sense any more negative thoughts coming from you. Look on the bright side. It was a great food fight while it lasted."
"Yeah, you're right," She giggled melodically, a smile slowly returning to her face as her eyes sparked mischievously. "Did you ever get the grey mush out of your pants?"
"No, but that's first on my agenda once you get me back to my room," He muttered, pretending to be cross with her. She easily saw through it and laughed aloud at his expression.
"You'll get your chance real soon, so don't worry," Li'aa said while concentrating on getting him down a small flight of stairs. After that it was just a short walk along another breezeway to his door.
"Thank you, m'lady," He said formally with a small bow before he limped his way inside.
"You're welcome, Kyp. Goodnight," She said simply, closing the door behind her as she left.
Li'aa stood with her back to the door and her eyes closed. Heaving a sigh of frustration, she slid down into a sitting position on the flagstone floor. She was doing it again. She'd been around him for less than a day and already she felt like the same giddy seventeen-year-old with a crush on a handsome, older stranger. It was ridiculous. She plainly knew that any relationship they might forge was destined for ruin. So why couldn't she stop thinking about him?
"I need clarity," She whispered to herself, standing up again and brushing herself off. She knew just the place to go.