A/N.  Here's the next chapter.  I want to thank starwars254 for helping with this story.  We alternate chapters and my other friend, known as Jaina, wrote several chapters too.  Once again, We do not own any of the SW characters (Luke, Jaina, Mara, Ben, ect) We do own Meria, Dante, Cy, Lara, and I personally created Namron, the Anadian. 

yaebginn- yes, Ben is around 17 but there is no set age.  But we'll just say he's 17.

Thanks for reading and reviewing!  Keep it up. And without further ado…

***Chapter 5***

Starting

Cy and Dante showed Meria around their house. It was small, but it was home. Meria tried to calm down some but she was still wired with excitement. They went to sit down at the table in the tiny kitchen to talk while they waited for Cy and Dante's mom to get home.

"So, what do people do around here for fun, not including podracing?" Meria questioned.

"We hang out with our friends and go to the markets to see if they have any interesting stuff. You know, the usual," Cy replied.

"And explore the planet," Dante added, smiling. His grin reminded Meria of her Uncle Han's. Lopsided. It almost made her laugh, just watching him.

"Do either of you have girlfriends?" she asked casually, trying not to sound desperate.

"Nope. I'm still single," said Dante with a wink.

They all laughed. Meria smiled to herself.

"I do," Cy said. "Her name is Caitlin."

Meria heard the front entrance door open in the living room.

"Hi, boys. Sorry, I'm late. I just had to pick up a couple things over at the market and--oh, who's this Cy and Dante's mom asked when she walked into the kitchen. She set three paper bags, filled with different kinds of foods, down on the counter.

"Hi, Mom. This is Meria," said Cy. "I met her at the podrace and invited her over for dinner. I hope it's okay with you."

"Oh, it's quite all right," replied his mom with a smile. She walked over to Meria and held out her hand. Meria shook it. "A friend of my yours is a friend of mine. I hope salad is okay."

"Salad is fine." Meria smiled at the kind lady.

"My name is Lara Cady. You can call me Lara." She went over to the counter and started to take the food from her bags and fill the shelves on the walls. She cut up some fruits, put them in a dish and set it on the table as well as some plates.

After they ate dinner, Lara asked Meria if she had a place to stay for the night.

"No," Meria admitted. She was slightly embarrasses because she hadn't thought of that earlier.

"Well than, you must stay with us," Lara told her.

"If I won't be a bother to you, and if you have room for me."

Lara showed her to a room at the far end of the house.

"You can sleep here."

"Thank-you so much for having me," Meria said to Lara. "And dinner was delicious."

"Your very much welcome here." Lara walked out of the room and closed the door quietly behind her.

*Tomorrow I get to practice podracing, * she remembered. *This is awesome. I meet two really great guys. I get to podrace. And I get to be away from my family for a while. What could be better right now? * She knew she was too excited to sleep, but she turned out her light and slipped under the light sheet on her sleep couch and tried anyway. She stared up at the stone ceiling and thought about her family.

*They probably miss me like crazy. * She decided she would contact them through the Force just to let them know she was okay. She felt her father and mother searching for her. She lightly touched their minds with hers. She could sense their relief in knowing she was fine. She also could feel them starting to fire questions at her, and decided to cut the communication off.

*Tomorrow is a new day. Another exciting one at that. * She quietly laughed, and started to drift off to sleep.

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Meria rushed to get ready. It said on her chronometer that it was already ten hundred hours. She had slept-in much longer than she had wanted to.

*So much for getting an early start*, she thought to herself.

As she headed into the kitchen, the smell of freshly baked apples filled her nose. Dante, Cy and Lara were eating breakfast.

"Good morning, Meria," said Lara. "How did you sleep?" She got up, filled a glass of blue for Meria, cut a slice of cornbread and gave her a baked apple.

"Fine," Meria replied. She looked over at Dante and caught him smiling at her. He looked back down at his half-eaten slice of bread when she saw him. She smiled to herself, sat down and took a drink of her milk.

After they were all done, the teenagers went outside. They started walking down a dusty road.

"I can't stay," said Cy. "I've got to go meet Caitlin." He walked up ahead, by himself, and turned into one of the shops on the side of the road.

"See you later," Meria called after him. She looked over at Dante. "What are we gonna do, now?"

"How about we go over to Namron's house and practice your podracing skills?"

"Sounds good to me."

Together, they walked to his house. When they got there, Namron was already out back working on the shinning blue and gold painted pod.

"Hey!" Namron exclaimed as Dante and Meria walked up to him. "I'm just finishing up the last few things."

"Can we help with anything?" Dante asked.

"Sure. Just pass me that thing over there." He pointed to something on the ground.

"This?" Dante picked up what Ron was pointing to: a funny-looking tool.

"Yea."

Dante passed it to him. Ron tinkered with a few more things on his pod. Within a few minutes it was completed.

"Isn't she a beauty?" Ron asked, in awe.

"She sure is," Meria replied. "So, when do I get to try her out?" Meria started to get excited, again. She couldn't wait to ride this thing.

"Right now. Hop in. We'll see if it runs."

She sat down on the hard seat in the pod and put on the gray helmet Ron passed her. "Now what do I do?"

"You're kidding, right?" He laughed. "Just flip up that switch and hold on!"

Meria did. The engine started up. "It works!" she shouted over the loud roaring.

"That I gathered! Shut it off."

She flipped the switch back to the off position. The engine quieted down.

"Now all we have to do is find an open space where Meria can fly this baby." Namron said. He shouted into the back door of his house, "Mom! Me, Dante and one of his friends are gonna go exploring."

"Okay," His mom shouted back. "Be careful and be back before dinner."

Meria's adrenaline started pumping again. She ran over and hugged Dante in her excitement and smiled as he blushed, yet again.