The Sweetest Thing
Chapter 5, Post #1
"Hello anyone," Cherith called as she entered the apartment; she noticed the light coming from her parent's room but she knew they weren't there. She shrugged and hopped onto a stool, grabbing a cold water. "Finally, I have the place all to myself for once...I can only imagine how hectic things will get once the twins arrive," she mused.
A moment later, her father and mother appeared from the opposite room. Jaina smiled at her daughter as she settled on the couch and Jag kissed Cherith hello. "Have a nice dinner date with Valin?" Jaina asked; Jag growled and frowned, knowing his wife asked that on purpose.
"It was nice, but it wasn't a date. Just dinner, mom," Cherith said and smiled, "Mom, dad, can Valin come to the party?"
"Party? What party?" Jag asked, shocked she knew even knew about the surprise party.
Jaina saw his shock and covered for him, "For your birthday, honey? I thought there wasn't going to be a party. Just a family gathering,"
Cherith moaned and frowned, "Please mom, I really want Valin to come. He's my friend," Jag coughed and rolled his eyes, "He's my friend," she said again, "And it's my birthday. I want him to be there,"
"I'd love for you to have Valin over, but I'm not the one who has the final say over the guest list," she said and nodded to Jag. Cherith moaned again and faced her father. She knew he didn't like Valin, mostly because he thought she was too young to be involved in a serious relationship.
"Dad?"
Jag shrugged, "Aren't you inviting Kyp too?" Cherith glanced at her mother; she mouthed 'yes' and Cherith nodded yes to her father. "As long as Durron will be here, Valin can come."
Mother and daughter exchanged smiles as Cherith hugged her father and skipped into her room. "Don't be so hard on Valin, Jag. He's a good kid, Uncle Luke's known his father for years. They're good friends,"
"I just don't want my daughter to grow up too fast. I missed her whole childhood; I don't want to lose her," Jag mumbled.
Jaina stood up and hugged Jag from behind, "I don't want her to grow up too fast either but eventually, she will grow up," Jag turned to his wife and smiled, "I want to be here for them,"
She leaned over and kissed his cheek, hugging his neck, "I know, me too."
tbc
The Sweetest Thing
Chapter 5, Post 2
Padmé belted over the sink as another round of harsh coughs hit her. It had been like this for months; she thought she just caught a cold, a flue bug but it became so much more than that. She'd wake up in the middle of the night and have chest pains. It made matters worst that while she was visiting Leia, she felt the pains flare up in her chest and had to leave, making up an excuse that she was tired and needed to rest.
She hated lying to her children but she was scared to tell them; she'd just been reunited with them after years of separation and to tell them now, she was sick and could quite possibly die, they'd hate her.
//You have to tell them,// a voice said. Padmé thought it was her conscience talking but then she felt his presence. //They deserve to know what's happening to you, Padmé,//
She shrugged and sat on the bed, carrying a handkerchief in her hand in case she started coughing again. "I'm fine," she insisted, not looking into Ben's blue eyes.
Ben frowned, //I'd been watching you these last couple days and I can say, you are not fine, Padmé. Something is killing you and you need to tell them...Padmé , they'll understand. They're your children, they love you and they're Jedi, eventually, they'll notice there's something different about you,//
"You don't even know what's going on with me, Obi-Wan Kenobi, why should I tell them? I --- I don't want them to hate me for dying,"
//That's insane, Padmé...I will admit I don't know what's happening to you either but you should still tell them,// he paused and huffed, //Cherith's 15th birthday is next week...Are you going to be able to make it until then?//
She shrugged and smiled, "I can't promise that, Ben, you know that. But for Cherith, I'll be there for her. I'll always be there for them."
tbc
A/N: I was inspired today. I'd written the first part of this chapter earlier on, but it was too short so I figured I'd wait awhile until inspiration hit again and write the second part.
Guest starring in this chapter...
Silara and Cassia Brinn
The Sweetest Thing
Chapter 5, Post 3
By obi's girl
"I'm sorry, can you repeat the question? 'Cause it sounded like I was invited to your surprise party, a party you're not even supposed to know about, by the way," Kyp asked in disbelief.
Since and Jag and Jaina were married, Kyp and Jag had had an uneasy truce. They weren't friends but they weren't enemies either, but Kyp was still very wary around him.
"Sera's invited, too," Cherith added, "Please come, Kyp! Paleeaze?"
Kyp smirked, crossing his arms as he leaned back against the wall, "I'm not really invited am I, though? The only reason you're asking is because your father doesn't trust you with Valin Horn," he paused, "That's okay, though. I'll tell Sera about the party.Who else is coming?"
Cherith shrugged and fidgeted, "I guess about everyone. Uncle Wedge, aunt Iella and the girls are coming,"
"Antilles? He hates me!" Kyp groaned and slapped his face.
"If he makes a big deal out of it, he'll have to deal with me," Cherith boosted and smirked, "But he probably won't say anything. I'm his favorite niece,"
Kyp pauses hesitantly. Cherith was Wedge's favorite niece, and he wasn't Wedge's favorite person. But he didn't want to say no to Cherith either, especially since she really seemed to want him there. "All right, Sera and I will be there,"
Cherith grinned, "Great!" She glanced down the hall briefly and then hugged Kyp and kissed his cheek, "Thanks, Kyp," she whispered before skipping happily down the hall to the mess.
~~
"Cherry!" a girl screamed as Cherith entered the mess hall and ordered blue milk. She glanced at the booth, rolled her eyes and walked quietly over to the booth, joining two other girls. Cassia Brinn grinned widely as Cherith settled into the booth, a minute later, another older girl appeared and sat beside Cherith. "So, Horn's coming to your fifteenth party?"
Silara's head immediately popped up and she looked at Cherith, "Valin Horn? I didn't know you two were that serious? He's seriously invited to your party?"
"First of all, we're not an item. Ya know, Valin's just coming as my friend and guest. My Master's coming too but only as chauffeur, he's bringing Sera with him. I just talked to him a few minutes ago," Cherith explained but she could tell, both her friends were suspicious. "He's my best friend! I don't think of him that way!"
Cassia snickered and Silara laughed, "Cherith, we have to tell you something. Believe it or not girl, you two are already considered an item," Cassia admitted, "You're just so cute together, and the fact that you invited him to your party, well, it says a lot."
"Valin and I are not a couple..I mean, we only kissed that one time." Cherith rambled. Immediately, Silara and Cassia looked at each other and Cherith could see both her friends were already working on a way to pair her with Valin. "But we both decided to never talk about it or our feelings, so we don't lose our friendship,"
"So," Cassia leaned over the table, "Is he a good kisser? I mean Valin, he's a very hot boy,"
Cherith frowned and rolled her eyes, grabbing her blue milk and standing up from the booth. She didn't want to indulge her friends, especially Silara, since she was friends with Valin. If Cherith admitted her feelings to them, she knew Silara wouldn't be able to keep it from Valin. Then, Cherith would look like an idiot. They'd both agreed that they'd never talk about their feelings for each other or the kiss. "Listen, I have to go.I'm having lunch with my grandma."
tbc
The Sweetest Thing
Chapter 5, Post 4
By obi's girl
"How's the ryshcate?" Mirax asked as Leia popped her head behind the woman. Cherith's 15h birthday was only three days away, the apartment wasn't even ready with decorations, the cake wasn't finished, much to Mirax's dismay, since she was chosen as the party's chef and caterer. "Too sweet, not so sweet?"
Leia shrugged, tasting a little of it, "It tastes okay," Mirax hmm'd and added more sugar to the batter as Luke, Mara and Ben arrived for decorating.
"Reporting for decorating duty," Luke joked.
Leia only huffed, grabbing one box and another one, handing them to Luke and Mara, "You two were to have supposed to have done all of this a week ago,"
Luke frowned and shrugged, "Sorry, we were busy,"
She didn't say anything as she smiled hello at little Ben, "Ben, would you like to help me write a big card for Cherith?" The boy nodded, and Leia carried him off to the bedroom. Once she was gone, Luke and Mara set the boxes again and waved hello to Mirax.
"You have cooking duty, I take it?" Luke asked.
Mirax turned to him, her fingers all covered in chocolate. She looked at him briefly before handing over her spoon, along with a whole piece of the cake, "Could you taste this? I can't decide if it's too sweet or not sweet enough,"
Luke looked at her suspiciously and then tasted the cake, and his eyes bolted, "How many cups of sugar have you put in this thing? Better question, how much alcohol in addition to the sugar?"
Mara laughed to herself, not really surprised Mirax tried to add a lot of alcohol to the cake mix. It was her cooking secret.
"You better water this down, Mirax. Cherith's only turning 15, she's not even legal enough to start getting addicted to alcohol," Luke advised, "Add more sugar, Leia won't even notice it's there," Mirax shrugged, turning back to the counter and added more sugar to the mix.
~~
"Grandma," Cherith called as she entered her small quarters. The place was quiet and it didn't look like anyone was home, but Cherith knew, her grandmother was there. It wasn't too long ago Cherith almost mistakenly killed her grandmother, it was all a very bad misunderstanding. "Grams?" she called again.
Padme appeared from the backroom, carrying a handkerchief in her hand. She smiled briefly at Cherith and gestured for her to sit down, "Sorry, if I'm bothering you, grandma, I just wanted to see how you were doing,"
"You're not bothering me, Cherith," Padme said, she coughed briefly, "I'm glad you stopped by. Three days, you'll be fifteen years old. Are you excited?"
Cherith nodded excitedly, "Grandma Leia, Luke and Mara are supposedly working on decorating. I think aunt Mirax is in charge of cooking," she paused and frowned, "You'll be able to come, won't you, grams?"
"Me miss your fifteenth birthday? Ya know, actually Cherith, sixteen is the big one for girls. It means you're close to becoming a lady."
"And driving," she added, "Um grams, can I ask you something? How old is old enough to have a boyfriend?"
Padme shrugged and smiled, bracing Cherith's shoulders, "Who's the boy, dear?"
"Um, he's my best friend, Valin Horn,"
"How does he feel about you?" Padme asked, "If he feels the same way about you, and you know how you feel about him, I say go for it. You have nothing to lose,"
Cherith smiled and hugged Padme, "Thanks, grams," she cried and stood up.
Padme frowned, "No, wait a minute, is that all? Is that the only reason you stopped by here to see me? To ask me about this boy you have a crush on?"
"Sorry grams, but I have a sparring date with Valin this afternoon." Cherith stopped herself and blinked, "I mean sparring match, actually, it's more like a sparring challenge. You'd think that boy would even take a hint if I'd been able to whoop his butt a couple times at lightsaber sparring, but he just doesn't get it"
Tbc
Chapter 5, Post #1
"Hello anyone," Cherith called as she entered the apartment; she noticed the light coming from her parent's room but she knew they weren't there. She shrugged and hopped onto a stool, grabbing a cold water. "Finally, I have the place all to myself for once...I can only imagine how hectic things will get once the twins arrive," she mused.
A moment later, her father and mother appeared from the opposite room. Jaina smiled at her daughter as she settled on the couch and Jag kissed Cherith hello. "Have a nice dinner date with Valin?" Jaina asked; Jag growled and frowned, knowing his wife asked that on purpose.
"It was nice, but it wasn't a date. Just dinner, mom," Cherith said and smiled, "Mom, dad, can Valin come to the party?"
"Party? What party?" Jag asked, shocked she knew even knew about the surprise party.
Jaina saw his shock and covered for him, "For your birthday, honey? I thought there wasn't going to be a party. Just a family gathering,"
Cherith moaned and frowned, "Please mom, I really want Valin to come. He's my friend," Jag coughed and rolled his eyes, "He's my friend," she said again, "And it's my birthday. I want him to be there,"
"I'd love for you to have Valin over, but I'm not the one who has the final say over the guest list," she said and nodded to Jag. Cherith moaned again and faced her father. She knew he didn't like Valin, mostly because he thought she was too young to be involved in a serious relationship.
"Dad?"
Jag shrugged, "Aren't you inviting Kyp too?" Cherith glanced at her mother; she mouthed 'yes' and Cherith nodded yes to her father. "As long as Durron will be here, Valin can come."
Mother and daughter exchanged smiles as Cherith hugged her father and skipped into her room. "Don't be so hard on Valin, Jag. He's a good kid, Uncle Luke's known his father for years. They're good friends,"
"I just don't want my daughter to grow up too fast. I missed her whole childhood; I don't want to lose her," Jag mumbled.
Jaina stood up and hugged Jag from behind, "I don't want her to grow up too fast either but eventually, she will grow up," Jag turned to his wife and smiled, "I want to be here for them,"
She leaned over and kissed his cheek, hugging his neck, "I know, me too."
tbc
The Sweetest Thing
Chapter 5, Post 2
Padmé belted over the sink as another round of harsh coughs hit her. It had been like this for months; she thought she just caught a cold, a flue bug but it became so much more than that. She'd wake up in the middle of the night and have chest pains. It made matters worst that while she was visiting Leia, she felt the pains flare up in her chest and had to leave, making up an excuse that she was tired and needed to rest.
She hated lying to her children but she was scared to tell them; she'd just been reunited with them after years of separation and to tell them now, she was sick and could quite possibly die, they'd hate her.
//You have to tell them,// a voice said. Padmé thought it was her conscience talking but then she felt his presence. //They deserve to know what's happening to you, Padmé,//
She shrugged and sat on the bed, carrying a handkerchief in her hand in case she started coughing again. "I'm fine," she insisted, not looking into Ben's blue eyes.
Ben frowned, //I'd been watching you these last couple days and I can say, you are not fine, Padmé. Something is killing you and you need to tell them...Padmé , they'll understand. They're your children, they love you and they're Jedi, eventually, they'll notice there's something different about you,//
"You don't even know what's going on with me, Obi-Wan Kenobi, why should I tell them? I --- I don't want them to hate me for dying,"
//That's insane, Padmé...I will admit I don't know what's happening to you either but you should still tell them,// he paused and huffed, //Cherith's 15th birthday is next week...Are you going to be able to make it until then?//
She shrugged and smiled, "I can't promise that, Ben, you know that. But for Cherith, I'll be there for her. I'll always be there for them."
tbc
A/N: I was inspired today. I'd written the first part of this chapter earlier on, but it was too short so I figured I'd wait awhile until inspiration hit again and write the second part.
Guest starring in this chapter...
Silara and Cassia Brinn
The Sweetest Thing
Chapter 5, Post 3
By obi's girl
"I'm sorry, can you repeat the question? 'Cause it sounded like I was invited to your surprise party, a party you're not even supposed to know about, by the way," Kyp asked in disbelief.
Since and Jag and Jaina were married, Kyp and Jag had had an uneasy truce. They weren't friends but they weren't enemies either, but Kyp was still very wary around him.
"Sera's invited, too," Cherith added, "Please come, Kyp! Paleeaze?"
Kyp smirked, crossing his arms as he leaned back against the wall, "I'm not really invited am I, though? The only reason you're asking is because your father doesn't trust you with Valin Horn," he paused, "That's okay, though. I'll tell Sera about the party.Who else is coming?"
Cherith shrugged and fidgeted, "I guess about everyone. Uncle Wedge, aunt Iella and the girls are coming,"
"Antilles? He hates me!" Kyp groaned and slapped his face.
"If he makes a big deal out of it, he'll have to deal with me," Cherith boosted and smirked, "But he probably won't say anything. I'm his favorite niece,"
Kyp pauses hesitantly. Cherith was Wedge's favorite niece, and he wasn't Wedge's favorite person. But he didn't want to say no to Cherith either, especially since she really seemed to want him there. "All right, Sera and I will be there,"
Cherith grinned, "Great!" She glanced down the hall briefly and then hugged Kyp and kissed his cheek, "Thanks, Kyp," she whispered before skipping happily down the hall to the mess.
~~
"Cherry!" a girl screamed as Cherith entered the mess hall and ordered blue milk. She glanced at the booth, rolled her eyes and walked quietly over to the booth, joining two other girls. Cassia Brinn grinned widely as Cherith settled into the booth, a minute later, another older girl appeared and sat beside Cherith. "So, Horn's coming to your fifteenth party?"
Silara's head immediately popped up and she looked at Cherith, "Valin Horn? I didn't know you two were that serious? He's seriously invited to your party?"
"First of all, we're not an item. Ya know, Valin's just coming as my friend and guest. My Master's coming too but only as chauffeur, he's bringing Sera with him. I just talked to him a few minutes ago," Cherith explained but she could tell, both her friends were suspicious. "He's my best friend! I don't think of him that way!"
Cassia snickered and Silara laughed, "Cherith, we have to tell you something. Believe it or not girl, you two are already considered an item," Cassia admitted, "You're just so cute together, and the fact that you invited him to your party, well, it says a lot."
"Valin and I are not a couple..I mean, we only kissed that one time." Cherith rambled. Immediately, Silara and Cassia looked at each other and Cherith could see both her friends were already working on a way to pair her with Valin. "But we both decided to never talk about it or our feelings, so we don't lose our friendship,"
"So," Cassia leaned over the table, "Is he a good kisser? I mean Valin, he's a very hot boy,"
Cherith frowned and rolled her eyes, grabbing her blue milk and standing up from the booth. She didn't want to indulge her friends, especially Silara, since she was friends with Valin. If Cherith admitted her feelings to them, she knew Silara wouldn't be able to keep it from Valin. Then, Cherith would look like an idiot. They'd both agreed that they'd never talk about their feelings for each other or the kiss. "Listen, I have to go.I'm having lunch with my grandma."
tbc
The Sweetest Thing
Chapter 5, Post 4
By obi's girl
"How's the ryshcate?" Mirax asked as Leia popped her head behind the woman. Cherith's 15h birthday was only three days away, the apartment wasn't even ready with decorations, the cake wasn't finished, much to Mirax's dismay, since she was chosen as the party's chef and caterer. "Too sweet, not so sweet?"
Leia shrugged, tasting a little of it, "It tastes okay," Mirax hmm'd and added more sugar to the batter as Luke, Mara and Ben arrived for decorating.
"Reporting for decorating duty," Luke joked.
Leia only huffed, grabbing one box and another one, handing them to Luke and Mara, "You two were to have supposed to have done all of this a week ago,"
Luke frowned and shrugged, "Sorry, we were busy,"
She didn't say anything as she smiled hello at little Ben, "Ben, would you like to help me write a big card for Cherith?" The boy nodded, and Leia carried him off to the bedroom. Once she was gone, Luke and Mara set the boxes again and waved hello to Mirax.
"You have cooking duty, I take it?" Luke asked.
Mirax turned to him, her fingers all covered in chocolate. She looked at him briefly before handing over her spoon, along with a whole piece of the cake, "Could you taste this? I can't decide if it's too sweet or not sweet enough,"
Luke looked at her suspiciously and then tasted the cake, and his eyes bolted, "How many cups of sugar have you put in this thing? Better question, how much alcohol in addition to the sugar?"
Mara laughed to herself, not really surprised Mirax tried to add a lot of alcohol to the cake mix. It was her cooking secret.
"You better water this down, Mirax. Cherith's only turning 15, she's not even legal enough to start getting addicted to alcohol," Luke advised, "Add more sugar, Leia won't even notice it's there," Mirax shrugged, turning back to the counter and added more sugar to the mix.
~~
"Grandma," Cherith called as she entered her small quarters. The place was quiet and it didn't look like anyone was home, but Cherith knew, her grandmother was there. It wasn't too long ago Cherith almost mistakenly killed her grandmother, it was all a very bad misunderstanding. "Grams?" she called again.
Padme appeared from the backroom, carrying a handkerchief in her hand. She smiled briefly at Cherith and gestured for her to sit down, "Sorry, if I'm bothering you, grandma, I just wanted to see how you were doing,"
"You're not bothering me, Cherith," Padme said, she coughed briefly, "I'm glad you stopped by. Three days, you'll be fifteen years old. Are you excited?"
Cherith nodded excitedly, "Grandma Leia, Luke and Mara are supposedly working on decorating. I think aunt Mirax is in charge of cooking," she paused and frowned, "You'll be able to come, won't you, grams?"
"Me miss your fifteenth birthday? Ya know, actually Cherith, sixteen is the big one for girls. It means you're close to becoming a lady."
"And driving," she added, "Um grams, can I ask you something? How old is old enough to have a boyfriend?"
Padme shrugged and smiled, bracing Cherith's shoulders, "Who's the boy, dear?"
"Um, he's my best friend, Valin Horn,"
"How does he feel about you?" Padme asked, "If he feels the same way about you, and you know how you feel about him, I say go for it. You have nothing to lose,"
Cherith smiled and hugged Padme, "Thanks, grams," she cried and stood up.
Padme frowned, "No, wait a minute, is that all? Is that the only reason you stopped by here to see me? To ask me about this boy you have a crush on?"
"Sorry grams, but I have a sparring date with Valin this afternoon." Cherith stopped herself and blinked, "I mean sparring match, actually, it's more like a sparring challenge. You'd think that boy would even take a hint if I'd been able to whoop his butt a couple times at lightsaber sparring, but he just doesn't get it"
Tbc