The Sweetest Thing
Chapter 6, Post 1
By obi's girl
A/N: Feels Like Home is by Chantal Kreviazuk. I'd heard this song from Dawson's Creek, remembered it and thought it would be perfect for Cherith/Valin. I'll use more of the song later.
There's something in your eyes
Makes me want to lose myself
"About time you showed up, Fel," Valin teased his best friend as she strolled into the gym. A lot of people had already left for the evening, except for a few but Valin and Cherith didn't need all that space to spar so they moved into a private room. "I hope you had a little warm-up before coming here, Cherith, 'cause I'm ready to win and let you by me dinner,"
Cherith smiled and rolled her eyes, "You know that attitude isn't healthy for you, Valin. You can keep dreaming as much as you want but you should learn by now, you can't beat me,"
Valin laughed as he grabbed his lightsaber, "Oh, I will Fel. I will, I don't have enough money to buy you another dinner,"
"Don't worry about it. Even if I win, I'll buy you dinner," she said and smiled, "You're my friend, so I'll give you this one break. This time; besides, you're my guest at my birthday party, the one I'm not supposed to know about but I do anyway,"
Valin stepped closer to her, staring into her green eyes intently, "You don't have to do that, Cherith. I can buy you dinner tonight,"
"No," she whispered, "I want to buy you dinner,"
Valin leaned down as Cherith leaned up, lost in her best friend's eyes and he was lost in her green. "We shouldn't be doing this. We made rules we'd never give into our attraction because of our friendship,"
Cherith shrugged, "I don't think we can keep avoiding this any longer, my friend,"
Valin raked a hand through his hair as he moved away from her and turned away, "What time is the party?"
"Late afternoon, I'll come and get you," she whispered, "Valin, I realize we're too young for this type of thing, but I don't think we can keep up the whole best friends routine any longer. Sooner or later, we're gonna have to deal with this attraction and these feelings we have for each other,"
"It's hard.Just being around you, even as your friend, it feels different than it used to. Because of."
"We kissed, well, you kissed me and I ran away because it was my first kiss and I didn't really know how to deal with it. There are just so many feelings and emotions, my whole mind is going crazy. My heart is a whole other story too. I know I should fight how I feel but like you said, it's hard, just to be around you. It feels different but we're both young, right? We're too young for this type of relationship. Our parents would go crazy if they ever found out there was anything serious going on between us."
Before Cherith could go any further, Valin grabbed her back and kissed her passionately. Cherith's eyes were still closed as Valin pulled away and vanished from the room. Once she realized he was gone, she opened her eyes and sat down on the mat.
~~
Soontir Fel grabbed his drink, nodded thanks to the bartender and walked to a booth. On his way, he noticed his granddaughter's two girlfriends sitting in another booth. Cassia and Silara. Cherith, Cassia and Silara were inseparable he knew, but Soontir also knew Cherith sometimes preferred to keep her private life, private from her best friends. It was the Fel way, never talk about your emotions to other people, even your best friends. Cherith had certainly inherited that quality from her father.
"Excuse me ladies," Soontir cleared his throat, approaching the booth. "Silara and Cassia, right?"
"Colonel Fel, sir," Silara said formerly but Cassia didn't really pay attention to the formality. "Were you looking for Cherith? She left awhile ago to talk to her grams."
Soontir smiled, "No, I'm not looking for Cherith but I was wandering what information you know about her relationship with Valin Horn?" Cassia immediately perked up and scooted over, giving him a seat next to her. "What information do you have?"
Cassia shrugged, "Well, there's already been a lot of talk sir that Cherith and Valin are already considered an item. But Cherith, the way she is, she doesn't want to admit there's an attraction there."
"But there obviously is," Silara added, "She even admitted they'd already kissed,"
"Kissed you say?" Soontir smiled, "I really shouldn't even try to play match maker again, but the last time I saw Cherith and Valin together, it was very obvious he cared about her."
Cassia snorted and laughed, "Yeah, Cherith told us about your plan - telling your son to kidnap Jaina and fly her off to Naboo for a week,"
"I was only helping, Jagged. He'd send me and Jag's mother so many Holos, and about Jaina and Syal was very pleased Jag found Jaina," Soontir paused and leaned over the table, "You're attending Cherith's birthday party, right?"
"We are, and some of more of Cherith's friends, too," Cassia clarified, "You think maybe we should fix them up at the party?"
Soontir smiled and leaned back against the booth, "Exactly. Cherith and Valin are a good pair, although her father thinks she's too young to be dating. Cherith and Valin definitely belong together. You two need to find a way to get them together,"
Silara saluted him, grinning, "Yes sir," Cassia just laughed at her friend. "You can count on us sir,"
Fel smiled, gestured to Cassia to move out of the booth, "I'm late for sims.I want a full report of the going ons of my granddaughter and Valin Horn. Is that understood?"
"Yes sir," Silara repeated as Soontir bowed to them and swiftly left the lounge, leaving the girls alone.
Tbc
The Sweetest Thing
Chapter 6, Post 2
By obi's girl
[i] Makes me want to lose myself
In your arms
There's something in your voice
Makes my heart beat fast
Hope this feeling lasts
The rest of my life [/i]
3 Days Later.
"Kyp, Sera, you're early," Jag started as the two Jedi walked into the apartment; Jaina was resting on the couch.
Kyp shrugged and turned to Sera briefly, "We just came in case there was something else you needed help with before the party, and to talk about Cherith," Jag moaned and rolled his eyes, but Kyp could feel Jaina had no problem with her daughter dating. "I realize as her father, Jag you want to protect Cherith but you can't stop her from growing up,"
Sera settled down on the chair next to the sofa, where Jaina was lying, watching Kyp try to convince his apprentice's father that dating wasn't an evil thing. "She's too young to have a serious relationship, Kyp!" Jag cried, "You know the only reason Cherith invited you was because I don't trust her to be alone with Corran Horn's son,"
"His name is Valin," Jaina corrected and sat up, smiling hello at Kyp, "And my family been friends with the Horn family for a long time. To tell you the truth, Jag, if it were any other boy I wasn't familiar with, I wouldn't trust our daughter to be in a relationship with him,"
"She has a point," Kyp added but Jag only glared at him.
Jag finally softened up after realizing his wife was right, "How long will you and Sera be able to attend the party?" Jaina was about to protest but she felt something had changed in her husband, about his attitude towards Valin.
"I have no other plans for the afternoon," he said and glanced at Jaina, who only shrugged in return.
Jag leaned over and whispered, "Keep an eye on her, Durron.If Horn hurts her, I want to be the first one to know about it,"
Kyp shrugged and grinned, "They're not that bad together, Jag. Valin would never hurt Cherith," he said and Jaina mirrored' her husband's grin. As Jag was about to discuss the final details about the party, someone com'd the door.
"Blasted doors," he mumbled, sulking over to answer. "Dad, what are you still doing here? I thought you'd left already for Csilla," he said as the great Soontir Fel walked into the apartment. Sera helped Jaina to her feet as she stood to greet her father-in-law, and Jag walked uneasily back to the main room.
"So, what are you still doing here?" Jag asked his father again.
"My granddaughter's 15th birthday is today, Jagged! I wouldn't miss an event like that," Soontir replied and looked at Sera and Kyp, "And you are?"
Kyp Durron smiled and extended his hand to Soontir, "Kyp Durron, sir and this lovely woman here is my girlfriend, Sera Fey`lina,"
Sera smiled and nodded hello to Soontir, adding, "We're friends of Jaina's. We just stopped by to see if there was anything we could help Jaina with before the party starts," She looked at Jaina and Jaina nodded there wasn't. "But I guess, there's nothing for us to do so we'll just go and get the birthday girl and her guests," Sera rambled, pushing Kyp towards the door.
Jaina snickered, "Sorry, we weren't expecting you to come. We weren't didn't know you were still here, even," she said and gestured to Jag to grab a drink, "Um, sorry about the awkward introductions before. Kyp's Cherith's Master, her teacher and friend,"
"Aw yes, I heard someone was teaching her. I heard it might have been Durron but I wasn't sure about that, especially since I knew my son wouldn't have approved,"
"I convinced him it was a good match.er, speaking of matches, we were talking about Cherith and Valin earlier." Jaina started and Soontir immediately smiled, "and obviously, you already know that there's an attraction between those two,"
Soontir grinned and thanked Jag for the water, "I enlisted Cherith's friends to help push them together, Cassia and Silara,"
Jag moaned again but Jaina and Soontir ignored him, "I don't know if that will do any good. Cherith made a vow a long time ago to never let her friends get involved in her personal life,"
"Hmm, that's the Fel way," Soontir said proudly, "But nevertheless, I think it was a good idea to enlist Cassia and Silara to help in our situation,"
"Agreed," Jaina chimed but Jag only rolled his eyes. "Something wrong, darling?"
"Yes," Jag said, "Seriously, I can't believe you two. Am I the only one on this base that doesn't want my daughter to date this Valin Horn?!" Jaina and Soontir shrugged but Jag threw up his arms, "I realize they might be cute together, but shouldn't she focus on her training first.Ya know, focus on becoming a Jedi Knight?"
Jaina 'hmm'd and shrugged, "I think she could be knighted on her next birthday, she's progressing really well,"
"I know I can't do anything to prevent this from happening but please, please, be very discreet about it. You can't just shove them together and expect sparks to fly,"
"Except in this case, the spark is already there. I think they just need a little shove," Soontir said, "which shouldn't be too hard if you ask me,"
tbc
The Sweetest Thing
Chapter 6, Post 3
By obi's girl
Strangely, after the kiss Cherith and Valin shared in the sparring room three days earlier, the two friends had really been distancing themselves from each other very well, almost too well. Maybe it was a bad idea for Cherith to say something about their attraction towards each other, but it had to be said, and Cherith knew if she didn't say anything at all, she'd loose her best friend to someone else. She didn't want that.
Now, there she was sitting alone in a booth, drinking some blue milk and eating a piece of steak. All alone on her birthday, Valin not there to keep her company or wish her happy 15th birthday. It was a very depressing scene, but Cherith, the tough girl that she usually was, didn't want to let on that she wanted her best friend by her side. No harsh words were said between them after the kiss, it was just awkward. To make matters worse, she knew he'd probably talk to her later in the afternoon during the party.
He was after all, her guest but as the birthday girl, all Cherith wanted to do was hide from Valin as much as possible. She didn't want to look at him, say anything to him until they'd both decided what was right for them. They could stay best friends or become something more, but it was still a scary prospect.
For a year now, Cherith and Valin had been able remain friends without ever thinking about the growing attraction between them. They never talked about their feelings, which was the supposed key to their friendship. But still, talking about their feelings made things a lot worse than they were before, in Cherith's opinion.
//What was more right, then?// she wandered to herself, //Not ever tell Valin that the feelings they have for each other didn't need to be explored? No, I needed to tell him. It may have been foolish but we've both been avoiding the subject for a year now, and if I had waited any longer, I would have lost him to another girl.//
"Happy birthday, darling," a voice said and Cherith looked up and smiled when she realized the voice belonged to her best friend. Then, she frowned as he sat down across from her in the booth. "Today's the day, isn't it? Your 15th birthday?"
Cherith fingered her glass of blue milk, "It is.You're still coming to the party later?"
Valin shrugged and looked at her, "It's a special day for you, Cherith. I want to be there with you to celebrate it,"
"Thank you," she whispered and toyed with her steak.
"Not hungry?"
Cherith smiled and pushed the plate away, "There's probably gonna be a lot of food at the party, later.I know your mom helped grandma Leia make ryshcate cake. Reportedly, Mirax put a lot of alcohol in the mix,"
Valin smirked, "That's the way, we Corellians live, you know. I'm sure someone told her to add a lot of sugar to hide the alcohol,"
"Yes, someone did. My great uncle, Luke," Cherith smiled.
The two laughed together and then quieted down again, the awkwardness' between them returning. "It'll be fun," Valin said, "Or a complete disaster because of my mom's cooking, but don't tell her I said that,"
"Promise," Cherith whispered, "Um, have you seen Silara or Cassia this morning? I've been trying to get of them but they wouldn't talk to me,"
Valin shrugged, "Haven't seen the trickster girls this morning,"
"I am almost certain they're up to something," she mused, "but I probably won't figure out what that 'it' is until, it's too late,"
"Don't worry too much, they're probably busy looking for a last minute present for you," Valin said nonchalantly, "Speaking of which, I need to buy mine,"
Cherith's draw dropped as she looked at Valin incredulously, "I can't believe you, Valin Horn! You had three days to get something for me and you only just remember, the day of my birthday you need to buy a present? Typical male,"
"This typical male didn't have the money, sweetheart to buy a good present until today," he said and winked at her, "Don't worry, you'll love this present. I promise,"
"I know I will, because it came from you," Cherith whispered as he strolled out of the lounge.
Tbc
The Sweetest Thing
Chapter 6, Post 4
By obi's girl
Leia lovingly hugged her daughter as Jag walked past her inside the apartment. Jag and Han shook hands but didn't say anything to each other as they were soon joined by Soontir Fel. Jaina turned to her husband and then looked at Soontir. Leia nodded hello to the baron but Han stood there uneasily, looking down at his boots. The Solo's and Fel's had a long history of not really liking each other.
"Welcome to our home," Leia started, gesturing to get some drinks, "Sorry, we weren't able to meet earlier on after our children married.Um is Syal coming? Wedge, Iella and the girls are going to be here,"
"I look forward to seeing them. Syal's still at home on Csilla. When she feels it's the right time to be here, she will be, Leia," Soontir said, "When is the birthday girl expected?"
Before Leia could answer, she rushed to the door as more guests started to arrive. Kyp grinned, moving aside as Cassia and Silara entered the apartment. Sera and Jaina exchanged hellos as Kyp nodded hello to Jag and greeted Han. "Cherith's on her way.She and Valin are arriving separately, though."
Soontir groaned, "Separately? Why? Did they have a fight or something?"
Silara shrugged, "Doubtful, the only fighting they like to do is spar, which usually includes some banter. Typically, whoever wins, the loser has to buy the winner dinner,"
"I think I know why Valin was looking for a job three days ago, he was broke because of Cherith!" Cassia snickered.
Jag cleared his throat, looking at his father, "Um, how is mom doing, dad?" He really didn't like talking about his daughter's personal life.
"She's doing fine, Jagged," he said and then Leia had to rush to the door again, welcoming Wedge, Iella and his girls. Syal and Myri ran from their mother's side, hugging their uncle. "You girls have grown so big, I can't believe it!"
"Is auntie Syal gonna come to the party?" Myri asked.
"No Myri, she's not," he said and looked at Wedge. As happy as he was that his nephew and brother-in-law was there, Wedge missed his sister dearly. It had been so long since he'd last seen her. "But maybe she'll visit one day," he said, adding that little part more for Wedge's benefit than the girls.
Leia shrugged, keeping the door open for any more guests. She didn't want to rush and open it every time someone new showed up. Thus far, half of the guests had arrived. Leia was about to leave the door and join Han and the others when Luke, Mara, little Ben and Padmé arrived. Mara knelt down as Ben wiggled out of her arms and crawled over to Syal and Myri. "Cherith will be here shortly. She's coming with Derora and Shelly," she said.
"Corran and Mirax coming?" Leia asked her brother.
"Hmm, Mirax will be here briefly. Valin doesn't want his parents hanging around him during the party," he laughed.
~~
"Do you think she'll like it?" Valin asked his mother as he started to wrap his gift to Cherith, well. It was a friendship bracelet -- it was a good idea to get it at the time but now, Valin was afraid she'd see the bracelet as only friendship, nothing more. But then again, the bracelet was only a small part of a bigger gift.
Mirax smiled, leaning on her elbows against the counter top, "It's wonderful but hey, everyone else is probably already at the Solo apartment so you better hurry,"
"You promise you and dad won't stay that long?" Valin asked his mom again, "I mean, there's already gonna be a lot of grown-ups there,"
"We won't, besides someone needs to watch Jysella.Why don't you bring her with you? Little Ben and Wedge's girls are gonna be there, right? She can hang out with them,"
Valin groaned in the typical older brother, I don't want my little sister around kinda way, "Mom, she's gonna ruin anything! She always interrupts me when I'm with my friends, please mom, don't make me take her with me!"
"If she doesn't go, you don't go. It's your decision, Valin,"
"Fine," he muttered and Mirax called Jysella into the room.
The 12-year-old girl rushed into the main room, smiling at her mom and brother, though Valin only scowled. "You called mother dearest?"
Mirax smiled and gestured to Valin, "Yes, you get to attend Cherith Fel's 15th birthday party today with your brother," Valin moaned again, putting on the finishing touches on his present and then went into his room to grab something. "Keep an eye on him, too." Jysella nodded, grinned again and ran into her room, looking for her best outfit.
~~
"Mother, are you feeling all right?" Luke asked Padmé as he sat down beside her on the couch. She hadn't been very talkative since she arrived but he felt something wasn't quite right with her.
Padmé nodded and smiled, "I'm fine, just a little tried that's all," Her coughs had subsided so they weren't a threat, for now at least. The last thing Padmé wanted was for something to ruin her great granddaughter's birthday party. "Really, I'm fine, Luke. I'm fine,"
He didn't smile but he didn't want to press the issue any further, either, "I'm gonna grab some water, I'll be right back, mother," Luke stood up and went to the kitchen, passing Leia on the way, whispering something to her. Padmé watched both her children, she knew Luke told Leia he suspected there was something wrong with me but also told her not to press the issue.
Padmé breathed in, coughing only slightly but too much. //Ben, give me strength,// she pleaded and he felt him give small nudge that everything was going to be all right.
tbc
Chapter 6, Post 1
By obi's girl
A/N: Feels Like Home is by Chantal Kreviazuk. I'd heard this song from Dawson's Creek, remembered it and thought it would be perfect for Cherith/Valin. I'll use more of the song later.
There's something in your eyes
Makes me want to lose myself
"About time you showed up, Fel," Valin teased his best friend as she strolled into the gym. A lot of people had already left for the evening, except for a few but Valin and Cherith didn't need all that space to spar so they moved into a private room. "I hope you had a little warm-up before coming here, Cherith, 'cause I'm ready to win and let you by me dinner,"
Cherith smiled and rolled her eyes, "You know that attitude isn't healthy for you, Valin. You can keep dreaming as much as you want but you should learn by now, you can't beat me,"
Valin laughed as he grabbed his lightsaber, "Oh, I will Fel. I will, I don't have enough money to buy you another dinner,"
"Don't worry about it. Even if I win, I'll buy you dinner," she said and smiled, "You're my friend, so I'll give you this one break. This time; besides, you're my guest at my birthday party, the one I'm not supposed to know about but I do anyway,"
Valin stepped closer to her, staring into her green eyes intently, "You don't have to do that, Cherith. I can buy you dinner tonight,"
"No," she whispered, "I want to buy you dinner,"
Valin leaned down as Cherith leaned up, lost in her best friend's eyes and he was lost in her green. "We shouldn't be doing this. We made rules we'd never give into our attraction because of our friendship,"
Cherith shrugged, "I don't think we can keep avoiding this any longer, my friend,"
Valin raked a hand through his hair as he moved away from her and turned away, "What time is the party?"
"Late afternoon, I'll come and get you," she whispered, "Valin, I realize we're too young for this type of thing, but I don't think we can keep up the whole best friends routine any longer. Sooner or later, we're gonna have to deal with this attraction and these feelings we have for each other,"
"It's hard.Just being around you, even as your friend, it feels different than it used to. Because of."
"We kissed, well, you kissed me and I ran away because it was my first kiss and I didn't really know how to deal with it. There are just so many feelings and emotions, my whole mind is going crazy. My heart is a whole other story too. I know I should fight how I feel but like you said, it's hard, just to be around you. It feels different but we're both young, right? We're too young for this type of relationship. Our parents would go crazy if they ever found out there was anything serious going on between us."
Before Cherith could go any further, Valin grabbed her back and kissed her passionately. Cherith's eyes were still closed as Valin pulled away and vanished from the room. Once she realized he was gone, she opened her eyes and sat down on the mat.
~~
Soontir Fel grabbed his drink, nodded thanks to the bartender and walked to a booth. On his way, he noticed his granddaughter's two girlfriends sitting in another booth. Cassia and Silara. Cherith, Cassia and Silara were inseparable he knew, but Soontir also knew Cherith sometimes preferred to keep her private life, private from her best friends. It was the Fel way, never talk about your emotions to other people, even your best friends. Cherith had certainly inherited that quality from her father.
"Excuse me ladies," Soontir cleared his throat, approaching the booth. "Silara and Cassia, right?"
"Colonel Fel, sir," Silara said formerly but Cassia didn't really pay attention to the formality. "Were you looking for Cherith? She left awhile ago to talk to her grams."
Soontir smiled, "No, I'm not looking for Cherith but I was wandering what information you know about her relationship with Valin Horn?" Cassia immediately perked up and scooted over, giving him a seat next to her. "What information do you have?"
Cassia shrugged, "Well, there's already been a lot of talk sir that Cherith and Valin are already considered an item. But Cherith, the way she is, she doesn't want to admit there's an attraction there."
"But there obviously is," Silara added, "She even admitted they'd already kissed,"
"Kissed you say?" Soontir smiled, "I really shouldn't even try to play match maker again, but the last time I saw Cherith and Valin together, it was very obvious he cared about her."
Cassia snorted and laughed, "Yeah, Cherith told us about your plan - telling your son to kidnap Jaina and fly her off to Naboo for a week,"
"I was only helping, Jagged. He'd send me and Jag's mother so many Holos, and about Jaina and Syal was very pleased Jag found Jaina," Soontir paused and leaned over the table, "You're attending Cherith's birthday party, right?"
"We are, and some of more of Cherith's friends, too," Cassia clarified, "You think maybe we should fix them up at the party?"
Soontir smiled and leaned back against the booth, "Exactly. Cherith and Valin are a good pair, although her father thinks she's too young to be dating. Cherith and Valin definitely belong together. You two need to find a way to get them together,"
Silara saluted him, grinning, "Yes sir," Cassia just laughed at her friend. "You can count on us sir,"
Fel smiled, gestured to Cassia to move out of the booth, "I'm late for sims.I want a full report of the going ons of my granddaughter and Valin Horn. Is that understood?"
"Yes sir," Silara repeated as Soontir bowed to them and swiftly left the lounge, leaving the girls alone.
Tbc
The Sweetest Thing
Chapter 6, Post 2
By obi's girl
[i] Makes me want to lose myself
In your arms
There's something in your voice
Makes my heart beat fast
Hope this feeling lasts
The rest of my life [/i]
3 Days Later.
"Kyp, Sera, you're early," Jag started as the two Jedi walked into the apartment; Jaina was resting on the couch.
Kyp shrugged and turned to Sera briefly, "We just came in case there was something else you needed help with before the party, and to talk about Cherith," Jag moaned and rolled his eyes, but Kyp could feel Jaina had no problem with her daughter dating. "I realize as her father, Jag you want to protect Cherith but you can't stop her from growing up,"
Sera settled down on the chair next to the sofa, where Jaina was lying, watching Kyp try to convince his apprentice's father that dating wasn't an evil thing. "She's too young to have a serious relationship, Kyp!" Jag cried, "You know the only reason Cherith invited you was because I don't trust her to be alone with Corran Horn's son,"
"His name is Valin," Jaina corrected and sat up, smiling hello at Kyp, "And my family been friends with the Horn family for a long time. To tell you the truth, Jag, if it were any other boy I wasn't familiar with, I wouldn't trust our daughter to be in a relationship with him,"
"She has a point," Kyp added but Jag only glared at him.
Jag finally softened up after realizing his wife was right, "How long will you and Sera be able to attend the party?" Jaina was about to protest but she felt something had changed in her husband, about his attitude towards Valin.
"I have no other plans for the afternoon," he said and glanced at Jaina, who only shrugged in return.
Jag leaned over and whispered, "Keep an eye on her, Durron.If Horn hurts her, I want to be the first one to know about it,"
Kyp shrugged and grinned, "They're not that bad together, Jag. Valin would never hurt Cherith," he said and Jaina mirrored' her husband's grin. As Jag was about to discuss the final details about the party, someone com'd the door.
"Blasted doors," he mumbled, sulking over to answer. "Dad, what are you still doing here? I thought you'd left already for Csilla," he said as the great Soontir Fel walked into the apartment. Sera helped Jaina to her feet as she stood to greet her father-in-law, and Jag walked uneasily back to the main room.
"So, what are you still doing here?" Jag asked his father again.
"My granddaughter's 15th birthday is today, Jagged! I wouldn't miss an event like that," Soontir replied and looked at Sera and Kyp, "And you are?"
Kyp Durron smiled and extended his hand to Soontir, "Kyp Durron, sir and this lovely woman here is my girlfriend, Sera Fey`lina,"
Sera smiled and nodded hello to Soontir, adding, "We're friends of Jaina's. We just stopped by to see if there was anything we could help Jaina with before the party starts," She looked at Jaina and Jaina nodded there wasn't. "But I guess, there's nothing for us to do so we'll just go and get the birthday girl and her guests," Sera rambled, pushing Kyp towards the door.
Jaina snickered, "Sorry, we weren't expecting you to come. We weren't didn't know you were still here, even," she said and gestured to Jag to grab a drink, "Um, sorry about the awkward introductions before. Kyp's Cherith's Master, her teacher and friend,"
"Aw yes, I heard someone was teaching her. I heard it might have been Durron but I wasn't sure about that, especially since I knew my son wouldn't have approved,"
"I convinced him it was a good match.er, speaking of matches, we were talking about Cherith and Valin earlier." Jaina started and Soontir immediately smiled, "and obviously, you already know that there's an attraction between those two,"
Soontir grinned and thanked Jag for the water, "I enlisted Cherith's friends to help push them together, Cassia and Silara,"
Jag moaned again but Jaina and Soontir ignored him, "I don't know if that will do any good. Cherith made a vow a long time ago to never let her friends get involved in her personal life,"
"Hmm, that's the Fel way," Soontir said proudly, "But nevertheless, I think it was a good idea to enlist Cassia and Silara to help in our situation,"
"Agreed," Jaina chimed but Jag only rolled his eyes. "Something wrong, darling?"
"Yes," Jag said, "Seriously, I can't believe you two. Am I the only one on this base that doesn't want my daughter to date this Valin Horn?!" Jaina and Soontir shrugged but Jag threw up his arms, "I realize they might be cute together, but shouldn't she focus on her training first.Ya know, focus on becoming a Jedi Knight?"
Jaina 'hmm'd and shrugged, "I think she could be knighted on her next birthday, she's progressing really well,"
"I know I can't do anything to prevent this from happening but please, please, be very discreet about it. You can't just shove them together and expect sparks to fly,"
"Except in this case, the spark is already there. I think they just need a little shove," Soontir said, "which shouldn't be too hard if you ask me,"
tbc
The Sweetest Thing
Chapter 6, Post 3
By obi's girl
Strangely, after the kiss Cherith and Valin shared in the sparring room three days earlier, the two friends had really been distancing themselves from each other very well, almost too well. Maybe it was a bad idea for Cherith to say something about their attraction towards each other, but it had to be said, and Cherith knew if she didn't say anything at all, she'd loose her best friend to someone else. She didn't want that.
Now, there she was sitting alone in a booth, drinking some blue milk and eating a piece of steak. All alone on her birthday, Valin not there to keep her company or wish her happy 15th birthday. It was a very depressing scene, but Cherith, the tough girl that she usually was, didn't want to let on that she wanted her best friend by her side. No harsh words were said between them after the kiss, it was just awkward. To make matters worse, she knew he'd probably talk to her later in the afternoon during the party.
He was after all, her guest but as the birthday girl, all Cherith wanted to do was hide from Valin as much as possible. She didn't want to look at him, say anything to him until they'd both decided what was right for them. They could stay best friends or become something more, but it was still a scary prospect.
For a year now, Cherith and Valin had been able remain friends without ever thinking about the growing attraction between them. They never talked about their feelings, which was the supposed key to their friendship. But still, talking about their feelings made things a lot worse than they were before, in Cherith's opinion.
//What was more right, then?// she wandered to herself, //Not ever tell Valin that the feelings they have for each other didn't need to be explored? No, I needed to tell him. It may have been foolish but we've both been avoiding the subject for a year now, and if I had waited any longer, I would have lost him to another girl.//
"Happy birthday, darling," a voice said and Cherith looked up and smiled when she realized the voice belonged to her best friend. Then, she frowned as he sat down across from her in the booth. "Today's the day, isn't it? Your 15th birthday?"
Cherith fingered her glass of blue milk, "It is.You're still coming to the party later?"
Valin shrugged and looked at her, "It's a special day for you, Cherith. I want to be there with you to celebrate it,"
"Thank you," she whispered and toyed with her steak.
"Not hungry?"
Cherith smiled and pushed the plate away, "There's probably gonna be a lot of food at the party, later.I know your mom helped grandma Leia make ryshcate cake. Reportedly, Mirax put a lot of alcohol in the mix,"
Valin smirked, "That's the way, we Corellians live, you know. I'm sure someone told her to add a lot of sugar to hide the alcohol,"
"Yes, someone did. My great uncle, Luke," Cherith smiled.
The two laughed together and then quieted down again, the awkwardness' between them returning. "It'll be fun," Valin said, "Or a complete disaster because of my mom's cooking, but don't tell her I said that,"
"Promise," Cherith whispered, "Um, have you seen Silara or Cassia this morning? I've been trying to get of them but they wouldn't talk to me,"
Valin shrugged, "Haven't seen the trickster girls this morning,"
"I am almost certain they're up to something," she mused, "but I probably won't figure out what that 'it' is until, it's too late,"
"Don't worry too much, they're probably busy looking for a last minute present for you," Valin said nonchalantly, "Speaking of which, I need to buy mine,"
Cherith's draw dropped as she looked at Valin incredulously, "I can't believe you, Valin Horn! You had three days to get something for me and you only just remember, the day of my birthday you need to buy a present? Typical male,"
"This typical male didn't have the money, sweetheart to buy a good present until today," he said and winked at her, "Don't worry, you'll love this present. I promise,"
"I know I will, because it came from you," Cherith whispered as he strolled out of the lounge.
Tbc
The Sweetest Thing
Chapter 6, Post 4
By obi's girl
Leia lovingly hugged her daughter as Jag walked past her inside the apartment. Jag and Han shook hands but didn't say anything to each other as they were soon joined by Soontir Fel. Jaina turned to her husband and then looked at Soontir. Leia nodded hello to the baron but Han stood there uneasily, looking down at his boots. The Solo's and Fel's had a long history of not really liking each other.
"Welcome to our home," Leia started, gesturing to get some drinks, "Sorry, we weren't able to meet earlier on after our children married.Um is Syal coming? Wedge, Iella and the girls are going to be here,"
"I look forward to seeing them. Syal's still at home on Csilla. When she feels it's the right time to be here, she will be, Leia," Soontir said, "When is the birthday girl expected?"
Before Leia could answer, she rushed to the door as more guests started to arrive. Kyp grinned, moving aside as Cassia and Silara entered the apartment. Sera and Jaina exchanged hellos as Kyp nodded hello to Jag and greeted Han. "Cherith's on her way.She and Valin are arriving separately, though."
Soontir groaned, "Separately? Why? Did they have a fight or something?"
Silara shrugged, "Doubtful, the only fighting they like to do is spar, which usually includes some banter. Typically, whoever wins, the loser has to buy the winner dinner,"
"I think I know why Valin was looking for a job three days ago, he was broke because of Cherith!" Cassia snickered.
Jag cleared his throat, looking at his father, "Um, how is mom doing, dad?" He really didn't like talking about his daughter's personal life.
"She's doing fine, Jagged," he said and then Leia had to rush to the door again, welcoming Wedge, Iella and his girls. Syal and Myri ran from their mother's side, hugging their uncle. "You girls have grown so big, I can't believe it!"
"Is auntie Syal gonna come to the party?" Myri asked.
"No Myri, she's not," he said and looked at Wedge. As happy as he was that his nephew and brother-in-law was there, Wedge missed his sister dearly. It had been so long since he'd last seen her. "But maybe she'll visit one day," he said, adding that little part more for Wedge's benefit than the girls.
Leia shrugged, keeping the door open for any more guests. She didn't want to rush and open it every time someone new showed up. Thus far, half of the guests had arrived. Leia was about to leave the door and join Han and the others when Luke, Mara, little Ben and Padmé arrived. Mara knelt down as Ben wiggled out of her arms and crawled over to Syal and Myri. "Cherith will be here shortly. She's coming with Derora and Shelly," she said.
"Corran and Mirax coming?" Leia asked her brother.
"Hmm, Mirax will be here briefly. Valin doesn't want his parents hanging around him during the party," he laughed.
~~
"Do you think she'll like it?" Valin asked his mother as he started to wrap his gift to Cherith, well. It was a friendship bracelet -- it was a good idea to get it at the time but now, Valin was afraid she'd see the bracelet as only friendship, nothing more. But then again, the bracelet was only a small part of a bigger gift.
Mirax smiled, leaning on her elbows against the counter top, "It's wonderful but hey, everyone else is probably already at the Solo apartment so you better hurry,"
"You promise you and dad won't stay that long?" Valin asked his mom again, "I mean, there's already gonna be a lot of grown-ups there,"
"We won't, besides someone needs to watch Jysella.Why don't you bring her with you? Little Ben and Wedge's girls are gonna be there, right? She can hang out with them,"
Valin groaned in the typical older brother, I don't want my little sister around kinda way, "Mom, she's gonna ruin anything! She always interrupts me when I'm with my friends, please mom, don't make me take her with me!"
"If she doesn't go, you don't go. It's your decision, Valin,"
"Fine," he muttered and Mirax called Jysella into the room.
The 12-year-old girl rushed into the main room, smiling at her mom and brother, though Valin only scowled. "You called mother dearest?"
Mirax smiled and gestured to Valin, "Yes, you get to attend Cherith Fel's 15th birthday party today with your brother," Valin moaned again, putting on the finishing touches on his present and then went into his room to grab something. "Keep an eye on him, too." Jysella nodded, grinned again and ran into her room, looking for her best outfit.
~~
"Mother, are you feeling all right?" Luke asked Padmé as he sat down beside her on the couch. She hadn't been very talkative since she arrived but he felt something wasn't quite right with her.
Padmé nodded and smiled, "I'm fine, just a little tried that's all," Her coughs had subsided so they weren't a threat, for now at least. The last thing Padmé wanted was for something to ruin her great granddaughter's birthday party. "Really, I'm fine, Luke. I'm fine,"
He didn't smile but he didn't want to press the issue any further, either, "I'm gonna grab some water, I'll be right back, mother," Luke stood up and went to the kitchen, passing Leia on the way, whispering something to her. Padmé watched both her children, she knew Luke told Leia he suspected there was something wrong with me but also told her not to press the issue.
Padmé breathed in, coughing only slightly but too much. //Ben, give me strength,// she pleaded and he felt him give small nudge that everything was going to be all right.
tbc