~*~You Get Me~*~ Chapter 8 (I'm losing track!)
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Jacen Solo was impressed.
For someone so young, he contemplated, Tahiri was really pushing herself to the limit both physically and intellectually. She had shown him her daily workout routine, which was rigorous and demanding even by a Jedi's standards, and then taken him to the local library to reveal her 'private studies'. Again, he was surprised to find her so involved in furthering her mind just as well as her body.
As they walked out of the library into the streets of the bustling Mon Calamari city, Jacen glanced at her and shook his head in amazement.
"Wow," he stated simply.
"What?" she replied self-consciously with a wrinkle of her nose.
"I just never expected you to." He stammered to find the right words.
"Never expected me to what? Be into studying?"
"Yeah, well, that and your stiff workouts. You do that every single day?" he asked skeptically.
Tahiri halted as they came to a street corner and stuffed her hands into her pants pockets. "Yes. Is that really so hard to believe? Did you think I just sat around all day doing nothing?"
Jacen chuckled. "I guess I don't know what I thought. I didn't know you were in to astronomy."
"Danni Quee gave me a few suggestions when I asked her some questions about her inventions. We talked for a bit and she gave me some ideas. She's pretty cool."
"Yeah, she's a neat person," Jacen agreed. "I'm glad you're becoming acquainted with good people like her." The signal changed and they began to cross the street. When they got to the other side, Tahiri frowned and slowed her pace.
"And what exactly is that supposed to mean?"
Jacen stopped and turned back to look at her. "Hmm?"
"There you go again, acting like you're my parent or something. Like I can't do anything without your approval."
Jacen was taken aback by her sudden shift in mood. "Tahiri, I'm not trying to act like your parent. And of course you don't need my approval for anything. I was only saying that you, and everyone else, need as many friends as you can get, and Danni's a good choice. That's all," he assured her. "Now smooth down those ruffled feathers. I like you better when you're kicking my butt on the practice floor." He offered her a famous Solo grin and that seemed to calm her down.
They continued on down the street in silence for several blocks, neither one quite sure what to think of this new friendship that was being formed. Jacen felt confident that he was on the right track with Tahiri-that she indeed needed a good friend to help her face the pain in her life. He was also certain that he was the man for the job. He was doing it for his brother, Anakin, and for Tahiri, as well. She was still a kid and needed someone older and more mature to help guide her through this difficult time.
That's right, he told himself. She's a kid and I'll simply be her mentor. That's all. But of course, he couldn't help remembering Anakin's words back on the worldship all those months ago. What exactly had Anakin meant? The 'kiss her' part was fairly self-explanatory, but it was the 'take her' part that left Jacen in a quandary. Surely he had meant just to take care of her. not to actually--- No. He wouldn't even think of that possibility. No way could Anakin have meant for Jacen to have Tahiri as his girlfriend or whatever one chose to call it. She was too young and not even his type. not that he even knew what his type was. He hadn't had much time lately for romantic 'entanglements'.
"So how old are you now?" he asked, startling Tahiri out of her quiet ponderings.
"Um, I just turned seventeen."
"Oh," he replied, filing it away for future reference. So she wasn't that young.
They had dinner together at their regular dining hall, conversation becoming increasingly more comfortable as time passed. Even though Tahiri wasn't yet ready to share her memories of Anakin with Jacen, it helped her to hear more of his. How lucky was Jacen, she thought, to have lived his whole life with Anakin. She'd only been granted a few years, but it was plenty of time to realize how special he had been. She felt herself begin to slip back into a somber mood, but fought against it.
Jacen noticed that throughout the course of his story about one of he and his siblings' many kidnapping ordeals Tahiri had stopped listening. No longer was she looking at him, anticipating the next event in his incredible tale with those twinkling green eyes of hers. Now she was staring down at her plate, pushing her food from one side to the other, taking a token bite every once in a while. He felt her retreating within herself and wanted to stop it.
Tahiri jounced back into her chair with a small yelp. The tiny, squishy grilled crustacean on her plate had just jumped up and smacked her on the nose before plopping back onto the plate.
Jacen tried to choke back his laughter but couldn't. Tahiri glanced over to see him snickering behind his hand, a twinkle of mischief gleaming in his brown eyes. He could feel her glare and it only made him laugh harder.
"Sorry," he managed to offer. "You were just looking too serious over there." Tahiri nearly jumped again when he reached across the table and used his napkin to wipe the tip of her nose. "You've got a little bit of. stuff. there.. sorry!" he offered again.
"And who's the younger one here?" she finally asked teasingly, letting him off the hook.
"Good point," he admitted with a snort. After clearing his throat he decided to share a thought with Tahiri. "I've got an idea, if you're interested."
She leaned her elbows on the table and placed her chin in her hands. "Shoot," she urged.
"Whenever I'm down and discouraged with myself and my place in life, there's something that always makes me feel better." He paused to study her reaction up to that point.
"Go on."
"Well, after spending the day with you, I've come to realize that you focus a lot of your time and energy on yourself."
Tahiri felt her 'wall of attitude' begin to go up between them. "You're saying I'm selfish?" she asked, feeling her nostrils flare slightly.
"No! No. it's just that most of your time is spent on things just for you, which isn't necessarily bad, but when you happen to be less than overjoyed, it can make your life seem twice as bad as it really is." He hoped this was coming out right.
Tahiri sighed and leaned back in her chair. "And I assume you have the cure for me, Dr. Solo?"
He narrowed his gaze and stared at her for a moment before replying. "Maybe. You need to get the focus off of yourself and your own pain and put it to good use."
"Putting pain to good use, eh?" she chuckled. "Sounds interesting. And how do you propose I do that?"
Jacen grinned that grin again and said, "Meet me here tomorrow and you'll find out." Then he stood up, grabbed his tray, shot her a knowing wink and walked away. Tahiri simply watched him until he was out of sight.
"Man, is he annoying!" she declared. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To Be Continued.
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Jacen Solo was impressed.
For someone so young, he contemplated, Tahiri was really pushing herself to the limit both physically and intellectually. She had shown him her daily workout routine, which was rigorous and demanding even by a Jedi's standards, and then taken him to the local library to reveal her 'private studies'. Again, he was surprised to find her so involved in furthering her mind just as well as her body.
As they walked out of the library into the streets of the bustling Mon Calamari city, Jacen glanced at her and shook his head in amazement.
"Wow," he stated simply.
"What?" she replied self-consciously with a wrinkle of her nose.
"I just never expected you to." He stammered to find the right words.
"Never expected me to what? Be into studying?"
"Yeah, well, that and your stiff workouts. You do that every single day?" he asked skeptically.
Tahiri halted as they came to a street corner and stuffed her hands into her pants pockets. "Yes. Is that really so hard to believe? Did you think I just sat around all day doing nothing?"
Jacen chuckled. "I guess I don't know what I thought. I didn't know you were in to astronomy."
"Danni Quee gave me a few suggestions when I asked her some questions about her inventions. We talked for a bit and she gave me some ideas. She's pretty cool."
"Yeah, she's a neat person," Jacen agreed. "I'm glad you're becoming acquainted with good people like her." The signal changed and they began to cross the street. When they got to the other side, Tahiri frowned and slowed her pace.
"And what exactly is that supposed to mean?"
Jacen stopped and turned back to look at her. "Hmm?"
"There you go again, acting like you're my parent or something. Like I can't do anything without your approval."
Jacen was taken aback by her sudden shift in mood. "Tahiri, I'm not trying to act like your parent. And of course you don't need my approval for anything. I was only saying that you, and everyone else, need as many friends as you can get, and Danni's a good choice. That's all," he assured her. "Now smooth down those ruffled feathers. I like you better when you're kicking my butt on the practice floor." He offered her a famous Solo grin and that seemed to calm her down.
They continued on down the street in silence for several blocks, neither one quite sure what to think of this new friendship that was being formed. Jacen felt confident that he was on the right track with Tahiri-that she indeed needed a good friend to help her face the pain in her life. He was also certain that he was the man for the job. He was doing it for his brother, Anakin, and for Tahiri, as well. She was still a kid and needed someone older and more mature to help guide her through this difficult time.
That's right, he told himself. She's a kid and I'll simply be her mentor. That's all. But of course, he couldn't help remembering Anakin's words back on the worldship all those months ago. What exactly had Anakin meant? The 'kiss her' part was fairly self-explanatory, but it was the 'take her' part that left Jacen in a quandary. Surely he had meant just to take care of her. not to actually--- No. He wouldn't even think of that possibility. No way could Anakin have meant for Jacen to have Tahiri as his girlfriend or whatever one chose to call it. She was too young and not even his type. not that he even knew what his type was. He hadn't had much time lately for romantic 'entanglements'.
"So how old are you now?" he asked, startling Tahiri out of her quiet ponderings.
"Um, I just turned seventeen."
"Oh," he replied, filing it away for future reference. So she wasn't that young.
They had dinner together at their regular dining hall, conversation becoming increasingly more comfortable as time passed. Even though Tahiri wasn't yet ready to share her memories of Anakin with Jacen, it helped her to hear more of his. How lucky was Jacen, she thought, to have lived his whole life with Anakin. She'd only been granted a few years, but it was plenty of time to realize how special he had been. She felt herself begin to slip back into a somber mood, but fought against it.
Jacen noticed that throughout the course of his story about one of he and his siblings' many kidnapping ordeals Tahiri had stopped listening. No longer was she looking at him, anticipating the next event in his incredible tale with those twinkling green eyes of hers. Now she was staring down at her plate, pushing her food from one side to the other, taking a token bite every once in a while. He felt her retreating within herself and wanted to stop it.
Tahiri jounced back into her chair with a small yelp. The tiny, squishy grilled crustacean on her plate had just jumped up and smacked her on the nose before plopping back onto the plate.
Jacen tried to choke back his laughter but couldn't. Tahiri glanced over to see him snickering behind his hand, a twinkle of mischief gleaming in his brown eyes. He could feel her glare and it only made him laugh harder.
"Sorry," he managed to offer. "You were just looking too serious over there." Tahiri nearly jumped again when he reached across the table and used his napkin to wipe the tip of her nose. "You've got a little bit of. stuff. there.. sorry!" he offered again.
"And who's the younger one here?" she finally asked teasingly, letting him off the hook.
"Good point," he admitted with a snort. After clearing his throat he decided to share a thought with Tahiri. "I've got an idea, if you're interested."
She leaned her elbows on the table and placed her chin in her hands. "Shoot," she urged.
"Whenever I'm down and discouraged with myself and my place in life, there's something that always makes me feel better." He paused to study her reaction up to that point.
"Go on."
"Well, after spending the day with you, I've come to realize that you focus a lot of your time and energy on yourself."
Tahiri felt her 'wall of attitude' begin to go up between them. "You're saying I'm selfish?" she asked, feeling her nostrils flare slightly.
"No! No. it's just that most of your time is spent on things just for you, which isn't necessarily bad, but when you happen to be less than overjoyed, it can make your life seem twice as bad as it really is." He hoped this was coming out right.
Tahiri sighed and leaned back in her chair. "And I assume you have the cure for me, Dr. Solo?"
He narrowed his gaze and stared at her for a moment before replying. "Maybe. You need to get the focus off of yourself and your own pain and put it to good use."
"Putting pain to good use, eh?" she chuckled. "Sounds interesting. And how do you propose I do that?"
Jacen grinned that grin again and said, "Meet me here tomorrow and you'll find out." Then he stood up, grabbed his tray, shot her a knowing wink and walked away. Tahiri simply watched him until he was out of sight.
"Man, is he annoying!" she declared. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To Be Continued.