My beta reader is looking over the next chapter so I have some time to update this. :)
SoloKenobi: Thanks!
MistiWhitesun: /bangs head on wall/ Ok, I looked at yours and I can safely say that, while the concept is simular, how we go about with the plot is different. I can't believe this!
As for the beginning of the chapter, it wasn't intended to be thoughts or a dream, but something in between. However, I tried it out in italics and it did look better. Sorry about that. Won't happen again.
And I wasn't stuck, just caught up in my second fic and school work (and sad because of the lack of reviews for it :( ).
Here we go!
Chapter Three:
Friends, Family and a New Home
Sitting on the other side of the medic, unable to hear what was being said, Ladora observed through the open door her father comfort Anakin. Guilt began to fill her as she felt shock and overwhelming sadness come from the young Jedi. Her fault, it was her fault that he was here, but if she hadn't got him out of there when she had, then Anakin Solo definitely would be dead.
If there had been the option of warning the others that Anakin was not dead, she would have done so in a heartbeat. But, at the time, even she had not known whether or not he really was dead. It had only been when they had taken Anakin and Lenny checked him did they find out he was in a healing trance and coma. By the time they learned that, however, it had been too late to send him back.
"Ladora, hey Ladora!" Ladora arched her head back to see the sandy-haired woman coming toward her. "Hey," the young woman said and then noticed her face, "what's wrong?"
Ladora leaned back forward on the bench. "That," and she pointed to the room where her father and Anakin were talking again, "is what's wrong, Rene."
"Stop beating yourself up about it," said Rene, her blue eyes looking more knowledgeable than her supposed twenty years, "If you hadn't done it, they would've burned him and-"
"I know, I know, but I still feel I should've done something, I don't know, less drastic."
Rene arched her eyebrows in surprise. "This coming from the girl who sent Lenny to the bacta tank because he wouldn't stop talking about politics."
Ladora snorted, "He had it comin'. He knows that I hate politics. He should know not to talk about it in front of me."
At that point, another wave of shock, this one laced with disbelief, came from the room. Rene and Ladora looked toward the two. "So he told him. That goes completely against the law," said Rene. The woman had a strict mindset on rules and the law. People often commented that she acted just like her father.
"Didn't have much of a choice," Ladora reminded her. "He has to stay here now."
Rene looked down at her feet, shaking her head disapprovingly, but then her head shot up, "Oh, I forgot! Teneniel Djo wants to talk to you."
Ladora felt a shiver run down her spine. She did not like the thought of the Dathomir Witch turned Hapan Queen wanting to talk her, "Why?"
"Well, let's see," Rene started, sarcastically, "You kidnap her from Hapes, take some of the poison in her, inject it into one of your Advanced HRDs, and let that droid replica of her 'die'. And, to top it all off, you tell her she can't go home. Gee, I wonder."
"I guess she wanted to die, then?"
"No, I think she thought she would've gone home once it was over with. She didn't think she was going to be kidnapped. So going to talk to her?"
"Where's Lenny?"
Frustration flickered through the older girl's eyes, "That's it. Put it all on your twin brother."
Ladora smirked. For a brief moment, the feelings of guilt went away, but they came back full force when her father and Anakin coming toward them. The two girls stood up. Ladora felt her guilt triple at the sight of Anakin. His eyes were red from where he'd been crying and, even though he was staring forward, looked like he was in another world.
Her father had his hands on Anakin's shoulders, guiding him toward the girls. "Ladora," her father said, as they stopped in front of the girls, "I want you to take Anakin to his room." Ladora nodded. "Anakin, this is Rene, a family friend," Rene smiled and stuck out her hand, but withdrew when Anakin did not respond, "and this is Ladora, my daughter." Anakin looked confused and stared at Ladora, then at her father, and back at Ladora. "I am sure you will be fine here, Anakin."
Ladora smiled, fought her awkward feelings and took the younger Solo's hand. Anakin allowed himself to be lead away. An uncomfortable silence prevailed between the two. A word was not exchanged until they reached the hallway that led to Anakin's room.
A door opened and shut. Both Ladora and Anakin turned to see who it was. Standing there in pale blue robes was Ladora's curly, black haired twin, Lenny. "You're awake," said Lenny, when he saw Anakin, "and up, too."
"Yeah, he's up and well," injected Ladora, "Listen, I need you to do something."
"Uh, it doesn't have anything to do with what I said to you on the ship?" said Lenny hastily; "I mean we are treading on slippery ground, kidnapping everyone in the galaxy-"
"No." Ladora resisted the urge to slam him in the wall. "Tell Teneniel Djo why we can't send her back."
"But-" The boy looked horrified at the idea.
Ladora crossed her arms and glared at him. She had been able to dominate her older twin for as long as either could remember. Her parents were never happy when she did something (like break his arm) when he did not do as she asked or for no apparent reason.
No limbs were going to be broken today, through. "Okay, okay. Just don't hurt me." Lenny walked away, dejectedly. "Nice to see you up, Anakin. I'll see you later."
"Bye," he said for the first time since leaving the med center. He then threw Ladora an accusing look. "What did he mean about you hurting him? And what's this about kidnapping people?" he asked.
"It's nothing important." She started to walk away. "On kidnapping people…It's either that or they die. Not much choice there. Besides, if we hadn't 'kidnapped' you, you would be dead right now. They had a funeral pyre for you."
"How did they have one without my body and is there anyone here I know?
"I'll explain another time," said Ladora, grinning
mischievously and not answering his last question, "Let's get you settled in first." Ladora turned right and stopped at the door a few steps away. The talk with Lenny had distracted Anakin, but now his face was back to its sad state.
Ladora looked around as she felt around for the cardkey. I need something to distract him. Then she saw a metal ball in a stand on the opposite window. That's it! She used the Force to lift the ball and she turned to Anakin, cardkey in her hand, "Duck."
Anakin looked at her oddly. "What?"
"Duck."
Anakin looked around and then ducked down, the metal ball narrowly missing him. Ladora caught it easily. Anakin rose up slowly, his eyes wide and mouth open, "How did-? I didn't-. How-? I never even sensed it coming. How did you do that?"
Ladora smiled and used the Force to levitate the ball back to its place. "Fourteen years of Jedi training, that's how."
The young Jedi just stared at her. "Fourteen? How old are you? When did you start training?"
"I started at two weeks old."
"Two weeks?!"
"Yeah." She slid the card through to open the door. Maybe she should tell him that her 'training' was not what he was thinking, but she decided not to. It was a lot more fun this way. "That was early," she said, playing around with him, "considering that in the Old Republic, children who were thought could be Jedi were found out after six months and before one year."
She turned around when she got no answer and saw Anakin in the door in complete shock. "Here, however, children go to Jedi day schools at one," she explained. "At thirteen, they come to the main temple here in Theed and are placed in master classes. We can't assign one apprentice to one master because of the purge. There are too few masters so it was worked out for masters to choose the apprentices they want to be taught in their classes."
Anakin walked in the door, still looking shocked. "That is different from Uncle Luke," he said, softly.
Ladora shrugged. "It is. But it's still very different from the old order. The old order took children from their homes and brought them to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. Both systems are better than the old way, in my opinion.
"No offence or anything, but Luke's way of teaching leaves out a lot. Not his fault, of course, but we're going to give you a crash-training course on what you've missed. Being who you are, you should learn really fast. You'll start in two weeks"
Anakin still looked stunned, but not offended. "Ok. Um…what happened to Tenel Ka's mother?"
"She was poisoned by her mother-in-law," she started bitterly, "When we found out, the first minute she was alone, we took her and put an advanced human replica droid look-alike in her place. The droid 'died' soon after. We made sure that everyone thought the real Teneniel Djo had died."
She paused. She might as well tell him now. The more she explained now, the less she had to explain later. "You were easier to get a hold of; everyone thought you had died because of the shockwave. Once you were alone, we took you and put an advanced HRD look-alike in your place. Lenny checked you because we thought you had died as well. If we hadn't made sure you were dead, I likely would be answering to my mother right now. However, by the time we had finished and knew you were alive, it was too late, your friends had burned the droid."
As she explained, they walked into the main living suite. Anakin sat down on a dark green chair and sighed, "And you had this project…"
"Yeah, I thought of this about a standard month ago and had started planning for it. I just asked permission to do it." Ladora grinned and so did, for the first time, Anakin, "As soon as we had you, it seemed like you would be perfect for it. So you want to help us?"
"Will we fight the Vong?"
"The Vong will learn the definition of run from us." Anakin's smile faded as he processed the information she gave him. Ladora watched nervously as he thought. He looked back from where he had come and then at Ladora. That head thing is getting annoying, she thought, but refrained from doing anything. Anakin was new here, after all. And Mom would throw me in a supernova if I do anything to him.
Anakin, grin returning, got up and held out his hand, "I'm going to trust you. Don't know why but I am. Count me in."
They shook hands. "Well, let's see your new room." Ladora had hardly been here since the place was reserved for the Solo family if they ever arrived on planet (She told Anakin this who only nodded), but it looked a lot like her where she lived. It even had a balcony that overlooked the waterfalls. The two walked through the dining area, which was colored the same as the living suite (dark green) and the cooking area, which was all in silver.
Another living area greeted them upstairs once again in dark green. Anakin looked at the bedrooms made for him and his siblings, trying to decide which one he wanted. Anakin chose one with a skylight. Ladora left him there, telling him to get some rest. Her mom had made plans for Anakin for the next week. All and all, it could not have been a great day for Anakin, but at least it turned out better.
The best thing for Ladora, however, was that her remorseful mood disappeared.
I feel like I'm rewriting this entire fic (likely I will). Next chapter will be quicker: I edited that last Dec! :D (It was a mess!)
