Paint Wars Episode Vi.V: Epilogue... but it's not over yet!

(Translated: After the wedding... for our favorite pair of insane Padawans.)

Disclaimer: Typical disclaimer applies. Scene wrote by Tiana only, because she was very bored, and wanted to write this. Heh. So thus we skip the stupid intro, and go straight to the tale...

It was a bright and sunny day, and Tiana was sitting on her bed, wondering what had happened to her Master. She had ideas, of course-- considering that hers and Anakin's Masters had just got married the other day-- but those were merely from watching too many movies.

Well, it was sunny outside. To be more exact, it was remotely resembling a storm where two Padawans sat back to back, staring at opposite sides of the same wall.

Crickets were making ample use of the lack of chatter.

"We can't go on like this forever," Anakin commented after three consecutive hours of crickets chirping.

"We can get close." Tiana sighed, and leaned forward on her elbows. "Darn the narrators."

"I can't help we were blackmailed into this."

"You were blackmailed too?"

"Yeah."

She sighed again, and finally turned around. "Masters," she muttered.

Anakin agreed with that sentiment, turning around to look her over. He was still taller than her, though, since they were both sitting crosslegged, the height wasn't so dramatically different. "I wonder how long we can go without talking until our Masters notice?" he asked, wryly.

"You think they'll notice?"

He shrugged. "Dunno."

"You know, we just broke that 'we won't talk to each other' goal," Tiana said, dryly.

Anakin shrugged again.

Tiana sighed, until the present narrator threatened to pull the crickets back out. "I don't know if they'd notice," she said, softly. "But you have to admit, they do notice a lot."

"Like the fact that we're talking to each other again?"

"Well... I wouldn't go that far."

"Heh."

Again, an uneasy silence. The two Padawans weren't particularly comfortable with being boyfriend/girlfriend materiel, since they had only realized they liked each other two episodes or so ago.

Tiana broke that silence. "Sorry about taking you from Padmé."

Anakin shrugged. "It's AU."

"Yeah, good point."

"I thought you didn't like points."

"That not the point."

Anakin grinned, and Tiana sighed, and sank backwards. "Oy. Any garlic?"

"Nope. Obi-Wan confiscated it five minutes after the wedding was over..."

"...and then both of our Masters went and hugged yet more," Tiana finished, an amused smile on her face. "Masters," she said again, sighing. But it was lighthearted-- neither of them were that annoyed. Considering it was better for the two Masters to be married anyway, so they could express romantic sentiments without qualms.

Even if it annoyed the two very unromantically inclined Padawans that they both had.

"Yeah." Anakin smiled distantly. "They certainly like each other."

"Well, that's an understatement!" Tiana smirked, then grew gradually grimmer as she realized the full implications of that. "Then what happens to us?" she asked darkly.

"We like each other too, don't we?" asked Anakin lightly.

"Yeah... well... that's not what I'm talking about. I mean... if our Masters are married... what happens to us now? We're not Knights yet." Tiana closed her eyes, and tried to invision what would happen if that were the case, but all she got for a mental image was chaos.

Seemingly Anakin received the same picture, for he grabbed her hand, and squeezed it. "We'll be okay, Tiana."

She smiled. "Yeah. Right."

"Was that sarcastic?"

"I'm not sure. Weren't we just suppose to make a truce, and not fall in love?"

"Well..."

She grinned again, completely sincerely. "If Jandalf finds out, she'll never let me live it down," she said, her tone light, and without the grim feel she had a moment before.

"Well... we made a truce at least."

"At least."

It was Anakin's turn to grin, and then turn red as he realized he was still holding her hand. "Uhh..."

"Oh, give it a rest!" Tiana poked him. "It's not like we're not friends, Ani."

"Yeah..."

"...just not romantically inclined friends..."

"Well... we weren't suppose to be..."

"Times change..."

"Why do I get the feeling we won't be able to use the 'don't talk to each other' truce anymore?" Anakin asked.

Tiana shrugged. "Maybe because we're talking to each other?"

"That might be it..."

"Make a new truce?"

"Good plan."

The two Padawans thought for a while, luckily neither of them exploding from the effort of doing such. It was still a bright and sunny day outside. It also remained bright and sunny for the while, as there was no dark and evil scenes to merit thunder and storms.

Time passed slowly, and yet quickly as they attempted to think through a new truce. The previous plan of not talking to each other no longer seemed to be able to work.

"Jandalf won't let me live this down," Tiana muttered, referring to her typically immature Master.

"Neither will Obi-Wan."

"So..." Tiana shrugged. "How's this: No personal contact in public or in front of either of our Masters for a truce?"

Anakin debated over this for the time. "Define 'personal contact'."

She shrugged again. "Anything that gets two characters closer than they would be on a regular basis in the Temple-- but nothing closer than hugging," she added, as an afterthought.

"And nothing closer than that until you're eighteen or older," Anakin added.

"That's fair, I think." Tiana grinned faintly. "As long as we can talk to each other in front of our Masters still, right?"

"Why not?"

She shrugged. "Just checking."

He grinned. "Okay."

Tiana thought over the truce. "As long as our Masters don't find out, it should save us too much embarrassment," she said, dryly. "That is the point of it, correct?"

"Correct."

"Our Masters certainly aren't the best examples on this topic, though..."

"Oh?"

"I mean, they went and matchmaked half the Temple pretty much just so they could get married."

Anakin shrugged. "We grew garlic all over the Temple to avoid each other."

"Heh."

They were quiet for a bit longer, and then Anakin muttered, "But the garlic did backfire on the wedding date."

Tiana rolled her eyes. "I thought Chewie would've known well enough-- or at least our Masters-- that you can't make two teenagers kiss after they've ate garlic." They both made twin faces of distaste. "I mean... the whole germs issue is one thing... but garlic?!"

"I don't think they knew," Anakin pointed out.

"She's good enough at reading my mind," Tiana muttered. "She should've known."

Anakin grinned at the perturbed female Padawan still sitting on the bed. "Hey, it was your idea."

"You started the garlic thing in the first place..."

"Well..."

"Yes, you did. You went and grew the plant you had found on the last mission and it all came up from that." She playfully hit him. He rolled his eyes. Tiana proceeded to turn red again as she realized she was still holding his hand.

"You look good in red," Anakin commented.

"I'm wearing green," she muttered. "I look like a Christmas tree now." Tiana let go of his hand, and fanned her face, proceeding to only make her hair messy, and make her even redder than she had been a moment before.

She looked remotely like someone had dumped red dye on her.

Anakin laughed. "Don't worry about it."

"But I am worrying about it!" She sighed, and flopped backwards. "Why shouldn't I worry about it?" Her height was all that saved her from hitting her head on the wall behind her. Luckily the wall was not sentient, and could not eavesdrop on this conversation.

"Shouldn't you be worried about the fact that you still smell like garlic?"

"Hey, I can't help that it stays with you!"

"Were you eating garlic today?"

"No!" Tiana sat back up, and ran one hand through her hair, and just made it messier than ever. "Force, my hair's going to be like this forever at this rate."

Anakin observed her fight with her hair with an amused smile. "Leave it," he determined. "It looks good."

"Yeah right it looks good. I'm scruffy looking!"

"Who's scruffy looking?"

She hit him again. "I am," she muttered. "Look at me."

He dodged her blow. "I am looking at you."

"I noticed," she said, dryly.

Anakin smiled. "I always looked at you."

"I was aware of that-- but only because I was looking back," she shot.

"So.... why did you spend all your time looking at me if you didn't like me back then?"

"You know I liked you back then, Ani." Tiana rolled her eyes once more. "Jandalf noticed that I liked you right away... even if she didn't comment."

"Well... I was looking at both you and Padmé," Anakin conceded.

"I thought so." A sly grin. "But you can't look at her anymore."

"Why not?"

She poked him. "You have to look at me now."

"I am looking at you."

"Are we going to be able to hide this from our Masters?"

"You changed the subject!"

"So?"

"So what?"

"So what what?!"

Anakin sighed. "Never mind."

She smiled distantly. "We've got two and a half years, Anakin."

"What?"

"Two and a half years before I'm 18."

Anakin found himself smiling as she hugged him tightly. "I don't think we'll manage," he said, softly.

Tiana broke the embrace and looked at him pointedly. "Well, that's what garlic's for, right?"

He grinned. "Right."