A/N: I promise no more childbirth.
Chapter Seventeen
oOo
"She is such a little princess, even without the title." Gen said watching is little girl playing in her cradle.
"Not like her Mother, you can say it, I know. You would think Delila was her Mother instead of me."
"She still has your strength of will though." Tra Gon added.
Nya said smiling at the giggling and bouncing baby. "Yes, you know we are talking about you."
oOo
Nya was in the middle of another long difficult meeting, ironing out another problem left over from the change in government. The arguments were starting to run together when she heard a loud scream through the Force. There were no words just a scream, a familiar 'voice'. 'Sachi' She thought. "Excuse me Gentlemen I have an urgent mat… ter …" Quina Nya interrupted the speaker in the middle of his thought, grabbed her skirt up and ran out, yanking the door open for herself and leaving everyone sitting open mouth in surprise at her unQueenly exit.
Yoda met her in the hall and had to run to keep up. "All right, she…"
"Yoda, not now!" Nya was in Panic Mother Mode and nothing but the sight of her child was going to settle her nerves. Nya yanked the door to the Royal Nursery open and ran in to see Taryn holding Sachi and trying to soothe her.
"Ma…sob…Ma!" Sachi reached for Nya as soon as she saw her.
"What happened?" Nya commanded. "It's all right, Mama's here."
"She tried to pull up and lost her footing, she wasn't hurt just startled then she got hysterical. I don't know what happened." Taryn explained not knowing if she was in trouble or not.
"Not hurt, just realized Mother was scared, scared her." Yoda said.
"How would she know I was upset?" Nya asked.
"Mother, daughter bond strong, learns to use Force like learning to speak, she is." Yoda explained.
The door opened and Tra Gon came in. "What happened?"
"She called out to me through the Force when she fell, then realized I was upset that she was upset and it scared her. Yoda says she is learning to use the Force from us just like she is learning to speak." Nya explained.
"Come to Daddy, let's let Mama calm down. You scared Mama and Mama scared you but both of you are safe. Let's go see what Ben is doing." Gen took her over to where Ben was sitting on the pallet on the floor, watching all the commotion and said. "Hi! Ben, Did you see these girls get upset? What you got? A toy equine, let's go riding. Da dum, da dum, da dum."
"That explains some of the things about Ben. He doesn't cry at night, I just wake up and know he needs me." Taryn included.
"I wonder what the Council will think about these Jedi babies?" Nya asked.
"Given up on controlling this court, they have, I suspect." Yoda said.
oOo
Delila was leaving on a Royal tour visiting the new schools and infirmaries around Pyotr, Andrew and Drew were accompanying her. Yoda and Juri were busy visiting the Temple on Coruscant with their Padawans training. Moth was overseeing security for the Queen and Taryn was in charge of the nursery. She was unusually tired because of the Banquet the night before commemorating Quina Nya's second year in power so she got the children down for their afternoon naps and sat down to rest for a few minutes and nodded off herself.
Ben woke up and saw Moma was asleep and decided to let her sleep while he went into the other room to play with his blocks. In climbing over the rail of the bed he made a noise and woke up Sachi, who wanted to go too, so Ben showed her how to climb over the railing and waited for her. In the other room, they saw Taryn had put up the blocks and had been in the process of bringing their playpen in since it looked like rain.
They toddled out onto the balcony and watched the excitement of the workers in the gardens below preparing for the approaching storm. Sachi noticed her parent's balcony door was open and thought, 'Go see Mama,' so she went in and Ben followed. A gentle breeze eased the doors closed and the quiet and calm eased Taryn into a deeper sleep.
The wandering toddlers looked for Nya and Tra Gon but no one was there except the Royal Maid who had just finished cleaning the suite and was having to make several trips to get all her cleaning supplies and laundry, so she propping the door opens between trips. They heard someone that sounded like Moth, "Dadi," Ben said as they went down the hall to find him. Like most palaces one hall leads into another, then another until you can almost meet yourself coming. Before long the wall coverings were not as fancy, the floor coverings were more worn and the halls were darker. Up ahead someone opened a door and started carrying in baskets of fruit; the cook was scolding the farmer for the quality of his produce and didn't see the little mice passing out.
This was a completely different style of courtyard much more utilitarian than the one outside the Queen's suite. There was a large area for suppliers to deliver their wares and few benches for the staff to rest up after a long day before heading home. Sachi saw the fresh flower in the picking garden and some of the flowers her mother liked and thought. 'I pi'k f'or fa Mama.' But the ones she liked were in a wire-fenced area so they had to walk along the fence to the gate. Ben took a stick and flipped the latch to open the gate and they went in and started trying to find the flowers they had seen form the outside. Sachi had just picked her flower when it started to rain; she didn't like the rain so Ben pointed to the potting shed. It was an open-air storage area, a roof on poles, so they found a bag of bulbs to sit on while they watched the rain.
As the produce man was leaving someone came out and stopped him and insisted he come back in the cookery. There was a lot of yelling and the man's boxes and bins were inspected by some of the guards the children had seen watching Sachi's Mama work. Finally he left still upset, but so were the guards. More guards came running up, finishing putting on their outfits and were given orders and rushed off in different directions. By the time it stopped raining everyone was so upset the toddlers decided it was safer to stay where they were until thing calmed down.
It had started to get dark and the way back to the gate became more confusing the longer they walked, they finally found a gate but it didn't look like the one they came in but at least it lead somewhere besides around and around the flowers. Ben noticed a light coming from the open door of the house belonging to the grounds keeper; out of it came the smell of warm bread and country stew. Both toddlers' stomachs growled, reminding them that they had missed their afternoon snack and it was time for dinner and a bath with bedtime soon to follow.
Ben and Sachi walked over to the door and peeked in and saw an old woman half blind and deaf, unable to walk very far. She had been pressed into watching the oven while everyone else went looking for something but her hearing hadn't allowed her to pick up for what. She turned when she saw the shadows thinking it was an animal trying to sneak a meal and was ready to show it out when she saw the two children. "Well, I 'ave sum' comp'ny, cume on in makes yo'r se'f at home."
She noticed them smelling the cooking and asked. "Hun…gry r ya". The smiles at the mention of food confirmed her suspicions.
She set them up on the bench in front of the table. "He'vy li'l fel'ows 'rn't ya." And set two bowels and two pieces of bread in front of them. They cleaned the bowels and started to yawn so she showed them where her cot was next to the oven so it was always warm on her sore bones. " 'ere ya go." Both curled up and went to sleep as soon as their heads hit the cot.
The next thing they knew a tall big built man was yelling at the cook and a young boy was running out the door. The guards came running in upset and yelling at everyone so they decided it was better to pretend they were still asleep. Moth and Gen came running in and scooped their children up, checking them over, then listened to the guard and the cook explaining something excitedly, all the time pointing at the old lady. The toddlers decided to play dumb until everything calmed down again. Then the Mama's came running in and took them from their Daddy's and started the whole process of inspection all over again, then the explanations and the old lady was starting to cry.
"Down!" Ben said and squirmed out of his mother's arms and ran to the old lady, hugged her leg and said as sternly as a toddler can. "S'op… he'p Sati… he'p Bem."
Sachi was to confused to say anything but shook her head vigorously.
Tra Gon said. "I'm sure the little ones are right, she didn't come into the palace and take the children. They wandered out and found their way here and she just took them in not knowing who they were and what was going on so you are not in trouble." He said patting the old lady on the back gently since he was afraid it would hurt her from the looks of her back. "I would like to thank you for being so kind to our children and even give you a reward. Let's see is there anything you need?" The relieved father asked.
"H'rd ab't ta bl'nk'ts on ta b'ds in ta p'lce." She said almost too nervous to speak. "Me ol' b'n's ud luv 'ne."
Nya and Tra Gon looked at each other and agreed she should have a whole bed and covering. "I will make sure it is delivered here tonight. Now we have some tired children and Mothers and should return them to their rooms."
As everyone started to collect the children and leave Ben turned and said. "Cume." To the little old lady and Sachi nodded vigorously in agreement.
Tra Gon laughed and said. "Looks like we have a new addition to the family. Would you like to come and live at the palace with the children?"
"I… yes… I w'd." She stuttered.
"Come we will set you up a room off the nursery, a very warm room with a big fluffy blanket because of your kindness to our children." 'It appears this family is going to be bad about picking up pathetic lifeforms.' Gen thought.
oOo
"Master Moth, good to see you again." The boys said in unison as usual.
"Hello, boys how do you like being Padawans?" Moth asked.
Both boys looked at Yoda and said. "We love being Padawans, we love our new names and we aren't playing tricks any more."
"You aren't, what changed?" Moth asked puzzled.
"Yoda said my name is (one said TJ and the other said JT) and we have to stay with that or he will play tricks on us and we don't want to make him mad." They announced and watched Yoda and Juri.
"I see what you mean, as big as he is I would be concerned about making him mad to." Moth said smiling. "Why don't you go and get your things put away while I talk to Yoda and Juri for a minute."
"Yes Sir." They ran off in the direction of their new rooms with the attendant assigned to assist the Jedi in all Non-Jedi matters.
"Well, that was a change what did you threaten them with?" Moth asked.
"Imagination worse than actual threats, it is. Think of many things could do, uncertainty worse than knowledge." Yoda explained.
"I wouldn't want to have him using mind tricks on me." Juri said shuttering.
Moth and Yoda shared a glance; each knowing Yoda had used mind tricks on her on Rampa.
oOo
"Master Moth, What are we going to do? It seems we have a new situation here, most Jedi do not have children and most Force sensitive children, do not have Jedi trained parents to imitate. I know sending Sachi to the Temple is out of the question and I get the feeling Taryn is not anxious to sent Ben yet they need some structure in their usage of the Force. Do you have any ideas?" Tra Gon asked Moth.
"We could set up our own Jedi training facility and start a new order where Jedi can get married and raise their own families." Moth sat up in bed and gasped. 'What a dream!'
oOo
Nya and Tra Gon had set up a sparring room at the Palace and an attached library for the Jedi and they sometimes slipped in to spar themselves. Yoda noticed he had a royal audience as he sparred with TJ. "Helpful in training our Padawans, this is." Yoda told Nya and Tra Gon.
"I'm glad, I want to make this as easy as possible for you and your Padawans, to show you how much we appreciate all you have done for us." Tra Gon said.
"Noticed not wearing royal robes, sparring are you today?" Yoda asked.
"If you wouldn't mind?" Nya asked showing respect for Yoda's position as Master to his Padawan.
"Come sit boys, Royal demonstration of techniques, we will have. His Royal Highness Tra Gon uses Form IV Acrobatics, while Her Royal Highness Queen Nya prefers Form III Defensive yet very effective in Offensive when time comes." Yoda said as they picked up the training sabers, ignited them and saluted each other, then started.
"Notice his twirl, comes down gently, flowing into next move. Oops, she got him, strength of Form III, she just showed. Remember that when using Form IV, or fried you will be. Notice how her body, she guards with lightsaber. Waits for moment of inattention then. (burr) Next most important lesson-- Never beat your wife sparring, especially if Queen wife is."
Tra Gon stopped and fanned the spot that had just been burred and bowed to the audience. "Wise man your Master is, always listen to him." Tra Gon imitated Yoda's speech. "Now, I think I will take my lovely wife for a walk in the garden it's safer there. Gentlemen and Lady if you will excuse us?" Tra Gon took his wife's hand and headed for the door.
"I wonder if someday our children will come here to spar and learn about the Jedi ways." Nya asked her husband as the door closed behind them.
"You aren't thinking about setting up our own Temple and Jedi order are you?" Tra Gon asked half joking.
"The Council would never allow that. Would they?… No." Nya concluded.
oOo
Master Poof called Nya on the holo-link and asked. "Since the problems on Pyotr have settled the Council would like to request to be able to borrow Yoda and Juri for a couple of missions. The Council has become aware of a problem in the outer rim and the twins special bond would be of value on the mission. The ruler of a planet had made a peace treaty with a neighboring system a bride for his son and a marriage to bridge the feud between the systems. The only problem was some think it is a betrayal of their lost loved ones to allow their enemies blood to mingle with their rulers and are going to try to stop the marriage. Juri and JT are to travel with the Bride and Yoda and TJ are to accompany the groom to the neutral site. This way the two groups will know what was going on with the other group at all times, it could prevent a misunderstanding."
"I would be glad to allow them to go on this mission, as you said the governmental problems have settled down these last few months and I really can't see having them escort me back and forth to the Throne room as a vital mission.'" Nya said. "The boys need some practical Jedi experience."
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Yoda and TJ arrived at the Paquito star system and picked up the bridegroom and started toward the Mon Calamari system which had agreed to host the wedding. Juri and JT had picked up the bride in the nearby Pascal star system and were on their way. Pazia was a lovely young girl, with long black hair, black eyes, and her skin was the color of fresh milk. She could be rather headstrong and was not at all certain about her father's decision to marry her off in an attempt to end a war. She had seen what the Paquito soldiers had done to some of the people of her planet when she was young and this sounded to far-fetched to work to her. The hope of peace had convinced her to try. She had seen a holo-image of Palo and thought he was fairly handsome for a Paquitoan, they were shorter than her people and all had red hair and green eyes very disconcerting when you were accustom to black eyes.
Palo was also concerned he had heard of the Pascal women and the way they use their feminine wiles on men and set traps and poison them. So he was concerned for his safety. Then Jedi they sent to guard him was a tiny little green thing, he was accustom to differing species but this thing was different from anything he had ever seen before. "What are you if you don't mind me asking?"
"Mind I do not. A great Jedi Knight, Yoda is." Yoda answered.
'I guess he misunderstood my question.' Palo thought. "How did you get this assignment?" Palo asked making conversation.
"Pulled from guarding the Queen of Pyotr to protect you, we were. Perfect for assignment we were considered." Yoda said as he punched in the coordinates for Mon Calamari. "Safe you are and your bride."
"Who is going to protect me from my bride?" Palo asked. "This could very easily be a trap to kill the next in line to the throne of Paquito. I hear the Pascal women are…"
"In times of war, rumors always make enemy much meaner than really are. Now Wookie brides, that's mean." Yoda stated matter-of-factly.
"How do you know they aren't on their ship plotting against me right now?" Palo asked.
Yoda looked at TJ and said. "His twin is on other ship, bond they have always know what other one is doing or hearing. Ask him." Yoda explained.
"You know what your brother is doing right now, what he is seeing and hearing right now?" Palo asked.
"Yes, sir, he is listening to Lady Pazia asking Master Juri if she thinks the rumors about Paquito men are true. Are they really as mean as she has heard?" TJ answered.
"What does she look like?" Palo asked.
"She is tall, taller than you, slim, she has black hair braided up on her head with pearls intertwined in the braids. She had black eyes like the stones on your staff; her skin is pale but not like a sick persons but more a flower. Her voice is soft easy to listen to." TJ opened his eyes and realized everyone was dead still listening to him in amazement.
"Does she know that we know what she is saying?" Palo asked feeling guilty for spying on her.
"No, not yet. Would you like me to ask her anything for you?" TJ asked.
"Yes, explain that well you know and ask her what she thinks about this marriage arrangement?" Palo asked.
TJ sat still for a few minutes while JT explained the situation and allowed the shocked bride to answer. "She said. 'I hope it brings peace to our peoples. There has been enough loss of life on both sides. I hope we can bridge the gap and show both sides the truth about the other.' She also asked JT what you looked like." TJ added.
Palo straightened up in his seat and asked. "What did he say about my looks?
"That you were shorter than her and you have red curly hair, freckles and dark green eyes, the color of the broach she wears. Your voice is deep but pleasant and you have a kind face." TJ answered.
"This is rather disconcerting knowing she is being told about me from a stranger." Palo said more to himself than those around him.
"She feels the same way." TJ told him.
"Does she resent being asked to marry a stranger?" Palo asked.
"She said. 'No. She actually suggested it to her grandfather as a small child for her aunt and your uncle. They finally agreed to try it but now as an adult she sees the complications she missed then'." TJ explained.
"I am glad she isn't resentful. Marriage is difficult enough even if the people are from similar backgrounds and go into it willingly." Palo confided.
'This could get mushy real quick.' TJ thought and JT of course agreed.
The new couple sent messages back and forth for hours until the boys started yawning and begged off for the night.
oOo
The arrival at Mon Calamari was complicated and the delegates were transported to different compounds until the final details were ironed out. Some of the peoples of the two star systems had come to protest and had refused to return home if this wedding went ahead.
"Problem we are going to have, tell Juri." Yoda said. "Bad feeling, I have."
oOo
AN: Thanks for the reviews as a nervous author they feed my muse and settle my nerves.
Welcome new readers and old. Hope you like my little world.
Lea-El