Chapter Fourteen

There were many things I liked about staying on Dantooine. One of my favorite things, however, was the sense of community. This year's sap harvest had come to an end and to celebrate, there was always a village gathering in the center of the plaza at the Great Pit. Basically, it was a large bonfire with seats around its circumference. There were also long wooden tables with offerings of plenty of food as well as drink, including a local alcoholic concoction I'd heard some of the Jedi claim would work equally well to remove paint. I hadn't tried it and had no intention of doing so. Not as long as Leia was still breastfeeding.

This year, the celebration just so happened to fall on the same day as Leia's first naming day. Special sweetbreads had been made in her honor and piles of them were displayed upon the desserts table.

I had immensely enjoyed the moments we had spent together as a family over the past year but wished time would slow down. The peaceful feeling I had worried would sift through my fingers as sand had miraculously been extended. Selfish or not, I wanted it to continue.

Glowlights were strung across the plaza and most of the children wore festive and colorful hats, which added to the joyous atmosphere. Dela had placed one on Leia's head, but being a child in possession of some less-than-desirable personality traits, she wouldn't wear the thing no matter how many times Dela tried to get her to. Every time, she would pull it off and throw it to the ground.

/She's stubborn,/ I informed Obi-Wan, who was standing near the drinks table, watching us while speaking to some village men and a couple of younger Jedi.

/Wonder where she gets that from?/ he teased in return.

I had to admit that my own mother was pleased to inform me once how difficult I had been as a child. Seeing as the words had come from her mouth, they weren't necessarily trustworthy, and I wasn't sure I believed her until my older sister, Sola had confirmed it.

/I'll take credit for that, but not her willful temper. That one's all on you./

/What temper?/

We had both already witnessed several tantrums, which were not anything to be proud of, and a derisive snort escaped my nose, which Bant heard.

"Is Obi-Wan being a pain again?" she asked playfully.

The two of us were sitting next to each other near the fire pit while Dela was doing her best to keep Leia entertained.

"When isn't he?" I teased in return.

"You can't be too hard on him. He did help provide a beautiful offspring," she informed me.

Of course, I had to agree. Leia was an attractive child, which was probably the main reason everyone in the village doted on her. I had never seen a youngling receive so many gifts on the day of her birth. Each family presented us with things they had been working on; clothing and toys, as well as a rather large chest, to hold it all. Each item was hand-created and unique with traditional designs.

I was thankful at first, but these types of gifts kept coming over the months. As if these people didn't have enough work to do. I seriously didn't know where they found the time to create such beautiful things. It needed to stop, but I didn't know what to say, and I didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings.

"She's spoiled," I announced to Bant. "By an entire village! What am I supposed to do about that?"

I watched as another woman took Leia from Dela and offered her a sweet. I decided I had to put my foot down on that one. We hadn't even eaten our meal yet.

As kindly as I could, I took Leia from the woman's arms and informed her it was time to eat. Of course, she squirmed and complained about it. I scolded her, although she didn't necessarily care to hear anything I had to say. Obi-Wan was the only voice of reason she would actually listen to.

"What seems to be the problem?" he announced, stepping up to take her away from me.

"She wants dessert before she eats a proper meal and I won't allow it."

"That mean ol' mommy," he began. "She never lets us have any fun, does she?"

To distract her, he began levitating Leia up in the air high above his head. This distracting tactic always worked, although it made me nervous. As usual, Leia giggled and slobbered, revealing the new teeth she had in her mouth. I couldn't help but laugh along with them, although I would have to have a serious talk with Obi-Wan soon about his tendency to play with her whenever she was being bad. He was teaching her that bad choices come with rewards and it was going to create a problem in the future.

Leia and I were seated at one of the long tables while Obi-Wan retrieved our food. For the time being, our daughter was entertained by a young padawan making faces at her from further down the table, but soon she got bored and began whining about wanting to get down.

And then she saw the sweetbreads; the same one she had been offered which I had denied her. They were sitting on a table to our left, far from her reach, but it didn't stop her from reaching in that direction and crying out for me to retrieve one for her.

Her first words had been Momma and Yoda, which had disappointed Obi-Wan. Dada came only after she had learned the word, no. That one-syllable word became the most important one in her growing vocabulary.

Obi-Wan offered her a bite of a fresh tuber and she screamed 'No!' I tried to get her to eat some of the roasted duck on her plate, which I knew she liked and she still refused. All the while, she reached for the sweetbreads and cried out.

"You're not having any dessert, young lady until you have some vegetables and protein. I meant it."

It was unusual for Obi-Wan to be so firm, but it had an immediate effect and she stopped crying, although that only gave way to the pouting phase. Her bottom lip stuck out and she sat back, angrily eyeing both of us, though her gaze kept returning to what she really wanted. However, she was being quiet for the time being, which gave us the opportunity to eat and talk to others.

I was slowly learning how to cook from watching some of the ladies in Dantoo Town, and I marveled at how they took things such as a simple tuber and made it taste so good. The food was delicious and everyone was happily chatting away until silence suddenly stopped everything and all eyes turned toward our daughter.

From the desserts table, she was levitating one of those damn sweetbreads. The one with the jelly in the middle.

We all watched in awe as if we'd never seen anything like it. We hadn't – at least not from her.

Happily, she captured the treat in her chubby little hand and began nibbling away at it, her face revealing all the pride and pleasure a one-year-old can display.

"Answers our questions that does."

Yoda was the one who stated the obvious. Obi-Wan and I had wondered if Leia was going to be able to use the Force. Up to this point, she hadn't shown any signs, and Yoda's interactions with her had only led to undetermined results.

I smiled at my daughter who was happily chewing away, her face now covered with the red stains of the jelly, and I secretly felt sorry for whoever it was that would be assigned the task of training her.