Guess what's in the next chapter ;D yaaaayyyyy watching their past play out on a screen hahaha
This should be fuuuunnnn!
Yet again, I own none of the songs that show up.
Thanks for the reviews guys. Yet again, I didn't expect this to get so much attention! I'm flattered! Thanks for the reviews, and I do plan on delivering. Got to get all of this fun stuff set up first :D
Enjooooyyy!
The warm air blasted Aria's face welcomingly as she strode into the library, running a hand through her hair to tame it after being in the wind even if it was briefly. Ginerva, the librarian, smiled as she entered.
"Aria! I haven't seen you in here in a while," she said cheerily.
Aria gave her a polite smile. "Sorry Ginny, I'm just here to pick up some family friends."
Ginerva frowned. "The ones that have been in the back all day?"
Aria laughed, though it was hollow compared to her genuine laugh. "Yes, them. My mother's been in town all day and father's at work so they came here to kill some time till one of us come home. They're friends from New York."
"That explains it," Ginerva mused. "I thought they acted a little strange. The older one asked where the 'refresher' was. It took me a moment to realize he meant the bathroom!"
Aria snickered, already headed towards the back. "Well I'll be taking them out of your hair now."
She passed by the familiar rows of book shelves, hand trailing along the stark white wall before she neared the door beads that signaled the teen hangout section. She pushed the beads aside, walking in the small room created by two walls and bookshelves.
Anakin was sprawled out on the couch, fast asleep. Padme was flipping through a young adult book—Hush, Hush by the looks of it—and Obi-Wan was pouring over the same paper she had given him at lunch and the book Padme had. When Aria entered, the two looked up.
"I'm back; here to free you from the endless pages of the books," she said sarcastically. "How long has Sleeping Beauty been out?"
They gave her a blank look at her last statement and she blushed. "Sorry, it's an Earth thing…how long has Anakin been asleep?"
Obi-Wan sighed, starting to pack up the random books strewn everywhere. "Since we got here."
"Well, I've got the car running, we're all set to go."
Obi-Wan nodded. "We'll get these put back and then we'll leave."
Aria stepped aside, letting the two past here. "Alright. I'll wake up sleepyhead."
She did allow herself a moment to study Anakin's features while he was asleep and looking peaceful, knowing that it was a rarity to see such an expression on his face. It was the same reason she was loath to wake him up, yet she needed to get to work.
Quietly, Aria strode to his side, bending down to place a hand on his shoulder. "Anakin…Anakin wake up," she said quietly, shaking him softly.
He jerked a little, eyes fluttering open. Apparently the sight of her right there gave him a small heart attack because he jumped a little. "Uhg…when did you get here?" he mumbled out, already sitting up and wiping his eyes tiredly.
"Not even five minutes ago. We're about to leave. The others are just putting up the books."
He sighed. "Alright…we're going back to your place, right?"
She shook her head. "No, not yet. I have to go to work, but you guys can tag along for it this time. I'm not going to make you wait it out in here any longer."
"Thank the Force," Anakin mumbled, and Aria chuckled.
"I thought that's what you would say. Now come on, while there's still daylight," Aria snickered.
Anakin stretched before he followed her out of the teen room, stifling a yawn when he thought she wasn't looking. Obi-Wan and Padme emerged from the row at the far end of the building, coming to meet them halfway.
"It was nice seeing you again Aria," Ginerva called as the group made their way out the door.
"You too Ginny," Aria said automatically. Her pace quickened as she made her way to the car, eager to get out of the cold and into the heat of her car. They all took their respective seats, and Aria tapped Anakin's arm once he was settled. "Hand me the CD case before we head anywhere."
He cocked an eyebrow but did as she asked, and Aria flipped to the spot she knew by heart, pulling out the CD simply labeled 'One of Those Days…Again.'
She switched the CD out with the Star Wars Mashup, putting the CD case away and doing her best to relax as she backed out of the library parking lot. The song helped, with Warriors by Imagine Dragons being the first song.
"As a child you would wait and watch from far away. But you always knew that you'd be the one to work while they all play. In youth you'd lay awake at night and scheme of all the things that you would change, but it was just a dream! Here we are, don't turn away now; we are the warriors that built this town. Here we are, don't turn away now; we are the warriors that built this town…from dust," Aria sang softly, a tight grip on the steering wheel as she let her frustration from the school day out through the song.
"Rough day?" Anakin asked, that eyebrow still cocked questioningly.
"Nothing out of the normal," Aria responded, sighing. "Just another day for me."
With a chuckle, she looked at Anakin, giving him a smile that didn't really reach her eyes. "Some days I don't know how I do it."
"What happened?" Padme quipped from the back.
Aria shrugged. "Kids are cruel, society is messed up, and no one ever gives me a chance or listens to me. The normal stuff for me. Just some days it gets to me more than other days. I just need the moment to breathe and get ahold of myself and then I'll be fine."
Anakin frowned, but said nothing, letting her have her moment to breathe. She listened to her music, letting the familiar lines calm her down like so many days before. The Fighter by Gym Class Heros was the last one to play before they reached the medical clinic.
"But I do it for the kids life threw the towel in on. Every time you fall it's only making your chin strong. And I'll be in your corner like Mick, baby, 'til the end, or when you hear a song from that big lady. Until the referee rings the bell, until both your eyes start to swell, until the crowd goes home; what we gonna do ya'll? Give em hell, turn their heads; gonna live life 'til we're dead. Give me scars, give me pain; then they'll say to me, say to me, say to me. There goes a fighter, there goes the fighter, here comes the fighter; that's what they'll say to me, say to me, say to me. This one's a fighter."
She sighed, parking the car in the small driveway of the clinic. "All right, I'll be much more sociable now," Aria said with a small smile. "Come on, I get to introduce you to Dixie…I'll just come up with some names for you guys on the spot," she said with a wave of her hand.
They all filed through the front door, and Aria smiled at Janelle behind the front desk, who moved to open the door. "Good to see you girlie," Janelle said as Aria walked into the back. "How are you doing?"
"Good," Aria replied automatically, glancing down the hall. "Is Dixie in with a patient?"
"Yes, she should be done any moment…who're your friends?"
Aria glanced back at the three who were huddled in the patient room just behind Aria, who was standing in the doorway that lead into the back hall.
"Oh, this is Ben," she said, pointing at Obi-Wan and smiling a little at the irony. "And…Phoenix," she added, pointing at Padme.
She turned her attention to Anakin, who had an eyebrow cocked challengingly, obviously telling her to pick a good name. She was going to give him a name that started with a, but then she decided differently, deciding to play off of Vader. "And Victor. They're all friends from New York. They came to visit for a while, but no one's at the house so I was wondering if it was all right if they're here during my shift," she asked sheepishly.
Jenelle's face scrunched up in thought. "I don't know…you'll have to wait until she's out to ask her."
"That's what I would expect," Aria chuckled.
Right on cue, there was the familiar sound of the second exam door creaking open. Aria gestured for the other's to get out of the way, stepping back into the waiting room as the patient came through—one of the many elderly around town—Dixie right behind her. The brunette middle-aged woman smiled when she saw Aria.
"Hi Aria. Did you have a good day at school today?"
"Uh-huh," Aria responded automatically. "Hey Dixie, no one is at home and I'm kind of in charge of these three; is it all right if they're here with me, maybe help me clean a little?" Aria asked.
Dixie smiled at the two. "Sure, if you introduce me first."
"Ben, Phoenix, and Victor," she said, pointing to each. "They're friends from New York staying with us for a while."
"All right. It's nice to meet you," Dixie said, shaking each of their hands. "Any friend of Aria's is a friend of mine."
Aria blushed. "Thanks Dixie."
"No problem girlie," she responded, letting Aria slip back through the door and head for the cleaning supplies.
"You're the janitor?" Anakin asked as she pulled out Windex and Clorox wipes.
Aria shrugged. "I'm just sixteen. It's my first job, cut me some slack," she chuckled. "I work at the local bank too, but I'm just a part time teller, a fill in."
"Busy, busy, busy," Anakin said with a smile. Aria returned the smile, handing him the Windex and some paper towels.
"All right Professor Hinkle, why don't you help me clean up the messy, messy, messy?" Aria said sarcastically. Anakin scowled, though Obi-Wan and Padme both stifled snickers.
"So why don't you tell us about yourself to help the time go by? You already know everything about us," Padme said as they moved to the far back room, where Aria always started the cleaning.
"Well…Obviously I already said I'm sixteen, a straight A student…I have a one year old sister and eight year old brother…my mother is a stay at home mom, and my father is a military man, army branch. We've moved from place to place, though we've lived here the past five years. That's the Reader's Digest version."
"Reader's Digest?" Padme asked, watching Aria wipe down the sink.
"It's media…a magazine, like these," she said, gesturing towards the stack of magazines on the table she was moving to clean.
"Uhg, more of those things," Anakin grumbled.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to make you read it," Aria chuckled. She smirked, giving him a sly smile. "Are you ever going to get to cleaning that window?"
Anakin gave her a look, though a small smile crept into his expression, causing her to chuckle.
This was going to be the most interesting day at work ever.
Anakin glanced at Aria admiringly when they were in the car after she got off work, wondering how she did it.
She'd even got Obi-Wan laughing and cracking jokes while they all cleaned the clinic, slapping at each other with Clorox wipes. How was beyond him.
Now she drummed on the steering wheel, her mood a complete one eighty from how she had been earlier when she'd picked them up. It kind of reminded Anakin of himself. Her mood swings anyway, though perhaps a little more obvious. As she apparently did every time she was in the car, she was singing along to the upbeat song blaring through the stereo.
"Aww no, Conway and George Strait never did it this way back in the old days. Aww y'all, we ain't a cliché! That ain't no way to treat a lady; like a girl in a country song, how in the world did it go so wrong? Like all we're good for is looking good for you and your friends on the weekend, nothing more. We used to get a little respect, now we're lucky if we even get to climb up in your truck, keep my mouth shut and ride along—down some old dirt road we don't even wanna be on—and be the girl in a country song."
"Woman don't get much respect here?" Padme asked from the back.
Aria snorted a little. "Depends on who you ask. I agree with these girls; I think women are used as sex symbols too much. But that's just the opinion of one sixteen year old girl," Aria responded.
Anakin shrugged. "It doesn't mean your opinion means nothing."
"Out here it does," Aria mumbled bitterly before she shook herself, sighing. "Gah, the depressed mood is supposed to settle in after I get home. Let me have my moment," she chuckled darkly.
Anakin frowned. "What, are things not that great at home?"
"No."
That's much more blunt than I thought it would be, Anakin thought. "Okay…are you going to give us any warnings?"
Aria shook her head. "Nope. I don't think there's really any kind of warning to prepare you for my household. Sorry I'm not housing you in a happy cheery house. I can't really do anything about it," she said apologetically.
"I'm sure it'll be just fine," Obi-Wan reassured her.
Aria snorted, but offered no reply, which didn't serve to comfort Anakin any. He discreetly watched her for the rest of the trip, observing as her relaxation became gradually faked, an underlying tension obvious to him.
She didn't drop the façade of calm even when they arrived, sliding the car into the driveway. "Come on, my father isn't home yet, so you get to meet my mother and siblings," she muttered, fitting the key into the lock. The door swung open and immediately an angry woman's voice reached them.
"Aria, take her before I kill her! Joshua Davidson Neads sit your butt down and shut up before I shove this sock down your throat!"
Anakin blinked in surprise, though Aria scowled with a bitter smile twisting across her expression a moment later.
"Home sweet home."
