I am going to be going away soon - first, I'm gonna hit Cape Cod and then I'm going to the city (ah, all the skyscrapers and rude taxi drivers and Starbucks...). In that time period, I don't know if I'll update, because not only are those trips going to shave off my writing time, but I don't know about Wifi to update. So, I'm sorry about that.

Enjoy!

Chapter Six. Neither One Prepared

The first time Kira saw Caleb, it was in the marketplace.

And it had resulted from Kira looking into the bookshop – and then realizing that there was already a boy inside. He was sitting on the floor, mindlessly picking at the covers and rolling his eyes at the beautifully printed words. Kira felt a small flare of anger. She was envious that boys could be seen with books and never be criticized, but girls…it was different, even though her father always told her to keep up her love of reading.

"Kira?" Obi-Wan asked from behind. "What are you doing?"

Kira turned around. "Nothing," she replied. "Father, can I go into the bookshop for a moment? I think Madame Jocasta said that she had new books coming today."

The man smiled down at his daughter. "Of course, Kira," he replied gently. "Just don't be too long."

Kira nodded and as soon as her father was gone, she bolted into the shop. The boy sitting on the floor didn't look up. He continued to play around with the pages, smirk on his face. Kira folded her arms over her chest and asked, "Are you going to read those books or are you going to continue fooling around?"

The boy looked up slowly. "I don't know," he replied. He tossed the book aside. "I don't like reading."

"How can you not like to read?"

The boy shrugged his shoulders. "I just don't. But I've put away the books now, haven't I?"

Kira pressed her lips together. "I suppose," she said grudgingly.

"I'm Caleb."

"I'm Kira. I like books."

The boy grinned. "I can tell."

xXx

As the two walked along, Kira started to get used to what exactly was going around her. She could feel the velvet underneath her shoes. She could hear Kanan's footsteps – which sounded more like padding sounds than actually steps. She can hear how uneven the pads were, too – which Kira slowly realized was either from the wolf attack – or maybe it was just difficult to walk with two animal feet.

Whatever the reason was, Kira quickly became attuned to it.

Shuffle, shuffle. Kanan's footsteps.

Pssht… The sound of Kanan's footsteps.

And then, at long last, they both came to a stop. "Are your eyes still closed?" Kanan asked over his shoulder. Kira nodded. "I'm not looking," she confirmed. Shortly after she said those words, she heard what seemed to be a set of doors being flung open – and Kira felt Kanan's hands gently take hers to lead her into whatever the doors were connected to.

Instantly, a familiar smell hit Kira. For a moment, it smelled like home. Papers. Ink bottles. Books. Kira had to swallow hard to avoid getting overwhelmed by homesickness.

"Can I open my eyes now?" she asked instead, trying to keep her tone light.

"Not yet!" Kanan replied. And then Kira heard two whoosh sounds, which Kira could guess were curtains, especially since she could feel light shining on her face afterwards. She took in a quick breath, and then, almost softly, Kanan said, "Alright – now."

Kira opened her eyes slowly, trying to get adjusted to the amount of light flooding in from a set of large windows. And then, blinking a few times, she turned to see shelves upon shelves upon shelves upon shelves of books. Books of all kinds – ones with plain, brown spines and others with wide, thick, multi-colored, golden-trimmed spines. Staircases led up to more bookshelves chock full of novels – there were small desks placed all around the grand room, as though any minute, there might be more people coming in to read.

"Oh," Kira whispered, putting her hands to her mouth. She took a few dazed steps towards the shelves – and let her lips curve into a smile. "Oh, this is wonderful!" She turned to look at Kanan, who almost appeared shy. "Do you like it?" he asked quietly. Kira grinned. "I love it," she replied with feeling. "This – this library –"

"If you like it, you can have it," Kanan murmured.

Kira whirled around. "Really?" she asked, her hands slowly dropping.

The beast shrugged his shoulders. "It's been a long time since anyone's appreciated these books," he responded. "I think you might have some use for it." Kira bit her lower lip to keep herself from smiling again – if she were to smile, she was sure that her face would split into two parts. Instead, she only nodded and replied, "Thank you. Thank you."

With that, she skipped towards the stairs, her hands already skimming over the books. She could see some familiar titles – some stories that seemed to ring a few bells in her head – but there were hundreds, if not thousands of other titles that were all brand new and sitting right in front of her…

Kira turned around, ready to thank Kanan again – but stopped, startled that he wasn't there.

xXx

"You know, that could have been the perfect time for you to get to her," Anakin sang, hopping alongside Kanan. "During that moment, you could have just asked her, you know – Kira, would you like to do something else once in a while?" Kanan looked down at Anakin with a frown. "She likes books," he said simply. "I don't really think it'd be a good idea to go from introducing her to the library to…asking her whatever else."

"You're too shy."

"No, I'm being cautious. Kira might have liked the library, but she might not have actually liked the reason why I showed it to her," Kanan replied quietly. He ran a paw through the wild mangles of his hair. "How is this even supposed to work? All of the books in the world wouldn't make Kira see anything else beyond this – this –" He gestured angrily to his face – to his hands – to his legs. "Do you think someone would really want to bother with knowing whatever else there was to this?"

Anakin pressed his lips together. "Hey," he replied, "Kira's only been around for a few days, but she'll come around sooner or later. Preferably sooner, but look at her – on her first day here, she met talking objects! Like me!" He grinned, looking pleased with himself. "And she didn't seem to have a problem with it. The only reason why she's having a problem with you is because you two got off on the wrong foot." Kanan grunted, "If you can even call that a foot."

Anakin huffed out a sigh. "You know, I think I remember a time when you didn't have a problem with girls – back when we were all human…ah, remember that? Those good days?" he asked wistfully. He hopped up to the desk. "There was this – this girl back then – I forget her name…started with an –ira as well – was it Mira? Or was it Nina? Something like that."

Kanan looked down at Anakin. "That was a long time ago," he said softly. Anakin shrugged his candle-like shoulders. "Yes, but there was her – now, what happened to that girl? You remember her, don't you?" he asked earnestly. Kanan felt something kick at his heart. He could hardly recognize who he was now, let alone what he was like when he was an actual boy. Aloud, he replied, "Only figments. It seems too long ago."

"But you were only a little boy! Ten years old, at the most. How could you forget something like that? Seventeen years old, Kanan – still at the age of seventeen, and you can't remember a girl you were last with seven years ago? I can remember what happened to me when I was five years old, and I'm only a bit older than you." Anakin said, shaking his head. Kanan scowled at the candle. "There was a lot going on when I was ten," he responded.

"Yes, yes, yes," were Anakin's only words. "But what could have happened to that girl? Where do you think she could be? Now, if she were here, do you think she'd accept you?"

"I don't know."

Anakin made a tsking sound. "Listen to me," he murmured, more to himself than to Kanan. "None of that matters now."

xXx

"Do people usually read books upside down?"

Kira looked up from her bed to face Cadena, who was looking down quizzically. Smiling, Kira rolled herself right-side up and she responded, "After reading for some time, you forget if you're sitting properly or not." Cadena cringed. "Sounds uncomfortable," she replied.

"Oh, no! Not at all!" Kira said eagerly. Gently setting the book on her lap, she replied, "You should have seen me whenever I'm outside – I have to make sure I'm not about to run into a tree or something." Cadena let out an incredulous laugh. "Really," she said. "Well, I suppose you were happy when Kanan showed you the library."

"Oh, yes," Kira replied, re-opening her book. "I couldn't believe it! Anakin told me there was a library, but I didn't think it'd be so big…" She felt the bed sink a little as Cadena leaned against it. "So, then?" the wardrobe asked excitedly. "You'll give him a shot?"

Kira looked up, bewildered. "A shot at what?"

Cadena blinked. Then, after a pause, she replied, "A shot at being friends?"

Kira pursed her lips together. "I suppose," she murmured, fingering the spine of her book. "I suppose he's…not as bad as I thought."

xXx

Kira crouched down in the snow, extending a gloved hand filled with little seeds. She watched with a small smile as a bird gradually hopped towards her, small chirps escaping its beak. Kira remained as still as she could as the bird kept hopping along – and finally, it was sitting in her palm, pecking out the small mound of seeds. Giggling lightly under her breath, Kira stood up slowly and watched as the bird fluttered its wings a bit, getting comfortable.

"Come on," she whispered, encouraging the bird to go further down her hands. "Come on…"

The bird, gaining trust with Kira, fluffed its wings again and pecked some more at the seeds. It let out a soft chirp and went back to going about its business, tilting its head up at other birds and the such. With a smile, Kira gently lowered the bird back to the snow-covered ground. She watched it hop around a few times, and then, lifting its head again, the bird let out yet another cheerful warble, signaling its friends to come down. Kira could only imagine what they were all thinking – free food! Free food! Free food!

But then, just as the birds were about to go into Kira's hands, a shadow loomed over them all. And it only took a second for Kira to recognize Kanan's familiar horns to not be alarmed by his sudden – and unexpected – presence, but the birds were not quite as forgiving as Kira. The moment they recognized a stranger in their presence, they all fluttered off in a second. There was a pause and then, almost sounding sorry, Kanan said, "It seems that your new friends like me too much."

Kira stood up, careful to keep the seeds in her hands. "That's fine," she replied, looking up at him. "All they need is some time – birds don't care too much about anything else unless you feed them or not. They're beautifully simple that way." She felt something perch on her shoulder – and with a smile, Kira turned to another bird. "Hello, again," she said happily. "Back for more?"

The bird jumped down to Kira's hands, happily returning to pecking out the feed.

"Do you do this kind of thing often?" Kanan asked at last, watching the bird. "They seem used to you in a such a short amount of time."

Kira looked over her shoulder. "Only sometimes," she replied. "And it takes some practice – when I was younger, I actually was too frightened that I'd scare off the birds to even try to get close enough to feed them." As she lifted her hands to make it easier for the bird to peck at the seeds, Kira heard Kanan ask softly, "What changed that?"

Kira paused. "I had a good teacher," she replied. She took in a breath and turned back around. Pressing her lips together into a halfhearted smile, Kira reached out her seed-covered hands. "Would you like to try? It's not that hard once the birds get used to you."

Kanan took a half-step back. "I shouldn't," he responded, eyeing the other birds warily. "I don't think I'm too fond of birds, either."

"Oh." Kira cleared her throat. "Oh, well."

With that, she started to turn, focusing on a few other birds that had decided to visit her hands – but yet, as she tried to put her attention away from Kanan, Cadena's words bounced back at her – "you'll give him a shot?" Kira sighed. She really didn't see how this could make things more comfortable between them – but resisting the urge to sigh again, she said aloud, "Here – you'd be surprised by how quickly you can grow accustomed to animals."

Kanan blinked down at Kira with curious eyes. The girl shrugged her shoulders and ducked down quickly, spreading out some seeds at Kanan's feet. "What –" the beast started to ask, but Kira whispered, "Just trust me. This'll work eventually." She continued to spread the seed around and took a few steps back, looking over at the group of birds still hovering around the tree branches. She waited for one moment – and then another – and then another – until finally, a brave soul hopped down from the tree and cautiously pecked at the seed at Kanan's feet.

Kanan looked over at Kira, his expression a mix of bewilderment and surprise. The girl nearly smiled at him for real – but instead, she just nodded. Go on, she wanted to say. Don't be frightened. (And those words weren't directed to the birds.)

Kira watched Kanan slowly crouch down – observe the bird – and then the bird lifted its head, tilted it to the side, and chirped up at the beast. Kanan blinked his wide eyes – and turned once more to Kira, as if to ask, what now? The corners of her lips now twitching, Kira sat down next to Kanan and quietly spilled some seeds into his hands. The beast stared down at the feed curiously – and then back at the bird, who let out another (perhaps even expectant) chirp.

And then, the bird hopped up into Kanan's hands without as much as even a threatening flutter of its wings. It pecked a few times at his hands and when realizing that it was safe and that the coast was clear, it turned to signal its other bird friends. Kira let out a small gasp of happiness as the birds all flew past her in a whizzing parade of colors and feathers. She turned to see Kanan surrounded by birds now, all waiting to get to the food waiting in his hands.

And then, quite suddenly, Kanan's bewildered expression melted away, replaced by one of pure curiosity and careful wonder – he remained frozen, as though any other movement might scare away his newly acquired companions, but besides that, there was a sort of childlike gentleness to him in the way he lifted his hands ever-so-slightly to make it easier for the birds to eat out of.

Kira couldn't help herself – she smiled this time.

She started to turn around the tree, leaning against the trunk and watching as a lone bird chirped down at her. Though its other friends had all joined Kanan, this one single bird still remained hesitant and watchful. Kira watched the bird almost sadly – and then, after a pause, she whispered, "Go on – all you need to do is give it one shot. Just one try. You can fly off whenever you feel like it'd be a good time."

The bird cocked its head at Kira. The girl blinked, only now realizing that she had said those words to a bird. A bird that didn't even understand her or had the brain capacity to. Kira sighed and rubbed a hand over her temples. All of the amazements in the castle – talking furniture, talking objects, enchanted things – had officially driven Kira to a sort of madness in which she thought animals could listen to her. Oh, well.

Kira turned around once more from the tree, adjusting her hood – and came to a short stop to see Kanan surrounded by more birds than ever. They were seated everywhere around him – on his head – on his arms – clinging to his cape – at his feet – chirping around his horns. And yet, Kanan remained as still as ever, perhaps now looking a bit nervous. Kira covered her mouth with a hand, stunned by how many birds could be attracted to a food-bearing person in such short time – and then, to make matters even a bit more humorous, the one bird Kira had 'talked' to flew down from the tree and landed in Kanan's hands with a quiet peeping sound.

"Well, it looks like the birds don't mind being your friend, after all," Kira managed to say at last, a laugh making its way up her throat. Kanan made a small sound of protest, followed by a weak, "Fantastic – now how do I get them off of me without scaring them completely?"

Kira let out a small laugh. She walked over to Kanan and gently placed her hand in his. She felt him freeze at contact, but brushed it away as she scooped up the remaining seeds from him. Then, casting him a look, Kira tossed the seeds to the other side of the garden. Instantly, the birds departed from Kanan, flying after the food.

"Birds," Kanan only said.

"Birds," Kira agreed. "They're a special kind of animal."

Kanan watched the birds with an odd expression on his face. "I don't think it takes a genius to figure that out," he shared. Kira opened her mouth to reply – but before she could, a few more birds stood on the branch on the tree beside her. And in the next second, the branch started shaking – and Kira watched as the snow that had been hanging from the branch fall onto Kanan with a surprising fhump sound.

Kira's lips parted once more in shock as Kanan let out a muffled cry of surprise. "What –" he started to sputter as he wiped the snow from his eyes. He looked at Kira, asking in a baffled tone, "Did you –"

The girl shook her head, pointing at the birds above his head instead. Kanan looked up and made an indignant sound from the back of his throat. "Never mind what I said about birds," he grumbled. "They're not special – they're just pesky." Kira grinned and leaned forward, carefully scooping snow in her hands. "I don't know too much about that…" she murmured and as Kanan looked back down, she tossed the snowball to his face just in time.

Kira was congratulating herself on such perfect aim and accuracy when Kanan said, "Fine! If you'd rather play that way…" The girl let out a playful shriek as Kanan started to gather snow in his hands – only this time, the ball wasn't too much a ball – rather, it was more of a boulder of snow. "No, no, no!" Kira shouted as Kanan started to lift the boulder – but then, before he could throw it, the snow crumbled in his hand and rained down on him instead.

This time, Kira actually started laughing.

There was a hesitant pause – and then Kanan, too, joined in on the laughter.

That is, until he threw a snowball at Kira's face.

xXx

"Everyone! Look, look, look, look!" Ahsoka cried, hopping up and down at the balcony. When no one came right away, she groaned and jumped down. "Everyone!" she shouted loudly. At last, Anakin, Admiral, and Padmé came through the doors, wearing curious expressions. "What is it, Ahsoka?" Padmé asked, making her way over to the duster.

"Look outside! Come quick!" Ahsoka grinned, jumping back up on the balcony.

It took a few moments for everyone to stand by Ahsoka – but once they did, there was a collective gasp.

"Well, will you look at that!" (Admiral.)

"They're actually…with each other! Without us bringing them together!" (Padmé.)

"Oh, Kanan." (Anakin.)

"Mom? What's going on?" Luke hopped up to the balcony, undoubtedly confused by what the fuss was all about. Then, he looked down at the ground below – at Kanan and Kira, who were tossing snowballs at each other, both wearing wide grins on their faces. "Oh," Luke only said, still puzzled by the happy expressions on everyone's faces. "Well, they're just playing."

Everyone started laughing, much to Luke's annoyance.

A/N - Aka, the story of my life - when everyone is in on a joke except for me, because I'm a lump of social anxiety without a mouth. If I had it my way, I'd love to just sit in my room all day and do anything except be stuck in my comfort zone. Sounds fan-effing-tastic to me! However, since that is not the case, I am repeatedly forced to say "hello" and smile real big in front of strangers. (I may or may not be helping out a bunch of little kids in the city soon - and though I have nothing against helping little kids, I have something against speaking to adults. I mean, I know I'm going to be one eventually but right now, I am not down for that ish.)

What was the point of this note again? Oh, yes - review, please! Constructive criticism is okay, but flames are not!