Wasn't it beautiful when you believed in everything
And everybody believed in you?

He really should have seen this coming. Anakin sighed as he stood next to his brother, Jacen, and watched the exchange between Jaina, his elder sister, and Tahiri, his continuous pain the backside. They were staring each other down as if it were some kind of contest to see who could blink first, and he noted with some apprehension that Tahiri was fingering the training lightsaber clipped to her belt like she was about to pull the thing out and use it. It had been a week since they had arrived at the Jedi Temple on Yavin IV and it seemed that Tahiri was doing everything in her power to spite the people she came in contact with. Why, just yesterday she considerably angered the usually calm and collected Master Tionne when the Jedi had asked if she would please consider wearing shoes. Needless to say, Tahiri's response had been less than polite. Anakin winced at the choice words he remembered her using.

"Whoa, they're really going at it!" Jacen whispered. He turned to Anakin, his lofty grin transforming into a smirk. "Still, she's pretty hot, you know? Lucky you…"

"Jacen!" Anakin said indignantly under his breath. "She is not!"

"Hey, don't worry, I'm not planning on stealing her from you –"

"Jacen!"

"—especially not when I have…" Jacen turned beat red suddenly.

"Have who?"

Anakin turned to find the person who spoken the question standing behind his brother, one eyebrow raised. Tenel Ka, the beauty of the Temple. Anakin himself thought of her more as a sister than anything, but it was obvious that Jacen did not from the heat rising in his cheeks. Her hair was even redder than Tahiri's and Anakin had the urge to shield his eyes sometimes from how bright it seemed. Finally, the girl gave them both a blinding smile with her perfectly white teeth that only succeeded in making Jacen blush even worse than before. The poor boy looked like his head was about to explode – much to Anakin's profound amusement.

Tenel's smile soon turned into a frown when she laid eyes on the rather tense scene involving Jaina and Tahiri. "Excuse me," she asked politely, stepping in between the two girls and effectively breaking off the staring contest. "I don't believe I've met you, miss…?" She addressed Tahiri in her usual politician's calm attitude.

"Tahiri," the other red head grumbled. She ignored the hand that Tenel had offered for her to shake. People never shook hands in the Tusken Raider tribes so she really didn't feel like doing it now either. "Who in the seven hells are you supposed to be?"

Anakin hid a smile at Jacen's shocked expression. Obviously he had been expecting Tahiri to at least be civil to the person he was sweet on. Tenel Ka's smile only became a bit strained, but there was no other outward sign of her discomfort. "I'm Tenel Ka from the Hapes system."

"She's also next in line for the position of Queen Mother –" Jaina said.

"— so you might want to watch your mouth," Jacen finished.

Tahiri only scowled and grumbled something that sounded suspiciously like a vulgar insult. Everyone resolutely ignored it, but the tension level rose exponentially. Tenel backed up a bit, her smile dropping. "Guys... really..." she muttered. "I told you not to go announcing that everywhere."

"Well it's true!" Jaina said somewhat defensively. "Veila shouldn't talk to you like that. She's just a nobody."

Ouch. Anakin winced at his sister's heated words. She would never have said that if Tahiri hadn't seriously gotten her riled up, so he knew their argument must've been rather horrible. He turned to see how Tahiri had taken Jaina's insult and was surprised to see the girl set her lips in a firm line and unclip her training lightsaber from her belt. "Really? Then I guess you won't mind me kicking your butt," she hissed.

Jaina had just enough time to power on her own saber before Tahiri was swinging hers in a downwards arc. Jacen's eyebrows rose so high that Anakin was sure they must've disappeared. It wasn't a shocker that he and everyone else in the room was surprised at Tahiri's challenge. No one got on Jaina's bad side unless they had a serious death wish. The baby Tauntaun that Jacen had been holding in his arms squealed and hopped onto the floor, trying to scurry as far away from the fight as it could. Jacen gasped and lunged for it, but the Tauntaun would have none of that and hopped away from his grasp. Anakin turned his attention back to the fight while his older brother tried to catch his pet without accidentally being beheaded by a stray lightsaber swing.

Meanwhile, Tahiri was feeling her anger increase with every second and every hit that her opponent struck. Thus, she did a desperate move, unpowering her lightsaber and smacking the hilt hard against Jaina's head. It was something every young one learned if they lived with the Sand People. Always, always strike for your challenger's skull. It had been instinct, but Tahiri knew it had also been her anger, and her eyes widened in horror when Jaina crumpled to the ground.

The hall went deathly silent for a long moment before Jacen - finally deciding to leave the Tauntaun pup alone for now - cried out, "Jaina!" and ran over to where his sister was lying unconscious on the Temple floor. Anakin, though concerned for his sister as well, turned toward Tahiri instead. She had an expression of such utter horror on her face that even Jacen stopped his loud reprimands in surprise.

"Tahiri...?" Anakin said gently. "Are you... uh..."

Tahiri wasn't listening. All she could see was the blood running down the side of Jaina's head. A flashback ripped itself through her mind, bringing back repressed memories of the time when her parents had died. She shut them out frantically now, steadying herself against the wall before turning and running from the scene. Anakin watched her go with wide, confused eyes.

"Jaina," Jacen had gone back to shaking his sister, trying to awaken her from whatever dream world she was in right now. "Hey! Hey, snap out of it!"

"Jacen, she's unconscious," Anakin sighed. "Not dead."

He took off his brown outer robe and stepped on a the end, ripping a piece from it without another thought. He pushed his calm, cool facade into place and handed Jacen the material. "Wrap that around her head to stop the bleeding," he ordered. "You two take her to the med-bay," At the 'you two' Anakin gestured to Tenel Ka and his older brother, who were looking relatively stunned.

"I'll go find Tahiri."

A/N: Thanks for reading! I know this chapter was kind of short, but I'll try and make the next one longer. WARNING: Jacen will NOT turn evil in this story. I hated how he became a Sith in the books (Jacen is like, one of my fave characters besides Tahiri and Anakin so it was a bit of a bummer). Anyways, this story might actually need some OC's (minor ones), so if you want to have yours added, then just send me a review or PM detailing their personality and if they're a Master/Padawan/etc (could even be one of Jacen's many animal pets). C=