Yay, chapter. Everyone, meet Garvan. I wish I could claim the smarmy git as my own, but I can't – he's actually the creation of my best friend, and as such he narrowly escaped being named 'Tom' (it's his name in all her stories with him), but we eventually conceded that that wasn't a very Star Wars sort of name. He's an epic character, and I use him with permission and much amusement. Every story needs a Tom. So, anyways, I hope everyone enjoys this chapter. Hopefully the next one will be out soon, but my work hours are going up as the holidays approach, so I make no promises. Thanks for reading, as always, and please keep the reviews coming!

Chapter Seven

"Will someone tell me what the hell is going on here?" The farmhand had finally switched back to Basic, instead of whatever unfamiliar language he'd been babbling in moments ago, but he still sounded rather upset as Ahsoka and Anakin stepped back from the embrace and turned to look at the three Terraneans still standing there. "What happened yesterday? Who is this guy? And what the hell is that… that thing?" Ahsoka winced slightly as he jabbed a finger in her direction, and Anakin glared darkly at him.

"'Thing'?" he repeated, in a rather 'I'd-better-have-heard-you-wrong' sort of challenging tone, but Manny was already talking over him.

"Calm down, Garvan, you're yellin'," he said, surprisingly calm with all things considered.

"Damn straight I'm yelling!" the man retorted. "There's a red chick with horns standing there hugging on the weird guy in the robe who you were just trying to kick off the property! Man, I take one day off…" He looked between Manny, who was standing with arms crossed and a vague expression of agitation still on his face, and Keida, who was glancing back and forth between all four of them and looking very flustered. "What is it, anyway? When'd you two adopt some mutant kid thing and not tell me?"

Ahsoka wasn't sure exactly whose anger she felt at this description of her. She knew her Master looked clearly upset at it, and she wasn't very pleased either; even Manny looked irritated. "Hey!" She protested, affronted, and Anakin took a step forward, but Manny cut in before either could say anything further.

"She's not a mutant or a thing, Garvan, she's a person, and I'd thank you to watch your tongue 'round people 'fore it gets you in trouble," Manny snapped, glaring at the farmhand. "Calm down an' stop yellin' before all the help comes runnin' to see what you're on about. Last thing we need's a bigger scene bein' made," he muttered.

"I'll stop yelling when someone explains this to me," Garvan retorted, and Ahsoka got the distinct feeling that at this point he was only raising his voice on principle to back up his words rather than out of shock or excitement like before. It was obvious Manny was getting upset about it, and looked about to shout back, but Keida seemed to have regained her composure now enough to interject.

"I think we should take this inside."

"Why would we…" Manny started, but followed her gaze over to Ahsoka – who shifted awkwardly under the stares of all three Terraneans and her Master – and nodded slightly. "Oh. Yeah. Good plan. Let's go inside." And he headed for the house, shooting Garvan a look and then one at Ahsoka – she felt pretty confident in translating it as a 'you're in trouble and we're going to discuss this later' look; she got them enough from Anakin. Keida followed him, and Ahsoka grabbed Anakin's hand and tugged him along towards the house before he could protest, and Garvan trailed after them muttering again in that language Ahsoka didn't know.

This found them now congregated in the den of the house, all feeling a bit awkward. Manny had settled into his armchair, pressing buttons on the control to the Teevee unit without paying much attention at all to what it was doing in response. Keida was bustling around in the kitchen, talking vaguely about where she'd put the cups and if there was time to make tea or if she should stick with juice of some sort. Ahsoka and Anakin had taken up position on the couch, where Anakin was giving her a once-over and both were trying to ignore Garvan's piercing stare from where he stood leaning back against the wall, watching them suspiciously.

"You really look a mess, all bandaged up…"

"I know, but it's not as bad as it looks, really." She ignored Manny's slight scoff; she was getting enough of a look from Anakin as it was. "I'm okay, just a little banged up."

"'A little banged up'? You've got as much a skill for understating as you do for over-exaggerating, you know that?" The sternness in his voice lessened a bit as Ahsoka grinned at him – but only a bit. "If you're still wandering around in bandages it must have been pretty bad. Those don't look like bacta patches." He leaned forward to examine the bandaging on her side.

"Well, that's 'cause they're not. They don't have bacta here."

"What do you mean, they don't have bacta?" Anakin shot her an incredulous look, something between shock and disbelief. She couldn't help but smirk; she knew the feeling. Bacta was everywhere.

"Yeah, that's what I said…"

"What the hell's 'bacta'? Sounds disgusting," Garvan cut in. "No wonder we don't have it."

Anakin shot him a look, raising an eyebrow, but chose not to respond, turning his attention back to Ahsoka. "They should take you to a hospital or something, then, where they would have some; I don't like you wandering around hurt." Manny made a sound that might have been a slight laugh at this; Ahsoka would have spoken up to defend them, but Anakin didn't give her time to. "And that leg looks pretty bad, either way. Should you be walking around on that?"

"No, she shouldn't," Manny answered for her, "but it don't stop her, stubborn little thing."

Ahsoka grinned sheepishly while Anakin gave her a pointed look. "She is definitely that." Manny glanced at him sideways with an expression Ahsoka couldn't quite interpret, then looked at her, and she braced herself for the inevitable scolding – likely from both at once.

Thankfully, she was spared the ordeal by Keida's re-entry into the den, carrying a tray holding five glasses of tea, which she proceeded to distribute among them. This done, she settled down in her rocking chair. Ahsoka was struck by the forced casualty as they all silently sipped the drinks; this was somehow very serious, but no one quite wanted to acknowledge it. The quiet quickly became awkward and almost smothering, but she felt she had no right to break it. She did her best not to fidget.

"Well," Manny finally stated, and after the long silence his voice sounded unnaturally loud. "I think some introductions are in order." He looked over at Anakin. "I'm Manarin Tarin. This is my wife, Keida, an' that loudmouth over there's one of our hired help, Garvan Antik."

"'One of the hired help'? Is that it?" Garvan sounded deeply offended, and Ahsoka was a bit amused that he seemed to accept the 'loudmouth' accusation but was upset about this. "I'm in charge of the hired help, thank you very much." Manny and Keida ignored him, so Master and Padawan followed suit.

"Anakin Skywalker," her Master introduced himself a bit curtly; she vaguely hoped they wouldn't think him rude – it was just how he was.

"You already know me," Ahsoka quipped with a smile; Keida's "Of course, dear," was said at the same time as Garvan's, "Well I don't, but no one's thinking of me over here."

Manny sighed irritably. "Garvan, Ahsoka; Ahsoka, Garvan. Happy now?"

"Oh, somewhat there. Now tell me what the hell she is and where she came from; then maybe I'll make it to 'thrilled'," he stated dryly. Ahsoka nearly giggled, but managed to catch herself in time and turn it into a bit of a cough; Anakin shot her a slightly amused look.

"Well, uh, she's…" Manny exchanged a look with Keida; Ahsoka frowned. They didn't want him to know. She could feel it. It wasn't that they didn't trust him exactly – in fact, it was very similar to how she felt about letting them know she was a Jedi, or about the war. It wasn't distrust; it was just the internal feeling that it would be better to keep secrets. "She's… uh…"

"She's from out of town," Keida blurted. Everyone stared at her; even Anakin, who probably had no clue what was going on, knew it sounded ridiculous. "I mean, um, she's from… one of the Arc Islands, you know, out across the Great Sea."

A certain comprehension dawned in Manny's expression. "Yeah," he agreed. "Orphan, we're fosterin' for a while… that new government program thing, ya know. Tryin' to… uh… educate the natives an' all, bring 'em into civilization. She got here yesterday when y'all had the day off; we were gonna get her settled in 'fore doin' any introductions."

Ahsoka could feel Anakin's gaze on her, questioning. Go along with it, she pleaded mentally, hoping the block in the Force wouldn't stop him from hearing her.

"Okay," Garvan said, slowly, "foster kid. Red skin, tribal face paint… Islander. Yep." Ahsoka was suddenly a bit grateful that she was at the very least wearing 'Terranean' clothes, the simple farm clothes, instead of her usual outfit. Maybe it makes me look a little more normal… "So, then, what's with the… horn… things?" He motioned vaguely around his head and Ahsoka tried her best not to feel self-conscious again.

"Headdress," Anakin inserted before anyone could answer. Ahsoka felt a rush of relief; he must have heard her, or at least gotten the general feeling. "It's traditional." She nodded in agreement – well, it was half-true; she was wearing an akul-tooth headdress, which was traditional wear for her people when they earned it. She supposed her montrals and head-tails could pass as some fancy sort of headwear, so long as he didn't look too close.

"Uh-huh. And who're you, then?" Garvan turned his sharp gaze on Anakin.

"Distant cousin of Kei's," Manny offered, while Keida nodded. "We don't know him that well, but he's here visitin'. Wasn't expectin' him to show up today," he glanced at Keida, "'Cause no one thought to tell me. An' you know how I don't like people just showin' up, an' since I didn't recognize him I didn't wanna tell him anythin'… thought he might be an Agent, and you know how I feel about them. Guess he don't like bein' yelled at, either, so we had a bit of a tiff."

"You two really need to get beyond such issues," Keida said casually, "Whatever happened to a simple 'hello' before everyone starts shouting?" Manny and Anakin exchanged glances while Ahsoka kept a straight face with much difficulty, stifling another 'cough'.

"Uh-huh." Garvan spoke in a monotone, making it difficult to tell what he thought or if he was buying the story. "And… they know each other?"

"That's why he's here, actually," Keida answered easily. "He spent time on the Islands working with the kids; we exchanged letters. He's actually the one who suggested the program to me and helped set the whole thing up."

There was a long moment's silence as Garvan looked between the four of them, one eyebrow raised. "Well," he finally said. "Great story, that one. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have work to do, and since it sounds like interruption by Alliance Agents is imminent, I'd better get started. Have fun with your new alien friends while it lasts." And he plunked his empty tea glass down on the table, and then turned and marched for the door, muttering to himself about wastes of time and people falling out of the air in space rubble and why'd they drag him in here anyways when they knew full well he had important things to take care of.

For a second after he left it was quiet, everyone staring after him. Ahsoka broke the silence with a fit of giggles she'd been doing her best to hold in, and then everyone was staring at her. "What? You have to admit it was kind of a funny story."

Manny smirked wryly, leaning back in his chair. "Yeah, well, it was worth a shot. Damn man's too smart for his own good; shoulda known it wouldn't do any good to lie to him. Pro'lly had the whole thing figured out 'fore we even got in here." He looked over at Keida, chuckling. "Good try, though. Arc Islands, I never woulda thought of sayin' she was one o' them redskins."

Keida smiled and shrugged. "It's the first thing that popped into my head. I don't think they're quite so… deeply red," she added with a glance at Ahsoka, "but it was all I could think of."

"What's going on here?" Anakin asked, looking over at Manny before fixing his gaze on Ahsoka. "Why were we feeding him a cover story?"

Ahsoka started to answer, then paused, realizing for the first time exactly how complicated this entire thing was. "Well… it's a long story, Master." Keida and Manny exchanged a look as she glanced over at them. They could answer, of course, but it was clear he was more interested in hearing Ahsoka explain, and she was kind of glad for it – there were things she wanted to discuss with him that they didn't know. But then, she had no right to ask them to leave.

"I should go get the stew cooking if we're going to have it in time for supper," Keida stated in way of excusing herself, standing. When Manny seemed un-inclined to move, she cleared her throat slightly to get his attention and shot him a pointed look as she passed him en route to the kitchen; he sighed heavily.

"Oh, alright. I guess I'd better go make sure Garvan ain't runnin' 'round tellin' everyone we got an alien in the house." He stood and headed for the door, casting a glance back over his shoulder at them before he left. He looked as if he'd like to say something but decided against it, and a moment later the door swung shut again.

Anakin fixed his gaze on Ahsoka again. "Long story, huh? Well, get telling, Snips. Sounds like you've got some explaining to do."

She smiled a bit, despite herself. "Yes, Master." And she settled back on the couch, took a deep breath, and started explaining, hoping she could make the story make sense – because it still didn't quite make sense to her. With any luck, she realized, maybe Master can figure out what exactly it is that's still so… wrong. Because the feeling of something being off hadn't gone away when he'd gotten here, not like she'd thought it would. Something wasn't right… but he was here now, so what could be wrong? She hoped he'd know, because she sure hadn't figured it out yet.