Decisions Part 1 Is this a love story?

by Jules Cesar

At the time of the old Republic. During Sith Occupation in the Cold War. A couple, being different species, was forced to marry by the Sith. He thought she was too red, but was interesting. She thought he was too blue, and hated him. How they overcame their differences, and outwitted the Sith, for a life together. (Mature after chapter 7)

9. Chapter 8

©2015

The envelope was addressed to Chitrah Drashing and Andriel Mirranna. The back of the envelope had a seal on it from the Royal House of Santhe. Chitrah asked if he could borrow a pen knife to cut the envelope open. The high official almost took the envelope from him. "You can't do that. It will set off every security alarm in this building, and place us in lockdown mode."

"So how do I open it?"

"You have to remove the seal."

"How do I do that?"

"Try placing your thumb on the seal, and see what happens."

So Chitrah placed his thumb on the seal. At first nothing happened. Chitrah was feeling a little disappointed. Just as he was about to remove his thumb, the seal started to warm up. It felt like it was going to start bubbling, then it just disappeared. Chitrah opened the envelope and the flowery scent became stronger, but was still very pleasant. Inside was a card. He took it out and read it out loud to keep everyone from asking him what it said. "Her Majesty, Princess Krinta Santhe, request the honour of your presences for dinner. A limousine will be at your place of residence at 18:30 sharp to pick you up and bring you to the palace. Formal dress is required. If you do not have formal wear contact the Palace Secretary, and proper formal wear will be provided."

Everyone was staring at Chitrah. He asked them, who Princess Krinta was? Their stares turned to shock. "You don't know who Princess Krinta Santhe is?"

"Don't know her! Never met her."

"She is the niece of Queen Anthila Santhe, ruler of Lianna and head of Santhe Corporation and all its subsidiaries."

"Why does she want me and my wife to come to dinner?"

"That's what we were going to ask you!"

"Am I supposed to bring a gift or something?"

"I don't know? Computer get me communications." "Communications here."

"Contact the Palace Secretary and ask them if Chitrah Drashing and Andriel Mirranna are required to bring a gift with them, when they come for dinner with Princess Krinta Santhe?"

They all stood there waiting for a reply. "No gift is required."

"Thank you."

"Chitrah you can take the day off to prepare if you want."

"No, first I will notify my wife. Then I'll go and finish the installation in the business that I started yesterday afternoon. I don't like to just leave things."

The high official dismissed Chitrah by thanking him for coming. After he left, the high official contacted the head of the Ministry on Lianna, and told him that Chitrah claimed that he did not know why he received an invitation to the palace. He even asked if we knew why they were invited. The head of the Ministry did not buy Chitrah's ignorance. He wanted a copy of Chitrah report tomorrow, as soon as he has finished filing it. The high official did not agree with the Head Minister. All the profile information on Chitrah show him to be what they call a straight-shooter. He will always tell you the truth. He may not tell you all the truth, but he is always truthful.

The high official had also found out that other Ministries, beside the Interior Ministry were keeping a tab on Chitrah. Now with the Royal Family involved, there were too many players in Chitrah's life, and they were all above the high official's pay grade. He decided to rethink trying to take any action against Chitrah. It was not worth destroying his carrier over a package of pickled meat.

Chitrah entered their apartment and called out Andriel's name. She came out of the bedroom where she had been watching Shaak practising. He showed her the envelope and told her how he had to dissolve the royal seal by placing his thumb on it, then it disappeared. Andriel told him she liked the smell of the envelope. Then she took out the card and read it. "Isn't that sweet of her."

Chitrah asked if she really knew her. Andriel told him that when she was working in the dress shop on Ranroon, the Princess was one of the customers. She had a pleasant chat with her. She had told her that he was there on assignment for the Ministry, which is why she was there. She must have used her contacts through the palace to track them down, since she knew they resided on Lianna. "You will like her, she is a lovely lady, and quite beautiful. She is also easy to talk with. Not a snobby noblewoman in the least."

Chitrah started to feel more relaxed. Andriel had a good sense of character. He believed he would have a pleasant evening, even though he would have a hard time writing a report on it tomorrow morning. He told her that he wanted to finish what he started yesterday, and asked if she could put aside some lunch for him. She said she would, she was also going to get there outfits out of the closet to make sure they are ready to wear this evening. She then went into the bedroom and showed the envelope and card to Shaak, she was very impressed that Andriel would know such an important person. Andriel asked her if she would be alright being alone in the apartment this evening. Shaak told her that she would not be alone, everywhere she looks she sees Andriel and Chitrah with her. Andriel decided that she would activate her computer and leave it with Shaak before she leaves that evening. Shaak was already somewhat familiar with it. It would give her something to play with if she gets tired of sewing. When they stopped for lunch, Andriel showed Shaak the piece of fresh meat in the cooler and told her she could have it for dinner, along with anything else in the kitchen. Andriel was sure she had shown her how to prepare everything they had. Shaak told her not to worry about her. But she would need to tell her about everything, when she came back.

The young teens who were doing the ambassador watch were thrilled when two speeder bikes pulled up in front of the Ambassador's apartment building, escorting a limousine. The riders were wearing the uniform of the Royal Palace Guards, and the droid driven limousine had the royal insignia painted on the back doors. One of the Royal Guards dismounted his speeder and held the back door of the limousine open, when the two Ambassadors came out of the apartment building, wearing formal wear, worthy of the presence of their Queen. They took plenty of images to post on their site. What surprised everyone was how coordinated their outfits were. They were not trying to hide from the royals that they were a couple. Not that the royals would not have known anyway. None of the watchers could come up with a good reason why. After the images were posted a lot more teens could be seen near the apartment building, hoping to catch a glimpse of the couple when they returned.

At the palace, the speeder bike rider did not have to dismount to open the door to the limousine. A Guard was standing there waiting to do that, and the Palace Secretary was waiting to greet them. The Palace Secretary complimented them on their outfits, which was his way of saying he approved. There were no automated doors at the palace. Guards were standing at each set of doors ready to open them as they approached, trailed by the Palace Secretary. The last set of doors were not opened for them. The Palace Secretary told them he would have to announce them, and then the doors would be opened. They saw the Secretary walk down the hall a short way and use a keycard to activate a door that looked like part of the wall. Shortly the double doors were opened by two Palace Guards inside the room. The two Guards standing outside the room had not moved the entire time. As they entered the room the Palace Secretary called out to everyone in the room, "Presenting Chitrah Drashing and Andriel Mirranna." The only ones in the room, was the Princess, and the dinner staff. The Princess came up to Chitrah and shook his hand saying how pleased she was to finally meet him, and she came up to Andriel and gave her a pretend kiss on each cheek telling her that she was happy to see her again. She personally escorted them to their places at the dining table, but they knew enough not to sit down until after she was seated. Princess Krinta started off the dinner conversation, by asking Chitrah, what his ancestry was? He informed her that he was Chagrian. She seemed somewhat surprised. She told him that she had never seen a Chagrian male without horns before. This was news to Andriel since she had never seen a Chagrian male with horns. Princess Krinta told him that she would like to hear his story but that he should wait, until they are with the Queen so he does not have to repeat himself. The Queen thought it would be best if they had dinner together, than they would join the Queen for dessert. She wanted them to enjoy themselves this evening, and not be overwhelmed. Chitrah told the Princess that Andriel had spoken highly of her, and assured him that he would enjoy her company. "She has always been true to her word."

Andriel was beaming at this compliment, and the Princess was impressed with his frankness and his faith in his wife. The Princess then told Chitrah her version of meeting Andriel in the dress shop in Ranroon. She had known the proprietor a number of years, and knew her to be very meticulous with her work, so anyone working for her, or with her, must have the same standards of quality. So she was impressed with Andriel from first meeting her, her suggestions on modifying the designs she was looking at, demonstrated her own knowledge of design, and that the proprietor did not take offense to the modifications showed that there was a good working relationship between them. In talking with them it was evident that they had a healthy mutual respect for each other. That they had only been working a short time together, showed that Andriel had to be a woman of good character.

"It was the highlight of my trip to Ranroon to come to the dress shop, and speak with Andriel. On returning to Lianna, I was able to share my recent experience on Ranroon, with my aunt. She was interested in meeting Andriel, when I informed her that you reside on Lianna. We were also interested in meeting her husband, who she was wondering the stars with. When we found out you were both back on Lianna, she authorised me to issue you a formal invitation."

Chitrah was trying hard to remember all this information, because he knew he would have to include it in his report, and he suspected that that was why she was sharing all this information with them.

Andriel and Princess Krinta talked about the dresses, and the Princess had a couple of servants bring out the finished product. Chitrah was impressed with the dresses. He could see that two designers had come together to design some stunning outfits. The Princess was impressed that Chitrah could pick out most of the areas that Andriel had an influence in the designs. Andriel was also impressed, but not surprised, he had always been a good critic of her designs.

The dinner was superb, and the company was enjoyable. It seemed too soon, when Princess Krinta, told them it was time to meet Queen Anthila. So they got up from the dinner table. The Palace Secretary suddenly appeared and followed them. Again they had to stop and wait, while the Palace Secretary went through another secret door to announce them. When the doors opened and they walked into the main throne room, the Palace Secretary called out, "Presenting her Majesty Princess Krinta, and her guests Chitrah Drashing and Andriel Mirranna." The Princess went up to her aunt and greeted her the way she had greeted Andriel. The Palace Secretary showed Andriel and Chitrah where they would be seated. Again they waited for the Queen and then the Princess to be seated before they dared to sit down. The Princess told her aunt, that Chitrah was Chagrian, and it was evident that the Queen was as surprised as the Princess had been. Princess Krinta asked Chitrah, if he could now tell his story?

Chitrah started with the Rakata taking his people from the water world of Champala to work on the mines, on the relatively barren world of Deysum III. Andriel had never heard this story before, and was just as enthralled as the other ladies. While he was telling his story the staff brought out all sorts of delectable treats to eat, and just as interesting drinks to accompany them. Chitrah had only a few sips of the liqueurs, washing them down with water, because he did not want to get drunk while in the presence of such elegant hosts. He noticed that they did the same. Andriel, on the other hand was able to drink completely, every liqueur sample she was given. The benefit of having two livers. When Chitrah had finished, they were impressed with his story telling abilities.

The Queen asked him, if any of the Chagrian from Deysum III ever returned to Champala? He told them that when hyperspace drives had become available, a fair number of the Chagrian had returned to Champala, hoping to reunite with their families, only to be given a cold reception by the Chagrian on Champala. No-one would admit being related to the Deysum III Chagrian, even though they had documented proof of their ancestry. The only ones who would talk to them were linguists since they spoke an ancient dialect. Even the DNA evidence was considered inconclusive since there was a large enough disparity that they could not even be considered a sub species. So all contact with Champala was broken. We are the Chagrian of Deysum III.

Andriel felt really sorry for Chitrah's people, but also proud that they had overcome so much. The Queen asked Andriel, if the Devronians had experienced something similar? Andriel told them that Devronians on Deysum III have good relations with the Devronians on Devron. The only difference is that the queen on Devron is not considered the queen of the Devronians on Deysum III. It is only the business connections that are considered important.

The Queen then mentioned, that she understood they had just returned from Livien. She wanted to know, what was Chitrah doing there? Since the agricultural computer systems were considered by many to be ancient relics. Chitrah told her that they may be ancient, but they are still the best system available for farm management. He told her that he had designed a system on Yitabo that allowed the agricultural computers to transmit vital information to the Ministry computers so that the Ministry could better monitor crop growth and yields, so that they could better predict crop production. He was asked to install the same system on Livien, so that they could make better planetary forecasts. They asked Andriel what she did with her time there. She told them about the contract with Uncle, and Maylee's story. She shared what Maylee was able to accomplish before Andriel had to leave, and how Uncle had rewarded her by selling her a sewing machine.

Princess Krinta asked her if she would reconsider opening a dress shop, now that she had a commercial sewing machine.

Andriel said that she still did not think it was feasible for her to do so, but that she was presently training a Togruta young lady, who has demonstrated promising skill. She may be in a position to open a dress shop in a few months from now. But it would still be years before she would reach the quality of work that would complement women of their stature. Princess Krinta was still excited about the prospect of their being a good dress shop on Lianna. Though the student might still be years away from producing the quality of work she would like, the teacher was ready right now. She would have to figure out a way to convince her to design something for her. At the least she would know where to go if she needed alterations done quickly.

Both the Queen and the Princess tried to get as much information from Andriel and Chitrah, as they could about Uncle and Maylee, and about her father and boyfriend. They could tell that Andriel and Chitrah thought well of both of them, and that Maylee held a special place in their heart.

They were already into the next day before the Queen mentioned that they should send them back to their apartment. Andriel and Chitrah had not noticed the time. The Queen asked if they should go back by limousine or some other way. Chitrah said he would prefer some other way, because he did not want the Imperials to know when he left. The longer they knew him to be here, the longer the report he would be having to write in the morning. The Queen agreed with him, she would prefer him writing a shorter report. She told them that the Royal Guard have patrols that regularly leave the palace grounds, and venture into the city, for just this reason. She will check when the next patrol is scheduled to leave the palace grounds, so that they can catch a ride with them.

The next thing they knew the Palace Secretary is hurrying them to a side entrance of the palace where a Royal Guard vehicle was waiting for them. Instead of seats there was what looked like a huge mattress and cushions in the back of the patrol vehicle. The Royal Guards explained that if they lay down, and kept below the level of the windows, then none of the Imperial scanners would detect that they were in the back of the vehicle. There were cooling tubes in the panels to defeat infrared detectors, and at least twenty different materials of different densities, some of which were in motion, to defeat every other type of scanner. Chitrah was impressed. He would have loved to see what his computer scanner would have picked up if he had been able to scan the vehicle. Chitrah suggested that they be taken to the freight entrance of their building. Their apartment computer would authorise their entry.

The teens watching for the Ambassadors' return were disappointed. Many of them had curfews that they felt obligated to follow. Later that evening one of the teens who had gone out to get some hot drinks for his friends, spotted a Royal Guard vehicle on patrol. When he went back with the hot drinks, he mentioned it to them. One of the group mentioned that Royal Guard patrols had been spotted at regular intervals throughout the night. Someone else asked if it was a coincidence that Royal Guard patrols have only been spotted in this neighbourhood on the only night the Ambassadors have been invited to the Royal Palace. It dawned on them that they may have been tricked. The Ambassadors may have already been sleeping for hours in their bed.

The last Royal Guard patrol that was spotted was in fact the one to drive them to their apartment building. In their apartment Andriel found Shaak asleep at her desk, her computer was on, displaying her image that Chitrah had scanned into his computer then transferred to hers. Under Shaak's arm was a sheet of paper. Shaak had sketched a detailed drawing of her body, and superimposed a beautiful design of an outfit on it. Andriel shut her computer off so that Chitrah would not be hurt by seeing her image, and asked him to come in and carry Shaak to her bed. It did not matter what side he placed her on. Andriel could undress her by herself. After Chitrah closed the bedroom door, Andriel started to undress Shaak, she was surprised to see her wearing the undergarments they had bought the other day. Shaak became partially awake as Andriel was undressing her. She asked if Andriel had seen the drawing. Andriel told her she had seen the drawing and thought it was beautiful. Shaak told her that someday she would sew it for her. Andriel told her that when she did, she would wear it proudly. The last thing Shaak said before falling back asleep, was "I love you!" Andriel told her that she loved her too. After she finished tucking Shaak in, she wondered why it was easy for her to tell Shaak that she loved her, yet she could not tell Chitrah that she loves him, when he means so much to her. Andriel did not sleep well that night.

After Andriel and Chitrah left, Anthila and Krinta kept talking. They wondered if it was possible that anyone from the Livien royal family had actually survived. After the Hutts had bombed the entire planet back to prehistory, it was surprising that anyone had survived, let alone a member of the royal family. If the Hutts ever suspected what they suspected, they would return and poison the planet, so that no living thing could survive, Sith Empire or no Sith Empire. They would probably let the Sith occupy some of their planets in retaliation.

What if Uncle was a surviving member of the royal family? That would make Maylee the Queen. He would not be that receptive to producing offspring that might displace her heritage. Anthila reminded Krinta that she does not have many options for a suitable mate.

"The Nobles on Barseg only want to marry you, so that they can seize controlling interest of Santhe Corporation. There king still thinks we are their subjects. The only single male with royal blood, on Lianna was 93 years old. Uncle seems to be a compassionate man."

Krinta reminded Anthila that the best relationship she could hope to have with this man, would be to be his mistress. Her offspring would be considered illegitimate by most people.

Yes, but they would still be legitimate heirs of the Santhe family holdings. "Right now we need an heir with noble birth on both sides. If you can produce an heir, than I would surrender the throne to you, and the majority of the shares to you."

Princess Krinta was surprised with her aunt's offer. First they must establish whether or not they are of royal blood. They need to find the seamstress that left the planet. "If he is of royal blood do you think he would eventually love me? Andriel believes that he was married at one time, and lost his wife. He focused his grief from losing the two most important women in his life, into carrying for Maylee."

"It would be easier for you, if you did not love him. Unfortunately, I know you, and you would eventually fall in love with him, and from what they told us, in spite of himself, he would fall in love with you."

"What about a dowry, he is smart, he will not enter a relationship without some form of compensation?"

"We cannot give him money out of the royal treasury, it is too easily traced. He could be hired as a consultant for Santhe Corporation. He himself would not want it to be made public that there are royals on Livien."

"What would be the cover story if I returned to Lianna with a brood?"

"We will let it leak that you had a fling with a Prince from Alderaan. With the civil war tearing that planet apart, it will be easy to believe that one of their Princes decided to flee, to pursue other interests."

"We would also need to control the spaceport, and the Ministry on Livien so that no-one including the Sith Empire knows that I am there."

Preliminary analysis of the situation, can be started in the morning. "We can have an action plan ready, once we can confirm their heritage."

Anthila and Krinta were satisfied with their discussion. They were both happy for inviting Andriel and Chitrah for dinner, and the unexpected information they were able to glean. They would both like to meet with them again, if the opportunity presents itself.

The next morning Chitrah had trouble getting up in the morning, but somehow managed to make his way to the Ministry. He wrote in his report what Andriel said about how she knew the Princess, and wrote Princess Krinta's side of the story. He wrote how fabulous the meal was, but could not remember what anything was called. He mentioned being introduced to the Queen, and telling them of his heritage. He made sure to give a detailed account of the Chagrian on Deysum III. Hoping it would bore to death anyone reading it, so that they would put it down. Then he wrote how they wanted to know about his last planetary assignment, and how they feigned interest. How they were more interested about hearing how Andriel was able to find someone to sew with, and the dress that she designed while there. He told about how he sampled so many different types of deserts, and the liqueurs they offered to go with them, and how they were both tired and needed to go back to their apartment.

After submitting his report, the Ministry official told him that he was heading back to Chalacta. They did not know what his assignment would be when there, but they were told that he had about a month's worth of work. He was booked to depart in seven days. He did not have to worry about completing all of his current assignments. They would just add them to the list for when he came back.

Chitrah was surprised that he was getting so much advance notice for his next assignment. He was sure that Andriel will look forward to going back to Chalacta.

The high official read over Chitrah's report, he explained everything that the Ministry wanted to hear. He wondered what he left out. The Head Minister had not contacted him, so he must be satisfied with the report. It was time to get back to his regular routine, and ignore Chitrah.

The Queen went to the Santhe Corporation Complex. This was the only place on Lianna where she did not need to be accompanied by her bodyguards. She felt more secure here than at the palace. Here no-one called her Your Majesty, everyone referred to her as Madame Santhe. When she arrived at her office she contacted a number of her special departments, and arranged for meetings. The first person she saw was the company's own Mandelorian bounty hunter. Officially he was a test pilot, one of their best. But when they needed someone found, he was the one to do it. Being under exclusive contract had its perks. His ship was a protype, built by Santhe Corporation to his personal specifications. His equipment was all custom made by Santhe Corporation, if he had a design idea he just needed to talk to the engineers at special projects. They would let him know if it was feasible or not. If it was feasible they would let him know when he could expect delivery. The only thing he did not like was filling out the reports on how well everything functioned in the field. The reports helped special projects determine if it might have commercial applications, our whether this was an item that should only be produced for Santhe Corporation's security forces. Considered one of the best security forces in the galaxy. Anthila asked the Mandelorian to try and find the seamstress that left Livien more than 10years previous. Once found he was to insure her safety until a security detail could arrive to protect and question her. After he left, she next spoke to the man in charge of special operations. He was to contact the shipping company that handles all the shipping in and out of Livien. Under their umbrella she wanted only Santhe Corporation freighters flying in and out of Livien, with only Santhe Corporation crews. "We need to look at purchasing the loyalty of everyone working at Livien spaceport, and in the Ministry there. Credits alone won't do it. What creature comforts can be built to the staffs' benefit that can be kept hidden from the Sith Empire? What perks can be offered to the Ministry staff? To insure that only the information that Santhe Corporation approves will depart the planet, and everything else will be destroyed. What can be done to insure the safety of key personal on the planet, at the same time that they not be discovered?"

The man in charge of special operations, confirmed that all this was to be done covertly. Anthila confirmed that that was the way she wanted it done. She also approved the purchase of the shipping company, if they weren't open to cooperating with Santhe Corporation.

Andriel was delighted when Chitrah told her where they would be going next. He told her that she needed to talk to Shaak about her being away for a couple of months. It would be unreasonable to expect her to be in their apartment all by herself for close to two months when you consider travel time. She needs to be around people she knows, she walks barefoot all the time so that she can feel the flow of life energy. Andriel knew that Chitrah was right. She also needed to set up a training program with Shaak so that she could continue to progress in her sewing, even though Andriel would not be with her to supervise. Andriel talked to Shaak about how she could continue to practise and grow in her skills without Andriel being there to help her.

What Andriel wanted to do was show her something new every morning, and every afternoon before she departs. Everything she will be shown will require at least 5 to 7 days of practise before she goes to the next item she will be shown. On top of that Andriel wants to give her two assignments she wants her to complete while she is gone. The day before Andriel and Chitrah leave they will ship the sewing machine with all the sewing supplies to the Togruta enclave so that Shaak would have family and friends near her as she practises.

Shaak knew how much the sewing machine means to Andriel. So to have her place it in her trust, was both a huge responsibility, and a sign of confidence and trust, for Shaak. She agreed to everything Andriel asked of her, and her training continued in earnest. The first assignment was for Shaak to sew herself a seamstress smock. Andriel went over all the measurements as she had done with May, and showed her which measurements were important for sewing her smock. She then had Shaak take her measurements as if she was going to sew her something to make sure that she understood the principal. Unfortunately there was no platform for them to stand on, so it was harder getting the right measurements. Andriel told Shaak about the platform, and Shaak made sure she had the right dimensions to have one built. The second assignment was for Shaak to measure, design and sew an outfit for one or more of her friends. Andriel would critique the outfit, or outfits when she came back.

It was hard for Andriel to see the freight droids come and take her baby away. She knew it was going to a good home, and she would still get to use it, but it was so handy having it in her bedroom with her. She left with Shaak, to be there when it arrived, to help her make sure it was setup properly, and to make sure it was not damaged in transport. Andriel was surprised when Shaak showed up the following day with her two friends, to see them off. It was a good thing they were well stocked with provisions. They shared a good lunch with them, with what was on hand. Andriel had met them before at the enclave, and knew they were special friends with Shaak, but this is the first time they came with her to the apartment, and she called them her hunting partners. This must mean something to the Togruta, she will have to look it up on the holonet. When they arrived at the shuttle terminal, there was hugs and kisses all around, before Andriel and Chitrah got on the shuttle, taking them to the spaceport.

The trip to Chalacta was uneventful, Andriel no longer had the urge to explore the ship. Most of them had a similar layout. The mystery of the unknown was no longer there. She still took the window seat when in the shuttle. No matter how many trips she has taken, it always looks different enough, to seem new.

Andriel has a copy of Shaak's drawing, and was trying to apply it to her 3D image in her computer. It was harder than she first thought. Of course she was doing it in her cabin, so Chitrah, nor the crew would see her image. For that reason she did not feel comfortable asking him for his help. She was sure he could do a better job of it than she could. They still got together in her room every evening, to share a cup of tea and to talk. It was tradition now, and they had a lot more to talk about, now that she knew the history of the Chagrian on Deysum III, she told him how proud she was of him and his people. The first time she said it he was rather embarrassed. She has said it a couple of times since, which he was more comfortable to acknowledge. She had even found a picture of a male Chagrian on the holonet, and superimposed his horns on Chitrah's image in her computer so that they could see what he would have looked like with horns, they both had a good laugh, and she told him she preferred him the way he was. She than gave him a hug and a kiss on his cheek, and told him she would have had trouble doing that if he had horns. They looked like they would get in the way.

On Chalacta they found no reservations for them at the hotel they had stayed at when they were there before, so they both ended up going to the Ministry. They were told that accommodations had been arranged for them in the married residents building. They were shown to a small one bedroom suite. A teeny tiny kitchen, with a small dining table that looked like it would have trouble accommodating two people at the same time. No living room, and no couch. The bedroom was also small, and the bed looked only large enough for one person. Chitrah commented to the person who brought them that they thought they would be in a married couple's suite. This was a single person's residence. The person that brought them was rather embarrassed, he told them it was the building maintenance person's residence. They were away on holiday, and it was the only suite available in the building. Chitrah told him it won't do, and went back to the office in the Ministry building, and placed their luggage against a wall and asked the person sitting closest to it to keep an eye on it. They had told Chitrah that he wasn't expected to show up for work until the following morning. It was not yet lunch time, so he told them he was going to go look for suitable accommodations for him and his wife. The person who was tasked with watching their luggage asked what they were supposed to do when it was lunch time. Chitrah told them that they can only go for lunch if someone else was willing to watch their luggage when they were gone. Everyone in the office saw that Chitrah was angry. He was not like this the last time he was here, and they did not know what to do. Andriel was also angry with what they had just tried to do. She put her hand in Chitrah's arm as they stormed out of the building together. Outside they both asked each other what they should do next. Chitrah thought they should go somewhere to calm down. Andriel suggested they should go the gym, maybe they might find someone there that they know.

They must have arrived at a very slow time. There was no one there except for one man filling out paperwork in the office, and he did not look familiar. Chitrah went up and knocked on the office door. He excused himself and told the gentleman that they would like to get a hold of the man who used to run this place. The guy in the office said that The Captain has been promoted, and does not have the time to run this gym, so he handed the responsibility over to him. He offered to call The Captain for them if they would like. Chitrah asked him to go ahead. The man asked their names, so that he could tell The Captain. When he got through on the communicator, he told The Captain that an Andriel and Chitrah were there asking for him. The conversation ended quickly and the gentleman told them that The Captain is sending over a vehicle right away for them. They were welcome to sit in the office while they wait. After they made themselves comfortable, he asked them how they knew The Captain. Chitrah told him that he instructed a self-defence course that they took. The guy's eyes became as large as saucers. "You are that couple."

He was interrupted from saying anything more, when two Planetary Defence Officers in full uniform approached the office, and asked, "Are these the two individuals we are supposed to arrest?"

"You know The Captain said to treat them like family."

"If they were my family we would have to arrest them for sure."

Then one of them smiled at Andriel and Chitrah and asked if they could come with them. They said that they were sorry, but they would have to put them in the cage in the back. Since regulations do not allow civilians to ride up front, and there was only enough room up front for the two of them. It looked like a normal repulsor-lift vehicle except the back seat was caged in. Andriel and Chitrah both said it was okay as long as they did not have to wear shackles. That brought a smile to both the officers' faces. They promised to treat them as nice as possible.

When they arrived at the main entrance to the Planetary Defence Headquarters, the one officer got out to open their door. He had to, since there was no way to open it from within the vehicle. After they got out, the partner went to park the vehicle, while the officer who opened the door escorted them through the building to The Captain's office. When he saw them, he got up from out of his desk and went out to meet them in the hall, and gave them both a big hug. He ushered them into his office, waving the officer away, and asked them what brings them back to Chalacta. Chitrah told him that the Ministry sent him back, but this time he should be here a whole month. The Captain asked them if they still work out together, they said they did. Chitrah also told the Captain that Andriel had made a Togruta friend, who had taught them some interesting variations on the moves he had taught them. The Captain said that he hoped that he would have time to see them in the gym so that they could show him the new variations. He also told Andriel that her dress design worked. Andriel gasped, "Your wife is pregnant?"

"In a couple months I'll be a proud papa."

He told Andriel that she had found a dressmaker that was willing to make the dress for her. She wore it to dinner a couple of times, than informed him that she was pregnant. They were both happy to hear the news. Andriel also wanted to know how she could find the dressmaker. Captain told her that his wife had just started her maternity leave, so he should be able to reach her at home, and get the information for her pretty quick. Andriel asked, if the other ladies from their class keep in touch with him? He said they all did, just some were more regular than the others. He would try to get in touch with them, because he was sure that they would all want to meet them, now that they are back on Chalacta. He asked them if they had a place to stay. They said they were looking, the Ministry tried to set them up in a single person's suite. If one person sneezed the other person would be all wet. The Captain told them to stop looking, he had a place for them. "One of his officers has taken his wife on a luxury liner cruise. Eventually they will end up at Reaver Station, for 5 days and 4 nights. They will be gone for more than a month, and they gave me permission to let anyone I wanted to, stay there. And I want you to stay there. I can take you over right now, to let you see the place, then we can have lunch together."

It was a beautiful two bedroom apartment, very tastefully laid out. There was a great view of the city from the dining area. The Captain told them that the view was even better after dark, when all the temples are lit up with coloured flood lights. The master bedroom had an ensuite bathroom with a jetted hot tub. Andriel really wanted to stay there, and looked at Chitrah with pleading eyes. It was not hard to convince Chitrah, the easy access to public transit, just a short hop to the Ministry, clinched it for him. When Andriel knew that Chitrah was on board, she asked the Captain how much it was going to cost. He told her that Planetary Defence owned the building, He would see what was being deducted from the officer's pay, and that would be what he would ask them to pay. They did not have to worry about cleaning the place before they leave. They have staff that would handle that. He would also see to it that the cooler was fully stocked for them. They would only need to replace what they consumed. There was a restaurant on the main floor of the building, they went there for lunch. Before leaving the apartment the Captain made one call. He arranged for Andriel and Chitrah to have access to the apartment and to have the cooler fully stocked. He told the person to have the expenses for the cooler to cross his desk, and he would see that they were covered. The person receiving the call was surprised, the Captain had a reputation of being very tight with his money. They must be special people staying at the apartment, if the Captain was going to cover the expense of stocking the cooler out of his own pocket.

During their lunch, the person the Captain contacted came and took their picture, to add to the building's data base, and gave them their key cards. The building security used facial recognition along with the key card to grant access to the building and to the apartment. Andriel insisted that she pay for lunch, to thank him for all his help. The Captain knew better than to argue with Andriel.

After lunch, the Captain returned to his office, and Andriel and Chitrah returned to the Ministry to retrieve their luggage. They thanked the person who was watching their luggage, and Chitrah apologized for being so brisk that morning, he was a little upset. The person who had watched the luggage felt better after Chitrah apologized, he did not know yet, what Chitrah had been upset about, but it was not often that someone apologized. He was still a good man in his books.

When they arrived back at the apartment, there were two messages waiting for them, both from the Captain. The first message told them how much it was going to cost them to stay there. Chitrah told Andriel that they needed to move to Chalacta. This apartment was nicer than theirs and much cheaper. The next message was for Andriel, Captain gave her the information to find the dress maker, and assured her that she did speak basic. Chitrah let Andriel have the master bedroom, and took the second bedroom for himself. It was a nice guest room, it would have been awkward if it had been set up as a nursery. After unpacking, they took a walk to get a lay of the land. It was a lovely neighbourhood. They noticed that many of the local restaurants had an outdoor patio area, and the restaurants were taking their time to start preparing for the outdoor season. Andriel told Chitrah that summer was approaching, though midday can be stifling hot, the evenings are quite comfortable, and many events take place in the outdoors. Chitrah asked her if this was part of what she learnt on the holo-net. Andriel was a little coy, and told him she did not get it from a travel brochure. They found a promising place to have their dinner. After dinner they continued walking. It was fairly late when they returned, and Chitrah was ready to turn in.

Andriel wanted to test the hot tub, and asked Chitrah if he would join her. Chitrah told her that he did not have anything to wear. Andriel pointed out that neither did she. Wasn't that the point of a private hot tub? Chitrah looked downcast and told her he couldn't. Andriel told him that if she wore her undergarments to help him protect his modesty, as soon as they were wet, it would be like they disappeared. The only other thing she could wear in the hot tub, would be her practise suit, and that would take all the enjoyment out of using it. Chitrah told her that she would just have to have her fun without him. He walked to his bedroom and closed the door. Once inside he wondered what was wrong with Andriel, she was acting more flirtatious than normal. Andriel went to her bedroom and asked herself why she did that, she should at least have gotten him to help setup the hot tub properly, before embarrassing him. She went and studied the controls to the hot tub. After she was sure that she understood them, she set what she thought would be comfortable settings, she went into the bedroom to undress and to give the hot tub time to normalise on her settings. When she thought it was ready she went to the ensuite bathroom to check the water temperature. Before she reached the bathroom, she heard the sound of running water. She decided to check it out before climbing into the tub. She thought she would be naughty and not slip on her house coat to cover herself up. She cautiously opened the bedroom door and peeked out at the kitchen area. The sound wasn't coming from there. She opened the door further and looked around. The sound of the running water was coming from the main bathroom, she carefully walked over and checked the controls. The shower was active and the temperature control was turned off. Chitrah was taking one of his cold showers. He still has life in him after all. Suddenly the water stopped flowing. All of a sudden Andriel feels embarrassed, Chitrah cannot find her there, standing butt naked, she has hurt him enough today. She made a quick dash for the bedroom.

When Chitrah stepped out of the bathroom, he could have sworn he saw the door to the master bedroom close.

Andriel stepped into the hot tub, the temperature was perfect. She lay back and let the water jets massage her body. The view through the window was the same as from the dining room. The city looked beautiful with all the temples lit up. She assumed that that the one lit the brightest was the Temple of Illumination. She relaxed as she enjoyed the massage and the view. The next thing she knew the apartment computer was trying to talk with her. "Excuse me Madame, I was programmed to alert you that you have been in the hot tub for more than an hour." "Who programmed you to alert me?" She thought it may have been an automatic program. "The gentleman in the next bedroom was concerned that you might fall asleep and stay in the hot tub too long. He asked me to contact you, if you have been in the hot tub for an hour after this program was initiated, since I do not have the sensors to determine if you had been sleeping or not." "Thank you, computer." Andriel hoped that she would remember to thank Chitrah, as she climbed out of the hot tub and went to bed.

Andriel was still sleeping when Chitrah left for the Ministry in the morning. At the Ministry, a more senior official met him than the one he met the previous day. He apologised for yesterday's misunderstanding concerning the accommodations. The official he met with yesterday clearly did not understand his instructions, nor how highly Chitrah was valued by this office. "The Ministry will reimburse you the equivalent of the daily rate at our local hotel. We assume that you have located adequate accommodations for your stay in Jordir. If you have not, we can delay the start of your work schedule, until you are ready." Chitrah told him that he had found adequate accommodations, he did not think it appropriate to tell him that he had found the best apartment ever, since being married.

The official led him into the inner office. He saw the official who met him yesterday sitting at a desk on the far side of the office and when he saw Chitrah, he quickly looked away, clearly embarrassed. They told Chitrah that the reason the Moff requested that he return to Chalacta, was to help some young technicians with the computers they are having trouble with. He felt that if the farmers on Yitabo could understand your computer explanations, then you should have no trouble explaining things to techs who have been trained to understand computers.

They introduced Chitrah to the two technicians he would be working with. The young techs were both in awe of Chitrah, and embarrassed at their own shortcomings. They already had a list of business establishments, and the computer systems at each establishments. After Chitrah had looked the list over, he asked them to mark the ones they had already been to, and asked them to use different colours. After they gave him the list back, he arranged the businesses in the order he wanted to work at each. He did not know if he would be able to finish them all before his month was up, but the two techs should be well enough trained to finish the list without him. Before leaving he asked the official if there was an empty desk they could use for a few moments. The official checked the office assignments and pointed to a desk designated as being in the outer office. Chitrah expected that it would be next to the embarrassed official. As they approached the empty desk the official noticed Chitrah coming towards him. He got up from his desk, but instead of apologizing to Chitrah about yesterday, he fled the room.

When they got to the desk, Chitrah turned to the first technician and asked him to place everything he takes to the jobsite on the desk. Chitrah looked it all over, and asked a question or two about his equipment choices, then he asked him to pack it up. He asked the other technician to spread out his equipment. Most of what he had was similar to the other technician with only a couple of different items, which Chitrah questioned him about. Both of the techs were nervous, because Chitrah had not let them know whether he approved of what they were taking, or if they were missing items. After the second technician packed up his kit, Chitrah spread out his kit on the table. He actually had less items than either of the two techs, but what he did have could do a lot more than either of theirs. He asked them if they had any questions for him. The first thing they asked was where he got his computer? Chitrah told them that he had custom built it himself. He believed that the recommended list of equipment was inadequate for proper field use. He also mentioned that what they had was adequate, if they have a lab backing them up. But in most field situations, there is no lab, except what they brought with them. He turned to the first technician that had spread out his equipment and gave him a verbal list of equipment he still needed, to do his work. Then he turned to the other technician and gave him a verbal list of equipment that he needed. He told them that he would wait for them in the main atrium of the building, while they go and gather what they need.

One of the techs asked, why didn't they just use his equipment? He answered, "When I leave, this equipment is coming with me."

So they each went to find what they still needed. Chitrah noticed that as he left the outer office the embarrassed official came back in. Chitrah hoped he did not have a powerful family backing him, or the Ministry would be in trouble.

Andriel was disappointed that Chitrah had not awaken her. Maybe he was still hurting from how she treated him last night. She had a quick breakfast and went to find the dressmaker, with her computer tucked under her arm. She entered the dress shop, and when the proprietor came out of the workshop area and asked how she could help her. Andriel told her that she heard that she had a copy of a dress design that was supposed to help women become pregnant. The proprietor told her that she did have a design that some women thought helped them become pregnant, but she was not sure if it did or not. Andriel asked, her what she thought of the design? She said that when she first looked at the design, it seems to be a simple dress. But when she studied the design, she begin to see that there was a lot of thought in the design. Because women of many different body types can wear it. When she start making it she realised that a dressmaker of above average skill is required to assemble it properly. Andriel really liked her comments, so she asked, "How would you like the woman who designed the dress, to come and work with you for one month?" The dressmaker asked, "Are you Andriel, The Punisher?" Andriel laughed and told her that she was just Andriel. Where did she get the idea that she was The Punisher? The lady showed her the copy of the dress design she was given. Sure enough in nice hand writing, someone had written on it, "designed by Andriel, The Punisher." Andriel laughed again and told the proprietor that the last time she was on Chalacta, she took a self-defence course, and had developed the reputation that she was too rough to practise with. She gave a copy of the dress design to the ladies who took the course with her, when they found out that the lady who had bought the original dress claimed it helped her get pregnant. One of them had made a copy to give to the wife of the instructor, when she mentioned that she was trying to get pregnant. She was the one who brought the dress design to her. The proprietor asked her, how the woman was doing? She told her that The Captain expected to be a papa in less than two months. The proprietor brought her hands to her cheeks and exclaimed, "Another one!" And went to the counter and made a mark in the book she had lying there.

Andriel asked her what she meant by another one? She told Andriel that she has been keeping a tab of all the woman who have bought the dress, and of how many claimed they were pregnant. Andriel asked her how many of them were pregnant. She checked her book and told Andriel, "It looks like all of them." And they both started to laugh. She stuck out her hand and told Andriel that she is called Sayinder, and she would love to have her come and work for her. She also asked if it was okay if she told the other ladies in the dressmaker's guild, that The Punisher would be working with her, they all have a copy of the design. Andriel smiled and said it would be okay. Andriel let her know that she still had a few errands that she needed to run that day, so she would start work first thing in the morning. Sayinder showed her how she could let her know that she was there, if she arrives before the shop was open.

From the dress shop, Andriel went back to the gym. She wanted to see if there was a time that they could come and work out, that would be convenient for her and Chitrah. The gym manager showed her the schedule for gym usage for the month. He asked her, how often do they like to work out? She told him that when they are planet side they try to work out every other day, but when they are aboard ship, they usually work out every day. He was curious to know where would they workout, when they are aboard a ship? She told him that the cargo bays were usually not full, most of the time they were allowed to work out in the unused space. Andriel indicated on his schedule the available days and time slots that she thought would work for them. The ones that would not interfere with any of his courses. It wasn't the exact same time each day, but it was close enough that they could adjust their schedule.

Andriel wanted to know, how much was it going cost them? The manager told them there was no cost. Andriel told him that she knew the Captain had told him to say that, but it cost credits to run the facility. So name the cost? He still refused. Andriel told him what they were charged to take their course and it was for two weeks, so she would pay him double, since they were here for a month.

The manager laughed and told her that The Captain warned him that she would manage to twist his arm. So they agreed on the cost and Andriel payed him up front, so that she would not need to carry credits every time they came to the gym.

After entering the schedule into her computer, Andriel left the gym, and headed to the shuttle terminal to withdraw enough credits to cover the rent of the apartment, and to have some spending money, now that she has familiarized herself with how much things cost on Chalacta.

From the shuttle terminal, she went back to the apartment, in case Chitrah was able to make it for lunch. When it looked like he was not going to show, she made herself a salad, then headed to Planetary Defence Headquarters. When she entered the building, she went up to one of the officer/receptionists and told her she wanted to talk with The Captain. The lady asked her, which captain she wanted to speak with? Andriel told her that she did not want to speak with a captain, she wanted to speak to The Captain. The lady apologized to her. She knew that she was not from Jondir, and did not think she knew The Captain. She asked for her name, and made a quick call. She than told Andriel that he was on his way, and pointing to a set of doors. She told her that he would be coming thru them. Andriel did not have to wait long, and he took her back to his office. She paid him the money for the apartment. He told her that he had not expected her to pay for it so soon. Most people he knows, take a while to get around to it. She told him that her mother had taught her to pay her bills promptly, because the other party usually needs the money to pay their own bills.

Andriel than took out her computer, and showed him the schedule that she had arranged for her and Chitrah to work out at, at the gym. She did not tell him she paid for it. The Captain noticed that they had a workout scheduled for the following day. He asked if he could he come down during their workout to see what the Togruta showed them? Then he could take them to have dinner with him and his wife, and a couple of ladies from the course. Andriel told him that she still needed to confirm with Chitrah that the schedule will work with him, and she probably won't see him until dinner. The Captain asked her to call him at his office as soon as she finds out. He usually stays late if he has nothing scheduled where he has to be. Andriel promised to let him know as soon as she knows.

As she got up to leave, The Captain asked her, if she needed a ride back to the apartment? She told him that she needed to stop off at a couple of places on the way back to the apartment, so she would not need a ride. Andriel was looking for a good bakery near the apartment. She was craving a fresh baked loaf of bread for breakfast. She also wanted to find a store that sold sweet jams and jellies, not the hot stuff she was finding everywhere.

When Chitrah returned to the apartment Andriel apologized to him for the way she treated him the previous evening. Then she thanked him for watching out for her, because she had fallen asleep in the hot tub. She told him about the bakery she found, and showed him the selection of jams and jellies she bought, along with the nut spread. Chitrah assured her that he had already forgiven her. Like her, he was craving the type of breakfast they had on Yitabo. Andriel then told him about going to the gym and booking some time for them to work out. He looked the schedule over and told her that he can fit it in. She told him that they have to tell The Captain right away, because he wanted to come by and see the moves Shaak had taught them. Then he wanted to take them for dinner with him and his wife, and a couple of ladies from the class. They both went over to the communicator and contacted The Captain.

He was overjoyed to hear they could make it the following day, and promised them a good time.

Then came the big question, were they staying in, or going out? Chitrah told Andriel that it was still pleasant outside. Maybe one of the restaurants had opened their patio. Andriel liked the idea, so they went out. Chitrah told Andriel about his new role as a trainer. Andriel told him about going to the dress shop that made the dress for the Captain's wife, and how the owner said that she would like them to work together.

The next few days were very enjoyable for both Andriel and Chitrah. Chitrah fit his new role as trainer quite well. Andriel found Sayinder to be quite an accomplished dress maker, she enjoyed learning about the style of dress that the women of Chalacta like to wear in the summer. Though it was light and airy it still took more than six meters of fabric to make. The bare midriff looked both cool and sexy. The detailed designs stitched along the edge of the material gave it a look of opulence. She could see herself wearing this style to Queen Anthila's palace. Now she had to design one for herself.

They spent almost every evening going out. They had dinner with everyone from the class. They stuck to small groups, and they were taken to a number of different restaurants, including the one near the gym. No-one admitted to Andriel, that they had named her The Punisher, but they all said they knew about the name.

Chitrah thought the name was hilarious, when he found out. He asked them, if they had a name for him? One of the ladies said he was called "The Punishee", which made everyone but Chitrah laugh. They heard him say, "It's not fair," which made them laugh even more. Andriel told him not to worry, she was sure they would come up with a better name.

Andriel showed Chitrah her design for the Chalacta style of summer dress. Than to his surprise she asked his permission to sew it and wear it. He asked why she wanted his permission for this outfit, when she had never asked before. She told him that she knew it would be a sexy design, and wanted to make sure he could handle it. He told her that it was getting hotter each day, and a cold shower was actually comfortable. She kissed him on the cheek and thanked him for his permission. She was going to show Sayinder the design in the morning, and ask her if it was okay for her to use her time to put together this outfit. She also wanted her input on which material would be best.

It took Andriel five full days to finally finish it. Sayinder did not mind her working on her own project, but reminded her that customers came first. As soon as she finished it, she had to try it on. Since she had never worn a Chalacta summer dress before, Sayinder had to help her put it on. She assured Andriel, that she would be able to put it on by herself once she saw how it went on. She looked at herself in the full length mirror, with the two wings folded out. It was just as she imagined it. Sayinder was proud of her, she told her that she had captured the essence of the design. Sayinder also gave her a discount on the material she used. Andriel could hardly wait to put it on to wear to dinner that evening. They were definitely going out to dinner tonight. Andriel wanted to show off.

When they were looking for a place to eat, they came across a restaurant that they had eaten at before. She thought the food was good, but they did not have very many people in the restaurant or patio. Andriel told Chitrah that she had an idea on how she could get them a free dinner. He followed her into the restaurant where she asked to speak to the owner. When he came out, she told him that she is a seamstress and had sewn the outfit that she is wearing. She would like to sit on the edge of his patio, to engage people as they walk by, to tell them about her outfit. Naturally they will ask about the quality of food at this restaurant. "If I had a sample tray of some of the items on your menu, they could taste some for themselves and decide whether they would like to come in or not."

The owner was receptive to the idea, and told her that she should sit at a table by herself, and her body guard could sit at the next table. He asked her, how much did she want to be paid for this service? She told him that they could discuss it at the end of the night. If she was not able to bring anyone in, than he should not have to pay. If she was able to fill the restaurant, than she should be compensated accordingly. The owner thought that was fair. The only thing she asked was that the server should come by regularly to see if the sample tray needs refilling, and they should keep track of what was brought out.

Chitrah knew that Andriel was outgoing, but he had never seen her like this before. She easily engaged the couples walking by and soon there was a small crowd gathered around her on the other side of the patio. The women liked her outfit and asked her where they could get a copy? She shared with them where the dress shop was, and she would flirt with the men, while being careful not to upset the women they were with. It was not long before the patio and restaurant where full. Andriel kept talking to the people and sharing the samples on the tray.

She enjoyed flirting with the men, making sure Chitrah was watching, hoping to make him jealous. But he just took it all in. It was very entertaining for him.

Chitrah found the food was quite good, not too hot, with just an edge to it. He did not know that the server had told the cook to cut the hot spices right back, because it was for a foreigner.

People were starting to line up outside the door. The owner had never seen this happen before. He had to call a couple of his young cousins to come to his restaurant and help him with crowd control. Eventually he went out to Andriel and asked her to stop promoting the restaurant. There were enough people lined up that they would be full until they closed this evening. But she could continue talking to the people about her dress. He did not tell her that he knew that her bodyguard was not the only person being entertained by her.

At the end of the evening, Andriel approached the owner, and asked him what her being there was worth to him? He tallied in his head the cost of all the sample trays, and all the food and drink that she and her bodyguard consumed. He opened the till and handed her some credits. She had just been reimbursed their gym costs for the month. She asked him if she wore a different dress, could she come back the following evening. The owner told her yes, he wanted to know if this was a fluke or not.

On their way back to the apartment, Andriel felt like she was walking on clouds. She had her one hand in Chitrah's arm and was holding it with her other. She told him how much the owner paid her and said that they could come back tomorrow. The only thing that puzzled her, was why he thought Chitrah was her bodyguard.

The next morning Andriel told Sayinder what she did the previous evening, and asked her if she could wear one of her dresses that evening to do the same thing. Sayinder told her she had to think about it, and would let her know later in the day. Andriel knew that the request was a little unusual so she left it at that. As they worked together, Andriel asked her, if she knew why the restaurant owner would refer to her husband as her body guard? Sayinder had never seen Chitrah, so she asked her to describe him to her. Andriel started by describing how tall he was, and handsome. A good build for a man his size, and his skin was the same colour as that blouse hanging over there.

When Sayinder saw what colour her husband was, she gave out an involuntary gasp. "You mean to say he is not the same colour as you."

Andriel said, "No, is that a problem?"

Sayinder told her that it is a big problem on Chalacta. Most people here are against interspecies marriages. In some neighbourhoods if they found out you are man and wife, they would stone you.

Andriel asked, "Why? It was not like we had any choice in the matter."

Sayinder asked her to explain. So Andriel told her how the Sith Empire forced them to marry. "Should I be stoned because of them?"

Sayinder found that to be a very interesting question. She told Andriel that the owner was probably protecting himself, as well as her, by calling her husband her bodyguard. He probably saw the relationship between them. With her husband seen as her bodyguard, no-one would bother them. Later that morning women started coming in to the shop to look at the dresses. When they saw Andriel they told her how lovely she looked last evening, and wanted to see what other designs they had.

Before breaking for lunch Sayinder told Andriel that she could take that one for the evening, pointing to one of the dresses in the display window, "But make sure you don't get any crumbs on it, I don't want to have to pay to have it cleaned."

Andriel assured her that she would do her best to keep it clean, and kissed her on the cheek. She told Andriel to put it on so that they could see how well it fit. It fit quite well, they only had to make a small adjustment in the top, so that Andriel would be more comfortable when she wore it.

That evening they went back to the restaurant. Again Andriel engaged the couples walking by, and again the results were the same as the previous evening.

A small group of young men came into the restaurant enthralled by Andriel's beauty. She was the first foreign lady they had seen, and they liked what they saw. They started wondering if it would impress her if they manhandled her bodyguard, he wasn't that big as a bodyguard, and they each thought they could take him. The young lady serving them, told them they would be in deep trouble if they tried it. Every male working in the restaurant would be on them before they knew it, not to mention that they would not put down their knives when they came out of the kitchen. On top of that, she must be some foreign dignitary. Since she had seen some Ministry types hanging around out there, keeping an eye on her and her bodyguard, and you don't want to mess with them. "Who knows what mine you might be forced to work in, or even worse you might be forced to volunteer for military duty." One of the young men started getting up out of his chair and asked her where they were. She slapped him in the face. "She told him not to dare give away that she spotted them, they take women in their military." The young man rubbed his cheek and looked on the young lady with admiration in his eyes. He apologised to her for almost getting her in trouble. She smiled at him and walked away. His friends were in shock, they though he would go into a screaming fit when she slapped him, not apologize. He told his buddies that there was more than one beautiful lady in this restaurant. They looked where he was looking, and smiled, there server really was pretty, and once and a while, she would look back at their table and smile, while she was dealing with other customers.

At the end of the night Andriel went up to the owner, this time there was another man standing with him, she could tell by the way they had been looking at her that they were talking about her. He handed her the credits without her having to ask. She asked him, if he wanted her to come back the following evening? The owner introduced her to the man standing next to him. After they shook hands the owner told her that he is his biggest rival, as well as his friend. They always compare how well they have done each night. She has given him an unfair advantage these past two evenings, and now he would like her to make it right. Could she go to his rival's restaurant for the next two evenings? Same conditions. Andriel was flattered, and told them that she would try to do right by them.

As they left the restaurant Andriel pointed out the restaurant that they would be eating at the following evening, and told Chitrah about the agreement she reached with the two owners.

Chitrah was proud of her and happy for the free food. He could really enjoy living here.

Andriel had not told him yet, about why they called him her bodyguard. She could see that he was happy with life and did not want to spoil it.

The next morning Andriel told Sayinder what happened last evening, and about her agreement with the two restaurant owners. Sayinder examined the outfit very carefully. Andriel had been true to her word, there was not one crumb on it. When Andriel asked if she could wear another dress, Sayinder seemed to frown, than she left the dress shop. After what would have taken someone time to share a cup of tea and a conversation, Sayinder came back with an outfit in her arms. She had borrowed it from her neighbour, the lady that owned the dress shop next door. Andriel tried it on. They had to do a few more adjustments, than what was required with Sayinder's outfit. But they were able to get it to fit, so that Andriel was comfortable. When she checked it out in the mirror it looked beautiful. Sayinder told her that her neighbour was slender, and she tended to make her outfits that way, that was why they had to do more adjustments. Andriel asked why she went to her neighbour for an outfit when she has so many on display. She told her that the restaurant owners shamed her. If they were willing to help out one another, shouldn't she. Andriel figured this had something to do with their religious beliefs, and she was not prepared to go there. So she did not say anything.

Over the next few days, Andriel had been asked to go to three additional restaurants, besides the first two. Sayinder had borrowed outfits from every member of her guild.

None of them knew that word about her, was spreading through the office towers. They were talking about a beautiful red lady, on different patios each night. Wearing gorgeous outfits. She was willing to chat with strangers.

Some people where coming out just to see where she would be next, and to have a free sample of the cuisine. The ladies wanted to come out and see what she was wearing, some of the guys wanted to see if she would flirt with them. There was a lot more people going out for dinner, and all the members of the dressmakers' guild reported an increase in traffic through their shops.

Andriel decided to stop doing it. She was getting tired of it, and she wasn't getting the reaction out of Chitrah that she wanted. She complained to Sayinder about Chitrah, and how he was not jealous of her flirting with perfect strangers. Sayinder asked her why she was so upset with Chitrah. Andriel knew that he loved her. She had told this to Sayinder more than once. "You know that he knows you, you are your mother's girl."

Andriel asked Sayinder to explain. "It is evident to me that your mother raised you with a good set of morals and ethical beliefs. Your husband knows this. He knows that in flirting with strangers, there is a line that you will never cross. If the men try to cross that line, you know that he will protect you. Because he loves you with his whole heart, he lets you do things that lesser men would be afraid to let you do. It seems to me that you are trying to solve a problem, by doing things outside of you, when the problem is inside of you."

Andriel was speechless. After a while, she asked Sayinder, what is the problem? Sayinder told her, she did not know her well enough to know what her problem is. What she did know, is that once the problem was fixed, it would be like she was caught up to the heavens, and the face of the Creator smiled on her. Then she handed her a package.

Inside, Andriel found the coarse material used to make the robes for the Chalactan Adepts. She asked Sayinder, what is the material for? Sayinder told her that after she had her wonderful experience, she would need the material. Andriel protested, she was not going to become an Adept.

Sayinder agreed that she would not. She had a different path to follow. Andriel asked her, how she knew this? Sayinder replied that the force was not the only way to get a glimpse into the future.

Andriel was slightly disturbed by this talk, but she was also given hope. Sayinder had talked about a time after she had dealt with her inability to love Chitrah. Someday, she would actually love him!

That evening Chitrah made dinner for her, and Andriel watched him with hope in her heart. Chitrah noticed and asked her why she was watching him. He wasn't offended, just curious. Andriel told him that it had to do with something Sayinder had said while they were working, and she gave her something. Chitrah asked her what Sayinder gave her. Andriel responded with only one word. "Hope!"

This sent Chintrah's spine a tingling. He reminded her that they would be leaving in a few days. Dinner was wonderful. Andriel helped Chitrah clean up afterwards. Andriel asked him if instead of going anywhere they could just sit together, talk, and enjoy the view from the apartment. There was a small loveseat that Chitrah dragged into the dining room so that they could look out its window.

Chitrah sat down and Andriel sat right beside him. She took his arm and put it around her shoulders, then snuggled into his side. She asked him how work was going. He told her that it was going really good. Now that his students knew what equipment they needed, to do their job properly. He does not need to do anything but watch. He asked her if she was ever going to wear the summer outfit again. She asked him why, did he think it looked sexy. He said, "No, on you it looks beautiful." She thanked him, and was afraid to say anything more as her eyes started to water up.

They sat their silently for a long time. Chitrah liked how he felt sitting there with her. He really loved her and was hoping that the love was flowing from his heart to hers.

Andriel felt safe, and loved. When she was little she sometimes sat like this with her father. Sometimes her mother and sister would sit with them. She really loved them and missed them, she wished that she could love Chitrah the same way, for now she would settle with the hope.

All too soon their time on Chalacta came to an end. They said goodbye to their good friends all over again.

When Andriel left the dress shop for the last time, she felt that she was leaving a new friend. After Andriel left the dress shop, Sayinder went into the workshop and opened a small closet that she had not touched for almost nine months. She changed out of her dressmaker's outfit, and put on her elegant temple robes. She went to the dress shop next door where the proprietor greeted her by placing her hands together and giving a slight bow.

"Is your work here amongst up completed Dhar'mac?"

"Yes it is daughter. I must return to the Temple. It felt good to use the skills I had learnt as a little girl."

"Maybe, some day, you will come back to us?"

"Maybe, some day. Do you have someone ready to take over the shop?"

"We do, and as you asked we all helped train her. We will be sad to see you go. You have been a blessing to us, especially this last month."

"The blessing you experienced this last month was not from me, but from the lady Andriel."

"Is she to become a Dhar'mac as well?"

"No. Her path leads a different way. Yet she and her husband have been given the power to bless or to curse."

"Do they know they have this power?"

"No. It would be too great a burden for them to bear. It is best that they remain as little children concerning this gift."

"I am grateful she has blessed us."

"As am I."

As the freighter approached the point they could safely jump into hyperspace. The captain received a communiqué from the shipping company that they were to go to Boz Pity. The captain confirmed the communiqué, and mentioned to the first officer that he thought Boz Pity was in Hutt Space. The Captain called Andriel and Chitrah to the bridge to inform them of the diversion, and their delay in jumping to hyperspace. Since they had to input new co-ordinates.

As Chitrah was being briefed on the diversion, a communiqué from the Ministry came through for him, asking him and his wife to meet the party waiting for them on the planet's surface. When they land on Boz Pity.

Then the captain was informed that they had permission to land on the surface. Planetary co-ordinates would be given as they approached the planet.

Chitrah had no means to confirm the communiqué. As he had never received one before, nor had he ever expected to receive one. He found it odd that Andriel was asked to accompany him. He did something that Andriel usually did, he performed a search on Boz Pity. It was not the type of place that you would expect to find tourists. Basically it was one huge graveyard, covered in crypts and gravestones. People from all over the galaxy came there to bury their dead. The history on what happened to the native population was gruesome. He would have to ask Andriel to remind him to never cross a Hutt. Then he came across the warning about cryptberries which seem to thrive amongst the crypts. "Deadly to all humanoid species, including Devaronians. No known cure." This sounded like the kind of place you would bring someone you wanted to get rid of. Chitrah was starting to feel uncomfortable about this side trip.

Andriel did not seem to be bothered by going to Boz Pity, Chitrah wondered if she read the same thing he did. He found out later that Andriel had not bothered checking out Boz Pity. It was almost like she was lost in a dream. Chitrah had trouble talking to her. She would still go about their daily routine, except that when they would get together in her cabin for their regular talk, she would stare at the cabin wall and not hear him. Sometimes he would have to repeat things three or four times before she would respond. He thought that she might be sick and checked her for a fever. But she was okay. He took her to the emergency medical kiosk in the common room, and ran every test that it would do. They all came out negative. Through it all she would just smile and stare. Either the equipment was malfunctioning, or there was nothing physically wrong with her.

Chitrah went to talk with the captain about her, but he also seemed a little strange. He found him on the bridge with the first officer, starring out in space. They weren't monitoring any instruments, they weren't checking any of the monitors. They just stared into space. When he mentioned his concerns about Andriel, the captain said she was fine, and not to worry about it. As Chitrah went back to the common room, he realised that since they entered hyperspace to travel to Boz Pity, nothing on this trip has actually been normal. It all seems to be normal, but neither the captain nor the first officer has been off the bridge to check any other part of the ship. It can't be the water, because he has been drinking tea along with Andriel. If it had been something in the water, he would have succumbed to it before Andriel. His gut told him that this had something to do with Boz Pity. There just wasn't anything tangible that he could find to help him figure it out.

When they dropped out of hyperspace they received the planetary co-ordinates to the spaceport to land the freighter. Chitrah made sure that Andriel was properly secured for landing before securing himself. Andriel did not even complain about him fussing over her.

After landing Chitrah helped Andriel get out of her restraints, then went to his cabin to get his electronic equipment. They both went down the landing ramp together. There, waiting for them, where two individuals in dark brown hooded robes, with a dark brown repulsor-lift vehicle. From the way the robes hung on the individuals, Chitrah guessed one was female the other male. Because of the hoods, their facial features where in shadows, and he could not even tell what species they were. The female spoke up and told Chitrah that he could hand his equipment over to their captain for safe keeping. They had all the equipment he would need where they were going. Chitrah told her that it was his experience that the client never had enough to properly diagnose the problems with their equipment. She told him that he was not brought here to diagnose computer equipment. He was brought here because of another problem.

Chitrah believed that they were not going to take him anywhere, until he surrendered his equipment to the captain. He felt very uncomfortable with the situation, but could not see any way out. He felt compelled to go with them. They told him that they represented the Keepers of the Crypts, and would give them a small tour before taking them to their final destination. They drove between the crypts, having to make sharp turns periodically. When Chitrah looked around, he realised he was lost in a maze. There was no sign of where they landed, or the freighter. He was completely dependent on these people to get him back to the transport.

After a while they stopped. Chitrah could not see a reason why. He got out of the vehicle because they got out. The female tried leading Andriel one way, while the male tried leading Chitrah another way. Chitrah told the male that as interesting as the different crypts were, he wanted to stay near his wife. The man then tried to slow him down, so the gap between Andriel and Chitrah would increase. But Chitrah kept closing the gap.

Chitrah saw that they stopped in front of a large bush, with berries the size of a man's first thumb digit. The berries were bright red with dark stripes. They are cryptberries. He thought he heard Andriel say that they looked bright and juicy, she wanted to see what they tasted like. Chitrah yelled No! He had to stop her.

Chitrah picked up a rock as he started running toward her, and threw it as hard as he could. He hit her in the back of her outstretched hand. Andriel let out a loud scream of pain. To Chitrah it was like a vibro-blade dagger had been stuck into his heart then turned off and twisted to inflict the maximum pain. Again Andriel screamed that her hand was broken, as she held her wrist with tears of pain streaming down her face. Chitrah knees wanted to buckle, knowing that he was the author of her pain, but he had to get to her.

When he approached her, he pulled he back from the bush. He told her that he was sorry, he had to stop her from touching the berries. Even though she is Devaronian the poison in the berries would still have killed her. Not only was Andriel in pain but she was also confused. She asked Chitrah, why was she reaching for the berries? Instead of answering her, Chitrah asked the lady who is with her, why didn't she stop Andriel? Her reply, "She is supposed to die!"

Chitrah was shocked, Andriel was more confused. "Did she say I was supposed to die?"

"I heard her say that too."

The hooded man finally caught up with them. He said that he had been a field medic in the war, and had a medical kit with him, he asked permission to examine Andriel's hand.

Because he asked, Chitrah did not try to stop him. He gingerly reached out and touched the back of Andriel's hand. She screamed, but did not go anywhere since Chitrah was holding her. The medic took out his field kit and injected something into Andriel's wrist. He told them that he had injected a compound derived from a neurotoxin. It should numb the pain in her hand. Chitrah asked if there are any side-affects. The medic did not know, he knew that it was no longer included in the new kits. To Chitrah that meant side-affects.

The medic asked Andriel, to let him know when her hand started to feel numb. Andriel told him that it did not hurt as much, and was starting to feel numb. The medic carefully felt along the back of her hand. He told her that if it is broken, nothing feels out of place, which is good news. He told her that he was going to inject a healing compound into the back of her hand which contains kolto. Andriel had never heard of it, but Chitrah had. He told her that kolto was used all over the galaxy for healing before bacta was discovered. Andriel had heard of bacta.

The medic suggested that they get Andriel's hand scanned as soon as possible, to make sure that everything is in the right place. Chitrah looked at the lady and said that he has a scanner in his equipment case which was powerful enough to scan her hand.

She looked away, ignoring him. After the medic had finished packing up his kit. She said to follow her.

Andriel whispered to Chitrah, "I don't know what is going on, but I believe you did what you thought was best for me, so I forgive you."

Chitrah whispered back, "Thank you." He was grateful that he seemed to have the real Andriel back.

They came to a mausoleum and entered. Inside was a stairway that seemed to lead to the bowels of the planet. As they descended the stairs, torches would light up before them, then would extinguish after they passed. Chitrah suspected she was using the force to do this, but he could not feel anything. In fact, he could feel nothing, which really bothered him because he could normally feel a force user.

Andriel was very unsteady on her feet, and was leaning heavily on Chitrah. She told Chitrah that it was like she was walking in a fog. Chitrah believed that the unsteadiness and the foggy mind where side-effects of the neurotoxin injection.

Finally they came to a metal door. She opened the door without touching it. They entered a large chamber where hooded figures in the same dark brown cloak, stood lining the walls. On the far side of the room was a raised platform, where four individuals sat like judges at the bench. Their two escorts went and stood against a wall with their fellows.

There was a chair in front of the judges, so Chitrah helped Andriel to it, and sat her down. He stood beside her in case she still needed support. He noticed that each judge had three coloured glass spheres in front of them. Each sphere was the size of a cryptberry. The center sphere was blue, another was black, and another was white. There was a tube leading down from in front of each of the four judges. The tubes combined into one, which led into a sealed box. Chitrah assumed that that was how they rendered their judgments.

One of the judges spoke up, "You should be dead."

Than another, "You had been found worthy of death."

Another spoke, "You hated your husband without cause, and when you realised that he did not deserve to be hated, instead of asking his forgiveness, you hated yourself."

Another, "Hate filled your heart with poison. So when love tried to take root and grow, the hate poisoned it. Trying to make it wither and die."

Another, "Your husband tried to nurture the love inside of you, but your hate would not let him."

Another, "Nor would your husband let your love die."

Another, "We say enough!"

Another, "If love can't grow in your heart, then you deserve to die!"

Another, "What do you have to say for yourself?"

Chitrah spoke up, "You are trying the wrong person. I demand that you try me in her stead."

"On what grounds?"

"First, I am her husband. Second, I made a promise."

"What promise? Did you not promise that you would not intentionally hurt her? Yet you broke that promise when you threw that rock. With intent, you chose to hurt her."

"I broke a promise to keep a promise."

"Tell us this promise."

"I promised her mother, that if she would not love me, I would release her from our marriage, so that she could freely return to her mother."

Andriel touched Chitrah, and asked, "Is it true that you made this promise?"

Chitrah touched her cheek with affection "It's the last promise I made to your mother. The promise I told you I hoped you would never find out."

Andriel held his hand to her cheek with her good hand, and he could feel the heat of the tears flowing from her eyes. "How could you? You did not even love me yet."

"No I did not love you yet. But I did promise to marry you. I was being an optimist."

The judges conferred amongst themselves. Then one of them spoke up, "We will let you be judged in her place. What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Nothing! All I ask is that you promise to give her safe passage to Deysum III, so that she can return to her mother."

Andriel pleaded with Chitrah, "Chitrah say something. Tell them that you love me."

Chitrah could feel more tears on his hand. He looked down at Andriel, a man resigned to his fate. "They know that I love you. They have to decide if that is enough."

The judges had taken the white and black glass spheres in front of them. One of the individuals standing against the wall, came and stood beside the box. He asked, "Judges have you reached your verdict?"

"We have."

"May I have your verdict?" Everyone in the room heard the sound of four glass spheres rolling down through the tubes and into the box. The box was removed from the tube. Then four more glass spheres rolled through the tubes. Four blue glass spheres landed on the cushion that had been under the box. Chitrah assumed that this was for everyone to see that the verdict had not been tampered with. The person holding the box emptied it onto the cushion so everyone could see the verdict. There were two white spheres and two black spheres a split decision. The judges then rolled the remaining spheres through the tube so that no-one would know how they each voted. The man who had the box put it down and picked up two spheres, one black, and one white.

One of the judges told Andriel that she must decide. Does he live or does he die? Her decision is final.

Andriel addressed the judges. "You said that instead of asking forgiveness I turned the hate upon myself. Will asking forgiveness rid my heart of hate?"

"Yes, but the poison will remain."

"How do I get rid of the poison?"

"There is only one thing that will rid you of the poison. You will have to determine what that is."

"Then I choose life for Chitrah. I choose Chitrah as my husband."

She opened her hand, so that everyone could see the white sphere in her hand.

The two people who had brought them there, came up to them, and promised to take them back to the vehicle. Then drop them off at their freighter. When they were seated in the back of the vehicle, Andriel turned to Chitrah and asked him to forgive her for ever hating him. Chitrah told her that he forgave her a long time ago, and did not mind telling her now, that he forgives her. Then he asked her, if she was ready to forgive herself? She told him, I forgive me for hating myself. Then she snuggled up against him and told him that she would rather love than hate. After a while she looked at him again, and said, "Thank you for setting me free."

Chitrah asked her how he set her free, didn't she hear what they said. She was stuck with him for the rest of her life. She told him that he set her free, when he let her choose to love him. He set her free, to choose him as her husband. He set her free every time he forgave her, when she had wronged him. She wanted him to know how she felt. Then she fell asleep snuggled against him.

Chitrah did not disturb her until the vehicle stopped at the freighter. He asked her if he should carry her up, or if she could get up herself. She said that she would get up, but might need him to help keep her steady. The medic gave Chitrah some more of the healing medication. He told him that it did not need to be injected anymore, it could be placed directly on the back of her hand, and let it be absorbed through the skin. Chitrah thanked him.

The captain gave him back his electronic equipment as soon as he came aboard. Chitrah opened it up and scanned Andriel's hand. They both looked at the image, and thought they saw where a bone had been cracked, but there was no sign of a break, the healing medication was working.

After take-off, Andriel said she would like to go to bed, but asked Chitrah if he would sit with her until she fell asleep. Chitrah told her it would be his pleasure. She had him wait outside her cabin door while she changed and got under the covers, so that he would not see anything inappropriate. Since she did not want to hurt him. When he came in he sat on her bed, and she used her good hand to hold his.

She asked him if her mother made him make his last promise, or did he give it from himself. He told her that her mother was surprised that he made it. Her mother told him that she was fortunate that he came into her life. Then she fell asleep.

Chitrah sat with her a while longer, wondering if now their relationship would change. She told him that Sayinder had given her hope. Now he had hope as well.

The next day and for the rest of the trip, Chitrah found Andriel to be a bit clingy. Not in a possessive way, but in a reassuring way, for the support he could give her. In one of their talks, she reminded him, that he had seen that she would need his strength to overcome certain obstacles in her life, well this was one of them. She needed his strength, and the love that would come with it. She followed him around, just to be near him, at the same time trying not to get in his way. When they would sit and talk, she would make him sit on the side of her good hand, so that she could hold his hand while they talked. She was as competitive as ever when they practiced their self-defence. The only difference being that Chitrah insisted that he tape up her injured hand, so it would not be reinjured. By the time he finished taping it, her hand was more like a club. She teased him that he did it on purpose so that she would have trouble throwing him with the two handed throws. When she got frustrated because she could not throw him properly, she started to chase him around the practise area to beat him with her club.

After they dropped out of hyperspace, and were still a far distance from the planet, Andriel suddenly leaned over and gave Chitrah a quick kiss on his lips. Chitrah was caught completely of guard, she had never done that before. He asked her, why she did that? She said it was the only thing she could think of to thank him for being so nice to her on this trip. He wasn't sure how to react to this, so he told her she was welcome. Which made Andriel smile.

When they were getting ready to make their approach to the spaceport, the captain was informed by the spaceport to tell any passengers that would be disembarking, that there is a viral infection running rampant on the planet's surface. They needed to take every precaution.

Andriel told Chitrah that Devaronians usually do not succumb to these types of illnesses. What Andriel did not know, was that with all the stress and trauma she has experienced since leaving Chalacta, her immune system had become compromised. They received the same warning when they boarded the shuttle to head to the surface.

It was late evening, when they finally entered their apartment. They had a quick meal and headed for bed.

The next day Chitrah went to the Ministry to get a list of his next assignments. He started with the one he did not get a chance to do before they departed for Chalacta.

Andriel had thought of contacting Shaak, but something warned her, that now would not be a good time, and she followed her intuition. She found that she was drinking more fluids than she did normally. She prepared a nice meal to share with Chitrah for dinner.

After dinner Chitrah scanned her hand. It looked to be completely healed. Then they sat together on the couch and talked, Chitrah told her that if she wanted to hold his hand she would have to use the one that was injured.

At first it felt strange, having him sitting on a different side of her, but her hand did not hurt. The warmth and strength of his hand, felt good in hers. In a short time she forgot all about it and just enjoyed their conversation.

The next morning Andriel's stomach felt a little queasy, she could not eat the veggie patties and fried salted meat that Chitrah had prepared them for breakfast. So he prepared her some noodles, because that was easier to digest.

After breakfast she told him that she was going back to bed to rest, and asked him to buy some juice on his way home, they were all out.

Chitrah wondered if she was all right, since they don't normally buy juice.

When he came home for dinner, he found that Andriel was still in bed. She was burning up and had not eaten or drunk anything since he left that morning. He quickly poured some juice in a glass, and diluted it with lots of water, because she needed fluids right away. He helped her sit up and take sips from the glass until she had drunk it all. Then he went back to the kitchen and prepared another glass, this time he did not put as much water in it. He brought it to her and asked her to drink it as well. She did as she was told. Taking little sips as she was able, until she drank the whole glass. He felt her forehead, it seemed to him that she was not as hot as she was when he first came home.

Chitrah asked her, if she would like him to make something for her? She said she wasn't very hungry and just wanted to rest. He asked her, if he made her some tea would she drink it? She said yes, and told him what type to make. While he was boiling the water he remembered the lullaby that her mother asked him to buy. He downloaded the album from his computer to the apartment computer and asked it to play it softly in the bedroom. He let the tea cool down a bit before taking it to Andriel to drink. He helped her to sit up again so that she could sip her tea. After she was finished she told him that she had to go pee, but was too weak to get up and go to the washroom.

Chitrah picked her up off the bed and carried her to the bathroom. After he sat her down he was about to leave but she told him she needed him there to hold onto, to keep herself steady. He stood next to her but turned his back to give her some privacy. He could feel her hand shake as she gripped his pant leg to position herself. He reached down with his hand so that she would hold it. He believed that it would be easier for her. She thanked him because it was easier to hold onto his hand. When she was ready, she let him know so that he could turn around and pick her up, and carry her back to the bed. As he was carrying her back to the bed she wiped the tears from his cheeks. She told him not to cry, because he will help her get through this. When he made her comfortable in the bed, she told him to go and eat some dinner because she needed him to stay strong.

Chitrah went and warmed up the breakfast she did not have, and ate it for his dinner. There was a piece of bread still in the cooler, so he put some jelly on it and had it for desert. He made himself a cup of tea and went back in the bedroom to sit with Andriel, she was already asleep. He held her hand with one hand and stroked her arm with the other, he liked the way her funny skin felt. Eventually he fell asleep in the chair.

Chitrah woke up because Andriel was patting his hand. She told him that he should sleep next to her on the bed. He would be more comfortable then on the chair and she would know where he was when she needed him.

Chitrah got up and stretched, his body was sore from where the chair had dug into him, and lay down on the bed next to her. He could hear her steady breathing, she had already fallen back asleep. He felt her forehead and her cheek, she was still quite warm but not too hot. In the morning he got up and made himself breakfast. After breakfast he made her some tea. Instead of waiting for it to cool down, he added juice to it until it was the right temperature. He took it to her and woke her up, then sat her up to drink what he brought her. She seemed stronger because she was able to take larger sips, and when she was finished she asked for more. After the second cup he had to carry her to the bathroom again. This time he kept his hand where it was convenient for her to hold onto. Her grip felt stronger than last night. She had not had anything to drink while he was at work. That must have sapped all her strength yesterday. After he carried her back to the bedroom, she fell asleep, before he could ask her if she wanted anything to eat.

Chitrah called the Ministry, and told them that he had to stay home and look after his wife, since she was quite ill. The guy he was talking to, told him it was alright, there was hardly anyone in the office. At least there was no-one who would get upset with him. He told the official to stay healthy, and terminated the call. He hoped that he would get a chance to talk to him again, it was rare to find someone with a sense of humour in the Ministry. He sat with Andriel, but kept himself busy with his computer.

Just before lunch Shaak called, she knew that they were supposed to be back, and Andriel had not tried to get a hold of her. Chitrah told her that Andriel is quite sick and he was not going to work, so that he could look after her. Shaak asked if she should come over to help look after Andriel. He told her that he appreciated her offer, but thought it was best if she stayed away until Andriel was better. Shaak seemed a little hurt by his answer. So he asked her if anyone in the enclave was sick. She said that there were quite a few. Chitrah told her that it sounded like she was needed there. She knew that he was right. He told her that if they really needed her, they would get a hold of her. That cheered her up, and he ended the call.

After Chitrah had lunch, he made Andriel some tea with juice, since she seemed to like it. After he helped her in every way he could, he asked her if she would be okay if he stepped out to get some supplies. She told him that she thought she would be okay. He checked the grocery store for what they had for poultry, remembering what Andriel's mother said about making her some soup when she was sick. He bought some different types of juice to change what he was adding to her tea. Then he looked for foods that were easy to digest, along with fresh fruits, he also bought food made specifically for infants, reasoning that they must be easy to digest.

He made some poultry soup the way his mother taught him. He strained the broth into a cup for Andriel to drink. He fried up some veggie patties, and made a small salad to have with some of the meat from the soup. After dinner he tried to give Andriel a bath in bed without removing her nightgown. He started with her face, trying not to get soap in her eyes.

It was a good thing that she has no hair on her head, it made washing her head and neck much easier. She told him it was okay to go under the nightgown to wash her back, which he did. Then he washed her arms and legs. He was too self-conscious to try and wash anything else. Andriel appreciated what he did, she was too weak to wash herself, and it felt good to be washed.

The next morning he mashed up a very ripe fruit. He knew she needed some solids in her system, but did not want to overdo it in case it all came back up. He was so proud that she was able to eat about a third of it, and washed it down with the juice/tea mixture.

A few days later Chitrah was sitting with her and thought he heard her mumbling. He believed she was dreaming, and held her hand for support. This way if she woke up, she would know he was there with her.

Andriel was indeed dreaming, she was sitting with her mother in her kitchen on Deysum III, she told her mother that she thought she had betrayed her when she told Chitrah how to look after her. Her mother told her that she thought she would react that way, but believed she would know in her heart that she could never betray her. She asked her mother, why she did it? Her mother answered, by asking her why she never felt attracted by any of the young men in their clan, even though many were attracted to her? Andriel told her, she did not know. Her mother told her that she had named her right. That she was indeed an Andriel, a princess. She needed a man that had the best qualities of both her parents. She needed someone who was not afraid to challenge her, yet was fully capable of defending her. There were very few Devronian men like that, in their histories they were called champions. Andriel you needed your own champion. Only she did not use the Devaronian word for champion, she used Chitrah. Andriel heard her mother say, "Princess, you need your Chitrah!" Andriel knew her mother was right she needed her Chitrah. She kept repeating that she needed her Chitrah. Chitrah heard her mumbling that she needed her Chitrah. The way she was saying it, it was more than his name, it was who he was to her. He is her Chitrah, he is her Champion! Andriel woke up with him sitting on the side of the bed holding her hand in both of his. She said, "My Chitrah!" Then she asked him to kiss her. He did because he loves her. When he straitened up he saw that she was already asleep, but with a smile on her face. He felt her forehead, her fever had broken. She was on the mend.

Dreamara woke up from a strange dream. In her dream Andriel was with her in the kitchen, asking her, why she shared information about her with Chitrah? That when she found out, at first she felt betrayed. She sensed that she did not feel that way anymore. She confirmed to her that she could never betray her. She explained to her why she was not attracted to the young men of her clan. What was ironic is that Andriel's mother was not sure about the explanation until she had the dream. Now she had a deep longing in her heart for the daughter that does not exist. She did not open her dress shop that day. Instead she called her oldest daughter, and asked if she could send her children to her place for the day. The daughter knew that she always asked for the children when she was pining for Andriel. It has been quite a while since she asked for them, she wondered what brought this on. The children loved going to grandmother's home. They knew that at some point in the day, they were going to get sweet treats. After talking with her daughter, she called a Chagrian businessman (one of her suppliers) and asked him if he knew what the name Chitrah meant. He told her it meant Champion. After she terminated the call she sat in her kitchen waiting for her water to boil. In her dream she knew that Chitrah meant Champion. In her heart she looked up into the sky, "Champion, take care of my Princess."

Andriel was getting stronger with each passing day. Now she only needed to lean on him for support when she went to the bathroom. He would leave the bathroom door slightly ajar so that it was easier to hear if she needed his help.

The next day Andriel decided to take a bath, she told him that if she took a shower he would need to hold her up so that the water did not knock her over. Chitrah got everything ready, including having the computer play the lullaby, he would have thought she would be sick from hearing it all the time.

After helping her to the bathroom he took one of the dining set chairs to sit near the door, while he played on his computer. He heard her say "Oh!", and then he heard a splash, he jumped up from the chair ready to rush into the bathroom, and asked Andriel if she was alright. She said she was fine, she slipped and fell into the tub. She believes she did not hit anything, but there was water all over the floor. She is going to need his help getting out of the tub. He told her that he was ready to help her, when she was ready.

Chitrah smiled when he heard her humming to the lullaby, while she was taking the bath.

When she was ready to get out, he backed into the bathroom, asking her what she wanted him to do. She apologised that she was probably going to get him all wet, she asked him to close his eyes and turn around. Then she directed him to bend forward and reach for her. She grabbed his arms in such a way that her elbows were in his hands. She asked him to straighten up, while he did that she was able to stand up in the bathtub. She asked, if he could give her more room outside the tub? He told her that his butt was already pressing against something. She told him that she was going to have to grab his body when she stepped out of the tub, because there wasn't very much room. She asked him to let go of her arm with his left hand. He let go with his wrong hand. She asked him to let go with his other left. He felt embarrassed and re-grabbed her with his right, and let go with his left. He heard her step out of the tub with one leg, then she grabbed him, hugging him to herself. Now she was all wet and when she hugged him she made his clothes all wet where she touched him. He felt parts of her body he had never felt before. He had to remind himself that he is there to help her. When she got the other leg out of the tub, she told him that he could let go of her. She stepped away from him holding onto his arm with one hand to keep herself steady, with the other hand she wiped herself down with a towel. Then he heard her say "No!" He asked her what is wrong. She told him that her nightgown is on the floor, when she slipped in the tub, and splashed the water everywhere. Now it is soaking wet. On top of that her towel did not wrap around her completely. She does not have the strength to hold the towel up and lean on him for support to get back to the bedroom. He would need to carry her. She needed to position the towel so that she would be covered up as much as possible when he carried her. She positioned the partially open seam of the towel so that it would be away from him. She told him it was safe for him to open his eyes. He picked her up and her one leg was exposed all the way up to her hip. He lay her down on the bed and she covered herself with a blanket. She asked him if he could toss her a fresh clean nightgown and told him where to find it. After tossing her the nightgown, he told her that he was going to change and clean up in the bathroom. He did not tell her that he needed to take a cold shower.

After he was dressed he checked in on her, she was fast asleep. He suspected that she might be a little dehydrated after her bath, so he made her the juice/tea drink. He took it into the bedroom and gently brought her to a sitting position, she was only partially awake while he held the cup to her mouth. She was thirsty enough that she drank all of it. By the time he had laid her down again, she was sound asleep. He decided it was best for him if he returned to sleeping on the couch. When Andriel woke up, she was disappointed that he was not sleeping on the bed with her, but did not say anything. He had left a glass of water by her bed. So she drank it and went back to bed.

In a couple of days she no longer needed him to support her, so he decided to go back to work. She was well enough to look after herself. A few days later she tried doing the modified exercises with him. She could not complete them, but he still applauded the attempt, it showed her strength was returning.

The day after she was able to complete an entire workout with him, she found Chitrah still sleeping on the couch when she got up. When she woke him up he complained that he was sore all over, and when she felt his forehead, she could tell he had a fever. She gave him a glass of watered down juice which he drank greedily, then she helped him off the couch and onto her bed. When he was back asleep, she went back into the main room and took all the bedding off the couch, and reset it as a couch.

Andriel promised herself that Chitrah would not sleep by himself on this couch again. If one of them had to sleep on the couch again it would be her, Chitrah deserved his bed. It was her turn to keep vigil over Chitrah. She would wake him up at regular intervals, to have him drink the watered down juice. It was a good thing that he was still strong enough to get to the washroom with her help. She still was not strong enough to carry him. When he was restless she sang him her mother's lullaby. At night she slept next to him on the bed so that she would be there for him if he needed her.

On the third day the business owner of the computer, Chitrah had last worked on, called the Ministry, and asked them if their computer tech was going to come back, and finish his job. The last time he was there, he said he still had a few more things to do. They asked him how long has it been since he was there. He told them that this was the third day that he hasn't shown up. The official that Chitrah usually communicates with, decided to personally go to Chitrah's residents, to check things out.

It was mid-morning when the apartment computer informed Andriel that there was a man from the Ministry outside the door, who wanted to check on Chitrah. Andriel opened the door to let the man in, he was polite enough, and Andriel let him take a peek at him through the bedroom door. She told him how three mornings back he complained that he was sore all over. When she checked him he was running a fever. He has been like this ever since. The official could tell that this woman really loved her husband. He considered him a fortunate man. He wished his wife would love him half as much, as this woman loved Chitrah. He wondered where they met, it must have been some night spot. He must have his way with the ladies, to have such a beautiful creature fall in love with him. He asked her how she was feeling, since Chitrah had taken some time off of work to look after her. She said that she was feeling better, and thanked him for asking. He told her that if she felt she needed help, not to be ashamed to call the office, their benefits program authorise him to arrange for help when it is needed. She thanked him for letting her know, she is comforted to know that outside help can be arranged. He told her that he would see himself out. As he was closing the main door to the apartment, he could swear he heard her singing a lullaby.

Later that day she gave Chitrah a bath. She took Chitrah's shirt off to bath him. She had no qualms about removing his pants, but she knew it would upset him so she didn't. He rolled over when she asked him to, so that she did not have to manhandle him.

A few days later his fever broke. She was so glad his illness was shorter than hers, because it still was physically hard on her. She needed her rest when she went to sleep at night. She did the exact same things for him as he had done for her, except that he chose not to take a bath. He was strong enough that he could use the shower walls for support, when he showered, he also knew the bathroom door was ajar in case he needed her help. When he started feeling stronger he told her that he was going to start sleeping on the couch. She refused to let him do so. So told him that if he was uncomfortable having her sleep next to him, she would go sleep on the couch.

Chitrah wondered what had gotten into her, but did not press the issue. He liked hearing the sound of her breathing next to him as he slept. A few days later he felt strong enough to go back to work. Andriel asked him not to push himself too hard, he still wasn't strong enough to complete a workout session.

He paced himself at work. It took twice as long for him to complete a job, as it did before he was sick. The Ministry was not concerned, he could still do it faster than anyone else. He would also take time to return to the apartment for lunch when he was nearby, which made Andriel happy.

Each day they were both getting stronger. It wasn't long before they both felt that they could do their self-defence workout.

One morning Chitrah woke up and the sound of her breathing next to him stirred a fire deep within him. He had a deep desire to kiss Andriel, and make love to her. He jumped out of bed, and ran for the bathroom. He didn't even bother taking off his pyjamas, he stood under the showerheads, and let the cold water flow. Why now, when life was getting comfortable? He thought he had buried those desires a long time ago. Andriel has been so nice to him. He was not going to force himself on the woman he loves.

After his emotions cooled down he shut the cold water off. He wrung out his pyjamas and put them back on. At least they would help him keep cool until he could find some clothes and sneak out of the apartment. He was sure he still had some in the main room, he did not dare risk going back to the bedroom. He found what he was looking for, dressed, grabbed his electronics case, and left. It was still quite early, he wandered around for more than an hour before he found a place that would serve something that passed for breakfast. He felt better having something that passed for food in his stomach. He found a park, an oasis surrounded by towers of glass and metal.

Chitrah thought about his situation, and the way he was feeling, he did not trust himself to sleep on the couch anymore. For Andriel's safety it would be better if he moved out. He would tell her tonight when he finished work. It would kill their growing relationship. He was willing to pay that price if it would keep him from hurting her. He has already hurt her once, he would rather take his own life, than hurt her again.

Andriel was awaken by Chitrah jumping out of bed, she wandered what was wrong with him, if he wanted her, all he had to do was ask. She would have opened her arms to him and embraced him. He didn't have to take a cold shower. When Chitrah left the apartment, she sat bolt upright in bed. There was nothing wrong with Chitrah, the fault was hers. She still hasn't told him that she loves him. Poor Chitrah. How can she make it up to him? She sat there thinking about what to do, which was hard for Andriel first thing in the morning. Suddenly she knew what she had to do. They still have not had their wedding night. Just because they were no longer part of a clan, was no reason to stop following their traditions. From her talks with Chitrah she was pretty sure that their traditions were really close concerning the wedding night. She tried to remember everything she had helped her mother with, to help her prepare for her sister's wedding night. Fortunately for her, her mother would do much of the same things, when she was expecting father to come home. She started three lists. The first list was all the preparations that mother would do for father's return. The second list was all the things that she did to help her mother prepare for her sister's wedding night, that wasn't on the first list. The last list was everything she could remember her mother telling her about wedding night traditions that were not on the first two lists. By the time Andriel would have normally gotten out of bed, she could no longer think of anything to add to any list. She made herself breakfast, and had a shower, hoping that something new would spring to mind. Nothing did, so she made a list of all the items she would need to buy to prepare for tonight. Everything but one item, she could get nearby. She decided to get all the easy shopping out of the way, before tackling the hard one. By mid-morning she was back, and had put all her groceries away.

The only item left on the list was a virginity blanket. Mother said that they had to be bought and not made, because the person selling it had the right to ask any question they chose, from the young lady buying it, and the young lady was required to answer truthfully. She could have asked the Nautolan's, or the Togruta's, but they already knew that she is married, and it would have been embarrassingly difficult to explain why she needed one. So she did a search on the local net to see if anyone on Lianna sold virginity blankets. She was in luck, there was one store on the whole planet that sold it. She checked where it was, and how to get to. She would have time to get to the shop, to make her purchase, and get back with enough time to make all the food preparations, before Chitrah came back from work. She would just have to grab lunch on the fly.

The shop was right were the computer said it would be. It was in one of the poorer sections of the planet, but it was well maintained, showing pride of ownership. She could not tell what type of shop it really was, but she entered anyway. Andriel was surprised to find a Caamasi lady inside. The only species that every other species will trust. The term Caamasi means "friend from afar" in basic, it can also be translated as "stranger to be trusted". The Caamasi are mammalian humanoids that average 1.8 metres in height. Their bodies are covered with fur that feels as soft as down. Their yellow eyes are surrounded by purple fur. They have stripes that start on their forehead and extend back over their head and down their back. They have a snout that appears to be void of fur, and triangular shaped ears that jut outward from the side if their head. Their hands have one thumb and only two opposing fingers. They can create lasting, vivid memories that they can share telepathically, with other members of their species. The proprietor asked her, how she may help her? Andriel told her that she would like to buy a virginity blanket. At least with the Caamasi, she would not have to argue about a price, the first price would be a fair price. The proprietor asked Andriel to wait a few minutes. She stepped out of the room, and asked someone to go fetch their grandmother, she came back into the room carrying an ornate, yet comfortable chair. Andriel assumed that the chair was for grandmother to sit on. After a few more minutes of waiting, a teenage girl led her elderly grandmother into the room. Both mother and daughter, helped the elderly lady to sit in the chair. The grandmother had been carrying the blanket. When the grandmother was comfortably seated, and the two younger ladies were standing in their positions, on either side of her. The grandmother asked her, why she wanted the blanket? Andriel told her that she was ready to give herself to the man she loved, and wanted it as evidence of their commitment. She asked her, if the man she was marrying loved her? She told them that he did. She asked her, how she knew? She told them that she had been sick recently, and he was the only one to take care of her. She had been too weak to take herself to the bathroom. He had to carry her, and stand by her, so that she could hold onto him for support. He extended his hand for her to hold onto, and looked away, so that she could have some measure of privacy. He did this every time she needed to go. The first time he carried her back to the bedroom there were tears in his eyes, because it hurt him to see her like that. "I had strength enough to wipe away his tears, and asked him not to cry, because he would see to it that I would get better." All three of the Caamasi ladies had tears in their eyes. The grandmother told her that she could have it, no charge. Andriel told her that she could not take it. The traditions of her ancestors, and of his ancestors, demands that payment must be made. The grandmother asked her to pay her what she thought it was worth. Andriel told her that it was worth more than she could ever hope to pay for it. The grandmother told her that she had answered all her questions very well. She had never met someone who was so well prepared to surrender her virginity to the man she loves. The mother said the charge for the blanket was one credit. After it was purchased, and wrapped. Andriel asked, what are the significant of the questions? When her older sister was getting married, her mother told her that she was still too young to understand. Now that I am old enough, I have no-one to explain them too me. The grandmother told her that the questions are designed to expose the true intent of the heart. If a person was being coerced into making the purchase, we would refuse the sale. If they were just following tradition, we would refuse the sale. If we suspected anything but love brought them to our doorstep, we would refuse the sale. Now we three stand as your witnesses, that it was only love that brought you here.

Andriel would have trouble describing how she felt when she left the shop. She felt so light that she did not know if her feet were touching the ground. She knew in her heart that she had done the right thing. She would have loved to share this feeling with Chitrah, but she did not think she could, at least she had lots of other things to share with him.

She was able to complete all the food preparations before Chitrah returned. She showered using a special soap that would leave her body smelling with a subtle hint of flowers. No overwhelming perfumes for the wedding night. She put on her best nightgown, the one her mother had made for her, for her wedding night. She dimmed the lights in the main room down to 25%. She placed all the candles she bought, around the perimeter of the bedroom, keeping them off the ground. When she was satisfied with their positioning, she lit them all. Then she adjusted the bedroom lighting down to 80%. Tradition says the room should be well lit, but not so bright, that the couple have trouble seeing one another. Now the hard part. She had to wait.

Chitrah was not quick coming back to the apartment, his heart was heavy with the decision he had made. He wasn't sure how Andriel would take it, he also knew that delaying it would not make it any easier. When he finally opened the door to their apartment he was confused by how dim the room was. He just stood there and called out to Andriel, telling her that they need to talk. Andriel suddenly appeared in the doorway of the bed room. With most of the light behind her the outline of her body was clearly seen through her nightgown. It would not have looked much different if she had stood there naked. The fire started burning inside Chitrah again.

Andriel spoke, "Before you say anything, hear what I have to say. I love you! I need to be a wife to you, and you need to be a husband to me." At that instant Chitrah had a glimpse of her heart, all the ugliness he had seen there before was gone. Her love for him was strong and pure. Without thinking he slammed the door to their apartment shut. He dropped everything in his hands. He kicked off his footwear and tore off his jacket as he started walking towards her. He cupped her face in his hands, and told her that he felt that he had been waiting his entire life for this. She told him that she felt the same way. He then kissed her with a hungry kiss, hers was just as hungry. He started removing her nightgown and she did not resist. She just told him not here, on the bed. He then looked past her into the bedroom, and understood. This was their wedding night. He told her that she was too good to him. While she was doing her best to loosen his clothes, she told him that they both deserved it. He picked up the naked Andriel in his arms, and gently placed her on the virginity blanket, and tore off what remained of his clothing. He climbed up on top of her, and carefully entered her, knowing that he might cause her some pain. His eyes were transfixed on her face, as her eyes were transfixed on his face, while they made love. She is now the most beautiful woman in the universe to him. From now on, whenever he made love with her, this is the face he would see. To Andriel, Chitrah is now the handsomest man in the universe, from now on whenever they made love together, this would be the face she would see. Chitrah tried to hold back his seed as much as possible, and finally exploded within her. He collapsed on top of her, and they started kissing each other. After a short time Chitrah started to harden again, so they repeated what they did before. This time it took longer to reach the point at which his seed would explode into her. He was happy that he was giving her more pleasure. This time when he collapsed they only kissed for a short time, then they separated.

They both knelt on the bed facing each other. Each feasting with their eyes on their partner's body. Andriel started with his face and slowly started looking down, she saw his strong neck then his broad shoulders. She saw the strength in his chest, and in his belly. She looked down to his forest of mysteries, and then her eyes settled on the horn of his manhood. She knew in her heart that all she saw before her, is now hers.

Chitrah started with Andriel's face, then looked down on her elegant neck. He then gaze on her deceptively strong shoulders. He gazed at the mountains of her womanhood knowing that he would have many opportunities to climb them again and again with his lips. He looked further down at her luscious belly, knowing full well the strength that was hidden there. He looked further down, and a puzzled expression appeared on his face. Andriel noticed and asked him what is wrong? He told her that he can't see her forest of mysteries, he just sees past it to her place of secrets. She decided to tease him. Do you feel cheated that something is missing? He said no, he just wondered if she trimmed it away. Andriel laughed at his naivety. "Chitrah you silly man. I'm Devaronian, I don't have hair anywhere on my body. This red colour you see is my fur."

"I thought you had funny skin."

Andriel asked him to explain what he meant by funny. She did not like the way it sounded.

Chitrah told her that when he touches her, he has little tingly feelings up and down his spine, and wants to touch her some more, but is afraid to, because she might be offended.

Andriel was pleased with his explanation, and let him know that he could touch her all he wanted. He told her that he still has not finished his traditions. Andriel teased him, telling him that he looked long enough. He complained that he was distracted, and would now have to start all over again.

Andriel sighed, so Chitrah decided to say them out loud.

"I look down from her beautiful face and see her stubborn but elegant neck. Then I gaze down on her strong shoulders, which carries the weight of many worlds. Then my gazes shifts to the beautiful mountains of her womanhood, and I want to touch them, and feel them with my hands, I want to stroke them, and kiss them with my lips."

Andriel started giggling because of all the things he wanted to do with the mountains of her womanhood.

"I want to suck them and lick them with my tongue, and someday I will need to share them with our children. Then my gaze falls upon her wonderful belly, and the cave of treasures. I wonder what treasures I will find there, and I wonder what treasures I will leave there. Then I glance further down to find the forest of mysteries, but it isn't there. Tis truly a mystery. Finally I look upon the place of secrets, the wellspring from which our pleasures spring forth. I know in my heart that all I see before me is mine."

"It's about time, I'm starting to get cold."

"But I'm not finished yet."

"How can you say you're not finished, when you covered everything in the traditions, including the forest of mysteries which isn't there?"

"The fur, it's not mentioned in the traditions, but it is obvious that it is there. I need to know how to include it."

"And how do you do that?"

"By experimenting." He picks up her hand, and kisses her on the back of the hand.

"Did you feel that?"

"Uh-huh." Then he lifts her hand higher, and kisses her on her elbow.

"Did you feel that?"

"Uh-huh." He put her hand down and moved closer to her, and kissed her on the neck just below the jaw socket. Andriel was starting to like his experimenting.

"Did you feel that?"

"Uh-huh." Then he nibbled on the bottom of her ear.

"Did you feel that?"

"Uh-huh." Then he ever so gently caressed her cheek with his lips and his breath. She grabbed him closer to her body. She definitely felt something.

To Andriel it felt like a Devaronian had gently rubbed their cheek with hers. The first time her mother rubbed her cheek with Andriel, Andriel wanted her to do it again. Instead her mother warned her that she had to be careful who she rubbed cheeks with. Her mother still rubbed cheeks with her on special occasions, and it was always pleasurable.

But this was more, this feeling was erotic. She felt it travel from her cheek down to her place of secrets. Her grabbing Chitrah closer to herself, was an involuntary reaction. She asked him to do it again. He did. This time she threw him on his back and mounted him. He had triggered a strong urge in her to have him. The look of shook on Chitrah's face, quickly turned into a look of pleasure. When Andriel looked down on his face she saw a big smile. She asked him why he was smiling. He told her that he was just enjoying the view. "She looked quite different from down here." She bent forward and gave him a passionate kiss, then returned to their lovemaking. Chitrah was proud that he could hold in his seed long enough for her to make a sound of pleasure, and collapsed on him. He had released his seed when he heard her sound of pleasure. Now he passionately kissed her. They continued kissing until they felt the strength return to their bodies. Andriel whispered in his ear, "Any incites from your experimenting?"

"I know in my heart that it is mine."

It was normal practise that the couple would have dinner together after they completed all the traditions of lovemaking on their wedding night.

Chitrah got out of bed and pulled his pants on. He could not get them to fasten properly. He told Andriel that there was a chance he might need a new suit. Andriel told him that she would have a look at his clothing, when he goes to work.

She did not want to waste credits on a cheap suit if she could repair the one he has.

Andriel just threw on a house coat, she wasn't sure were Chitrah had tossed her nightgown. She hung up the virginity blanket to dry.

Chitrah asked her what the significance of keeping their virginity blanket was.

She told him that it was now a trophy of their love. He asked if they are supposed to hang it on their wall for everyone to see.

Andriel called him a silly man again. Only special people are allowed to see the virginity blanket, people who you are connected to with love. If they still had been in their clans, the night before the wedding night, their parents would have shown them their virginity blankets, to confirm that they are a product of love. In the same token, they would have been waiting in their main room, for them to bring the virginity blanket out to them, so that they would know that they are now bonded in love. You don't show it just because someone wants to see it, since it holds no value to them, and cheapens its value to them.

They blew out the candles since they were no longer needed. What they did now, was totally up to them. Andriel had a couple of fantasies that she hoped that Chitrah would help her fulfill. She brought out of the cooler all the food she had prepared for this evening, there was still plenty of food in the cooler to cover all the meals for the coming day. She than brought out all the food she had prepared that could just stay out and would not spoil. Once the food was laid out, they could help themselves to whatever they wanted. Chitrah asked her what the significance of each dish was, besides tasting good. Andriel told him not to fill up on sweets, because they will give you a lot of energy now, but when you use up all their energy your body goes into an energy void, and you fall asleep. Andriel would be really upset with him if he fell asleep, when they had so much time to make up, in their love making. Andriel pointed out some dishes and told Chitrah that they tend to spoil quickly once brought out of the cooler. They need to be eaten completely so that they are not tempted to try it later and make themselves sick.

"It takes longer for the body to digest them, so they will provide us with energy later in the night." She pointed out which dishes would provide their bodies with energy, after the energy from the sweets was consumed. She also reminded him that if they were starting to feel hungry, it was okay for them to come back and get more food.

It was quite a feast, and everything tasted delicious. Chitrah told Andriel that more than once, so she did not think he was just saying in. He did want to eat as quickly as possible, Andriel was teasing him with her body, because she did not fasten her housecoat closed, it was partially open, giving him a treat for his eyes. Every time she turned it would open more, so that he could see more of her body, than when she stopped turning it would almost close completely, hiding her body from him. The horn of his manhood was ready for some action, and he really wanted to get her back into bed.

Andriel was the first one to finish, and entered the bedroom before him. She had let her housecoat slip off as she entered the bedroom, teasing him even more, before she disappeared out of sight. When Chitrah entered the bedroom he was greeted with a pillow slamming into his face. Andriel stood there naked, on the far side of the bed, with a pillow in her hands. Chitrah had caught the pillow she had thrown at him, before it fell to the floor. He grinned at her and let his pants drop. If it is a pillow fight she wants, it would be a pillow fight she will get. He went to the near side of the bed. They both went on the bed with their knees getting closer and closer until they were within pillow striking range.

They both bashed at each other like great warriors, trying to find a weakness in their opponent they could exploit. Suddenly Andriel's pillow exploded when she gave Chitrah a good shot to his body. Little balls of foam went flying through the whole bedroom. Andriel had the only pillow made of small beads of foam, the rest were solid cores of different materials. Chitrah took advantage of the situation, grabbing her and pinning her to the bed. They looked at one another for only a moment before the both started to kiss, then to passionately make love to one another. Andriel's first fantasy was fulfilled.

When they were not making love, they were exploring each other's body, to see if they could find any other places like Andriel's cheeks. That would get an equally favourable reaction from their partner. It was almost sunrise before they finally succumbed to sleep.

Chitrah awoke with a start, it was way past the time that he normally woke up. He checked the time, it was just after the time most employees are expected to show up for work. He saw his shirt lying beside the bed, he put it on, but did not bother with anything else, and went to the kitchen, to talk on the communicator. Andriel woke up when he got out of bed and went and stood in the bedroom doorway, wondering what Chitrah was up to, only wearing a shirt. When Chitrah saw Andriel standing naked in the doorway, the horn of his manhood grew and hardened.

Chitrah was able to contact the business owner where he had been working yesterday. He told him something had come up, and he would not make it in today. He expected that he would be back tomorrow. After he closed the contact, he started walking back to the bedroom.

Suddenly Andriel burst out laughing, "Well we know what came up this morning." Chitrah was both proud and embarrassed, he took off his shirt, took Andriel by the hand, and they both went back to bed, to deal with Chitrah's horn of manhood. After they made love, they were too excited for the day, and could not get back to sleep. They both decided to get up and have breakfast. They both put on house coats, and fastened them closed this time.

After breakfast they both sat on the couch. They had both admitted to feeling quite tender, even though they both still desired to continue making love, they both felt they had to heal first.

While they were sitting there, Andriel remembered that her mother gave her a really small vial. She said it was for the wedding night. She would not say what it was, or what it was for, she said she would figure it out. She told Chitrah about the vial. Her mother had also told her, that she had given one to her sister, for her wedding night, and she was not allowed to go back home for two days after she was married. She wonder if it was supposed to heal the tenderness, so that they could continue to make love.

Chitrah went back into the bedroom with her, he wanted to help her look for the vial, but was not going to paw through her stuff without being invited.

Andriel finally found it, she put a couple of drops on one hand and applied it to her place of secrets. She told him that she instantly felt relief, she needed to use one more drop to make sure every tender place was covered. Since she already had some oil residue on one hand, he let her apply it to his horn of manhood. She only needed two drops to cover his horn, and he was feeling stimulated by her hand on his horn. He asked her how long they should wait before they have sex. Andriel said she did not know, she had felt relief right away, as had Chitrah. She thought that they could try it right now. If they were not ready, they would know right away, and would have to stop, at least the ointment would be spread to where it had to go. The bad news is, that they only had enough for one more application. When they tried having sex, the tenderness was gone. They were able to make love the rest of the day. At dinner time they ate the last of the food Andriel had prepared. Andriel shared with Chitrah her last fantasy, she wanted to be alone with him in a hot tub. They did not have a hot tub, but the bathroom did have a jetted tub mode, they would just need to adjust the temperature manually. Chitrah programmed the bathroom for jetted tub mode, Andriel asked the computer if it could play a sample selection of romantic instrumental music. From the samples she selected the ones that were most appealing to her. She asked the computer to play samples from other pieces on the albums she selected. She was finally able to narrow it down to two albums. She asked the computer to play the two albums on a continuous loop in the bathroom, as background music for the evening. Chitrah was in the bathroom filling the tub when the background music started to play. He approved of her selections. Andriel then checked how much new-ale they had in the cooler. There was more than enough for two large glasses. She poured two large glasses and placed them in the freezer, so that they would be nicely chilled when the tub was ready. The fantasy was not about having sex in the hot tub with Chitrah, it was about being in the hot tub with Chitrah, having the chilled new-ale would help them to be there for a long time. If they made love while they were there, that was okay.

The hot jetted water felt good on their naked bodies. For the first few minutes neither one spoke, it was almost as if they were each in their own world. After the water jets started to work the knots out of their sore muscles, they both started to relax and sense each other's presence. Andriel was the first one to break the silence.

She mentioned that the Keepers of the Crypts had indicated that she had loved Chitrah for quite a long time. She thought she knew when it started. Chitrah let her know he was listening. She believes that she started loving him, after she found out that it was him that reached out to her when she was in that field, lonely, and afraid. He had comforted her, encouraged her, and reassured her, all while fighting his own demons.

Chitrah shared with her the full vision he had of her heart during their wedding ceremony, and the vision he had of her heart, when she told him that she loved him. She could understand him not wanting to tell her about the ugliness he had seen, it could have discouraged her. She asked him what he wanted to talk about, when he had come home, and she interrupted him, by telling him that she loved him. He told her that he was planning on moving out. She told him if he would have done that, they both would have died. It was more than love that binds them together, maybe it is the force. Whatever it is, it works together with his love. If he had moved out, his love would no longer have been able to sustain them. When Chitrah thought about what she said, a cold chill ran down his spine despite the hot water. He told her she was right.

He asked her, what did she think the future had in store for them? She told him lots of babies. Chitrah laughed, and told her that they should try to have one at a time. He didn't think he could handle lots at once. She also laughed at the idea, but she was also glad in her heart, that he wasn't opposed to having children. They talked like they normally talk, until they finished the new-ale. Then they made love, and went to bed. They were exhausted from their marathon of making love, and now their bodies needed to recover. They both rested sweetly, knowing in their hearts, that they truly were husband and wife, in every sense of the words.

Chitrah woke up first, as he normally does. His internal clock had reset itself, and he was back to normal time. While he was preparing breakfast he also went through the main room, picking up every piece of clothing he could find, and separating them into two piles, his and hers. When breakfast was ready he knocked on the bedroom door, and let Andriel know that breakfast was ready. A groggy Andriel came out of the bedroom and headed straight to the bathroom. He heard her gargle and rinse out her mouth. When she came out of the bathroom, she came up to him, and kissed him, and told him morning breath. Then she sat down to share breakfast with him. Chitrah pointed out the two piles he started from the clothes he found in the main room. Andriel asked, if he would be coming by for lunch? He did not think so, because of where his job is, but he should not be late for dinner. Andriel promised that she would be through all the clothes by then. If it can be repaired, she'll repair it. If it can't be repaired, they'll talk about replacing it.

After Andriel had dressed, the apartment computer informed her that there was a parcel delivery at the door. She checked the monitor, and there was a droid standing outside the apartment door, with a box. She opened the door and signed for the parcel. It was from the martial-arts store on Chalacta.

Before they left Chalacta, she had gone to the martial arts store with Chitrah and ordered three women's, and three men's full practise suits, and arranged for them to ship it to their apartment on Lianna. She had paid for it with some of the credits she received from the restaurants. They wanted to give it to Shaak's clan.

Suddenly Andriel gasped, Shaak must be going crazy wondering what happened to her. She tried to remember if they had a communicator in their enclave. She checked her computer to see if she recorded anything about reaching Shaak. She found a communicator code, with a note, "not private." She took her computer into the kitchen, and entered the code in the communicator. After a while, a Togruta female came on the communicator, with the look of why are you calling here. Andriel asked, if Shaak is there? Suddenly the woman's face brightened, "You must be Shaak's friend, the seamstress. We had heard you were sick."

Andriel told her she was sick, but as she was getting better, her husband became sick, or she would have tried to contact Shaak sooner. The lady then told her that they had many sick, but no deaths, everyone is much better. Andriel was starting to get the impression that this lady liked to talk. She asked one more time, if Shaak is there? The lady said she is not. Andriel asked her if she would tell Shaak that she will come down to visit her tomorrow morning. The lady told her that Shaak would be so happy to hear that she is coming, she was worried when she did not hear from her. But her father kept telling her that she would come. Andriel thanked her, then quickly terminated the call, before the woman decided there was something else important that she had to tell her.

Andriel went through the bedroom to pick up all the clothes she found on the ground, and add them to the two piles Chitrah had started. She found that her clothes had come through unscathed. Chitrah had been gentle with her, and did not rip anything off of her body, even though he was tempted to. The pillowcase was beyond repair. That reminded her they needed to get the household droid in, to vacuum up all the little balls of foam in the bedroom. She asked the apartment computer when the household droid was scheduled to come to the apartment? The computer told her, that it should come by sometime today. For Andriel the timing was perfect. She would just have to make sure all the foam balls were off the bed before the droid arrived. Then she started looking over Chitrah's clothes. This wasn't a suit, of course Chitrah had snuck out of the apartment the morning of their wedding night. So where is his suit? She went into the bedroom and checked Chitrah's section of the closet. It was hanging right where he left it. He is going to be so disappointed. He hates wearing it, it makes him look too much like everyone else. She went back to Chitrah's clothes on the couch. She could repair everything. The shirt should look okay, but the pants and the jacket, would look repaired. They would be okay to wear if he has doing something were they would get dirty. But not okay if he was going to be seen in public. Andriel went back into the bedroom, and brushed all the foam balls off the bed. Then she got out her sewing kit. She had just finished repairing Chitrah's shirt when the computer told her the household droid was asking for permission to enter the apartment. Andriel let it in, and informed it about the pillow exploding, and little balls of foam are now all over the bedroom floor. The droid told her that it happens a lot with young couples and children. Andriel almost started laughing when she heard that. The droid headed straight for the bedroom. Andriel moved her sewing kit and Chitrah's clothes to the kitchen, to work on them there, out of the way of the droid. The droid had to make one trip to empty its dust bin. It was able to clean the rest of the apartment in no-time after it returned.

Andriel made herself some lunch after the droid left, and was able to finish repairing Chitrah's clothes before dinner time. She decided to open the parcel that came from the martial-arts store, just to make certain that they sent the right items. It would be embarrassing to tell Shaak that it contained practise suits only to find it contained practise dummies or something else. She would have to be careful in case they popped out and started inflating. Then she would need Chitrah's help to get them all back in. She decided to only open it enough, so that she could peek inside, and reach inside, to feel what she could not see. Everything seemed to be what it was supposed to be. So she resealed it and started thinking about what to make for dinner.

Andriel was just doing the final preparations for dinner, when Chitrah came through the door and told her he was home. Andriel asked him, why he said it, when she heard him come through the door? He said it never felt like home before. All the places they had lived together, never felt like home. But now that he knows that she loves him, and he knew he was coming back to her, it felt like he was coming home. She told him he was sweet, and gave him a kiss on the cheek for that. Then she stopped and thought for a moment. "You know it feels different to me too." He gave her a kiss on her cheek and said, "Welcome Home."

Chitrah set the table while Andriel finished preparing dinner. He asked her about the parcel. She told him that it came this morning, it was from the martial-arts store on Chalacta. It made her think of Shaak, so she called the enclave, and left a message for Shaak that she would be coming by to visit in the morning. As an afterthought she said, if that's okay with you?

Chitrah took her hand in his and looked at her face. "I have loved you for a long time, and just because we made love, I don't expect you to stop being you."

That made Andriel feel good, he had set her free again. She has a good husband. During dinner Andriel told Chitrah that she had some bad news, and she had badder news. Chitrah told her he would hear the bad news first. Andriel told him that his suit was unharmed, and hanging in the closet, he wasn't wearing it when he came home for their wedding night. Chitrah asked her, what was he wearing? She thinks it was his favourite casual outfit. She did not think they could find anything on Lianna that could come close to replacing it. Chitrah asked her, how bad is it? Andriel told him that his shirt was fine, then she got up and got his jacket and pants. They are okay to wear if he was going to get nerf wool, but he cannot take her out to dinner wearing these.

Chitrah was sad, seeing what he had done to his clothes, then he looked at Andriel and smiled, "It was worth it!" Andriel started feeling a little warm in her cheeks, and went back to finish preparing dinner. After dinner they sat on the couch and Chitrah asked the computer to play the music it had played for them in the bathroom, and labeled it Andriel 1. He asked Andriel what she was expecting to do with Shaak. Andriel said it depended on how well Shaak did with everything she had left her to practise. She needed to think of a way to test her, to gage how proficient she is with her sewing, and she would also need to think of a way to reward her for practising on her own, and encourage her to keep improving. She had left her some projects to complete, so she will need to critique those. Then she might have an idea about what to challenge her with next. Chitrah said it sounded like she was going to have a busy day, did she think she would be back in time for dinner. She wanted to be, but if she thought she might be late, she would leave a message. He asked her, if she was going to tell her about what happened between them? Andriel said she wanted to, because she is a good friend, but she is not yet that close to her hunting companions, and anything she shares with Shaak, Shaak will share with her hunting companions. She asked Chitrah, what he thought of her telling Shaak? He reminded her that she has good intuition, it has not let them down yet. If she believes the situation is right to tell her, then go for it, it may be that Shaak needs to hear it. Andriel snuggled up against Chitrah, she has always enjoyed talking to him, because he always has interesting ways of looking at things, and she always feels encouraged by him, yet somehow he always avoids telling her what to do. They talked about where they might have to go to replace his outfit. She asked him about work, and whether it looked like they would be staying in Lianna for a while, or would they be flying off to someplace new. They made love again that night, before finally settling down for bed. They both felt that there was still so much of their partner's body, they wanted to explore. They also talked about the idea of Chitrah taking another day off of work.

The next morning Andriel was on her way out the door to meet up with Shaak, when she had the feeling that she should be taking her computer along. So she went back in the apartment and retrieved it. Fortunately it fit inside her travel hand bag, so the only inconvenience was the added weight.

When she stepped off the shuttle at the terminal nearest the Togruta Enclave, Shaak was there to meet her. She was so excited to see Andriel that she ran right into her arms and hugged her. Then she grabbed Andriel's arm and started dragging her to the exit. Andriel had to ask her to stop, and pulled her arm away. She asked her, where her hunting companions were? Shaak said that they were waiting for them, and grabbed her arm again. Andriel had to pull her arm away again, and told her that they had to retrieve a parcel she checked into luggage. So Shaak grabbed her arm again, and started dragging her to where she could claim her luggage, Andriel laughed and let Shaak lead the way. When Andriel pointed out which parcel was hers, Shaak grabbed it, and held it with one arm. With the other hand she grabbed Andriel's hand, and led her out the exit. After walking a few blocks down the main road, Andriel saw Shaak's companions standing in front of a storefront. The sign for the store was covered in cloth with some string hanging from it. Her companions started jumping up and down, clapping their hands and waving, they seemed just as excited as Shaak to see her. Some of the people living in the neighborhood came out to see what the fuss was about. The people not from the neighborhood looked at the ladies clapping, and jumping, but where too afraid to stop walking. The companions each gave Andriel a hug, and Shaak asked her to pull one of the strings. She did and the material fluttered off the sign, and fell to the ground. The sign read, "Elegant You" in large letters, and in smaller letters underneath, it read, "Dress shop". Andriel just stood there, hardly believing what she was seeing, then Shaak pushed her through the doors, until she was standing before a sign that read, "Proprietors: Andriel Mirranna, Master Seamstress and Dress Designer" underneath Andriel's name "Shaak Chi, Apprentice Seamstress and Dress Designer".

Andriel told Shaak that it would take a seamstress guild, to declare her a Master Seamstress and Dress Designer. Shaak said that she was glad she agreed, which had Andriel a little confused. "As the only two seamstresses on Lianna, I declare our first meeting of Lianna's Seamstress Guild in order, the first order of business is to declare, Andriel Mirranna is officially a Master Seamstress and Dress Designer, are there any objection? None, good! The declaration is unanimous! This first meeting of Lianna's seamstress guild is now closed. Congratulations Andriel."

Shaak gave her a big hug, and Andriel hugged her back, and said, "Thank You!"

The two excited companions first started clapping their hands, then they hugged the two ladies. Andriel wiped tears from her eyes, than asked Shaak to explain what was going on here. Shaak led her into the workshop area, where there were chairs for them to sit down. Andriel approved of the size of the workshop. There was a platform for the customers to stand on, a proper dress designer's mirror against the wall, a work table for cutting fabric, and her sewing machine on a custom made table and its chair. One of the companions went into the back room to make them some tea. The rest of them sat down on the customer's waiting chairs.

Shaak told her that her sewing machine was set up in the main hall where the clan would meet, and eat together. Andriel remembered setting up the sewing machine there. Shaak said it worked well for a number of days. One day some Nautolan families came to visit. The women noticed her practising, and asked her what she was doing, she told them that she was practising to become a seamstress and dress designer. "They asked if I had made anything yet, I pointed to the smock you asked me to make, that was hanging on a peg in the wall. They went over and had a look at it, and decided that I was good enough to help them. They complained that their dresses did not fit right, and asked if I could have a look at them. I told them that I was still learning, but if they wanted to wait until all the men left the room, then I would have a look at their dresses. They patiently waited, watching me practise the sewing you showed me. After all the men left, my companions barred the doors to the hall. I felt along the seams of the dresses but could not see anything wrong with the dresses, but the garments under the dress seemed wrong. So I asked them to remove their dresses. The bras they had on were not right for them, I pointed out for them where they were pinching the skin of their mountains, which was causing there discomfort. At this time some men wanted to come back into the hall, but my companions, would not let them, telling them that there were non-Togruta females undressed in the hall, and they would have to wait. The nerf herders were even more intent on being allowed in the hall, when they were told why they were barred, and went and complained to my father. By this time the ladies had but their dresses back on and asked me if I could help them fix the problem. I told them that I did not have a number of different size bras for them to try on, to see what size would fit them best. They asked me, if they came back with different sizes, would I do my best to help them? After the ladies had dressed, my companions had unbarred the doors and sat down next to me. My father came into the hall and rebuked the men for claiming the door was barred. I told my father that we indeed had barred the doors, to keep the men from dishonouring our guests, while they had their dresses off, for me to examine them. My father was embarrassed by the men's conduct and apologized to the ladies on behalf of the clan, and told the men he needed to speak to them outside. We all thought that the matter was settled, until the Nautolan women returned with a number of their fellow female clan members. The young men in the hall sensed that they were all there to see me, and made it obvious that they were not going to leave, hoping that we would put on a show for them. One of my companions went to fetch my father. He told the young men to stop disrespecting my guests and leave the hall at once. After he left, my companions barred the doors to the hall. The Nautolan women told me that they had brought every spare bra they could find in their enclave, and asked if I could help them find the right ones. I had them take them all out of the box they had brought them in and sort them by size. Then I had them take their tops or dresses off and tried to arrange them by size. I then checked each woman out, and told her whether what she was wearing was too big or too small. My companions would then try to find the size I thought would fit them best. For most of the women we were able to find a comfortable fit. There were some women that their girth around their chest was large, but their mountains were small. We could find bras that would be comfortable for their girth but too large for their mountains. I remembered you telling me how some women stuff their bras. So I told them what the problem was, and what I thought was a temporary solution. We placed soft material in their bras until they filled out. The other ladies asked to touch them, they wanted to know what they felt like with the material stuffed in them. They said they felt lumpy, not real at all. I told them it was important that the women wearing them felt comfortable. All the ladies thanked me for my help. When they were dressed my companions unbarred the doors.

My father was waiting outside. After our guests had left he came and talked with me and my companions. He told me that what was happening, was disruptive to the clan. The hall was supposed to be an area where any clan member could come and visit with other clan members, and guests were always welcome. He did not like how immature the men were behaving toward my female guests, and he could see that as my talent grew, so too would the number of women who would want to see me. I told him that there was no other place in the enclave where I could take all the guests and treat them as they deserved. My father agreed. He said it was time to start looking outside the enclave. He called a meeting of all the clan elders and asked them to help find a place for us. Like my father the other elders were disappointed in the actions of our young men, and were afraid that it might hurt our relationship with our Nautolan friends. So they all agreed to use their contacts to help. Two cycles of seven days later, one of the elders approached my father, he believed that he had found the place for us. The landholder was willing to rent this storefront to us, at far below market value, if we agreed to a long term lease. He believed that this was the type of business that could attract customers from all over the planet. It would cause the value of all his properties to go up, allowing him to charge the other businesses more for their storefronts. My father agreed to the contract. All the men in the clan helped in refurbishing the shop, and building the sign out front. They wanted to call it Shaak's Dress Shop. But I told them it was as much yours as it was mine. So I wanted a name that reflected all you taught me about being a seamstress, and our relationship with our customers. Welcome to "Elegant You!" Andriel loved the name. She asked Shaak for the details of the lease contract, and if she could have a copy. Shaak had a copy ready for her, she also had a desire to carry a line of lingerie, because the Nautolan's problem was not with their dresses but with their undergarments. She went to the shop where Andriel had helped her buy undergarments, and where she had taken her companions to buy theirs. She asked them if they could give them the contact information for their supplier. They were hesitant, until I told them where we were located. When I contacted the supplier, he wanted us to carry more than I wanted too, and we did not have the funds to make their minimum purchase. My father arranged for the clan to loan us some credits. We only have enough funds for two more month's rent. I thought we should carry some feminine hygiene products as well, but had the same problem in not being able to pay for their minimum purchase.

Andriel was all tingly inside, this was a challenge her mother had trained her for. She would need to rely heavily on Shaak, who has already demonstrated how capable she is. She told her to go back to the enclave and return with her best outfit. They would have business meetings to go to this afternoon. She obtained the contact information from Shaak for the suppliers, before she left. One of Shaak's companions, Shaas Baa had stayed in the shop with her, so she asked her where the closest communicator was. She showed her the communicator in the back room, it was installed when they were doing renovations. Andriel turned it around, like Chitrah had done to the one in their apartment, so the only thing people talking to them would see was the wall behind her. She positioned a lamp to light up the wall behind her so that it would not look like she was calling from a dingy back room. She called the lingerie supplier, she told the man who answered the phone who she is, and the name of her business, she told him that they had been contacted earlier by her associate, she had been off planet and had recently returned, she would like to make an appointment to meet with them, to arrange delivery of their product. She happened to be talking to the right person, he is the business owner. He liked the way this woman carried herself, he had heard that Devaronian women make excellent businessmen. He agreed to meet with her, and set a time, it looked like she was checking her schedule, than told him that the time he had suggested was agreeable to her. After terminating the call, Andriel got up and hugged Shaas, who had been looking at her with amazement, through the entire conversation.

Andriel went back to the communicator and called the feminine hygiene supplier. It was virtually a copy of the previous conversation. The time this supplier suggested was too close to the appointment she just made, she told him that she would be meeting with another supplier at that time, and suggested a later time. The supplier agreed to the new time, and Andriel terminated the call.

Andriel had decided to use all the money she had left from the restaurants on Chalacta, as well as withdrawing some money from their savings to use as reserves. She could pick it up from the shuttle terminal on the way to their meetings. Andriel looked at Shaas, and asked for more tea. When Shaak and her companion, Bandaa Shuuk, arrived back at the dress shop, Andriel let Shaas tell them how Andriel was able to make two appointments, with the very same people who brushed Shaak off. Andriel had Shaak stand on the platform and turn around. Andriel told her that her outfit was too feminine for business meetings. She asked Shaak what she thought they should do to make it more business appropriate. She suggested that they remove all the fur trim, show less cleavage in the front, and add a panel in the back, so she is not showing a bare back. Andriel told her she was correct, on all accounts, and they would get right to it, after they had the lunch they had brought back with them.

After all the adjustments, it was still lacking something that the fur trim had given. Andriel decided to add ruffles all the way around the top of the dress. It helped to tie the new back panel into the rest of the dress. It did make it appear more feminine, but not as overtly as it did before. They were women after all, they do not have to put all femininity aside to conduct business.

In the first meeting Andriel was not above using her new title as Master Seamstress and Dress Designer. Nor was she above name dropping, she told the supplier that both Princess Krinta, and Queen Anthila encouraged her to open her own dress shop on Lianna. She told the supplier that they were not interested in being known as a lingerie outlet. Their primary concern is how things fit on their customers. They have noticed that many women on Lianna have not been fitted properly for their undergarments, which translates into the dress not fitting properly. If they fit them with a comfortable set of undergarments, the ladies will look for a store closer to their home to upgrade their entire collection, and they will be looking for the brand that they know is comfortable on them. They are not interested in their top of the line models. Discontinued models would be just as acceptable. She had also shown him the different designs she has come up with, and how they were received, the summer dress from Chalacta was quite interesting to Shaak, since she had not yet seen it. She also mentioned the dress design that she has authorised other seamstress and dress makers to reproduce on various planets. All the women who purchased it believe it would help them get pregnant. When she checked with the dress makers on Chalacta, their tally was 100% success rate. The supplier said he would need to tell his wife about that dress. He took them out to his warehouse and showed them all the discontinued models he had on hand, there was no outlet for them on Lianna, normally he would have to ship them off planet to get rid of them, and would probably lose money in the process. If they could help him move the discontinued stock, they would be doing him a big favour, and he would give them a good deal in the process. Andriel was able to arrange a larger order than Shaak thought possible, and payed less than the minimal order price she was quoted. He told them that his wife was one of his sales reps, and he would place them on her list. This way she would have an excuse to go and talk to them about dress designs. Andriel told the supplier that she was not above doing trades. If it would help his business to have better dressed sales reps, something can always be worked out.

They shook hands and left for their next meeting. Shaak asked Andriel how she just did that, Andriel told her that people where always more willing to make deals in person, than over a communicator, if they have never met you before. Also by sharing the vision of what they wanted to accomplish, it was easier for the supplier to see how they fit into the picture, then determine if they are comfortable with that fit. Andriel said that she expected this next meeting to be harder. Andriel started her pitch as she did before, giving her title and showing some of the designs she had made in the past, including the outfit she was currently wearing. This caught his attention. She decided not to drop names this time, but to be brutally honest. She told him that when women come to her as a seamstress, whether they want her to design them a new outfit, or just make alterations, they have already placed their complete trust in her. If they are trying to deal with an accident, and need her help, they trust her to help them the best way possible, for this reason they need to keep a supply of feminine hygiene products on hand. It is not a money making product for them. Most of the time they would be selling it at cost. The supplier thanked them for their honesty, and confirmed the location of their dress shop. He asked if they could wait in the secretary's office for a few moments, while he conferred with a couple of his sales people. While they were waiting, a man and a women were called into his office. They could hear them talking, but could not understand anything they said. After about ten minutes, the boss notified his secretary, to send them both back in. He introduced his top two sales reps to them. He admitted that the amount of product they were looking for was way below what they expected from their regular retail outlets. However, their shop was situated in an area where they have no presence. They are allowed a certain amount of promotional leeway. If they were willing to display one of their signs in their shop window, then they could send by a rep from time to time to make sure they were restocked. He asked Andriel to show the sales reps the one dress she mentioned. She knew which one he was talking about, and displayed it on her computer. "This dress helps women become pregnant?" That's what the women who have purchased it have told me, and the seamstresses and dressmakers that have been authorized to reproduce it." The two sales reps took them to their sales office, there they gave them two boxes of their product, and a sign to place in their window. They gave them a sheet listing the minimum price they were allowed to sell the different products for. Shaak asked what they owe them for the product. They told them it was a promotion, it was free. When they walked out of the business, and no-one chased after them, Shaak could not believe what just happened. She asked Andriel if she could help her understand.

Andriel told her it was like the property owner. They were hoping that we would generate business for them in the future, for when a regular store moves into the neighborhood. Shaak still did not understand, but was happy to get the product. She asked Andriel what they meant when they said a sales rep would come by from time to time, to restock their supply. Andriel told her that they know how much product they gave them. When a sales rep comes by, they will only replace the product that was sold, and maybe give them new product types that becomes available. This way they can keep an accurate account of how much product goes through their shop over time.

Why do they need to know this?

If the amount of product sold through our shop starts to increase by a sizeable amount, they might ask us to become a regular retail outlet for them. Shaak decided that there was a lot she needed to learn, about business.

Back at the shop, Shaak proudly displayed the product they received and told her companions about the shipment of lingerie that would be coming on the following day. When Andriel realised what time it was, she called home on the communicator to let Chitrah know that she would be quite late. He would have to eat his dinner alone. On the bright side, she was now a Master Seamstress and Dress Designer, and they were part owners of a dress shop. Andriel told them that she had to go home, but would be back tomorrow. Shaak asked Andriel if she could have a word with her. They went into the back, Shaak asked her if something had changed, she had never called going to their apartment as going home before. Andriel smiled and said something has changed. Shaak said "Good!" and let her know she was happy for her.

Chitrah arrived home shortly after Andriel had left the message for him. He hoped she would be willing to expound on her message. It sounded like she had a much more interesting day than he did. When he checked the time of the message, he was able to guess what time Andriel would be home by, if she had called from near the enclave. He cooked dinner for both of them. He put her portion in the cooler, so it could be warmed up when she came home. He was playing on his computer when she came home. He warmed up her dinner, while she gave a very condensed version of what transpired that day. She continued talking while she was eating. Only pausing to let him know, that she really appreciated him cooking dinner for her, she would try not to be so late tomorrow, and would try to give him all the details that she skipped over today.

After she finished dinner, she told Chitrah that she was really tired and would be going to bed early. She hoped he would not mind, if they skipped love making tonight. Chitrah said he was okay with it. From the way she was talking, he figured that she had been running on adrenaline for most of the day and her tank was pretty much empty. She was sound asleep by the time Chitrah went to bed, so he wasn't worried about waking her. She did smile when he kissed her on her forehead goodnight.

The next morning, Andriel woke up when Chitrah was getting out of bed. He was surprised when Andriel said his name, normally she doesn't wake up until he has showered and prepared breakfast. He turned to her, and asked her what he could do for her? She told him that she felt sorry for not being able to stay up, and be with him, he told her that he understood she had a hectic day, and he was dying to hear all about it. She asked him if he would make love to her. Chitrah told her she did not have to do this for him. She said she knew that, which is why she was asking him to do it for her. Chitrah climbed back into bed, happy that he did not have a job that required him to punch a clock.

Traveling on the way to the dress shop, Andriel started thinking about all the things they would need to do to get the dress shop viable as soon as possible. She will need to rely on Shaak a lot, especially in getting some beautiful outfits on display in the storefront display windows. She hoped that Shaak's sewing skills were up to it. Then she gasped, trying to suck air in at the same time as breathing out. She was forced to cough a few times to resynchronise her breathing. She had forgotten to check how well Shaak was progressing on her sewing exercises, and on her two assignments. Andriel realised that she had mixed up her priorities. Her number one priority was to train Shaak, everything else would have to be dealt with when she had time. When Andriel arrived in the dress shop, she found Shaak and her two companions in the workshop. Apparently the lingerie shipment had arrived just before she did. The ladies wanted to see what they had bought, and Shaak wanted to show it off. Andriel warned them not to go and start mixing it all up, it needs to be put away in an orderly fashion, so it is easy to access when they need to. Shaak asked her where they were going to put it. Andriel asked her to put it in the shelves, in the back of the counter in the front room. Shaak told her that the men did not know to put shelves in the back of the counter. They just built everything from what they had seen in other shops. They had never been on the other side, to know what to make on that side. Andriel started to not feel so good. That meant that everything in the front room was fake, none of it had function. She told them to just leave everything in the boxes, until they figured out where to put things, and how they were going to make things work. The ladies saw that Andriel was upset, and put everything back in the boxes. Andriel asked Shaak about everything in the workshop, did it have function, are is it all for looks as well. Shaak assured her that everything in the workshop was built by her directions, based upon what Andriel had told her how it should function. She asked if Andriel remembered giving her the dimensions of the platform and its purpose. The mirror was put up, the way Andriel had described it to her. She demonstrated how the wings moved and that the hinges are very solid. The desk that the sewing machine is siting on, was custom built to her dimensions, to minimise fatigue for her when she is sewing. Unfortunately it might be a little awkward for Andriel since she is a little taller. The workbench was built based on everything Andriel had told her that a good workbench required, if it is missing anything it was because she had not listened like she should.

Andriel could see that Shaak was about to start crying. She was so proud of what the men had built for her. She did not know that some things had more than one function, so if they built it wrong, it was because she did not know. Andriel went up to her and hugged her and told her not to cry. The men are excellent craftsmen. They did a very good job with what they knew to do. She is sure that everything that was built, could be altered so that it would still look good, and have the functions they needed. Those are only little things, compared to what has already has been done. It is only when you work with something every day that you understand how it is supposed to function properly. She reminded Shaak, that she had never been in a dress shop. Her only experience was working with her in her bedroom, she is surprised that they did not build a bed in the workshop as well, since they used it so much when Skaak was being trained. Shaak started feeling better, and told Andriel that they can put in a bed if she wanted. Andriel told her that what she wanted was a cup of tea.

For now, they can put the boxes in the back room. She wants Shaak to lay out every piece of sewing she has done since Andriel left for Chalacta, and she wants to see the items, Andriel had asked her to make. Shaak's two companions took the boxes into the backroom, and one of them came back with a cup of tea for Andriel, then the two of them stood in the doorway to the backroom afraid to be in the workshop in case they got in Andriel's or Shaak's way. They knew that this is important for Shaak, and they wanted to see her do well, and they did not want to upset Andriel, anymore then she has been today.

Shaak started by laying out the pieces on the workbench, she hoped that she had kept them all in order. When the workbench was full she went to the platform. When that was full she started laying them on the floor. While she was doing this she would sneak a peek at Andriel to see if she showed any reaction to what she had done. Andriel asked Bandaa to bring the lamp that was behind the communicator, she needed more light to see the pieces properly. After Shaak had finished laying out all the pieces, she tried to remember where she had put her smock, but could not remember.

She went up to her companions, and whispering, asked if they remembered where she had put her smock? They both started giggling. Shaak was not happy with their response to her questions. This time she was louder. She told them this was serious, could they just tell her where she left her smock? Shaak, did not noticed that Andriel had looked up from looking at the pieces, when she first heard the ladies giggling, and she started giggling as well. Finally one of them told Shaak that she is wearing it. Shaak had gotten so used to putting it on, when she sat down to practise sewing, that she did not notice that she had put it on, when she entered the workshop that morning. She was so embarrassed, but then started laughing, because it was funny.

Andriel was very impressed with how Shaak had improved with minimal instruction, but did not want to say anything just yet. She asked Shaak to step closer to the platform, since there is more light over there. She wanted to get a good look at the smock Shaak had sewn for herself. Shaak had done a good job, none of the seams were bunched up, they were all neat and clean. She asked Shaak to take it off, and Andriel but it on herself. It wasn't too tight or too loose, it was comfortable to work in. The only thing she found wrong was there was not enough padding in the pin cushion. She told Shaak that she needed to put more padding in it, so that she does not accidentally stick herself. Than Andriel asked Shaak if she could see her final project. Shaak told her that she had already seen it. Andriel asked her, when she had seen it? Shaak told her that she seen it yesterday. Andriel thought back to what Shaak had been wearing yesterday. The only outfit she had not seen before was the dress of Shaak's that they altered for her to wear to the meetings.

"Are you saying, that the dress with the fur trim, is your design project?"

Shaak just nodded her head yes.

Andriel had to sit down on a chair. "I'm so, so, sorry! I had no right to ask you to change it. Then I even added to your first design. It was wrong of me."

Shark responded, "I felt so proud to go with you to the meetings, wearing a dress I designed, and put together. If you remember I was the one who suggested the alterations to the design. So it was still my design. The only thing you added were the ruffles, and that was because we were in a hurry and had to go. Like you, I saw that it needed something. So don't take how proud I felt, and how proud my companions were of me, away from us."

Andriel told her, that now that she knows, she is proud of her too. Only she messed things up, and will now have trouble giving her a proper evaluation. Shaak told her that she had made two more, one for each of her companions. Andriel asked them what they were waiting for, go bring all three dresses. They can put them on when they come back. So the three of them rushed off to the enclave, to retrieve the dresses. While at the enclave, Shaak talked to the elder who had been in charge of doing the woodwork for the dress shop. She ask him if it would be difficult to open up the counter and the other items in the storefront, so that shelves and drawers could be installed, that open to the back. She told him how Andriel was upset that none of them had a function. The elder told her it would not be that difficult. He just needed to know what she expected from each item. He could not understand when he built them, why there needed to be so many fancy boxes in the storefront. Now that he knows that they are each to have a desired function, it makes sense that they each should be there. He was going to see who was in the enclave, so that they could come and collect the boxes, and make the changes to them.

When Shaak and her companions arrived back at the dress shop, they found Andriel in the back room, with her computer connected to the communicator, so that she could connect to the local net. She was looking at commercial designs for the equipment in the storefront, so she could describe what functions she wanted built into each box. The ladies were fascinated by how many different designs they were looking at. They did not have a computer to do this. Had Shaak known this was available, she would have had them build it right the first time. Shaak asked Andriel if this was what she had expected, from the storefront boxes. Andriel was startled, she had not heard them come in.

When she recovered she told them she was just checking which designs were the best for their shop. Shaak told her that when the elder comes, show him the designs she likes. Andriel asked if she needed to make copies of it for him. Shaak told her that there was no need. Once he saw it, he would remember.

They put on the dresses so that Andriel could have a better look at their design and construction. Andriel told the two companions that they would have to remove their bras, because the dress design did not allow for them. The modified design that Shaak was wearing, could be worn with a bra. Andriel asked Shaak if she wanted to remove the ruffles, and replace it with something else. Shaak told her she was already used to the ruffles, so would have trouble thinking of something else to replace it with. The elder came at this time. He had found enough men to take everything from the store front, back to the enclave. Shaak asked if it was okay for the elder to come through the workshop to see the images on her computer. Andriel asked if he needed any of the other men to come with him. The elder said he was the only one who had to see. So they led the elder to the back room, and Andriel showed him the designs she was interested in. He was impressed that they were in 3D, and that Andriel could open and close the drawers on the images. When he had seen enough he thanked her, than told her how long he thought it would take to finish everything. As he was walking through the workshop, he reminded Shaak not to forget to show her the back door. Shaak had forgotten, and Andriel wanted to know what he was talking about.

Shaak took her into the back room. Andriel knew that the upstairs residential unit was rented separately from the main floor. Shaak told her that Togruta design, demands that there be more than one way out of a building. So the elder made a section of the wall that separates the main floor from the back door, to move, and Shaak demonstrated, "So we could use the back door to leave if necessary. If you came in through the back door there is no way to move the wall. Someone in the dress shop would have to open it for you."

Andriel loved the idea. She could see it being very useful for them. After the demonstration, Andriel led everyone back to the workshop. It was time for Andriel to reveal her evaluation of Shaak's work.

Andriel showed the ladies that in every exercise that Shaak has completed, you could definitely see a progression of improvement, until a certain point. Then she would stop improving. Could anyone tell her why? As the ladies looked at all the exercises, they could see what Andriel was talking about. But none of them could explain why Shaak had stopped improving. Shaak was starting to wonder if there was something wrong with her. When no-one could come up with an explanation, Shaak asked Andriel if she knew why she had stopped improving. Andriel said she did. She asked Shaak to give her the pieces that she was practising from. The pieces Andriel had sewn. Shaak gave her all the original templates, and Andriel placed them down right after it appeared Shaak had stopped improving. Shaak looked but could not understand what Andriel was trying to tell her. One of the companions said she did not understand, what Andriel had just put down looked the same as what Shaak had done. Andriel said that is why she was not improving, she was already sewing as well as Andriel. There was nothing for her to improve to. Shaak finally understood what Andriel was trying to tell her. She told her companions that Andriel just said that she can sew as well as Andriel. They asked Andriel if that was true. Andriel said it is. So they both grabbed Shaak and hugged her and danced around in a circle while hugging her. After they stopped, Andriel congratulated her, telling her that the only fault she could find in all her work was not having enough stuffing in the pincushion part of her smock. Shaak hugged Andriel and thanked her, and Andriel hugged her back.

Then Shaak asked her what they should do next. Andriel said they need to put some outfits in the windows. Two per window would be enough. They needed to have mannequins to mount the outfits on. They should set up a site on the local net, that customers could access to check them out, and some of their designs. She would talk to Chitrah to see if he could do it for them. They can let the women in the Togruta and Nautolan enclaves know, that they are open for business. But first they needed to pick up all the pieces of cloth that are lying all over their workshop. Then she asked Shaak if she wanted to keep any of it. Shaak told her no, and sent her companions to bring them some lunch while she and Andriel finished cleaning up. Shaak suggested to Andriel that the Chalacta summer outfit she had shown at the first meeting would look good in the window, she believed that the Togruta women would like it. She also thought the dress that helps women become pregnant should also be in the window. Andriel told her she would bring the summer dress with her tomorrow, so that Shaak could get a closer look at it. She suggested that Shaak place her modified dress in the window, that way she would always know where it is if she needed it. Shaak told her that there were two female and two male mannequin torsos found in the shop when they first took it over and started cleaning it up. They are probably somewhere in storage in the enclave. She could find them and clean them, and bring them to the shop. Andriel said that they would work. They could put bras with stuffing in them on the male torsos, and add padding to the hip area. Once they put an outfit on them, everyone will think they are female Nautolan torsos, since their shoulders are as broad as most men. Shaak giggled, she had never thought about it before, but Andriel was right. Andriel thought it was because they were an aquatic species. The Chagrian women on Deysum III, were the same way.

They decided to go over Andriel's designs in her computer, to pick the fourth design for the window. After lunch they started working on the pregnancy dress. What slowed them down, was Andriel not being sure she wanted to make a copy of the original, or to modify the original design.

Andriel arrived home before Chitrah. She wanted to cook a nice meal for him, since she made him eat dinner by himself last night, yet he was still gracious enough to put some aside for her. When Chitrah came home he asked right away what he could do to help. Andriel knew by know that he would rather do, then watch, so she assigned some tasks for him to do. During dinner she started telling him about everything that happened the previous day, as she had promised. She told him about Shaak trying to literally drag her out of the shuttle terminal, to take her to unveil the sign for their new dress shop. How Shaak had manoeuvred her, into accepting the title of Master Seamstress and Dress Designer, how it came about that they had the shop to begin with. Because of what happened with the Nautolan women, Shaak wanted them to carry lingerie, but was not able to arrange it. How she thought they should carry feminine hygiene products as well, in cases of emergency, but was not able to arrange that either. How Andriel was able to make appointments with both suppliers Shaak had originally approached. Then she had asked Shaak to wear her best dress. She proceeded to modify it to make it more presentable for a business meeting, not knowing that it was the design project she was supposed to make for evaluation.

Chitrah asked her, when she found out that it was her design project? Andriel told him that she did not know until this morning when she had started evaluating her work and asked her to present her design project. Chitrah told her that if she wasn't ready to defend her project, then there was nothing she could do. Andriel told him that it was not like that. She was caught up in the excitement of what was happening, and as she said, I had asked her what changes should be made to her dress to make it more presentable for a business meeting, so as far as she was concerned it was still her design. I only added ruffles to it, since it still needed something and we were pressed for time to make our first appointment. She told me today that she was very proud to walk into those business meetings, wearing a dress she had designed, then modified, and she was right to feel that way.

Chitrah got a better sense of what had transpired yesterday between Shaak and Andriel. Andriel told him how well the meetings went and what they were able to negotiate. Chitrah was very impressed on how she was able to become a seller of discontinued models. There was nothing wrong with it. When the new models come out, the retailers pull the old stock, and ship it back to the supplier. Because they were not a retailer, they could sell the discontinued items. She then told him about the meeting with the feminine hygiene supplier. They only reason they were given any product was because their shop was in an area of the planet that they had no retail stores, so everything they were given is written off on their books as being promotional, and they would have sales reps come by to keep it stocked. Chitrah just shook his head, this was almost unbelievable. Now he knew why she was so late, and so tired, he had guessed correctly about her running on adrenaline all day. Then she told him about showing up at the shop just after the lingerie shipment had arrived. "The ladies were just like children who had been given presents, they wanted to take it all out and look at it, and touch everything. I told them that they had to keep everything in order, to make sure it is put away properly before they could start looking at individual pieces. They asked me where to put it? I told them to put it in the drawers and shelves in the back of the counter in the front room. That's when I found out that all of the furniture I had seen in the storefront, where just empty boxes. Everything they had built was based on what they had seen in other storefronts, since they did not know they had functions they thought they were just pretty boxes to take up space in the storefront." Andriel told Chitrah that she had let her disappointment show too much, because everything that was made, was according to Shaak's specifications, she felt that she had let me down. I really hurt her bad. I told her that she did not know, so she should not feel she disappointed me. She recovered by demonstrating how functional everything in the workshop was, even though she had never seen it before, but because I was able to describe everything so well, they were able to create a near perfect workshop. The only thing missing is a weaving loom. Shaak did have the elder in charge of the woodwork, come to the shop, and I was able to show him images on the local net, so he could see the functionality of everything in the storefront. He had thought it odd that we would have so many empty boxes in the storefront. He assured me that they would have everything rebuilt properly within 5 to 7 days. Andriel told Chitrah that they are starting to make outfits, to put on display in the storefront windows, and how Shaak had thought the summer dress she designed, and assembled on Chalacta, would look nice on display, and be something the Togruta women would wear. Now she had a big favour to ask him. Could he design a site on the local net for their dress shop? Chitrah said he could, and he would design one for the Lianna Seamstress Guild. Andriel was excited about how everything was coming together. When Chitrah knew that Andriel had called him from the dress shop, to tell him she would be late. He was able to go into the history log of the communicator, and find the address code for the dress shop's communicator, and have it flagged so that it would be id'd as the dress shop calling, and he would be able to include it on the site he was designing. That night as they were drifting off to sleep. Each of them was so caught up with what they need to do for this new dress shop that neither of them thought about making love before going to bed.

The next morning when Chitrah got up, it struck him that they had not made love the previous night, nor even thought about it. He looked at Andriel sleeping on the bed, and his heart filled with love for her. Knowing that she loved him, was worth more to him, than the physical pleasure they shared with one another.

A few days later Chitrah talked to Andriel about the visual images they should have on the site. The 3D monochrome holographic images of the dress designs were not good enough. They needed 3D still and motion colour images of people wearing different dress designs. It would be okay for her and Shaak to be seen modeling their dresses, as it is their shop, but they should also have human models seen in some of their dresses, as it is a predominantly human population. Andriel told him that they could not afford to hire professional models. Chitrah asked her what she thought of him approaching some of the female secretaries who had builds similar to hers, to see if they would be willing to be models on her site. Andriel asked if he thought they would agree to it. He told her that after their invitation to the palace for dinner, a lot of the ladies in the Ministry wanted to meet her, and what lady could resist turning down a chance to wear a custom made dress. Andriel liked the idea. They talked about how many dresses each lady should model, and Chitrah told her that one of the businesses he had worked at, the proprietor had a second business as a photographer, with his own studio. He could approach him to see if he was willing to do the image capture, and how much he would charge to do it. Andriel gave him permission to make the contact. The next time Chitrah went to the Ministry, he approached the two young ladies he thought were the closest to Andriel's build. He told them that he was setting up a site for his wife's new dress shop, and he wanted to know if they were willing to model some of the dresses for the site. They wanted to know why he had selected them. He told them that they appeared to be the closest ones in the office to being the same size as his wife. Since she uses herself as the model for the base of her designs, it would be very easy to alter the dress design so that it would fit them. He also told them how many outfits they would each be modeling, and that every outfit would be different. They asked him what they need to do. He told them that they would either need to go to his wife's dress shop, and be measured, or he could scan them into his computer when they went on break, with his scanner, then transfer their images to his wife's computer, were she could pull all their measurements from their image. He had to warn them that the scanner was powerful enough, that with the right filtering he could display an image of their skeletal structure. The one secretary caught on to his warning, she said that basically if he wanted to, he could see what they looked like naked. Chitrah told her that she was correct. She asked him if he would. He told her that there was only one naked body that he enjoyed looking at, and it is his wife's. They believed him, and thought it would be easier just to have him scan them. They told him when their next break was scheduled, and he agreed to meet them when it began. There was a meeting room that was not used that often, so they went in there for him to scan them. After scanning them he showed them the 3D image of them he had captured. He promised them that he would erase them from his computer right, after he downloads it to his wife's. They asked him, if he had ever scanned anyone else? He told them that he had scanned his wife, and she had scanned him. They asked, if they could see the images? He told them that they were only on his wife's computer.

A few days later after studying the images, Andriel told Chitrah that both ladies would have to come to the dress shop to be properly fitted for their undergarments. Chitrah told her that it would not be convenient for them. It would be difficult for them to get time off work, which is why they allowed him to scan them. Andriel said that they would have to come after work. He could escort them all the way from the Ministry. Shaak would meet them at the shuttle terminal, and bring them to the dress shop. They would have to supply dinner for them, it would not be right to ask them to come all that way in their own time, then send them away hungry.

Chitrah went to the Ministry to talk with the two ladies. He told them why his wife wanted them to come to the dress shop, and what arrangements they were prepared to make to accommodate them. The ladies were curious as to what Chitrah's wife wanted to accomplish, and were impressed with what they were willing to do, to accommodate them.

This would be a good opportunity to talk with her, maybe then they would know why a Princess and a Queen wanted to talk with her. So they agreed to a date, and told Chitrah what time he needed to be at the Ministry.

Now the two ladies were not silent about what was going on. They had told their friends that they ate lunch with, about being approached by Chitrah to model for his wife's business. They did not tell them about Chitrah scanning them, because they did not think their friends would believe that Chitrah would not take advantage of their images, to see what they looked like. They did mention that Chitrah would be escorting them to meet his wife.

When the day came, Chitrah arrived at the appointed time. The ladies said goodbye to their friends who had stuck around to see if they really were telling the truth. When Chitrah showed up they believed them, and were anticipating what they would talk about at lunch the following day. Shaak and her two companions met them at the terminal. Chitrah introduced everyone. When the secretaries found out that Shaak who was also a seamstress and dress designer, would also be modeling, they felt somewhat relieved, they thought they might be the only ones. Shaak told them that Chitrah's wife, Andriel would also be modeling, as they walked to the dress shop.

At the dress shop Chitrah introduced his wife to the secretaries, as the love of his life, which brought a smile to Andriel's face. Andriel sent Chitrah with Shaak's companions to the Togruta enclave to collect their dinner, and to give Chitrah the opportunity to finally meet the elders, including Shaak's father. While they were gone Andriel showed the secretaries, on her computer, what she had seen in their images when she undressed them, and why she thought they needed to be properly fitted. They asked Andriel, if Chitrah had seen these images? Shaak smiled and Andriel laughed, she told them it had taken her a long time before Chitrah would accept seeing her naked. He is quite shy, the only way that he would see them would be if he came across them by accident, and he does not use her computer.

The ladies were quite surprised at what a difference, a proper fitting made. They were actually comfortable in their underwear. Andriel asked them if they would like Shaak and herself to make their work outfits a custom fit, since they were there, and they had time on their hands. The ladies were impressed with how quickly Andriel and Shaak were able to transform their everyday office attire into something that looked nice on them. They also let them try on the first of their outfits. They were not quite finished, but the ladies liked how beautiful they looked in them, when they looked in the mirror. They could hardly wait to see what they looked like when they were finished. They were also able to see the drawings of the other outfits that were going to be made for them. After they were dressed in their office outfits, Shaak took them to the storefront to show them one of the outfits she and Andriel would be wearing. They told Shaak, that she must feel comfortable with her body to be willing to wear the Chalacta summer dress. They wanted to know why the dress Andriel would be wearing was called the pregnancy dress. Shaak told them that the first lady to purchase the dress had had trouble conceiving. After wearing the dress she found herself pregnant. Other women had asked for permission to have the dress made for them. The dressmakers on Chalacta, had kept track of the women who bought the dress. They all ended up pregnant. They asked why Andriel would be wearing it when modeling. Shaak said that Andriel would not feel right about one of us single models wearing it. Andriel has worn it before, and has never been pregnant. She thinks it does not affect her, because she is the designer. Chitrah and the two companions showed up with their dinner, so the ladies stopped gossiping. Shaak asked Andriel, if it was okay for Chitrah to walk through the workshop to the back room? Where they would be eating dinner. The secretaries asked Shaak why she had to ask if Chitrah could walk through the workshop. Shaak told them that the workshop is a sanctuary for women. Men were only allowed to enter under special circumstances, as senior seamstress it was Andriel's call. What if she had said no? Then Chitrah would have been forced to eat dinner in the front room. The secretaries were impressed with how responsible the seamstresses felt for their clients, they would be sure to tell their friends. During dinner they asked Andriel how she knew Princess Krinta and Queen Anthila. Andriel told her about her first meeting the Princess, and was not too surprised about receiving the invitation to dinner. She had never met the Queen before she met her in the palace. She could tell that she is a very intelligent lady. What impressed both Andriel and Chitrah the most, was their relationship. They were more like older sister and younger sister than aunt and niece. The secretaries were eating all this information up. With everything that happened this evening, and now with this shared insight, they would have no problem sharing this information over lunch with their friends, for at least the next seven days, even longer if they need to repeat anything.

They could not imagine how jealous their friends were going to be. After dinner Andriel and Chitrah accompanied them back to the shuttle terminal, since they would be flying on the same shuttle to their home terminal. Both Andriel and Chitrah had asked them if they needed to accompany them to their apartment building. They told them that they felt safe enough, walking together, and they only lived a few doors down from each other. When they left the shuttle terminal, they watched Andriel and Chitrah as they walked away. Andriel had placed her hand in Chitrah's elbow. They both seemed to walk like their partner was the center of their universe. Both ladies sighed, they hoped that someday they would find someone like that, for now they had each other, they walked arm in arm, as this experience was helping to bring them closer together.

When the two ladies were telling their friends about the pregnancy dress Andriel would be modeling, some female officials sitting near them overheard them, and one of them got up and went up to the secretaries, to ask them for more information about the pregnancy dress. They told her that Chitrah's wife was a seamstress and dress designer. She had designed a dress that when women wear it, they have a good chance of getting pregnant. The only woman who seems to be immune to its affects is the dress designer. The official wanted to know where she could see this dress. She was told that Chitrah's wife, Andriel, was in the beginning stages of opening a dress shop, and gave directions to it.

One of the junior officials listening to this whole exchange, really wanted to get pregnant. Her husband enjoyed their extra sex, but did not like the doctor's appointments to make sure his plumbing worked. She had checked all the remedies on the holonet, to help you get pregnant. Most were scams preying on young couples who wanted to have children. This sounded interesting, and even if it did not work, her husband would not mind paying for the price of a new custom fitted dress. She did not have to tell him its nickname. As an official, she had more latitude with her time, and checked out early from work to find the dress shop before it closed. She told a colleague that she needed to go check something out. She was able to show up before Andriel left for home. She told her about overhearing two secretaries at the Ministry talking about a pregnancy dress. Andriel showed her the dress on display, and told her that they could use coloured material that was more complimentary to her natural skin tones. Andriel led her into the workshop to get her measurements. When she walked into the workshop she saw Shaak sitting at the sewing machine, sewing up a storm. The official hesitated, she knew that Chitrah was blue skinned, and both ladies in the workshop were red, she wondered if she had stumbled into the wrong dress shop. She stood her ground, "Before we can continue, can one of you ladies tell me if you are related to Chitrah, a contractor working for the Interior Ministry?"

Andriel introduced herself and told her that Chitrah is her husband. The official apologized to Andriel, she had seen Chitrah but had never seen his wife. She was expecting someone a little bluer. Shaak told her that if she holds her breath, she would start turning purple, would that be close enough. They all giggled at Shaak's joke, the official told them that the real wife was good enough for her. After Andriel obtained all the measurements she needed, she asked if she could see her undergarments, because she found many women were not properly fitted, then they complain about the dress not fitting properly. So she undressed for Andriel to examine her. She appreciated that Andriel was very professional with the way she treated her. After checking her out Andriel went and got some undergarments, and asked her to try them on, to see how they fit. The official did and was surprised on how much different they felt. She asked Andriel if she could purchase a few more sets from her. Andriel told her that they were not a retail lingerie outlet. They only keep enough stock on hand to make sure their customers were fitted properly. The official said she understood, and asked her about paying for what she just tried on. Andriel told her that they would just add it to the price of her dress. She can pay for it all at once when she picks up her dress.

After the lady had dressed, Andriel showed her some fabrics that she thought was better for her skin tone, for making the dress. The lady agree to all her choices, so Andriel quoted her a final cost, and gave her a firm date that the dress would be ready by.

The next day, instead of going for lunch with her fellow officials, she went to the closest lingerie shop, and purchased a number of sets of lingerie, after confirming that they fit as comfortably as the one Andriel had sold her. She told the sales clerk that she had been fitted by a professional seamstress, and felt so much better for it. Now a sales rep from the lingerie supplier just happened to be in the store, and overheard the conversation between the women. When she returned to the office, she told her boss about the conversation. He smiled, it was just like the lady said it would happen. Tonight he'll ask his wife to pay them a visit as soon as possible. It is good to keep on the good side of this type of people. If his wife picks up a few nice dresses in the process, it was fine by him, she works hard, and should be rewarded for her work.

That afternoon, one of the ladies that usually had lunch, with the official who went to the dress shop. Stopped by her desk and asked her, why she wasn't at lunch? She told her what she did yesterday, and how Chitrah's wife made sure her undergarments fit her properly. So she went to a lingerie shop and bought some sets of the size she was fitted for. She told her friend that even if she doesn't buy a dress it is so worth it to be fitted by a professional, she has never felt so comfortable in her own clothes before. Naturally this lady had to go tell the other officials why their friend had not joined them for lunch. The other ladies wanted to know if she mentioned when she would be picking up her new dress. The official forgot to ask her friend.

Chitrah had been able to make arrangements with the photographer, and gave a quote that Chitrah thought was reasonable, and Andriel said was well within their budget. On the day of the shoot, Chitrah showed up at the Ministry with a garment bag in hand, to escort the two secretaries to the studio. By now all the ladies, and some of the men, knew where the ladies were going with Chitrah, and more than one was jealous.

Shaak had planned to send her companions back to the enclave for the evening. But they pleaded with her and Andriel to let them help with the outfit changes. Shaak could not say no to them, and left it up to Andriel. Andriel enjoyed their company, and could not say no to them either. So she told Shaas and Bandaa to grab the garment bags, and follow them. Andriel felt that she would have needed to hire porter droids to help carry the garment bags, the cost would have been about the same, but the droids would not have stayed to help them change.

At the studio, Chitrah introduced all the women to the photographer. The photographer talked to them about what he wanted to do. He told them that he knew that every outfit they would be wearing would make them feel a little different, and this is what he wanted to capture in the vid portion of each shoot. They should not be surprised if he starts calling out encouragement and directions while he is shooting. He has a tendency to get excited, when a shoot goes well, making him more vocal.

They had decided to let Shaak go first, since she is the most outgoing. Shaak was dressed in Andriel's summer dress. She was told to strike a pose and hold it for the 3D capture, then when the photographer called action, she decided to preform one of the traditional dances that all Togruta women learn, to entertain the men of the clan. The men are also taught dances to entertain the women. When she started dancing her companions standing behind the photographer, started singing and dancing with her, which encouraged her to dance harder. The photographer no knowing what was going on behind him kept calling out, "that's beautiful", "keep it up", "you're doing well", "you've got it". This set the mood for the whole evening. Watching the three women dance and enjoy themselves, drove the nervousness away from the two young secretaries, they wanted to enjoy this as much as Shaak did. Chitrah was thinking that if men stumbled across their site, they would keep coming back, just to watch Shaak dance. Andriel was next in the pregnancy dress. After the 3D capture, Andriel twirled to show how the dress billowed out, then she would pretend to flirt with the photographer, and twirl again in the other direction. Chitrah realised that Andriel was trying to do some of the dance moves they were taught on Yitabo, but she had no practise. It looks like he is the dancer in this family.

The secretaries were next, they each took their turn. Both Shaak and Andriel tried to change into their next outfits as quickly as possible so they would not miss anything. Because of Shaas and Bandaa's help, they were able to change quick enough, not to miss anything. Both secretaries had some nice dance moves of their own. Shaak and her companions clapped for each of them to show them their approval. The ladies were jubilant, this was turning out to be more fun than they imagined. They appreciated the help, for the quick change into the next outfit. The way the clothes fit they felt beautiful, and when they checked themselves in the mirror they knew they looked beautiful. After her second outfit, Andriel changed into an outfit that would not be on the site. It was Chitrah's idea. They had no recording of how they look in their silk outfits with the Denebrillan Star Silk Shirt and Blouse.

When Andriel and Chitrah walked up to take their positions, the secretaries asked Shaak, if those were the outfits that they wore when they are invited to the palace? Shaak said that those are the outfits. One of them commented on how lovely they looked and everyone agreed.

The photographer heard their exchange, he is a royalist, and loved the royal family, he had to take a few deep breaths to calm himself down. To think that this couple, in these very outfits, had been invited to the palace, and he was now capturing their images for their personal files. He could hardly wait to tell his wife, and show her a copy of these images. She will be so sorry she did not come, and help him on this shoot. For the 3D capture they just stood there close together with their hands held between them. When the photographer called action, they slowly circled one another, still staring in each other's eyes. Suddenly Chitrah lets go of her hands, and sweeps her up in his arms, placing a kiss on her lips which made all the ladies swoon. They held that pose even after the photographer said cut. No-one moved until they did, then all the ladies started clapping. The photographer went up to them and asked them if it was true, they were invited to the palace. They told him it was true, they had dinner with Princess Krinta, than they had desert with the Queen. The photographer told them that this was the highlight of his career, and he asked them for permission to show the 3D image and the vid to his wife.

Technically he did not have to. As photographer he owned the rights to all the still and motion pictures, and they were paying him for the rights to use it on their site for the dress shop. They told him that they would be honoured to have him share it with his wife. Andriel and Chitrah went to make one more change. The two secretaries were up next. After the embrace they had just witnessed they were both feeling flirtatious, and the photographer was having fun directing each of them, "look over your shoulder at me", "now turn around a blow me a kiss". Finally Andriel and Chitrah took the stage for the final shoot. They were wearing the outfits they were first married in. The secretaries asked Shaak about the outfits. After she told them, Shaas, one of her companions complained that Chitrah looked too blue. Shaak laughed, and told them that is what Andriel had told him, when she first met him, and that is what she said to Andriel, when Chitrah put on the outfit for her. They started the 3D capture a step apart, with Chitrah holding Andriel's right hand in his right hand. When the photographer called action, Chitrah went down on one knee as if he was proposing to her. Andriel turned away as if she was going to reject him, then slowly turned her head back to him and nodded her head in agreement. He got up and they embraced and kissed. Shaak who knew they were going to do this, had handed a sewing square of fabric to each lady. They each started to cry a little, and now knew why Shaak had given them the fabric. They asked her if she knew what that was all about, she told them that she did not but was hoping that someday, they would tell her.

Chitrah hooked up his computer to the photographer's equipment, and down loaded copies of all the images. He told the photographer that he would let him see the site before it went public. Andriel told the two secretaries, that they had dinner reservations at a fancy restaurant that the photographer had recommended. She recommended that they wear the outfit they liked the most. They each had their favourite, so it did not take them long to change. From the outfits remaining, Shaak selected one for each of her companions, she told them that if they were coming for dinner, they needed to be dressed for it. They were so excited. Both secretaries started laughing as they were trying to help them change. Andriel went to pay the photographer for his work. He handed her his final bill. It was cheaper than he had quoted. She asked him about the 10% reduction. He told her that he had so much fun that he should not be charging her for anything, but his wife is counting on the credits, so he could only give her the 10% Royal reduction. He gives it to people who have been invited to the palace. Andriel asked him how often he has applied that reduction, he told her that this was the first time and he had received its full value. She thanked him and paid him for his work.

Chitrah wanted to change back into his casual clothes, but Andriel would not let him. She told him that he was escorting six beautiful women in custom designed outfits, at the least, he could do his part, by wearing his best suit. She did make him change his shirt, to one she had bought him, rather than the Denebrillan Star Silk Shirt.

At the restaurant Andriel told the secretaries that the outfits they were wearing were theirs, as payment for their services. First they were shocked, then they had tears of joy, and went around and hugged everyone and thanked them. They both knew that it would have taken them more than a year, to save up to buy what they were wearing. Andriel encouraged everyone to order whatever they wanted. They deserved it, and she said she could afford it. The restaurant owner, was so impressed to have so many beautiful women in his restaurant at one time that he told them that the drinks were on him. He only asked that he could have a still image taken with him sitting with them. He would place it on his wall of honoured guests, and post it on the restaurant's site. Everyone liked being treated like they were famous, so they agreed. Andriel liked that it brought the cost of the meal down. Now she actually could afford it.

While they were eating, one of the secretaries asked Andriel about their wedding vid. Andriel told her that she and Chitrah had been forced to marry by the government (she knew she meant the Sith Empire). Because Chitrah worked for the Ministry, she thought that he had something to do with it, so she hated him. It was only later that she found out that Chitrah's family was in the process of arranging a marriage for him, when he was informed that he had to marry me. I stopped hating him, but did not ask his forgiveness, instead I started hating myself for hating a good man wrongfully. For some foolish reason Chitrah loved me. It was his love that kept the poison from by hate from destroying both of us. When it was revealed what my hate was doing to me, and to us, I asked his forgiveness, and I had to ask forgiveness of myself. I became very weak and relied on Chitrah's strength to sustain me. Eventually his love washed all the poison from my heart, and I was able to love him with my whole heart. Everyone but Chitrah, had stopped eating while Andriel told the story. Chitrah only stopped, because it had become very quiet, and he did not want to make any noise. The ladies all needed to wipe their eyes again. Andriel had to encourage everyone to eat, before their (expensive) meals became cold. One of the ladies asked Andriel how she knew the poison was gone. She knew it was finally gone, when she could tell Chitrah that she loved him. More wiping of eyes.

One of the secretaries decided it would be better to change the topic or they might never finish their meals. She asked them who designed which outfit. Shaak decided to answer that question, so that Andriel could eat. She said that Andriel had designed the first outfits that each of them wore. The second outfit she wore was her own design. The secretaries complimented her, because it looked very nice on her. The second outfit Andriel wore was designed by Andriel. All the other outfits were a collaboration between Andriel and Shaak. The secretaries were impressed, both of the outfits they had chosen were collaborations. They asked what would become of the outfits now. Shaak said that she and Andriel have the option of wearing them if they want to, more than likely they will end up being rotated through the window display. Did that mean that anyone could buy them? Shaak said anyone could buy them, and at a discounted price, since they had been used in promoting the dress shop. They asked how much? So Shaak quoted them a price for each outfit. The secretaries asked if they could be notified if someone wanted to buy an outfit they had worn, so that they could have the first option of buying the outfits. Shaak looked at Andriel, who nodded her head. Shaak told the secretaries that they would hold that option for them for one calendar year, after the year ended, it would be first come, first served. Andriel nodded her head and smiled, Shaak was turning out to be a good businessman.

After dinner Shaak told the companions that they would be spending the night with Andriel and Chitrah. It was too late to return to the enclave, she had already called them from the studio not to expect them. Before leaving the restaurant, everyone made sure they all had the right outfits. Shaak noticed that the restaurant owner had already placed their picture on the wall, and pointed it out to everyone. They did all look like celebrities. They walked together for as long as they could before the secretaries had to say goodbye. Chitrah promised them that he would notify them when the site became public, so that they could show all their friends. At the apartment they knew it was going to be a tight squeeze for everyone. Shaak and her companions were given the bed and the bedroom. Andriel and Chitrah would share the couch. The Togruta women were used to sleeping naked, they figured with all the body heat they would be generating, being so close to each other, they would only need a light blanket to cover themselves, or they would get too hot. They played a traditional hand game to determine who would get roasted in the middle. They all drifted off to sleep, not being bothered by the sounds of Andriel and Chitrah playing in the main room.

Chitrah kept his word, and took the finished site to the photographer for his approval. He was delighted with what Chitrah had done, and how smoothly everything operated. He gave his approval to make it public. He then asked Chitrah if he and his wife could come for dinner, his wife would really like to meet someone who had met the Queen. If they did not feel comfortable coming to their home, than they could take them to dinner, he could make reservations at the restaurant they went to. Chitrah told him that their home would be fine. He would need directions, date, and time. He would only call them back if there was a conflict, and they needed to reschedule.

After meeting the photographer, and uploading their site on the local net, Chitrah went to the Ministry, to inform the secretaries that the site was now public. He was able to catch them just before they went for lunch. They called their friends over to the one desk, to access the site, and show them their images. One of their friends said that the two of them were so naughty, and they all laughed and went for lunch. They told them how much fun they had making it, and as a bonus Chitrah's wife let them keep the outfit of their choice. Their friends wanted to know which outfits they chose. They wouldn't tell them, they would have to guess. They had forgotten to close the site from the computer before leaving for lunch.

One of the guys working in the office noticed the secretaries' images on the site, he noted the address, and shared it with his friends. Within two days every secretary, and most of the officials, male and female, had seen the site. Guys they did not know, who worked for the Ministry, would come up to them, and ask them out on a date. Unfortunately some of the men who asked them where married. Their friends had to warn them to be careful, and offered to help them screen the suitors. They had gone from not being noticed, to getting too much notice.

One of them called Chitrah and asked for his help. He asked her, how many friends did she normally eat lunch with? She told him. He told her to tell any guy who asks her out, that they had to provide dates for all her friends, so that the first date was a group date. The married men would not agree, because they would be exposed. The guys who were interested in her, would not have any trouble finding dates for her friends as well, because of her new fame. It would be a safe why for them to meet prospective suitors. If anyone was making her feel uncomfortable, she should let him know, and he would go and talk with them. They are family now, and family look after one another. She was so happy with all his advice, that she told all her friends, she especially told the other secretary about how Chitrah said they are family, and family look after one another. They both felt safer, knowing there was someone out there, who cared enough about them, that they could be called upon to help.

When Andriel and Chitrah went for dinner at the photographer's, his wife was not sure how to greet them. She curtsied when her husband introduced them, they had to tell her that royalty was not contagious, they did not become royals during their visit to the palace. He showed them what he had done with the 3D capture and vid of them in the outfits they wore to the palace. He had pulled a copy of their invitation from the official palace site. The Palace Secretary would post the invitations from the previous month, but in random order for security reasons. The photographer had started with the invitation, then faded it, while their 3D image came up. He faded the 3D image, coming back to the invitation. The invitation then went to the four corners, forming the four corners of a lovely frame, with the vid playing in it. He asked their permission to post it on the royal watchers site. Which they gave. He asked if they could give them a summary of what they talked about as well as describing what the Princess and Queen wore. Chitrah gave him a condensed version of his report, and Andriel described the outfits the royals wore. He wanted to know if they were asked why they had married. Andriel told him that they already knew that the Sith Empire had forced them to marry, so it was not something they talked about. The photographer looked at his wife. This is not something they could put in their post. The wife mentioned that the people need to know. The photographer told his wife that all the royal watchers knew them, they would know to ask us. If this information was included in their post, they could get in trouble with the Imperials. The photographer asked them how was it that they appeared in love, when their marriage was forced. Chitrah told him that when Chagrian marry, they marry for life. Since I agreed to marry Andriel, I had a choice of either spending the rest of my life with someone I loved, or living with a woman who remained a stranger to me. We had only met once, but I saw in her many of the qualities that I wanted in my wife. On the day we married I knew she was someone I could love, so I choose to love her. The hard part was convincing her to love me. The wife was very touched by his explanation, she excused herself from the dining table, so that she could go into the kitchen, to wipe her eyes. Andriel followed her, so she hugged Andriel and told her how special they both are. She did not know if she could ever live with someone she was forced to marry. Andriel told her that Chitrah was the special one, she hated him when they first married, but he proved again and again that he loved her. She had to get rid of her hate, before she could learn to love. She thanked Andriel for helping her, and sharing what she did, they both went back to join the men. The rest of the dinner went very well, the wife had seen the site for their dress shop and wanted to come and visit. Andriel told her she would be always welcome, just call ahead so that she could meet her at the shuttle terminal.

A few days later she called the dress shop to let Andriel know she was on her way. As they walked to the dress shop they witnessed a man grab a woman and drag her into an alleyway. Andriel became very angry and chased after them, with the photographer's wife right on her heels. The attacker turned on them, when he realised they had followed him. He had a vibro-blade knife in his hand. The frightened lady had gotten up and ran for her life, when the attacker let her go.

The attacker lunged at Andriel with the knife, he made the mistake of lunging at her face, thinking to frighten her. Andriel easily stepped under his lunge and landed a solid punch to his diaphragm, her favourite move. He dropped the knife, and bent over gasping for breath. She followed this up by smashing a knee into his face. The photographer's wife grabbed the fallen knife, and backed away, ready to jump in, if Andriel looked like she needed help. The knee to the face caused him to stand more upright, so she caught him with a round house kick to the side of his head, knocking him out. They quickly walked the rest of the way to the dress shop. The photographer's wife bounced as she walked, she was so pumped up with adrenaline. She actually had a smile on her face, from what she had just seen Andriel do.

At the dress shop they called Planetary Defence, to tell them about the attack. They happened to have a patrol vehicle in the area, and dispatched it to pick up the attacker. They found him staggering out of the alley, and had no problem apprehending him. They swung by the dress shop to collect the statements from the two witnesses of the original attack. When they ran Andriel's id through their system, they noticed that on top of her special security clearance from the Ministry, she was flagged as being of royal interest. They included this in her video statement. Her statement with her security clearance, and that flag was enough for any judge on Lianna to convict the attacker. The second eyewitness was a bonus.

When they returned to their station house, they informed their superiors that the one witness was a person of royal interest, and part owner of a dress shop on the main street in the district. The station house was able to get permission to start running foot patrols on the main street, because of Andriel's status.

The photographer's wife asked Andriel what she should do with the knife. Andriel told her that unless she had special clearance, she would have to leave it with them, or she would get into trouble when boarding the shuttle home. No one knew that she had picked up the knife.

Things were looking really nice for Andriel and Chitrah, the Ministry was keeping him busy. With the personal contacts Andriel had made with her suppliers, the dress shop's site on the local net, the Ministry gossip, and their appearance on the royal watchers site, business was increasing at the dress shop. They were in a position that they could start repaying the Togruta clan. The Togruta had wanted to give the woodworking to the shop as a gift, but Andriel insisted that they be paid a fair price for their work, and quadrupled their initial dept. The elder in charge of woodworking, told her that this was the first time they had made all of the furniture. Andriel assured him that she had taken that into account, when she had calculated the value of their work. He smiled, inside he thought it was a good thing Shaak was there to learn from her. As a businessman she is good, and fair.

All this happiness came to an end. A short time after the anniversary of their marriage, which they did not celebrate, because there were too many painful memories. They had both agreed that it is the anniversary of their wedding night that was the milestone worth celebrating.

While they were sharing breakfast the computer informed them that there were two people from the Ministry there to talk with them. Andriel was glad that she had gotten back into the habit of wearing a house coat when coming to breakfast. Chitrah got up and opened the door, they both walked in and closed the door without being invited. Chitrah did not know which Ministry the second man was from, but the first man was not Ministry, he is Sith. Chitrah fought to keep his anger in check. As politely as possible, he asked them, how they may be of service? The Sith said that they were there to check on their marriage. Chitrah told them that their marriage is fine, if that was their only concern they could have asked him at the office. The Sith ignored him, and asked if they were copulating. Chitrah told him that they have a healthy married life, not that it was any of his business. The Sith was angry with Chitrah's insolence, he told him that it was his business, since it was the Sith who made them marry.

Chitrah could no longer contain his anger, "When you made us marry, did you even consider, that combining my red blood with her black blood would make us incapable of having children. You may have robbed me of the joy of being a father, and stolen from my wife the joys of motherhood."

The Sith had no reply for him, he had been witness to too many monsters created from these forced marriages. That the mothers had loved them, was beyond him. He had taken them from their mothers, telling them that they were taking it to the Sith Academy. As soon as he was outside their door he had killed the monsters and thrown them into the trash, were they belonged, leaving the officials who had to accompany him, to deal with their sensitive stomachs. Since he had no reply, he stormed out of the apartment, with the lackey official right on his heels.

Chitrah was not very subtle about closing the door behind them. He was able to calm down somewhat, by the time he returned to his seat at the dining table. Andriel reached across the table with both her hands, forcing him to look at her face, which helped him to calm right down.

When he had calmed down, she asked him, "Did you mean what you said about wanting to experience the joys of being a father?" Chitrah didn't say anything, he just nodded his head yes.

"I'm pregnant! Chitrah, I don't want the Sith to take our baby from us!"