Chapter Title: Failure is Not an Option

Series Title: Unlikely Brothers

POV: Dashen

Ages in this chapter: Tanner (9) and Dashen (15)

Chapter Summary: Tanner fails a school project and figures a way to make up for it.


"What's up, Mouse?"

"I failed my school project."

"You what? Wait...what?"

Okay, so not the news I was expecting when Tanner walked out of school and hopped onto the back of our speeder bike borrowed from Colton's expansive collection. This is a boy that I didn't believe had ever failed anything in all of his nine years. So, what was this?

"You wanna to expand on that, Tanner?"

"I guess I misunderstood the project and it was wrong. So, I failed. I've never failed anything ever, Dash."

Did I call it, or what? "I figured that. Well, it's not the end of the world, you'll do better next time."

"This was the last project of the school year."

I shrugged. "Yeah, well, again. I think you'll be okay. We all have to fail sometime. I failed a lot. All the time actually. And look at me now."

Tanner huffed a breath at me and glared. "That's not helpful, Dash. I don't like failing."

"So you never failed at anything when you were a Jedi?"

"It wasn't failing, if we did something incorrectly like a lightsaber move, then our masters would correct it and we'd do it over until we got it right. I never failed Master Ayden. But now..."

Oh no, we were so not going there. "Don't do it, Tanner. Don't go there. I know you are only less than a year away from losing your teacher, but this is not you failing him. It's not. I see your mind going heading in that direction. You simply misunderstood something and the end result was wrong. It happens. We move on. Sometimes we can't have do-overs in life."

Tanner's eyes brightened then and it was a good thing we hadn't moved from in front of the school just yet, because he yelled out, "That's it!" And then jumped off the bike and ran back into school.

Running. Into school. It's a miracle that anyone believed we were actually brothers. "Tanner!" I uselessly yelled back to him. He vanished. "Stupid kid. Tanner!"

I found him in the office of his teacher, Miss Sanya, who was tall but with the body diameter of a pole. She stood listening intently as Tanner babbled on about his failed project. He apologized for it, which I suspect he'd already done immediately after finding out about the failing score. Then he started bartering with her into what constituted a do-over. Not for a passing grade, mind you. He had no desire to cheat the system and do something

the other kids couldn't, but this would be for his own personal contentment. He may have failed the project, but he was determined not to fail at putting in the correct effort.

Miss Sanya's large green eyes followed Tannerlin's flailing arms and ideas. At some point, she ended the demonstration and set

a long-fingered hand on his arm. "Slow yourself, Tannerlin. Too many words. Too much movement. Please tell me in short simple words, why you seek to create a second project." She pointed to the couch. "And sit, please. Dashen, you as well. Sit."

We did.

Tannerlin took a deep breath and explained. "Miss Sanya. I have never failed before. Not once. I don't like it. I think I would be okay with it, if I had done the project correctly and it was not good enough. But I failed from the beginning and misunderstood what the project was and then did it wrong. So, I failed twice. Which is worse. But I would like to do the project again. Correctly. Not for a grade, but for myself."

This kid was insane. Truly insane. He wanted to voluntarily do extra work...just because. So essentially, for fun. In his spare time. Insane.

"What would be the purpose of this, Tannerlin?"

He thought about it. And if it had been only he and I in the room, I'm pretty sure he'd start down the road about making his Master Ayden proud of him. It always came back to that. Living up to

his Jedi training, his student training, his apprenticeship to the person he considered family. Never ever wanting to let his Master down, even after the man had passed on. And on and on. I got it, I guess. Or maybe I didn't. I didn't know.

When he finally spoke, it was simple and to the point. "I want to do the best I can. I can do better than what I gave to you for my project. I failed and I would like not to fail. May I please do the project again?"

Clearly this was a new situation for the teacher. Kids were generally happy to get out of school work. It wasn't often that they volunteered for it. But she'd been beginning to better understand Tanner as the days and months had gone on. And here, three months after joining her class, she saw him as a boy who simply loved to learn.

Apparently though, he was not very good at failing. She took pity on the kid, staring into those hopeful pale brown eyes of his. Those things sucked you in every damn time.

"Very well. You may re-do he project. However, there are conditions."

"Anything, Miss Sanya. Please tell me."

"You must have it completed in two days. You must not work on it during school hours. And you must not mention any of this to the rest of the class. Two days from now, after school, you can present your project to me once the other students have gone."

"Done! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" He launched himself off the chair and towards her before she held out a hand. No hugging. Teacher's rules. In his excitement, he'd forgotten. But the kid enjoyed a good hug, so I stood behind him and pulled him tight against my chest to give that to him.

I could feel him grinning all the way home. And two days later, thirty minutes after the end of the school day, he presented his project. I made sure I was there, proud fake-brother that I was. Even if this kid was insane and nuts and all those things when it came to school and learning. I did like seeing him happy.

He'd aced the project and a smile the size of star fighter blazed across his face.

Heading home, he pulled himself onto the back of the bike. Still overjoyed. Arms wrapped around me to hang on, I heard him whispering to someone before started the engine.

His dead master.

"I hope I made you proud, Master Ayden. You never let me fail, not once. I will never fail you. Not ever."

My eyes closed tight. Pushing back unwanted moisture in them. This damn kid. Damn Jedi. How he ended up with me of all people, the galaxy would never know.

I was beginning to think that I was the lucky one though.

A flick of the switch and I started the engine. "Hold on tight, Mouse. We'll stop for cream cakes on the way home to celebrate, okay?"

There came no verbal response, but his arms tightened harder around my stomach in another hug.

Indeed, he was a failure no more.


END