Author's Note: Next is the Equestrian Cross-Country event, for which I had to write at least 400 words that includes the story element of a chasm to cross; the words reined, fence, hunter; and includes or takes inspiration from the line of dialogue, "Only the strongest shoulders can carry the hopes of a nation."

Thank you to my brilliant friend Gabri Jade for looking over this vig and helping me work through one particularly difficult section. This story ended up being quite a bit longer than I originally intended, but I had a lot of fun writing it, and I hope you all enjoy! :D

Btw, if you liked the idea of Tahiri/Ulin in EtF, this one's for you. ;)

.

Efflorescence

58 years post-RotS (39 ABY)

.

It was a beautiful, if muggy, day on Yavin IV, and as Tahiri Veila finished up her morning workout, she wondered if there was any way she could clear her schedule for a few hours to sneak outside and actually enjoy it. Not that there was anything wrong with being inside on a day like today – despite decades spent away from Tatooine, she still found the damp heat of Yavin's jungles a bit difficult to fully acclimate to, and had no problem seeking refuge within the Temple's climate-controlled walls when needed – but she and Anakin had been working tirelessly for weeks to get the place ready for their newest class of initiates, and it was time for a break.

"I heard back from Tekli about the healer apprenticeship program," Anakin was saying as they left the training wing and strolled down a long corridor overlooking one of the gardens. "She says she's happy to lead it on a temporary basis, but she wants to help us find someone who can fill the spot long-term."

Tahiri nodded. "It's a huge favor to ask, with all her other work. Whatever she can do to get us up and running would be amazing."

"I also had a message from my mom. She should be here…" Anakin glanced up at the nearest wall chrono. "Well… within the hour, actually."

Tahiri experienced a moment of minor panic, because even though she had gone over her schedule multiple times before her workout, she could not remember seeing or hearing anything about a visit from Anakin's mother. Leia Skywalker Solo was hardly one to stand on ceremony, especially for one of her son's closest childhood friends, but the Yavin Temple was still fairly new in the grand scheme of things, and Tahiri wanted to show any and all visitors that it had been worth the Order's time and resources to entrust her with it.

"Relax," Anakin chided, grinning faintly. "She's just coming to see me. I told her I'd show her around, let her see the improvements we've been working on."

"Does that mean you're taking the day off?"

Anakin shrugged. "Not a day off, just… a slight shuffling of priorities. Oh, and before I forget, the tech guy is here, so you'll have to show him around."

Tahiri came to an abrupt halt and frowned. "What tech guy? We just upgraded the whole network."

Anakin looked back at her, slowing a little but not stopping. "You know, the one who's supposed to fix that weird bug in the archives?"

"Right." Tahiri sighed and caught up to Anakin, matching his stride. "Why am I handling this, again?"

"Because you're the best. And because our insurance requires that a member of the Order with administrative access be present when any contracted technician is performing work on the grounds."

"Visit from your mom, my a—"

"Hey, that's totally real, she's going to be here any minute, and I already cleared both our schedules so we can have lunch with her later." Anakin's eyes took on a mischievous glint. "In the meantime, try not to take it out on the tech guy. He came highly recommended."

"I don't know why you think I would?"

They came to an intersecting corridor, and Anakin turned to face her. "I'll see you in a little bit. Have fun!"

Tahiri worked her jaw as she watched her friend's retreating backside, then she squared her shoulders and strode off in the opposite direction toward the main entry. Much of the Temple complex had been built new for the Jedi, but this entrance was housed in an ancient Massassi structure that had once been a temple in its own right. Though the cavernous interior retained much of its dark grandeur, it had been updated with decor that reflected both the collective history of the Jedi and the more modern, innovative sensibilities Tahiri and Anakin hoped to embody with the Yavin Temple.

The tech guy was standing with his back to her, staring up at a fresco depicting the Battle of Ruusan; and Tahiri reminded herself that however annoyed she might be at having to stay inside and lead a complete stranger around the parts of the Temple she was least familiar with and least interested in, this man was still a visitor, and it was her duty to be welcoming.

"Hello." She stopped a few paces from him and clasped her hands in front of her as she bowed her head in greeting. "I'm Tahiri Veila. You must be here to fix our computer problem."

By the time she'd finished lifting her chin, the man had turned to face her and was staring at her with obvious, wide-eyed surprise. He seemed to shake himself from his momentary reverie, however, and shifted the strap of the bag he was carrying further up his shoulder before extending a hand to her. "Yeah, um… I mean, yes, I'm Ulin, I'm here to fix your, er… computer problem." He punctuated that statement with a very broad, very cheerful smile.

As she reached out to shake his hand, she quickly assessed his appearance: tall and thin and human, with short, straight blond hair a few shades darker than her own, and a somewhat boyish face that made his age difficult to determine. He had a day or two of blond stubble that gave him a slightly disheveled air, but his clothes – nondescript black pants and a gray collared shirt that were both totally wrong for Yavin's climate – were well-tailored and professional-looking. She supposed there probably wasn't any harm in him, even if he did smile way too much.

"If you'll follow me, I'll show you to the archives." Tahiri gestured for him to walk with her, and he quickly stepped to her side, his bag making a soft scraping sound as it bumped against him. The path to the archive room took them to one of the new buildings, and they had to pass through a covered breezeway adorned with hanging vines and an array of native jungle blooms. Tahiri breathed in the damp, fragrant air, and she tried not to think about how much she wanted to be out here instead of trapped in a cold, lifeless computer vault.

"It's a beautiful place you've got here," Ulin said, intruding upon her thoughts. Tahiri glanced over at him – well, up at him, for he was far taller than her – and noted the look of genuine wonder in his eyes. "Do you get to spend much time outside?"

She couldn't decide what annoyed her more – that he was basically asking how she spent her time, or that he'd zeroed in instantly on the exact thing that was putting her in a sour mood. Or maybe she was annoyed that he seemed oblivious to her annoyance. Which was a dumb thing to be annoyed about, if she was honest with herself, especially when she was supposed to be presenting a welcoming face for the Jedi Order.

"We spend a lot of time outdoors," she answered with a practiced serenity that she couldn't quite make herself feel. "Communion with nature is essential to the Jedi path, and we encourage our students to seek outdoor spaces in their free time as well."

"I don't get outside much," he admitted, eyes still roaming the vine-covered archways. "It's the nature of the job."

Tahiri nodded as they reached the end of the walkway, and as she keyed open the door to the next building, she indicated the engraving of a bantha in its otherwise smooth durasteel surface. "We call this the Bantha House, even though as you can see, it's not really a house, and there aren't any banthas either."

"Other than that one," Ulin supplied with a smile.

Tahiri lowered her hand from the keypad and looked up at him. "Other than that one," she repeated, mouth twitching in an amusement she was reluctant to allow. She reined in that wayward smile and stepped through the doorway, and was met with a blast of cool air. "This way."

Due to the nature of the archives, this entire wing was kept much cooler than she was used to, and she gave an involuntary shudder as they entered the main server room. Ulin kneeled down on the floor next to the primary terminal, and within seconds he had pulled an assortment of datapads and cables from his bag. "If you can log me in," he said, "I should be able to handle the rest."

She stepped over and scanned her credentials, then moved aside to allow him to work. The room was quiet save for the steady hum of so many computers running, and the gentle tapping of Ulin's fingers against the screen of his datapad.

"This'll probably take a little while, if you want to wait outside where it's warmer."

She looked over at him, surprised that he'd noticed. "I actually have to stay in here, for insurance reasons."

"Oh." Ulin nodded – only the barest hint of a smile this time – and gestured in the air with his datapad. "Then I'll try to make this as quick as possible."

Tahiri rubbed her arms and shrugged. "I'll be fine." She watched him connect the datapad to the computer terminal. "But thank you," she added. "I appreciate the thought."

He glanced up from his work, and this time he did smile. "No problem."

Ulin didn't speak much after that, except to occasionally ask questions about the archive system and the new network they'd set up. Tahiri didn't have much else to do, so she studied him as he worked. His cheerful demeanor wasn't wholly gone, but it was certainly subdued as he scrolled through screen after screen of data, his fingers moving at speeds she found difficult to comprehend in a human. It reminded her of watching some of the youngest initiates play at typing on pretend computer screens, except of course she knew Ulin wasn't just tapping out streams of nonsense. Well, not nonsense to him, anyway.

Her thoughts turned idly to her own time as an apprentice, when she'd been given the choice of what she wanted to do with her Jedi studies, and how she would have balked at the idea of going into a technical field. "How did you get into slicing?" she asked suddenly.

His hands slowed only a little, and he looked up at her with another one of those smiles, this one more contemplative than cheerful. "Well I always liked computers, and I used to play games on my datapad and on the HoloNet, and I don't know, I think once I figured out that all that stuff was a bunch of code and that I could change it, I just… liked changing it. And I kept doing it." He laid the datapad down in his lap and shrugged. "And got in trouble for it more than once."

Tahiri arched an eyebrow at him. "What kind of trouble?"

A few strands of blond hair had fallen across his forehead and into his eyes, and he pushed them back and chuckled. "The kind where your mom gets really mad and has to promise the school you won't do it again."

"More than once?"

He shrugged again and looked down at the pad, and resumed typing. "It was dumb kid stuff. One time when there were these blizzards north of us, I sliced the school's notification system to let everyone know that classes were canceled for the day."

"Did it work?"

"Sure did. I spent the whole day outside with my friends, building tunnels in the snow."

Tahiri chuckled despite herself, and she tried to imagine what that must have been like. "I didn't see snow for the first time until after I became a Padawan learner."

"There's nothing quite like it," Ulin admitted. "But there are plenty of amazing things I've never seen that you probably have, being a Jedi and all. Like this place." He looked around him, as if to indicate everything outside the walls of the archive room. "There aren't any jungles where I'm from. And those flowers out there? I didn't even know flowers came in colors like those." He rubbed a hand over his mouth and laughed to himself. "Okay, that's not true, I've seen holos; but it's not the same."

She thought of her first time experiencing snow, how it had burned where it touched her skin, how she hadn't known something so cold could do that, just as she hadn't known a heavy snowfall could blanket the world in soft, encompassing silence. "No," she agreed, "it's not."

She met his gaze for a moment that stretched on just a little longer than she was comfortable with, before he ducked his head and focused on his datapad once more. "Anyway," he said lightly, "this seems like a pretty wizard place to live." He cringed almost immediately, and though it was hard to tell in this lighting, she was fairly certain he was blushing. "Please pretend I didn't just embarrass myself by using incredibly dated slang."

Tahiri found herself smirking in response. "Oh no, I'm going to have that one on repeat in my head for days, thank you."

He was definitely blushing now. "Beautiful and funny."

She deflected the compliment with a half-hearted roll of her eyes. It wasn't that she'd never been called beautiful before – she had, multiple times even, though it had been a while – but there was something different about hearing it from a man rather than a boy, even if that man was mostly joking around. But that was neither here nor there. This was nothing more than banter, a way to pass the time, and she deliberately pushed those thoughts aside.

"I might have to teach it to my students," Tahiri said archly. "Maybe a lesson on archaic slang terms?"

"Bet they would love that. Don't forget 'gonzo' and 'astral', if I'm showing my age anyway."

"Don't worry, kids still say 'astral' these days."

"Well, that's a relief."

"But I've never heard 'gonzo' before."

Ulin groaned and covered his face with one hand. "Like I said, pretend I'm not embarrassing myself." He returned to his work, the color fading from his cheeks as he looked between the datapad and the terminal. "I do think it's really impressive, what you're doing here. Especially at your age."

Tahiri raised both eyebrows and dipped her chin to consider him. "What age would that be?"

He looked up at her in alarm. "Oh, I didn't mean… it's just, I'd heard you and Anakin— Master Solo— well, I'd heard the two of you were tapped for leadership in your teens, so I figured you couldn't be much older than that now. I mean, I'd have pegged you for older just because you're so authoritative, but you can be young and authoritative just as easily as you can be old and authoritative, and anyway, you don't look all that old, and…" He went silent, though his mouth continued to move wordlessly for a moment before he snapped it shut. "Sorry," he said when the power of speech returned. "I tend to babble when I don't know what I'm doing."

Tahiri nodded toward the mainframe. "Well, if the expert doesn't know what he's doing, we really are in trouble."

He glanced back and forth between her and the computer and let out a laugh that sounded almost relieved. "Oh no, you're all fixed up here. It shouldn't give you any more trouble. Not that I'd mind if it did, because that would give me a reason to come visit your temple again – but I wouldn't want you inconvenienced a second time over something so trivial, especially when it's in my power to fix it."

She crossed her arms loosely in front of her. "So that's it then?"

"That's it." He began disconnecting the cables from the terminal, and once he'd put everything away, he stood up and hoisted his bag onto his shoulder. "Sorry if I offended you with the age thing. I didn't mean to pry."

Tahiri waved a hand to dismiss his concerns. "It's fine, I wasn't offended." She opened the door and gestured for him to follow her out of the archive room. "I'm twenty-six, by the way."

His eyes went wide as he stepped to her side. "Wow. That makes it even more impressive. I definitely wouldn't have been capable of heading up a whole new Jedi school when I was twenty-six, I can tell you that." He paused in the doorway and tilted his head to stare off at nothing. "I mean, I wouldn't be capable of that now either. Plus I'm not a Jedi."

She studied him for a moment; standing this close she could see a few faint lines at the corners of his eyes – eyes that were as much green as they were blue. "I'm not capable of slicing computers or reading code," she offered. "So you've got me beat there."

His gaze refocused, and he looked down at her with a grin. "You don't seem the type to be beaten very easily."

She quirked an eyebrow at him and shrugged one shoulder in reply, and headed for the breezeway. "Depends on who or what I'm up against, I guess."

"Well, I'd put my money on you any time," he said, walking at her side. "Not that I'm saying I gamble, because I don't. Not much, anyway. Anymore." He took a deep breath and uttered a sound somewhere between a sigh and a groan as he released it. "What I meant is, you seem like you can handle whatever comes at you, and that's a rare quality. I mean, you'd have to be a strong person to shoulder so much responsibility at your age."

She thought to tell him he didn't know her well enough to believe or say such things. She thought to tell him there were plenty of times when she wondered whether she actually could handle the responsibility, whether the Council would wake up one day and realize they'd made a mistake and that she wasn't worthy of their trust. Instead, she shook her head and said with a wry expression, "There you go with my age again. You can't be that much older than me."

He chuckled at that. "Quite a bit, actually. But I'll take the compliment."

They reached the vine-covered breezeway, and as Tahiri closed the door to the building behind them, she noticed Ulin's eyes roaming the vibrant assortment of blooming flowers that adorned their path, a somewhat rueful smile on his lips.

"It goes by fast," he said. "One day you look up and you're pushing forty, and you're not old, but you're not young either, only you don't really feel old in here—" He tapped a finger to the side of his head. "—and you still don't really know what you're doing, but everyone assumes you do because you've been around for a few decades." He paused and shot her a sheepish grin. "But then sometimes you sleep the wrong way at night and everything hurts when you wake up, and you realize you actually are old. So that's fun."

Tahiri snorted softly. "Well, if it helps, you don't sound like any old person I've ever known."

"Even with my archaic slang? I'll take that as a win."

"You should."

Rays of sunlight dappled the ground around them as they walked under the arches, and Tahiri took a deep breath, filling her lungs with the scent of torch ginger and passionflower and brush vines. They continued along in pleasant silence, and when they reached the main entrance to the Temple, Ulin turned to face her, and Tahiri found herself once more looking up at him.

"Thank you for all your help with the archives," she said, adopting the requisite Jedi poise. "We're profoundly grateful."

"Profoundly," he repeated, one corner of his mouth twitching as he adjusted the strap on his shoulder. "It's nothing, really. I was happy to be of service." There was something hesitant in his presence just then, and she wondered if there was still some part of their business they hadn't concluded.

"Oh!" she said as it dawned on her. "Do we still owe you your payment? I wasn't even thinking—"

"No, no, sorry, I didn't mean to make you think…" He cleared his throat, catching his bottom lip between his teeth. "I mean, Master Solo paid me upfront. You don't owe me a thing."

"Oh." Tahiri rocked back slightly on her heels and smiled politely. "Well, it was very nice meeting you. And thank you again."

"It was very nice meeting you, too." He rummaged through the outer pocket of his bag and emerged with a small square of flimsi, which he held between both hands before offering it to her. "My information," he explained. "In case you have any other problems."

She accepted the card and glanced over it, fighting the urge to grin. "This says your name is Demetrius."

He winced a little and fidgeted with the strap of his bag again. "Yeah, no one really calls me that." He looked thoughtfully off to one side. "Except my mom, but you know… she's my mom."

"She has good taste."

He smiled again, a smile she could only describe as bashful, and in the Force she sensed he was surprised and pleased with her comment. "Thanks. I'll have to tell her you said that." He glanced over his shoulder and paused, and she realized he was looking at the fresco he'd been studying earlier, the one depicting the Battle of Ruusan.

"Interested in ancient military history?" she asked with a smirk.

He chuckled in response, a bit awkwardly, she thought. "Nah, I just… I wouldn't have expected flowers in a battle scene, is all."

Tahiri frowned and looked past him at the mural. She'd walked by this painting over a hundred times and never noticed any flowers. The armies of darkness and light collided in a faceless ocean of sepia and rust and coal-black, interrupted only by the brilliant slash of a lightsaber's blade. But then…

There, at the bottom edges of the scene, barely visible against the arid landscape, she saw a row of tiny flowers: crimson and fire-orange and xanthous blooms, about to be trampled under the feet of the advancing armies.

Slowly, Tahiri withdrew her gaze from the mural and looked up at Ulin. Once again, he'd proven more observant than she would have guessed.

"I was named after a flower," she blurted out. "They grow on some of the cacti on my homeworld." Why in all the worlds was she sharing something so personal? Why couldn't she keep her mouth shut around him?

But he didn't seem phased by her behavior. "It suits you," he said with a smile. Then he jerked his thumb toward the warriors in the fresco. "And it's a lot better than being named after a bounty hunter or something."

Her cheeks actually ached from trying not to grin. "Those are ancient Jedi Knights and Sith Lords."

"Yeah," he said, eyes rising toward the ceiling as he pursed his lips and nodded. "That makes a lot more sense."

They were interrupted by a familiar presence, and Tahiri looked past Ulin to see Anakin coming through the front entrance.

"All finished?" her friend called out.

"Good as new," Ulin replied. "Well, better than new, I hope."

"That's excellent." Anakin stopped at Ulin's side and reached out to shake the slicer's hand. "I have to get back to my mother, but I can walk you to your ship?" Anakin gestured wide with one arm, and Ulin looked back and forth between him and Tahiri.

"Uh, sure… yeah, lead the way." Ulin gave her a small wave before turning to follow Anakin out the door. "Take care."

"You too," Tahiri said, returning the wave. Once the two men had disappeared out the main entrance, she wandered over to the fresco to take a closer look at the flowers. Now she wondered if she'd been wrong about their fate – maybe they weren't about to be trampled, but were instead the rare survivors of that ancient struggle. She hoped so. She liked that thought better anyway.

Anakin returned a few moments later, the beginnings of a grin on his face as he approached her. "You're still here. I thought you'd be long gone."

Tahiri raised a questioning eyebrow. "Aren't we meeting your mom for lunch?"

"Yeah, definitely. She's going to meet us down here."

"And how did the tour go?"

Anakin practically beamed. "She was super impressed. She said the improvements we've made are, and I quote, 'astral'."

The laugh escaped her lips before she could stop it, and Tahiri barely suppressed an accompanying grin as Anakin looked over at her. "What?" he said.

"Hm? Oh, nothing. Just something Ulin— the tech guy— just something he said earlier."

"Must've been pretty funny." There was something vaguely sly in his tone. "What did you think of him?"

"Who, Ulin?" She eyed him suspiciously. "Why do you ask?"

Anakin shrugged, mouth curving up to reveal a trace of the famously lopsided Solo smile. He didn't say anything else, and Tahiri punched him in the shoulder.

"Ow!"

"Spill it, Solo. What did you do?"

Anakin rubbed his arm, still grinning. "Nothing."

"That's not a 'nothing' face."

Anakin mouthed another "ow" as he finished massaging his shoulder, and then he shrugged again. "Okay, I might have offered him a job."

Her mouth fell open as she gaped at him, uncomprehending. "You did what?"

"A job. I offered him—"

"Why? We're a monastic order, we don't need an in-house HoloNet technician."

"He's not a HoloNet tech, Tahiri. The guy's a very gifted slicer."

"Which we need because…?"

"…Because we're trying to diversify Jedi training, and computer technical skills are an important component of that, and my skill set doesn't cover everything our students will need, and Ulin's knowledge and experience would be a great asset?"

Tahiri pursed her lips and folded her arms across her chest. "So you're saying you've given this some thought."

Anakin let out a dry laugh. "Yeah."

"Well you could have talked it over with me first. We're supposed to be a team."

"We are a team. And you're right, I'm sorry, I should have talked to you first." He tipped his head toward her and grinned. "Forgive me?"

Tahiri rolled her eyes, but she couldn't help smiling just a little in return. "Fine, you're forgiven. Just don't do it again." She ignored the cocky smirk on her friend's lips and made a mental note to give him a thorough trouncing next time they sparred. "So," she continued, schooling her features into cool, calm indifference. "Did he accept the job?"

Anakin sobered quickly, though she thought she still detected a measure of amusement behind his eyes. "He said he'd have to think about it."

Tahiri shrugged. "Hm. I guess let me know what happens."

"Of course." Anakin grinned again. "And hey, think of it this way. If he becomes part of the Temple staff, he can roam the grounds completely unaccompanied. He won't steal any more time from your schedule."

Tahiri pointedly ignored that last. "He seemed to like it here. He commented very enthusiastically on the flowers."

Anakin gave her an obnoxiously knowing look. "Unless I'm missing the mark, the flowers weren't the only thing he was enthusiastic about. I doubt he'll be on the fence for long."

"Just as long as he doesn't expect…" She couldn't voice whatever it was she thought Ulin might expect, but she knew Anakin would catch her meaning – or enough of it anyway.

Her friend shook his head sympathetically. "He was pretty obvious, wasn't he? Poor guy. Really nice, though, and really smart."

"Really talkative, too. And cheerful."

"Yeah, you're right, it probably wouldn't work out between you two."

She swatted his shoulder and scowled. "Stop that."

Anakin leaned away from her, just out of reach. "You're too easy," he laughed. "But in all seriousness, it'll be nice to have someone older around who isn't, you know, one of the Masters. Or my parents."

"He's not that much older."

"All right, more experienced. Either way, I can't wait to pick his brain. There's so much we can learn…"

As Anakin began to lose himself in all the possibilities such a partnership would afford them, Tahiri placed her hands in her pockets, and her fingers brushed the square of flimsi Ulin had given her.

"Yeah," she murmured in agreement. "Maybe you're right."

.