The drive down to the 2000 levels of Coruscant always put a damper on Luxsolaria's mood. No sunlight came this far down in the city. The perpetual darkness was illuminated by neon lights of establishments and street lamps. The poorest of the poor lived this low in the city levels; those whose lives were fraught with crime, drugs, a lack of education, and a lack of governmental representation. It was largely alien, compared to the upper levels, and this had been the population that Sola had wanted to educate when she was younger and helped to institute curriculum for the new Empire of which she was a proud citizen, to give the opportunity for upward mobility, to rise in the ranks of society.
She had been young and idealistic then.
She was older now, and knew that upward mobility was not what was destined for these people. They would stay down here for generations, just as they always had, mired in the drugs and crime that polluted these levels.
It was almost as if the sunlight scared them, and so they couldn't make themselves go any higher in the city.
So, she had decided a long time ago to bring some of the sunlight down to them. That was the meaning of her name, after all.
She felt the air change as she drove deeper, the depression and misery pressing on her like a physical thing. It made the atmosphere thick, like walking through water. She had to be careful the feelings didn't stick to her, driving her own mood down when she was supposed to be lifting others up.
Her fifteen year old Stant Generative speeder, also known by most folks as a classic mommy-mobile, was in excellent condition compared to the speeders down here, despite the fact it was as old as her son. She parked it at back of an old set of apartment buildings in her usual space, got out, and grabbed the two large bouquets she had in the back.
Might as well recycle these, she had thought before leaving. Some other people can enjoy them, too.
These two particular ones were obviously open romantic invitations to Uriellien. They were red roses mixed with baby breath and spiderwort. The arrangements were lovely and left nothing open as to their interpretation. When she had relayed their message to Uriellien and asked how he wanted her to reply, he had said, "Why close doors, my darling sister?"
So she had sent each of them a bouquet in return; The center held a ball of sunroses, which she was quite sure each would associate with Uriellien himself. Around it was set rosedemai and myrtle, to indicate Uriellien as a lover and open to their advances. She loved her brother dearly, but couldn't see him settling down with anyone. She felt it necessary to add a warning with the two bouquets. She had placed prairie roses in them to reply. Love is dangerous, she told with those flowers. Love him at your own risk.
She walked around the building, a basket of flowers in each arm, and pushed open the old fashioned door to Sezzir's Clinic with her hip.A bell dinged as she entered, and some of the denizens who were sitting in the waiting room looked up to glance at her.
The receptionist, who also helped as a nurse in the clinic when the going got rough, came around and greeted her half way to the check in desk. "Oh, thank that stars you're here," she said, taking one of the baskets of flowers from her. "We have a set of screamers in the back and haven't been able to give them their shots. We need you to work your magic."
She winced at the words. "I wish you wouldn't say it like that," she muttered, putting one of the bouquets on a shelf in the waiting room.
"Why not?" the receptionist asked. "You're fantastic at calming people down."
"It isn't magic," she said quietly. "I just know how people work."
"I like to think I know how people work," the receptionist said. "And I can't do what you do."
Luxsolaria let it drop and headed in the back of the clinic to find Dr. Sezzir. The Arcona doctor was leaning over a little blue Twi'lek girl, talking to her gently. The girl was crying and clinging to her mother, who looked at a loss as to what to do. Sola went over to her and bent down so she was on eye level with the little girl.
"Hello," she said in Ryl. "You're starting school this term, aren't you?"
The little girl nodded against her mother's chest.
"You know, a long time ago, I used to teach children your age," she said, reaching out and taking the little girl's hand. As she spoke, she willed calmness into child. The little girl's shoulders relaxed. "I taught them to how to read and write poetry. Are you looking forward to learning how to read?"
"I already know how to read," the little girl answered, reaching up to hold one of her lekku.
"Oh my stars, you're smart!" Luxsolaria smiled. "Well, you need all of your immunizations so you can go to school and help your teacher teach other children how to read."
"I don't want to," she shook her head, her shoulders rising again.
"But if you don't, you'll get sick." Luxsolaria took another deep breath and as she exhaled, imagined her calm going into the child. Doing this was hard for her, she didn't feel it always worked. Picking up what someone was feeling was one thing. Changing how they felt was something else entirely. But sometimes, she could pull it off. When she could, she was immensely proud of herself. "If you get sick, you won't be able to learn at school."
The little girl's shoulders dropped again and her bottom lip stuck out in a pout.
"Can Dr. Sezzir give you your immunizations so you can be healthy for school? It will take only a second. He just needs your arm." When the girl hesitated, Luxsolaria continued, "Do you want me to hold your hand while he does it."
The little girl nodded.
She allowed Sola to pull her arm out and the Arcona doctor was able to give her the hypo with no more fuss. "See, that didn't hurt much, did it?"
The girl smiled, "No!"
"And now you get a lolly," Dr. Sezzir said in Basic, digging in his pocket and pulling a sweet out for the child. "For being a good girl."
"Sank you, doktor," the girl's mother said. She turned to Luxsolaria and said in Ryl, "And thank you to you also."
"It was nothing," Sola replied.
"Lady Viita is a great help here at the clinic," Sezzir said proudly, putting one of his large hands on her shoulder.
As the mother left, she said to her little girl, "You see that, you met a high ranking lady today and got your immunizations."
Luxsolaria turned to Sezzir. "Don't let my husband hear you call me that, he'll have a fit."
"Why?" Sezzir asked. "He should be proud."
"Marrying me didn't make him a lord, did it?" she replied in Arconese. "And technically, I'm not Lady Viita any longer either."
"Your brother isn't married," Sezzir said, clapping her shoulder. "That still makes you Lady Viita." He held up a finger when she opened her mouth to protest. "It does here, I won't hear anything else. Other than you going to get your license so I can hire you."
"Yuck!" She shook his hand off and made a face. "University the first time was more than enough. I'm not going back to become a nurse. You'll have to settle for a field medic wannabe from 25 years ago."
"I imagine you were a damn good field medic," Sezzir said, gathering up the hypos and turning toward another patient.
"Field medic wannabe," Sola corrected, waggling a finger at him. "Big difference."