Before - Legends Invisible Enemy -- (An-Paj!) COMPLETE and with thanks!

LOL, I love needlepoint too, Kitara. Somehow, I feel less guilty sitting watching TV when my hands are doing something. I've got a lovely pillow about 1/2 finished.

Thank you, Miana! I confess, it had been YEARS since I'd read Tolkien when I started writing my first story about Arwen, and I wanted to work in the name "Starr" as a private joke with a friend. I had completely forgotten about the Istarri. Only goes to show that your subconscious absorbs a lot more than you'd think.

And general hellos to Tahi, Ishtar, dianethx (we are still thinking of you!) and everyone else, including any Loyal Lurkers.

Okay. The cat scene is back in. It comes along later...

Tag! Jane's it next...

* * *

"I'm Arwen Istarri."

"I'm Kiusan Waurk." Kiu smiled, then hesitated suddenly, blushing, "Is Master Instructor Istarri your father?"

"Yes."

"Did he -- ever mention me?"

Arwen shook her head; she didn't see her father very often at all. "No, should he have?"

"I was just wondering if he ever talked about his students, who was the best, and ... who was the worst."

"No," Arwen said again.

"He's incredibly patient," Kiusan declared firmly. "I keep wondering how anybody can be so patient, with somebody as hopeless as me."

Arwen looked up skeptically.

"He's too nice to actually say that, of course," Kiusan went on, then made a face. "There's just something about lightsabers; I'm just not cut out for them."

Arwen paused to count a row of squares, then said, "Did you ever cut off one of your own body parts?"

"No -- not yet."

"Did you ever cut off one of your Master's body parts?"

"No -- not yet."

"Then obviously you're not hopeless."

"No -- not yet. But I keep my lightsaber on practice setting, you see."

The two girls looked at each other, and Arwen felt herself smiling.

"Wait 'til you see me," Kiusan said, "you'll soon change your mind."

They worked for a while in a companionable silence, focusing on their own task. Master Yyourn called a break, and the Jedi in the room rose to stretch and wander out on to the covered gallery walkway outside the room, enjoying the faint heat of the late afternoon sun.

Kiu played with the end of her braid, and looked at Arwen shyly. "So... have you just gotten here?"

"Yes, a few days ago." A cloud crossed Arwen's face. "My Master is injured, and he's been transferred here to recover."

"Oh, were you on a mission?"

"We were on Marabile."

"Oh!" Kiu's dark eyes widened in sympathy. "That must have been terrible."

"It was so senseless. But I suppose all wars are senseless, aren't they?"

"I've been lucky," said Kiu. "I've been on a few missions, but I've never been assigned to a war."

"I hope you never are," replied Arwen. For one moment, it flashed before her eyes, the explosions, the screams of agony, the angry shriek of blaster bolts...and something else... she shuddered.

Kiu touched her shoulder. "Master Yyourn is calling us back," she said gently. "And Knight Treia's brought in some flatbix and fruit for a snack."

Arwen glanced at the girl. She realized that Kiu had noticed her sudden unhappiness, but was being polite and not mentioning it. Which was good, since she didn't want to talk about it anyway. Arwen managed a lopsided smile.

"Great," she said. "Let's go."

 

Come on, Renata, we all know Istarri is a modified version of Ishtar, in homage to the greatest, humblest writer on the boards. J/K

Great posts. I find needlepoint soothing as well!

 

No kitty yet?

 

LOL, Ish.

Awww.. Arwen's made a friend... how cute..

 

Ah, Kiu, I shoulda realized it! Cute how she didn;t remark on Arwen's discomfort...wonder what happened on that planet...

Nice work Renata

Oh and no problem on the reviews. Meant every word.

 

Thanks Tahi I'm sorry to hear about your Mom as well. It's hard. But you are right. People do live on in our memories and our kids.
Thanks, Kitara.


Jane and Mistress_Renata - Congrats on getting reviewed. You two deserve it. This is a lovely gentle fic (for the moment) as you are setting things up. I like that Kiu and Arwen are doing needlepoint. It will make them more patient! I never could get into it but I do beadwork which is really the same thing with glass beads.

So the flu is spreading and one of the teachers has it. Oh, dear....

I'll check out the other stories with Arwen and Trett and get caught up.
Looking forward to more.

 

I've never tried needlepoint. I consider myself a one-talent woman, and that one talent is writing.

Thanks for reading, everybody! We love each and every reply.

*****

Day seven, startime

An-Paj entered the dining room and headed straight for the pocket of noise and colour farthest away from the windows. Back on Coruscant, along with separate quarters for each wife, they'd also had a very large common room with a long table. An-Hwaet and An-Fyrre had always taken turns bringing up food from the Temple kitchens so that they could all eat an evening meal together. Now, in the smaller Chapter House, they'd had to change the tradition slightly and move to the dining room with the other Jedi. The first day they?d eaten there, An-Silf had reserved two tables close to the kitchen door by pushing them together and placing a high chair at one end for An-Auk. They were seated there now, already doling out the food, and An-Paj was pleasantly surprised that he was that early. The last few days, he?d arrived in the middle of the meal.

"What's for supper?" he asked, sitting down.

"Breakfast!" his second daughter An-Sibia corrected him with a giggle.

"Breakfast?" An-Paj asked before he remembered.

"We get up when the sun goes down, and eat breakfast at supper time, then we go to school in the middle of the night," she explained cheerfully.

"We're turning into werwolves," An-Hael added morosely.

"An-Hael, that is not true and it is not a polite way of referring to the Batangans," An-Afor said sharply. As a futher sign of her displeasure, she used the girl's full name without shortening it to the more intimate 'Hael' that was usual within families.

"Are we going to grow fur?" An-Nerian asked.

"No, of course not," her mother replied. "Now drink your milk."

"Well, it's breakfast for some people, but it's supper for me," An-Afor sighed. "What a day!"

"Commander Corona making you slave for her, then?" An-Darste teased.

"Mistress Corona has a completely different system than the one on Coruscant," An-Afor said. "It?s rather frustrating. I keep trying to hint about how much more effective and efficient the other way is, but she doesn't want to listen, and even if I do manage to convert her, it's going to be almost more work than it's worth to change things around."

"You might have to get used to her system," An-Silf teased.

"Force forbid! Look, Silf, could Hael stay with you when she gets home from school to-night? Until I wake up, I mean?"

"Sure, no problem."

An-Hael made an unhappy face, and An-Paj wondered if she?d been staying alone in the apartment up until then.

"Thanks. I don't know how we're going to do this, I really don't. Mistress Corona obviously expects us to be active during the day. I don't think she even thought about the school system when she scheduled us in."

?Maybe she didn?t know about it, not having an efficient secretary like yourself to help her out, Afor,? An-Darste suggested, and An-Afor smiled briefly.

"We need a Family Council," An-Paj suggested for the second time. ?If needs be, I could volunteer to take the night shift in the infirmary.?

"I don?t know if that would help,? An-Hwaet sighed. "If Fyrre and I wanted to work at nights, we?d be out of a job, because the rest of the Jedi are on daytime schedules and need to eat when the sun is out. And when would we have time for a Family Council anyway? When are we all together at one time anymore? Fyrre's in the kitchen now because of her shift, I'm on at breakfast time -- and where's Taec, anyway?"

 

Hey, nothing wrong with breakfast at night. That's usually the best time to eat breakfast!

Poor Hael... I could only imagine how frustrating that'd be to have to go back to school after you're out.

 

So cute! Poor people, turning into werewolves no matter what AnPaj says. Great post.

 

Boy, that must be confusing with everyone having different schedules - daytime and nighttime. This was a cute post - very domestic. How's the flu coming along?

 

Ah, cute little family dinner...complete with a pouting teenager. (Least I think Hael is one or close to? ) Conflicting work schedules can be a pain, tis hard for my family to work around all of ours. Specially since mine is always either really late at night, or all day.

Nice work Jane...but things are seeming peaceful, I'm getting suspicious.

 

First Renata's post:
I loved the little touches to show character traits - eg. the girl fiddling with the end of her braid.

I also like the dramatic irony - ie. the way the references to the sickness keep popping up enough for us readers to notice, but the characters are as yet unaware.

Is Master Yyourn's name significant? Is he really that boring? [Yawns]

Now Jane's post:
I like that werewolf dialogue. I also liked that little touch where An-Paj thinks Hael might have been getting out and about. Ah teenagers! The family interactions are great in this story.

It sure gets confusing in big families when you have so many people to keep happy. Of course they're going to be so pre-occupied with their family problems that I guess the disease is going to be unnoticed for a bit longer. Great writing.

I admire the way you two can blend your ideas so well, and the way your posts link so seamlessly.

 

nice to see the more personal family moments included and all the troubles about moving into a new job. Wonderful couple of posts.

 

It's nice to see a normal life (if you can call the An clan normal) still survives thru the temple.

 

Miana Kenobi I like to eat breakfast cereal at suppertime, too.

DarthIshtar Cute post Thanks!

dianethx Nice to see you again! Hope you're coping. Yes, lots of problems with different schedules. And the flu is coming along.

padawan lunetta Yes, complete with pouting teenager. I haven't written it anywhere, but An-Hael is about thirteen. You're right to be suspicious!

Tahi Love your feedback! Glad you think the family interactions are great in this story. And the disease will get noticed eventually. I hope nobody gets bored as we move slowly and stealthily towards it.

Seraphena Wonderful couple of posts. Thank you!

PadawanKitara I've tried to make the An clan normal -- as far as I know what normal is, anyway. I suppose they must be a rarity in the Temple itself, though, as only a few of the Jedi would have families.

*****

An-Paj glanced around the table, not having consciously registered that his youngest wife was also missing.

"In the city, I think," An-Silf said.

?At this hour? Nothing?s open yet,? said An-Darste.

"No, here she comes," An-Silf corrected herself. An-Paj followed her gaze to the door of the dining room where An-Taec had just entered and was walking swiftly over to them.

"I'm sorry I'm late," she panted, sliding into the empty seat. "But guess what! I've got a job!"

The women at the table were stunned into silence, and after a moment, Silf reached out a hand. "But, Taec, you haven't --"

"--had a child yet, I know." An-Taec's face turned bitter, which was painful for An-Paj to see on anybody her age, but especially on one of his wives. "I think we should all face the fact that I probably never will. A lot of Ossar women don't, you know. And anyway, i'm tired of sitting around and waiting! Waiting for it to be my turn with our husband, waiting to see if I'm pregnant, waiting for the next chance -- always waiting, waiting, waiting for something that will never happen now!"

"You don't know that," said An-Afor. "I had to wait almost three years until I got pregnant."

"Me, too," added An-Silf.

"I know," An-Taec snapped. "But it's been over four years for me, and none of you had to wait that long. None of our mothers had to wait that long! The longest time between marriage and conception has been three years and a few days. I've been over the records time and time again, hoping that I wasn't the only one, but I am. I've had my chance, it didn't happen, and I don't see why I have to be coddled and protected for the rest of my life as though there were still hope. Why shouldn't I do something useful and something that I enjoy at the same time, before I'm too old?"

An-Paj was startled and worried. Was it really so hard on her? He'd never had time to stop and consider what her life must be like away from him, as his own days were packed so full. Her emphasis of the word 'useful' was saddening as well. She obviously felt that she was superfluous, even in her own family -- when had she started feeling that way? They'd only been married a few years -- surely there was still a chance? Slowly, he said, "I didn't know you were so unhappy, Taec."

"It's something that I just realised myself not very long ago," she replied. "I just barely had the time to research it all before we had to move, and there wasn't really time to talk about it."

An-Paj felt a stab of guilt for having spent the four nights of the journey to Sarawaksala with the other wives. If only he'd even had an inkling that something was wrong, he would have made time for her! Why had his Force-sense failed him so completely? Had she been shielding against him?

"And when I was in the city early this morning and saw the big bulletin outside the Job Center, I just --" Words failed An-Taec and she shrugged. "Suddenly I just felt so impatient, and so tired of waiting and hoping! I just wanted to do something to get my mind off things, so I drove right over to the company and asked, and they

 

Awwwwwww, poor Taec. But at least she's got a job and that'll help her feel more productive. I love AnPaj's thoughts on how he's neglected her just because he didn't know, the genuine remorse.

 

Good. She has a job. That should help with her self-esteem problem. Poor thing. And An-Paj not paying attention - I can understand that. With 6 wives, one or two might get lost in the shuffle!!

 

How sad that the mark of accomplishment for a woman in their culture is a child.

 

DarthIshtar Yes, An-Taec will feel more productive now that she's got something to do, instead of just sitting home and waiting.

dianethx With six wives, occasionally one will get lost in the shuffle -- but never for very long!

PadawanKitara Well, the birthrate is rather low there, and when something is rare, it's usually considered quite precious.

I think Renata is up next with the famous cat scene.

*****

Day Eight, suntime (early morning)

Kiu came awake with a jerk and glanced frantically around the darkened room, not knowing, for one terrible moment, where she was. Eventually, however, she realised that it was the room in the Sarawaksala Chapter House, and felt a touch of relief, enough to reach for the Force and try to calm herself further. But banishing the fear that she'd felt as the nightmare had developed proved to be difficult. She couldn't even recall the details of the dream, just that there had been something that had frightened her to the bone, something deadly, and part of her mind kept trying to remember what it was.

Feeling as though she weren't going to be able to get to sleep again soon, Kiu sat up and went to the window, opening the shutters. A half moon gleamed brightly through a few dark grey clouds, and a few stars were also visible. As she watched, a flashing pattern of red lights shot across the sky and disappeared -- a ship. Probably headed to Batanga. For some reason, the thought made her cold, or perhaps she'd been standing at the window too long. Going back to bed, she got in and leaned back against the wall, then pulled the covers up to her chin and tried to meditate.

It seemed only a moment later that the sky had brightened from black to grey, and the colour of the forest was slowly becoming less dark and more green in the dim light of the approaching dawn. Kiu stared dully at it and finally dragged herself out of bed, feeling both bleary-eyed and bleary-souled.

Although she'd been so wide awake before, and so troubled by the memory of the terror that she'd been certain she wouldn't be able to relax, she must have fallen asleep again instead of meditating. How else could she explain the fact that she'd had another bad dream? It hadn't been as terrifying as the first one, though, and she was even able to remember it quite clearly; the training room, the sizzle of lightsabers meeting each other, the fall, and the pain in her hand -- or had it been Hachas' hand?

Morning meditations were conducted in the largest training room, the one that was half underground in the north wing. Spotting a flash of purple in the midst of many shades of brown robes, Kiu moved carefully and quickly towards it, getting in line next to her master just as they all knelt down. Hachas reached out an arm and clapped it around her shoulders, pulling her close for a quick hug, and Kiu rested her head against the side of his chest, enjoying the feeling of strength and comfort that he radiated.

It was even easier to meditate with him at her side. Apparently feeling her struggle, Hachas reached out to her with the Force, sending a controlled flood of it into her consciousness. She relaxed, let go, and let herself delve deep into it, enjoying the added comfort that it brought, wishing she could have felt it in the night. But she was fourteen now, much too old to run to a master's bedside after a nightmare like a child in the creche. She was a padawan and had to act like one.

"What's wrong?" Hachas asked as soon as meditation ended.

"It's nothing, master," Kiu said. They stood up together, and she added, "I just had some bad dreams in the night, that's all."

"About what? Needlework?"

"No," Kiu laughed. Her mirth all but banished the memory of the fear, and she wished she'd been able to distract herself that effectively during the night. "I don't remember the first one. I just remember that I woke up absolutely terrified."

"And the others?"

"I dreamed that you and I were sparring, and I tripped, I think, and fell on you, a

 

Wow! I missed three posts! How did that happen? I've been stalking Jane and Renata so carefully so as not to miss anything.

Well, An-Teac hasn't waited as long as I did to become pregnant. I don't think she should completely give up yet. I'm not telling how long after I married I had a child (I can't count that high). But it has been long enough for Bridal fashions to become unbelievable. [face_shocked] A friend of mine was in a wedding this summer so I understand Darth Ishtar's frustration. May I suggest vintage Bridal gowns as a possible solution? I wish I had done even <quavery-old-lady-voice> way back then </qolv> when the dresses available were often more modest. OTOH there are a lot more/better patterns to make your own now than there were then.

Good for Teac in deciding to do something about her life but I suspect strongly that it has just made it even harder for the family to keep track of all those children. I think they are in trouble.

And poor Kiu! Wishing she could go get comfort in the night but feeling she was too old. I bet Hachas doesn't think so. Even us mumble-two year olds sometimes need comfort after a bad dream. And I have a bad feeling about this sudden odd feeling of coldness. I hope she does ask about the purple robe. I'm a purple-holic so I love it. I suspect that Hachas is more of a generic color-holic. I bet people never guess he's a Jedi on appearance alone unless they see the lightsaber... (bunny, well hampster maybe, anyone? What's My Line in the GFFA?)

Where's the cat? Aaahhh-chooooooo! sniff Heddo, pretty kitty. sniff

KD

 

Thanks, Dilletante, for the tip. I actually got directed by my older sister a few days ago to a site/showroom called Latter-Day Brides, which has dresses modest enough for our kind of weddings. I've even found one I like, but I'm still playing phone tag with the lady who wants to make my wedding dress, so I don't know if I'll be buying or having it hand-made. At least I have some ideas. And I've gone through a few magazines, cutting out hemlines, necklines, sleeve styles, entire dresses, trains, and veils, not to mention tiaras and other jewelry things. It's nuts! And John thought this was possible to do in December, nuhuh.

Well, anyway, that was great, Jane, really good Master/Padawan interaction. It's kind of interesting the focus of nightmares, like the broken pinky. Hmmm.

 

Dilletante, I waited 18 years to have a child after I got married! And then it took 6 more of concentrated effort to get the second... So I understand Taec's frustration!

Good post. I love that Kiu is having maybe visions of the future or perhaps she is coming down with that flu-thing. And she can always find her Master's cloak....LOL. Love the purple. Does he still have those red pajamas?

Looking forward to more...

 

Hm, no matter what gown you decide on, Ish, it will look fabulous! I always think that the bridesmaids are the tricky part...

Glad you're able to post, dianethx. I think you & I & Shaindl are just going to have to rescue Qui-Gon from the Obi thread, and bring him back to Grey & Green, to the folks who REALLY appreciate him...

Tomorrow is indeed the gratuitous cat scene, restored by popular demand!

 

I appreciate Qui-Gon every day. I have a picture of him - looking quite wonderful in his Jedi robes - right above my computer.

Yes, I think we will have to rescue him from the Obi crowd. But I do love to "bate" the crew. It's just so much fun...LOL.

 

Ohh nice having Kiu have nightmares, and the cold...cute how she wanted to go to Hachas, but thought she was too old. THey have a great relationship, I loved how he helped her meditate.