Saga Jedi Snapshots 2 (JA short stories - humor/serious)

ROFLOL!! *snort*

That's Master Soggy-Butt!!

That is too funny Jem! I think you've given me a case of the giggles for the rest of the day!

 

Just kicking this back up again

 

Okay, so it's a repeat. But I guess for the sake of completion I really ought to repost it on this thread.


TITLE: Fever

********

* BEEP *

"Go away!" Jemmiah growled at the holoterminal. "I'm busy! Can't you see that?"

It was always the same, she reflected unhappily. Whenever she had somewhere she had to be in a rush, that would be the very second that she received a call. She actually hoped for a brief moment it would be someone trying to sell her something, like cheap windows or a new and revolutionary form of washing powder, so that she could pick a fight with them. Sith, she was ready to give them a screaming match if they wanted it?

//No. Ignore it.// She urged herself. //You're not obliged to answer it.//

* BEEP *

"Shove off!" Jemmy yelled, as she stared at her reflection in the mirror, hair all over the place, sweeping it away from her face with such a violent movement that she nearly scalped herself with hair-entangled fingers. "OWCH! Look what you made me do! How's a girl supposed to get ready to go out on the town with all these persistent interruptions? Gimme a break!"

* BEEP *

"I've only got?" she locked hastily down at her wrist chrono, "?three and a quarter hours to get ready, and that's cutting it fine! So do me a favor and just kriff off!"

Silence.

Jemmiah blinked, surprised.

"Huh!" She pulled an uncomplimentary face at the holo transmitter, feeling somewhat miffed that it had cut out without putting up a good fight. Tame competition indeed! "Well, you couldn't have wanted anything important, could you?"

A hasty brush at her hair didn't do very much to change its appearance. It still hung in a thick mass of tangled chestnut, maddeningly wavy and contrary, always seeming to do what it wanted as opposed to what she wished. Oh, for hair like Rela's! Proper curls, not the crimpy spirals that she had been cursed with. Straight hair would have been nice too, but oh no! The force couldn't even have got that right!

"I hate the force." Jemmy tossed her hairbrush to one side.

She scooped her hair up into a Nerf's tail, so that it stood up on her head like a palm tree. It would have to do for the time being. Ben always had complimentary things to say about her hair, even when she herself was despairing over it. At first she thought he was just being nice but now she realized that he genuinely liked it. Then again Jemmiah had discovered that he just had an obsession about red hair in general.

//It's not as red as Rela's hair.// Jemmiah mused, posing infront of the mirror and giving a series of little half twirls, first one side and then the other. //I often wonder why Ben and Rela never dated each other. You know, I have a good mind to ask them. Just out of curiosity.//

* BEEP! *

"Oh, not you again!" Jemmy gritted her teeth and headed straight over to the holoterminal, relishing the prospect of being able to tell the person on the other end of the transmission to stick their head in the food prep unit. "Right! This is war! If I'm late for my day out with Spider and Rela you are soooooo dead! Do you hear me? Sheesh! Where's Evla when you need her?"

Evla of course was at the crèche, tending to all the disgusting babies and slavering toddlers that dwelt within the chamber of horrors known as the nursery. How she could stand it was completely beyond Jemmiah, who was of the opinion that children should be removed from sight until they were old enough to ask for swoop flying lessons. Her guardian however seemed to adore the young children and the Corellian just couldn't see the attraction whatsoever. Then again she sometimes couldn't understand what had made Evla offer to take her in either. What had she ever seen in her?

"Certainly couldn't have been my mad hair that appealed to her!" Jemmy grumbled, rolling up her dressing gown sleeves and stalking the holoterminal like it was some kind of prey. She stood beside it for a moment, composing herself and taking a large, deep breath to relax herself. Releasing it, she fixed a smile on her f

 

This Precious Thing: Part Two
By Jemmiah

***********

"I told you before, I do not wish you loitering on the way home from school."
"But?"

"No buts! Just kindly do as I say." Qui-Gon observed the petulant twelve-year-old whilst standing with his hands on his hips so that he might look as if he had some authority over her. "Now, Evla will not be back for seven days. I expect you to behave."

"I always behave." Jemmiah scowled back at him.

"When it suits you to do so. I know it's never easy when Evla is sent to collect a new child bound for the crèche but whilst you are living under?"

"?my roof I expect you to do as you are told." Jemmiah finished the well-worn phrase for him. She had after all heard it many times before. "Yeah, okay."

"Good." Qui-Gon nodded approvingly, moving towards his room to pick up his cloak. "But please, this time try and sound as if you actually mean it. I do not want a repeat of yesterday."

"But I saw this dog wandering around the streets! And it was limping, so I went to see if it was okay, that's all!"

"I don't care." Qui-Gon warned her, his tone brooking no argument. "I do not wish to see you wandering round darkened alleyways. That is just asking for trouble as well you know. There are some very?" he sought the right words, "?dubious characters around and I do not want you visiting the sort of places that they frequent. Is that understood?"

Jemmy looked down miserably at the floor. Inside she was seething, but shouting at Qui-Gon would achieve nothing except an even bigger punishment than the one she had already got for being late home from school the day before. He'd been worried of course, she knew that, but still Jemmiah didn't feel the punishment in anyway fitted the crime. Helping the droids out with the laundry?yuck!

"Yes sir." She growled.

"Good." Qui-Gon relaxed slightly more, and lightened his voice accordingly. "End of lecture. I don't argue with you for the sake of it Jemmiah. I do it because you obviously need to hear the words. Sometimes you are your own worst enemy. If you do not act in a way that shows you are responsible and mindful of your own safety then I will have to insist that you revert back to getting an aircab to pick you up from school again."

Jemmiah groaned at the thought. "But I'll get laughed at! Aircabs are for babies!"

"You used to take the aircab back to the temple." Qui-Gon pointed out reasonably.

"But that was last year! I'm grown-up now!"

Qui-Gon shook his head, greatly saddened. The unfortunate thing was that she regarded it as being true. Whilst she was finally beginning to grow a little fuller in her figure and perhaps a shade taller there was no way that a twelve year old could be called an adult, not under any circumstances. Her naturally rebellious spirit was beginning to kick in, but whatever she thought there was no way he could allow her the freedoms and responsibilities of an adult, however mature they thought they were.

He slid his arms into his cloak and walked towards the door. "I have to go out. Do you think you can keep out of trouble whilst I am gone?"

It had been badly worded and Qui-Gon knew the moment he had said it that Jemmiah had been hurt. He should really have apologized but perhaps at the back of his mind there was the small matter of the dread he had felt when she'd been late to arrive home?and the annoyance and worry did not tend to make him go easy on her. Not yet, at any rate.

"I shall see you when I return. Obi-Wan will be here shortly to keep an eye on you."

And with that Qui-Gon left the apartment, cloak billowing behind.

Jemmiah gritted her teeth. That had been uncalled for! He still seemed to see her as some small kid! Okay, maybe he was right up to a point about her not coming back home when she should have but she had given him her reasons - good reasons - which were well intentioned. Had he listened? When did he ever? And now she was having a padawan baby sitter foisted on her! The indignity!

She had no choice but to obey him. To flout his edicts once aga

 

Just kicking this up

 

I must agree with Leona! That was outstanding Jem!

 

A wonderful snapshot sis.

 

TITLE: Size Matters Not!

Set at various times, starting post snapshot 'From Little Acorns' and ending just before A Night to (Almost) Remember.'

********

"Master Jinn?"

Qui-Gon looked across the table at the ten-year-old, who in turn regarded him with a devilishly bright and cheerful smile; a smile that meant that she was no doubt after something. The master had been about the galaxy long enough and known enough women in his time to be aware that females would use all their wiles and allurements to get whatever it was they were after. Whenever Jemmiah was so utterly polite and attentive Qui-Gon knew that, whatever it was she was after, it was bound to be something that he wasn't going to like?

"Yes, Tangles?" he replied, the spoon in his hand hovering just shy of his mouth. "What is it?"

"I was hanging around some of the kids in my class at school today?" she continued, pausing so that he might recognize that this was leading up to something.

"Yes?" Qui-Gon smiled inwardly, waiting for the inevitable begging and pleading to start. "And what did they have to say for themselves?"

"Not much. A lot of them have started to wear make-up and stuff?" her eyes caught Qui-Gon's and she could see instantly he had already decided against whatever she were about to suggest.

"Absolutely not." Qui-Gon replied, cutting off any further conversation on the matter.

"Not what?"

"You were about to suggest that it would be a wonderful idea if I let you wear make-up to school. The answer is no. You are too young." The jedi looked down at the bowl of nasty, green looking soup that Jemmiah had made earlier that day. It tasted very good, but the truth was he never knew exactly what she had done to it, or whether he had cause to be afraid there might be some foreign body in it, especially in light of what she had done to the erstwhile Sophie Digwurt.

"But all the other's are doing it!" Jemmiah let her spoon fall back against her bowl with an outraged clatter.

"Do you want to be a nerf, and follow the rest of the herd?" Qui-Gon asked her pointedly. "Jemmiah, you are simply too young. Painting your face to make yourself look grown-up, at your age! It's ridiculous and unnecessary!"

"It'll stop me from being picked on." Jemmy groused. "I'll be the only normal one there! Awwww, go on Master Jinn! Please!"

"Tangles, I'm sorry. The answer is no."

"Not even a little nail varnish?" Jemmy wheedled, holding out her fingernails. "See, it's clear! And it's all the fashion right now!"

"Jemmiah?"

"You can hardly see it!" Jemmy sighed, rapidly beginning to run out of arguments. "Oh, please!"

"If you can hardly see it then what's the point in wearing it?" countered Qui-Gon, making an examination of her fingers. It was true; even he had to admit it. Unless the light struck the varnished surface in a certain way you could hardly tell she was wearing any at all. Even then it gave the mildest hint of a rainbow, pearlecent surface - hardly the most garish thing in the galaxy. If it would keep her pleased whilst not compromising his own principles, Qui-Gon was prepared to relent slightly if only to show that he wasn't completely inflexible or deaf to her pleading.

"Very well. I think that's acceptable. But that is all!" he cautioned her with a raised finger. "I do not expect to see you with any make-up until you turn fifteen, and even then I'd better be able to hardly see it, as you so eloquently put it!"

Jemmiah stood up and leaned across the table, giving him a small hug.

"You're wonderful." She grinned.

"You mean I'm an idiot?" Jinn muttered under his breath. It was nail varnish today, but what would it be tomorrow? The worrying thing with Jemmiah was he could never quite tell?

*****

"Master Jinn?" Thirteen year old Jemmiah batted her eyelashes up at her co-guardian with all the beguiling sweetness that she could manage in order to secure her heart's desire. On this particular occasion the desire extended to a rather smart pair of boots that were cut to just below the knee, but with a heel on

 

Tee-Hee!

Number one rule in parenting Qui-Gon: Watch what you say because one day it'll come around and bite you.

Another fantastic post Jem!!

 

Bumping this up

 

And Again

 

TITLE: Wish You Were Here
By Jemmiah

Set: some time after the snapshot 'Pillow Talk'

*********

Jemmy,

Wish you were here. Weather very hot for this time of year, I am told. I'd go as far as to say it was stifling, so much that the air feels almost unbreathable. Really, it makes these robes and boots quite impractical, but what can you do? Qui-Gon has been spending as much time away from me as possible. He says that my feet smell ghastly. He says that's exactly the reason that padawans stand behind their masters. I always thought it had to do with being subservient and showing respect, that kind of thing. Well, now you know the truth. It's because our masters think we stink.

The food is interesting. I'm tempted to leave it at that, but suffice it to say that the stuff we've been living on makes our ration bars look appetising! The things you have to suffer in the name of the jedi council! I have visited many places in my time but this one does not rate highly at all with me. Somehow I do not foresee either my master or I making a return journey any time soon, and if Master Windu wishes to send us back in the future Qui-Gon has assured me that he will be informing him that he will have to find some other hapless individual to do the honors.

The rooms we are staying in are very cramped, but I've been in worse so I can't complain. After all, a Jedi shouldn't really be thinking of such material matters all the time. It's not part of our ethic, as you know. Still, give me a clean bed and somewhere to hang my lightsabre and I would be happy enough. I wish my master didn't snore so much though. It can get very wearing after a time! I think I might have done something to my back though because the mattress is very lumpy and the springs are threatening to work their way through the stuffing. Not like when you are with me. At least I have something warm and soft to cuddle up to.

Come to think of it I don't get much sleep then, either.

I've spent most of the last week studying all manner of documents pertaining to our negotiations. I've read and re-read the words so many times that the letters no longer have any meaning to me. I'm wearing my eyes out! My master covers his own boredom and frustration very well, but personally I think that he's missing Leona as much as I am missing you. Have I mentioned how much I'd rather be with you right now? I think I might have done! But such is a Jedi's life, and I must focus on what I am doing.

The woman here aren't particularly attractive, especially when compared to you.

When my master and I aren't in active negotiations we are meditating. I think my master does it because he is bored and won't actually admit it, but to tell the truth there is nothing here of interest. The scenery is underwhelming. The buildings are badly air-conditioned and a stark, grey color. The sun however is so dazzling that it almost reduces you to permanent blindness. I will end up in the infirmary for certain when I arrive back on Coruscant.

I hope you are keeping well. I don't really wish to moan about how bad conditions are here, I just wanted to give you an idea of how much I am not enjoying things without you and that I think about you whenever I am bored to tears, which as it turns out is on an extremely regular basis. Don't enjoy yourself too much with Rela, Spider and Meri! I expect the cantinas of Coruscant to still be full of alcohol when I come back! Try not to think of me, as I stand here, bored, with no way of telling when this torture will ever end?

All my very best wishes and continuing affection always,

Obi-Wan.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What are you doing, padawan?" Qui-Gon asked, reclining on the sun lounger in the back of their luxury, ground floor apartment. "I would have thought that you of all people would be making the most of the generous accommodations so kindly provided for us on the conclusion of our negotiations! I thought you said," he paused to suck on the straw of the ever so slightly alcoholic cocktail her held within his hand, "you wanted to take a t

 

ROFLOL!!

Ah yes! Suffering for your cause!

Too funny Jem! I love it!!

 

Upping this again

 

Hi, everyone! I found this sitting on my hard drive, it must have been sitting there for months!

Anyway, I hope you like. Thanks for the beta, Jane!

***

The Snerfus

Nya sat cross-legged on the soft grass with her eyes closed and face relaxed as she bathed in the warm rays of Coruscant?s sun. Not half an hour earlier she had taken up her current position and her mind and senses had easily dipped into the peaceful eddies of the Force. Around her, she could sense the presence of several others of her age-group. Most had managed to stay awake, but a few sleeping initiates were dotted across that area of the gardens, some still sitting with their chins on their chests, others leaning on each other, and some simply curled up on the grass. Their meditation instructor, Master Rina, was there as well. She was a calming individual, which was as much to do with her presence in the Force as her lulling and yawn-inspiring voice. The middle aged woman seemed oddly fond of meditating and always volunteered to take the initiates, group after group. Perhaps she got headaches like a lot of the crèche Masters seemed to. Either that or she was sleeping?

Realising her concentration had wavered, Nya opened one greenish-blue eye to peek at the master seated a few paces away. Seeing she had not been spotted, she closed her eyes again, straightened her posture, and began re-immersing herself in the Force.

No sooner had she done that did she feel something bounce off of her. Opening one eye as she had done earlier, she looked around without moving her head. There was nothing amiss and she soon realised whatever she had felt had been through the Force. The young initiate closed her eyes again, searching as well as she could given her still rudimentary skills in the Force. Seconds later her senses were poked again and her eyes flew open.

Immediately her gaze fell on something in the distance. Behind one of Master Quillan?s prized hedges, she could see a small mass of blonde hair, which because it stood on end and came to a point, resembled a flame.

?Initiate Malini, is there a problem?? Master Rina said in her slow, calm drawl.

Nya?s head jerked back from where she was watching the blonde hair bob along above the hedge, to where the meditation instructor was sitting, still with her eyes closed and a neutral expression.

?I?m sorry, Master Rina. I sensed my friend.?

Without opening her eyes, the middle aged woman replied, ?Excellent. You may go play.?

Nya stared at her for a moment. When it was clear the Master was not going to add anything further, like ?How dare you interrupt my lesson?!?, Nya hesitantly got to her feet and began weaving her way through her still seated age-mates. When she reached the edge of the group, Nya glanced back over her shoulder, just making sure, before running off to catch up with her friend.

?Walking is sufficient, young initiate,? an unknown master said as she ran along the path. Nya immediately dropped her pace to a stroll and the Master nodded approvingly. When she had past the aging master, Nya increased her speed as much as she could without being considered to be running, looking rather uncomfortable (almost like she desperately needed to use the refresher) as she did so.

Passing a hedge, a thin, tanned arm reached out and grabbed her, pulling her off the path.

?Hey!? Nya cried.

?It?s me.?

Nya looked up to see the bronzed, dimpled face of her friend. ?I?ve been looking all over, Celeste!?

?I know, sorry. But we have to be quick!? Celeste?s bright green eyes took on their usual mischievous glint. She peaked around the corner of the hedge as she spoke, making sure no one was around to overhear.

?Where are we going??

She was silent for a moment, but when she turned back to Nya, Celeste?s face was agleam with a smile. ?I heard that Master Quillan has a snerfus! We can maybe use it in Master Wookiee?s adventures!? she exclaimed. Master Wookiee (one of Nya?s stuffed toys), had the starring role in one of their games, whic

 

Up.

 

*screams!*

Imzadi, that was wonderfully wicked!

I loved it! Poor Qui-Gon! And that last line was priceless! I especially love the name Snerfus! Fantastic post!

 

That was fabulous Imzadi!!

A snerfus Qui-Gon!! To funny!!

 

A Girl's Best Friend
By Jemmiah

*******

It was, Jemmiah smiled pleasantly to herself, a great thing to be fifteen years of age.

She could finally do things without people raising their eyebrows critically at her, or look down at the clothing she opted to wear, or the color of her lipstick. Yes, at last she could wear exactly what she wanted; eye make-up, a discrete amount of rouge, maybe even color crawlers in her hair if she had a mind to. Accordingly, the length of her boots had increased whilst the length of her skirts had defiantly decreased by an entire inch. It was as if Evla and everyone else finally accepted it. Well, everyone except Qui-Gon, that was?

The man just couldn't stop himself expressing his unwanted opinions. Why couldn't he just accept that she was growing up? Why did he treat her like she was a little girl of ten?

In a way it was amusing, as well as frustrating. Poor Quiggy, so naturally intelligent and compassionate - yet unable to come to terms with the fact that time had passed them all by. She wasn't that helpless, fearful little girl anymore, even although she could turn on the 'miserable waif' look whenever she wanted something badly enough. Truth was she knew she could manipulate the man more or less as she liked, but there was no fun in it anymore. He was just too?honest to deserve it.

Just like his opinions were. Honest. Heartfelt. He didn't want to see her come to harm or be put in any danger. As far as he was concerned, dressing in typical provocative teenage fashion was just asking for the wrong attention. Of course, it was only the 'wrong attention' when it wasn't wanted?

"Can't fault him for wanting to look after me." Jemmiah removed her coat and placed it neatly over the back of the sofa, straightening out the creases in the material. "I just wish he'd let me grow up a bit?"

Whistling an airy Corellian tune, Jemmiah kicked off her high-heeled shoes onto Evla's fluffy white rug and sank back against the sofa, rubbing at the backs of her feet. In this respect Qui-Gon was right; there was a price to pay for sporting the latest fashions! In her case it would be a rather nasty case of blisters come the morning. No matter! She and Spider had enjoyed one of the best days ever round at Verity Filbert's party. Verity had just turned sixteen, which as Spider had reminded her with an insinuating wink, meant she could legally do a whole load of stuff she couldn't before without getting prosecuted.

"Lucky Verity." Mumbled Jemmy.

It had been a wild party, lots of loud music, lots of alcohol and strange fruit punch (strange because Jemmiah could swear she couldn't taste any fruit in it at all) lots of laughter - and lots of rather attractive young boys who had been quite happily casting their eyes in her direction on more than a couple of occasions. Such a change from three years ago, where her sharp, pointed little features and pale skin marked her out as someone who was likely to have problems getting anyone to look on her favourably. But fate for once had been kind, and her features had transformed themselves into a kind of delicate beauty, so that after all her past disenchantment she was almost happy with her appearance! The fact that her figure had become more noticeable as well hadn't done her any harm?

If only she could have stayed out longer and talked with some of those young boys! Well, one young boy in particular?

But Jemmiah had enough of a conscience to know that she had promised Evla she'd be back in time for when she came off her shift at the crèche which, according to a swift glance at the chrono hanging around her slender wrist, should be any time now. No doubt she'd want a full discussion of all that had happened at the party, including who was there and, possibly, who she was likely to be seeing again?

"Evie, I hope you come back soon." Jemmiah gave up trying to massage the feeling back into her feet and let her head lean against the sofa, snaking her arms out along the padded rest. It had been a wonderful night. If only she'd had the coura

 

Imzadi: That was hysterical! Poor Qui-gon and the girls too! And so true to life how their courage was forgotten when it groaned!!! Loved it!

Jemmiah: That was great!!! Ahhh! The pain that angst ridden teens cause their parents (and don't we love it! )

*

Okay, first snapshot in a long, long time. Many thanks to Steven (my cherub!) for reading this over and over and over again and then changing everything he didn't like Thanks to Imzadi as well for reading it as well and telling me what she really thought (in a good way that is!!!) (it was much appreciated on both parts) .

****
The Gathering

****

Old and gnarled, its branches wide and thick the tree stood among its brothers and sisters like a brown giant crowded by dwarfs. On the trunk of the tree, the bark was thick, scabby and rough making for the perfect handholds.The bark was like this everywhere on the tree except for the tops of many of its lower branches where it had been smoothed and polished by the many feet that had run, skipped and scampered along it. One of the tree?s branches dipped low along the ground, the perfect drawbridge entrance to this sleepy green castle. Usually the tree was silent, the only music the rustle of leaves and the twittering of small birds that inhabited the top branches.

Today, however, it was different. Children of all different species scampered along its boughs, their mouths filled with the small purple fruit that the tree produced in such plentiful droves. The purple berries filled every space in the tree that wasn?t occupied by munching children and copious leaves and branches. The little ones? hands, faces and hair became stained with the purple juice as they nimbly swarmed up the tree, eating the berries or throwing what they could not eat at their friends or the elders below. One wookie child hung upside down by his knees so he could reach another clump of fruit.

Beneath the tree the children?s elders sat and watched the initiates laugh and play among the braches. Many had brought picnic baskets piled high with food and drinks. The baskets often balanced precariously on the giant buttressed roots that supported the tree. The roots were huge and thick, swarming through the ground around the tree like so many snakes. Younger members of this adult group picked their own fruit from the lower branches of the tree, or dodged the flurries of purple berries that rained from above. Still more people moved in groups in the area around the tree picking the many varied fruits from the smaller shrubs and trees. These they would share amongst themselves or give to others. At the edge of the room ? for it was only a huge high ceiling room that the tree stood in ? two figures joined the steadily growing crowd.

*

?The Gathering? Davin sighed, the pure reverence and love in his voice conveyed much more then the simple phrase would suggest. His dark brown eyes were shining with un-master-like excitement, ?I love this festival?

?I know? Tara sighed a mischevious grin on her face. After a few minutes of silent weaving through the crowd she spoke again, ?You know this festival only started because about five hundred years ago Master Fihji-ni decided that he didn?t want the initiates eating the fruit before he had a chance to have any. That is why the room is shut-up for two months of the year, it is so that the fruit has time to ripen in peace and quiet.?

Davin made a face and shot Tara a look of disgust.

?Why do you have to take the fun out of things by making them so factual?? He complained, ?Why can?t you see that it?s just a day of fun? That it?s much more than a grouchy masters revenge? It?s about forgetting the pain and suffering that we see everyday, it?s about renewing friendships and most of all its about eating berries!?

Tara didn?t reply as she tried to side-step a hail of purple berries that had been thrown by a young padawan. Davin didn?t even try to avoid the hail, he just collected the berries in his lap and began to eat them, watching with a b