Wanderers 1. First Awakening. Chapter 6

[random_xtras]

Ven met them in the square just outside the door, where they were sitting on a bench and watching the steady stream of evacuated customers and staff who were marching through the big double doors. "You guys were right. Those things aren't even supposed to be on this planet."

"What were they?" asked Sadri.

"Sargonian fungus mice."

"Yuck." Sadri handed him the bottle of Aldraanian whisky they'd washed their boots with.

"Did you get your clothes?" Ven took it and looked at it, then set it on the ground next to the end of the bench.

"Nope. Decided I couldn't stand the thought of underpants that came from a rack only a few feet away from that." Mykayla shuddered and hid her face on Sadri's arm.

"Reason number eighteen on a long list of reasons why I sew my own clothes," said Sadri, patting her head. "It'll be alright. I can sew you anything you need."

"So," asked Ven conversationally, "what do we do now?"

"I don't know," said Mykayla, looking up with a sudden gleam of mischief. "Whaddyou wanna do?"

"I don't know." Ven frowned at her uncertainly. "That's why I asked. What do you want to do? And why are you talking like that?"

She sighed and leaned against Sadri, looking away. "Sorry. It's just a quote from an old moving picture story I loved when I was a child."

"I hear Sal music." Scrat stood on the bench and looked off behind them.

"I do too," said Ven, looking in the same direction.

"Sal music?" Sadri raised an eyebrow.

Ven shrugged. "She had an assortment of music that sounds a lot like this. And she would play it all the time. Sounds like this is coming from a restaurant or something."

"Let's go look," suggested Mykayla, standing and wringing out the hem of her robe, then wrinkling her nose. "We smell like a distillery...."

Sadri leapt to her feet, straining her ears to catch snippets of the music. It sounded like someone was mixing Corellian reels with something more...alien. "You're right." She sniffed the air. "But I have the feeling that where we're going, the way we smell might make us blend right in."

"What would a place like that be doing on a plaza like this?" Ven looked back at her, eyebrow quirking.

"Let's go see." Sadri grinned at him and started toward where the tunes were coming from.

Scrat looked down at Mykayla, then hopped off the bench and gravely offered her his arm.

"Thank you." She telescoped her crutches and put them in her pockets, then set her hand on it. "How's Zipporah?"

"She's alright." He looked down at the baby, mouth twitching in a smile.

"Come on!" called Sadri, laughing.

Ven walked up beside her and offered his arm, trying to match his brother's expression.

She snorted, then grabbed it and dragged him along.

A few minutes' walking led them to the source of the music: a run-down cantina wedged in between a candy store and a large office complex.

"It looks shady," noted Ven.

"Yep," said Sadri, her grin widening. "Let's go in!"

"But...."

Sadri turned around and put her hands on her hips. "Don't worry, I'm armed even if you aren't." She waved to Scrat and Mykayla. "Feel like going in?"

Mykayla cocked her head as though listening to someone the others couldn't hear, then looked up with a start as an elderly Mon Calamari female stopped next to them.

"It's so nice to see families doing things together." She beamed, then turned to Scrat. "How long have you been married?"

The quiet clone's mouth fell open as he put one hand over Zipporah.

"Er." Mykayla's face flamed. "We aren't married. We're only friends."

"Ah," said the granny. "Well, many couples live happy lives together without the official bonding cerimony. I hope your brother and sister in law follow your lovely example. You're obviously devoted to one another and to the baby."

"But we...." Protested Mykayla as Sadri and Ven fell prey to the snorting giggles behind her.

"Have a lovely day, good people." She bobbed her head and walked away.

"I'm going to die." Mykayla hid her face on Scrat's sleeve. "Scrat, I'm so sorry."

"It...it's okay," he said, raking his fingers through his hair and looking in the direction the Mon Calamarian had gone. "Why...?"

"Did you hear that?" Sadri said to Ven. "I'm the sister-in-law." She snorted audibly.

"Are they that convincing?" he asked, surveying Scrat and Mykayla with a tilt of his head.

"I don't think they are." Sadri walked up to the still-spluttering girl. "How about we just go in now before we attract any more old ladies?"

Mykayla looked up. "Well at least she thought we were an old married couple. You two were the newly in love." Her differently coloured eyes suddenly gleamed with mischief. "Do you know what that means?"

"That we're newly in love?" Ven asked innocently.

Sadri groaned as the little mutant laughed, then looked up as Ven suddenly stiffened and shot out a flash of alarm.

"What...?" she looked around quickly, then blinked as she saw a massive, elderly Togorian standing in the doorway of the cantina and frowning at them. "Oh...."

Mykayla looked too, then brought out her crutches and moved forward before Scrat could stop her. "Hi, do you have a table for four?"

The big feline blinked, his frown fading slightly. "Yes...." Then he looked down as a bundle of fur tumbled over his feet.

"Ohh!" Mykayla's eyes went wide in delight and she dropped to her knees. "Hi. Are you helping Papa today?"

The little one sat up and looked at her with wide blue eyes, then gave a little chirrup and scampered forward on all fours to take a bit of her hair in his hand and examin it.

"Kiven, don't bother the lady," the older Togorian picked the child up, gently disengaging his tiny fingers from Mykayla's hair and ushuring them all inside. "Please, come in. Why are you waiting out here? What can I start you with to drink?"

Sadri held onto Ven's arm and looked around the bar. It was dark, but lit enough in places that it created a very pleasant atmosphere. The reels were playing - she now assumed that the music might be native to Togorian - and the place seemed empty except for themselves. She noted that the center of the floor was open for dancing.

She felt a thrill go down her spine. She hadn't been in a bar since before the war started, when she and her friend Tera - who was currently employed on a mission to Bakura - would sneak out of the Temple late at night for a few glasses of Corellian ale. This felt familiar.

Smiling at the elderly Togorian, she contemplated for a moment and then said, "Do you serve Corellian ale?"

"Yes, we do," he said, setting the baby down and letting it scamper away. "We have Coronet Lager, will that suffice?"

"That'd be great." Sadri grinned, then turned to Ven. "You want one?"

He shrugged.

The blond Jedi grinned. "If you could make that two Coronets, please?"

The Togorian nodded, then turned to Mykayla and Scrat.

"Do you have hot chocolate?" asked the tiny Terran, cocking her head.

"Yes!" The Togorian suddenly beamed. "You've heard of it!"

"It's my favorite warm drink." She smiled back.

"What is it?" asked Sadri, then started as a voice came from the booth they were passing.

"I just can't get rid 'o you lot, can I?" Sal chuckled. "Get yer butts in here, b'ys."

Sadri was the first to slip into the booth and sit down across from the Newfoundlander.

"So where did - what is THAT?" Her eyes fell on a large armoured rat that trundled out from under the table, a pile of fur that could only be another Togorian baby on its back. "You keep some strange pets, you know that?"

"Ain't mine," Sal said, shrugging. "I just feeds it beer from time to time." She craned her neck and watched the animal waddle over to the bar and begin to lap up a puddle of spilled alcohol off of the floor.

Their host returned then with their drinks, frowning as he slopped a little of the ale on the floor. "Palpatine! Here!" He turned back to them as the rat moseyed over obediently. "Sit, sit! Look at the menue, don't mind the rat, and don't let him beg too much of your drinks."

Mykayla slid into the booth next to Sal, looking curiously at Sadri as she started giggling into her ale. "What's so funny?"

"Palpatine is the Supreme Chancellor," said the blond Jedi. "The leader of the Republic. And apparently he shares a name with this...rat." She shook her head, still giggling. "Wonder if that's supposed to mean anything?"

"Well, 'tis the same everywhere," said Sal with a chuckle. "Politicians get that sort of treatment in wartime, b'y. 'S why I taught me boys that they might be yer boss, but it don't mean they're omniscient or nothin'." She reached over and punched Ven in the shoulder playfully. "Now, lessee what's on this menu...." She pulled the worn book toward her and began flipping through the pages.

"That's the menue?" Sadri set her ale down and blinked. "But that's a book made of...flimsi?"

"It isn't supposed to be?" Mykayla looked away from Sal's to quirk an eyebrow at her, then turned toward Scrat and looked bemused to see him apparently trying to figure out which side to open.

"Sal, you never taught us about this." Ven examined a paper cut on the side of his pointing finger.

"Mercy." Mykayla sighed and showed Scrat how to open the book, then held out her hands. "Could you pass me Zipporah? It's time to feed her."

"Nah." Sal shook her head, leaning over to rearrange Ven's menu and opening the cover of Sadri's. "I'm surprised they still use flimsi here," she said to Mykayla. "Most menus are on datapads in these parts."

"Oh." The lilac haired girl raised her eyebrows. "So...is it unusual to have a person as the cook, too?"

Sadri shook her head and laughed; now that she understood the principle behind the book, she rifled through its pages with ease. "It's just as common to see a droid as a person cooking," she said. "It's about half-and-half. You won't find people at fast food places, though."

"Ah." Mykayla took a bottle from the disk and pressed the button, crooning soothingly to Zipporah as the baby fussed and sucked on her fist.

"Baby?" The orange Togorian baby suddenly popped over the back of the booth and landed in Sal's lap. "Baby?"

"Well hello," she said, picking up the tiny furball. "Ain't you cute!"

"Today's been your day, hasn't it, Sal?" asked Ven. "Two cute babies in one day."

Sadri snorted into her ale again, flipping her hair over her shoulder as she took another drink. "Guess now I have to ask what this lot was like as children." She pointed at Ven and Scrat.

"A pain in the shebs is what ye were," Sal said, tickling the baby Togorian under his chin. "All of ye. They were the last of my bunch, you see - so I figured I'd get brave and tell them Kaminoans that yeah, I can look after four little boys all by meself." Her blue eyes unfocused as though looking at something far away. "I remembers the first night, I was takin' out some trash and I comes back, and there's Leeroy, stuck in the wall. A feat that he managed to reprise today." She sighed. "I figures that goes to show how well of a mom I was."

"Sal, stop it," said Ven. "You were great to us. It's not your fault Leeroy is a klutz when he's out of his armour."

"Stuck in the wall." Mykayla looked up from the now-steaming baby bottle.

"That's kinda hot, b'y." Sal eyed it.

"It has to be." The bottle beeped and Mykayla gave to the now whimpering baby, who sighed and began to nurse greedily. "How does Leeroy get stuck in walls?"

"Magic," Sal said with a straight face, then smirked. "I dunno, really. It's usually preceded by several loud thumps and a really high pitched scream and then - Leeroy in th' wall."

"Someone usually beats him up." Scrat smiled. "I think the first time it was Ven."

"Might have been," said Ven, clearly nonplussed at the implication.

"Baby?" Little Kiven tugged on Sadri's leg.

"He's right there," said Sadri, allowing the fuzzy child to clamor into her lap, where he put his hands on the table as though settling down. "Cute, huh?" she whispered to Ven.

"Yeah." He grinned and offered the tiny boy his hand, eyebrows raising as Kiven patted it agreeably.

"Are they bothering you?" It was a younger Togorian male, his fur grey like that of the baby in Sadri's lap.

"Nah, b'y, we's good." Sal tickled the little orange one and grinned as he squirmed and gummed her fingers. "What's this one's name?"

"That's Mirrik. And I'm Corren, like my father." He pulled out a battered looking datapad. "Have you decided what you want to eat yet?"

"I'll take this fish and chips," said Sadri, pointing to the item on the menu.

"Sounds good." Sal grinned as she carefully brushed Mirrik's fur up into a crest down the middle of his skull.

"Me too," said Ven.

Corren nodded and looked down to the datapad, then turned to Scrat, who looked at Mykayla.

"I'll have the raincrab pilaf," she decided, smoothing Zipporah's back as the baby lifted her head and frowned thoughtfully at Scrat.

"You want the crabs cooked, right?" asked Corren.

"Yes please," she said, cooing to her little daughter and pulling the blanket back so that she could see.

"Hey!" Corren froze and looked at the baby with wide eyes. "Where did you get that?"

"She's my daughter." Mykayla quirked an eyebrow, then shook her head. "You know Sonnejäger."

"Yeah. You know him?" The Togorian frowned.

"He's part of my family now," said the lilac-haired girl softly.

"Good." Corren turned back to Scrat. "What'll you have?"

The quiet trooper ran his fingers through his hair and peered at the menu for a moment, clearly not used to being treated like just another citizen. "The...nerf burger, please."

"Okay." The big alien pressed a button on the pad, then glanced at the two babies. "If they do get on your nerves just let me or my wife know. That's her playing the fiddle." He pointed toward a screen near the bar.

"Where is that music from?" Sadri asked suddenly. "It sounds like it's got Corellian and Alderaanian influences. It's very good."

"I wrote that one," he said, looking away from her in clear embarrassment. "Rika wrote the last one."

"Sounds some good, b'y," Sal said, nodding her head to the beat. "Sounds like the reels I'd play when...."

"Don't say it." Ven held up a hand to stop Sal from finishing her sentence. "Just...just let us enjoy this music."

Sal roared with laughter and reached across the table to prod him in the shoulder. "Now lissen. Think of how hard ye had t' work to beat Minnie White. Now think o' how good it is that ye can work tha' fast."

"Touche," he said, grinning at his mentor.

"Thanks." Corren grinned, showing impressive teeth, then turned and headed for the kitchen.

"Now I want to dance," said Ven, frowning.

"Can I hold her?" Scrat turned and held out his hands toward Zipporah.

"Sure." Mykayla gave him the baby, showing him how to hold her against his shoulder so that she was warm but still able to look around.

Scrat cuddled the tiny girl close, his lean face tender as he gently rubbed her back. "Thanks."

Sal raised an eyebrow in his direction, but chose not to speak on the manner of how strange it looked that her very shy, very deadly protege could be so tender with a little child.

Instead she spoke to Ven. "Ye wants t' do what now?"

"I want to dance," he said moodily, turning to look at Sadri, who was playing with little Kiven.

"Why's she squeaking?" asked Scrat softly.

"She's just talking to you." Mykayla smiled, then glanced at Sal as the black-haired woman shifted.

"'Scuse me," said Sal, standing up and sidling her way past her seatmates to stand at the foot of the table near Ven.

"Now, me son," she said quietly, "c'mere."

"But...." He frowned.

"Ye wants some practise, right?" Sal winked conspiratorially and glanced at Sadri, who was completely engrossed by the baby. "It wouldn't do for ye to fall flat on yer face, now would it?"

Ven noticed that there was something different about her as she stood there with her hands on her hips. "Sal, are you wearing those shoes again?"

"Might be," she said, hauling him to his feet by his collar. "Now git up."

"Shoes?" Mykayla glanced at her, then stared at the well-worn red platform boots that added an extra foot to the petite woman's stature. "Oh, mercy."

"Likes me shoes, do ya?" Sal grinned. "Just another tool for exertin' me authority over me guys."

Sadri leaned over and looked. "Oh my.... How do you not die?"

"Years o' practise," said Sal smartly. "I can do anything in these."

"She's not lying!" said Ven as she pulled him onto the dance floor and proceeded to teach him to dance.

Scrat watched for a moment, then looked down as the little orange Togorian whimpered and looked terribly unhappy. "Mykayla, he's crying."

"Call me Mykey," she said. "And hand him here, he's just feeling left out."

"Alright." He used the arm that wasn't holding Zipporah to lift the little boy by the arm and plunk him in her lap, then paused and blushed slightly as Mykayla smiled at him in thanks.

The lilac-haired girl lowered her eyes from his, then turned to Sadri as the blond Jedi ruffled Kiven's fur and stared into her glass of ale, clearly distracted by something. "What's wrong?"

"This is...." Sadri's eyes remained fixed on her glass. "This is so...strange."

"What is strange?" asked Mykayla softly, laying her head against the top of Mirrik's as he looked into her mug.

"This." Sadri motioned to the table with her hands. "What's going on today is...just so normal." Her voice dropped. "I'm starting to wonder how badly I want to be normal."

She picked up her glass and took a sip, looking distressed, though her fingers continued combing through Kiven's soft grey fur.

"Family and fellowship are what God created mankind for," said Mykayla softly.

Sadri sighed. "It's a nice sentiment, but it doesn't change our reality. Where will he be in two days? I don't know. Where will I be? I don't know. Will we see each other again? Once again, I don't know. I just suddenly realized that this is so normal for most people. And I feel like I've missed out."

Kiven whimpered and looked up into the Jedi's eyes, picking up on her mood, and she absently cuddled the tiny boy close.

Mykayla shook her head, differently coloured eyes on the baby in her lap. "I hear you, Sadri, but I don't know what I can tell you. I don't know who'll be with me when I leave this planet. I don't know where I'm going after this. All I can do is pray and trust." She dimpled slightly. "Without that I'd be nuttier than Leeroy after a drink."

Sadri laughed. "I know. I'm just thinking too much, I guess." Changing the subject, she lifted her head to where Sal was still coaxing Ven into movement on the dance floor. "What in space is she trying to get him to do? And those shoes look even more deadly from a distance."

Mykayla looked at them thoughtfully, then gently pushed on Scrat till he let her out of the booth. Dropping Mirrik next to Sadri, the lilac-haired girl extended her crutches and moved over behind the screen. The music slowed as she neared the artist, then slowed further and turned to a sweet tune with a slight bounce that nearly seemed to guide the feet on its own. As Sadri watched Ven mastered his feet and guided Sal across the floor and back, then brought her back to the table.

"Heh. Yer turn, b'y," said the little Newfoundlander, winking at the blond Jedi.

"...What?" Sadri's eyes went wide and she looked from Sal to Ven and back again a few times.

"Come on," said Ven, holding out his hand. "It's only us here."

Sal snorted from behind him as she squeezed past Scrat to take her place at the table.

"But...I don't...." Sadri blushed a distinct shade of red.

"You don't what? Dance?" Ven laughed, prodding her leg with his toe. "You're the one who enlightened me on all your cultural exploits on Alderaan."

Sadri spluttered, but then looked up as the fiddle's voice was replaced with a flute which called with an aching sweetness, as though softly pleading with her.

She sighed and closed her eyes, an shy smile playing over her lips as she stood and took Ven's hand.

He led her out onto the floor, then wrapped his arms around her as the flute sang of carresses and tenderness, surrounding them in a sweet wash of sound.

Sal watched them for a moment, then looked up at Corren senior as the old man brought their orders.

"They're courting?" he rumbled softly, scooping up the twins.

Sal simply nodded silently, managing to maintain her composure for as long as it took for him to serve everyone's meals. Then she grabbed the salt and vaulted face forward into her fish and chips, face beet red as she trembled with silent, hysterical laughter.

"Sal?" asked Scrat, slightly alarmed at the sight of his training sergeant seemingly in convulsions as she shook copious amounts of salt onto her plate. "Is everything okay?"

She nodded, tears streaming down her face, then wiped her eyes with her napkin as her laughter subsided. "I've just never had t'deal with this before," she whispered. "They've got it fer each other, that's fer sure."

He quirked an eyebrow, then glanced at Mykayla as the girl came and pushed in beside him, a light showing in his eyes for such a brief instant that Sal wondered if she'd imagined it. "What did you do?"

"Me? I'm not a musician," she said innocently, bowing her head for a moment and then picking up a tiny raincrab and cracking its shell with her teeth. "Just a dancer. What makes you think I did anything? Rika's just good."

"I knows that," said Sal, still breathless from her laughing fit. "But the music changed.... An' it was too well timed t'be a coincidence." She gave the salt shaker a few more shakes and finally sat it down, then grabbed the gravy boat and coated her fries in the thick brown sauce. "Mmm." She licked her fingers as she set the gravy boat back down. "It's almost as good as home cooking."

Mykayla just dimpled and peeled the little crab.

"That trusting you talked about," said Scrat slowly, watching his brother and Sadri sway on the dance floor. "Is that in your Master?"

"Mmmhmm." She looked up at him. "Do you want me to take Zipporah so you can eat?"

"No." His arm tightened around the tiny girl, who was still squeaking away, clearly telling a very deep and sentimental story. "I'm good. I only need one hand to eat a burger."

"Alright." She dimpled and turned her attention back to the crabs.

"How did you meet your Master?" he asked after a few minutes, his mouth full of nerf meat and bread.

Mykayla swallowed hurriedly. "My parents taught me to pray, and He started answering."

Scrat shot Sal a questioning look.

The black-haired woman nodded and gestured to Mykayla to continue.

"Well, that's about it," she said. "I was only small, and some of the older ladies at church thought that I was either going to be one of those pain-in-the-butt kids that stands on the corner and tries to hand out tracts, or that my parents were treating me too harshly and making me parrot prayers before I was ready."

"What's church?" asked Scrat, leaning his head back slightly to smile at Zipporah, who was only a blue ear and a tiny voice in her bundle of blanket.

"It means a bunch of people who gather together regularly." Mykayla pulled a larger crab out of the pile of pilaf and lifted her eyebrows. "Wow! I hope she's not going to be tough."

"So Pi Squad's church?" Scrat looked at her, then started as Sal blew beer out her nose.

"Mykey girl," said the little Newfoundlander with a gentle smile. "I's leaving this one in your hands."

"They are, according to the pure meaning of the word." Mykayla cracked the big crab and raised her eyebrows at the tear-shaped, glittering thing that she removed from under the back meat. "But on Earth it usually means a group of my Master's followers." She scratched her head and turned the sparkle over in her fingers, then set it on the side of her plate and resumed eating.

"Do parents do that to their kids?" Scrat frowned.

"Parents can do some really strange things to their kids. But most are good." Mykayla's face went wistful.

"Yours are still on Earth."

"Yes." She reached down the front of her tunic and pulled out a pendant, which she disconnected from the chain and squeezed. "See." She opened the full-sized book that she was suddenly holding and pressed a coloured spot inside the front cover. "That's a picture of them with Zach when he was just new."

"He's really little." Scrat frowned at the tiny 3D image, then reached over and fingered the edge of the pages. "What's this book?"

"My Bible," said Mykayla, looking at her picture with sad eyes. "My Master's book."

"Can I look at it?" Scrat glanced at Sal again, then back to the Book.

"Sure. Can you read this script?" Mykayla flipped it open to a certain page and set it on the table in front of him, pushing his empty plate aside and bumping Ven's nearer Sal. The Newfoundlander smiled slyly as she suddenly realized that she had a full plate in front of her. Picking up her fork, she began to eat once again.

"Yup." He absently rubbed his cheek on Zipporah's head as she bobbed after a sneeze, then leaned over the book. "'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God and the Word was with God'...how does that work?"

Mykayla leaned to look at the place, her lilac head close to his dark one. "Jesus is the Word of God, He's God, but He's not God the Father. That's the best I can explain it. They're different people, but they're one."

"Okay, I get it." Scrat nodded and started reading again.

"I'm starved." Sadri paused to look at them, then glanced at Sal. "What did we miss?"

"Not much," Sal said around a mouthful of chips and gravy. "Sit down and eat before yer food gets cold, b'y."

Sadri nodded and looked at Mykayla as she slid into the booth next to the older woman, her eyes catching the sparkle on the side of the girl's plate. "You're pretty lucky," she said, picking it up to inspect it. "Raincrab stones are very rare. Hang onto it - I've heard that they light up like fire, even at night."

"Not lucky at all," said Mykayla absently, looking up and taking the stone as she offered it, then clasping it in her hand and returning to Scrat's somewhat hesitant reading.

Then she put a hand on his arm gently and stopped him. "It's rude to close everybody else off. We'd better put this away."

"But I want to know this stuff!" he protested.

"Can you come tomorrow?" she asked. "I can show you more then."

"Okay." He let go of the book reluctantly, then smoothed Zipporah's back and tucked her into the crook of his arm.

Ven stared at his brother in mild shock, then glanced at Sal with a quirked eyebrow before being distracted by the girl at his side. "You need to put more gravy on, Sadri."

Sadri glanced at him, then smirked as she surveyed Sal's plate. "I see where you guys get your appetites." She leaned across the table to grab the gravy boat.

"Hmm, this is good," she added in an undertone.

"Nah, it's t'other way 'round," said Sal around a mouthful. "I started eatin' like 'em when I starts trainin' 'em." She stood in the booth to reach for the bottle of green stuff, her stocky, muscular build clearly visible.

"I understand," said Sadri, then looked over at Scrat, intending to ask him what he'd been reading, only to stop with her mouth slightly open. The white glow that she'd come to associate with Mykayla was now hovering around the dark haired man - almost as though it were waiting to receve him. She stared for a moment, then blinked and looked over at the lilac-haired girl knowingly, a smile spreading across her face.

Mykayla looked back questioningly, then looked down at the gem in her hand. "So these are prizes that you sometimes get in the crabs?"

"There's maybe one in every one hundred thousand crabs, and most of them are flawed. They usually show up in the larger raincrabs, like the ones that rich people keep as pets." Sadri grinned. "You'd probably fetch a good sum of credits for that."

Mykayla stared at it, moving it so that the fire danced and flared, then got up and crutched into the kitchen.

"Hmm," Sal said, watching her go. "Wonder what that was about?" Then she looked at Ven and pointed to the piece of fish on his plate that he hadn't touched yet. "You gonna eat that?"

"Yes," he said with a grin. "What's with you and fish?"

"Fish is the staple where I comes from." Sal shrugged.

"And where's that?" asked Sadri, tearing off a chunk from her own serving.

"Oh, somewhere," the Newfoundlander said offhandedly.

There was a sudden roar from the kitchen that made the flute squeak with surprise, and Scrat was on his feet and through the door before anyone else could do more than blink.

Sadri leapt to her feet and eased toward the kitchen as well, setting her back to the door frame and peering in with lightsaber drawn but not lit. She looked back at the table and noticed that Sal had tossed a small blaster to Ven and was signaling him with a complex array of gestures that the Jedi had never seen before. Ven nodded and then took his place on the other side of the door.

Sal took up the rear, walking through the kitchen door with nonchalant ease. "What's goin' on, eh?"

"I'm okay." Mykayla giggled from where she hung wrapped in Corren the elder's massive arms, one eye squinted shut as he rubbed his cheek on her head and purred thunderously.

Sal turned sharply on her heel and stuck two fingers in the air, waved them in a circle, and pointed out the door.

Sadri looked at Ven with a quirked eyebrow as he put the safety back on his blaster and handed it back to the black haired woman. Reluctantly, she reattached her lightsaber to her belt as the two of them went through the door together.

"I see you decided to give our host a little gift?" she said, surveying the scene. There was no mistaking what had happened - it was writ in the Force as though carved from stone.

"Y...yes!" Mykayla giggled again, then sputtered with deeper mirth as a young Togorian woman came in, her calico fur standing on end and her green eyes telling of her displeasure. "Corren, you'd better show Rika why you startled her!"

The old man blinked, then looked at his daughter in law with wide eyes and hastily held out his hand palm up so that the fire gem threw out its tiny, feirce blaze.

Corren junior and Rika both gasped, and the other brother dropped the pan he'd been scrubbing in the sink with a resounding clang that had all three of the babies wailing. Then the three younger Togorian crowded around their elder to see the stone, and Mykayla wriggled out from between them and crutched rapidly for the door, jerking her head at Scrat and Sadri as she went. "Are you guys all done eating?"

"Sal's not," said Ven with a grin, skillfully avoiding the playful punch that Sal aimed at his head.

"Am too," she said.

"I'm good," said Sadri. "I was on my last bit of fish when you surprised Corren's family."

"Good." Mykayla looked at her credit chip. "Who's got exact change and a good tip for our meal? I can pay you back later. Hurry! They'll be out soon!"

Sadri laughed and lay a few credit chips on the table. "I've got it. Everyone have their coats?"

"Yes, b'y, now let's git!" Sal waved her arms frantically and ushered everyone out of the cantina. "Go, go, go!"

They wove through the crowds till they reached the opposit side of the plaza, then paused to catch their breath.

"Why did we run?" asked Scrat, dancing slightly and patting Zipporah's bottom.

"They'd have treated us to half their inventory, I think," said Sadri, shaking out her hair. "And that's kind of not the point of Mykayla giving them a rare gem."

"Why did we pay with credits if you gave them the gem?" asked Ven, frowning.

"Because the stone came out of Corren's crab," said Mykayla softly, then turned to Scrat. "Do you want me to take her?"

"I'm good." His mouth twitched at the corners, that light that Sal had noticed earlier returning to his eyes as the little Terran turned back to Ven with a quizzical look.

"We paid," said Sal. "Because it's the right thing to do. Haven't ye learned anything from me?" She stuck her tongue out at Ven, who was once more totally focused on Sadri, though his interest was clear only to her mother's eye.

"So, what are we going to do now?" He ducked his head to catch Sadri's eyes with his own.

"I gots to get back," said Sal regretfully. "No tellin' what Leeroy's gettin' up to. Ye could come along, if ye wants."

"Actually, it's getting pretty late, and we still need to find some socks for Mykayla," said Sadri. She looked at the small girl. "Right?"

"Hmm," she said, looking away from the baby in Scrat's arms. "Oh, yes."

"Hey, Mom, that baby looks good on you," teased Ven.

Scrat scowled and gave him an unprojected backhand to the face.

Sadri watched, clearly amused, as the idly aimed blow caught Ven right in the teeth. She snorted and gave him a look that stated plainly, "Well, you asked for it".

"So...." She walked up to Sal, noting with some amusement that, in her heels, the shorter girl was just as tall as she was. "Thanks."

Sal's blue eyes shone suddenly, and she blinked. "No problem. And if you ever need to know where he's at, ye give me a call. Git it?"

Sadri nodded. "Of course."

"The same goes fer you," the small soldier added, turning to Mykayla.

"What?" The lilac haired girl looked at her and quirked an eyebrow uncertainly. "Oh. Thanks."

"Well, I's off." Sal screwed her face up with a grunt as Scrat suddenly caught her close with his free arm and gave her a hug. "If this yahoo don't break me ribs."

Scrat gave one of his slight smiles and let go of her, then held Zipporah so that she could see the tiny girl.

"And you take care of him, okay?" Sal leaned in and gave Zipporah a light kiss on the top of her head. The baby pouted at her, and she smiled, her heart melting. "I don't wanna hear that he got inta trouble 'coz you weren't there."

"Er, okay." Mykayla looked confused, but gave the other woman a strong hug of her own, gasping slightly as she realized that the adrenalin rush of exiting the cantina had activated her gift. "Oh, no, Sal! I'm sorry! Does it sting very badly?" She scrunched her face up.

Sal tilted her head. "Not really," she said with a grin. "Kind of like a tingle...." She sighed. "Been years since I used my gifts. Maybe one day I'll get to burn down a stable again."

"But why...?" Mykayla looked up at the dark haired woman with a frown of concern.

"First, it'd confuse the heck out of me boys, and second, who knows what them Kaminoans woulda done to me had they known? Taken me away...." She shook her head. "Goin' on 12 years now. But ye never knows, do ye? Maybe we'll see each other again and I'll be able to do some combustion."

Mykayla looked at her, eyes going slightly unfocused as she asked God what the future held for her friend.

Then she swallowed and blinked back tears. "Yes. Yes. God bless you, Sal." She smiled shakily and turned back to Zipporah.

"Yes, b'y." Sal smiled and swatted Ven on the butt. "You guys behave yerselves." She saluted them - just a casual touch of two fingers to her head - then turned away and was suddenly just another Coruscanti with somewhere to go.