Sal's Newfoundland. RNfld Caribou. Sal returns to Newfoundland

[random_xtras]

Sal opened her eyes slowly. Something was different. She could feel a consistent rumbling sensation through her back, and a slight swaying from side to side. Yawning, she sat up and stretched her arms out to the ceiling, scratching the back of her neck as she looked out the window to the vast sea.

The sea.

Her eyes shot open and she inched toward the window, her focus falling on a line of little decals stuck to the window, which was exceptionally thick and foggy. The decals looked like waves. She squinted. It was all vaguely familiar...

Then, from a public address system, a strange three-note sound rent the air, followed by a chipper male voice declaring that breakfast was now being served in the cafeteria and that the ferry would be docking in Port aux Basques in about two hours.

Sal whipped her head around.

She was on a boat.

She was on the boat.

"Oh by the l'ard t'undrin..." she whispered before launching herself off the table and running out into the nearby corridor, looking left to right. "I'm goin' home."

"Ugh," said a voice behind her, followed by the distinct sound of a head hitting the underside of a table and a yelp. "What the...?"

Sal turned around and saw two very familiar people groaning and rubbing their heads. "What the fierfek are ye two doin' here?"

"I don't know." Ven frowned and put a hand out to his wife. "This isn't where I went to sleep."

"Wasn't where I went t' sleep either," said Sal, walking up to the table where he was hauling himself up to the bench. She crouched down to look at a still half-asleep Sadri, who had managed to fold herself into the small space under the table.

"Where are we?" The tall blond asked.

Sal grinned and looked up at Ven. "Two hours out from Port aux Basques."

Sadri just grunted and rolled over. "'Kay, you wake me when we're there. Stupid thing feels like a bloody Acclamator...."

"'Scuse me, Miss. I'm gonna have to ask ye to come out of there," said a male voice from behind Sal. "You're not supposed to sleep on the floor."

Sadri sat up perhaps a little too fast and her head made a loud thunk against the underside of the table.

"Ow," she said, rubbing her head. "Alright, I'm getting up." She extricated herself from under the table and sat down heavily on the bench beside Ven, where she promptly dozed off again.

Sal shook her head, then stood and looked up at the man to see if it was someone she knew, only to see him looking at Ven. Confusion, wonder, and a good dose of Newfie suspicion showed in his eyes.

She wondered why on earth he felt compelled to stare at Ven. "There a problem, b'y?"

He blinked and looked at her, the wonder and suspicion still clear. "No, ma'am. Just... where ye from?"

Sal grinned and stood up straight. "Port aux Basques."

A slight line appeared between his sandy brows. "Really? What's yer name?"

Sal eyeballed him and put her hands on her hips. "I changed me name since I was here last, but I'm known 'round here as Salinas Dumbledore."

Behind her Ven looked at Sadri and mouthed the name with an incredulous look on his face.

Meanwhile the man was nodding slowly as Sal continued. "And if I didn't know any better I'd say you were a Benoit. Are ye?"

"Yeah. I'm John." The suspicion was changing to curiosity.

"Yes, b'y." She nodded. "I knows yer mother, Ella. Las' time I saw ye you was only a little boy." Another grin split her features. "I'm bringin me son and his wife across to see where I comes from."

"Yer son??" His eyes went wide and flew to Ven.

"In a manner of speakin'," said Sal. "I adopted him and his brothers when he was a lil' baby. I was pretty young then, so if yer wonderin' why he looks so old, that's why."

"His brothers!" breathed John, suddenly grinning. "Why the #$%& didn' they say anythin'?"

"What in the l'ard t'undrin' did ye just say?" Sal eyed him suspiciously.

"Yer talkin' about Jav 'n Leeroy, right? The Oboas?" His eyes were friendly now and dancing with mischief.

Sal heard Sadri burst out laughing behind them, but all she could do was stare at John with a slack-jawed expression. "What?"

"Jav 'n Leeroy," he repeated, frowning again. "The Oboa twins."

She took a step toward him and spoke in a monotone. "You means t' tell me that Jav n' Leeroy managed to end up in Port aux Basques?"

"Yeah, b'y, they just won us the cup at the bonspiel yesterday," said the sandy-haired man slowly, plainly wondering what was going on.

Sal shook her head. "And the di'kute took up curlin'. Well now I've gone an' seen everythin'." She pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. "See, John, I was under the impression that Leeroy and Jav got themselves killed. They was in the service, ye see..."

Ven was laughing behind her. "I don't know why you're surprised, Sal. Don't you remember the last time we were all in a curling tourney?"

"In the service! They never said anythin' about that," said John. "Explains why Leeroy's such a dab hand with a rifle. Were they in the mess in Afghanistan?"

"No." Sal shook her head. "They was... somewhere else."

"Middle East?" He looked at Ven again, studying the dark-haired man. "They're triplets?"

"Nah," said Sal, lying through her teeth. "They was with JTF2, ye see, so I don't even know where they went. And triplets? Nah, there's four of 'em."

"Four?" John blinked. "Why didn' they ever say anything? We've ben callin' 'em the twins all this time...."

"I dunno. I didn' even know they was here."

John furrowed his forehead, plainly at a loss for words now.

"Anyway," Sal said with a smile, "I'm sure it'll all make sense once we gets there. I wonder if Jeimu didn't sell the B n' B after all this time?"

"Nah, she says she'll never sell it. Her cat likes it too much." John's humor returned.

"Wha's Mu doin' gettin' pets, b'y?" Sal gave him another weird look.

He laughed out loud. "Nah, that's what everbody calls Vic. Her roomie."

"You don't say," said Sal. "Well, seems that a lot's changed since I was here last."

John quirked a grin, but then looked up as his name was called over the speaker. "I gots to go. Too bad Jav's not workin' today. See ya!" Turning, he strode away.

"Yes, b'y." She watched him go and turned to Ven and Sadri. "I has no idea what the fierfek that was all about."

"Don't look at me." Ven rested his chin on his wife's shoulder. "I don't even know what planet we're on."

Sal settled herself in the bench across from the two of them. "We're on me home planet. See, I never told ye where I was from because I thought it'd confuse ye, but here we are on the good ol' planet Earth, the nation of Canada, heading toward the island of Newfoundland..."

"Oh," Ven said with a smirk. "And Jav and Leeroy managed to get here how?"

"I got no idea." She shrugged. "'Cept that they seems to have gotten to know everyone I knew."

"You only knew two people?" He frowned.

"I knew more, but Jeimu was me best friend in school, and the Benoits and my family go back quite a ways." Sal shook her head. "Strange."

"Strange like finding the one of us that we know died alive and well in a place between realities?" said Ven soberly. "It would take a lot for something to be strange for me now."

A man ran through dressed in seemingly nothing but a flag, blowing an orange plastic horn.

"I lied." Ven blinked.

"Well, Scrat didn't end up on the island hobnobbin' with all me childhood friends," said Sal, reaching over and pinching his nose. "Just wait 'til we gets there. I thinks yer nose'll bleed."

"Why?" Sadri opened her eyes and spoke for the first time since she'd relocated from underneath the table.

Sal laughed to herself. "Just wait," she said, smiling enigmatically and settling down for the rest of the ride.


* * *


"We're getting some pretty strange looks." Ven shifted uneasily, his hand itching for a non-existent blaster as Sal led them between two barrels full of purple and red petunias and up a cracked stone walk toward a loud blue house on stilts. He could see two men sitting on the deck that was built around the building, but after assuring himself that they were no immediate threat and unlikely to be a threat in the future he looked back to his foster mother.

"Meh." Sal shrugged. "I haven't been home in a fair few years, so it's me they're all gawking at, most likely." She squinted up on the deck and called out to the men she saw sitting there. "Is Jeimu at home, b'y?"

There was a sudden paroxysm of deep throated barking, and something slammed into the petite woman and knocked her back five feet, to land on her back with the breath knocked out of her. A wet tongue slapped across her face.

"Ah! Wilcoxe, get off. " She pushed away the large brown-and-white Newfoundland dog, who, it seemed, was attempting to lick the life right out of her. She managed to scramble to her feet and gave her dog a stern look. "Sit."

Wilcoxe obeyed, tongue lolling and tail thumping on the grass. She then noticed Ven and gave a whine, laying down and scooting across the walk to nose at the man's boots. He grinned and knelt down, scratching the dog behind the ears.

"She likes you," Sadri said with a grin.

"She knows me," said Ven. "Wilcoxe was on Kamino with all of us..."

Sal was looking up at the deck again. "Are ye deaf, b'y? Where's Jeimu at?"

"Runt?" rumbled the big blond guy, nudging his dark-haired companion, who seemed frozen with beer in hand and leg over arm of chair.

The other man blinked, then hurtled to his feet and stood to attention, suddenly clearly visible now that he was no longer obscured by the deck railing.

Sal squinted, then her jaw went slack and she immediately started swearing in four different languages. "... and what the fierfek did you do t' yer hair, Jav?"

The man on the deck went red in the face and mumbled something that was clearly not English, then flinched as the big blond guy also got up and came to lean against the railing and scowl toward the newcomers.

"You git yer shebs down here right now before I socks ye one," ordered Sal, smiling now. "What are ye doin' in me house anyway?"

"Waiting for you," he said, vaulting the railing and landing with bent knees before striding over and grabbing her in a one-armed hug, his beer still firmly in the other hand.

"And how long have ye been doin' that?" She looked him up and down. He'd thinned out, with the darkened skin and wiry arms that were the trademark of... "Jav, me son, have ye been fishin'? And drinkin' Black H'arse beer?"

He grinned as she laughed and offered her the bottle after taking a swig himself. "Since last fall. Yeah, Leeroy 'n I crew with Billy on the Lukey."

Sal shook her head. "Ye lives in my house and knows all me friends and ye've been fishin in me BOAT?"

"When I'm not workin' on the Caribou. Or curling." He turned to look at his brother, dark eyes holding a steady smile that hadn't been there before. "Hey, Ven. You found her, eh?"

"That's right," said his brother with a chuckle. "And then we ended up here somehow." He shrugged and followed everyone up the flight of stairs that led to the front door of the house. "Woke up on the ferry after going to sleep somewhere else."

"It's happened way too much," Sadri said with a grin, swatting at the back of Jav's head playfully. "So, you've taken up fishing and ferry duty, huh? What happened to blowing stuff up?"

"Only does that when he's tryin' t' make popcorn," rumbled the big blond guy, walking over and studying everyone from hard black eyes, then sniffing the air and frowning.

"I only blew up that bloody popper once." Jav snorted. "Guys, this' Vic."

"Yeah, Mu don't letcha near the new one." The big guy zoomed in on Sal and sniffed a little more noticeably.

"Nice t' meet ye," she said to him, putting her hands on her hips and looking around expectantly. "Where is that girl, anyway?"

"Sleepin' off the party." He backed off and resumed studying her with lowered brows, then blinked and looked down as a beeper went off on his belt. Unclipping it, he shut it off and turned into the house, bare feet soundless.

"Gone fer his needle," said Jav.

"Seen." Sal nodded. "Anyway, let's go inside. It's some hot out here." She looked around at Ven and Sadri and saw that Ven was inspecting the wooden deck chairs with interest while Sadri hung over the railing, surveying the view it offered of the rocky archipelago of Channel Head and the ferry dock. The two of them looked completely at ease with the situation, and for that Sal was glad.

"So, Jav," she said, clapping the man on the back, "where's Leeroy at this day?"

"Over shootin' the wasps out of Tom White's shed." Jav led them to the kitchen and started pulling out beers, quirking an eyebrow when Sadri refused the one he offered her. "It's good stuff, b'y. Better than Corellian ale."

"I'm sure it is," she said with a smile, "but I've got to watch what I drink now."

"Yes, b'y, I won't have ye - HOLY SH-" Sal pointed at Sadri. "What happened to you, b'y?"

The blond looked down at a belly that was visibly bigger than when she'd started the journey. "Huh? Oh, look at that. It happens." She looked at her incredulous mother in law and shrugged. "Everything's fine."

Jav blinked, then laughed out loud and put the beer down to pound on his brother's back. "Way t' go, b'y!"

Ven laughed nervously. "Uh, yeah."

Sadri folded her cloak over her stomach and shifted on her feet, looking completely self-conscious as she took the bottle of water that Sal offered her. "Looks like I'll only have four months of this," she said quietly, closing her eyes slightly. "I didn't know 'verse-hopping could do that."

There was a leonine roar somewhere upstairs, followed by a shriek and a torrent of cursing that couldn't drown out deep laughter. Feet thundered down the stairs, and then Vic appeared in the doorway with a shorts and camisole-clad woman thrown over one shoulder.

"Put me down, you @#$%&," she was screaming as she elbowed him in the back of the head. "As soon as you let me down you're dead!!!!"

He chuckled and showed strangely pointed teeth in a smug grin, then dumped her unceremoniously into a chair and went to the fridge.

Sal looked at the woman who'd been dumped in the chair: a petite Asian with a bleary eyed expression and short hair that was sticking up in the back. "Jeimu, what the fierfek did ye get up to last night? Ye looks like a wreck."

Sadri looked over the woman, grinning slightly and waving as she held her stomach with one hand.

Jeimu Chang smiled up at Sal. "Drinkin'. Where the @&$^ have you been for the past three years, anyway? You missed one heck of a party." Then she looked at Sadri and Ven and smiled. "Okay. Now I understand what the deal is with Jav and Leeroy and why they seemed to delight in perusing the photo albums you have here."

Sal blanched. "You didn't."

Ven laughed maniacally. "Ooh, Jav, you'll have to show me those!"

"Sure. Grab yer beer." Jav headed for the door, sidestepping Vic as the larger man went to lean against the wall behind Jeimu's chair, plainly watching her back.

Ven leapt for his cold bottle of Black Horse and followed his brother out the door as Sal and Sadri settled themselves on the very old, very ugly, but very comfortable chesterfield that graced one side of the room.

"So three years, huh?" Sal said to Jeimu. "'Coz you knows that thirteen years went by for me..."

The smaller woman arched an eyebrow at her friend. "Where'd you end up, anyway?"

Sal grinned. "A galaxy far, far away."

"I figured." She shot a venomous look at Vic which was returned with another of those disturbingly toothy grins, then turned back. "Oh my freaking head. So the twins aren't twins."

"No, they're clones."

Jeimu looked at Sal, and then at Sadri, who simply nodded.

"But," Sal continued, "Jav and Leeroy were raised with Ven and another called Scrat - by me."

Jeimu laughed. "Playing the role of a mommy? You went away and joined the military and you went time traveling and ended up becoming a mommy?"

"More than that," said Sal. "I did more than be a mum to them."

"Oh?" Jeimu tipped her head back and then to each side, totally ignoring the man behind her, who had settled down to staring with catlike intensity at the back of her head.

"It was a training gig more than anythin'," Sal said with a smile. "Eight years I put in makin' them the best soldiers I could. And the fact that they're all here is kind of a testament to that, eh?" She laughed. "Anyway, they got here last fall?"

"Yeah. Billy found them walking up from the beach one night, soaking wet and wearing nothing but some weird long johns. They said something about their vessel going down."

"Hmm." Sal shrugged. "Well, the amount of time I've spent going from place to place to place has kind of desensitized me." Her accent was thinning out - she had a tendency to lose it when she spoke to Jeimu - but she looked relieved and at home. "I'm glad they're okay."

"Guests think they were born here." Jeimu blinked and frowned as Vic suddenly stuck a cup of coffee under her nose, then took it without thanks and sipped cautiously. "Even people who saw them come see them as natives."

Sadri spoke. "Hardly surprising," she said quietly. "They learned everything from you, Sal. They've always had that accent..."

"It's weird, though, ain't it? I tried to give 'em their own culture and they ends up absorbin' mine."

"I wouldn't consider that a bad thing," Sadri said with a laugh. "It's very entertaining."

Jeimu didn't reply, but she quirked an eyebrow as a voice was suddenly heard coming up the back walk, singing loudly and rather beautifully:

Then here is a health to the girls of Fox Harbour
Of Oderin and Presque, Crabbes Hole and Brule
Now let ye be jolly, don't be melancholy
I can't marry all or in chokey I'd be.

Vic snorted and turned toward the door, but Jeimu growled. "Not while he's got a gun. I don't feel like digging lead out of you this early in the morning.

Sal buried her face in her hands and groaned, but then stood up and ran out to the deck with a smile on her face. Jeimu and Sadri could hear her joining in with the voice that clearly belonged to Leeroy:

We'll rant and we'll roar like true Newfoundlanders
We'll rant and we'll roar on deck and below
Until we see bottom inside the two sunkers
When straight through the Channel to Toslow we'll go.

They then heard her call out, "And wha's this I hears about you workin' on me boat?" There was silence and then a peal of laughter from Sal. "I don't care, b'y. 'S best it actually gets a workout anyway. The engines still holdin' up?"

The startled silence from the last brother was suddenly broken by a .22 being discharged into the air, and then a whoop and the sound of Sal being swooped up and spun around as Leeroy let out a stream of nearly incomprehensible Newfie.

"Firin' guns 'round here ain't a good idea," Sal said with a smile as he hauled her back in the house. "And ye can put me back down on th' ground now."

Leeroy did so, grinning widely. "I tells ye," he said in an accent even heavier than hers, "when Jav n' I ended up here in yer house it was some weird t' look at ye when ye was twelve." He looked around the living room and nodded at Vic and Jeimu -who now had a bag of ice pressed to her head-, and then his eyes fell on Sadri.

"Hey, you," he said with a wink.

"Hey, you, yourself," Sadri replied, sticking her tongue out at him.

"I told ye that one day I'd take ye up on the Hey You bit, didn't I?" He laughed again and looked at Sal. "Took ye long enough, b'y."

"Seems to me like ye've been havin' a time yerself, judgin' by the way ye looks tipsy." She prodded him in the ribs and smiled.

"I looks tipsy, does I?" His grin widened. "'Mazin', that; considerin' I's smashed outta my freakin' skull."

"You knows that's not good fer ye," Sal said, glaring at him over her glasses with a practiced look of maternal concern.

Jeimu snorted from her chair. "It hasn't hurt him yet. I only drank a third of what he had last night."

"And what was that?" Sadri asked as Leeroy sat down beside her and put his arm around her with a grin. "What'd you end up drinking?"

Jeimu squinted one eye and looked at Vic.

"Half a thing'a Screech 'n about a quart'a 'shine," he said without looking up from examining his finger tips.

"Poke me and die." She turned back to Sal. "Yeah, that."

Sal made a face. "And I thought the Alderaanian whisky was bad..." she muttered to Sadri.

Sadri laughed and poked Leeroy in the ribs. "So is it true that you've gone from being a jerk to being a fisherman?"

"I kin be both," he said, grin unabated. "Or deliver pizza. Or save people fr'm wasps."

"Pizza?" Sal made a face. "You're kidding, right?"

"No, b'y. I delivers it on me bike." He looked around. "I set the gun down on the deck, right?"

"I don't #$%&@ know," Sal said with exasperation. "An' where'd you git the gun anyway?"

"She's Billy's. But 'e lets me use 'er." He let go Sadri's waist to go to the table and retrieve the beer that Sadri had passed up, then plunked back down beside her.

"Billy? Billy Peddle?" Sal was wearing her slack-jawed expression again.

"That's right." He tipped the bottle back with practiced ease and made half the contents vanish in one pull.

Sal leaned on the end table. "This is unreal," she said. "First I finds Scrat alive, then Ven's gonna have a kid, and now you two are fillin' my niche on th' island!"

There was a sputter as beer came out Leeroy's nose. He gasped, then held it and squinted at her, the other eye wide with shock. "What?"

Sadri tilted her head and looked at him. "What?"

"You heard me," Sal said with a smirk.

The beer bottle hit the floor with a hollow thunk as Leeroy leaned forward to lay his head against his knees. He lay like that for a few minutes as every eye in the room focused on him, then made a choked sound as his shoulders began to shake.

"What's the matter?" Sal leaned forward and put her hand on his head.

He tried to reply, but then folded his arms around his knees and hid his face more completely as his tears became a little more pronounced.

Jeimu frowned slightly, then looked over her shoulder as Vic snarled and left the room. "Sal?"

Sadri got to her feet suddenly and settled herself down gracefully on the floor beside Sal in front of the weeping man, feeling through the Force what he was feeling.

"He's fine," she whispered, putting a hand on his shoulder. "He has his own things to take care of right now, but he's fine."

"That's right," said Sal, still smiling. "It's all okay. Don't worry 'bout it."

"I... I saw 'im 'n touched 'im," he whispered, sounding angry. "I knows what dead looks like."

Sadri leaned back. "And I held him together, Leeroy. Literally. You might know what dead looks like but I learned what it felt like. Scrat did die, yes. Not only did I see it, I felt it. I felt life leave him. And then I saw him again, alive and well, and I saw him and I touched him and I felt him being alive again. I wouldn't lie to you about something like this. Not after what it did to me. And to us. Believe me." She smiled and reached into her pocket to pull out a datapad, then pressed a button on it. "Look."

Leeroy lifted his head and stared at the series of snapshots - all of which featured Scrat, looking different, but still himself.

"I took those yesterday," she whispered. "He's doing well."

"Who... who's the kid?" He narrowed his eyes against the sting of tears, then rubbed them absently with a knuckle.

Sal leaned over the datapad and grinned at the photo of a small child with his arms around a very large, very fat lizard. "Oh, him? That's Boba. Jango's boy."

"What's 'e doin' there, b'y?" Leeroy straightened, frowning as he took the pad and scrolled through the pictures, then stopped at one where the boy was hanging off Scrat's back.

"Well," said Sadri, brushing her hair out of her face. "Boba's dad was killed, so Scrat decided to take care of him." She looked at Sal. "At least that's my understanding."

The smaller woman nodded. "More or less, yeah, that's what happened."

Jeimu had now come to peruse the datapad. "So that's the last one, hm?" She looked at one of the pictures appraisingly. "He's so much cuter than you, Leeroy."

Leeroy ignored her, his eyes on the pictures.

"Is he single?" Jeimu sipped her coffee, eyes sparkling with laughter.

"You haven't changed much," Sal said with a wink.

"Hey, I was just asking."

"Fair enough," Sal said. "Yes, he's single, but he's mad crushin' on someone else."

Sadri snorted and attempted to cover it up with a cough, while Jeimu made a show of looking crestfallen.

"Always the good ones taken," the Asian woman mused while Sal simply rolled her eyes.

"What about that big guy? Vic?" Sadri looked slyly sideways.

"You know, for some reason everyone thinks I have it in for him," Jeimu said, laughing. "But he's a great friend and one royal pain in the arse and that's it!"

"Who's he crushin' on, b'y?" asked Leeroy, still scrolling through the pictures with an absent, sad look on his face.

"Oh, someone," Sal said offhandedly. "'S none of yer business, anyway."

Leeroy scowled, but then handed the datapad back to Sadri and gently pushed her out of the way before getting up and heading toward the cupboard over the fridge.

"Does she know?" asked Jeimu, taking another sip of coffee and blinking as she realized there was a miniature marshmallow floating in it.

"Maybe." Sadri shrugged as she struggled just a bit to get to her feet. "I wouldn't know. We haven't seen her in years."

"Interesting," Jeimu replied as she reached into her coffee cup to fish out the marshmallow. "Gotta love the whole unrequited love business, hmm?" She popped it into her mouth.

Sadri laughed, finally settling herself back on the couch. "You have no idea."

Jeimu quirked an eyebrow at her questioningly as Vic came back with a great show of just happening to be wandering through.

Sadri smiled at the big man, then turned back to Jeimu. "Let's just say I had my own brush with a crush."

Jeimu grinned. "So, you're with - who is it now?"

"Oh, that'd be Ven," said Sal. "Best part is that I'm only four years older than Sadri." She chuckled as Jeimu made a face, but Sadri chuckled. "Accelerated aging. Double time."

"Ah."

Vic wandered over and stared out the window, then let himself onto the porch and started ripping a piece of stove wood apart with his nails.

"'E's sharpenin' 'is claws agin, b'y." Leeroy came back with a glass of Screech and a kitchen chair and turned the chair backward before dropping into it.

"Vic! Y' @#$%& &^%$@ #@$&! Knock it the @#$&@ off!" Yelled Jeimu without moving otherwise.

"Mu, you've developed quite the potty mouth," Sal noted dryly.

Jeimu simply grinned. "I've always been this way. I just stopped swearing in Chinese."

"'Cause I kin do it better." Vic wandered back in and plunked onto the couch next to her with the plain intention of annoying her.

Jeimu rolled her eyes as she and Sal and Sadri were squished to one side. "Can you sit somewhere else?" she said, clearly exasperated.

He looked at her blankly. "No."

"We ain't replacin' ye, b'y," said Leeroy suddenly.

Sal looked at him quizzically, and then remembered the little tirade she'd gone off when she'd first arrived. "Ye couldn't if ye tried," she said, raising her nose in the air and grinning. "That's not what I meant 't all. I meant that it was crazy that ye seemed to run into me old crowd here. I means, there's a billion places ye could have ended up and ye ended up right here. Strange, 's all."

"Oh." His forehead furrowed. "Jav thought ye did it with yer black box. The sendin' us here."

She shook her head. "I didn't do nothin' of the sort. Ye ended up here all on yer own, it'd seem."

"Nah, they didn't," said Vic, pushing with his elbow to get a little more space.

Sal, feeling a little too cramped for her tastes, stood up and flopped into the armchair. "What d'ye mean by that, then?"

"Don't start yer God &$#@," grumbled Leeroy, swigging Screech. "If there was some almighty bein' watchin' over everbody all this $#%@ wouldn' happen."

"So you haven't been going to church while you were here, I takes it," said Sal dryly.

"Nope!" He snorted.

Vic growled, the sound not even remotely human, but Jeimu put an arm back against his chest and shot him a warning look and he subsided with grumblings.

Sadri blinked and looked at the big man suddenly as she caught sight of that Glow.

"Not again," she muttered to herself, then placed a hand on her stomach and winced as her baby decided to wake up and loudly protest its confinement.

"I don't know if I like this," she said quietly, sighing and probing gently through the Force with her senses to reassure the child. "Anyway, Leeroy, what's with the existential quandary? It's so unlike you."

He shrugged and took another drink, then stretched his neck to one side and looked up as something thudded upstairs and Ven's laughter came faintly through the floor. "Sounds like some fun." He was up and gone before anyone could say another word.

"Only subject you can't get him to talk about," said Jeimu, elbowing Vic absently.

Sadri shot the clone a very distinct look of disapproval as she watched him go. "When did the whole lot of them become so... unstable?" she asked nobody in particular. "'Cept Jav. He seems alright. You must be keeping him caffed up," she said to Jeimu.

"The man drinks a pot of coffee each morning. I'm surprised his guts don't run screaming," the smaller woman said with a shrug. "And Leeroy - well, I haven't known him as long as I guess you have, but he's always been like that. Almost like he's avoiding the big picture."

"Stupid runt," growled Vic as crashes and uproarious laughter came from upstairs.

Sal was silent, her gaze still fixed on the stairwell that Leeroy had stomped up, a slight frown on her face.

"It's my fault," she said suddenly. "I made 'em too soft."

"Bull #&*$@," countered Vic cheerfully.

"Ah, if I'd done me job properly there wouldn' even be the question of these 'existential quandaries'." Sal shook her head.

"If you'd done your job properly," Sadri said, "they'd have killed you and me."

"Nice family." Vic looked down at Jeimu. "What's 'existential whatsit' mean anyway?"

Jeimu was staring at Sadri and Sal with an incredulous look on her face, not even registering her friend's inquiry. "What'd you just say? Jav and Leeroy are prone to random acts of violence; but killing people?"

Sadri blinked and turned to look at her, but it was Jav who replied from where he leaned against the corner of the wall.

"We're soldiers, Mu. Trained from birth. Yeah, I've killed. A lot."

"Oh." Jeimu looked down, clearly embarrassed.

"We didn't say anything because we thought o' ourselves as still on duty," he continued softly, his dark eyes offering apology. "'N then after we learned the ways here we didn' want any big alien scare."

"That's okay," Jeimu said, her initial embarrassment turning into bewilderment. "So you two are soldiers? What the f - how'd two people like you get into that?"

"They didn't," Sadri said quietly. "They were created for that purpose. No choice."

Jeimu looked over at Sal. "Yeesh. There wasn't much in the way of scientific ethics where you came from, was there?"

Sal snorted. "Yes, b'y."

"Just a means to an end," said Jav, then stuck a yellow tube in his mouth and walked over to Vic. "Light me? I think Billy got me lighter again."

The big man growled at him, but produced an engraved silver Zippo and lit the cigarette.

"Thanks." Jav bolted for the deck, where he leaned comfortably against the railing and stared toward the ferry dock.

"Oh fierfek," Sal sighed. "They've even started smoking."

Jeimu giggled. "If what Sadri's said is any indication, they learned from you."

"Yeah, but... but.... You went and lit that @&$^$ in my house?!" Sal launched herself out of the chair and went after Jav.

He turned as she stomped up and calmly offered her the cigarette. "Sorry 'bout that."

Sal plucked the cigarette out of his fingers and tossed it off the deck. "If yer gonna smoke," she said, eyeing him over her glasses, "'Least smoke somethin' decent that don't smell like burnin' gym socks." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a new package, took two cigarettes out, and stuck one in Jav's lips.

"I'd need to go back inside and get Vic's lighter..." he began, but Sal just shook her head and laughed.

"Now ye might think this is weird," she said, touching her index finger and thumb to the end of the cigarette, "but trust me."

She snapped her fingers, and the cigarette lit.

"Still got it, it seems," she said, shoving her own in her mouth and lighting it in the same way.

He raised one eyebrow, looking bemused as he puffed. "You always ben able t' do that?"

"Yes, b'y." She drew on the cigarette and blew smoke straight up into the air. "My entire life. I just never used it when I was on Kamino 'coz I figured it'd raise a heck of a lot of eyebrows, y'know what I mean?"

"Not really." He shrugged one shoulder. "But it explains why Vic was so interested in ye."

"Well, 's not every day that them Kaminoans saw people who could light somethin' on fire by sneezin'. Although that did happen that one time when they decided to let me loose in an ordnance locker. Remember that?" She chuckled. "An' ye never thought about how I come out of that without a burn, eh?"

"I was just glad to see you come out at all," he said soberly. "That was a @#$%& of a bang."

"It was... but it was pretty cool, huh?" Her eyes sparkled as she looked at him. "So, how'd you really end up here, Jav? I don't buy what the rest o' them tells me. Whatever got ye to this island in the first place, eh?" She stepped back and drew on her cigarette again, and then leaned over the deck railing, staring down one storey to the driveway, cliff, and channel below. She could see the Caribou steaming its way back to North Sydney, and she smiled, feeling suddenly nostalgic.

"No idea. We was in a shuttle, flyin' toward Bakura, and suddenly we wasn't anywhere we knew. We flew till we run out of fuel, then dove her in the ocean and bailed out. Didn't have any disguises so we just stripped down to our bodysuits."

Sal grinned. "I figured it was somethin' like that," she said with a wink. "So ye were put here. Same way I was put on Kamino. Some more enlightened individuals might say that it was the will of God, and at this rate I'm inclined to believe 'em." She pointed toward the sky. "It's some weird, ye know... it's a sunny day today."

"Works fer me." He shrugged again, then looked up to see what she ment.

"It's never sunny," Sal said, looking at the blue sky with its fluffy white clouds. "I can count on me hands the number of sunny days we had the last year I was here. Maybe it's an omen or somethin'." She turned around, leaning back on the railing, still all smiles.

"I guess I'm some happy t' be home, and the fact that the three o' ye are here just sort of makes the moment sweeter," she said, and then nodded to the door. "When yer done here, ye best go get yer brother and smack some sense into him, and then make sure you says a proper hello t' yer sister in law. And your niece. Or nephew. Whichever. You'll have ta ask, 'coz I don't know."

"Sadri don't want me near her." He chuckled and stubbed his smoke out, then flipped the butt into an empty coffee can that stood nearby without looking at what he was doing. "What's got Leeroy tied in knots? I ain't seen him like that since... that day at Adanac."

"Why d'you say that she don't want to see ye?" Sal tilted her head. "And I guess what's got Leeroy in a kerfuffle is the fact that, well..." She swallowed nervously. "The fact that we managed to find Scrat alive and well, livin' ... somewhere else."

Jav had turned so that he was leaning back with his elbows on the rail and dropped his eyes to the toe of one scuffed brown work boot, but now he froze and blinked. "What?"

"Oh fierfek, not you too." Sal sighed. "It's exactly what it is. See, I found myself in a place where worlds meet - sounds pretty mystical but trust me when I say it ain't - and he was there. Simple as that."

Jav blinked, eyes still on his boot as one eyebrow rose slowly. "So where is he, then?"

"Not sure," Sal said with an apologetic shrug. "I sees him all the time in that nexus. I can't pronounce the name of the planet he's on, but it ain't in your home galaxy, that's fer sure." She ashed and inhaled one final time, then leaned over to the coffee can to dispose of her cigarette butt. "It's weird stuff. Ye should've seen Sadri when she saw him..." A frown fell over her face briefly. "But why the fierfek should we be sad about somethin' like that?"

Jav shrugged yet again, a light sparkling in the back of his eyes. "Why ain't he here?"

"He wasn't with us when we uh - traveled." Sal smiled. "He was back at his new home, I thinks. The three of us fell asleep all in the same room, and the next thing ye knew there we was on the Caribou. I'm sure he'd like to be here."

"'N how'd he turn out after nearly a year?" Jav chuckled softly.

"A year? Try fifteen, me son." She laughed at his shocked glance. "I'll just tell ye this. Strange things happen t' time when ye travels around. As far as we were concerned he'd only been gone a week yet fifteen years went by for him. Kind of the opposite of what happened when I woke up on Kamino ten years younger than I actually had been the last time I was here."

"A week? How long's it ben since ye saw me and Leeroy?" A crease appeared between his brows.

Sal puffed out her cheeks and counted. "Six months, give or take? See, there's a bounty on me head back home 'coz of that samsara gene I put in the lot of ye. And I knows the time don't add up, but don't ask me to explain it. Let's just say that there's nexus time, and then there's Republic-now-Empire elapsed time, and it confuses the osik out of me..." She giggled. "In short, yes, six months or so've passed for me since I saw the four of ye alive and well together."

Jav was silent for a few minutes, frowning at his toe.

Then he chuckled again. "Guess I better watch what I think about in church on Sunday."

"Oh, so you're the churchgoin' one." Sal laughed. "And what d'ye need to watch out fer, anyway?"

"There's pretty girls," said Jav blandly, striving to look innocent.

"Don't start." Sal took a playful swat at his head. "And your attempts to look innocent are failin' ye, jus' so's ye know."

"Too late for starting." He laughed and caught her wrist, then poked her in the ribs and let go. "I know all the stuff ye didn' tell me now. I even wound up delivering a baby this past winter."

Sal turned and stared. "You did what?"

"Ye heard me." He absently patted the pocket of his curling shirt, then looked at her hopefully. "Could I bum another smoke? Didn't have time to get any after the party yet."

Sal rolled her eyes and handed Jav half of her cigarettes. "Take these, but don't tell anyone I'm feedin' yer bad habits." She stuck another one in her mouth and lit it with a snap of her fingers again. "And what on earth are ye partyin' on a Tuesday fer?"

He grinned as he tucked the smokes into his pocket, then straightened his shirt. "We won the bonspiel yesterday."

"Right," Sal said, blowing another smoke-ring. "Yer curlin' men now."

"Yup." Jav stuck a cigarette in his mouth, then snagged hers and used it to light his before handing it back. "Proud of us?"

Sal laughed. "I think I've curled all of five times in me life," she said. "Nonetheless, sure I'm proud of ye. Took what ye learned on Adanac I and put it to use, eh?"

"#@$& yeah," he said cheerfully, leaning back against the rail again and quirking an eyebrow as Vic wandered out with a thin cigar in his mouth. "Hey! I knew you took that, you mangy...."

Vic growled.

"Think that's gonna change my mind? I got that fer winnin'! Fork it over, furball!"

"Oh, Jav, let him have it. Yer smokin' premier cigarettes anyway," Sal said offhandedly, watching the entire spectacle over her glasses.

"Tom's wife gave me that fer winnin'. I'll be @#$%& if I let 'im keep it!" Jav started forward with the light of battle in his eyes.

Sal rolled her eyes. "What'd I turn ye into?" she asked nobody in particular. "Have at it, I suppose, but if you so much as scratches the paint on me walls I'll have to light you on fire."

Neither man seemed to hear as Vic turned his side toward the smaller man and staggered back before his charge. One big fist knocked Jav back so that he barely missed her, but he just gave his jaw a quick rub and came back swinging. Vic grunted and doubled over slightly, then tried a haymaker that would have taken off the clone's head if it had connected.

Sal simply watched, shaking her head and pinching the bridge of her nose in exasperation, but then started as Jeimu came out of the house in full cry.

"Jav! What do you think you're doing! Are you trying to kill him? STOP IT!"

"Yes, b'y," Sal said, trying not to smile. "Because Jav will break the guy who's like twice his weight in half. Right."

"I can't help it! He's got a condition!" fretted Jeimu, looking oddly flushed.

Vic grunted then and staggered back slightly with Jav's shoulder firmly set against his gut. He growled and barred his teeth, then brought up a leg in a dirty move that was skillfully blocked. Jav gave him a sharp sock to the stomach, then blinked as the bigger man suddenly went white and stumbled.

Jeimu's eyes narrowed dangerously as she rounded on the clone. "What the @*^$ did you do that for, huh? You know he's not as @(&$@^ing strong as he used to be!" She paused for the slightest of seconds as though to wait for his reaction, but then sighed and turned toward Vic.

Sal had remained remarkably quiet throughout the entire thing, noting that the look on Jav's face when Jeimu started chewing him out was quite exceptional. "Just relax," she said in an attempt to defuse the situation. "Jeimu, is Vic alright?"

The tiny woman had helped her friend lower himself to the deck with his back to the railing and lifted his shirt to examin his midruff. "I can't see anything for the hair. How does it feel?"

"Like I ben gut punched." Vic looked uncomfortable with the fussing, but also a little frightened.

"Obviously, you fool," said Jeimu, making an agitated sound through her nose. "What I meant was, is... it acting up again?"

"Naw, think I'm alright." He rubbed his stomach, looking a little green, then reached up to put a hand on Jav's head as he leaned nearby with hands on knees and shove him playfully backward. "Take the #%@&$ stogie, runt."

Jeimu relaxed visibly and grinned sheepishly at Jav. "Sorry." She reached up to put a hand on his shoulder. "But you know how it is." Sal noticed that she was blushing again.

"Yeah." Jav picked up the cigar and held it absently. "I'm sorry too. I got carried away 'n forgot." Then he grinned and offered her a hand up.

She took the hand and let him pull her up, only to catch her foot on a gap in the boards and bowl into him facefirst. He didn't move and the two of them wound up in a haphazard embrace.

"Oh. Oh... sorry." She let go immediatly and stumbled back.

"That was great, Mu," said Sal with an appreciative grin, then blinked as Vic growled at her.

"I...." Jeimu bit her lip. "I'd better go get some clothes on. I've done enough running around in my PJs."

"Awww," groaned Vic, still holding his belly.

Jeimu shot him a deathglare and rushed inside.

Sal snorted. "Wow, Jav, that seemed very awkward. Way to be smooth about it."

He hopped up on the railing and held out the cigar for a light. "Are Leeroy 'n I on duty anymore?"

Sal touched the cigar and it lit; generally the snap of the fingers was just for show. "No. There's nothin' for ye to do anymore." She turned to him and raised an eyebrow. "I mean, not officially. And I wouldn't ask you to be my private soldiers, ye knows that."

"We've ben on duty since we got here," he said simply, puffing a couple times and then handing the cigar down to Vic, who took a long drag and passed it back. "Never told nobody nothing. Sure, we got drunk, but it would'a ben suspicious if we didn't. But we didn't do anythin' else outside of regs."

"Wouldn't 've been a problem if ye had. I mean, it's done. Ye were raised t' protect the Republic, and it don't exist no more." She shrugged. "So go 'n break rules if ye want."

She fished out another cigarette from her pocket and lit it, smoking half of it in one go. "So. What d'ye think of Mu - and furthermore, what'd she tell ye about my very interestin' childhood?"

"He's sweet on 'er. 'N only the embarrasin' parts," rumbled Vic, accepting the cigar for a second drag.

Jav quirked an eyebrow and cheerfully kicked him in the head.

Sal looked at Vic and then at Jav, clearly shocked. "What'd ye do that fer?" she asked Jav.

"Horsefly," he said calmly, taking the cigar back as Vic handed it up.

"Right." Sal leaned over and looked at Vic. "What was that you were sayin'?"

He quirked one bushy eyebrow at her inquiringly.

Sal grinned at Jav briefly and then looked back at Vic. "About Mu."

"What about 'er?" The big blond man blinked and reached up for the cigar.

"Well, let's just say I ain't never seen the woman blush before. And I've known 'er a good long time." She completely ignored Jav, who was giving her a look that could have melted steele for the effort.

"Y' ben gone awhile." Vic puffed contentedly and looked up at her blandly.

"So what does that mean? What's she been doin' behind me back then?" Sal laughed out loud and took another drag of her cigarette.

"No idea whatcher talkin' 'bout." The cigar went back up and then down again.

Sal looked back and forth between the two men and scratched her head in confusion before turning to Jav. "What's she been doin'? Sellin' drugs? Putting me things on the internet to get money for DDR games? What?"

"Well, she's ben puttin' money by fer you in case ye ever came back." He scratched his head, then shook it as Vic offered the cigar back.

"What fer?"

He shrugged. "I never asks. I just watch Vic's back when he brings the checks to the bank. Maybe she was embarrassed at you seein' her PJs."

"Ah huh." Sal grinned enigmatically. "Anyway...."

"Y' stayin' here tonight?" Vic interrupted suddenly.

Sal looked at Vic strangely. "Uh, yes, b'y. I'd be a fool not to."

"Wanna borrow one' a my shirts ta sleep in?" He gave her a toothy grin, looking her up and down.

"Thanks for the assessment," she said, her accent thinning in her seriousness. "But there's a man who might be very unhappy to hear you make a pass at me."

"WHAT?" Jav looked up in shock.

"Yes, b'y, I found me a fiancé. His name's Kurt."

"Knew a Kurt once." Vic smoked on, unconcerned. "Was blue."

"So's he," said Sal with a grin.

Vic looked up in sudden interest. "He got a tail? 'N weird hands 'n feet?"

"Yep. And he can do this thing where he pops out of existence in one room and pops in in another. It scares the osik out of me when he holds me and does it, too."

The cigar hung forgotten from the big blond's hand. "Tattoos on 'is face?"

"If he's got 'em. I can't see 'em for all the fuzz."

Vic growled and sighed, his eyes dropping to the deck as he passed the smoke up again. "Ain't the one I knew then."

"Ah."

"Blue? Fuzz?" Jav looked at her incredulously. "What've ye been doin', Sal?"

She turned and smiled at him. "Gettin' a life. Ye might wanna try it yerself now that yer able to."

"What planet's this guy from? I never heard'a no...." He looked down at Vic. "Oh. He's one'a yer people."

"Yeah. One'a my people." The bigger man cocked an eye back at him. "'N a dang fine one, even if 'e is a boyscout."

Sal laughed. "That's fer sure."

Jav shook his head. "Ye ben gone less time than us, but ye sure ben workin' faster."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked, staring at him over her glasses.

"Y'knows what it means." He snorted, then looked toward the sound of a distant yell and handed the cigar to Vic. "'Scuse me."

He was over the railing and loping away before she could say anything else, headed toward the sound, which was being repeated with ever increasing volume.

Sal looked at Vic, then squinted in the direction Jav had gone. "What the...? What's that, b'y?"

"Somebody just woke up 'n realized they donated their stash ta the party last night." He smirked and continued smoking.

Sal shook her head. "Musta been a good one, eh?" She leaned over the railing and stared down at St. Fintan's Road as someone drove by in a rusty red minivan. "How was the match, anyway?"

"Dunno." He examined the cigar butt critcally, then took a final drag before flipping it in the can without putting it out. "I was collectin' donations fer the party."

"Expectin' a win, were ye?" Sal shook her head. "I dunno where they got the skill fer it, I never curled 'cept when we did it at school."

He shrugged one shoulder, then looked up and sniffed, black eyes gleaming with interest.

She tilted her head quizzically. "What d'ye smell?"

"Ain't sure." He gathered his feet under himself and crouched for a moment, looking for all the world like a giant cat.

"Interestin'." Sal turned around and leaned her back on the deck railing. "So what d'ye think Jav had to go and do?"

"Pay fer what I took." He stood and stalked away around the house.

Sal watched him go and chuckled to herself before heading back into the house and making a beeline for the refrigerator. "I'm some hungry," she said aloud to Sadri, who was still in the living room, looking at one of the pictures on the wall.

"Jeimu says she went shopping for groceries before the match yesterday," said the tall blond absently, studying the picture, which portrayed their tiny hostess grinning widely and clad in a ridiculously orange pressure suit. "Told me to tell you that there's bologna and mustard."

"Yes, b'y." Sal fished it out of the fridge and looked over to where she was standing. "Ah, I see the astronaut pictures got yer attention."

"Yeah," said Sadri. "I guess space travel isn't routine here, hmm?"

"No." Sal shook her head as she fetched the bread from the bread box. "In fact, 's downright deadly sometimes."

"You don't say." There was another loud thump upstairs, followed by raucous laughter. Sadri jumped, and then sighed. "Those guys..."

Sal snickered as she returned to the living room with her very thick sandwich. "They're special."

"To put it mildly." Jeimu wandered in from somewhere in the back of the house and flopped down on the couch.

Sadri grinned at her and turned back to the picture. "When was this taken?"

"That?" Jeimu scratched her head. "2001, maybe?"

There was yet another thump upstairs and the sound of fervant cursing in Mando'a, then the front door opened and Vic looked in. "We gotta guest."

Sal got to her feet and stared at the big man. "Who is it, b'y?"

"Could be anyone." Jeimu shrugged.

"Somebody yer proly interested in." He turned to someone they couldn't see. "C'mon. I'll gitcha sandwich."

Sadri turned in time to see a girl walk into the room, a girl of maybe nineteen or twenty with fine white fur and a spade-tipped tail that twitched thoughtfully behind her. Her hair was black, as were the belly shirt and miniskirt that she wore with platform boots. It wasn't hard for the Jedi to see that there was something very wrong with her. She bit her lip and looked at Jeimu, who looked back before turning to Sal.

"Who's this?" the blue-eyed woman asked.

"Dunno." Vic washed his hands, then grabbed the balony and bread.

"No offense, Vic, but why'd ye go n' invite a stranger into me house, then?" Sal put her hands on her hips.

"Maybe she needed help," Sadri suggested quietly.

Vic gave Sal a warning scowl, then glanced quickly to the girl, who watched the whole exchange expressionlessly.

"Well, anyway." Jeimu stepped toward the newcomer. "What's your name, anyway?"

"Jabez," she said, looking down at the tiny woman through red eyes with no visable white or pupil.

"Well, it's nice to meet you," said Jeimu jovially. "Why don't you sit down here and Vic'll get you something to eat like he said."

Sal shrugged, eying the girl with vague interest. The newcomer looked oddly similar to Kurt, and she found herself wondering where she'd come from. "Yes, b'y," she said apologetically. "Welcome."

Jabez sat in the indicated spot, her face showing no interest or curiosity in the women or anything else around her.

Sal moved into the kitchen and glanced at what Vic was doing, then went to the fridge and pulled out the butter and the rest of the condiments. "What would you like?" she asked Jabez kindly, hoping to get a reaction out of the girl.

"I don't know," said Jabez emotionlessly.

Sal stopped and looked at the girl strangely, but decided not to say anything. She noticed her abandoned sandwich still on the table in the living room, and went to retrieve it before returning to the kitchen. She pulled up a chair and sat across from Jabez, taking a bite and watching the girl surreptitiously.

Jabez ate with swift efficiency, seeming unaware of the scruteny and showing absolutely no interest in her surroundings till Ven and Leeroy suddenly tumbled down the stairs locked in combat.

Sadri and Jeimu turned around at the noise of the scuffle, and the two of them and Sal spoke in unison:

"Um?"

Sal rolled her eyes and stood up from the table, walking over to where the two men had landed rather noisily at the foot of the stairs.

"What's going on?" She said it loudly in such a way that clearly stated she was demanding attention and obedience from the two soldiers.

"You know," Jeimu said from behind her. "It amuses me when she does that."

Sadri laughed. "She's good at it."

Ven snapped to attention so fast that he hit his head on the bottom stair. Leeroy, however, only blinked and squinted, then went wide-eyed in amazement. "Oh, hi, Sal."

"Hi." Sal wasn't smiling. "What's going on?"

"A fight."

"I can see that. About what?"

"I don't remember," his eyes slid to the side.

"I'm glad, because that means you can stop it right now," she said, her voice icy. "This is my house, and I don't want brawlin' in it. If you wants to fight, fight outdoors."

"Yes ma'am." It was his turn to knock his head on the bottom step.

"Good." She smiled. "So, did you have fun doing, uh... what were you guys doing up there anyway?"

"Why did your parents take off all your clothes before they took that picture of you on the furry thing?" asked Ven.

"What??" said Jeimu. "I don't remember anything like that in the albums!"

Sal looked at Ven and Jeimu with a strange expression, trying to ignore Sadri's raucous laughter. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"That picture that was inside the one page," said Ven.

"Inside the page?" Jeimu blinked.

"Show me," Sal said with a sigh, pointing up the stairs with her head hung low.

Ven rolled to his feet and went, while Leeroy pulled himself to his feet and grabbed his head in his hands, giving it a quick wrench to the side which caused a sharp crack.

Sal winced and rubbed her own neck reflexively. "Ow."

"Nah, not no more." He offered her a grin, then looked curiously over her shoulder as Vic growled.

"Kid?" said the big man waving a hand in front of Jabez's face. "Hey." He shook her.

She seemed to snap out of a trance and looked up at him with wide eyes.

"What's wrong?" Vic frowned.

"His neck." Jabez rubbed her own, then shook her head and picked up her sandwich, face once more going emotionless.

"You know that's not good for you," Sal said before following Ven up the stairs.

"Nah, it clears me head. Vic, quit drinkin' my mix or I'll kick yer butt."

Ven came out of her old bedroom as she neared it, holding out the slightly faded snapshot. "See?"

Sal took the photo from Ven and stared down at it. "Oh, this. This's a shot of me down at Salmon Pool, where we have our camp. The guy who owns the place killed a bear that year n' skinned it. As fer why I got no clothes on, well, I was a baby. Parents like to do that to their kid it seems." She looked around him. "You've been in me room?"

"That's yours?" He looked mildly dismayed. "The others didn't tell me."

She walked past him and into the room. Although she hadn't been in it for thirteen years, it was in pristine condition. The posters and photos that adorned the wall seemed to be a snapshot of who she was at the age of nineteen: a Great Big Sea poster, a wall card from the international Quidditch exhibition she'd taken part in, and a very large, framed photo of what appeared to be an old Bavarian castle. On her bureau was a framed picture: she, Jeimu, and their old friends Aubrey, Eve, and Nakuru, clad in their old school uniforms with very chipper expressions on their faces.

She turned around slowly, absorbing everything. Even the scarf she'd bought during her last trip to London was folded neatly on the well made bed. Everything was just the way she left it.

Sal took a shuddering breath and sank to her knees in the middle of the floor, staring up at the ceiling, where her large Newfoundland flag was tacked.

"She didn't... she didn't change anythin'."

"Is that bad?" Ven looked down at her uncertainly.

Sal looked around again and saw one final picture. When she was young she had put it in a very discreet place on the wall, but in such a place that she would be able to see it from anywhere in the room. It was a picture of a fifteen-year-old Sal, her much older sister, her parents, and her mother's father - her beloved Granddad Albus. She had, in all honesty, almost forgotten what they looked like.

She smiled. "No," she said quietly. "'S not bad at all."

"Okay." He grinned and walked out, making an incredible amount of racket as he went down the stairs a moment later.

Sal lingered for only a moment, looking around at all the paraphernalia once again before shutting off the light and closing the door.

Leeroy was sitting by Jabez when she got back to the kitchen, chatting earnestly, asking questions, and generally being the most charming flirt she'd ever seen other than Kurt.

"I see someone's found a friend," she whispered to Sadri, who was standing nearby, still investigating the myriad of photos that the house contained.

"Yeah," the blonde Jedi replied. "It looks as though he's gotten over what happened earlier."

"That was weird," rumbled Vic from where he leaned against the wall drinking raspberry juice out of the pitcher.

"What was weird?" asked Sal.

"Findin' out he had such a big hate-on fer God."

"Oh," said Sal. She shrugged apologetically in Vic's direction, not really wanting to get into it with anyone on the issue.

"Common theme, isn't it?" whispered Sadri, smiling widely.

"Huh? Wha - oh. Yeah, it tends to be, and I tries my best to not get involved," Sal replied quietly. She left the blond Jedi staring at a picture of her father holding a very large river salmon and wandered over to the kitchen, picking up the last remnant of her sandwich off her plate and popping it into her mouth.

"Someone ate me other half," she said quietly, staring accusingly at Leeroy.

"Yes." Jabez looked at her calmly.

"Did you see him eat it? I knows he likes to steal me food," continued Sal, ignoring Leeroy's confused look.

"No." Jabez dropped her eyes to the last bit of sandwich in her hand as though wondering what to do.

"I didn't take yer sandwich b'y!" protested Leeroy.

"Then who did? Yer the only guy I knows who'd have the audacity to steal me food," said Sal, snickering at his indignation.

"I did," said Jabez quietly.

Sal bit her lip. "Oh."

"Ye did?" Leeroy looked at the girl wonderingly.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I'm hungry."

"Okay, then make yerself another sandwich." Sal shrugged. "I know I'm gonna."

"I'll do it." Leeroy pushed his chair back and got to his feet to do so.

Jabez stopped halfway out of hers and watched him, her tail doing a slow twitch of confusion. Then she looked at Sal as though making sure that was alright.

Sal looked at the two of them and shrugged. "Whatever. I'm hungry."

Vic suddenly growled and stomped out, and Jeimu cursed and followed.

"Cat's in the flower barrels again," noted Leeroy from where he was making very thick sandwiches.

"Huh?" Sal looked at him strangely. "So what if he is?"

"He digs out the flowers 'n @#$%s in the barrel. Vic's in charge 'o tendin' the flowers, so he wants t' eat the cat." Leeroy set an entire stack of sandwiches between the two women, then flopped back into his chair and picked up his beer.

"Where's the cat from, then? I don't own a cat. Wilcoxe tends to get - " She paused as she heard deep barking and growling from the front door, and grinned. " - Violent when cats are around."

Smirking, she turned to Jabez and asked kindly. "So where are you from, dear?"

"That way." The girl pointed north.

"Corner Brook?" Sal grinned to show that she wasn't being serious. "I meant what town are ye from."

Jabez once more looked uncertain, as though unsure of her reply.

"Ain't ye from a town?" Leeroy cocked his head.

"No."

"Farm?"

"No."

"Scary clone factory?" His eyes twinkled at the joke.

"Yes."

Sal choked on her sandwich. "What?"

"Yes," repeated Jabez quietly.

"@#$%&," said Leeroy, looking green.

Sal coughed momentarily and then looked at Jabez again. "Where to?"

"That way," she said once more.

"How'd ye get away?" asked Leeroy.

"My mother let me out."

"Uh huh." said Sal. "And how'd you end up here in Port Aux Basques?"

"I walked."

"Could ye bring us back t' that place, b'y?" Leeroy's eyes narrowed.

"No."

"Are you trying to get anywhere in particular?" asked Sal, running her fingers through her hair.

"No."

"Why can't ye bring us there?"

"My mother burned it."

"Good job." Leeroy looked up as Vic came back in cheerfully dragging Jav by the back of the neck.

"Who's yer mom, then?" asked Sal, suddenly curious.

"Ororo Munro." Jabez reached for another sandwich.

"I've heard that name before," Sal mused. "What about your dad? D'you have one?"

"Not anymore." The sandwich started to disapear, despite Leeroy's obvious urge to grab it away and make the girl focus.

"I'm sorry to hear that," said Sal. "Who was he, then?"

"Kurt Wagner."

"Wha?" Jav looked up from the noogie he was receiving.

Sal made a weird noise in her throat and stared at Jabez, completely slackjawed. "Huh?"

And then suddenly the girl's appearance made sense.

"She ain't from this reality." Vic dropped Jav and dusted his hands, then went out to help Jeimu tell Wilcox what a good dog she was.

"I don't say," said Sal quietly, staring at her sandwich.

"Who's Kurt Wagner?" Leeroy looked from her to Jabez, looking confused. "I think I's missed somethin', b'y."

"He's going to be our dad," said Jav, getting up and dusting himself off.

"What??" Leeroy blinked.

Sal groaned and put her head in her hands. "Someone else wanna do the explainin'?"

"Sal's marrying a guy who looks like her, only blue." Jav pointed to Jabez, then went to sit in the chair behind his heartmother's and put a hand on her back.

"Oh." Leeroy nodded and took another drink of beer. "Okay."

Sal sighed. "Thanks, me son," she said, not lifting her head. "And Leeroy, how 'bout one of them beers?"

"Just beer?" He got up and went to the fridge, pulling a flat white bottle out of the freezer. "I got this coconut stuff."

"Just the beer."

He nodded and put the white bottle back, then took out a beer and brought it over, sticking it to the back of Jav's neck and just managing to hand it to Sal before he collapsed from the resultant elbow slam to a sensitive part of his person.

Sal finally raised her head to receive the beer, and opened it with an expert twist of her hand. Taking a long drink, she turned and looked at Leeroy. "Hit to the groin?"

He nodded again, suffering in silence.

"Why on earth..." Sal stopped herself and sighed, finally turning to Jabez. "Alright. So if the Kurt Wagner who's your father is the same Kurt Wagner I'm going to marry, I guess we're in a very interestin' situation."

"Okay," said the girl, looking lost.

"S'er any way of telling?" asked Jav, helping himself to a sandwich.

"I wouldn't know," Sal said. "Apart from takin' her back with us when we leaves and seein' what Kurt's got to say... I dunno."

"But if she's from a scary clone factory them bein' 'er parents might not mean nothin', b'y," said a shaky voice from the floor.

"Wha's that s'posed to mean?" Sal craned her neck to look at Leeroy.

"Means yer beau wasn' with this other woman, so everythin's good."

"What he did before me was his business." Sal shrugged. "It doesn't matter to me. Jabez, would you be interested in going back with me when it's time t' do so and we'll meet Kurt and see what's what?"

"Yes." Wistfulness showed in the girl's blank eyes.

"Then we'll do that when we goes back in a few days, eh?" Sal grinnned shakily at her.

"Okay." Jabez turned her head as the door burst open and a man stormed through.

"Leeroy, yer a dead man!" roared Billy Peddle, then stopped and gaped. "Sal?"

"Billy?"

"By the lard t'underin'! Yer back!" She got ripped out of her chair and spun around.

"Only for a few days." She threw her arms around her old teammate and friend. "So what's this I hears about you goin' curlin'?"

"We won!" He squished her joyously and planted a kiss on her cheek.

"Yes, I know," said Sal. "What's got ye stormin' in here? What'd Leeroy get up to?"

"Oh, that." Billy shrugged. "He's just ben siphonin' my gas off again."

"I see." Sal smiled. "Then I guess yer allowed to take him out back n' beat him."

He shrugged again, then leaned his head back and frowned at her. "Y' knows 'im, b'y?"

"Oh fer... yes, yes, b'y. I knows 'em. You could say I raised 'em." She shook her head, tired of explaining the same situation many times.

"And they never said nothin'?" He gave Jav a stern look over her shoulder, then blinked as Ven skirted the group and went to the sink for a drink. "What? How many 'o the @#$^& are there?"

Leeroy, who had been playing possum up till now, suddenly broke out in a paroxym of coughing.

"Three million if ye wants to get technical, and if we're just talkin about this group, there'r four." Sal looked over her shoulder at Ven. "Y'know, you should really go pay Sadri some attention."

"She just passed out on the couch." He got the water and brought it back to the aformentioned peice of furniture.

"So." Sal's attention turned back to Billy. "Why are ye in me house if yer not gonna beat Leeroy?"

He blinked at her blankly, then cleared his throat. "I lives here. Yer kiddin', right?"

"Whaaaaaaat?"

He looked confused. "What?"

"Why are you livin' here? Didn't you have a house out by the point?"

He glanced at Jav and Jabez and moved away from them, then started and gave the white-furred girl a double-take before turning back to Sal and lowering his voice. "I did till somethin' ate it."

Sal laughed. "Gotcha. I takes it yer usin' yer broom fer sweepin' only, eh?"

"It went down with the house," he said regretfully. "After all the money I saved fer it."

"Oh, not the Na Creige," said Sal, biting her lip. "I thinks I still got mine... somewhere in me room. Probably where I left it, Mu hasn't touched a thing in there."

"She dusts," he assured her. "But yeah, the only broom I's got now is me curlin' one."

"Ah, 's too bad." Sal looked at him and grinned. "Although you prolly don't need the other one with yer propensity for winnin' bonspiels."

He grinned and squished her again, then glanced at Jabez. "Y'seein' the white girl sittin' at yer table?"

"Yes, b'y. She's a friend. I'll be takin' her back with me."

"Ah." He relaxed, though he didn't yet think to put her down. "So where ye livin' now? Why can't ye stay longer?"

"I'm... between places. And I'll be gettin' married soon 'nuff, so..." She smiled. "See, I went somewhere when you guys thought I'd gone off to Ontario for th' army. I went right off the planet. A different reality, if ye get me drift."

He blinked and looked at the three identical men in the room, then at the white-furred girl who sat so quietly gazing into space before turning back to her, plainly believing her but at a loss as to what to say.

Sal simply shook her head and grinned awkwardly. She too had nothing to say.

Billy rubbed her back, then let her down and went over to gently push Sadri's feet up and sit down. "Tell me all about it, b'y."


2


Sal plodded down the stairs, yawning and rubbing sleep from her eyes. Her old bed was as comfortable now as it had ever been, and the smells of a good breakfast still managed to waft their way into her room in such a way that the appetizing scent was better than any alarm clock.

"Who's cookin'?" she said around a huge yawn as she entered the kitchen.

"Me." Vic didn't look away from the griddle full of sausages and cakes.

"Oh, smells good." Sal walked into the kitchen and looked around for the coffee pot. When she didn't immediately see it, she asked Vic, "Got any caf on, b'y?"

One clawed finger pointed toward the big silver industrial strength urn sitting on the counter by the sink. "Don't stand too close ta it."

"And why not?" Sal opened the cupboard where she knew the coffee cups would be and inched around Vic to get to the carafe. "Will it explode?"

There was the sudden thunder of someone descending the stairs, then a body slammed into her and shoved her back so that she staggered and would have fallen but for Vic's hands on her shoulders. As she watched Jave knocked back five cups of coffee in quick succession, then turned and stumbled toward the door, trying to get his arms into the jacket of his uniform.

Sal's eyes went wide. "I knew I named you Jav for a reason. You going to North Sydney n' back today?"

"He can't hear ya yet." Vic grabbed the clone by the collar with one hand and the jacket with the other, then gave the garment a practiced flip that made everything turn right before giving it, and a couple sausages wrapped in a pancake, to Jav and letting him go. As they watched he hit the door running and booked it down the walk.

Sal made a very strange noise in her throat as she observed the spectacle. "Wh..." She shook her head and knocked back her entire cup of coffee. "What in the lard t'undrin' was that?" She peeked out the deck window and saw Jav running down the main road with a sausage sticking out of his mouth.

"Thinks 'e's late fer work." Vic went back to the griddle. "Hungry?"

"Yep." Sal went back to the cupboard and found a plate, which she held out to Vic with a grin. "Most important meal o' the day, don't ye know?"

"Oooh," came Sadri's voice from the foot of the stairs. "What smells so good? I feel like I could eat the behind off a nerf."

Vic quirked a bushy eyebrow at that, then looked at Billy as the man pushed politely past the Jedi woman and made for the coffee urn. "Mornin', Peddle."

"Bite me, b'y." He filled his mug, grabbed the plate of sausages and cakes that the bigger man handed him, and slumped at the table blearily. "Ask the bloody Grace so's I kin eat."

"Already did." Vic stuffed a raw sausage in his mouth and resumed cooking.

"Well, I'm feeling the atmosphere of love," Sadri said dryly, rubbing her lower back and padding into the kitchen. She peered at the griddle and looked at Vic. "What're those?"

"Pancakes," said Sal, still holding out her empty plate and making a face at Billy as he walked past with his food.

"They smell delicious. Do you have pickles here?" Sadri asked, opening the refrigerator door. "Oooh, yes." She leaned over and pulled out a jar of large dill pickles.

"Oh no," said Sal. She knew what was coming as Sadri placed the pickle jar on the table.

"Oh yes," the blond Jedi replied, taking the plate that the smaller woman handed her. "I want both."

"Don't git between a knocked up skirt 'n 'er grub." Vic filled Sal's plate to overflowing, then gave her a good-natured, flirting grin.

Sal made a face as she stepped back and watched Vic fill Sadri's plate and then watched the Jedi return to the pickle jar, where she placed a pickle atop her pancake and wrapped it up like a fajita. "I'm so glad I never had kids."

They all jumped at the sudden cascade of loud thumps that was followed by a shriek that was too high pitched to belong to Leeroy.

"D'you know where I found that git sleeping?" raged Jeimu, emerging from the hallway with her hair sticking up. "D'you know where?"

"Um," said Sal. "Where?"

"In the new kid's room! He's got some nerve, don't you think?"

"Something tells me," said Sadri from around a mouthful of pancake-wrapped pickle, "that it's really not as it seems."

"He was in her bed!"

"Was she in there too?" asked Sal, eyebrow quirked.

"Yes, yes she was, and..." Jeimu shook her head. "Doesn't take him long, does it?"

Sadri now had her hand over her mouth and was shaking silently with laughter.

"Now, Mu," said Sal evenly. "He's a grown man. What d'you expect me to do, b'y? Ground him?"

Jeimu opened her mouth and closed it again. "But..." She sighed. "Pancakes." She looked at Vic, who nodded and started filling a plate. "Pancakes. I need pancakes."

"And I thought I was weird," said Sadri offhandedly.

"You're not," Jeimu said as Vic put the plate in front of her and set a bottle of blueberry syrup beside it. "Compared to Sal and I, you hover at normal."

There was a series of thuds on the stairs as someone stomped down them, and then Leeroy appeared in only his boxers with blood in his eye. He progressed slowly to where Mu sat and yanked at her chair so that it spun around.

"If you ever," he said in a dead quiet voice. "Do anything like that again. You will regret it."

Sweeping the room with a glare, he turned and went back upstairs.

Sal shot a look of venom after Leeroy and placed her plate down gently before launching up the stairs without looking at anyone else.

There was a moment's silence, and then those in the kitchen heard her voice carry from upstairs. Her tone of voice was rather frightening: her accent had melted away and in its place was a deadly calm, clearly angry, and rather loud.

"... will not threaten my best friend, and I don't care what you think she may have done wrong. I left my life here in her hands and you owe her a @#)$ of a lot. If I ever, ever hear you speak to her that way again, you will be the one with regrets. Am I clear?"

Jeimu bit her lip. "Oh dear," she said, chewing on her pancake slowly. "She's doing it again."

"What's that?" Sadri looked shocked as well.

"Sticking up for me. She's been doing it ever since we got out of the war."

"What war?" Sadri tilted her head to one side as she watched the smaller woman.

"We had a war a few years back. Destroyed parts of this town and of our old school. There was lots of hand to hand combat. We're best friends, you know, and I guess she thinks she owes me 'coz I got her out of a tight spot back then."

Sadri smiled. "You saved her life, didn't you?"

Jeimu blushed slightly. "She says so, but I don't think I did much."

Sal came back down the stairs then, looking only mildly irate as she poured herself another cup of coffee.

"I loves 'em very much," she said, more to herself than to anyone present. "But I owes you way too much to let that slide, Mu."

"It's okay," said Jeimu. "Leeroy's all talk, anyway. He said the same thing to me when I stole a two four from under his bed last month."

"Y'made the kid cry." Vic looked up, then turned off the griddle and headed up the stairs.

"Oh great, no more food." Jeimu rested her face on her hand.

"It's not my fault," she said after Vic left. "I just walked in to get the laundry - and then I saw the two of them there... and you know the rest."

"Don't worry about it," said Sal calmly. "If they turns it into an issue I'll shut the lot of them up. Jabez is a pretty smart kid - once she realizes what happened I'm sure she'll be fine. No sense walkin' eggshells. And in case ye didn't hear I spoke some sense into Leeroy fer what he said to you, Mu."

"Oh, I heard," said Jeimu. "Anyway, I'm sure Vic's gone to explain what happened. Or something."

Sadri, who had not stopped eating throughout the entire exchange, prodded her in the shoulder. "Pickle?"

Jeimu looked at the Jedi strangely, then reached into the offered jar. "Thanks."

Leeroy appeared then, clad in jeans and workboots, bottle in one hand and rifle in the other as he headed for the door.

"Have a nice day, dear," Sadri called as she rooted in the pickle jar.

He tossed off an absent salute and kept going, door closing softly behind him.

"Emo." Jeimu snorted and shook her head then suddenly seemed to realize something and rooted into her pockets.

"So I went traveling last night," she said to Sal. "And I was told to give this to you." She produced a piece of paper and gave it to her friend.

"Wha...?" Sal took the sheet and unfolded it, then blushed and folded it up, putting it in her pocket and grinning to herself.

"So," Jeimu said with a grin. "Who's the guy?"

Sal looked up and shrugged. "Someone," she said airily.

"Someone you're gonna marry."

"Yeah...."

"Why are you being so secretive? Because he's blue?"

"Uh..."

"Oh, come on, Sal. It's fine, and nobody thinks you're acting like a bloody teenager. Matter of fact, I know I'm happy for you."

"What?" Sal blinked. She'd almost forgotten how attuned Jeimu was to her mannerisms. It wasn't terribly dissimilar to the way the commandos in the squads learned to read each other.

"Well," she said after a moment's pause. "It's just... I don't want people... butting in where they shouldn't. Not that you are," she added quickly. "But I just want to keep this as quiet as possible."

"He's blue," said Billy from where he sat forgotten at the foot of the table demolishing his breakfast.

Sal quirked an eyebrow in Billy's direction. "And?"

"Just rememberin' when ye tried ringin' me neck fer dyin' my hair green that once."

"Yeah well, ye weren't born with green hair."

"That makes no @#$%& difference! Ye tryin' wring me neck fer wearin' the colours 'n then ye fall fer a guy with blue skin." He quirked an eyebrow aggravatedly and stuffed another mouthful of pancake in.

"Um, actually, 's fur." Sal stared at her plate. "An' see, this is why I didn't want t' say nothin," she said, staring at Billy over her glasses.

"Fur? Like the girl's got?" Billy's eating hand actually stopped moving.

"Yes," said Sal.

Billy shook his head and resumed eating.

"So!" Jeimu clapped her hands and went to the griddle. "Party tonight."


* * *


Sal had to hand it to Jeimu - the girl could still pull off a party.

It was only now growing dark, and the evening boat could be seen sailing into the docks across the street. The weather was holding and everyone was out on the deck.

She grinned at Jeimu herself, who had appeared out of nowhere holding two bottles of beer.

"You still likes yer social events," noted Sal.

"I try." Jeimu grinned.

Vic stumbled past laughing, shaking the floor of the deck as he tried to fend off the furious assault of Tom White's wife, who was dead set on poking him in the belly. Then the big man caught the plump woman's hands and looked toward the road as laughter reached their ears.

Jeimu frowned. "What the @#$&%'s Leeroy doing on foot?"

Before Sal could reply Vic looked up toward the upper floor windows and jerked his head, and Jabez dropped from one silently and came over to see what the big man wanted. He lowered his head and whispered in her ear, ignoring the surprised comments of the party guests.

Jabez nodded, then looked at the laughing Leeroy and quirked one eyebrow in one of the first signs of interest that Sal had seen in the girl.

"'Mazin', that," said Sal, leaning back against the deck railing. "Looks like she's brightened him up a bit."

"You know, he doesn't talk to me anymore," Jeimu said with a grin. "What'd you do?"

"Oh, I threatened to shoot him if he ever promised you harm again, 's all." Sal shrugged, taking a long swig from the bottle of beer.

"What?"

"Never mind - go find Jav and dance with him."

Jeimu stared at Sal and began to blush. "WHAT?"

"I wrapped me $%#&@ bike around a $$%&^@ powerpole!" Leeroy bellowed at Vic. "Totally $%&ing trashed it!"

Sal stood up straight and looked at Leeroy. "What'd ye do that fer?" she asked.

"D'you have insurance?" Jeimu asked with a grin.

"Brain fart," he laughed some more as he came up the stairs and leaned down to kiss Wilcox on the head. "'N @#$%& no. They won't insure me."

"And why not?" Jeimu reached into the nearby cooler and produced a bottle of beer, which she held out to the still-laughing clone. "Peace offering."

"'Cause 'o when I put yer car through the front 'o their office, b'y." He took the beer and turned away to look around.

"Guess that's reason enough," Jeimu said with a laugh, walking up behind him and leaning out to the side so she could see what he was looking at. "What, did I hang the patio lanterns crooked again?"

"Uh... what?"

"I'm not going to leave you alone unless you let me apologize for earlier," she said, grinning.

He sighed and spoke quietly. "Ain't me that's needin' any apology, b'y. I's useta yer @#$%&. But ye scared the crap outta Jaybee."

"Well," Jeimu said, glancing up at him and matching his tone. "You scared the crap outta me, too. And don't worry, I've worked things over with her - at least as best I could. She seems pretty shaken up by something. But anyway." She finally straightened herself up. "Now that we've cleared that, I guess you better go enjoy the party."

The next thing she knew her head was clamped under his arm and being vigorously noogied.

"Aah! What in the -" She struggled to get out of Leeroy's grip, beating one fist repeatedly on his back with surprising force for someone so small.

He guffawed and reached over to jab her in the ribs. "Gotcha now, scrub!"

"Hey, stupid, yer scarin' the kid," growled Vic.

Leeroy froze, then carefully set Jeimu on her feet and went to put his arms around Jabez, to the raised eyebrows of several of the guests.

Jeimu made a disgusted face at his departing back as she licked her hands and attempted to smooth out her hair.

"You know that's gross, right?" said Sal. "Doin' that thing with yer hands."

"Shut up, Sal..." She looked over at Leeroy and Jabez. "So I guess this morning meant something, huh?"

"I stopped askin' the minute we all ended up here. Don' lookit me."

"Y'knew dang well the dumb @#$&% was gonna fall hard fer the first skirt ta take 'im seriously." Vic chugged from a two litre bottle of Pepsi and burped loudly.

"You're right," Sal said with a shrug. "But that don't change the fact that I'm not askin'. Where's Ven at, anyway?"

"Him 'n 'is lady're makin' out on the couch." Vic scratched his ribs and burped again.

Sal froze. "Oh."

"Hey, at least it ain't yer bed." He dodged a swat from Jeimu and wandered over to the table, swinging his pop bottle in one big hand. Groups of people parted and reformed around him like water.

Sal closed her eyes slowly, and Jeimu patted her arm encouragingly.

"Bad mental image?" she asked.

"You have no idea," Sal whispered hoarsely before taking another swig from her beer bottle, then she drew it away slightly and peered into it. "Hm. I'm out."

Jeimu took a few steps over to the nearby cooler and grabbed her another one. "Here."

"Thanks, b'y." Sal popped the lid and drank deeply.

"It just looks like Leeroy's comforting her." Jeimu chewed on an icecube and threw another at Vic, who ignored her utterly.

Sal shrugged again. "Hm. Whatever."

Jeimu cocked an eye at her. "So tell me about Kurt."

"What about us?" Sal eyed her friend. "We met when I first vaulted away from Kamino. It was a tough time for both of us and... well... stuff happened."

"What kind of stuff?" Jeimu eyed the peice of lemon that Vic offered her, then threw it at him.

"We um... got... close." Sal didn't meet Jeimu's eyes as she took a sandwich off a plate that Mrs. White was carrying to the table. "'S all there is to it, really."

"How close?" persisted her best friend, slapping at Billy as he came over and waved a live lobster at her.

"You're some nosy, ain't ye?" Sal rolled her eyes and took a large bite out of the sandwich. "We're gonna marry, if that means enough to ye."

"Are you pregnant?"

Sal choked. "What the fierfek is that supposed to mean? Does every weddin' need to be a shotgun wedding?"

"No, but are you?"

"NO! Sadri's the pregnant lady. Not me."

Jeimu eyed her, not reacting to the fracas that ensued as Billy yelled at Vic not to eat his lobster. "So...." A crunching noise filled the moment of silence, followed by more loud swearing from Billy. "What's he like?"

"He's rather charming and very kind. He's a lot like me - in addition to all that." Sal sighed. "Now c'n we talk 'bout somethin' else?"

"No. How can he be charming and kind and like you?" Jeimu seemed oblivious to Billy trying to beat Vic up as the big man turned his back and continued crunching lobster.

"I dunno. Consider it part of 'is mystique. Now let's drop it, 'kay?" Sal turned toward the refreshment table in search of more seafood.

"NO...." Jeimu's head turned as Jav came up the stairs in his shirtsleeves, lugging a plastic garbage bag. "Did you get puked on AGAIN?"

He nodded grimly and slipped past her into the house.

"You better start givin' 'em out Gravols or somethin'," said Sal, waving. "I'll do yer laundry later. C'mere and have a beer."

"I gotta have a wash or I'll make Vic puke," he called back without stopping.

Sal made a face. "Fine, but be quick." She took several quick steps toward Jav and gripped his forearm, dropping her voice. "Please. She won't stop grillin' me 'bout Kurt. I needs someone t' bail me out."

"Talk t' 'er about what Leeroy's doin'." He stopped and looked into the kitchen. "Or Ven. That'll distract her."

"Yeah but... yeah but... she doesn't care..." Sal sighed. "Fine." She left him to go and take his shower and went back to Jeimu with her head hanging dejectedly. "Anyway, you were sayin'?"

"Has he got a nice butt?" Her friend picked up a peice of toast with mustard sardine on it and ate it, looking up at her.

"No! Yes? What? You're mean!" Sal put her face in her free hand. "Stop it."

"Haven't you even looked at his butt?" Jeimu looked scandalized.

"Sure, but that's not information I'd be willin' t' share wit' you!" Sal looked at her incredulously.

Jeimu blinked. "You used to tell me everything. Even that short time you had a crush on Billy."

Sal frowned. "Alright, alright. Let me get over my embarrassment a sec... c'mere." She leaned over to Jeimu and whispered in her ear. The shorter woman's eyes went large and she put both her hands over her mouth to stifle her giggles.

"That's right," Sal said with a grin as she straightened.

"That's so...." Jeimu hugged herself and bounced on her feet, then eeped as Jav put a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, b'y, wanna dance?" asked the clone with an easy grin.

"Me?" Sal raised an eyebrow and watched Jav blanch. "Oh. Her." She grinned and took another swig of beer.

"Me?" Jeimu looked up at Jav and turned red in the face. "Wh-what?"

Sal started laughing silently, sagging against the deck rail as she reached for another beer as Jeimu continued to stammer.

"But-but why?"

"Why not?" He quirked one brow slightly. "Y' never made no fuss about it before, b'y."

"Yeah but - but..." Jeimu sighed, feeling herself blush even more as Jav flashed another grin. "Your mom wasn't here."

He looked at Sal a little blankly, then turned back to his friend. "So?"

"Dance with 'im already 'n quit playin' shy," growled Vic, finishing the last bites of lobster as he came over to stand by Sal.

"Shut up," Jeimu growled back and glared at her friend, then took a deep breath and offered her hand to Jav. "Fine, c'mon."

"So," she said as they walked away from Sal and Vic. "What else did you manage to do on the boat today save being puked on?"

"Nearly put Stan the Streaker overboard when he blew that bloody horn right in me ear." Jav smiled down at her as they stopped in front of the speakers and turned toward one another.

"Has anyone figured out where he's from?" asked Jeimu, grinning. Stan was a local legend, known for miles for his seafaring antics, and Jav had come home on many occasions thoroughly vexed by the streaker's nerve and tendency to break ship rules. Someone started a new song, and she smiled. It was a fast one, from one of her DDR games, and it immediately put her at ease. She didn't wait for Jav's reply - she just grabbed his hand and began to dance.

The clone grinned, struck again by their height difference- Mu was only 4'11 and her head barely came to the middle of his chest. "They don't even know 'is name, b'y."

"Now that I never knew," said Jeimu said, grinning widely as she kept dancing. "I honestly thought his name was Stan."

"Did ye?" Jav chuckled and shook his head. "Nah, that's just what ever'body calls im."

Then he sobered. "Ye miffed at me 'n Leeroy fer not tellin' ya the truth, b'y?"

"No," said Jeimu with a grin. "I knew ye had to."

He nodded, his dark eyes seeming to study her. "Now that Sal's here we're not on duty no more. The Republic we was born t' protect's gone."

"I understand," said Jeimu, stopping and returning his gaze. "How do you feel about that?"

"A little bit lost," he admitted softly, looking around. "I knows I've got a life. But the life was always a cover fer somethin' else. Now it's all there is."

"Aren't you relieved to drop the facade, though? To stop... acting?" The song they were dancing to had long since faded away and been replaced by an upbeat medley of Celtic reels. "C'mon," she said, pointing to a secluded corner of the deck. "Let's talk."

"It wasn't actin', though, really. It was somethin' we'd ben trained ta do since we came outta the tanks." He leaned his butt against the railing, tipping his head back to look at the stars. "But yeah, I'm relieved. A soldier can't have the same things a fisherman 'n ferryman can."

"I dunno 'bout that," Jeimu said, sitting down in a lawn chair by the deck railing and shielding her eyes from the headlights of yet another car that was pulling into the driveway. "I mean, look at all that Sal managed to get, and she was a soldier..." She smiled and leaned forward. "But then again, you were much different, weren't you?"

"We were the grunts," he said softly, still looking upward. "They altered our DNA so's we grew up in a couple years. If Sal's friend Ramada hadn't butted in 'n whipped up a cure we'd'a all ben dead before we were fourty."

Jeimu furrowed her eyebrows. It was a bit much for her to comprehend. "Really?"

"Really, b'y." He turned his gaze down to her, his eyes serious in his weathered face. "We weren't counted as people. We were just machines made t' obay orders. Disposable. Nobody but us cared when Scrat got killed."

"Wow," she breathed, feeling his emotional pain. "I didn't realize it was so... bad. I don't know what to say."

"It's over now. Scrat's alive." He looked toward where Leeroy stood with his arms around Jabez and gazed toward the ocean. "Maybe when 'Roy sees 'im he'll be able ta sleep all night again."

Jeimu bit her lip and got to her feet, perching on the railing next to him. "I hope so. I can take you guys to wherever he might be." She started to reach for his hand, but stopped herself and let hers fall into her lap.

He sat there for a moment, and she could feel him resolving something to himself as Vic came over and looked at the two of them.

"You two an item yet?" asked the big man, smirking.

"D'you mind?" Jeimu gave Vic a look that clearly said 'not now'.

Like so many of its fellows it went right over his head. "C'mon, how hard is it t' admit y' gotta thing fer a guy?"

She stared at him with a pleading expression, then blushed and hid her face in her hands. "Shut up."

"Yer a wuss." He shook his head and sniggered.

Jeimu turned her head away from Jav, not wanting him to see her blush. "I said shut up."

Vic snorted and walked off, chugging pop.

"Alright," said Jav softly and slid off the rail.

"Not you." Jeimu reached out and grabbed his wrist, still red in the face. "I was talking to Vic. Not you." She spoke the words to the ground. She couldn't look at Jav. Not after all of that.

His other hand came up to gently cup her chin and lift it. "Mu...."

She flicked her gaze toward him and then back to the ground. "What?" she asked, suddenly finding it hard to breathe.

"Remember when I said a fisherman kin do things a soldier can't?" His voice was soft.

Jeimu finally looked into his eyes. "Yes?"

He lifted her gently into his arms and set his lips to hers.

"There! That wasn' so freakin' hard now, was it?" griped Vic from somewhere in the background.

"I'm gonna kill that @$^@," she whispered before throwing her arms around Jav and returning the kiss.

He smiled and rested his forehead against hers, still holding her against his chest. "Wanted t' do that fer a long time."

"What?" She returned the smile.

"That." He pecked her on the mouth, then gently rubbed his nose against hers.

"Okay, now I'm gonna puke," said Vic happily, making the deck creak as he walked off.

"I don't... I don't understand," murmured Jeimu. "What...?"

"I love ye, Mu. Have fer awhile now; ever since ye caught me under that mistletoe at Christmas." He stroked her hair.

"You... what?" She blinked and stared at him, eyes narrowed as though he was out of focus. "I mean, I - um - huh?"

"I love you," he repeated. "I love you. Ye light my life up. I want to marry you 'n be with ye ferever." He smiled at her, his eyes shining in the light of the patio lanterns.

"I love you, too," she whispered. "Like... to the nth degree. I've been in love with you since you walked through that door." Then she paused and groaned.

"That sounded like a load of cheese even to me," she said, using one hand to fiddle with the buttons of his shirt. "But it's true."

She felt him give a little shiver and start to speak, but then both of them jumped as Billy suddenly shouted, "Oh hell! Vic's down."

Jeimu looked at Jav briefly before she jumped out of his embrace and ran toward where Vic sat with his head between his knees, looking like he could keel over at any time.

"Hey," she said, tapping him hard on the shoulder. "What's up?"

"Dizzy," he murmured, all the brag and tease gone out of him.

"Anything you need?" She brushed her hair out of her face and looked around, motioning for people to keep their distance as Jav knelt down at Vic's other side. She didn't say anything to him. He belonged there. "Apart from a good slap for all the @$^@ you were just pullin', I mean."

"Sorry," rumbled Vic without stirring. "Jus' wanted y' t' open yer eyes 'n see."

"D'you want to go inside an lay down?" Jeimu asked quietly, biting her lip in concern.

"Don't wanna move."

"Long as you're going to be fine there, I don't care." She smiled and put her hand on his shoulder.

He flinched, then groaned. "Hurts...."

"When was the last time you took your medicine?" she asked, cocking her head to one side and rubbing his shoulder comfortingly.

He was silent for a moment, then growled softly. "Was so busy cookin' 'n tendin' Jabez I fergot."

"What's wrong?" asked Ven, coming to kneel next to Jav.

"He's not feeling well," said Jeimu. "Hey, Jav, want to do me a favour and go get his medicine? He's overdue for it, so it just might help. I'm sure he'll be fine in a while. Right, you @&$I*^?" She poked Vic gently again.

"Not now," he whispered pleadingly, letting her know just how bad he was feeling.

"Right." Jav leaped to his feet and ran inside.

There was a sudden flash of light and a swish and the porch was empty except for Billy and the Whites.

Billy blinked a few times, then looked around and up.

"Okay," Tom White looked around. "I'm just gonna pretend I never saw that happen."

"Saw what happen, b'y?" Billy headed for the cooler. "Bet I kin drink ye under the table."