It was light out when she awoke.

Perfect. I get to go on the fun run through the forest again, don’t I?

That strange little droid had been beeping at her. How gratuitous of it. She had only risked her life to take it with her. Sure, it had cleared the path to her ship, gotten them both away from the guards, flone the ship, and set the course, but it was her ship. And she didn’t know where it’s ‘course’ had taken her. Tatooine. Why did that make her thirsty?

Oh no, even better. I get to build sand castles!

Nagging droid. She’d ask it’s name, but then she wouldn’t understand the reply anyway. Why did it want her to wake up? It was only 600 hours Coruscant time. But then again, the sun was awfully bright out there. Didn’t mean she’d adjust to it, though. She’d get whatever it was that she needed here, and then she’d be on her way.

Hello? Could this dream person be any more stupid? The freaking ship is damaged! You ain’t leaving until the hyperdrive gets some kind of overhaul, R2 over compensated for the grav of Tatooine, and now you’re screwed! Well, at least Jaina knew she wasn’t seeing the future, she would a)have recognized R2-D2, b) plotted her own course, and c) known when the bloody ship would need repairs!

The droid was an R2 unit, she remembered that now. They worked in fighters, right? Why did it fly her out here, then? She quickly checked the serial number. R2-D2-93657632C12. She’d just call it R2-D2, who cares if it already has a name? Not like it could tell her, anyway.

I should of know that this would happen. I go to sleep, and I dream. That bread must of upset my stomach.

It wanted her to get out of the ship? Did they need supplies, or something? There was no way she could go out now anyway, she’d just woken up, and she was a mess. Her hair was all tangled, with some straw leaves and the like stuck in it too. Why didn’t she at least shower before sleeping? She didn’t smell so good either.

Ok, I get it now. First I’m worried about the guards ‘catching’ me because there’s some all important message that needs to get out, but now I can’t go anywhere because my hair’s skanky looking?

Why was that droid sounding so angry? She really should put some kind of restraining bolt on it. If she knew how, that is. Well, there wasn’t anything it could do now, the ship was all locked up, and it’d need her to give it the passwords in order to leave the ship. It was a useful security feature, and it prevented the renegade droid from running off.

So what, the ship does some kind of automatic lock down when taken out of hyperspace? That doesn’t seem entirely safe.

Honestly, if that droid didn’t stop yelling at her for wanting to get cleaned up, she’d..... Do something really bad to it when she thought of a good threat. Like, she’d sell it. Of course then she’d have to give them ownership papers that she didn’t have, so that might not work out. Maybe she could leave it in the desert. But then she’d have to hire a pilot.

Ya know, it’s not that hard to fly a ship.

There. That should keep it out of her cabin. Until it melted the lock with that little electric thing she’d seen other astromech droids with. But it’d have to pay for the lock if it did. Her ship didn’t come cheap.

So now I’m worried about a crummy little lock? Where are my priorities?

Ugh! How did so much junk get into her hair?

With my hair, it seems.

Thank the maker for private refreshers, she thought as she stepped into the cycle.

It’s one of those air things? I hate those cycles. They always smell funny. And, it takes away from the joy of making R2 wait an hour for me to be ready. When exactly did this dream idiot become me, anyway?

3...2...1...And that’s over with. Wouldn’t want to keep it’s royal highness, the droid waiting any longer. It should be calling her something like that. She was born into royalty, was she not? How did she ever get into this whole mess, anyway?

Don’t ask me, I just sit back here watching you live my dream, without getting any input from me, whatsoever.

She sighed as she went to the mirror. It had been a long two weeks. And did her face show it! No matter how much she moisturized, her skin still felt dry! She didn’t want to even go into her hair. She idly considered cutting it at one time, but where was the fun in that? It felt right to have it long. It was also useful when she wanted it to hide her face from enemies.

No dear, my hair is barely past my shoulders, that’s not considered to be long. What was this person on, anyw-

She had looked into the mirror, and she looked almost exactly like Jaina. The hair was longer, true. In fact, it was a lot longer. Not quite the past your knees thing that Leia had going on, but it fell at least to her hips. It was darker too, Jaina noted. But the eyes were brown, like Jaina’s, the face would have been identical, if Jaina was a few years older, but not many. The face was also not as gaunt as Jaina’s currently was, but the resemblance was still striking.

My, this dream person is much better looking than I previously had suspected. Jaina wasn’t too surprised, after all, it was her dream, she should be in it. Even though the personality was way off, it was still her, right?

How annoying. That droid was making way a lot more noise than it should be able to. How did it expect her to get ready any faster with it yelling so much? Or, beeping is perhaps a more appropriate word to use. Not to mention the fact that all of her clothes on the ship were dated. She didn’t have a thing to wear!

Oh course, this dream person is also much stupider than I previously had suspected.

But then again, they’d be looking for her. It might be best to look a little but more like everyone else, which meant that the two thousand credit dress would be completely out of the question. As would all of the apparel with name tags sewed in, so that the drunken dignitaries could tell who she was. That left an old flight suit. No way. She would not be caught dead in that thing. Why was it even here?

Why am I even here?

But there just wasn’t anything else that was safe. They would never suspect her to be seen in that, of all things. Besides, the droid was getting way loud, and if that wasn’t annoying, then she didn’t know what was.

Yeah, ‘cause when people try to kill you, they don’t make that much noise.

Dressed in the old flight suit, she opened the door, and was immediately reprimanded for her actions by the droid. It wasn’t her fault that the servants hadn’t stocked the place with the latest fashions. This droid just doesn’t understand what it means to be me, she decided, as she walked out of the ship, and into the blazing sun.

No, Tatooine has two suns. I don’t think that the dream me is going to be very happy about the desert thing.

Sand. There was sand. Sand! She hated sand! It always got in her shoes, her hair, everything! At least it would only be a five minute walk to the nearest town, any longer and she’d have made the droid carry her. Sand!

Sand. Big deal. So it gets in hair, shoes,...eyes...hyperdrives... Or maybe she could see the dream person’s perspective. At least on the sand issue. And now I get to walk into town, how exciting....Why did this idiot wear heels?

It was night at the Jedi Academy, Tenel Ka sat at the comm station, waiting for her message to go through. Jacen had found Jaina, asleep again, in her room, which had finally gotten him to shut up about how she'd 'run away'. He had been convinced that his sister had left the planet. Tenel Ka attributed it to stress/overprotectiveness.

Jacen had become protective of her as well, though only recently. Tenel Ka assumed he was worried about her following whatever path it was that Jaina had taken. That was, however, extremely improbable. To put it simply, Jaina was depressed and lonely, while Tenel Ka had no reason to be that way. Tenel Ka actually enjoyed the attention, most of the time. She wasn't entirely sure why, though. If it had been coming from anybody else...

"BEEEEEP"

Wincing, Tenel Ka adjusted the volume of the terminal. Who had set it so high? Irrelevant. At least her message was through, and hopefully she'd be talking to him soon. He would naturally be surprised to hear from her, if anyone ever contacted him it was either Master Skywalker, Jacen, and perhaps Jaina. He also would be surprised that she'd found out how to reach him.

Although Tenel Ka loathed to ask anyone for help, that's what she had done. It was easy to convince her grandmother that it was absolutely essential to have the information, and now, almost three hours later, she had it.

"beeeeep"

Good. He was answering.

"What can I do for- Oh, it's nice to see you again, Princess."

"Greetings, Peckhum. Please don't ever call me 'Princess'."

The old trader looked tired, which reminded Tenel Ka that his sleeping schedule was a few hours ahead of hers.

"My apologies, Tenel Ka. Why'd you call? It isn't exactly daytime over there, if I remember correctly."

"It's not, but that is irrelevant. I need to ask you something."

"Sure, fire away."

"Where is Zekk?"

"I'm gonna hafta say that I don't know. I don't see him much anymore." Seeing the warrior's disappointment, he continued. "I only see him every five or six months lately. He was here two months ago."

"Do you have any idea as to where he might have gone?"

"Bounty hunting? He won't tell me much of what he does, he thinks it'll worry me."

"Are there any places that he visits frequently? Any spaceports?"

"I think he goes to all the usual places. Mos Eisley, Borgo Prime, Ord Mantell, that sort of thing. He said something 'bout Mos Eisley last time he was here."

"Thank you, I will look into them."

Tenel Ka groaned inwardly. This meant that she'd need to use her grandmother's contacts yet again, it she knew that it would take much longer than the search for Peckhum had.

"Now I have a question for you."

"Yes?"

That wasn't what she'd expected. And he seemed worried about something.

"How is Jaina doing? I mean, is she happy?"

How could he know what was going on here? Tenel Ka wondered.

"She's not doing well. She has withdrawn from the rest of us. Why do you ask?"

Peckhum now looked even more worried.

"I think the same thing's happening to Zekk."

"How so?"

"He's still feelin' guilty, 'bout Shadow Academy and all. I thought he was over it last year."

"Did he look healthy when you last saw him?"

"Yeah, same as ever. A little taller, I think. He's still growing. Is something wrong with Jaina?"

"She has lost a lot of weight. She doesn't appear healthy anymore."

"No problems there, that I could see. How bad is her weight?"

"I don't know how much she weighs, but it's not a lot. Did Zekk seem quiet to you?"

"Very. He would barely speak to me. I think he just came so I'd know he was still alive. He only stayed a day."

Tenel Ka frowned. This was not good, he might be on the same downward keel as Jaina.

"Did he say anything about Jaina, or anybody else here?"

"He wouldn't. He completely closed up when I mentioned Jaina. He feels the worst about what he did to her."

"What did he do?"

"Not much. At any rate, it wasn't enough to upset him the way it had. He threatened her with a light saber on Kashyyyk, and again at the Academy."

"He almost killed her here."

"He didn't tell me 'bout that. Although, that's probably why he'd get so sensitive when I mentioned her the times he came back before."

"It upsets her that she hasn't heard from him."

Peckhum looked surprised.

"He hasn't even spoken to her? He never..." Peckhum trailed off.

"Never what?"

"Well, you know how close him an' Jaina used to be, and he'd like to kill me if he knew I was telling you this, but he always had 'feelings' for her, and I was sure he was gonna tell her 'bout them on her fifteenth birthday. Guess he chickened out. What he say to her then, anyway?"

Tenel Ka frowned again. She could easily tell that Jaina'd had a crush on Zekk when they'd visited Coruscant, and it was even more obvious after the battle with Shadow Academy, and at Alderaan.

"He didn't come."

"He didn't even show up? He sent her something then, right?"

Tenel Ka shook her head. "She hasn't heard from him since Alderaan."

"With all the messages she used to send him? He didn't reply to any of them?"

"Not to any that I know of."

"Is she angry at him?"

"I don't believe so, she seems hurt."

"She should be angry, if he didn't even...Oh, Tenel Ka?"

"Yes?"

"I gotta get off, someone needs to send something. I'll talk to you some other time?"

"Of course. You will contact me if you hear anything about Zekk, correct?"

"Will do. Bye"

"Goodbye."

The connection terminated, leaving only static. Tenel Ka sighed as she turned it off. She would need to contact her grandmother, or another member of the royal family, but none of them had the influence of the Ta'a Chume. Not even Tenel Ka's parents intimidated so many people.

It would be best to do it tonight, when Jacen wasn't hovering over her shoulder. Besides, her grandmother's assistants had probably been monitoring her earlier conversation, telling the Ta'a Chume every word. They would probably be expecting her.

After filling in the appropriate fields, Tenel Ka did not have to wait long. As her grandmother's face appeared in the view screen, Tenel Ka quickly hid her fatigue.

"Yes granddaughter? This is the second time you have requested my help tonight."

"I need to locate another person. This one will take longer to find."

"Who is it?"

"An old friend of Jaina's. I do not believe he has a second name."

"Is it Zekk?"

"Yes."

Tenel Ka was not surprised. She suspected that her grandmother was monitoring all communications that went through Yavin IV.

"I will see that it is looked into. Now Tenel Ka, I have been meaning to speak with you on another matter."

"Yes, grandmother?"

Tenel Ka dreaded what she would hear next.

"You are sixteen years old, and the only heir to the throne, remember?"

"I remember."

"Your Jedi skills will be useful when you are queen. You accept this?"

"I have known that I would rule Hapes for a long time. I have accepted it."

"There is the question of finding you a suitable husband. You know this as well?"

"Of course I know this."

Tenel Ka was getting tired of her grandmother's stalling.

"You should be married soon."

Tenel Ka closed her eyes. She had known that this would come soon.

"I do not want to marry yet."

"Tradition demands it. Your father too old when he wed your mother, you should have a husband by the time you are eighteen. It would be better for you to begin searching now, so that you may have some input on the final decision."

Some input? Tenel Ka intended on deciding for herself, whether or not the Ta'a Chume approved.

"I will chose my own husband."

"You will chose from an appropriate list of suitors. You know that he must be royalty. You mother was barely acceptable, but I was lenient because your father loved her."

Tenel Ka fought to hold onto her composure. Her grandmother had no choice when her father married her mother, how could she say such a thing?

"I will not marry a Hapen."

"Why is that? A fellow member of Hapes would be my first choice for you."

"I am already related to all of the 'suitable' consorts. I will not have inbred children."

"Very well. You will not marry anyone from Danthomir, either."

"I never wanted to."

The Ta'a Chume looked shocked. "Why is that?"

"I do not want a slave for a husband."

"I see. It has gotten late, you should sleep now. I will give you a list of suitable persons in a few days."

"I will sleep soon enough. You will remember to look for Zekk, won't you?"

"I have people on it already. Good night, Tenel Ka."

"Good night, Grandmother."

She had decided to sell the droid. Sure, it didn't belong to her, and without it she had no way on getting off this rock, but it had lied to her. To her! It'll only be about five minutes, no need to bring along any supplies. 'Fraid not.

They'd been walking for close to an hour, she estimated. Well, maybe she could see why it hadn't thought it would take very long, it had looked pretty close from the ship. At least it was almost over now, she could get into the town, and figure something out from there.

Yeah, sell R2. Then you'll be stuck on this pitiful excuse for a planet. Can't say I won't be happy.

Now, it would only be five minutes. Good thing too, she was getting tired. And Thirsty. And her feet hurt. The droid had yelled at her choice of shoes, but she didn't have anything else. She'd been barefoot when running to the ship in the first place. Besides, not like it was easy to walk on sand anyway.

Not like it's any easier to sit here listening to you complain. I have a monster headache, thanks to you. My feet hurt! My hair's messed up! Ewwww, sand!

She was also feeling a little bit light headed. Between her dark hair, the two suns, and the lack of water, she wasn't exactly in the best shape for a who-knows-how-many kilometer hike.

Ahhh, the baby. Why didn't you just bring a hood or something? And some water?

Well? There usually are people that live in these types of settlements. Where are they? Oh, that's right. They happen to know that it's a bad thing to go for a walk in the burning heat. Stupid droid...

R2 would probably say the same thing about you. What's wrong with you? Can't you walk straight?

She stopped for a moment, her head was spinning. Maybe the heat really was to much. She could sit down for a minute, she was out of the sand, finally. Although, fainting in the middle of a strange place probably wasn't a good idea, it didn't look like she had much of a choice...

Oh goody. I get to wake up now, right? I swear, the first thing I do when I'm in control, is to get something to drink. Why do I have to live this, anyway?

Jaina woke up more slowly this time, still trying to get visions of bright sand and R2 out of her head.

"At least I missed evening meal." She muttered, standing up slowing, only to have to sit back down again.

I hate head rushes, she thought. After waiting a few seconds, she was able to stand. Minus the former bright spots and dizziness.

As she stood there, she decided not to go back to sleep for awhile, not wanting another trek through the desert. Jaina debated going to R2 and asking him questions, but his memory of the event, (if it was even real) was most likely erased a long time ago. To the kitchens it is, got nothing better to do. No new projects to spend all night working on. And, Jaina was actually hungry. That hadn't happened in a long time.

Before she left the room, Jaina looked in on her brother's adjoining quarters. Asleep, and snoring quite loudly. Honestly, she thought, what does Tenel Ka see in him? Then again, Tenel Ka probably didn't know about the snoring thing. Jaina walked as silently as she could towards the kitchens. Everyone else was, thankfully, asleep.

Jaina stopped when she got to the comm station. She heard voices, not all that strange, but why would Tenel Ka be there so late?

She could only hear bits and pieces of the conversation, and it was obvious to her that Tenel Ka was not enjoying herself.

"...Tradition demands.....husband........by eighteen...may have...input...."

"I....chose...."

The heck? Tenel Ka was getting married? Didn't sound too happy about it. Jacen probably wouldn't be overly pleased with it either. By eighteen, that did seem kind of young. Jaina moved closer to the comm station, hoping to be able to hear better.

"...You....remember....look for Zekk...."

"...people...already....Good night...."

"Good night....."

Had she just heard what she thought she'd heard? Why look for Zekk, did he get lost? Not like she cared anymore....

Jaina quickly hid around the corner as Tenel Ka left to go to her quarters. She was going to be married? She still couldn't believe that. But then again, now her brother might have a chance, if being a Jedi, and son to the New Republic's Chief of State/Princess of Alderaan made him a 'worthy' candidate. For his sake, she hoped so.

Jaina continued walking slowly towards the kitchens. Tenel Ka was looking for Zekk. Why would she do that? If Jaina remembered correctly, Tenel Ka didn't even like Zekk. So that ruled him out as being a possible husband for Tenel Ka, Jaina realized with relief.

Not that it mattered to her who he was with, they had been friends. Albeit, close friends, but not that kind of 'friends', despite what she had hoped for. But he'd moved on, so she should too. Not that there had been anything to move on from...

Jaina sighed. She didn't want to think about Zekk, that had been years ago. The past shouldn't bother her so much. It was, after all, the past. Can't change what's already happened. No use dwelling on it.

Why not dwell on the present? The dreams were getting weirder every time. Jaina wasn't resting, at all. She would leave her life to sleep, and enter someone else's. Not good for her, she was certain of that. And what was with that idiot, who, incidentally, looked a great deal like Jaina, but seemed to be just a bit lacking in the intelligence department?

Good thing she'd fainted, it seemed that Jaina only 'escaped' when her dream counterpart fell asleep. Good for avoiding her brother, bad for when she overslept.

And now she was eating again. Jaina didn't know why she'd stopped eating, but ever since that morning, she'd been craving food. Could be her body's way of letting her know that it was detrimental to her health to be running or hiking when she should be sleeping. Or she could be catching up with herself, finally.

Jaina hadn't put on a lot of weight, maybe half a kilogram. But she'd only started that morning, she shouldn't expect to be back to normal for a while. Lucky for her, all women gain faster than they lose weight, which wasn't a great deal for most other people. It would be beneficial in her case, she needed to bulk up for her nightly jogs.

At the kitchen, finally, Jaina first moved to get some more bread, but stopped. Why eat bread when you can have meat? She reasoned, taking the sweet-meats from the packages. In fact, why have just meat, when you can have meat and bread? She thought, gathering up the food.

Probably shouldn't eat here, might wake someone, Jaina thought. She couldn't go back to her room, her brother would surely wake up. Which left outside.

Jaina didn't mind. It had been ages since she'd gone outside without having to run from her brother. Sure, it was night, but she had her lightsaber. It almost never left her sight, naturally. She'd eat out there, and leave just before dawn. Then try to sleep a little before morning meal, just long enough to skip it. She just hoped that she'd wake up before the lecture. Wouldn't want to go through that again...

"Miss? Are you alright?"

No, I am not alright, you ignorant peasant. My ship crashed, no thanks to that stupid droid, my head hurts, I passed out because of the loathsome heat on this worthless peace of space rock, and I don't think it's possible for you to smell any worse, she thought. But considering her current situation, it probably wouldn't be best to insult a possible ally in leaving this place.

Everybody has a right to be stupid, but right now I'm abusing the privilege. Take a nap, I thought. Surely I'll wake up in time to avoid my 'friends'. I hate these dreams! And that guy really does stink. Haven't they heard of soap on Tatooine?

"Miss? Are you-"

She had decided that pretending to be comatose wouldn't be the best way to deal with the smelly, yet nice sounding human trying to revive her. She opened her eyes slowly, expecting to be still outside, or in a med center, or at least in a doctor's office. No such luck.

The room she was in, well, she couldn't exactly call it a room, since one of the walls was missing, making it open to the center of the town, or wherever she was. No wonder the man smelled, the entire place did! She couldn't figure out what it was, but then again, that was probably a good thing. There were pieces of machinery scattered around, some on tables, all in various stages of disassembly. She was lying on a dirty old bench of some kind with a cushion under her, which also had the stench on it.

"She's waking up, bring some water." The man addressed one of several people standing in the room, all of them staring expectantly at her, she noted with a degree of annoyance.

"Wh-where am I?"

I certainly hope you're not asking me. I don't even know why I'm here!

"You're in our repair center, in Anchorhead, on Tatooine." The man answered her, looking concerned. "Tell us your name, Miss."

Uh-oh, she needed a name. It would defeat the entire purpose of getting away if they found out where she was. A name. Why did she have to blank out at times like this?

How hard is it to tell him a fake name? Use your brain, provided you even have one. You can be Angelica, Rowan, Susan, or something. With that in mind, what is your name?

"I'm Angelica." She'd said the first thing that'd popped into her head. Funny, she'd never heard of that name before. No matter, all she had to do now was remember it.

No, I thought up that name. Maybe you can hear me, and if so, I mean to have a little talk with you about your ship, and why you are the idiot that you are.

"Well, Angelica, welcome back to the land of the living. What were you doing outside? In this heat, even foreigners should know to stay in."

She looked foreign? Was it that obvious? Was it the shoes? The clothes? The hair?

"My ship is damaged, it won't go. I needed some parts, I think. The droid knows what's wrong with it."

"Did you crash or something? We didn't see a droid when we brought you in. By the way, my name's Petyr."

And I thought 'Angelica' was a weird name. Did that droid leave me to die? I only fainted. Stupid droid, it was probably planning this from the start.

"It was right behind me when I passed out. Are you sure it's not there?"

The man knitted his eyebrows. "I didn't see one, it might of tried to find help, or it's possible the Jawas got it." He looked behind him at the small cluster of people still staring at her. "Where's that water? I won't ask you rejects again!"

I can see he's a real people person, thought Jaina. Why's he so nice to 'Angelica'?

He must be the owner, she concluded. Who else could be so rude to those people? And why are they staring? I don't look that bad.

"You two," Petyr snapped at two younger men. "Find the lady's droid. Now!"

She saw them leave with mumbled 'yes sir's, and wondered about Petyr's mental stability.

He sighed, turning back to her. "Sorry you had to see that, but these people don't do anything if you don't scream it at them."

"It's alright. If you would be so kind as to direct me to a hotel of some sort, or a place where I can repair my ship, so that I can be out of your way..."

"We don't have much in the way of hotels here, but we can repair your ship here, if it's still in one piece."

"One piece?"

"Those Jawas get into everything, but they might not of found it yet. I'll have some of my people find it for you. Finally, here you drink this." One Petyr's apparent underlings had brought some water to her. And it was about time, she thought.

She drank it quickly, even though she was still lying down. Where was that droid? It better of locked the ship when they left, or else...

"Sir?" The new voice was one of the young men sent to find the droid, she realized. "We found her droid."

"Well bring it in then, and I'll need to talk to you about finding appropriate lodgings for Miss Angelica." Petyr answered him, not ever looking away from her.

"Yes sir." He said, stepping aside to allow R2 to enter the room.

About time R2 decided to grace us with his presence. The next time I see him, I'm gonna give him a lecture on responsibility, or something equally boring.

After the usual beeps and warbles from the droid, she decided to get it some kind of up grade that would enable it to speak. But for now, she would just smile and nod.

"I hate to leave you Angelica, but I should send out some people to retrieve your ship. I leave you with these two, he," Petyr gestured toward the one who had spoken before. "can arrange for you a place to stay, his mother owns a boarding house where most foreigners go."

"That should be acceptable," She said, sitting up and glancing at the person he had indicated.

"Good bye for now, Miss Angelica." Ugh. Why does he keep calling me that, she wondered.

"Good bye, Petyr"

He left, and the rest of the people that had been watching them followed him. She stood up, and turned expectantly to the remaining two.

"Nice to meet you, Angelica," said the first young man. He had hair as dark as her own, but with icy blue eyes. He looked to be about her age. "This is Derek Loofgni'Yonna," He said with a degree of contempt, indicating the formerly silent young man who had blond hair and blue eyes as well, but they were only plain blue. She figured him to be about a year or so older than herself. "And I, am Anikan Skywalker."

"Tenel Ka? Your grandmother wants to talk to you." Said Raynar, who was standing in Tenel Ka's doorway accompanied by Lusa.

"I will be there shortly." Answered Tenel Ka. She dreaded the impending conversation; either her grandmother had found Zekk, which wouldn't be bad at all, but more likely the Ta'a Chume had come up with a list of possible fiancees, and Tenel Ka didn't want to even think about that sort of thing.

Raynar and Lusa left quietly, and Tenel Ka stood from where she had been braiding her hair, and tied the rest of it back with a small band of rubber. Silently praying to whoever was listening, she left for the comm station to discover why her grandmother wanted to see her.

"Yes, Grandmother?"

"I have some useful information for you."

"Useful to me, or useful to you?"

"Both of us, Tenel Ka"

Tenel Ka tried not to grimace too obviously. This meant that Ta'a Chume had thought up a few possible husbands already.

"More to you than to me, I presume."

"That may not be so at your wedding."

"Have you been presumptuous enough to set a date when there is no groom?"

"Yes I have, but that is not the purpose of my contacting you."

"What is it then?"

The Ta'a Chume gave her granddaughter a stern look. "You know what it is, don't pretend to be ignorant of it."

"I don't. Do you plan on telling me when I will be married, or will you tell me the night before?"

"Your birthday, that will give us the most time to weed out unsuitable prospects."

Not much, thought Tenel Ka. Usually it annoyed her that she was still only seventeen while the twins were eighteen, but now it gave her a couple extra months to be single. And it gave her a little more time to search for herself; she wouldn't have been surprised if her grandmother had found her a husband with out consulting the bride-to-be, and been forced to get married to a complete stranger on her birthday.

"It doesn't seem like much of a present."

"Depends on the groom, does it not?"

"I suppose so. Who have you selected?"

"The list has precisely twenty-three names. I am sending it to you now." As the Ta'a Chume said this, she pushed a few buttons on the console, and waited for her granddaughter's reaction.

The list instantly appeared on another screen, next to where the Ta'a Chume's head was. Tenel Ka was not pleased with the choices.

She had met about half of them in the past, mainly at social functions that she wouldn't of attended if it wasn't absolutely necessary. From what they had been like, Tenel Ka assumed the rest were the same. Rich, usually with one or two worlds to inherit, but even more boring than whatever reception she was in. Most had been shameless snobs, and one had even insulted her before realizing who she was, and had groveled for a full hour for her forgiveness. A few had been old enough to be her father, and had ex-wives who had been the source of their wealth. One person on the list was only thirteen years old, and Tenel Ka decided to let her grandmother know a couple age rules.

"These are unacceptable."

"Why is that?"

"Various reasons, including number sixteen."

"What is wrong with him?"

"Other than his being four years younger than me?"

"You would prefer an older man?"

"Not somebody who's thirty years older, such as number three."

"I take it you want some one closer to your own age."

"Wonderful guess. I also don't want anyone who has been married before."

Tenel Ka didn't want anyone at all, but she knew that her grandmother would either see her married, or possibly see her out of the family, leaving a murderous cousin of her father's on the thrown, as her own mother could not have any more children.

"I will find more choices for you then. But don't throw that one away yet, there might be someone you like."

Not likely, thought Tenel Ka. "I need to go get something for morning meal now, we will talk later?"

"Naturally, I will contact you again soon."

"Goodbye."

"For now, at least."

Tenel Ka printed out a copy of the list before shutting down the connection, and left for the cafeteria. As she walked out, she didn't see Jacen, who had been standing by the door the entire time.

No you aren't, was Jaina's first coherent thought after hearing the dark hared one introduce himself. Anikan Skywalker is dead, and he was a darksider before that, so this guy had to be lying.

"It's nice to meet you too, Anikan, Derek." Angelica answered. Maybe this place wouldn't be as bad as she'd thought, if there were more like these two hanging around.

"The pleasure's mine, Angelica." Said Derek, finally breaking his silence. "I would love to show you around town, in fact, if you're interested, I would be honored to take you out to dinner tonight."

No, Angelica cannot go out to dinner with you. She and I need to have a little talk about reality; she's not real, I am, I want out of this dream.

She couldn't miss Anikan's angry glare at Derek, which she could see no reason for. He had asked her to dinner, what was wrong with that? Not like she would actually go.

"I wish I could, but I should be finding a place to stay, and looking after my ship and droid."

Oh yeah, R2. He's been quiet lately, what's with that?

"Not a problem Angelica, there's always tomorrow."

She noticed Anikan's smug expression at her rejection of Derek, and remembered that he was the one with the boarding house.

"Of course, Derek. Anikan, didn't Petyr mention that your family had a place where I could stay?"

"Yes he did, I can take you to meet my mother, and have her find a room for you. Or you can stay here and spend time with Derek, I'm sure he would just love that." She caught the not so subtle warning glances Derek kept sending Anikan, and wondered if she was the real reason for all of the obvious tension between the two.

"I'll go with you, I can spend time with Derek later." Smiling at Derek as she spoke, she crossed over to where Anikan was standing, and looked up into his cool blue eyes. "Shall we?"

"After you, Angelica," He said, looking back at her. "Hate to leave ya Derek, but you know business."

"Just don't try to corrupt Angelica with your off color opinion of myself."

"I'll leave that to you, they never can stand you after one or two of your 'dinners'."

This should be fun, I get to watch a Vader wanna be compete with blondie for dream idiot's attention. What did I do to deserve this?

"Now, boys," She broke in, "Enough of that, all I want to do is get some rest." She walked outside of the room, or covered space, whatever she should call it. "I was walking for a pretty long time out there, and I'm sure that my droid could use some more power as well."

"I'll see that he gets it Angelica, while you go with Anikan." Derek readily offered.

"You have fun with the droid then," Anikan said, following her out. "It's this way." He told her, pointing to the left, as he started walking.

Good, good. She goes to sleep, I wake up and run inside to hide from everybody. I have I mentioned how much I hate these dreams?

From now on, I've completely departed from what's 'cannon' in the SW universe, so my numbers are different than what you may have heard before. Send me feedback and such.