After leaving the outside of the comm station Jacen had wandered around, avoiding places where Tenel Ka might have been. He’d taken up a half-hearted search for his sister, but hadn’t found her.

He didn’t want to think about his friend’s impending marriage. It really wasn’t any of his business. If she was going to get married, she’d have to do it without him. Jacen was still upset that she hadn’t told him about it, but what right did he have to know?

He was her friend, but only her friend. That particular aspect of Tenel Ka’s life didn’t concern him. Well, it did concern him, but more than it should have. But Jacen felt he should at least be kept informed when it came to something as important as marriage.

He inwardly debated looking for her, Tenel Ka was probably wondering where he was. She might tell him about it, Jacen didn’t know why she hadn’t already. In a way, it was insulting that she hadn’t told him yet. And he had to see her sometime.

Not to mention he’d practically missed morning meal by moping around in hallways. Try as he might, Jacen wouldn’t be able to ignore his growling stomach for much longer. Besides, Tenel Ka and Lowie were probably waiting for him. Wouldn’t want them to think he’d turned into his sister.

Finally, thought Jaina as she woke up, it’d taken ‘Angelica’ and Anikan a good two hours to get to wherever it was she was staying. It would’ve taken only one hour, but Anikan had let Angelica get lost whenever possible. Jaina didn’t blame Angelica for being angry, but it was obvious to her that he only did it because she got angry.

When they’d gotten to Anikan’s boarding house, or whatever it was, Angelica had mentally ripped the place apart with her snobbish demeanor. Which naturally had upset Anikan, even though she hadn’t said a word. He didn’t introduce her to his mother, she’d been ‘working’, so he sent her to one of the larger rooms to rest.

After complaining and talking to herself for another twenty minutes, Angelica finally went to sleep. During this time, Jaina had been trying to fall asleep with in Angelica’s mind, but to no avail. It was hard to sleep with someone thinking in your head, and walking around in what felt like your body.

At least she’d woken up before her friends had found her. But Jaina knew she didn’t have much time to spare. Other trainees were already milling around, and after checking her chrono, she figured morning meal was almost over. The lecture would start in another hour, and Jaina knew she should probably eat something before she went.

In fact, Jaina was ravenous. She’d even had a large meal of sorts, before falling asleep in a shelter of the ever present ruble that remained from the Shadow Academy’s attack. But since her brother had yet to find her, Jaina assumed he was still eating. Which would make it difficult to eat something herself without his interference. Which meant she’d have to sneak in and out without his seeing her.

Jaina reached out with her senses, trying to find out where her wayward brother was. To her surprise, he hadn’t even made it to the cafeteria yet. He was headed in that direction, but he was almost never so late. She wondered if he’d slept in later than usual, or if Tenel Ka had told him about her impending marriage. It would be one of the few things that could cause him to lose sleep.

Her brother was extremely sensitive, a result of spending so much time with animals, she’d assumed. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how you looked at it, Jacen was also extremely good at hiding his sensitivity. Jaina had always felt the need to protect him when they were around other children, when they were younger. She’d used the excuse that she was the oldest and henceforth should be in charge, but he’d seen through it.

She knew he’d regretted her instance on ‘protecting’ him, but it wasn’t as annoying as the way he now acted around her. It could be a form of pay back, to make her see what it had been like for him, but Jaina more readily passed it of as his desire to ultimately run her life. Well, maybe not have total control, but definitely more than what Jaina had felt was necessary.

She should be leaving this spot, Jaina realized. It wouldn’t help at all if someone stumbled upon her, and she was getting increasingly hungrier by the minute. She’d just have to avoid her brother in the cafeteria, and take more food to her room. Not a bad plan, or so she thought. But if she wanted something other than bread and meat for morning meal, she’d have to leave now.

Tenel Ka was idly picking at her food, wondering where Jacen was. Lowbacca had left to go on one of his frequent trips around the planet in his skyhopper, leaving her alone to wait for their friend.

She was getting worried. It wasn’t like him to be so late; Jacen never missed a meal, if he could help it. Tenel Ka knew it was foolish to think he was in some kind of trouble, she would sense it if he was. More likely he’d gone after his sister, or eaten and left before she’d gotten to the cafeteria. She hoped he wasn’t in any trouble, she had enough to worry about already.

Her grandmother expected her to get married. Not bad in itself, but Tenel Ka would have liked to be able to chose when, where, and who, without interference. Well, there was no chance of that ever happening, being the heir to the richest kingdom in the galaxy wasn’t all fun and games. Well, it was games, but the political games which her grandmother and other family members seemed to thrive on.

There he is, thought Tenel Ka. Jacen had just entered the far door of the cafeteria, and automatically filled a tray with food, not looking at what he chose, then he went to sit down. Away from her, Tenel Ka noted with slight confusion. Was he avoiding her? Or had he only not seen her? She stood and went to join him, at least then she’d know why he was late, or if he was sitting without her for a reason.

Jacen was showing less enthusiasm than Tenel Ka had when eating his food. He stared at it for a while, frowning, and poked it with his fork. Tenel Ka had been sitting across from him for about thirty seconds, but he had yet to notice her.

“Jacen?”

No response

“Jacen? Are you all right?”

He looked up, startled to see her there. Jacen dropped his eyes back down to the plate before him. He wasn’t sure he wanted to talk to her yet.

“I’m ok. I slept in.”

He’s lying to me, was Tenel Ka’s first thought. He didn’t look like he’d slept in. Jacen appeared to...distracted to have slept in.

“Is anything else wrong?” She asked in a concerned voice.

“No. Everything’s fine.” He said, still examining his food. Now or never, he thought, doesn’t look like she’s gonna tell me, it wouldn’t hurt to ask.

“Are you sure?” Tenel Ka was not entirely convinced.

“I know I’m fine, but what about you?” He asked, making eye contact for the first time. “Anything new going on in your life? Your family? Any recent assignation attempts, plans for marriage, that sort of thing?”

Her breath caught in her throat. He knew. How could he know? She only found out about it last night, so how could he know? Tenel Ka hadn’t told anyone about it, she hadn’t even had any opportunities yet. The only way he could possibly know was if he’d been listening in on one of her conversations with her grandmother, but he wouldn’t of done that. It would of been an invasion of her privacy, and Jacen wasn’t the kind of person she’d expect to do that sort of thing.

After watching Tenel Ka’s expression go from panic to confusion to suspicion in a matter of seconds, Jacen decided to speak again.

“I overheard you this morning. I was waiting for you so we could go to morning meal together or something. Why didn’t you tell me?” His expression was plainly hurt.

“You didn’t give me a chance. I was going to.”

“When? The day you send the invitations? You knew it was happening.”

“I’ve known it was going to happen all my life, but not when. I was only contacted last night, I didn’t have time to tell you.” He thought she’d known about it beforehand? She’d only known about it being planned for about twelve hours. But she still had a lot of explaining to do.

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