The Salle [afternoon]

[momslilassassin]

Ben had noticed an influx of children as he made his usual rounds of exercise-coffee-ice cream shop this morning, but so far none had approached him.

Which was totally not why he was hiding in the salle this afternoon.

He figured if they were his hypothetical children, or any of his relatives, a little lightsaber practice wouldn't keep them away.

And he needed the practice.

So he put a sign on the door warning of live fire and began practicing with a series of remotes.

[OOC: Because I was tired of room posts. Open, especially for Skywalker spawn!]

Comments

[skycrawlers.livejournal.com]

"Papa!" a small, familiar voice said from the other side of the door. "Papa!"

[momslilassassin]

Ben cursed softly as a remote zapped him in the rear end as he turned toward the voice.

A quick questing in the Force and he recognized the little presence. His heart twisted just a little.

"Mara?"

[skycrawlers.livejournal.com]

"'course," she said, before remembering that was not a ladylike way to speak and she was ever so much more grown up than the last time she'd gone through the portal. "I mean yes. Are you busy busy?"

[momslilassassin]

"I'm not busy busy," Ben repeated, opening the door and giving the little girl a slightly tentative smile. "But you cannot have a lightsaber yet."

[skycrawlers.livejournal.com]

"But I'm so much bigger now!" Mara argued. "Please, Papa? Just to practice?"

[momslilassassin]

"We'll see what your mother says," Ben hedged, "but I don't think it's quite time yet."

[skycrawlers.livejournal.com]

"Please?" Mara tried, fixing her big blue eyes on his and trying to convince him of what an excellent idea this would be.

[momslilassassin]

"Are you using the Force on me, young lady?" Ben asked, pulling out his father's I'm Very Disappointed In You face.

[skycrawlers.livejournal.com]

Her eyes filled with tears because she knew lying to Dad would get her in even more trouble. She nodded.

[weetinyjedi.livejournal.com]

Jaina was searching for family members. The salle seemed to be a good place to check, and she squeed when she saw her cousin (though she didn't launch herself at him for a hug because of the lightsaber and all). "Ben! Ben! Hi!" she said.

[momslilassassin]

"Hi," Ben answered cautiously. At least she hadn't called him Papa? "Who are you?"

[weetinyjedi.livejournal.com]

Jaina rolled her eyes. "Duh, I'm Jaina, silly!" she said. Just not the Jaina he was used to.

[momslilassassin]

"Did you shrink?" Ben asked. "Because I saw you last night and you were all...normal sized for here."

[weetinyjedi.livejournal.com]

"I'm too little to go to school here," Jaina said. "But mom and dad did so they said I could go when I was old enough!"

[momslilassassin]

"And who are Mom and Dad?" Ben checked.

He had a bad feeling about this.

[weetinyjedi.livejournal.com]

Jaina gave Ben A Look. "Did you get hit on the head or something? Your dad and my mom are brother and sister."

[momslilassassin]

Oh, Ben knew that look. "Aunt Leia, of course," he said. "And Uncle Han, right?"

Please, please, please...

[iceblueeyesomg.livejournal.com]

It wasn't that she'd gotten away from Mom; she'd just gotten ahead of her. Mom would get here eventually, and anyway, it wasn't like she didn't know how to find Cassa.

She'd just wanted to hurry up and find another one of those familiar Force presences she'd sensed when she arrived.

"Uncle Ben," chirped the little barefoot girl in grass-stained Jedi robes when she bounced into the salle. Never mind the "cousin" in the other thread. "I knew you'd be here!"

[momslilassassin]

For a horrible moment, Ben wondered if his father was going to get remarried somewhere in the future.

"It's important to practice," he said with a slightly uneasy smile. "Who do you belong to?"

[iceblueeyesomg.livejournal.com]

"Silly," Cassa said with a giggle. "My dad's your cousin, you know that. Mom's here, and she'll probably find me soon."

[momslilassassin]

"Allana?" Ben replied, frowning. That didn't feel right, but two different Jacens had showed up here. Maybe someone had thought they were cute...

And that was when his brain shut down and refused to continue that line of thought.

[iceblueeyesomg.livejournal.com]

"Nooooooooooo, silly." That, in Cassa's world, was a perfectly ridiculous line of thought anyway, and she growled something affectionate in Tusken. Ben was her favorite uncle at home, too. "I'm Cassa. Can't you tell who I am?"

[momslilassassin]

Ben's emotional walls slammed up high and hard as he figured it out. There was no reason to inadvertently hit her with his feelings on the subject.

"You're Tahiri and Anakin's daughter."

[iceblueeyesomg.livejournal.com]

"I knew you'd figure it out," Cassa said, satisfied, but frowning at him slightly when she couldn't really sense him any more. "You're smart like that."

She was smart, too, her parents being who they were, and she asked, "Uncle Ben, are you okay?"

[momslilassassin]

"Fine," he said, giving her a bright, sincere smile.

Ben was one hell of a liar.

"Where's your mom?"