Prelude to Eternity - Chapter 12 (part two)

At first, Xicanti thought that Xepher had perhaps learned of Trelna and gotten a few of the facts mixed up. "Whadaya mean I had sex with a beautiful girl an' didn't tell you?" he asked carefully.

Xeph only shook him all the harder. "I mean about you havin' that beautiful girl - who you sure as hell had sex with - out there now! And don't you even try tellin' me you didn't do anything, 'cause she said it herself! She said you spent last night tryin' to explain to her that you weren't vain! And I'll bet you've been with her other times too! She was the one that night I couldn't find you, wasn't she? Or was that a different one? You've probably been out doing things with her every night, and that's why you're so tired in the mornings!"

The young thief took one more look at his brother's angry face and began to laugh uncontrollably. Xepher glared at him even more. "An' you think it's funny, too!" he snapped. "Just look at you, laughing at how you deceived me!"

Xicanti collapsed on the floor, still laughing. "Ya got the wrong idea!" he howled, his sides hurting from the exertion. "We aren't lovers! We're just friends!" Quickly, he explained the situation to Xepher, leaving out Cora's role in it and the discussions he had had with the horse. Somehow, I don't think Spice'd like me to tell 'im 'bout those, he thought to himself. They were kinda private, most of 'em.

Xepher sat down beside him, now laughing nearly as hard as his brother. "Am I as stupid as I feel?"

"That depends on how stupid you feel!"

"Pretty stupid."

"Then I'd say almost."

The two soon finished their laughing bout and returned to the main part of the ship. They found Icky busy showing Cahra how well he could make his cup work, and could nearly lift other things to boot. "Hi Skanti and Xeppa!" the small boy said cheerfully as the twins approached him. "What you laugh at? Can I heard? Sounded funny!"

Xicanti and Xepher looked over at each other. :Ya wanna tell 'im?:

:Nope.:

:Good:

"Ya can know when you're older," Xeph told him. "It's big kid stuff."

Icky looked hurt. "But I big!" he protested, scrambling to his feet and drawing himself up to his fully height. This brought him to just higher than the twins' knees. "See? Half as tall as Xeppa!"

Xicanti bent down next to the small one. "You're real big that way," he explained to Icky, "but you need to get a bit older before you can hear about this sorta stuff. It's kinda outta your league."

Icky nodded sadly, finally understanding. "Nothing in my league," he mumbled. "I have league of my own. And own drummer too, Mamma say sometime. Say I march to him, not hers!"

Xicanti got up and patted Icky on the head. The little boy growled up at him in mock anger, showing his teeth. Xicanti growled back, making Icky laugh. The small one ran forward, looking for a hug. Xicanti was more than happy to give him one.

"He's a very talented kid," Cahra commented as Xicanti lifted Icky onto his shoulder. "He can sure make that cup go, too! I'd like to be able to do that someday, but I guess it's something you have to be born with."

Icky squirmed around in Xicanti's arms to look at her. "It okay, Ca-a!" he told her. "It just 'cause Darth Vader not your Gradadda. He mine, so I have magic powers. An he also Jasa an' Jaya an' Jasa N.'s Gradadda, so they get too. An' Skanti an' Xeppa's Dad! Some people not related to 'im get it, too. Like Lowie!" He pointed happily at the Wookiee, who was just coming in the door, Jacen in tow. "He Sidi!"

Lowie smiled at Icky. "That's my word for Grey Jedi," he explained to Cahra, who did not look as if she understood. "It's a combination of the first two letters of Sith and the last two of Jedi.

"But I didn't come to tell you about how I make up words for stuff. Dad says it's time to get off of the Falcon, so we can all head over to the Terra-Dome. We'll be living there for the next few days." He looked over at Xicanti. "And as soon as we get there, I've got to give you your training session for today. I promised Luke and Mara that I would, and they promised your Dad, so it's a whole chain of promises, and I don't want to be the one to break it."

Xicanti nodded as he followed Lowie out of the Falcon. As he reached the bottom of the ramp, he felt a tug on his sleeve. He found it to be Cahra.

The girl smiled up at him. "What's Lowie training you for?" she asked. "And why did he have to promise to do it?"

Carefully, Xicanti explained how his father had determined what his punishment would be, and how he was now bound to train every day for the next five years. "It's less a day than most trainees get, most times," he told her, "but I have to do it every day, with no breaks whatsoever, so it's pretty hard. I've learned an awful lot in the past two months, though, so they're startin' to wonder what else they can teach me. Other than boring history lessons on Jedi who died a long time ago, that is. And other stuff like that."

"I don't know about that being boring," Cahra said thoughtfully. "It might be kind of interesting. Some of them must have been your ancestors, and I'll bet they did lots of great stuff."

"They probably did. But they're dead, and the only dead Jedi who ever really come back are Ben, Yoda, and Dad. So I wouldn't really need to know about them, since I'll likely never meet them till I'm dead. And I'm hopin' that won't be for a while yet!"

Cahra laughed at that. "Same here! I learned all of the stuff I really needed to know from the 'droids, without going to school, so I've never really had many friends. The only other people my age I've been exposed to have been rich, spoiled brats who I couldn't care less about, as friends or otherwise. I'd hate to loose the person I regard as my best friend." She said the last part tentatively, as though she was none too sure of his reaction.

Xicanti smiled. "Thanks," he replied. "I guess you'd be the best friend I have too. You an' Xeph."

Chewie spent the rest of the trip to the Terra-Dome explaining his beloved planet and it's ecology. Tatooine was not much to look at at first glance, yet the way Chewie described it made it sound the most wonderful place in all the Universe. As they walked past certain places, the Wookiee Lord of Tatooine was careful to explain them. "There's the cantina where everything got started," he told them, his voice thick with emotion. "I initiated the transport of Luke and Ben to Alderaan from one of the booths in there. I remember it like it was yesterday. I was talking to Ben, while Han was off in the booth with a blonde on his lap - they were making out - and Luke was apparently trying to get himself killed by annoying various aliens around the place. Ben chopped off the arm of the one who was trying to kill him, though, so he lived to see another day. A good thing for the galaxy!

"Right over there is the Jawan Head Office. The Jawas run their main machinery sales from there. It's a very dirty place, but I still spend a lot of time in there. I'm pretty good friends with the Director of Financial Aficianado, Roke. He came up with his title himself, by the way. It's essentially meaningless; it just means he's in charge. He's a Jawa, like all of them, but he speaks Basic well enough. Almost too well when it comes to the swear words. He loves to cuss more than anything else. Me and him spend hours sometimes just sitting there seeing who can swear better, or insult the other the most. We're evenly matched, so it's wonderful to fight like that. Much safer than blowing each others heads off with blasters, too."

"That's all in how you look at it," Han grumbled to himself.

As the small group completed the hike to the Terra-Dome, Chewie imparted a surprising amount of information about the sand dunes of Tatooine, (or, as he frequently called it, Tat), and the process of moisture farming. The distances flew by, and they were at Chewie's home before they knew it.

"There it is!" the Wookiee Lord proclaimed proudly. "The Mos Eisley Terra-Dome, and my home!"

The dome was clear, and so allowed everyone a good view of what was inside. The whole place was overgrown with trees and vines. "It's a jungle in there!" Cahra murmured. "Doesn't it take an awful lot of water?"

"Tons!" came the reply. "But you see, we import most of ours from off-planet, so it isn't really wasting it. That was one of the first things I did when I conquered Tat - I got the water situation under control. Me and Malla - that's my wife - have determined that there are large amounts of water beneath the surface of the planet, but we need to find ways to get at them. Until then, we import water from planets that have too much of it and sell it for cheap. The Jawas generously offered to pay a small tax to me to pay for the water. Nice of them, huh? Of course, they'd never have gone for it if I hadn't gotten Roke as drunk as a bantha, but that's beside the point."

Chewie led the group into his Dome, evidently pleased at how Xicanti, Xepher and Cahra looked at it. "It's really a wonderful place to live," he told the three. "All of the actual rooms are up in the trees, too, so that there's more room to walk around on the ground. It's patterned after Kashyyyk, which is the Wookiee home world."

As if on queue, an earth-shattering roar split the air as soon as the Wookiee Lord was done talking. Xicanti looked around, startled, although Chewie didn't seem to be put aside by it. "What is that?" the boy gasped.

Chewie looked at him absently. "What? Oh, the roar. That'd be the Rancor. I'll bet Sirrah's rubbing her belly for her again. She always roars happily when Sirri does that for her."

"That was happily?"

"Yup. You should just hear her when she gets mad. Luckily, we've only had that happen once or twice."

"I don't think I want to be around when it happens next," Xepher murmured to Xicanti and Cahra, who both nodded in agreement. No one wants to get on a Rancor's bad side!

As they walked along further through the Dome, strange birds flew above their heads, while lush plants grew beneath their feet. Xicanti was amazed at how much the strange place held. It's right in the center of a planet where water is a supreme luxury, yet it has no trouble growing. And no one objects to the amount of water it takes up, either. Chewie must be a good ruler for the people to let him have a home like this.

:Oh, he is!: came a small mind-voice from above. :The people here have thoroughly embraced him, he's done such a good job. He's more than doubled the profits of the merchants and smugglers in the months he's been here, and built a variety of other Terra-Domes over the rest of the planet. And, he's discovered that there is water here, and lots of it at that. The way he's going at it, water won't be so scarce in a few months.:

Xicanti looked around, attempting to find the voice's owner. :Where are you?: he asked into the mind, which made no attempt to disengage itself from his.

:Right here!: A furry little creature leapt onto Xicanti's shoulder, chattering happily at his new perch.

Cahra grinned as the creature got a firmer grip on Xicanti's shoulder. "He likes you!" she exclaimed. The creature looked over at her and nodded vigorously.

Chewie also grinned. "He's called a monkey," the Wookiee Lord explained to the boy, who was trying to get a better look at the little fellow on his shoulder. "His species was recently formed through selective breeding at one of those Corellian institutes, and I thought it'd be good to get a few. I didn't count on how quickly they breed, though; I had three a few months ago, and now I have twenty! Worse than womp rats, these monkeys!" He reached out and scratched the head of little one on Xicanti's shoulder. "You can have this one, if you want him. He's nothing but trouble. Malla calls him Trax, since he's apt to sneak into the kitchen, steal our food, then sneak out again leaving nothing but his tracks. They've become his trademark."

Xicanti reached up to scratch Trax's little head too. "Thanks!" he whispered in awe. "He's wonderful."

:You might think differently about me after you've had me for awhile!: Trax crooned gleefully. :I cause lots of trouble. But I'll try to be nicer for you, since you talk to me. No one's ever actually bothered to talk to me before, not even my family.:

Before the odd little group had gotten much further, they received another surprise. A small, brown ball of fur leaped out at Lowie, squealing in triumph as it knocked him to the ground. Icky, startled by the sudden movement, threw himself at Han's leg, nearly knocking him down. "Hey Anakin, it's okay!" Han soothed his son. "It's just Sirra, that's all."

Icky took his head out from behind Han's leg and peered at the two Wookiees grappling on the ground. "Okie dokie!" he announced, pleased to have learned that the ball was no more than his furry little friend.

Lowie was nowhere near as pleased as Icky. "Sirri!" he shouted angrily. "Get offa me!"

Sirra surprised everyone by doing just as her brother asked. She quickly untangled herself from Lowie and ran to Chewie's arms. "Daddy!" she cried happily, giggling as Chewie hoisted her up. "It's a good thing you're back. Mommy misses you. And so do I. I missed Lowie too, but he's not very tolerant with me, so I don't think I'm going to miss him anymore when he goes away again!" She leaned over and stuck her tongue out at her brother as he picked himself up off of the ground. He responded with like kind, bringing peals of laughter from the tiny Wookiee. "He isn't so bad, though," she commented absently to her father. "I sortta like him anyways, even if he is really mean to me sometimes."

"You know, I feel the exact same way!" Chewie exclaimed, as if astonished. "Lowie may be rather annoying, but he's still a fairly good son to have around at times."

Lowie glared at his father and sister. "Thank you both so much," he muttered.

Chewie grinned at his son. "Don't worry about it, Low!" he told the little Wookiee. "We're just kidding. I've never found you annoying."

"I have!" Sirra burst out happily. Lowie simply glared at her and asked her if she wanted to end up as a frog. "I don't think you can do that," Sirri replied carefully, "but just in case, I'll leave you alone!" She squirmed out of Chewie's hold and skipped over to see the rest of the group.

"Hello!" she said cheerfully to Xepher and Cahra. "I haven't met you two before, even though I know all the rest really well. Except that one -" she pointed to Xicanti "- who I've only met once. Would you mind telling me who you are? Oh, and why does the Xicanti one have Trax?"

"Your dad gave him to him," Cahra replied, bending down to Sirri's eye level. "As for who we are, I'm Cahra and that's Xepher. He's Xicanti's twin brother."

Sirrah nodded. "I figured it was something like that," she replied. "They look a lot alike. I don't have any clue where you came from, though. I don't mean that in a bad way, though. I'm sure you're a very nice person."

"Get your Dad to explain it all to you," Han grumbled. "He was the one who smuggled her onto my ship and stuck her in with my ale."

Sirrah gave a small gasp. "Daddy?" she asked tentatively. "Did you actually desecrate Uncle Han's ale?"

Chewie snorted. "I didn't desecrate it, Sirri," he told his daughter. "It's a bit of a long story, though, so I'll wait till we've got some time before I tell it to you. Why don't you tell me what you've been up to on the walk to the lift?"

"Okay!" Sirri began in earnest, her story growing more disconnected as it progressed. "I was just visiting with Bessie when Mommy called and told me you'd gotten back," she concluded, "so I stopped rubbing her tummy and came to meet you. She didn't like that, though, and started to roar at me and get all upset. So I had to stop and give her a little bit more of a rub, and then I left and jumped all over Lowie!"

Lowie mumbled something obscene about Sirra's greetings as his little sister smiled at him. "It's okay, Lowie!" she told him, taking one of his paws. "Remember how I always tell you I'll never, ever, ever act normal? This's just one of the things that goes with that!"

Lowie was not greatly cheered, but still he returned her smile and carried her to the lift.

Malla was far too busy with the affairs of the Terra-Dome to come and meet them herself as they arrived in the tree houses the Wookiees called home. "She'll come and talk to you later," Chewie explained apologetically. "The trees take a lot to keep up, and Malla has a certain talent with them. No one else on all of Tatooine can do as good a job as she can."

Malla was occupied until well after midnight; Lowie bestowed apologies on her behalf. "She really wants to meet the two of you," he told Xepher and Xicanti. "She says anyone who can upset Mara Jade as much as you deserves the respect of Wookiees everywhere." He grinned. "I agree with her! Mara's sure mad at you two for being born, since it makes her sort of related to Luke and all. She hates him almost as much as she hates Lando."

The twins had been given one of the larger rooms in the complex. The structure was situated in a grand tree Xicanti estimated to be no less than a thousand years old. "How did you get it here?" he asked Lowie as he walked around its massive trunk. "It must have taken a lot of work."

Lowie shrugged. "Not really. Just a lot of money, and we've got that now. The trade's been going great; pretty much everything's doubled in the past few months."

Xicanti nodded. "I know."

Lowie looked at him strangely, but did not comment.

The chamber was, like most Wookiee rooms, simple in design. Two pallets lay on the floor; a pitcher of water sat on a small table in the center; some trunks had been placed in one corner. It was not terribly large when compared to the rooms in the Palace, but it was enough for the two of them.

Xepher flopped down on the left pallet immediately, exhausted. "Tatooine's a great place, huh?" he commented as he stretched out, staring at the ceiling.

Xicanti did likewise, Trax curling up into a ball beside him. "Yeah. I've never seen so much open space in all my life! An' the Dome's gotta be like that paradise thing everyone seems to believe in. I mean, look at it! Natural stuff everywhere, with the outer layer the only thing not made by nature."

Xeph yawned and rolled over to face his brother. "I think it'd be a good place to stay, sort of," he commented absently. "You know, to live. Luke used to live here, an' he hated it, but Chewie an' his family love it. They probably couldn't turn their backs on it if their lives depended on it." He let out a lopsided grin, not unlike one of Han's, and added, "Besides, I've never really trusted Luke's opinion."

"And when someone like Chewie's this dedicated to someplace, you know it's gotta be good." Xicanti let out a yawn of his own and closed his eyes. "I'm gonna sleep now, 'kay Xeph? Lowie works me harder than Luke an' Mara do."

Xicanti sensed his brother nod. "Okay. I guess I'll sleep too, then. There's not that much to do when you're the only person in a room who ain't sleepin'."

The twins were asleep almost before either knew it, leaving the ever-diligent Trax the only conscious one.

The little monkey stuck his nose into the air and took a good look around. "I've done it, master!" Trax whispered in the language of his species. "I've managed to get myself adopted by the boy!"

From out of nowhere, a voice replied. "You've done well, Trax," it complimented the monkey. "I know you won't fail me. You do, of course, understand how important this task is?"

Trax nodded. "You explained it to me well enough. I just have to -"

:Stop!: boomed the voice directly into the monkey's mind. Trax did as he was told, freezing in place. "You must not speak of it here and now," the voice told him. "We know not who could be listening. We wouldn't want any of our enemies to catch on to the plan, now would we?"

Trax shook his head. "No, master!" he replied, unsure of why 'the enemies' could not discover this particular plan.

"I'm glad you understand. I'll be getting in touch with you sometime within the next few weeks to learn of your progress. Until then, you'll be on your own."

Trax nodded. "I won't fail you, master!" he announced, even though he could sense that the voice's owner had left. "I'll take the greatest care ever!"

Copyright 1998, Jadis Darkmore