"'Wake!" the face cried happily. "He 'wake!"
Xicanti raised himself to his elbows, forcing the face to scurry away quickly. From this vantagepoint, the former thief could see that the face belonged to a small body, which belonged to a small boy. Said boy grinned broadly and announced once more, "He wake! Lowie, he wake!"
Looking about the room, Xicanti noted that this odd boy was not alone. With him were Lowie, Jacen, and? Jacen? Startled, the former thief did a double take. There are two Jacens, he observed. Two of him. Another strange occurrence.
Seeing the look on his friend's face, Lowie grinned at him. "The one on the left is Jacen Nathaniel," he told Xicanti. "We call him Jacen N. He was a big surprise for Han and Leia. They'd thought they were just having twins! Hence the un-original name. Han was still rather in shock when he was filling out the information on the certificates, so he just called the other one Jacen as well. That was the name they'd decided upon, you see, and it was the only other one in his head."
Jacen N. looked over at his uncle. "I wish I coulda seen the look on Dad's face when I popped out!" he chortled. "I'll bet he was real surprised! I know Mom was. She's always told me she wasn't expecting me, and that I was her 'big surprise'." He grinned again. "That's fine with me! I just wish it would make it so I didn't get in so much trouble when I did things like trade Dad's underwear for Stormtrooper stuff."
Jacen shoved his brother. "Don't you try and take the credit for that!" he cried angrily. "It was all my idea, and you know it!"
"Was not!" Jacen N. shot back. The two began to argue, and were soon shoving each other all over the room. In the end, it was the small boy who broke it up. "No fight! No fight!" he shouted, throwing himself into the middle of it. "Icky no like fights!" Having proclaimed that, he crossed his small arms over his chest and stuck his lower lip out.
Lowie grinned. "Don't worry, Icky," he told the little one. "They wouldn't really have hurt each other. It's sometimes hard to believe, I know, but they're pretty good friends."
"Pretty good? Pretty good?" Jacen, (or was it Jacen N.?), cried angrily. "Me and my brother is the very best of friends! Us and Jaina! Ain't we, Jasa?"
Jacen nodded. "Yup!" he agreed. "The very best of friends! Ever since we were in the womb!" He grinned. "Mom used to talk to us, you know. Using the Force. She told us that she never even sensed him -" he pointed at Jacen N. "- until just before he was born." He shrugged. "Strange, huh?"
Xicanti nodded. "Very. How did she get her thoughts down into your minds?"
Jacen shrugged. "Using her own mind, I guess. She has one, you know. Everyone has one." He grinned at Icky. "Even him!"
Icky looked slightly annoyed. "Icky Wookiee!" he proclaimed. "Wookiee got no mind!"
Lowie glared down at him. "Are you sure about that?"
Icky glanced up at the little Wookiee. It seemed he had forgotten Lowie was there. "No sure," he replied. "I only Wookiee with no mind!" He grinned, displaying a jumble of brand new teeth.
"The only honorary Wookiee with no mind," Jacen corrected him. "You're not a real Wookiee, Icky!"
"I is too!" Icky shouted. "I is a true, short Wookiee! Ask Chewie! He say I real Wookiee!"
"Uncle Chewie was just trying to make you feel better, Icky," Jacen N. told the small boy. "He realizes that not everyone can be great and powerful Wookiees who are capable of ruling the galaxy and fixing starships, like him. So he told you you could be a real Wookiee so you wouldn't feel too bad about not doing those things." He grinned at Icky. "Besides, you still chew on wood, just like most Wookiees do!" Seeing Xicanti's confused expression, he added, "Chewing on wood keeps their teeth sharp."
Xicanti nodded, understanding. "Do you chew on wood?" he asked Lowie.
The little Wookiee shook his head. "Nope. I used to have to when I was littler, but now that I'm getting older, I don't have to anymore. It's only Wooklings and Wookiees over the age of seven hundred who really and truly have to chew. Some get addicted to it, though, and have trouble stopping. My sister Sirrah's like that. She should have stopped chewing a long time ago, but she still goes at it."
As if on cue, a small, furry ball of hair came shooting into the room. Icky shrieked and dived under the bed, while Lowie was born to the ground by the wailing ball. "Sirri!" he shouted angrily. "Get offa me!"
The ball, (who seemed to be none other than the aforementioned Sirrah), decided not to oblige him. She rolled around all over Lowie, grunting and moaning and making a lot of nose, Lowie struggling to get her off all the while. Such things as, "Stop yanking my arm hair!" and "Don't put your nose there!" and "You annoying little runt!" came wafting up from the floor where the two Wookiees struggled. Sirri must be a very young Wookiee, Xicanti speculated. She's very? round. Sirri paid no attention to her brother's pleas. She kept on top of him, refusing to leave until she felt like it. By that time, Lowie was no longer mad at her.
Sirri let out a bunch of groans and whistles, which Lowie winced at. "She says I really shouldn't be complaining," he told everyone, "since she's my little sister, and big brothers are supposed to love little sisters and protect them and not get mad at them when they do bad stuff." He turned back to Sirri. "That may be true, Sirr, but it was made up for humans, not Wookiees!"
Sirri looked up at her older brother innocently. "And why shouldn't it apply to Wookiees too?" she demanded in slow, halting Basic. "We're just as good as humans, and you know it!"
Lowie rolled his eyes. "She's normally a very good Wookling," he apologized to Xicanti. "She's just acting up because she's never met you before." He picked up the little ball of hair under the arms and held her out to Xicanti. "Sirri," he said patiently, "this is Xicanti. Now that you've met him, are you going to stop?"
Sirri bounced up and down in his arms, laughing happily. "Never!" she shrieked. "I'll never stop! Never never never!" Having proclaimed that, she jumped down and ran over to talk to Icky, who had emerged from under the bed. The two were soon involved in some sort of game, oblivious to the others in the room.
Xicanti watched the two playing, paying especial attentions to Sirri. "How old is she?" he asked Lowie.
The little Wookiee shrugged. "Probably about two or three now. She wouldn't be too much older than that. I don't really remember how many years it's been. It's all due to an exercise my Dad taught me. You just don't pay attention to any years other than the number you yourself have been alive for."
"And what does that do?" Xicanti asked his friend.
"It gets Wookiees who live around humans and other shorter lived beings used to living apart from everyone else, at least in the sense of time. You see, it's very hard for us to live out our lives, knowing that everyone we know and love who doesn't have a similar life span will drop off and die while we're still relatively young. Dad'll have to stop coming to visit Uncle Han and Leia and all them once they reach the age of about sixty. He won't want to, of course. He'll just have to distance himself from them emotionally, so it doesn't hurt him as much when they die."
All of this sounded terrible to the young thief. "It must be lonely to live like that," he speculated.
Lowie nodded. "It probably will be. Luckily, even Wookiees die eventually. I don't think poor Dad would be able to stand that happening too many times. He's sensitive in those areas."
Xicanti decided to go and see about his twin brother, Xepher, after breakfast. Lowie had informed him that Xeph was still asleep, and had not yet been told of his brother's return. Xicanti decided it would be best to tell him in person. And so, with breakfast shortly behind him, he headed off to the blue room Xepher had been given.
From Xicanti's green room, it wasn't such a long walk. He had, however, been in the kitchen, trying to convince the cooking 'droid that he deserved something better than the glop of porridge and cup of Rancor milk she had offered him, and so was presented with a walk of about twenty minutes. This place's gotta be the largest in the known Universe! he thought to himself as he strode down the numerous halls and corridors which made up the Imperial Palace on Coruscant.
Xicanti had had the good fortune to have met many of the people who lived within the Palace, and had found them to be quite hospitable. The human servants were all friendly, and more than ready to share a joke or two. The guards were the same; he often sat in on their training exercises, and pointed out strategic weaknesses in their defense of the Palace. The few nobles and philosophers he had come into contact with questioned him greatly on the living conditions of Coruscant's poor population. Most left murmuring things such as "Terrible!" or "Horrendous!"
They know nothing, really, Xicanti thought as he watched them go. All they can do is speculate.
The speculations of these people had, unfortunately, spent twenty minutes of his time. "Wonderful," he murmured to himself. "I've gotta wait even longer to tell my brother I'm alive. Better hurry." And so the former thief hurried down the hallway to his brother's room, trying desperately not to be noticed by the others in the hallway.
Xicanti, trying so very hard not to be noticed, completely forgot that he would need to notice other people in order to get out of their way. And so it was that the former thief came around a corner to collide with a golden-haired noblewoman wearing an elaborate silken gown.
It was evident that she was not pleased with having been bumped into. "Why, you bumbling oaf!" she shouted. Without bothering to look at Xicanti, she rubbed at her gown, dusting off what was likely imaginary dirt. Once she had seen that it was undamaged, she snapped at him, "You're lucky you didn't do any harm to it, you meddlesome boy! This dress cost me well over a thousand credits!"
Xicanti really was sorry about bashing into her, and decided that the best thing to do would be to apologize quickly and simply. She doesn't deserve it, he grumbled to himself. I almost wish I'd managed to rip that dress of hers. Almost. "I'm very sorry, milady," he mumbled. "If there is anything I can do to redeem myself in your eyes, just tell me, and I shall do it."
Xicanti decided he had said that rather well. As one of Rettar's housebreakers, he had had a few glimpses of noble Ladies, and had found that the best way to stay on their good side was to offer them some service.
The Lady grumbled something inaudible, then announced loudly, "I don't think there's likely to be anything I'd need from one such as yourself, bumbling as you are, but if I think of anything, I'll be sure to let you know."
She bought it! Xicanti thought triumphantly. She's not going to get all mad and cause a scene. "I thank you, Milady," he replied as gracefully as he could, making to go upon his way.
The Lady, having completed the full survey of her gown, looked up at him, presumably to speed him along his way. Her demeanor changed completely as soon as she set eyes upon him. A smile coming to her face quite suddenly, she said, "Why, you may be able to do something for me after all!" She motioned for him to stay. "Will you escort me back to my chambers?"
Xicanti nodded dumbly, unable to understand why the Lady had experienced such a sudden change of heart. Unsure of what he should do, he offered her his arm. She took it, evidently pleased that he had done so. "It's this way, and not far," she purred, directing him.
Xicanti nodded, still unsure of the proper procedures, then asked, "May I have the pleasure of knowing whom it is I am escorting?"
The Lady laughed at this. "Perhaps you aren't as bumbling as I had thought," she said thoughtfully, looking straight into his eyes as she spoke. "I am Lady Trelna of Regin, the ambassador of my people." Trelna smiled at him. "May I have the pleasure of knowing who I am being escorted by?"
The former thief smiled back. "I am known as Xicanti," he replied.
Trelna seemed pleased at this, as she had at all the rest of Xicanti's actions. She gripped his arm a little tighter, stealing a glance at him. The, "I want to kill you for being so stupid" look had left her eyes completely; it was now replaced by one Xicanti did not recognize.
Trelna had spoken truthfully when she had told him that it was not far to her room. Within minutes, the pair had reached the door the Lady claimed for her own.
Deciding to copy the gesture he had used on Leia the previous night, Xicanti stepped forward and held the door for Trelna, giving her a small bow. Unlike Leia, Trelna seemed to find nothing funny about the situation. She smiled at him once more, then motioned for him to follow her into the room. Not wanting to seem rude, he did so.
The room was very large indeed. It was a suite, with a living room, bedroom and bathroom apparent, and hints of other rooms beyond those. Xicanti was awed by it all. He had been in many rooms like this for thieving purposes, but had never examined one fully.
Copyright 1998, Jadis Darkmore
