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A soft rain turned the endless traffic of Coruscant into a pleasant blur and dripped from the balcony in an attempt to match the rhythm of Dru's restlessly tapping fingers. He clutched the railing and leaned into the night, letting the drizzle soak his hair and run down his neck to dampen his rising irritation. Alee was two days late returning from Agamar, and General Cracken's warning of the possible delay had not made the time pass one nanosecond faster. A hundred terrible possibilities flashed through his mind. He slammed his hand against the railing and wheeled around to go back inside the apartment.
Druce yanked the thong from his black hair and squeezed the water from his ponytail. He stared at the length of slender leather in his palm for a moment, then balled it up and threw it on the lounge table with a snort of disgust. He plopped down in his favorite repulsor chair, stretched his legs out and leaned back to let his head rest on the top of the chair, absently running his fingers through his hair while he stared blankly at the glowglobes floating near the ceiling.
A commotion in the entry jerked him to his feet like a marionette. Commotion? Alee was always silent to the point of stealth when she came in. He heard her call that she'd be a minute. Something about boxes from the taxi? Dru scowled and crossed his arms. What was that woman up to now?
A silver droid of human design stepped into the salon and stopped, turning its head in twitching little movements to study the apartment. Dru quirked an eyebrow. What was a droid doing here? Alee only tolerated them at best.
"Hello," the droid clipped. "I am T-8D4, human-cyborg relations. You can call me Tate."
Dru held up his hand for silence and the droid complied. He said. "Go help Alee with whatever she's retrieving." The droid cocked its head. Dru barked, "Now!" and the droid startled, then shuffled out of the room.
Dru stared mutely at the small figure that had been hiding behind the droid. He should be used to Alee showing up with orphans in tow by now, but they didn't usually come with droids and luggage. The child, maybe five or six years old, with braided hair that threatened to be red, and a black outfit that mimicked Luke Skywalker's, stepped tentatively forward. Her eyes grew large as they travelled up the length of Dru's 1.9 meter frame. Amusement tugged at his mouth. Children often reacted to his height like he was an oversized Wookiee. He crouched and beckoned the little girl forward.
She stared silently at Druce for a moment, then, as if an activate-command had suddenly reached her databank, she moved forward quickly, with a meager attempt to keep a bounce out of her step. She stopped in front of Dru and scanned his features, while he did the same. Her hand flitted through the air and tucked a loose strand of hair behind his ear.
"I used to let my hair fall down like that," the child informed him, "but Tante Alee said a Jedi always has to be able to see what's coming, so she taught me how to braid my hair just like hers."
Dru raised both eyebrows in mock astonishment. "You mean you're not Alee? I thought she had just shrunk and had grown a different color of eyes."
The child planted her hands on her hips and scowled. "I'm Shanni. You're Tante Alee's lifemate, Oncle Dru. You know I'm not her. Didn't you get our message?"
Dru studied the little girl silently. Message? He'd have to talk to General Cracken about Intel's courier system and their annoying 'need-to-know' approach. Surely a midget calling him 'Oncle' qualified as something he had a right to be forewarned about.
Shanni sighed and shook her head sadly, imitating how Alee might react. "You didn't get the message. Then you don't know what happened on Agamar. My mommy and papa were killed." She paused, then her eyes cleared and she grew suddenly animated. "But Tante Alee and Luke Skywalker went into that old castle and made the archae-archae ... workers real mad when they wrecked the whole place looking for a way to destroy that nasty old ball and they found a book that helped them but they got all hurt but they're okay because they're Jedi and can move real fast. Luke had to go inside the ball to turn it into dust the way it dusted my mommy and papa and that almost killed him but Tante Alee told a story that made him feel better and then his girlfriend came and they kissed and Tante Alee cried when she saw the holo from Grandmere Rein. And the soldiers caught some bad men who were trying to kill Luke and found there was a spy named Greeg at the spaceport but now he's in jail and Tante Alee said --"
Dru pressed his index finger against her lips. "Take a breath, Shanni. It's very nice to meet you, but my ears can't listen as fast as you can talk."
Shanni took a deep breath and let it out slowly. When Druce smiled at her exaggerated obedience, her face lit up.
"Tante Alee's right," the child said. "When you smile you look like a vidstar. She told me the whole story about meeting you and how you fell in love and ..."
Feeling Alee's gaze from across the room, Dru held up his finger for silence and waggled his eyebrows, asking in a stage whisper, "She even told you about the kissing parts?"
Shanni wrinkled her nose. "No. She didn't tell me about any kissing. Do you do that a lot?"
Dru grinned when he felt Alee's sharp glare.
"Oh, yes," he replied. He left the child standing in the middle of the salon and crossed the room in three long strides to slip his hands around Alee's waist and pull her close. He ignored the little sigh behind him and welcomed his lifemate home with a long and urgent kiss. He buried his face in her neck and inhaled the faintly floral and wonderfully familiar scent of the woman he loved.
"Shanni," Alee spoke from his firm embrace. "Go down the hall. The first door on your right will be your bedroom. You can start deciding where you want to put your things. Take Tate with you, please."
The child obeyed, muttering as she went. "Grown-ups always want you to leave when they start kissing. Yuck. I'll never do that."
Dru suppressed a chuckle as he lifted his head and cupped Alee's jaw in his hands. He snared her gaze with his sparkling blue eyes. "Tante? Oncle? I think you have some explaining to do, my sweet Jedi."
Her expression softened. "Those are archaic forms of aunt and uncle, used on Tanaab to denote second or third generation relations. Would you believe that she is my sister Rein's great granddaughter?"
"Of course I believe it. You never lie."
"Oh, Dru. Her parents were killed on Agamar, and she's Force-sensitive, so she would never be welcomed into the family on Tanaab. Luke suggested I take her as my Padawan."
Dru wiped the hesitant furrows off her brow. "I guess I know what your answer was. Un-Jedi-like clod that I am, even I can sense that you already love her. Maybe, when she's ready, we can talk about adoption."
Alee threw her arms around Dru's neck. "I love you, Druce Nardo."
"And I love you, my sweet Jedi. To distraction." He heaved a mock sigh. "But how am I going to survive living in a household with two strong-willed, auburn-haired Jedi women?"
Alee leaned back and narrowed her eyes. "I think you'll manage. You're very resourceful and seem to have the annoying ability to wrap most women around your little finger. Which reminds me, I have a message for you from Mara Jade."
"Mara?" Shock flushed his cheeks as he recalled working with Booster's security specialist during his smuggler days. "What did she have to say?"
Alee smirked. "Nothing compromising. She wanted you to know that it's not often she's wrong, but was glad to be in my case. Oh, yes, and to not let it go to your head. I believe the phrase she used was 'once lucky'."
Druce grunted. "She always did underestimate me." Seeing Alee's curious expression, he added, "She helped me rescue you on Umgul. At the time I didn't know she was a Jedi, and when she realized you were, she declared you to be extremely dangerous and unpredictable."
"And she was wrong," Alee said.
"Oh, no. She was dead-on accurate," Dru replied with a gentle smile.
Alee snorted. "How so?"
"You are completely ruthless. You took me prisoner and became my heart, Alee. I will be at your tender mercy all the days of my life," he whispered.
Her eyes sparkled with golden flecks and her fingers traced a familiar path over his brow, down his nose, across his lips and up his jaw to bury themselves in his hair. She pulled his head down and teased his lips with wispy kisses. Desire surged and he swooped down on her mouth, plundering it with sweet agony.
"Tante Alee? I start learning to be a Jedi in the morning, right? Because we could start now if you want." The small voice broke them apart, but they stayed where they were, foreheads and noses touching. Dru heard the struggle for patience in Alee's soft sigh.
"Do you hear laughter?" Alee asked. "I thought
I heard someone laughing. I'm sure Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan are thoroughly
enjoying this unexpected turn my path has taken."
