The Jedi
Campfire
Deleted scene
from "In the Dreamtime"
As the sun set
on another day at the Jedi Academy, ushering in the cool dark with brilliant
tongues of
orange and red and the palest hues of pink, swollen purple clouds silhouetted
on a
flaming backdrop,
flames on a much smaller scale vied for control of the oncoming night.
The faint scent of woodsmoke filled the Yavin jungle, mingling with potent
tropical
flowers, dew-soaked
leaves, and. . .
Luke's
soap, Mara Jade Skywalker thought, and sniffed the air beside her,c
atching a whiff of her
husband's
slightly spicy-smelling after-shave. She smiled inwardly, and swallowed
a cough. It
wasn't an
unpleasant smell, but, when mingled with everything else that stank here
in the brush, it
wasn't the
greatest thing she'd ever inhaled.
She didn't have any more time to ruminate on facial soap, though - the
strong smell of burning
rubber filled
her nostrils instead, and she couldn't help but cough this time. Wondering
why her
toes felt
so warm, even out here in the surprisingly chilly jungle night, she cast
a glance at her right
foot - and
let out a little cry of shock. She'd let her boot wander a little too close
to the glowing
campfire in
front of her, and the melted, misshapen form of her rubber sole scared
the wits out of
her.
Through the gently floating cloud of smoke and across the circle of logs,
Lilandra Ilkhaine
giggled. Apparently,
she'd noticed Mara's folly.
"Take your
foot out of the flame, silly," she laughed, and a knot in a wood exploded
with a
shower of
sparks, making Mara jump even higher.
"Aw, forget
it," the redhead mumbled, and pulled off the boot. "It's wrecked now."
She tossed it
into the flames,
and they leapt towards the night sky with renewed vigour.
"What happened?" Tara Jaksbin-Solo asked, and her head jerked up sharply
from Anakin's
knee.
"Nothing,"
Mara mumbled, but Lilandra was all too eager to answer.
"Mara stuck
her foot in the fire!" she exclaimed gleefully, and raised her hands to
ward off
Mara's glare.
Beside her, Cace Lendene and Jiromie Taggant had begun to laugh as well,
and
there was
no mistaking the amused sparkle in Luke's eyes.
"We would have noticed eventually," Tara said sleepily, and laid her head
back in Anakin's
lap. She sighed
dreamily, and added, "This is so much fun. . . "
"Jedi campouts
usually are. . . when we're not battling the Empire," Luke agreed, and
pulled his
woolly blanket
further across his knees. "But in the Empire,you catch sleep anytime you
can. In
peacetime,
you can camp in the jungle and not worry about being squashed by
an Imperial
walker." With
that, he made a splat motion with his hands, and the fire snapped in response.
This
time, everyone
jumped.
"How morbid," Jaina Solo murmured, and narrowed her eyes to slits. . .
her storytelling face. "It's
like that
holo we watched, Jacen!"
On the girl's
left, her dark-haired twin glanced at her, and shook his head. "Which one?"
Jaina thought
for a moment. "You know, I don't remember! There've been too many!"
Her mother, Leia, laid her head on Han Solo's shoulder and heaved a regretful
sigh.
"We never
had time for holos. . . you were too busy kidnapping me to take
me to holos."
Han scowled
while his family laughed around him.
"It was either kidnap you, or murder Isolder, and I chose you," he muttered.
It was intended
for only Leia to hear, but everyone else
heard it in
the sudden silence that followed the giggles.
Anakin looked up, great interest in his eyes. "Who's Isolder, mom?" he
asked.
Leia shot
a glance at Han. Luke and Mara were still chuckling together.
"Nevermind,"
Leia started indignantly, but Han had already launched into his tale.
"He was an
egotist," he stated flatly, "who tried to win your mother away from me
with a bunch
of glittering
jewels, sweet words - "
" - And amazing
kisses," Leia interjected sheepishly, and Han's frown deepened.
"You see what
I mean? He was an egotist."
Now everyone in the circle was leaning forward, listening intently. Even
the fire had died to
embers, and
barely made a crackle, building on the expectant silence.
"Go on," Jaina
whispered, and clutched her husband's arm.
Dave, who
had been silent until then murmured, "He sounds like a role model."
Leia smiled sadly."He - Isolder - was from the Hapes consortium. . . I
was supposed to marry him
in exchange
for the Hapes pledge of loyalty to the New Republic - which was practically
still the
Alliance in
those days."
"An arranged
marriage?" Lilandra gasped,outraged. "Leia! I can't imagine you, of all
people, following
that sort of a tradition. That is so 'Old Republic'!"
"Well," Leia admitted, "I did like him. . . just a little bit. Like
I said, he was quite the
sweet-talker,
and he kissed very well, and he seemed to be very much in love with me,
which was
reason enough
for me. If it meant doing good for the Alliance - and besides, he was very
handsome."
Han had become very red now, with anger and embarassment at his wife's
gushing tone. He
couldn't believe
she remembered everything so well. Surely being married to me has erased
all those
memories.
" - tanned,
muscular, long, golden hair, green eyes. . . " Leia was saying to the gathering
of dewy-eyed Jedi women.
Apparently
not, Han thought disgustedly.
"Han was ragingly jealous of my relationship with Isolder, so he kidnapped
me, and brought me
to Dathomir.
You guys know the rest," she gestured to her children.
"Well don't just stop," Lilandra protested. "What's Dathomir?"
"A planet,
that I won in a Sabbacc game," Han put in proudly. "Real wild, untamed
place, with
unpenned rancors,
and caves, and woods - "
" - and Force-strong
witches, and the Chu'unthor," Luke interrupted quietly, and his
eyes got back
that haunted
look. His thoughts wandered to Callista for a moment, but Mara's hand on
his
brought him
back to the present.
"These witches, they captured Leia and I, and used us against their evil
counterparts, the
Nightsisters."
A collective
shudder ran through the crowd. They'd all heard of the Nightsisters.
"Leia was still determined to love Isolder - she was still royally pissed
off about being
kidnapped
- and meanwhile Isolder himself was falling in love with Tenenial Djo,
one of the
witches!"
"She attacked
me, first," Luke put in. "She was determined to make me her husband."
Mara
laughed at
that, long and loud, before saying, "Oh, where would I be if destiny had
gone down that
path!"
Lilandra grinned
at Luke, and he caught it, mumbling, red-faced, "I doubt it would've lasted
long."
"Anyway," Han continued, evidently getting into his tale now, "It was all
up to Leia and I to stop
the witches,
plus the warlord Zindj who was lurking up there in orbit with a whole fleet
from
Hapes ready
to blow our planet to smithereens. Meanwhile, I was still determined to
get Leia to
love me. Threepio
tried, and failed."
"I'm sorry,"
Leia cut in at this point, "but seeing Goldenrod dance and sing - about
you no
less - was
not my idea of a romantic interlude."
Kerryna Ocott, who'd been dozing on her husband's shoulder, hooted suddenly.
"Goldenrod?
Threepio? You've gotta be kidding!" she cried.
Leia shook
her head vigorously, and the distant strains of "Han Solo, what a man
Solo. . . "
reached her
ears. She blushed. Luke was humming and grinning at the same time.
"I still thought that was a stroke of genius on Threepio's part," Han pointed
out."He made up
something
like forty-six verses to it! I would've liked to have heard them all."
"So would
I!" Kerryna spluttered, laughing so hard she could barely breathe now.
Lilandra squinted into the firelight, letting the tune Luke was humming
burn itself into her
memory.
"He's a man,
Solo," she murmured. "I think I'll have strange dreams tonight."
"Why?" Han
asked, mockingly pretending to be insulted.
"Well," Lil
explained, "as if sleeping outdoors wasn't enough, I've heard this story
about rancors
and jewels
and handsome princes and witches and Threepio singing in Han's favour.
. . really!"
"You never
really know what you're going to dream about," Luke commented. "I'll probably
end
up seeing
dancing Threepios serenading Mara in my sleep!"
"I should
think I'd see singing rancors," Kerryna giggled.
"I'll just
relive the whole terror," Leia groaned.
"I'd rather
dream about the wedding that followed!" Han exclaimed.
"Mmm. . .
nope. Don't say 'wedding'. . . I'll be seeing witches in the grand hall
for years after
tonight,"
Mara said good-naturedly.
"I want to dream about Dave taking me to Dathomir," Jaina sighed. "That'd
be so romantic. . . "
"No it wouldn't!"
Leia and Han snapped in unison.
"I think it
would be," Anakin disagreed. "But don't ask Tara. . . she's already asleep.
. . "
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