The Unchronicled Adventures Of Ahsoka Tano, Book Nine

Chapter Thirty-Three: Kaya, The Kids, And An Answering Machine

KAYA TI AREEKO

Kaya Ti sighed in sheer exasperation, looking on at the sight in front of her.

The twins – Enarion and Alux, as she'd learned they were named – were chasing each other around and around the common room of the New Hope, training sabers lit and screaming madly. Baby Anakin tried to keep up with them on his unstable two-year-old's legs, giggling happily.

The eldest of the kids, Aeja, was chasing them as well, yelling at them to be quiet so that Ani could calm down and take his nap. Kaylira was nowhere to be seen – she'd fled a few minutes before under the pretext of going to meditate – leaving Kaya as the person with the most authority over them present.

She lay down on the couch, trying to tune out the noise. Eventually, she expected that one of the Rebel Troopers would get fed up, come in to tell the twins to shut it, and then somehow enthrall them into silence with some sort of military procedure. That was the most effective out of the methods she'd seen their father (and she still couldn't get over these Jedi's attitude to forgo attachment and even encourage it in the form of marriage and family) use to quiet them down.

Kaya supposed that she had best try to quiet them; she owed it to Master Tano. (Or Ahsoka, as she reminded herself: she preferred to be called by her first name.) She had been taken under the wise Togruta's wing without hesitation.

But there was just one problem – she was terrible with kids. She had absolutely experience, and therefore no idea how to handle them. Much less talk or impress them into calming down.

Suddenly, she sat bolt upright, only just avoiding Enarion as he flung himself after his brother, saber at the ready. She had the perfect thing to quiet them down – an old lullaby that her mother had sung her. That was back before she'd been taken to the Jedi Temple from her homeworld of Mandalore, to soothe her to sleep while the wars between the Clans sent the planet spiraling further and further into chaos.

She had also used to sing it with Han on cold nights on the ramp into the Bria.

Kaya cleared her throat, hoping that she could remember all the words.

"I remember tears streaming down your face

When I said, 'I'll never let you go.'

All those shadows almost killed your light

I remember you said, 'Don't leave me here alone.'"

Kaya looked up to see that although the kids were still after each other, their attention was wavering from their chase towards her. Encouraged, she sang on.

"With all that's dead and gone and passed, tonight.

Just close your eyes, the sun is going down,

You'll be all right: no one can hurt you now.

Come morning light, you and I'll be

Safe and sound..."

Now, the kids were totally silent, and crawled to sit before her, their eyes wide. She smiled, now confident that she would remember all of it, and continued.

"Don't you dare look out your window,

Darling, everything's on fire.