Tenel Ka rubbed her temples in agitation,  the talk with her parents
had given her a splitting headache.  They were going into hiding…again. 
There had been another assassination attempt on her parents lives and
they thought it was best if they should disappear for a while.  They had
not told her where they were going, not that she had expected them to,
but they were afraid that whomever was trying to assassinate them could
tap into their conversation and hear.  
It was nerve wracking.  She wouldn't know where they were or if they
were alive, dead, sick, or well.  The inner torment was not a new thing
to her, she had learned to cope with it by simply putting it in the back
of her mind and focusing on whatever task she had before her. Tenel Ka
was strong both physically and emotionally and she prided herself in
this.  Her one emotional downfall though was Jacen.  She didn't know
exactly why it was him, but she supposed it didn't matter.  
She trudged out of the communications room and headed for the landing
pad to see if she could offer any assistance. With the condition the
Rock Dragon was presently in she had a feeling they would need it.

Afternoon found Anakin atop the rock dragon.  He and Tahiri had long
finished their duty repairing the transmitter dish and were now working
on upgrading the passenger cruisers maneuverability.  True, they were
pampering the ship but the young Jedi Knights found it a relaxing
pastime when there was nothing else to do.  Lowie was inside the ship
upgrading the Navigational computer with the latest routs and space
hazards.  Tenel Ka had just finished applying lubricants and sealant to
the hull of the ship which technically belonged to her.  Jaina busied
herself replacing damaged circuits and cyberfuses and upgrading several
of the systems while waiting for Anakin's signal to start the ship.
He bridged the last two wires and gave a call down to Jaina, "Okay, sis.
Start her up!"  
With a satisfying rumble, the engines started and purred to life.  But
something went wrong and the open panel Anakin was hunched over began to
spark and electricity jumped from wire to wire. Anakin stood and
stumbled backwards, "Turn it off, turn it off!" He yelled franticly. The
engines stopped and the circuits ceased their mad sparking.  Tahiri, who
had been napping on the opposite side of the hull, looked at Anakin. 
"Something go wrong?" she asked innocently though he could see a grin
tugging at the edge of her lips.  He scowled and set back to work on the
damaged system.  He looked at the panel and suddenly realized what he
had done wrong.  "Oh. Never mind I see what I did wrong." Tahiri quirked
an eyebrow, "And what would that be?"  
Anakin shot her a feral grin, "I accidentally bridged a hyper thermal
output wire with a cyber electricity condenser generator wire instead of
bridging it with the hyper thermal input wire." Tahiri put on a confused
face, "Basic please."  Anakin laughed and, revenge taken,  restated his
comment. "I bridged two wires backwards."  "Oh," Tahiri exclaimed, "You
mean you can remember the names of all of those wires but you can't
remember to bridge them right?"  
Anakin felt his face flush. "Well, no.  My mind was on other things
while I was doing it."  Tahiri grinned, "Like what."  Anakin's face
turned an even deeper red.  "Oh, nothing. I was just sorta'
daydreaming." He replied, though he knew very well what he had been
thinking about. She was all he could think about lately. At twelve,
Tahiri was turning into a beautiful young lady. She had a petite frame
and stood at about four foot nine with wavy white-blonde hair that
reached past her waist. Her emerald green eyes were surrounded by thick
black lashes and seemed to sparkle and dance in the sunlight, holding
him captive to her piercing gaze. Her skin was fair with a creamy
complexion and fine, sharp features. She could have been a model he
mused, though he felt a pang of jealousy even at the thought of other
guys looking at her. He shook his head to clear the thoughts, there I go
again. He thought.  
Anakin was thirteen, about a year and a half older than Tahiri.  He was
tall and thin with a slight build, unlike his older brother who had a
broad, sturdy frame that Anakin envied and hoped to someday acquire. 
Despite his wiry frame, Anakin was stronger than most boys his age and
had more streamlined muscles.  He had dark brown hair that hung to the
middle of his ears and constantly fell into his eyes.  He didn't take
much pride in the way he looked, though he did have one conceit-his
eyes.  The only reason he liked his eyes was because Tahiri said that
they were beautiful. His eyes were a crystalline-ice blue and Tahiri
constantly brushed the hair out of his eyes so that she could see them. 
He gave himself a mental kick for drifting off again.  Double checking
the repairs he had made he once again called down to his sister and was
relieved to note that there were no sparks when she started the ship
this time.  He flashed a quick grin at Tahiri that seemed to say 'told
ya' so.'  She gave an unladylike snort, rolled her eyes, and slipped off
of the Rock Dragon 's hull.   Anakin wondered if he had upset her.  
Slipping off of the ship's hull he called to his sister, "Jaina, I'm
gonna' take a breather. I'll be back to help later. "  "Okay, we're
almost done anyway so don't even bother coming back to help." Anakin
nodded and sped off to find Tahiri.  
He finally found her sitting on a large, moss covered, boulder beside
the greenish river that ran across the surface of Yavin Four.  She had
no shoes on, as usual, and she was dipping her feet in the cool water
starring at her reflection.  Silently her crept up behind her but before
he could manage to yell she said, "Don't even try it, Anakin.  You
should know by now that I can sense you presence well enough to know
when your four feet away." She turned to him, " And besides, I saw your
reflection in the water."  Anakin snapped his finger, "Nuts!"
Tahiri's wry smile turned into a grim frown, "Would you mind leaving me
alone for a while, Anakin? I'm not feeling up to joking around at the
moment."  
Anakin took on a worried tone, "What's wrong?" 
"I don't want to talk about it."
"It's okay… you can tell me."
"You wouldn't understand."
"Maybe I would."
"I doubt it."
"Give me a chance,  even if I don't understand at least you would have
gotten it out."
"Okay, okay. You win." Tahiri took a deep breath. "Sometimes I wonder if
I'm ever going to amount to anything, if I'm ever going to be anything
more than just a little orphan girl who got lucky enough to be accepted
into a Jedi Academy.  Watching everyone around me I can't help but
notice how talented they all are.  I mean, Jaina could make a top class
battle cruiser out of scrap metal and a few components and then Zekk
could fly it through and asteroid field and come out without a scratch. 
Lowbacca could program an assassin droid to do brain surgery," at this
she laughed a little. "Jacen is the best dueler with a lightsaber at the
whole academy, not to mention his talent with animals! And then Lusa and
Raynar are pretty much medical geniuses and Tenel Ka, she can run a 100
kilometer race and at the end still breathe regularly! And you," she
paused. "You have the most amazing…talent with anything mechanical in
the universe and…and I don't have anything special that I can do."
Tahiri was almost in tears, "Sometimes I feel like I'm n-not good enough
for this academy.  Or anyone in it."
                Anakin's jaw dropped. He lay a hand on Tahiri's shoulder and said, "No
matter who you are or where you came from,  anyone with your potential
is good enough for this academy.  And someone as sweet as you is
definitely good enough for anyone in this academy.  If anyone has, or
ever does, say anything telling you otherwise, tell me and I'll set them
straight!" 
        Tahiri laughed and hugged him.  "Thanks Anakin."