Part Three: TRUTHFULNESS *** ~There is a fine line between truth and lies.~ * "Sara." Kissing, they were kissing! "Sara?" How dare he? "Sara, are you listening?" And with JULI! "Sara? Helllllo?" Oh Xani… why did you have to do it? "Sara???" "Whaa?" Sara looked up in astonishment to see Charly smiling at her, brown eyes warm and kind. She hadn’t seen Charly since well, since the thing with Xani and that had been five days ago. "You were off in dream land." Charly said, "What were you thinking about?" "Xani." Sara replied. Funny how saying his name hurt less now. That was to say it still hurt, but the hurt was buried down deep. It was like touching a fading bruise, it made you wince but you knew the pain was going away. Charly’s smile faded for a second at the wistfully sad look on Sara’s face and then brightened again as Sara glanced at her. The brown-haired girl wound one finger through her fine hair and gave another one of her small bright smiles. Sara didn’t think she had ever seen Charly without a smile on her face. Hugging their books to their chests the two padawans began walking down the stairs towards the lower levels. "Has he apologized?" Charly asked and Sara had to shake her head, biting her lip as she did so. Xanatos hadn’t spoken one word to her since the incident at the dinner table. Most times, she had come for dinner he had been out eating at the cafeteria or taking his meals to his room claiming he had to ‘study’. Sara didn’t mind, she figured the less she saw of him the better it would be for her. Unfortunately, it hadn’t worked like that. Despite the pain he had caused her, Sara found herself longing that Xani would explain why he had kissed Juli and then he would apologize and Sara could forgive him and everything would be back to normal again. She was hoping it would happen before her birthday and that was only two days away. Anyway, she reasoned, maybe he hadn’t properly been kissing Juli, maybe Juli had kissed him and Sara had interrupted before Xani could push her away. In her heart, however, Sara knew the truth. Xani had been kissing Juli with his arms around her waist and as far as she could tell, they had both being enjoying themselves. She sighed miserably and then tried a small weak smile at Charly’s suddenly concerned face. "Are you going to eat at the cafeteria?" Sara asked moving away from Xani. "No." Charly screwed up her nose making the freckles scrunch up too and gave Sara a look of disgust. "Not unless I want to get food poisoning and end up at the healers. As much as I admire An-Paj, I don’t like him when he is carrying a large stomach pump that is aimed at me." Sara giggled at the mental image of An-Paj stalking the dim healing halls, stomach pump in hand ready to spring on innocent padawans back from the refectory. For a moment, Charly’s joke made her forget about Xani, but only for a moment. Sara’s smile disappeared totally and she glanced at the ground, rubbing her hands together. "Maybe you could eat at my house." Charly suggested, "I’m sure my Master wouldn’t mind." "Really?" Sara said looking up at her. "Sure." Charly said. "Let me check with her first, though. Why don’t I meet you in five minutes at the bottom of these stairs? That way I can check and run back before you get bored!" Sara grinned; the prospect of eating at Charly’s house warmed her immensely. She crossed her fingers mentally, hoping that Charly’s master would say yes. "See you in five minutes then." Charly said racing off down the corridor. Sara watched her retreating back and then turned to find a good spot to sit down and wait for Charly’s return. Sara was just about to sit down when she heard Juli’s harsh grating laughter. "Why if it isn’t Xani’s little pet, or should I say ex—pet." Juli sneered in a loud voice. Sara turned keeping a tight control of her emotions; she wasn’t going to let Juli see that she had hurt her. Juli stood in the middle of the landing, hands on her hips. She was dressed as if she had just been out, a long green skirt coupled with a white shirt setting off her dark skin. "Go away Juli.’ Sara said softly. "Oh no. I’m not going to go away." Juli said loudly, "I like it right here." She stalked towards Sara like a spider hunting its prey but Sara managed, somehow, to stand her ground. "I think Xani got bored of playing tea-parties with you." Juli whispered, "So he went after something a bit more appetizing." The older girl ran her hands down the side her shirt and skirt to emphasis her shape. Sara turned her head away and gritted her teeth. "I asked you to go away." Sara said her voice conveying a calm she did not feel. "You know what he said after he kissed me?" Juli asked her voice sweet and low, "That, that was the best thing he had ever done in his life. That he was glad he had gotten rid of you. That you were nothing to him." Sara swallowed the lump in her throat, not daring to look away. She could feel tears starting to spring into her eyes, but she wasn’t going to give Juli the satisfaction of making her cry. Not here. Juli leaned in eyes sparkling maliciously and with something else that Sara could only describe as pleasure. "Pity really." Juli cooed, "Xanatos was the only thing that was ever really going for you. Anyone else would run away screaming. He's the best thing you'll ever get. The *only* thing you'll ever get." Sara struggled for breath and control. Resisting the urge to run she stood her ground although her legs felt like they were going to collapse. Agonizingly her mind replayed the scene between Juli and Xani, only this time it went further with Xani telling Juli how much he loved her and how much he hated Sara. Sara shut her eyes trying desperately for the mental image to go away, but it would not. "Poor little Sara, no-one else wants you." Juli sighed, "Not your first Master, she would rather die then be your master any longer. Not your second master, she purposely forgets you. Not Qui-Gon, he only puts up with you because the council makes him. The council only looks after you because your force sensitive and even Barin ran away to avoid you. Xani was the only one who cared for you Sara and now he’s gone too." She ran a finger down Sara’s cheek and Sara shuddered, tears now running freely down her face. Leaning back, Juli gave a dramatic sigh and shrugged. Sara was crying openly now her shoulders shaking as she processed Juli’s words. What if it was true? What if Xani had broken up with her because he couldn’t stand her anymore? What if Master Ash-Ka had died on purpose just to get away from her? What if Qui-Gon… Sara stopped herself, she was being ridiculous. Arms hugging her chest she glared at Juli. "You’re making it up." Sara whispered. "Am I?" Juli asked delightedly, "Am I really?" She leaned in close to Sara so that she could whisper in her ear, "Poor little Sara. The baby doll has no one to play with anymore. Nobody loves her. Not even Xani…" Sara jerked away at Juli’s last words. Tears blurring her eyes she backed away from the other girl and stumbled as she reached the bottom stair. Sara turned, giving one last glance back she ran up the stairs Juli’s harsh laughter echoing behind her. * Charly raced back down the hall and stopped breathlessly. Sara was nowhere to be seen but her books lay in a scattered pile on the bottom of the step. There was an older padawan sashaying away across the hall in a green skirt and Charly raced after her. "Excuse me?" She panted. The other girl turned a smile hovering around her lips and one eyebrow rose as if she had just found something terribly amusing. "Have you seen a girl here? About my height with brown hair and light blue eyes. She was supposed to be waiting for me." The taller padawan frowned as if in thought and flipped long tresses of brown hair back over her shoulder. "Oh her." The other girl drawled, "She ran off. Said something about you being a waste of her time." Charly frowned and took a step back. That didn’t sound like Sara and besides she had left her books behind. Sara wouldn’t have run off unless she was terribly upset and that would have meant that Xani had been around. Charly frowned, she didn’t like Xanatos and she hadn’t even met him. She looked up to ask the girl something else, but she had disappeared. Dejected and rather worried Charly gathered up Sara’s books. Perhaps she could drop them around later that would give her an excuse to check on her new friend as well. Satisfied with her solution Charly wandered back down the hall to tell her master the news. |
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| Betrayal, Trust & Truthfulness By Kit |
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