Who stole the cookie from the cookie Jar? You stole the cookie from the cookie jar Who me? Yes you! Couldn’t be! Then who stole the cookie from the cookie jar? *** Bored Uninterested Fed up Tired of things Bored to death Bored stiff Bored to tears Sara racked her mind for other words to describe the way that she felt as she lay on the bed and stared at the ceiling. Funnily enough, she kept coming back to the same word, a word that described everything so beautifully. She was - in no uncertain terms – bored. Rolling onto her stomach she glanced at the pile of books Master Jinn had bought her to read from the temple Library but she had read nearly all of them. "Hungry Sara?" Healer Leona asked from the door. Sara shook her head and ignored the pained rumblings of her stomach. She was starving but her pride wouldn’t allow her to be fed like a baby because her bandaged hands were too clumsy to co-ordinate a spoon. She wasn’t going to feed herself either, last time she had done that she had ended up with half a bowl of mashed fruit down her front and Healer Leona had had to change her, leaving Sara feeling even more dependant and childish. When the healer rolled a tray of food through the door a couple of minutes later, Sara sighed and slipped out from the bed and went to watch the passing traffic from the window. As she watched the steady stream of bug-like cars that careened overhead, she sighed again wishing that Qui-Gon or Xanatos were here to cheer her up. Neither of them had pity in their eyes when they regarded her scorched hands that hadn’t healed even after a month and a half of Bacta, ointment and bandages. The Healers had put it down to Sara being a slow healer and had told her that they would heal eventually. She scowled at the late afternoon sun and then down at her hands, An-Paj hadn’t exactly been co-operative about Sara leaving the wards either saying that she needed to stay in for observation. Observation of what - patience thresholds? Picking up a book from the table, she picked up the chair that normally sat by her bed and using her forearms rather then her hands carried it gingerly across the room. Curling up by the window, Sara opened the book and let her eyes skim over the top of the page, not really reading it. Instead she thought about Xanatos; the boy would have to have been four years older then her. With Grave and rather pale faced with mop of black hair he had only needed a cloak and a menacing evil stare – she had once told him – and he would have made the perfect bad guy from some trashy novel. Sara smiled to herself and flicked the page over, Xanatos had often come down to talk to her when his master was doing something else and had enthralled her about stories of his father and the wealth that he owned. Sometimes Sara got the feeling that Xanatos craved that wealth and power for himself and felt cheated that he had become a Jedi instead. Once she had asked him too and he had smiled at her, ruffled her hair and told her of course not, then his face had turned grave as if he was considering it seriously. He never talked about his father when Qui-Gon came down to visit and instead talked about lighter things like jibing at his master after he had bested him in training. Sara smiled again as she watched the sun sink slowly behind the forest of skyscrapers; she was beginning to suspect that she liked Xanatos a little bit more then the friendship they already shared. The forgotten book dropped back to the floor as Sara rose and walked back to her bed. Her hands and arms itched insufferably but especially the bit where the drip connected into her arm. She picked at the tap with the force, wishing that she had the use of her fingernails to do it for her and then sighed in relief when the tape and then after a moments hesitation the needle came away, sliding free of her arm and dropping to the floor where they began to drip water over the tiles. Free from the constraint Sara stood up and reached for the grill of the ventilation shaft without a firm idea of where she was going. The screws twisted and then dropped onto the bed rolling in circles around on the blanket. Sara was at a loss for how to hoist herself into the dark hole in the roof, in the end she succeeded by pushing the chair onto the bed and then standing on it. Seconds later she was through the hole and into the shafts. Freedom. * Sara glanced down through the slats of the grill and grinned. This was definitely it. Master Qui-Gon's kitchen loomed below her. The force whispered as she undid the bolts on the other side of the grill and then jumped through. Sara’s first action was to peer into the lounge room but there was no one around. She sat down in one of the kitchen chairs and tried to remember why she had decided to come here anyway, she felt worried, tired and dirty. There hadn’t even been anyone to surprise or scold her at her abrupt entry. Scowling at her hands and wondering how she was going to make it back to the healing wards let alone explain the dirt that smudged across her patient robes Sara’s eyes fell on a jar of chocolate chip biscuits in the corner. Grinning she prised the lid off and began to eat. * Xanatos grinned wearily at his Master as he opened the front door to the apartment. The practise session had been gruelling even for Qui-Gon and now both of them seemed eager for showers and dinner. More so, Xanatos was looking forward to cracking open the jar of chocolate chip cookies that his Master had bought them. The biscuits were Xanatos’ favourite, particularly the extra chunky chocolate ones. Waving his Master to the showers first Xanatos headed for the kitchen and stopped at what he saw. A brown haired girl who’s hair was different lengths was standing next to the bench her hand obviously in the cookie jar – his cookie jar. "What do you think you are doing?" He demanded his voice rising as he gave into irritation and the first sparks of anger. The child swung around half a biscuit in her mouth. Xanatos almost laughed as he realised who it was, poor little Sara with half a biscuit hanging out of her mouth and her arms around the jar, her bandaged hands tucked well out of the way. "Those were mine." He said advancing across the room. "Sorry." She mumbled quickly as she took a step backwards looking frightened. This time Xanatos did laugh. "You little cookie monster!" He scolded half-heartedly. Picking her up, he carried her into the lounge room unceremoniously slung over his back. Qui-Gon was waiting there a patient expression on his face. "Let me down you oaf!" Sara squealed beating at his back with her hands and kicking with her legs. "She was eating my cookies Master." Xanatos explained as he dumped her on the couch, "the vent grate is hanging off in the kitchen so that is probably where she came from." He watched his Master’s eyes take in the dirt and cobwebs in her hair, the bandaged hands and the tired shadows around her eyes and mouth. "They obviously need to clean out the vents more often." Qui-Gon said as way of recognition and then the normally stoic Jedi master let out a sigh. "I had better take you back." He said and Sara nodded dumbly. He picked Sara up more gently then Xanatos and carried her like a child through the door. "I can walk you know!" Sara said her voice annoyed. Qui-Gon didn’t say anything; he only held her tighter and carried her just as swiftly along the passageways. She squirmed for a bit and then snuggled into his chest. Her head on his shoulder and her hands tucked into her own chest she fell asleep before they were even half way to the healers. ** "Qui-Gon!" Healer Leona whispered loudly as she spotted the Jedi master and her shoulders relaxed as she saw the bundle in his arms. Quietly she led the Jedi master to a different room then normal and then pulled the blankets over Sara as Qui-Gon put her down. The child murmured and her eyes half opened before she drifted off again. Once they were safely outside Leona breathed a sigh of relief. "I’m glad that you had her." She said softly, "She’s caused more panic then we’ve had in a long time, I was about to send An-Paj into the air-vents to look for her." "She was eating at my place." Qui-Gon's face grinned at the memory of his padawan with the girl over her shoulder storming into the room and Sara squealing obviously afraid. What Sara hadn’t seen though was the cocky, humorous grin on his padawan’s face. "Actually we’re lucky if initiate Kenobi hadn’t slipped in the corridor on the water from the drip in her room and Dimallie hadn’t tripped as well we might not have noticed for another hour." Healer Leona said she smiled. "I’m just glad that you found her." ** Sara opened her eyes the following morning to the smell of freshly baked biscuits. Propping herself up in bed on her elbows she saw Qui-Gon sitting in a chair waiting for her. In his hand was a brown paper bag from which the smell was coming from. She grinned at Qui-Gon. "Are they for me?" She asked hopefully. "Yes." Qui-Gon nodded and handed the bag to her. He couldn’t stop the small smile that spread across his face, as Sara’s own grin widened as she saw how many biscuits there were in the bag. There was a note in the bag as well and as Sara opened it, she couldn’t stop the grin from spreading on her face. "~To my little cookie Monster. Qui-Gon told me that An-Paj is threatening to make you eat a week’s worth of Yoda’s gruel for the mayhem you caused last night. I’ve sent these as back up but remember that one day you are going to owe me big-time. ~ ~Xanatos~ " Sara grinned at Qui-Gon and then shifted her eyes back to the bag. She could owe Xanatos later but for now there was only one thing to do –eat. Sara could think up of lots of words to describe the way the cookies tasted, but in the end, it all boiled down to one thing. Delicious. |
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| Cookie Monster By Kit |