fandomhigh | Library [10/26]

"Luke." She gave him a Look and led him back to the desk. "I always, always have paper. Got a pen color preference?"

"Blue," Luke answered promptly, then reached for the paper. "Um. Tell me about Earth. There are hundreds of different countries, right? That's bizarre."

"Some of them are very wee, too," Rory said with a nod. "And there are about a zillion languages, as well."

"Do you have a planetary equivalent of a protocol droid that speaks all of those languages?" Luke asked.

"We have the internet, and translating programs," Rory said. "I also happen to speak about a dozen languages besides English, though most of them not really very well."

Luke nodded. "I can understand a few," he said because you don't last long on Tatooine without learning to understand the Jawas and the Hutts, "but for the most part, I rely on Threepio. What are the most common languages to learn other than English?"

"Spanish and French, here in the States," Rory said. "German as well, in some places. Oh, and Sign Language. I think Japanese is one of the most widely-known languages, too. And Chinese."

Luke nodded and wrote it all down. "Do all of the languages make it difficult for people to get along?" he asked, thinking back to some of the discussions in Interstellar Relations.

"Kind of," Rory said. "There are lingual and cultural barriers. But we have something called the United Nations, which is a little like the galactic senate used to be, I guess. And representatives from all the nations come to the headquarters and there are translators, so that makes things easier."

"Does it rule the planet, then, this United Nations?"

"No. It's just a sort of checks and balances thing. Keeps any one nation from being a jerk to another. And it doesn't work all that well sometimes."

"I can see where the problems would be, yes," Luke said with a smile. "Leia would get very frustrated."

"I can imagine," Rory said. "I get frustrated."

She bounced. "What other questions do you have?"

"What do you think are the highlights of this planet?" Luke asked. "What should intergalactic tourists see if they swing by Earth?"

Rory thought about it. "We have eight so-called wonders of the world. Those would be good to see. But I suppose it really depends on the tourist. If it were someone from Tatooine, for instance, I'd take them to the beach. Earth is seventy percent water, you know."

Luke's eyes lit up. "Water is good. And if they were from Imperial Center, they should see things that grow. And the sky being a natural color."

"Yeah, I wouldn't take them to, say, New York or Las Vegas or London or Paris, where it's all lights and noise," she smiled.

"Probably not something they've not seen before, no," Luke said with a smile. "And a bit overwhelming for a Tatooine farmboy."

"Your dad was nine when he first went to Coruscant, and he told me - when he was eighteen - that it took him about nine years to get relatively used to it," Rory said with a smile.

"Sometimes there are too many people on this island," Luke admitted. "I think I'll steer clear of big cities for a while."

"I love New York," Rory said, nodding, "but I could never live there. I'm content to visit occasionally."

"How many people live where you're from normally?" Luke asked.

"Stars Hollow?" Rory smiled. "Nine thousand, nine hundred and seventy-three. Or seventy, rather, minus Mom, Luke and me."

Luke smiled ruefully. "Seven times more people than Anchorhead," he said.

"It's still a tiny town," Rory argued. "Wee, wee tiny."

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Re: Second Period [10/26]

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Re: Second Period [10/26]

Re: Second Period [10/26]

Re: Second Period [10/26]