fandomhigh | Baltimore-Washington International Airport, Portalocity Port, Saturday Morning

Tony's first airplane ride wasn't as interesting than he'd hoped. It was rather like riding the bus, only with less space and more pretzels. Although "boring" was probably the way to go when it came to air travel.

He'd spent a bad half hour in Customs after his flight had landed. They'd pulled him from line and fingerprinted him and for a bit he was afraid he'd be barred from entering the US. But they apparently realized he was neither a drug dealer nor a terrorist and let him through.

He retrieved his oversized duffle from the baggage claim and followed the instructions on the crumpled printout of an email from the school. He took a quick detour to buy a horribly overpriced breakfast sandwich with his shiny new American money. (Dollar bills? What was wrong with coins?) He made a wrong turn on the way back, but he managed to orient himself and find his way to the Portalocity terminal.

A piece of paper tacked on the wall in one corner of the room said "Fandom High." Looked like he was in the right place. He sat down on a bench under the sign, duffle near his feet, and clutched his laptop case as if it might walk away. (It wouldn't, would it? Arra would've warned him if that was a possibility.) It seemed he was the first to arrive. Not surprising, since he'd taken the red eye out of Vancouver. Late-night flights made it easier to say goodbyes to vampire ex-boyfriends.

[Newbie airport shuttle! Open to all new students and teachers, no matter which world they're from. Posted early for great slowplay. ~~OCD coming.~~ We can has OCD!]

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"But that's insane," objected Tahiri, even though the ~~British~~ Coruscanti accent made her a little less convinced of said insanity. "You were only born last year!"

"No, I wasn't!" Ben said. "I turned fourteen on a mission last month. My parents sent me a message and everything!"

"Not for me, you haven't," replied Tahiri. "And what's with the hair? No one's done that in forever."

Ben yanked protectively at his braid. "It looks good!"

Not really, no.

"If you say so." Which translated, pretty much, to 'ahaha no.' "What are you doing out here?"

"Mom and Dad decided I needed to be sent away," Ben said ~~sullenly~~ stoically. "Something about a Sith trying to kill me. Someone's always trying to kill someone else. It's part of being in the family."

"A Sith?" Tahiri hadn't been aware of any Sith kicking about the galaxy, but no matter how gone they were supposed to be, apparently there was always one hiding under a rock somewhere. Great. Something to ~~apprentice herself to~~ look out for in the future. "I don't think that's an improvement on people trying to kidnap you all the time."

"Not particularly," Ben said, "and I haven't been kidnapped in years! And even then I didn't get shipped to another galaxy. I have things to be doing back at home. I have a job!"

"And I have a war I could be fighting," Tahiri added. "I'm still not sure what use I'll be out here."

"I don't suppose this is some kind of home for wayward Jedi," Ben said slowly. "I know Dad's been having issues with what I've been learning..."

"I'm pretty sure most of the people here aren't Jedi," she said, but what he'd said gave her pause. With everything Luke and Mara had gone through just to have Ben (and she was right back to How can you be fourteen?!? in her head), Tahiri wasn't surprised they'd be especially protective. "From who?"

"Jacen," Ben said, sounding irritated.

Tahiri's eyes widened. "So he is alive!"

"As long as Fett hasn't caught up with him yet, but I think Jacen could take him," Ben said, nodding.

Tahiri wasn't a little woeful that Jacen was apparently alive in the future, but Anakin wasn't. Really.

Except maybe a little. Okay, a lot.

"I don't think I want to know why Fett's after him," she managed. "Unless it's a Solo thing."

"Kind of?" Ben said, "but Jacen managed to get Fett's attention not just for being Uncle Han's kid."

Because Jacen was kind of a moron, yes.

Tahiri would agree with that assessment, if for no other reason than all the fights he'd had with Anakin over the nature of the Force.

"Well," she offered, "Han did okay, and he's no Jedi, so Jacen'll probably be fine."

[[God, I swear I thought I hit post. -_-]]

"That's what I told the guys when I placed my bet," he told her.

"There's betting?" asked Tahiri. "How many credits did you put on that?"

"Fifty," Ben said.

His father would kill him if he knew.

"I have to have faith in my Master, right?"

Oh, like Tahiri was going to tell.

"I think that's usually how it works." Not that she technically had a Master at the moment. Thanks for that, Peace Brigade.

"Which is why I should be with him instead of here. Or at least back with the Guard." Ben was coming dangerously close to whining.

Baltimore-Washington International Airport, Portalocity Port, Saturday Morning

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