fandomhigh | Flight Club [after classes]

"Mara, get out of there, please," Ben said to a tiny person already hidden inside the flight simulator.

"May I go first, Papa? Please?"

"Yes," Ben finally decided. "Hey, everyone," he said to the group with a small smile. "Since we have, um, visitors still, Tahiri and I decided that we'd show you some of the sorts of things we got to play with when we were kids."

And a lot of what was wrong with their childhoods was about to be made clear...

"Yeah, no random Winnebagos this week," Tahiri added. She'd left the programming of the sim to Anakin (Skywalker, since even she had to emphasize that in her own head this weekend, thanks, Raven) so as to avoid that happening again.

"Bet I could have figured out what went wrong there, Mom," Cassa piped up.

"Yeah, I bet you could have. But that was last week." Tahiri, who would not put it past her kid at all, grinned sheepishly.

"'course I could have. I've gotten to copilot the Falcon lots of times! Okay, just two."

"You've gotten to fly the Falcon twice?" Don't sulk, Ben, it's not attractive. "Anyway. This is a Corellian cruiser which might not look pretty, but is kind of a family heirloom. If you crash it, it won't be the first time, but please try not to crash it."

"But fixing it again is fun," Cassa objected.

Tahiri looked at Ben and shrugged. "I never get to fly it either, if that makes you feel any better. Anyway, if you don't feel like flying the fastest hunk of junk in our galaxy and want to stick to atmosphere, we've got hang gliders for you. We thought the kids might like that." Because neither of them thought there was anything wrong at all about letting young children dangle in midair from a light metal frame. Hang gliders had wings. It was more than they'd had at that age on some occasions.

"It's totally astral," Ben said enthusiastically, "especially off the top of a really tall building. It's even better without wings--" he caught his grandfather's glower and immediately corrected himself, "--but that's not for non-Jedi. So. Have fun!"

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"Very helpful," Ben said dryly to Karla before turning his attention back to Jaenelle. "Mara got to go first because she asked. You may go next if you like, or you can try hang gliding, which is a bit like the wings Karla has at home."

"An' you, too, Daddy!" Jaenelle reminded as Karla beat a hasty retreat. "We go flyin' together. You laugh lots an' lots!"

Getting to go next mollified Jaenelle a little, but he hadn't answered her most important question yet. "Who is she?" she asked, pointing in Mara's direction. "I don't know her."

The looks she was shooting Mara suggested she didn't like her much, either.

Ben had a number of words in his brain that couldn't be shared with five year olds.

"That's Mara," he said carefully. "Like you!"

"She's not like me," Jaenelle answered stubbornly. "I'm like me."

She was also reaching up to grab Ben's hand possessively. "Why does she have one of my names?"

Apparently never having a sibling meant Jaenelle hadn't really learned to share.

"Remember how our stories about Fandom are always so weird?" Ben tried hopefully.

"They make you an' Mommy laugh lots," Jaenelle said, nodding. Mr. Bear also nodded, her chubby hand affixed to his neck. "But sometimes you get all sad, 'cept Mommy says it's not real sad, but that you miss your friend a lot."

Ben nodded, seeing how that could happen. "And how you have two cousins Jainas--one from my universe, and one from here? Mara is like that. She's from a different universe."

"Am I gonna haveta share Mister Bear with her?" Jaenelle asked. "Or my room at home? Or my toys? Does Mommy know her?"

"No, no, no, and no," Ben replied with a smile. "Her mama is a lady in a different land. Her name is Aravis."

"My Mommy is a Queen," Jaenelle pointed out. Because it was a contest.

"True," Ben said, "but not everyone's mother can be a queen."

Flight Club [after classes]

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