Piano Man

"Now that's fun!"

Nom nodded in agreement with Priire's statement. "I would venture to say that we left an impression on the new owners."

Priire laughed. "So much for 'clean, tidy, happy environment'," she snickered. The pair had just come out of a cantina that had been recently re-opened in a lower level of Coruscant. Always dangerous on any planet, opening a new cantina around Priire and Nom was just asking for it. After seeing the one they'd just left advertised as clean and happy, they decided to shape it up...or down.

Glancing at her watch, Priire cursed.

"What is wrong?"

"I forgot," she sighed. "I told Yuki I'd be back in time to get Kleppa so she and Kami could go out." The blonde frowned. "I don't usually lose track of time like that."

Nom nodded. "I understand. Let us start back."

Xarae's eyes were wide. "You mean... you're Kousotsu's and Priire's son?"

The green-eyed boy nodded.

A smile filled Yuki's face. "That's great! Priire'll be so happy!"

Falcon shook his head violently. "She can't know! She can't ever know."

"But..." Yuki frowned. "It would make her so happy to know that she and Kousotsu get married and have kids... he's so sweet, you know."

The dark-haired boy looked sad. "Is he?" he turned his green eyes downward.

Ben spoke up for the first time. "Why don't you know? He's your father, isn't he?"

"I never knew him... see..." Falcon steeled himself. "Kousotsu dies."

Silence fell over the room. Ben put an arm around Yuki. "I'm sorry," he told Falcon.

"It's not me you should be sorry for... Mom... well, from what I've heard, she goes crazy or something. People don't talk about it much." Falcon shrugged. "But then she gets better, and more things happen."

"Why are you telling us this?" Ben asked. "The future can't be changed, can it?"

Xarae answered. "It can. And if Priire knew what the future held for her and Kousotsu..."

"She wouldn't allow it to happen," Yuki realized. "She'd... run away?"

"Or worse," Falcon confirmed. "When she sent me back, she told me to tell you three everything. That way, if I do slip up... you can help me with damage control. I have a Force-block," he smiled, "but I can get around it easily."

"How?" Yuki asked, interested.

Once again, Falcon grinned. The smile on his face seemed almost ever present, lending a sparkle to his eyes. "I'm pretty strong in the Force." He didn't say any more than that.

A million more questions were floating around in the minds of the three people, but they didn't have time to voice them.

"Guys! Ariel's back!" Mori shouted. "Priire and Nom have her cornered. We need to get down there quick!"

Yuki nodded.

"Why?" Falcon asked, following the senshi. "Can't Priire and Nom handle whoever-it-is?"

A grin tugged at the corners or Ben's mouth. "They can handle her... unfortunately, they also might destroy half the city doing it!"

Falcon laughed. "Sounds like they haven't changed. Who's Ariel?"

"Huh?" Mori looked confused. "Ariel... you know, Sailor Sith Ayameru."

"Oh." Falcon shook his head. "That Ariel." He didn't sound convinced.

"I am the senshi of ice and innocence - Sailor Hoth!"

"I am Coruscant Knight, knight of expression and diversity, as well as the son of Skywalker!"

"I am the loyal and trusting senshi - Sailor Kashyyyk!"

"And I'm knight of emotion! Tuxedo Starlight!"

Asteroid turned to grin at the new arrivals. "Hey, he's cute! Where'd you pick him up?"

"He saved me earlier," Kashyyyk said. "I say we keep him."

This time, Asteroid was too busy to respond. Ayameru had taken their distraction to call forth seven demon-looking creatures. Each focused on a senshi and attacked.

"Blizzard Blast!" Hoth shouted, destroying the one coming at her. Kashyyyk took hers down with a well-aimed Vine Entangle.

The others were handling their well, but Tuxedo Starlight was doing nothing as the demon intent on causing him significant bodily harm bore down on him.

"Tuxedo Starlight!" Asteroid shouted. "Starfire..." She started to help him, but realized soon that it was unnecessary.

A faint glow formed around Tuxedo Starlight's body, casting his features in soft shades of blue. Without saying a word, he looked up and focused his eyes on the demon in front of him. Suddenly, a scream broke through the silence. "I'm dying, I'm dying!" the creature howled, curling up. Soon, it stopped screaming.

Everyone turned to look at Tuxedo Starlight. Each of them had felt a kind of backlash from whatever it was Tuxedo Starlight had done. The boy in question didn't look any different than he had before, but Ariel was giving him a strange look. The Sith growled and disappeared into the shadows.

"What did you do?" Dathomir asked, fixing Tuxedo Starlight with her space-black eyes.

He was smiling. "I can project emotions," he informed the group. "Make people feel things. I made that creature feel like he was dying... and he did."

Asteroid was standing next to Kashyyyk when she replied. "You just... killed it?"

To herself, Hoth sighed. He was his mother's son, after all.

"Piano Man!"

"Tonic!"

Tanrei showed more excitement than Ippin could ever remember seeing her future daughter display when Falcon walked into the room. The boy grabbed Tanrei and swung her around. "I didn't know you were here!"

"I didn't know you'd ever come back!" Tanrei grinned. "So, Piano Man..."

The boy grinned. "We've got a lot of catching up to do, Tonic."

Ippin stopped them. "Excuse me?"

For a moment, Tanrei glared at the fire-haired guardian. When Falcon put his hand on her shoulder, the younger girl brightened. "Piano Man and I are going to go catch up. We haven't seen each other for a while."

Ippin was still confused. "Piano Man? Tonic?"

"Get Priire-sama to loan you her Billy Joel records," Falcon suggested. The pair walked off, laughing. When they were out of earshot, Falcon's face became more serious. "Who's Ariel? And what's with Kleppa?"

Tanrei sighed. "Ariel is Sailor Sith Ayameru. Kleppa is Silver Sailor Chibi Ayameru."

Falcon nodded. He understood now. "All right... where's Souru? And... Kousotsu?"

"Souru's probably in one of the Jedi training rooms. And Kousotsu's..." she paused. "I don't really know."

The green-eyed boy looked a little disappointed. "That's okay. I can't wait to see either of them!"

Tanrei grinned. "Did you bring your sword?" At his enthusiastic nod, she laughed. "I should have known you would."

"Hey! Tanny! Who's that?"

The dark-haired girl rolled her eyes. "Falcon, this is Miyuki. Miyuki, this is Falcon," she said.

Falcon put on his most roguish smile and kissed the back of Miyuki's outstretched hand. "Ham," Tanrei teased him softly. He responded with another grin.

Miyuki blushed. "You must be the new knight Yuki was telling me about. Tuxedo..."

"Starlight," he finished for her.

She nodded. "Right! So are you related to Pri..."

Falcon smiled, and carefully projected a feeling of confusion so that Miyuki couldn't remember what she'd been trying to ask.

Tanrei elbowed him as Miyuki left. "Falcon! That wasn't nice! You really shouldn't use your powers like that."

Solemnly, Falcon held up his right hand and intoned, "I promise to only use my superpowers for the good of mankind and the future..."

Laughing, the eleven-year-old threw a pillow at him. "You're impossible."

"Thank you," he said, taking a bow.

"I don't like him."

Yuki's ice-blue eyes widened. "What??"

Priire shrugged. "I don't think I like the new kid - Falcon."

"Why not?" the senshi of innocence asked, regaining her composure.

Another shrug. "I don't know. Something about him just rubs me the wrong way. As if..." The blonde shook her head. "I can't really put it into words."

Instead of answering, Yuki stared back into her teacup. Maybe it was for the best...

Laying in bed at the end of the day, Falcon sighed. It had been a hard day. The first of many, he guessed. More than anything, he wanted to go up to his mother had hug her... or introduce himself to his father and get to know the man whom his mother loved.

But he couldn't, now could he. If he let them know, they'd never get together, and he'd probably disappear. That was one of the harder things to bear. The fact that his existence relied on Priire's heart being broken.

He groaned quietly and rolled over. It'd be hard, but he knew it would be worth it.