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Falcon stared blank-eyed at the tree in front of him. He hadn't meant to give the impression that he was an avid lover of trees... the plant was merely situated between him and the nothingness he was staring towards.
"You okay, kid?"
The voice startled Falcon out of his trance. "Huh?"
"I said," the blonde repeated carefully, "'You okay, kid?'" Priire looked at him with concern in her eyes. "You've been staring off into nowhere for a long time." A smirk played at the edges of her mouth. "When you missed dinner, we got worried."
Falcon looked at Priire. She was different than he remembered. He remembered her with long blonde hair and a scar on her chin. Eyes that were framed with smile lines, not bearing the haunted look that this woman's eyes had...
A sudden flurry of motion found Falcon laying on his back with Priire standing over him. The boy put a hand to his face where the mercenary had backhanded him. "I learned that one," she said calmly, "from Nom. I think her theory was either hurt me bad enough to make me realize that I could still hurt, or she was just releasing tension."
"Wh... when?" he asked, quietly, letting her grab his forearm in a classic rescue grip to pull him to his feet.
"Two words: Tashita Seijoutai."
The name wasn't all that familiar to the boy, so he frowned. 'Seijoutai' was Priire's last name; he knew that much. Another sister?
Filling him in, Priire spoke softly. "Tashita. My daughter."
Falcon's jaw dropped. He had a sister...? But that couldn't be. Priire and Kousotsu didn't get married until... he stared at her without saying anything.
Priire snorted at him. "Mostly my daughter. She's actually a clone of me..." Priire shook her head. "Areil playing God again. Sith, she needs her butt kicked. Created a clone of me and slipped a few other genes in too."
He tried not to show it, but Falcon felt relieved. "What happened?"
"Areil arranged the truth in such a way that I thought..." Priire shook her head. "That I thought I cheated on Kousotsu in the future." Her green eyes were stormy with trouble at the mere idea. "I couldn't live with him with that over my head. That was when Nom backhanded me."
The boy listened to her confession with wide eyes. Force, he cursed mentally, I understand a little better now...
"So," her eyes lit up with mischief. "I figured it would work on you." Before he could protest, she pushed on. "Tanny was a good kid. Misguided, but she was a good kid." Priire forced a grin. "And Ame lets good kids in."
Suddenly remembering that he wasn't as old as he looked, Falcon stared at her with the expression of loss. He searched her face and bit his bottom lip before asking her a last question. "All good kids?"
Priire reached over and wrapped the dark-haired boy in a hug, an action that was uncustomary for her. "Yeah," she responded, comfortingly. "All good kids."
