Suprise, Sutaru! The Birthday She'd Never Forget!

In the Room Behind the Waterfall on a warm day in the Earth month July, a relatively large group composed mostly of teenage girls sat scheming. In the middle was Kairiku, flopped on a beanbag chair, an expression on her face reading scheming and confusion. Nearby was Chakra, twirling her dark, curly hair around a finger, lost in thought. Similarly sat Yukiko, Aisu, Shikuku, Neburaa, Kyoko, Xarae, Nagareboshi, Zyta, Koumi, and Audra. Also in the room were the two cats, Solai and Schylar.

Aisu broke the long-lasted silence. "How about we take her to Corellia for her birthday?"

"No..." Kairiku said. "I mean, she was born there, yes, but she's turning thirteen, and it's gotta be special!"

The silence sunk back in again and was about to become awkward when Solai bumped his little cat head against Kairiku's arm. "Hey, babe, how 'bout a surprise party?" Kairiku picked the cat and hugged him. "Err.. Kairi, babe. Cat needs air!" She dropped Solai none too gently.

"Oh, sorry Solai!" Kairiku was beaming, "But that was SUCH a great idea!!"

Yukiko had been playing with her ice-blue hair, and it was now down with a pair of braids in buns on the sides. "I agree with Kairi-chan! Sutaru'd love a surprise party!"

With that, each person was assigned something to get for the party (besides a present, duh!) and they parted their different ways, with Shikuku and Yukiko staying behind to keep Sutaru out of the Room Behind the Waterfall.

In a room decked out in greens and oranges, Sutaru was far from happy. She was turning thirteen in one day, and thought she should look different. She idolized the senshi with funky-colored hair, especially Yukiko and a recent addition, Sumarutsu Shikuku, who had the most beautiful purple hair she'd seen, even more so than her own sister's. Come to think of it, she thought darkly, all three of my siblings have cool hair. She scowled, scooped up an emerald-green pillow, and hugged it, hard. Suddenly there was a knock at the door. "Come in!" she shouted, tugging at her favorite green tye-dyed jumper.

Lo and behold, Yukiko and Shikuku entered the girl's room, and Sutaru just about screamed. Her eyes welled up with tears, and she threw herself on her green-and-orange sheeted bed.

Shikuku glanced sidelong at Yukiko, received a shrug, and sighed. Yukiko walked over to Sutaru. "What's wrong, Suta-chan?"

Sutaru sat up, sniffling. "It's-it's just that y-you and Shikuku have such cool hair, and all I've got is blah brown."

Yukiko chuckled. "Suta-chan, if that's all, then maybe you could think of the drawbacks of funky hair. You have no idea how many times I wished I had brown hair as a kid!"

Shikuku sat beside Sutaru. "Sutaru, I know I haven't known ya that long, but hear me out, k?" She got a nod in return and continued. "Having purple hair on a world where people have to dye their hair to get even white hair is considered being a freak. I once dyed my hair red, but it came out fuschia and I had to wash it out. Plus, at school, the teachers thought it was dye and I got in trouble!" She stopped, and laughed at the memory.

Suta didn't look phased. "Yeah, well, your family doesn't all have cool-colored hair except you!" Suta grabbed a holopic of her family from her bedside table. "See? That's Neburaa when she was four, and her twin Nobaa." She pointed to a pair of identical twins, but one had purple hair in a pair of star-shaped odango and the other pink in hearts. "And that's my big brother Darien. He was nine in this picture." She pointed out a relatively tall boy with dark bluish-green hair. A seven-year-old ChibiSuta stood beside him. She then pointed to the two adults standing behind the four children. "Those're my parents, Souru, my dad, and Sutaru, my mom." The man standing behind Darien and Suta had dark blue hair that swept into his eyes. The woman, standing behind Nobaa and Neburaa, had blonde hair streaked with green, blue, purple, pink, and silver. Her hair was up in round odango, the long tails just touching the floor.

Yukiko stared at the picture for a long time. She finally let it sink in that this girl was the outcast of her family, the black wampa. She turned her gaze to Sutaru, who'd since begun to cry again.

Shikuku snapped her fingers. "How about you dye it? Not permanently or anything, one that will wash out in a week or something?"

Sutaru's face brightened. "I could?"

Yukiko smiled. "Looking at your family, you could use a change, if not just for your birthday! All you need to decide on is color!"

Sutaru thought for a second, but only one color came to mind. "Green. This green!" She held up her emerald pillow.

"I don't see any problem in that, do you Shiku-chan?"

Shikuku smirked. "Nope, Yuki-chan, I don't!"

The next day, Yukiko and Shikuku got up early and bought a bottle of emerald green hair dye while the others got the Room Behind the Waterfall ready for Sutaru's surprise party. Everyone had gotten their share of the party supplies, and a few had gone out of their way to get the best ones available. It was, of course, Nom's job to make the cake. It ended up being a half-and-half chocolate and white cake, with a pink icing base and "Happy Birthday Suta-chan" printed in green icing across the top, and a four-pointed star in one corner. Green and orange crèpe paper was twisted all around the room, and a big fabric banner hung on the wall opposite the door, reading "Happy 13th, Sutaru!" The paper and plastic flatware was in varying colors of green and orange, and the cardboard party hats had rainbow patterns all over them, courtesy of Nom. Stacked on one table were, of course, the birthday presents, and the rainbow of wrappings would have astounded any onlooker. Kairiku stood basically in the middle of the room; the cats had their tails wrapped around her ankles so she wouldn't go ballistic. Her nerves had been on edge all day, and this was making it even worse, but she wasn't mad or anything. She just wanted this party to start sometime before Sutaru's fourteenth birthday.

Elsewhere, Yukiko and Shikuku admired their handiwork. Sutaru sat on her bathroom counter, her now emerald-green locks loose around her face and back. She was beaming; the color had come out perfect, and it matched everything she owned. With Shikuku and Yukiko, they looked like a mini-rainbow. Sutaru was still wrapped in her forest green towel, since she'd had to shower to get the residual dye out of her hair.

"You look great, Suta-chan!" Shikuku said for the fortieth time in ten minutes.

"Thanks Shiku-chan, but can I go get dressed now?" Sutaru hopped off the counter. Shikuku smiled and Sutaru ran out of the bathroom to grab her clothes that Yukiko had picked for her. In about twenty minutes she had her clothes on, a white tee shirt under a green jumper with an orange pleat in the skirt and a little orange bow, hair done in a pair of round odango, with curly-q's springing from each direction at the base, and sparkly green boots on. "I'm ready!"

"Okay, but I need to make a com-call first," Yukiko said, dashing into, of all places, Sutaru's messy closet and shutting herself in.

".......strange girl.." Sutaru muttered, a little sweatdrop appearing on the back of her head.

In the closet, Yukiko commed Kairiku. "Kairi-chan, we're about to get Suta up there. Be ready!" She shut off the comm and stuffed it in her pocket, pushing the door open and tripping over a shoe. From the floor, Yuki said, "Okay, Suta. Next project," she stood up, "cleaning your closet. C'mon, let's go."

"Go where, Yuki-chan?" Sutaru said, puzzled.

"Just follow me and Shikuku." Then she and Shiku dragged Suta out of her room and down the hall, toward the Room Behind the Waterfall.

Kairiku shut off her comm and, stuffing it in her pocket, yelled, "Okay everybody, she's coming! Hide!" She took her place near the light-controls as the door slid open. Yukiko and Shikuku were chatting back and forth with Sutaru, but since it was dark all Kairiku could distinguish about her best friend's hair was the new hairstyle. She slapped the control, bringing the lights up, signaling everyone out of hiding.

"SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY SU-" Everybody stopped short when they saw her newly-dyed hair.

"Suta, what in the name of all that is good did you do to your HAIR?!" Kairiku sputtered.

"I thought it was time for a change, but it's not permanent." Sutaru looked around the room, smiling brightly. "Hey guys, what's new?" She acted as though there weren't any decorations around the room.

Nom walked over to Sutaru. "It is a party for your birthday, Sutaru. Do you not notice the ribbons?" she asked in her no-nonsense tone.

"Yeah, Nom, and thank you ALL!!" Sutaru ran over to Kairiku and hugged her. "Kairi-chan, did you put this together?"

"Yeah, but thank Solai for the idea," Kairiku said, hugging Sutaru as the gray tabby tapped his tail against Kairiku's leg.

Sutaru picked up the cat, scratching him behind the ears. He purred and said, "Hey babe, it was nothin' at all." Schylar rolled her kittycat eyes and perched herself up on a chair.

A chant had begun in the room. "Can-dles! Can-dles!" Sutaru put Solai down and walked over to the table and the cake. Twelve orange and green candy-striped candles had been pushed into the icing, and in the middle of the four-pointed star in the corner was one white candle, meaning the new year of life. They were lit, and the flickering firelights cast weird shadows around the room. After everyone sang the birthday song and Nom asked why everyone laughed about it, Sutaru blew the candles out. She then noticed Neburaa with a holocam and stuck her tongue out at her playfully. Neburaa, to Sutaru's dismay, took a picture of green-haired Suta with her tongue sticking out!

"NEBURAA!!!!" Sutaru squealed at her younger sister, who ran off to hide the cam.

Meanwhile, Nom had cut the cake and handed Sutaru the piece with the star on it. Soon after, cake having been eaten and pink icing cleaned off of faces, Xarae suggested Sutaru open her presents. Sutaru grinned and, with Kairiku, on her heels ran to the table loaded with many-colored presents. Kairi-chan shoved a moss-green and pale blue box into Sutaru's hands as Suta was sitting down on a well-placed beanbag chair. Sutaru slowly, carefully, lifted the top off the box, and her eyes went wide. Inside was a green fabric-covered paper journal with a silver lock. There were also a pen full of green ink and the silver key to the journal on a long piece of green ribbon.

"Oh my stars, Kairi-chan, it's beautiful!" Sutaru looked like her eyes were going to fall out of her head. She'd always wanted, and needed, a paper journal, since her technology-gifted sister could always hack into her data-journal and read her mushiest letters to herself. Sutaru stood up and wrapped her arms around Kairiku in a huge hug. Kairiku hugged her back, and, pushing green strands of hair out of her face, made Sutaru sit down again.

"You're welcome, Suta-chan!"

Neburaa dropped a purple-and-green wrapped lump into her sister's lap and kneeled beside the beanbag. Suta carefully undid the purple ribbon, and the wrappings just fell open. Inside was a dark green sweatshirt with silver vines printed all around it. Sutaru hugged her sister; Neburaa had always known what to get her big sister for birthdays.

Next came Chakra, the second-youngest person in the room, next to Aisu. She pushed a red fabric satchel into Sutaru's hands and sat next to Neburaa. Suta pulled from the satchel a silver ring on a chain; engraved in the ring was "Happy 13th Sutaru."

"Chakra! Where on Coruscant did you find this?" Sutaru immediately put the necklace around her neck as Chakra explained that she'd found a jewelry shop that engraved birthday greetings in rings for not that much credits. Sutaru ruffled the little girl's curly brown locks and grinned as Yukiko dropped an ice-blue and green box into Sutaru's lap. Suta removed the top of the box, revealing a pair of snowball earrings and a bracelet with little white snowball beads on an elastic string. Sutaru hugged her icy-haired friend and slipped the bracelet around her wrist, and Shikuku handed her a blue bag with silver and green ribbons tied to the handles. Suta, feeling silly, stuck her whole head in the bag, pulled it out and reached in the bag while everyone was laughing. She pulled a pair of green scrunchies, a string of green and orange barrettes, and an orange sparkly butterfly clip from the bag. "AIEE! Shiku-chan, this is SO Hoth!"

The older girl smirked, but when she tried to walk back to her seat, she tripped over an empty box and ended up flat on her face. "I'm... okay, I think.."

Nom, in all her seriousness, smirked a little and handed Sutaru a simple brown package. Suta undid the fastenings and revealed a pair of natural-colored, hemp-like sandals, with strings that wrapped around the lower leg like ballerina's and tied. Suta didn't have to voice her thanks; her eyes said it all. Nom nodded silently and went back to her seat, and the party went on until Sutaru had opened all her gifts and had gotten a little hyperactive.

The party lasted long into the night, and when everybody started to get tired, Sutaru ran back to her room and grabbed a black velvet bag. She came back and dumped the contents of the bag onto the aforementioned beanbag. It was three holovids; Sailormoon R, S, and SuperS movies, subtitled in Basic. Suta popped the R movie into the Holo player, and everybody settled into comfortable movie-watching positions. About halfway through the movie, Koumi silently moved over to Sutaru and shyly held out a prism-wrapped box, with sparkly yellow ribbons tied around it. It's for you, but I didn't really like the noise earlier, Koumi told Sutaru through the Force.

I understand totally, Koumi-chan, Sutaru replied, to Koumi's surprise. Sutaru carefully undid the ribbons and lifted the prismy top off the box. Inside was the prettiest play tiara Sutaru had ever seen. It was silver-painted metal wires, about one millimeter in diameter, bent into an intricate viney pattern, with tiny metal stars poking out in nearly every direction but down. In the middle was a bent-metal star, with a green crystal-suspended by a thin wire in the middle. Suta's eyes glittered the same as the crystal, and she immediately put it on her head, between her odango, pushing the plastic combs into her hair to hold it in place. She then hugged Koumi tightly. Oh Koumi-chan, this has to be my favorite. Thank you so incredibly much, Sutaru told Koumi through the Force.

Koumi smiled, hugged the younger girl, and quietly said, "Happy Birthday Suta-chan."

Sutaru blinked at Koumi, the usually quiet girl from Kessel. She then grinned and nodded her thanks. The two turned to watch the rest of the movie, and the one after that, and the one after that. It was four in the morning, standard, by the time they decided it was best to go to bed.

Sutaru, still wearing the tiara, walked over to Kairiku and Chakra. "You guys wanna spend the night with me?" She got two affirmatives, and they split off to get pillows, clothes, etc. The night ended with Kairi-chan and Suta sharing Suta's green-and-orange sheeted bed, and Chakra comfortably snuggled into a thick sleeping bag near the foot of Suta's bed.