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"UsaNeko!!!!!" Annika yelled from the top of the stairs. The little kitten had gone missing, and Annika was busy panicking. She’d looked all through her room, Lys’ room, Chikako’s room, and the kitchen. Now, back upstairs in her room, she was getting more than worried.
"Usa-chan!!! Where are you? Here, kittykittykitty!!!!" she called. Suddenly, she saw a flash of pink and white shoot across the bottom the stairs. There you are, she thought.
Perhaps she wasn’t paying enough attention, or running down the stairs too fast, or maybe it was because she was just a klutz, but Annika tripped over the last step, and her right foot bent in such a way as to cause the Bakuran Princess to fall with a heavy thud. At first, the pain was blinding as it shot up her leg, past her hip, and into her head. Then the pain fell into a growing ache, it surrounded her ankle, and her entire foot.
Too shocked to cry, she grabbed her ankle and rolled around on the floor. When she remembered that she was alone in the Room Behind the Waterfall and had no way to get to the medical droid, the tears began to fall. UsaNeko wandered up, the little bell on her collar jingling.
"What happened Annika-sama?" the little kitten asked in her high-pitched, bubble gum voice.
"U... UsaNeko," Annika whispered in an over-dramatic way, "P-please go get Obi-Wan... I think I’m dying..."
Her eyes growing as large as a kitten’s possibly could, UsaNeko ran out to find Master Kenobi. Quickly over the grounds she ran, looking everywhere, but couldn’t find him. She ran into the Jedi Temple, searching every room. He was exiting the Jedi Council Library when he almost stepped on the pink and white feline.
"Master Obi-Wan, come quick! Annika-sama is hurt!!" He dropped the book in his hand and raced to the Room Behind the Waterfall. Annika was a shaking, messy heap still laying at the bottom of the stairs when he saw her. Her hair had flopped in all directions, and her clothes were askew. The colouring of her skin had faded to a pale white, and her eyes were glazed.
"Oh... Obi-Wan... I don’t know how much longer I’ve got... I’m just so tired... I... I think I’m going to be sick... Always remember... I love you," Annika whispered before closing her eyes.
"Annika!" he yelled, "Stay awake!" He watched as her eyes fluttered open and she smiled at him. "Annika, what happened?"
"I fell down the stairs, and... and... and..." She trailed off. Obi-Wan picked her up and ran the length to the medical facility. He cursed himself for not reaching her sooner; if anything happened to her, he didn’t know what he would do. Upon reaching the medical lab, the large black medical droid took the limp body of Annika Nesicha from her boyfriend’s strong arms.
"Please," he begged, "please help her." The droid beeped and disappeared behind two big metal doors.
"Obi-Waaaaaaaaaan!!!!!!" Lys cried. She ran over and hugged her future father. "What happened? UsaNeko told us Annika was brought here. Is she okay? Please tell me she’s okay," tears welled in the young girl’s eyes.
Nom, who accompanied Lys, Lysthea, Ippin, and Chakra to the hospital ward, raised an eyebrow at the question asked. "Of course she is fine. You are still in one piece. It stands to reason if something did befall her, you would cease to exist."
"Well-said Nom... I guess," Ippin giggled.
An hour and forty-five minutes later, a blue medical droid approached Obi-Wan. "Her Royal Highness is suffering from a sprained ankle and will be ready to leave momentarily," the cold voice echoed.
"A sprained ankle? Is that all?" Ippin asked, surprised.
"Yes," the answer came.
"But, I thought... from the way she was acting..." Obi-Wan started. It quickly dawned on him that no matter the ailment, Annika was still Annika, melodramatic and all. He tried to fight smiling but lost when Lysthea burst into laughter. Nom rolled her eyes as the entire group started laughing.
"I do not know why you are all surprised. I told you she would be fine," the Dathomirian girl pined with her arms firmly folded. She straightened when a shrill scream was heard from behind the metal doors, and a group of droids ran in all directions. The blue droid from earlier approached Obi-Wan again.
"Sir, the use of bacta on internal injuries requires an injection with a small hypodermic needle, however, when medical droid R7-012, attempted to administer this treatment-"
"Say no more," Obi-Wan said, lifting up his hand. "What are the alternative treatments?" Just then the doors swung open and a scared-looking Annika was wheeled out. Her right ankle was bandaged in a cast, and she was given crutches to help her walk.
"The Princess has a prescription for pain stabilisers and must remain in the cast and on crutches for at least seven standard days."
"Oh no!" Lysthea moaned.
Two days, a broken vase, a bruised foot, and thirty minutes later, Annika decided she was hungry and wanted a snack. She had been moved from her room upstairs into the library temporarily; it was easier for her to get around on the crutches, and it kept her out of the way of the other Jedi.
She picked up a small rabbit-shaped metal bell and rang it - loudly. "Lyyyyyssssttttthhheeeeeeaaaa!!!!!!!!!!" she called. The bell dinged over and over again, finding its way up the stairs and into the called-for girl’s ears.
Sighing, she said, "Why did I agree to help her?" Her twin sister, Lys, shrugged her shoulders.
"I don’t know why you agreed. Don’t you remember when we were kids and Mama cut her finger on that glass statue?"
"Oh... that’s right. The security guards had to hold her down while the bacta was applied. She was screaming so loud... I was so frightened."
The bell rang again. "Lyyyyysssssttttthhhhheeeeeaaaaa!!!"
Lys giggled as her sister slouched her way down the stairs.
"What is it, Annika?"
"Well, I was wondering if you’d be so kind as to get your future mother something to eat?"
"You have the crutches - can’t you get to the kitchen yourself?"
Priire was just in time. "No!!!! I’ll get her something from the kitchen!" Priire remembered the last time Annika used the crutches; Kairi-chan’s foot was still black and blue, and Solai’s tail was crinkled. Priire didn’t mind helping her friend, so she relieved Lysthea of her duty.
"Bless you," Lysthea whispered.
Priire regretted her decision an hour later.
"Prrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiirrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!" came the Princess’ voice and the ding-dong of the bell. Kairiku could see her friend’s face turn red, and she could’ve sworn she saw steam shoot from her ears.
"This is the seventh time in an hour she’s called me," Priire said.
"Did you want me to check on her this time?" Kairi-chan offered.
"No, no. I’ll do it," the blonde girl said sweetly. She quietly sauntered into the library and smiled at Annika.
"Yes?"
"Oh Priire! Thank goodness! Please hand me that comic book."
"Certainly."
"Thank you. And will you go and get me some cookies?"
"Certainly."
"And some fizzy orange water?"
"Certainly."
"Thank you! And please get me my music player, and issues of Cosmos Girl, Bantha Beat, and Rolling Asteroid?"
"Certainly." Priire turned to leave, then turned back to face Annika. "Annika? May I see your bell?"
"Certainly!"
Priire smiled as she turned the bell over in her hands. Then, to Annika’s surprise, Priire threw it into the air, pulled out her blaster, and shot the bell to bits.
"Why did you do that?!?" the injured girl yelled. Without a word, Priire turned and left. Coming back a few minutes later, she dragged a large black bag into the library filled with the things Annika asked for; then she left again letting Annika whine and cry all by herself.
Two long weeks later, Annika’s ankle was much better, and she ditched the crutches the first chance she got. She looked bright and refreshed while the rest of the senshi were frazzled and tired.
"I’m glad you’re feeling better, Annika," Kairi-chan said, setting a large glass on the table before opening her notebook.
"Thanks! I think I’m going to try and be more careful in the future," Annika said, ignoring the snickers from the other Jedi. She picked up the glass Kairiku put down and took a large drink.
"Annika!!! Don’t drink that!!"
"Why not? It was really good!" the princess said, licking her lips.
"It’s my chemistry homework!!"
"Oh no!!" Annika gasped. "What does it do?!?"
"Well, it temporarily bl-"
Annika screamed, "I CAN’T SEE!!!!!!"
"Uh-oh," Kairiku whispered. Suddenly, Yuki shot up out of her chair.
"Uh... I’m needed on Hoth! I’ll see you later!" she yelled before running out. Annika was feeling her way along the table and knocking over valuable pieces of art.
"Me too!" said Priire, running after the ice-blue-haired Yuki. A pitiful-looking Kairi-chan eyed Audra.
"No way! This is your mess, you take care of her! Besides, I’ve got urgent business on Alderaan. Bye!!!"
Annika was crying and babbling something about never being able to see food or Obi-Wan again; then she knocked over the rest of Kairiku’s chemistry homework, spilling it on her notebook. The blonde girl saw three weeks of work destroyed and began to cry herself.
