Building Bridges
A challenge response story
Write a story with fewer than 2000 words. The theme is "building bridges," and the following five words have to be used: bantha, red, bite, bowl, speeder.Title: Building Bridges
Author: Jane Jinn
Timeframe: between TPM and AOTC
Characters: Kit Fisto, OCs
Summary: Kit Fisto saves the life of a little girl in more ways than one.
Disclaimer: Kit Fisto and the Star Wars universe were created by George Lucas. I'm only borrowing them.+++++
�Master Fisto, please be welcome,� said Tshom Og, leading his family down the stairs. Kit Fisto came forward, and they met in the middle of the entry hall. Lord Tshom bowed first in greeting. �It is an honour for us to have you here.�
�It is an honour to be here,� Kit Fisto said, bowing as well.
�May I present my family? My wife, Orsho. My son, Naong, for whom you will be negotiating the contract and witnessing the wedding. My first daughter, Thamo, and my --�
Lord Tshom glanced around the entry hall and at the stairs behind him, then called out, �Mokyo!�
There was the thudding of little feet near the ceiling, and a small girl came bouncing down the stairs. Catching sight of Kit Fisto, she stopped in mid-pelt and stared, her mouth dropping slowly open, and her scent changing rapidly from childish curiosity to sheer terror.
�Mokyo, come say hello to Master Kit Fisto, the Jedi who�s come to --� her father started to command. Letting out a shriek, Mokyo turned and ran through the nearest doorway.
Lord Tshom�s smile faltered, and Kit could sense embarrassment mixed with anger as he forced a new one. �Please forgive my daughter, Master Fisto. She is young and we are still attempting to teach her manners. But now that she has led the way, please do come in and sit down.�
�There is nothing to forgive,� Kit replied with a smile, though he was more used to curious stares than outright panic at his appearance. He followed Lord Tshom into a large room that had several seats, sofas, and small tables. One wall consisted entirely of a fountain, complete with mossy rocks, which gurgled invitingly and left the room pleasantly humid. Taking a seat close to it, Kit glanced around. His tentacles caught the distinct odour of fear in the furthest corner, where Mokyo was hiding under a small table decorated with a long, red tablecloth and a bowl of white flowers.
�Where is she?� Lady Tshom wondered aloud, making Kit wonder if she truly hadn�t sensed her daughter�s hiding place. But of course humans didn�t have tentacles which were so acute that Nautolans could smell emotions by picking up on even the most subtle changes in body chemistry. They used their noses instead, which were practically useless. Kit�s human friends at the Jedi Temple had told him that their species depended mostly on their eyes and, to a lesser extent, their ears.
�She must have gone straight through,� Lord Tshom said, and Kit noticed a second door opposite the first one.
�She�s rarely come into contact with other species,� Lady Tshom explained, turning to Kit with a fervent scent of hope. She sincerely wanted him to understand and not be offended. �She�s never been off-planet ...�
�And she�s afraid of everything,� Thamo remarked sourly, smelling of incomprehension tinged with disgust.
�She�ll probably run and hide again when Lord Shojup and his family arrive to-morrow morning,� Naong added, �even though they are human and Chhulo is quite lovely.�
�I am not offended,� Kit assured them.
�Perhaps you�re hungry after your long journey?� Lord Tshom asked, neatly changing the subject. �We keep a small farm of wonga worms near here, if you�d like a snack?�
+++++
The negotiations for the marriage contract had been completed, and the ceremony would go ahead the next evening, as scheduled. Not needed until then, Kit Fisto had accepted his hosts� invitation to enjoy the grounds and any body of water he might care to swim in. He�d stripped down to the pair of bathing shorts he always wore under his clothes, and walked eagerly from the house in the direction of the river. As he approached, his tentacles picked up a strong scent of worry and fear, and he quickened his steps. Children from both the Tshom and the Shujup families stood on the bank, staring at something in the water and calling out urgently.
�Swim, Yilajung, swim!� one of the Shujup sons was shrieking.
Hearng Kit�s approach, the girl turned, and he saw that it was Thamo. Her panic reeked overwhelmingly as she cried, �Master Jedi, Master Jedi! Mokyo�s in the boat and now she�s headed for the waterfall!�
�Yilajung�s trying to catch it, but �� the other boy added, jumping up and down and pointing.
Kit looked, and saw a tiny figure crouched in the coracle that was moving smoothly along in the current. Less than halfway between the shore and the boat, the head of a fourth human was bobbing out of the water at short, ineffective intervals.
Diving in, Kit began to swim downstream, picking up speed as he spread his fingers and toes to utilize the webbing between them. He hadn�t been able to see the waterfall from where he�d stood on the bank, but now he could tell how far away it was by the way the water felt around him. It was close, but there would still be enough time. Overtaking Yilajung, Kit smelled relief taking the place of the boy�s worry and determination, but his tentacles also told him that Mokyo�s fear was steadily increasing. He called on the Force for extra power, and a few more strokes brought him level with the coracle.
Kit came up and reached out for the boat. Mokyo had been cowering on her hands and knees in the bottom of the coracle, staring at the water, but when Kit�s hand closed on the edge of the little craft, she turned her head. Her mouth opening in a silent scream, Mokyo stood up, wobbled once, and fell backwards into the river.
Letting go of the boat, Kit swam to where the scent of terror was the most acute and Mokyo was flailing frantically under the surface. She thrashed even more when Kit caught her by the leg, no doubt fearing him as some kind of sea monster that had come to swallow her with one bite. Her movements were sending her even deeper into the water, and as Kit pulled her closer and tried to get a grip on one arm, she went suddenly limp. Her terror faded into a frighteningly neutral scent.
Hugging the girl to his chest, Kit rolled onto his back, then gipped Mokyo under the arms and lifted her upper body free of the river. They were getting close to the falls now, as he could tell by the current, and he put more power into his legs to overcome the resistance. Shifting the position of his hands, Kit lifted Mokyo�s abdomen higher than her head so that the water streamed out of her mouth and nose. Unlike him, she was human, and could only breathe air. Seeing that her chest wasn�t moving, however, Kit closed the gills on the back of his neck and opened his lungs. After taking a deep breath, he fastened his mouth around Mokyo�s and exhaled gently, not wanting to burst her tiny airsacs. He had to repeat the process twice, but then she finally coughed and opened her eyes.
Expecting her to panic again, Kit had been calling on the Force the entire time, sending Mokyo the strongest possible mind suggestion of peace and security. She looked at him once in surprise and confusion, then shut her eyes again. He lowered her hips to his ribs, as there was no longer any need to dangle her in the air, and much to his astonishment, she snuggled against him, hugging his chest and finding one tentacle to grasp in each hand. When they reached the bank and Kit stood up, Mokyo did not release her hold, but wrapped her legs around him as well.
One of the Shujup children had had the presence of mind to run back to the house, and now the adults had arrived, spilling out of the speeder in a cloud of anxiety that quickly dissipated into relief.
�What happened?� Lord Tshom demanded.
The stench of guilt and shame suddenly surrounded the Shujup children, and they glanced at the ground. Thamo said, �They were teasing Mokyo about being afraid of the water � they swung her into the boat.�
�We didn�t mean for it to drift off,� said the oldest Shujup boy, the one who�d swam after Mokyo.
�We would have taken her out again in a minute,� the second son added.
�But then we turned around, and --�
�She could have drowned!� Lady Tshom roared. �She could have gone over the waterfall!�
�How could you do such a stupid thing before my wedding?� Lady Chhulo hissed. �You could have ruined everything!�
�The Jedi Master rescued her,� the youngest boy pointed out, edging away from his older sister.
�A healer should check her over,� Kit suggested, coming closer to Lady Tshom and offering the child to her.
�I don�t need a healer!� Mokyo announced, coughing once and clinging more fiercely. �The Jedi saved me. He blew in my mouth!�
Lady Tshom gasped at the implications of that simple sentence, and Lord Tshom lifted his comlink from his belt.
+++++
A few days later, Kit walked down to the river again. The healer had pronounced Mokyo fine, though she�d been sent to bed early that day and had been kept under observation since then. The wedding and the postnuptial celebrations had all gone ahead on schedule. As Kit knew he�d soon have a long, dry journey in ship�s air ahead of him, which his portable humidifier could only partially alleviate, he wanted to enjoy a full submersion. Wading in, he let himself float just under the surface.
The scent of fear mixed with grim determination flooded the water, and Kit felt a tug on one of his tentacles. Turning his head slightly, he saw that Mokyo was standing up to her waist in the river and reaching for his chin with both hands. Kit started to get up, but Mokyo leaned down and flattened her mouth against his. For a moment, Kit thought that she might be trying to kiss him in the human way, but then she exhaled heartily, and a puff of air chased the water through his gills. It tickled, and he shut them instantly, then opened his lungs and sat up.
�You�re safe!� Mokyo cried.
Her relief and his own realisation washed over Kit like a warm current. She�d thought he�d been drowning!
�Yes,� he replied. �I�m safe.�
Mokyo threw herself on him in a hug that almost knocked him over. �I�m so glad!�
�Tshom Mokyo!� Lady Tshom cried, running up. �Are you trying to drown yourself again?�
�I was saving Kit! He was drowning -- completely underwater!� Mokyo exclaimed, letting go of Kit but stepping on his thigh to get up the bank. Once out of the water, she faced her mother with her hands on her hips. �I couldn�t let him drown! I want him to negotiate my contract and witness my marriage!�
�There will be a Jedi at your wedding, assuming you live long enough to reach that age.�
�But I want Kit! He saved me. He blew in my mouth and now I�m like a Jedi, too.�
�That has nothing to do with being a Jedi,� Lady Tshom said, shaking her head.
�I didn�t say I was a Jedi, I said I was like one! He�s not afraid of anything, and now I�m not afraid of anything! I�m not afraid of him anymore, and I�m not afraid of water, and when we go to the plains this year, I�ll even ride a bantha without being afraid that it will step on me and squish all my guts out!�
�That is indeed like a Jedi,� Kit said, heartily approving of the girl using his Force suggestion to bridge the rivers of her fears. They would dry up if she crossed them often enough. �I shall be honoured to officiate at your wedding.�
The End
Written 12 - 15 June 2004