The scientist’s name was Kas’ tille.  He proved to be a very amiable and pacifistic person: an exact opposite to the others of the species that they had run into.  He’d given them food, clothing, and shelter.  He explained to them that his curiosity for the believed lower beings had gotten him banished from his people, and that the Progie had taken him in.

  Zander and Cyera sat across from the Progie and their group, staring at the embers.  It had been a very active few days for both of them, and they were glad to now have the chance to relax.

 As Zander lay back against the tree he smiled, feeling relief from the danger and pain that had plagued him.  The community was so warm and serene; he felt safe.

“Zan?” Cyera asked looking at him with curiosity.

“Yes?”

“Did you and your dad clear up that problem you were talking about before?”

“Sort of, but I’m still unsure about some stuff,” he answered slowly.

  Cyera looked at him inquisitively,  “What is to be unsure about, Zan? You shot someone and got in trouble.”

  Zander gave his friend an unhappy glare before responding; it was bad enough that she had to bring up the subject, she didn’t have to start blaming him.  “It’s more complicated than that, and you know it.  I can see why it was a mistake to shoot, but I really didn’t have bad intentions behind it.  I was trying to protect Kerina; I couldn’t just leave her with Parthes…”

“Kerina?  Your sister’s best friend was attacked?”

  Zander groaned; Kerina wasn’t going to be happy with him.  “Yes,” he said hesitatingly, “but you have to promise not to tell anyone, I promised her.”

“Why does she want to keep it a secret?”

“This wasn’t just any attack, Parthes was trying to rip off her clothing…”

  Cyera’s jaw dropped, “He tried to rape her!  You should tell your sister about this, that’s her best friend!”
 
 

  “I can’t, Cyera.  She didn’t want me to tell anyone about it, she said it would be embarrassing.”

“Kerina could get help if she told, Zan. She must be a little unstable.”

“She seemed fine the last time I talked to her,” he answered.

“Sure it seems that way!  She’s most likely faking it!  Zan, she needs help.”

  Zander sighed deeply, biting down a little on his lip.  He stared into Cyera’s eyes, giving her a pleading look.

“What?” she groaned.

“You could talk to her, Cyera.  You’d do a much better job than I could.”

“Z! I barely know her!” she exclaimed, “What help could I possibly be? You know more about it than I!”

“Please?”

  Looking into Zander’s pleading brown eyes, Cyera broke down.  Sighing, she nodded, getting a hug in return.

  “Do you know how lucky you are that I give in so easy?” she asked, folding her arms, “you know, I could’ve left you without a word a long time ago…”

  “All right, I get the point; I’m very lucky to have you as a friend and I grovel at your feet!”

  Cyera snickered as he playfully bowed to her.  “Ok, enough… So, what are you going to give me for talking to her?”

“Gifts were not in the agreement,” Zander answered dryly.

“Really?  I don’t quite remember an agreement, I just remember someone groveling…”

“Fine!  I’ll mow your lawn for you for a week,” Zander cut in abruptly.

  Cyera looked upon her friend with an amused grin: mischief in her eyes.  “Only a week?  I don’t know…”

“Two,” he groaned.
 
 

  Cyera smiled a satisfied smile and walked into one of the cottages, giving Zander’s head a mocking pat.

  Zander grumbled and turned back toward the fire.  Above the flames he saw his father gazing at him from the other side of the pit.  He looked at Jaden inquisitively as he noticed his father’s unhappy expression.

  As Jaden came to him, Zander looked at his shadowed face and wondered why his mood seemed dark.

“Zander, I gather we need to talk.”

  The twelve-year-old sighed, a grim smile appearing on his face; he had heard the entire conversation.  Slowly, Zander rose and followed Jaden further away from the fire, into the jungle trees.

  “First, son, I will tell you that keeping Kerina’s secret was unwise,” Jaden began,  “second I will tell you that Kerina needs to see a professional psychiatrist, not another fourteen-year-old that she’s barely seen.”

Zander nodded slowly, looking away. “Fair enough.  Third?”

Jaden straightened, “Third, come here,” he said gesturing toward the stump behind him.

  Slowly and quietly, Zander moved to his left to sit beside his father.  They sat in silence for a while before a word was spoken, and then, finally, Jaden began.
 
  “Son, what were you’re emotions when you shot Parthes?  You told me earlier that you had panicked and you were frightened, is this true?”

“Yes,” Zander answered softly.

  Jaden nodded slowly, “And with that fear overcoming you, were you concentrating on just saving that girl, or was the fear itself guiding you?”

Zander looked down into his lap.

  “I thought so.”  Jaden sighed deeply, then turned back toward his son.  “Zander, you mustn’t let feelings such as fear and anger control you.  They blind easily, and should you use Jedi powers with those emotions…”

“You turn to the dark side,” Zander finished a little too venomously,  “I know, Dad.”

  Jaden’s lips pursed as he calmed his nerves.  “Son, I’ll thank you not to take that tone with me.”

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled softly, staring into his lap.

  Jaden cocked his head a bit, venturing on a new angle to the subject they had been talking about.  “Zander, what did you learn when I talked to you about how you’d become like the Abissen guards?”

  Zander rested his arms on his legs, and sighed slightly.  “That I shouldn’t be so quick to act.  That I should take words for what they were meant to be instead of twisting them into cruel sentences.  That I need to listen to everything that one has to say before getting too dramatic or defensive…”

  Jaden put a hand up to stop him, understanding what he’d gotten out of the discussion.  “Now, what don’t you understand?” he asked, leaning toward him.

  Zander picked leaves and lint from his pants as he pondered his greatest question. “Where is the line between offense and defense drawn?”

Jaden’s eyebrows rose at the question, it hadn’t been quite what he had expected.

“How do I know what actions are good in different circumstances?”

  “With a calm mind, son, it will become clear.  When your intent becomes to harm rather than protect, you’ve crossed the line.”  Jaden studied his son’s face for a while, then continued.  “You were trying to protect Kerina, and that was noble, however, you let fear lead you into thoughts of harming Parthes.  You didn’t think clearly, or consider better options.  What you need to learn, son, is how to calm your mind.”

  Zander’s brown eyes locked with his father’s ice blue ones.  “I see anger rise within you every day, Zander.  It digs you deeper into the hole that you’ve made for yourself, and gets you into more trouble with everyone.  That anger could prove to be something very dangerous, especially when your training begins: it will either make you an agent of evil, or severely restrict your power and potential.  Do you understand where these emotions could lead?”

  The pre-teen looked a little cross; this discussion made him feel like even more of a screw-up.  He nodded grimly.

“Son, it’s very important that you understand…”

“I understand!”  Zander cut in irritably.

  His father said nothing, but his mere gaze was enough to keep him from saying anything worse.  Zander left abruptly, feeling involuntarily hurt and irritated.  He had felt bad enough, and was finally getting better emotionally until this conversation.
 

  Jaden let him go; sensing that Zander needed to be alone.

  Sighing softly, he leaned back against the branches of the tree to the left of the stump.  He hadn’t meant to hurt Zander, of course, but the boy needed to understand all of the sides of his mistakes; doing this would help him gain a lot of wisdom that he needed.  Zander was so easily offended most of the time, even when Jaden spoke in his most gentle tone to him, he still ended up going upstairs to his room angry.  What had started these changes between his early childhood and now?

  Shawn caught his son’s worried and distressed thoughts.  Zander had become quite hard to deal with; training him would be dangerous if his attitude kept up.  Sighing, he walked into the hut after his grandson; they had a lot to talk about.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

  “Zander?”  Shawn asked cautiously as he saw his grandson sprawled over the floor of the community bedroom.

  The pre-teen rose his head slightly, looking up at him with a half-curious and half- distressed look.  “What?” he asked simply.

  Shawn knelt by his side and looked down at him calmly, showing no judgement.  “Would you like to tell me what’s wrong?”

  Zander propped himself up a bit on his elbows, and looked up through his bangs at his grandfather.  Biting his lip, he got the nerve to ask a question that was on his mind.  “I’m not a bad person am I, grandpa?”

  Shawn shook his head, “Of course not.  Zander, your father is merely trying to get a lesson across, you shouldn’t take it so offensively.”

“I know, but I’ve been struggling with some of this stuff for a long time.  No one in my town wants to get to know me because of the belief that I’m a screw-up.  I feel bad enough when others cut me down for my reputation, but when he does it it’s a lot worse…”

“He’s not cutting you down, Zander.”

“I know he’s not trying to, but it feels like it.”  Zander drew in a deep breath, “I don’t usually like admitting this kind of stuff, but what he thinks of me matters a lot, and the thought that he’s disappointed or unhappy with me has great affect on me.  With most others I couldn’t care less, they don’t know me, but he…” His voice trailed off, and he felt a tear began to trail down his check.
 
 

  Shawn coaxed his grandson off of the floor, and hugged him tightly as Zander poured his heart out to him.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

  Cyera looked down with sympathy at her sleeping friend.  Last night as she was trying to get to sleep, she wandered through the cottage aimlessly, finding herself by the door of the men’s bedroom hearing Zander speak as he cried on his grandfather’s shoulder a bit.  Well, she didn’t quite just walk to the door and accidentally, but rather she spied because she heard voices and was curious.  She admitted that she was a bit of a snoop, but her intentions weren’t bad.  She’d been worried since she heard from Zeana that the boy had flipped out again, and had begun wondering if Zander would ever remain calm when talking to his father.  For Jaden’s sake, she hoped so.

  She entered the room cautiously, eventually finding that Zander was the only one within.  With a smirk on her face she knelt beside him, and poked his side until he awoke.
It was standard routine between them; whenever Zander had a really bad evening, she would prod him childishly and do anything within her power to get him to laugh and play.

  Her eyes lit up with mischief as rolled on his back to face her.  He grunted and tried to go back to sleep.  This lasted for about an hour before Cyera was able to get her friend off the floor and chasing her down the tiny hall.

“Cyera, I swear, if you don’t give me back my blanket…”

  She giggled as she ran out the door dragging the cloth on the ground.  Zander watched her in annoyance and made small threatening gestures at her through the window.

  Finally, she was able to coax him out; he rushed at her and knocked her down in the mud near the creek.  In return, she got out of his grip, shoved his face in the mud and pushed him into the water.  From that moment, the action began, and flying mud balls could be seen from every direction.

  When they rushed by Jaden and Shawn, the Jedi’s eyes widened.  As the war progressed, a smirk could be seen on both of their faces.  The villagers and scientist were laughing uncontrollably, as was Gavrin.  Krysta looked bemused, as she was working at little chores.  When Kaster saw what was going on, he went a step further and joined them; joining Cyera, he playfully pelted mud at his older cousin and got his head shoved into the dirt several times.

  All came back to the cottage covered with mud and laughing.  Krysta’s jaw dropped at the sight of them,  “What the heck happened?”

Zander pointed to Cyera, indicating that she had started the fight.

  Cyera put her hands on her hips, “Don’t even point that finger!  You the one who decided to rush me!”

“You were taunting me!”

  Krysta groaned and rubbed her head.  A slight smirk was seen on her face, but she refused to show that she found the act amusing.  “What is your excuse, Kaster?”

The boy shrugged, “They were throwing mud, and it looked like fun.”

  She sighed slightly and suppressed a laugh as she looked at them.  “Don’t make a mess in the cottage, the Progie were nice enough to let us a part of one.  Take off your shoes, shower, and put on some other garment.”

  Krysta finally broke as she got a good look at her son.  Between laughs she told him that the next time he decided to be a part of a mud war, he should put some clothes over his underwear.

 Cyera threw him a mocking glance as Zander looked down to his muddy under-shorts.
He pointed an accusing finger at her; declaring that he would get back at her ten fold.

………………………………………………………………………………………………
 The day had passed without further events, but they were all thankful for a day to relax.
Everyone seemed content and Cyera smiled in delight at her handiwork.  If she wasn’t a good psychiatrist, she was at least a good stress-reliever.

  Looking over at Zander, she noticed that he was looking a little pensive.  Cyera glanced at him curiously, and when their eyes met, Zander nodded toward the opening to the outdoors.

  Once in the brush, he spoke softly.  “I’ve been thinking about many things since this morning.  I suppose the mud fight drained some emotions. That helped me to think a little more clearly.”

 Cyera nodded, and made a gesture with her hand that told him to go on.  “Well, first, thanks.  I’ve come to understand that I do need to learn to calm down, and that I tend to be overly defensive…  I wish I’d learned of this long ago, then I wouldn’t feel so bad for putting people through so much hell, but I suppose it’s better late than never.”

  Zander sighed, his shoulders tensing a bit. “You were right about me being too dramatic and craving attention.  I can see the drama by merely looking at past actions.  I think that attention was something that I needed more of as I grew older.  I either didn’t understand this, or didn’t know how to communicate it.  Perhaps, when my dad started going away more, I started needing him more.”  Zander paused for a minute, trying to figure how to word what he was going to say next.

“When my dad started going away more, I began to realize that Zeana was getting a lot of attention, which was something I was beginning to crave, ergo, I became jealous of her.”

Cyera looked at him with surprise, “I didn’t realize that you were so analytical.”

  Zander gave her a small smirk, “Yes, I suppose I can be when I’m not overcome by my hormones and testosterone…” He hung his head a bit, “I suppose you’re going to have to help me with that.”

  “Hah!  I’ve been trying to help, it just hasn’t had any effect,” she exclaimed, giving him an exaggerated grin.  “Seriously though, I’m behind you.  I am sure that if you apologize, they won’t be upset with you.”

“I don’t know, I could just make things worse, but, then, I know that I have to try.”

  Cyera smiled warmly at him, “Well, see, you’ve made it to the first step; admitting all of your mistakes.”

  Zander rolled his eyes at her, and smirked a bit.  “Cyera, I’m not in rehabilitation.  I think I’ve learned a lot, I just need to apply it now.”

“That would be the third step, after you apologize,” she answered slyly.

 Again he rolled his eyes, “Whatever you say, miss therapist.”  With that he began to leave through the plants.

 “Zan?”  Cyera asked quietly.

Zander turned to face her again,  “What?”

“Do you think that your mistakes came out of your need for attention?”

Zander’s brows furrowed in confusion. “In what way?” he asked.

  Cyera leaned against a plant with a thoughtful look on her face.  “I think that a lot of your reckless actions were sub-conscience cries for attention. Do something insane to draw attention to yourself- it makes sense.”

  Zander’s expression saddened a bit as he told her that he agreed with the analogy. Now he was lecturing and analyzing himself, and the more he did, the worse he felt.  “I’ll be in my room a while,” he said softly.

  Before Cyera could object, her friend left, leaving her feeling a little guilty.  Had she just added to his distress?  Had this conversation been too much for him to handle?

………………………………………………………………………………………………
 
Late that night, Cyera made her way quietly to the men’s sleeping area, and peered in.

  As she looked about the crude cots, she spotted two figures on one of the higher cots. Their shadows moved a bit on the walls as they talked to one another. She decided, after hearing their faint voices, that it was Jaden and Zander who were talking.  Something was given to Zander, and they embraced.

  Curious, Cyera went into the doorway a little more, and squinted.  It was a necklace of some kind.  As they began talking again, and she could hear a little bit of crying, Cyera decided to leave.  It dawned on her that it was rude to spy on such things, and that Jaden
was aware of her presence;  he’d glanced at her with a look that told her mildly to mature.

  As she left the doorway with what little dignity that she had, Cyera began to feel relieved; Zander was getting the attention that he said he’d needed, and perhaps he would began to be a happier person.