AN: Sup? No I'm not dead, and no the story is not being abandoned. Life just got insanely busy and my time for writing has taken a massive hit. So yeah, it's going to be slow updates now, especially with me still bouncing between my fics. Sorry all, that's just the way life is going for me for now.

{}{}{}{} Delia POV

The race track vibrated with energy as the crowd shuffled and shouted. My shaky ability to sense the Force made that statement a bit more literal. I couldn't pick out any individual emotions in this, my every shaky connection was more like getting bowled over by waves at the beach. It made it a bit hard to focus, all that emotion was infectious. I'd been moving with a bounce in my step since we got through the gates.

Anakin followed along in my wake navigating the crowd like a pro. I was honestly a little jealous. I'd been bumped more than a few times. Was it a jedi thing, or did he have practice with crowds like this? He had mentioned pod racing when he was younger. And how insane was that? Pod racing, at ten? That was crazy dangerous. I really should get more details about that out of him.

But that could wait! Anakin and I would have lots of time to talk about whatever the next time we jumped to hyperspace. Right now, we were on shore leave! My first ever shore leave as a space faring rogue! Delia Dharam, slicer, spacer, and apprentice Force user! Spacers are supposed to have a girl on every planet, and I had no intention of bucking tradition! Besides, Anakin was clueless and needed all the help he could get, and what kind of friend would I be if I left him hanging?

Finding girls in our age range though was proving… annoying.

There were thousands of people, but the groups were less than ideal. Families, couples, and groups of adults were the norm. There were some scattered teens. Some were watching the race, some were lost in their data slates and mostly ignoring the world around them. Which would be fine if I was here on my own, but I had my wingman to think of!

Sure, I'd never really done this before. I mean, I'd gone on dates, but those were all people I knew from school or wherever else. But I'd read about stuff like this, and was great with people! I could make it work, and I needed to show Anakin how it was done! It was the least I could do for all tips he was giving me about ships and the Force.

Mom and Dad would be scandalized.

I pushed the uncomfortable thought and the pang of homesickness aside. This was the life I'd chosen. This was part of the lifestyle. Part I was sure I'd enjoy! And after all the hard work and studying I'd put in didn't I deserve some fun?

Another glance over the crowd and I perked up. It was a little bit of a long shot, but it looked like a pair of sisters with silky black hair. Even better they looked like their ages were pretty close to Anakin's and mine. With a light nudge I grabbed Anakin's attention before moving towards the siblings. I could feel Anakin fall in a step behind me and to my left. As we got closer, I noticed the older sister only had an earring in her left ear and not her right. My gin grew into a full blown smile.

"Hey!" I greeted the pair with a chirp. The girls turned to and took the pair of us in with a glance. The younger sister seemed at least curious though the older sister just raised a disinterested eyebrow. Hmm, so she wasn't going to make this easy for me. No big deal, just got to play it cool. "I'm Delia, and this is Anakin, we just landed yesterday and were sort of exploring the town on shore leave."

"You two are supposed to be spacers?" The older girl put a hand on her hip and cocked it out to the side… she had very nice hips.

"Hi." the younger girl beamed at us, "I'm Lex, and this is my big sis Mara. Are you really spacers? Most spacers are older." She tilted her head inquisitive. "And dirtier."

Anakin spluttered a bit and I giggled. "Well, we're both pretty new. I only joined the crew a few weeks ago and Anakin joined the planet before I did."

Mara frowned a bit but relaxed slightly. "Why, shouldn't you be in school studying for a real job?"

Ow, forget making this easy it was going to be tooth and nail trying to get this girl to warm up. Though her sister seemed more willing to talk so maybe Anakin had a chance? I couldn't very well drag him off now, even if I was getting shut down. Might as well push on.

"Meh. I was never going to be a nine to five desk jockey or whatever. I'd go crazy with a job like that." I stuck out my tongue at the very idea. Part of me wanted to brag about my skills as a slicer but this was Corellia, Core Sec was no joke. Even if they couldn't pin anything on me, they might stick me on a watch list and I did not want that kind of attention. "I know a lot about computers, and the Captain doesn't. I handle that stuff for him, give him some pointers, and he's teaching me everything else I need to know about maintaining and flying a ship."

I gave Anakin a light punch to the arm. "Wonder boy here though is like some sort of savant. He already knew enough to be a mechanic and pilot before he even joined the crew."

Anakin blushed and looked away as he rubbed at his shoulder.

"It's not that big a deal. I basically grew up in a parts shop. The more I knew the better, so I just kept learning."

Both girls were now giving him appraising looks. Mara glanced at me questioningly, obviously not quite believing what she was hearing. I just smiled cheerily and bobbed my head.

"Huh." Mara muttered. "That's pretty impressive."

"You can really pilot a ship?" Lex asked, wide eyed.

"Sure, I mean, nothing bigger than a light freighter, but anything bigger than that takes a few people to fly properly anyway."

And just like that Lex was chattering off Anakin's ear with a half dozen questions I could barely follow about everything from engines to navigation.

"For a clueless kid raised by monks, he's surprisingly good at this." I muttered under my breath.

"You two really are spacers?" Mara asked as she sidled up next to me giving her sister a bemused look.

"Well, apprentice spacers at any rate. Though the only thing Anakin is missing is the attitude and a blaster."

"Huh, so what brings you to Corellia?"

"Ehh, a few things." I shrugged. "We were playing transport for a family on vacation, our ships originally from the shipyards here, so the Captain decided this was the best place to get a few upgrades. I think he wants to stock up on Brandy too, to sell off a few cases at a time."

Mara snorted and flashed me a grin. "Brandy huh? Well Corellia is known for quality brandy. Does he usually make a habit selling alcohol on the side?"

"Apparently? He's complained at least three times since I joined because Coruscant bought all his stock and it'll take forever to build up a proper variety again."

"Heh, so apprentice spacer? What's that like?"

"... Kind of crazy. Sometimes there's nothing to do, and sometimes it's like John's trying to cram everything he can think of into my head. I spend like, an hour a day minimum running simulations in one of the ship's laser turrets. Then I get random crash courses on everything from bargaining to how to fix a hyperdrive." I glanced away to watch the racers whip by us.

Mara hummed to herself. "Well you picked the right planet to come to for your first stop. We've got a bit of a reputation for our spacers." She shot me a cocky grin.

"Corellia has a lot of reputations."

"Mmm true. Which one are you most interested in?"

"Well…. Hmm that's a tough one. Don't know enough to be excited about the alcohol, and John wants us to avoid the smugglers, something about learning to paddle before throwing us in the water with sharks. Honestly? I want to know more about the Green Jedi."

Mara's eyebrows disappeared into her hairline.

"Most off worlders don't think too hard about them. What piqued your interest?"

"Eh, I was just a little under the threshold to get recruited by the temple on Coruscant, my parents mentioned it when I was a kid and ever since…" I shrugged. John had maid it very clear that we weren't to draw extra attention to his videos. We'd likely all be recognizable faces soon enough but that wasn't any reason to go borrowing trouble according to him.

"Ahh yeah, I get that. Think everyone in the system dreamed about wearing green robes as a kid. What did you want to know about them?"

I smiled and started asking some of the questions I hadn't gotten around to asking John. I wasn't sure if Mara would have all the answers I was looking for, but at least I had her talking now.

{}{}{}{}

The crowds were starting to thin out as we made our way out of the stadium. I had to say, all things considered this had gone off better than I'd expected. Oh, it hadn't really been a date or anything, and they would be going home while we went back to our hotel. But with a little luck…

"I don't suppose you might want to meet up again sometime? We're going to be here a few weeks while the ship gets worked on. Maybe I could buy you dinner?"

Mara almost missed a step. As her head whipped around to look at me. Almost instantly she flushed red. "Ah, oh jeez, I ah, I'm flattered. Really! I'm just, not into girls. Liz, come on, time to go! We've got to get home or Mom will freak!"

Mara grabbed her sister by the wrist and started hustling off into the crowd.

"Wha, Mara let go! We still have time!" I couldn't hear Mara's response but Liz looked upset before shouting to be heard over the crowds. "Bye Anakin! It was nice meeting you!"

"What just happened? I thought things were going great." Anakin asked.

"I, she didn't like girls. But I don't understand. She only had one earring in her left ear! That's how people let you know their interested in their own sex!"

Anakin gave me a weird look. "Really? On Tatooine that was how you let people know you were high up in a gang."

"Wait, what?"

"Dessert planet. Everyone was poor. Having an expensive piece of jewelry on display like that told everyone you were important and had money."

"Oh… so what do you think it means here?"

Anakin only shrugged in response.

"Sorry Anakin. I didn't mean to scare them off."

"... It's ok. Maybe I didn't get a date, but I sort of made a friend." He smiled; it was small but honest. "It was nice, just getting to talk with someone normally. Usually there's this… distance, I guess. People talk to you differently when they know you're a Jedi."

I smiled back. "It was a fun night, wasn't it?"

"Yup!"

I sighed dramatically and stretched my arms over my head. "Ah well, so we didn't find dates this time, we'll have other chances. Ready to call it a night?"

Anakin took a moment to think the question over before nodding. "Yeah, we need to get our sleep schedules on the local time, otherwise this trip is going to really drag on."

"Speaking from experience?"

"Mmm, Master Kenobi and I haven't been on too many missions, but it's always worse if I don't manage to adjust early. There's some meditation tricks that can help."

"Tell me about them?"

"Sure!"

{}{}{}{}

Meeting everyone in the hotel lobby for breakfast the next morning was… Meh. Sure, there was stuff that we needed to discuss and do and all that. And Anakin's meditation tips had helped… But I still hadn't gotten to sleep until one am local time. And being up before nine was just bleagh.

I wanted to sleep till noon damn it!

John waltzed into the little dining area with a smug smirk on his lips and a short brunette on his arm. The girl was grinning warmly and chattering to John about something.

"Good morning everyone. Lyra here will be joining us for breakfast before she has to run. I've got an appointment with the ship yard to keep this morning. Delia, I'd like you along just so you can get a feel for what we're doing, and how big business deals like this work. Anakin, I know you've gotten familiar with at least half the ship's systems by now, so you might as well tag along for another set of eyes on what I have planned." He took a moment to down a half cup of caf. "I also managed to get an appointment with an old acquaintance who I think all of you will be very interested in meeting this afternoon, especially you Obi-Wan."

The woman, Lyra, giggled at the array of surprised faces John's impromptu planning session caused. Obi-Wan looked particularly startled, and a little worried. I was having a harder time wrapping my head around the complete stranger John managed to charm. I glanced at Anakin and we shared incredulous looks. Was it just because they were older that this worked out better for him? Did he just have a lot of practice?

Either way, last night proved that picking up girls was a lot harder in reality than it seemed in books and holovids. And yet somehow John actually made it look easy! Clearly, I had picked the right mentor.