Old Friends Homecoming

Chapter 13 - Family

Petyr Takori was a stoic man with dark hair that reminded Emi of a certain politician she met but could not remember his name. But her father was no politician even though his clothes made him look like one, he was a trader who was due to retire any day now.

When he came home for dinner, he was initially dumbstruck to see his daughter who he, of course, had not seen since the day of her departure. It was definitely difficult to believe. But when she embraced him it was only then, did he see the reality.

He was also pleased to meet Kit who politely introduced himself as Emi's childhood friend before he could go through another person assuming that he was her master..

"If he were my master instead, that would have ruined our friendship!" Emi had told her father, laughing when he was surprised by the Nautolan's answer. It was a common misconception people had when the two of them were seen together.

Dinner was laid out at the rectangular cloth table with various fruit and other traditional Naboo cuisine. Emi had never been hungrier, what she ate at the temple was nothing compared to what came from her home.

"I apologize that your brother Andre couldn't come," Petyr said as he cut up his meat,

"He's still trying to get more credits?" Emi asked, not showing any signs of disappointment,

"I'm afraid so, he takes whatever he can get his hands on. He might be recruited by Jabba the Hutt himself if he keeps this up. I wish he would reconsider. Working for a crime lord is dangerous business, especially one notorious as Jabba,"

Emi sighed but brushed it off quickly and continued eating. This was something she had expected. Not long after Luminara became her master, Emi received a letter from her parents that her brother was enlisting as a bounty hunter. A professional they did not approve of. Emi had a run-in with one bounty hunter in her Padawan years before Felucia, but she could hardly recall it.

Hearing that her little brother would choose such a path that took someone above the law, it exasperated her just as much as it was disappointing. I thought my brother was better than that, maybe he was just jealous because he's not Force-sensitive like me so he went looking for his own thing so he didn't have to be stuck here. It was most likely that if Andre didn't run off to become a bounty hunter, their father would have made him into a politician. Knowing Andre for his rambunctious nature, a career like that would have made him miserable.

Kit helped himself to some fruit, "Jabba's the worst crime lord in the galaxy, how does that make you feel knowing he could hire your son to kill someone?"

"Heartbreaking. There's already enough death with this war, but my husband and I cannot bring ourselves to disown him.  He's our son, and we want him to make his way in the universe too It would be better if he too went off to become a Jedi like our Emi here," Sohana retorted, grievously.

Emi listened quietly while eating her dish, she had never spoken of her brother to anyone at the temple, not even Plo or Luminara, it was another scar in her life that she just wanted to forget. Even though she never encountered her brother on a contract while she was out fighting a war, a part of her secretly hoped every single time she left the capital, that she wouldn't. Running into Grievous was one thing, but her own brother would be something even more damaging. Bounty hunters and Jedi had different beliefs and the latter, there were no rules, or at least Emi thought there weren't any. All she knew is that if a bounty hunter was paid to kill or capture, they'd do it.

Petyr cut in, "Well, that's enough of that, everything here has been peaceful like the war doesn't even exist, let's talk about you Emi. How fairs your training as a Jedi,"

Emi hesitated, swallowing a piece of bread. Telling them about her feud with Grievous sounded like a terrible idea, or her feelings for Plo Koon, or her continuously budding friendship with Kit that was obviously deepening. It was best to stick to the basics.