It's Only Forever

A faint whistling sound floated out from the distant, darkened hangar, startling the easily-spooked princess.

Annika didn't know much about the usual coming and going about hangars, but she did know that a pipe in a minor key wasn't at all normal.

"Why did Priire send me down here?" she whispered as the music became even more eerie. The sad, plaintive song seemed to speak of love that would never be found. Annika felt her heart would burst, as the song made her think of her love, and the love of others that she'd envied. A tear leaked out from her blue eyes, her hand dashing it away.

Suddenly, the piping seemed to change, become a duet, singing of the love that was found, but then lost.

As the Senshi of Love continued down closer to the crying complaint of the again single pipe, a figure materialized at the edge of the entryway to the hangar.

Annika jumped, badly startled.

"Can I help you, Miss Annika?" a soft voice asked, coming closer, but still in shadows.

Annika exhaled. It was only Akki. He was... odd, but still. Wait a minute. This wasn't how he usually was.

"Akki, have you been licking toads again?" she asked, mimicking one of Zyta's more sarcastic phrases.

"Can I help you, Miss Annika?" the voice repeated patiently, as if talking to a small child.

"Priire sent me to get..." She thought a moment, then sounded it out carefully and slowly. "A J-479-36 Corellian-Johtan ionic displacement modulator from Nom, but she's not here so, I'll just be on my way!" Annika turned, seriously creeped out.

"Wait here." The figure backed, merging with the dark shadows once again.

Annika anced back and forth, left foot, right foot. This was way creepier than Hisui's tale of Chouko and Mika up way early in the morning for the Z-Files Marathon.

This definitely wasn't Akki, or any other male senshi.

A pale hand emerged from the tangible darkness, the rest of the body slowly appearing, like that Cheshire Cat Kairiku had introduced to the Senshi.

"This is what Miss Priire wants."

Annika took the heavy component as the shadowy figure bowed gracefully, disappearing with the solid ink of the hangar.

The slight princess moved up the corridor, as the music resumed, this time different, sad, but familiar. It seemed to carry the emotions Annika associated with a lost person.

The pipes merged, now speaking to Annika alone, of lost children and lost lives. The beautiful face seemed to collapse as memories of Oame filled her mind. A pipe left off as the other took dominance in the dance of the notes. The notes seemed to enter her, stimulating the emotions of the heart: love, fear, hate. All at once, Annika was feeling fear for her life, an ancient fear, one supposedly long gone.

The notes changed, filling her with a dreaded emotion, one that all senshi strived to avoid, Bakura in particular: hate.

Kendra, Geri, Ariel, Emi, Darth Syn... the names swirled in her mind as the emotion seemed to consume her with its darkness.

The second pipe suddenly took the lead, as the first one, the one she had associated with hurts, left off.

This one seemed almost familiar, warm. The third emotion of the heart was enveloping the dark heat of the lump of hatred with a... something. She couldn't explain it to herself later, only that it was good.

The slender body was saturated in the love that emanated from the pipes, as the mind felt cleansed of something... she wasn't quite sure that made sense, but it felt right.

Both pipes suddenly fell silent, the only sounds the quiet humming of the hangar generators.

Annika shook her head, her odango bobbing. "What a rush..."

The two pipers sat high in the rafters of the hangar, their pose casual and lazy.

One spoke, its lazy pose, one knee up, one knee flat radiating a carefree nature.

"That was interesting. I didn't know we could do that with these."

The other fingered its pipe, not saying a word.

The other continued, shifting its back against the durasteel pole for a better, more comfortable position. "You know, I think sometimes this is your fault."

The quiet one squirmed against the girder it was lying on. "I only dance to the tune another plays. I may only do what the notes say."

The more masculine of the two lifted its pipe, as if in question.

The more feminine seemed to smile sadly. "Small things, my friend."

The other sighed and lifted its pipes to its lips, playing a faint undertone to the sad, crying complaint, but with a slight change: hope.

The pipes merged, a spiral of emotions lifting into the quiet hangar, spilling out over the Temple.

Mace Windu smiled, watching two Padawans talking to each other rapidly outside a classroom.

Not too far, he mused. He was hoping to find Hisui, as he was a bit... bored, and needed someone to spar with.

Faint strains of a pipe suddenly met the Jedi's ears as he slowed, listening.

It seemed to talk to him, telling him of the joy that came with loves found. Windu smiled faintly, then frowned as a second pipe joined the first, speaking of loves lost after a short time, discovered then lost, found and enjoyed, a lingering memory, experienced, then gone forever.

The Jedi's legendary calm slipped for a second, as a long ago memory sifted to the surface.

Warm dry days. What could be better?

The young Padawan revelled in the simple pleasure of the warm suns on his face.

It was a lot better than the hazy, dim sun of Coruscant, that was for sure.

The chocolate skin absorbed the warmth as the young Mace Windu sat on the grass beside the beautiful girl telling him about the planet.

The older, wiser Mace Windu blinked and shook his head, surprised.

Where had that come from? He hadn't thought of Ailia in... years, not since he was a Padawan.

The eerie piping continued, now a duet, singing to each other of loves never met, loves never again touched, almost if matching themselves to the Jedi's mood.

The Jedi walked on, forgetting Hisui, forgetting the Council meeting in two hours, lost in the memory of Ailia, remembering those warm, wonderful days.

"That wasn't as interesting." The shadowed figure smiled, its posture lazy against the door frame.

The feminine one snorted. "Perhaps not. Although that is not the point." Its form was leaning against the opposite wall, one knee out, foot flat against the wall, arms crossed.

The other held up its pipe again.

"Yes."

A few days after the legendary Mace Windu missed an important Council meeting on Sith, a rare event occurred in the Room Behind the Waterfall.

All the Senshi, both male and female were in the main room; some were drooling over the last creations of Minae (who had gotten permission from Nom to use her supplies), others were watching HI 1's "Beneath the Sound: The Glitterstim Girls," and some were running from the combined wrath of Boshi and Priire who were trading rare, special edition, limited time only Blas-Tech quality products. Nom had been asked to join, but she had declined, promising to join another time.

"Those two are worse with those guns than Mika and Chouko with those Poke'mon cards." Yuki sighed, nibbling on the last pastry Nom had cooked. Or maybe created would be a better word. Annika and Mika had almost come to lightsaber blows over it.

However, Yuki had gotten it, solving that little dilemma. But to be fair, she had given half to Kyoko. After all, she was the leader.

At first the strains of music were attributed to the Holovid. It was, after all, a type of music. A few of the less-enthused senshi could argue otherwise, but the Glitterstim Girls was generally accepted as music, mostly because it was Master Windu's favorite band. (Yoda, on the other hand, preferred the band King.)

Suddenly the figures appeared in the rafters, unnoticed by those below. The pipes continued, singing of the dance that love spurs, that brings about peace.

Each of the senshi suddenly felt a dim glow grow bright, as they felt the love they shared grow brighter.

The two figures kept playing, the notes dancing, reminding them of those they loved.

"It's only forever, isn't it?"

"For us, yes, it is."