Tales of the Ice Harpy from Glacia

Ben had sent Mara off to play with the rest of the hoard of Skywalkers descending on his grandfather at the front of the dorm and had decided to check in on Karla.

Because sometimes he was stupid.

"Hello?" he called out, knocking.

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Karla whipped the door open, heedless of the fact she was still in her nightgown and pointed to her bed. From her manner, one might expect she'd found a viper in her bed instead of one tousled, red-haired little girl.

"She called me 'Mommy!'" Karla hissed.

The red-haired little girl looked up and grinned at both of them. "Daddy!" she said with a smile. "I looked for you everywhere yesterday, but you was hidin' in the Force."

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Ben's jaw dropped.

"Um," he said eloquently.

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Karla transferred her horrified expression from the child to Ben. It probably wasn't very complimentary, but...

"Ben," she asked very slowly. "Why is the child calling me Mommy also calling you Daddy?"

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"Perhaps the child has been bribed?" Ben tried hopefully.

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Jaenelle Mara hopped down off the bed to hug her Daddy's leg. "I knocked an' knocked an' knocked at Mommy's door, but she didn' answer so I passed through the door an' snuggled into bed with her. But I wanted t'see you, too, Daddy! Yay!"

She beamed up at them both. "I helped Mommy with tea last night! Cause she didn't feel good. I'se a good Healer!"

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"Of course you are," Ben said, shooting Karla a "what the hell" look over her head. "Do you come to Fandom a lot?"

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Jaenelle shook her head, red curls flying everywhere. "This is my very firstest time," she said. "I seed the blue hole an' I went to essplore it. I thought I was gonna be in trouble, but you an' Mommy are here! So I'se not all alone."

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"Where do you normally live?" Ben asked faintly.

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"With you an' Mommy," Jaenelle answered, trying to wrap her arms around his leg. "On th'estate!"

Karla was just going to slowly sink into the floor, thanks. "Do you know where the estate is?" she asked weakly, trying not to look at 'Daddy.' "And who else lives there?"

"Me!" Yes, thank you, we got that. "An' Unca Morton, an' my pony an' Unca Julian an' Mr. Bear," Jaenelle pointed to the bed and floated her stuffed teddy over "an' the Court an' I want a baby brother or sister, but you and Daddy say prolly not." Jaenelle pouted. "I want one though."

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Ben suffered from a sudden violent coughing fit.

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Ben was about to suffer from a lot more than that, if the look in Karla's eye was any indication. "Why do we say no?" she asked Jaenelle. Besides the obvious, she added silently.

"Cause you're so sick," Jaenelle answered immediately. She tugged on Ben's clothes. "Daddy, you should pick me up an' hug me. I didn' see you all the day."

"Hey, wait a second here," Karla interrupted. "Go back a minute. I'm sick? Why hasn't your Aunt Jaenelle just Healed me and been done with it?"

"She tried," Jaenelle answered, still tugging. "S'why you can walk most times. Your legs now are really pretty, Mommy! I never seed you with pretty legs before!"

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Ben hugged Jaenelle while giving Karla yet another confused look. He was beginning to fear his face would be stuck in that expression. "What happened to Karla's legs at home?"

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"Daaaaaaaaaddy! Pick meeeeeee uuuuuuup!" Jaenelle begged, ignoring his question to address the far more important 'lack of snuggling' issue. "I wanna huuuuuuuuuug, Daddy!"

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Ben stood up. "Now you're tall!" he said.

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"Yay!" Jaenelle cheered, clapping her hands. "Look Mister Bear," she called to her toy laying waaaaaaaaaaaay down on the floor. "I'se growed up sized!"

There might have been a tiny little part of Karla that was melting at all of this, but that part was quickly shoved by the rest of her than wanted to know what the Hell was going on in the future.

"Yay, now Daddy is got you, why don't you tell us what happened to Mommy and her pretty legs," Karla suggested.

Jaenelle just sighed and rolled her eyes (two guesses no prizes who she picked that up from). "I dunno," she said. "I'se just a kid! You'se always been sick, ever since I was a bitty baby." She turned to her Daddy. "But I'se much bigger now," she informed him. In case he was confused.

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"I see that," Ben said. "So Karla--" he couldn't bring himself to refer to her as Mommy, "is sick. What do I do?"

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"Fly around and go whoosh!" Jaenelle answered immediately. "An' spar wit' Unca Lucivar an' Mommy says you like to show off but you say you'se jus' fightin'. Oh! An' you give me piggy-back rides and sometimes we go to outer space to see Granddaddy and Great-grandpapa, and Auntie Jaina!"

...Not particularly helpful no.

"An' sometimes you an' Mommy kiss a lot an' Unca Morton makes throw up noises."

Not just unhelpful, but downright embarrassing. Thank you, Jaenelle.

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Ben was now trying to blush hard enough to match his hair. "That was very...comprehensive."

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Karla was face-palming, very glad she wasn't holding Jaenelle so she had free hands to do so. "That's one word for it," she mumbled.

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"So did you follow a portal too?" he asked, trying to shift onto more stable ground.

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The look Karla shot him then was one of pure gratitude.

"I did!" Jaenelle said, looking both proud and a bit apprehensive. "It was by the stables. I wanted to see what it was. It looked in'erestin'!"

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"Did you see any unicorns?" Ben replied.

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"Not in our stables," Jaenelle said, giggling. "They live in Shovel!"

"Sceval," Karla corrected automatically. But with a smile. "They live in Sceval."

"S'what I said," Jaenelle stated. "They live in Shovel!"

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Ben snickered. "Close enough."

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Karla leaned over to poke him. "So you say until she starts messing up names of your flying ships," she teased.

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"Starfighters," Ben said, proving her point.

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"Close enough," Karla said, grinning.

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Sean was wanting to 'splore, but Mommy said she had to go with him, so they were going to see one of her friends. Sean ran down the hall and knocked on the right door like a big boy. "Visitors!"

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By this time, Karla had gotten herself and her daughter (?!?!!?!!?!!!) washed and dressed.

Which meant that Jaenelle Mara had no problems skipping over to the door to open it and greet whatever visitors happened to be on the other side. "Come in," she said cheerfully.

Karla could only hope that this did not herald yet another unexpected child of hers. The voice was awfully high-pitched.

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"You have red hair like me!" Sean blurted, then beamed at her. "You're pretty. Wanna be my gir'friend?"

Behind him, Dinah facepalmed.

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"You c'n be my Consort if you want," Jaenelle responded cheerfully. "An' be part of my Court."

Karla was doing her own face-palming behind her daughter. "Please tell me he's not Ben's, too," she said quietly. "I don't want to have to explain that to either of them."

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"Okay! What's a Consort?" Ben walked in and beamed at the other pretty lady. "I'm Sean, I'm four. This is my mommy, she's awesome. She says you're her friend. Hi!"

"Thanks, sweetie. And no, thank God." Dinah walked in and shuddered, then had to grin at the teeny redheaded little girl. "Awwww... Sean's, uh. Roy's." Blush. "Somehow."

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"Roy's, huh?" Karla said with a smirk in Dinah's direction, and then hunkered down and gave Sean a smile. "Hi, Sean. I'm Karla and, yes, I'm your awesome mommy's awesome friend. This is Jaenelle, uh, Mara," she said. "She's...." Karla paused, uncertain of how old her daughter actually was.

"I'm five!" Jaenelle Mara announced proudly. "Soon, I'mma have my Birthright Ceremony and get a Jewel and become a Queen an' a Healer an' a Jedi!"

Apparently, ballerina-astronauts were no longer in vogue. "An' a Consort is a very special boyfriend to a Queen!"

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"Ben's?" Dinah asked in reply, nodding toward Jaenelle Mara. She grinned down at the little girl. "Five is awfully big. Congratulations, that's..." heh. "Astral!"

"Astral!" Sean parroted, then looked up at his mom. "I'm her special boyfriend! For a Queen!"

"Your daddy will be thrilled," Dinah told him.

"Yeah-hunh," he agreed. Then he giggled and reached toward Karla's hair. "You and my mommy have fun here? I flew!"

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"Are you an Eyrien?" Jaenelle asked eagerly. "You don' have no wings! Mommy and Daddy don't always, neither, but they gots fake ones that my Auntie J made for them. I'mma get some when I'm bigger. An' a lightsaber, like Daddy's!"

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Karla was trying to glare at Dinah, though her lips kept twitching suspiciously. "Yeah," she said dryly. "Totally astral."

'Brat,' she mouthed, too far away to tell Dinah telepathically.

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"No, Mister Master Skywalker flew me. Up up up and whoosh!" Sean bounced, arms out like an airplane's. "Whatsa lightsaver? And your Auntie J makes wings?" Oooooooooo!

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blondecanary.livejournal.com

Dinah grinned back at Karla and thought at her, Roy nearly had a meltdown. The Awkward is only funny if it's not me! Then said aloud to Sean, "Yes, you flew. And got pancakes, hunh? And your sisters watched movies last night with...?"

"Uncle Tony!"

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Putting the two of them together was resulting in a conversation that was rapidly approaching the speed of light and the high-pitched noises only dogs could hear.

"His name isn't Mis'er Mas'er Skywalker," Jaenelle corrected, giggling. "He's Great-grandpapa. Mama says you gotsta emph'size the great cause it reminds him he's old."

Karla began facepalming again. "I'm sure I meant you emphasize it because he's a very good man," she said.

"Nope!" Jaenelle said with a merry grin. "Cause he's old. Even though he ain't older than Unca Lucivar or Unca Saetan or Unca Daemon."

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"He's not old!" Sean nearly fell over with giggles. "He's only as old as Daddy maybe!" He snickered at Jaenelle and said, "You're funny! You got lotsa uncles? I got some others. Uncle Dick and Grampa Oliver and he's old, he's got a beard! And Aunt Barbara and Aunt Helena and Aunt Momo!"

If they remembered any of this later completely, they'd know everything about each other by the end of the hour.

Dinah was grinning at Karla. "Nice to see you get along so well with your in-laws?"

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Karla was reminding herself that she probably shouldn't gag her own daughter. And that her own mother was probably laughing about this, somewhere far away.

"Let's not tell Great-Grandpapa here about that, okay?" she asked, a little desperately. "Let's just...not. It's better that way."

She looked up at Dinah and sighed. "You can't even imagine the things she's been telling me. I'm not entirely sure what to make of it all, really."

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Jaenelle nodded at Karla, but was far more interested in talking to Sean. After all, even with healthy legs, Mommy was still Mommy. Sean was new and a Consort of her very own. "Of course he's old," she squealed. "He's my Daddy's Daddy's Daddy! That's, like, super-duper old!"

She held out her stuffed bear. "This is Mr. Bear," she introduced. "He's not a unca, but I do gots lots. All of Mommy's Court, 'cept the bad ones, and all of Auntie J's Court, too. Plus all of Daddy's Jedi circle, back in outer space."

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"Ooooooooooo!" You could not get more impressed than Sean at this moment. Outer. Space! "Hi Mr. Bear!" He shook Mr. Bear's hand 'cause that's what you did when you met someone's bear and beamed at Jaenelle who was interesting. "I gots uncles who can beat up bad people! Mommy does that too."

No, Sean didn't know about the superhero stuff yet. Waaaay too little to keep that secret. Although it probably wouldn't be much longer...

"What's a Court?"

Dinah, meanwhile, couldn't help wanting to hug them both and smish them together and pinch their cheeks. Awwwww!

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"My Mommy's a Queen an' a witch!" Jaenelle said happily. "She don't beat up bad guys much, but Daddy does, cause he's a Jedi an' that's his job. An' Court is all the people who work for the Queen! I'mma have a Court one day, just like Mommy."

Janelle looked at Karla. "Am I gonna haveta get really sick to be a Queen, Mommy? Like you an' Auntie J?"

Karla gave Jaenelle a wan little smile. "No, sweetheart. You're gonna be just fine."

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Dinah gave her an alarmed look, eyes wide, and sent, We're so talking about that later but Sean was chattering away now, distracting them.

"My mommy is a P.I.! Private Eye!" Sean bragged, then beamed. "And Daddy is the best archer in the world. The world. He says grandpa is but no, he's not really." Then he frowned and reached out to pat Jaenelle. "Don't get sick! No!"

Here, have a Sean-hug. That fixes everything.

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Karla glanced at Dinah and nodded. The information Jaenelle had passed on was vague and filtered through the mind of a precocious five year old, but still incredibly important.

And then Karla suddenly found her own arms full of one adorable little red-haired boy. Having given Jaenelle a Sean-hug, he'd apparently decided Karla needed one, too.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Karla did feel a bit better.

At least, until Sean let go to hug Jaenelle again. "Left for the younger woman," Karla snarked. "I see how it is."

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blondecanary.livejournal.com

Dinah was facepalming again, and muttering, "I blame Roy." Like she'd never hugged anyone out of a bad mood, right. Even if part of her was proud of him at the same time. Sigh.

"Mommy, can Jaenelle come visit us? And play darts?" Sean asked, holding Jaenelle's hand. "And have Alfred cookies?"

"Sure, honey." Yay. There was still an Alfred, some odd years in the future. Woo!

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