may the wrap be with you

"Where are we going?"

"Secret!"

You let Tera drag you around the hallways of the Jedi Temple, winding your way around columns, through empty rooms and atriums, and past wandering Knights and Masters. You're well and truly lost at the moment. Tera has led you far past your usual haunts. Far away from the areas a Youngling would normally be seen.

Left turns. Right turns. Up and down flights of stairs that you would swear haven't been traversed in years given the centimeters of dust coating them, if it weren't for the clearly visible footprints of feet only slightly larger than yours. The Jedi Temple is a labyrinthian building, the biggest and most complex of any structure within kilometers. You don't think that anybody could possibly have explored the entirety of it, other than Grandmaster Yoda of course. It would take decades to see every inch of the place, and only one person could possibly have had enough spare time over their lifetime to do so. Though, if Yoda did do so, it must have been many an age ago, when the Temple was much smaller and he could move much quicker.

You're tempted to use your warp-eye to try and figure out what Tera is up to. Her hand grips you as if she fears that you would run away if she were to let go, not that you would know where to go next if you were suddenly freed. But, you've decided that if she's so excited (you can clearly see that, even if without your warp eye, and probably even without your normal eyes!), you might as well go along with whatever dastardly prank she has in store with you. You don't really have it in you to ruin the surprise. Unless the surprise involves leaving you to find your way out of this place, that is.

You can hear the slight hubbub of conversation ahead of you as Tera pulls you around another corner. Light pours out of a single room at the far end of the corridor and you rush to keep up as Tera breaks into a jog.

"We're almost there!"

"Gah! I almost fell. Slow down!"

Fortunately, Tera's legs aren't that much longer than yours, so you're able to catch yourself and increase your gait before Tera's constant tugging causes you to trip. A few seconds of jogging later, you hear the voices quiet down as you near. You strain your ears to hear past the rushing of blood in your veins, your heart pumping slightly harder from the unexpected exercise. What are they planning? A pie to the face? A roll of clear tape across the doorframe? You prepare yourself, muscles tensing in preparation for any ambush!

But, you can't see anything out of place, other than you and Tera in an otherwise empty hallway. And you can't hear any treacherous plans afoot. Perhaps it is safe—

"BOO!"

"AAAAAH!"

You instantly lash out, planting your foot into Mick's family jewels while you swipe Tera's feet out from under her with your tail.

The two of them are groaning and blubbering in pain by the time you get up. You step over Mick's prone form, leaving Tera clutching at her tailbone as you enter the doorway. As you cross the threshold, the first thing you see as your eyes adjust to the light are the rest of your clan gathered around a table. Most of them are staring at you in shocked silence, but you can clearly see a few barely holding in their laughter.

"Not funny."

"Oh– ha! – oh, but it –haha– but it is! Hahaha—"

And there they go. Now everybody except for you is curled up on the floor, either in debilitating amusement or crippling pain.

"Alright, alright. That's enough! What even is this?"

After a moment, you walk toward the table, your clanmates unable to explain themselves. The table is… strange. It's covered in candles, the only light source in the room. Foreign, looping iconography adorns the surface of the table. Shrouded containers are piled on one side, and something sits on what looks like an offering stand, but covered in a metal dome.

The smell of smoke and melting wax pervades the room, drawing out… indistinct memories. Fragments of something that you feel like you should really remember. Something important. Something like… a ritual.

A ritual.

A yearly ritual!

Oh no. Not this again…

You reach out, ripping the dome off the platter and revealing the source of this stupid event. A cake. A sweet little cake, decorated to the best of all the collective ability a group of ten to eleven year olds have. It's… wonderful.

"...Sorry Mick. Tera."

"I'm okay! Ohhhh..."

"It's not even my birthday, though. Or my 'abandonment' day."

After a few wheezing breaths, Doran heaves himself up from the ground, admirably holding back his laughter.

"The kitchen staff had some leftover cake from a birthday party they held for a cook, so they let us have it! And, your, uh, 'abandonment' day already passed and we didn't even get the chance to celebrate since you were always busy. And, it's not like you were born on that day either."

"Then shouldn't we have had this party earlier? It's not like I was born after I was left at the Temple."

"We didn't have a cake then."

That makes perfect sense to you, so you just nod. You do appreciate the gesture. You all do your best to celebrate for one another. It's just happenstance that everybody's birthdays are clustered around the other end of the year from yours. Although, it is perhaps a bit sad that you didn't get a full cake. It's (probably stale) leftovers from someone else's birthday, but you're not going to let that stop you from enjoying it.

"...Thanks, everyone. Thanks for doing all this for me. I love it."

And with that you're (kind of) one year older. Ten years old! At least in the minds of your friends. Your family. The only family you need.

You're probably much older than that though. Probably at the very least a whole three months older, according to your caretaker! You're almost old enough to become an apprentice! Just another year and nine months!

You'll get your lightsaber in a month, then you'll prepare for the Initiate Trials! And, after you ace them, you'll impress a Master (maybe Master Masbau) at the Lightsaber Tournament and become the best Padawan ever!

As you eat your cake with your now recovered friends, you chat and enjoy the event. Tera and Nyine apparently found this place while exploring a few weeks back, and they just thought it would be as good a place as any to throw you your part. You're a bit concerned that the Masters might be wandering around looking for you within the next hour until Yolan whispers into your ear, informing you that he'd already gotten permission from your caretaker to come here. Just don't tell anyone else, or they'll think he's a little snitch!

And so, you eat. You have fun. You open your presents, finding small trinkets you might enjoy. You… relax.