"So," Dalassy Skywalker-Hathorrii purred. "It's nice to see you around again. You really should stop by more often."
Kyp Durron gave the seventeen-year-old girl a patronizing smile and gently moved away. He'd known the Skywalker-Hathorrii's (though the children usually just called themselves Skywalkers) for over a year and a half now, ever since Luke had introduced them. Dalassy had been somewhere in fifteen then and unfortunately attracted to himself. Every time he came to Yavin IV, Kyp suffered her presence. When she wasn't shoving herself at him, Dalassy Skywalker was generally known to be bright, funny, talented and, unfortunately, persistent.
She was also ultimately beautiful, with long, thick, rich chestnut-brown hair, light brown eyes, well-tanned skin and a curvaceous body that could only be described as luscious. That was the general consensus around the academy-Dalassy Skywalker was a luscious girl. For Kyp, girl was the keyword. He would not touch someone so much younger than him.
"I know you're concerned about age, Kyp," Dalassy continued, "but I'm seventeen now."
"So?" Kyp muttered absentmindedly. Big mistake. The response only encouraged her.
"So, I'm legal now, see?" She smiled, full slips slightly open. Kyp turned away. He would not look at her when she tried to be tempting, because she might just succeed.
Dalassy tried a different approach. "Are you coming to the banquet tonight?"
Kyp was naturally going. Every single knight he knew was going to the banquet in honor of Tionne. So his lack of answer made no difference to her at all.
"Okay, well, I'll be sure to find you. I have this new dress I want you to see. It's a beautiful red." She stood. The shorts Dalassy wore barely covered anything of her long, shapely legs. She wasn't a tall girl, but her legs appeared to consume a ridiculous percentage of her body. Apparently this afternoon was the appropriated time to show off the legs. Tonight, Kyp was certain, Dalassy's dress would draw more attention to her upper torso. He immersed himself deeply in the activity of reading the pad in his hand. Kyp refused to look up at her, waiting patiently for his admiring glance.
"Would it help if I asked you do go away?" Kyp said without looking up. Even out of the corner of his eye Kyp saw her pout and toss her hair, trotting bouncily away.
Kyp sighed and tossed the pad down beside him. He would have to ask Luke or Krysse to do something about that girl! Kyp doubted, however, that Krysse would bother. She was not the best mother in the galaxy.
He stood, frustrated. Dalassy's body language screamed things even she, one of the most uninhibited girls he'd ever seen, wouldn't have said aloud. Once Dalassy had cornered him, begging him to touch her mind for just one second so she could see how it felt. Kyp doubted even Dalassy knew what was in there for a powerful Jedi to see. He'd reached a simple drive: I want to sleep with you, Kyp. From that instant on he'd distanced himself from her. Kyp was no fool. Time with Dalassy, no matter how pure his intentions were, could only lead to disaster.
For one thing, Dalassy came from a very powerful Jedi family on one side and a powerful father on the other. She was not only herself very skilled at mind control, but even without the Force Dalassy was a subtle and skilled manipulator. Should he spend time with her, Kyp was certain Dalassy would get something of her way. It frightened him, in a manner of speaking. Today, when she'd pointed out that she was in fact an adult, Kyp had realized the age distance between them was not unbridgeable.
Tonight, no doubt, would be stressful. He did not wish to spend his evening hiding from a girl, at any rate. What was he going to do? Kyp rubbed his eyes. He considered telling her his concerns directly, but there was a likely possibility that she already knew and it made no difference to her. He thought of something that could possibly work. He would not call her Dalassy; he would address her simply as Miss Skywalker. Granted, with the number of Miss Skywalkers there it might be somewhat confusing, but he would be sure to call the other girls by there first names. There was striking Mysstoris, sweet Trrysta, the petite and somewhat mystic Morgynaii, charming Gydda, and possibly adventorous Jettera. Of course, there were also the boys: Tarryn, the oldest Skywalker and so like his father Derykk, down-to-earth Rydaam, Morgynaii's twin, powerful Lyrrak with his icy blue eyes, humorous Egrynnit, the innocent Utreyyn and maybe young Vyll.
Kyp made sure to arrive early at the banquet so he could find Luke before the crowd became too thick. Luke was chatting with a knight he didn't know very well. Kyp waited off to the side to avoid interrupting. When he finished his conversation, Luke turned to him.
"You seem somewhat, let's see, disconcerted, Kyp." Luke smiled at him.
"It's your cousin,-"
"Dalassy, I know." Luke nodded thoughtfully.
"What are you going to do about it?"
"Nothing."
Kyp stared. "Nothing? What, you think she's been following me around for two years on some girlish infatuation?"
Luke shook his head.
"Well, Krysse isn't going to do anything!"
"Kyp, I think this is between you and Dalassy."
"But that's just the point! I don't want anything between me and Dalassy!" Kyp exploded.
Luke shrugged. "I really don't think this is my duty. Kyp, you are certainly old enough to find someone suitable and-"
Kyp cut him off, somewhat rudely. "Suitable? Dalassy is a child!"
"She's seventeen."
Luke's calmness was started to gall Kyp. "Seventeen is not, I repeat, not old enough to be in a relationship with someone my age."
"There's no need to degrade yourself."
Kyp gave Luke a furious stare, turned on his heel and stalked away.
Kyp tensed each time he saw a red dress. Something told him, however, that the subdued burgundy tones were not exactly along the lines of what Dalassy had in mind.
He knew it when he saw it.
The dress was bright red, and it looked silky. The fabric pooled slightly on the floor. Dalassy spun around for his benefit and the dress swirled around her. She had her hair up in some complex braided design with a bright red ribbon woven throughout. Several "stray" curls, no doubt intentional, fell loose from the arangement down her neck. Dalassy had her ears pierced twice, once in the standard position on the lobe and once further up towards the top of the earring. Each earring was made of four little shiny red strands of the tiny red beads and attached in both the top and bottom hole, so the strands hung slightly in a gentle curve. A matching choker graced the base of her long neck. The top of her dress was tight and pushed her chest up ever-so-slightly, as well as being strapless and low. Kyp wondered briefly how she'd gotten it to stay up, seeing as it was backless. She gave him a rich smile and walked over.
"Hello, Kyp," she breathed, carefully positioning herself for optimal viewing.
"Good evening, Miss Skywalker," Kyp replied coolly.
Dalassy frowned. Kyp hoped this meant his plan was working.
"You are quite welcome to call me Dalassy, Kyp," she said, a touch of confusion hinted in her voice.
"I'm sure I am, Miss Skywalker." Call me Mr. Durron, which no one does, he thought, and we'll have gotten somewhere with this conversation.
Dalassy gave him a keen look. "Well, I suppose I'll see you later, Kyp," she said, leaning heavily on the last word. She swished away into the crowd. Kyp was horrified to find himself staring at her departing figure.
"Seventeen," he muttered to himself, "seventeen." To his dismay, this self-admonition had lost some of its edge.
"Kyp," said a low female voice from behind him. He turned and there was Krysse Skywalker, Dalassy's mother. Something between relief and anxiety settled in his stomach. "Kyp, I think there is something we need to speak about."
"Oh yes," Kyp agreed quickly.
"I think that Dalassy would be a good match for you."
"She what?!" Kyp exclaimed.
"I think Dalassy may come across to you as a slutty, airheaded ditz but she isn't-"
"Oh no," Kyp assured her. "She doesn't seem so negative. Just young."
Krysse looked at him with a measuring glance. "That isn't all. You use age as a shield to avoid facing your true reason for rejecting her. That is, you believe her to be too ebullient and peppy for you. Not a good personality match."
Kyp was silent. She had hit on something, there.
"Dalassy has a side that goes better with your character. A hidden side, to be sure."
"A hidden side," Kyp repeated in astonishment.
"Ask Luke about it," Krysse called as her husband Derykk suddenly appeared and pulled her away.
Kyp now had two options. He could enjoy himself, or he could attempt to get rid of what was nagging him by finding Luke.
Luke was off to one side. Kyp did not wait politely aside as he had before. Rather, Kyp charged into the throng of people, grabbed Luke by the arm and urgently pulled him away.
"I apologize for anything I did to disturb you but I really have ot get this issue taken care of now," said a desperate Kyp. Luke simply looked at him.
"What's this 'hidden side' of Dalassy that Krysse referred to?"
"Ah," Luke said, nodding. "Ah. I think Krysse would like to see you with Dalassy."
"This isn't about matchmaking."
"No, it isn't, but Krysse knows what's best for you."
"And not Dalassy?" Kyp asked doubtfully.
Luke said, "No one ever said Krysse was a good mother."
Kyp growled slightly. "I am so very tired of her trailing behind me. There must be some other way to solve this problem."
"Than giving in to her demands?"
"Why does everyone wish for me to give in to her demands?" Kyp threw his hands in the air.
"We think you've been without your other half for way to long now," Luke told him gently.
"So your plan is to pair me off with the first willing girl?"
Luke laughed. "I can assure you, Kyp, there have been other willing girls. The answer is no. Dalassy has an excellent sense of intuition."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that you can't have been her first crush and she probably has decided to follow you for over a year for some good reason."
"Yeah, like maybe she's obsessive and hasn't had enough time to let this thing run its course."
"Maybe its 'course' is a lifetime," suggested Luke softly. Kyp shook his head in frustration.
"You've been really helpful, Luke," he declared sarcastically. Luke smiled, shook his head in a sort of he-doesn't-get-it way and left him there to think.
Kyp thought all right. He thought about whether the situation could go the way everyone else wished... no! Dalassy Skywalker - child, peppy, and several other unsuitable things. He spent that evening stalking around, torn between fleeing Dalassy and seeking her. Kyp chose the former for the most part.
DISCLAIMER: This story is a work of fiction written in appreciation of Star Wars; to promote the Star Wars franchise and to keep it alive. All characters and settings original to the Star Wars movies and/or novelizations are copyright to Lucasfilm, Ltd. The rest is copyright to the story's author. No profit was gained from this story.