"What?" Shmi exclaimed.
"She's got her suitcase by the room door and she says she's leaving. She's crying and she won't tell me what's wrong!"
"Oh, dear!" Shmi gasped.
Sheev looked concerned. "I was afraid of this." I overheard part of a bad quarrel she was having with Elissa in the music room tonight."
"Uh-oh. Elissa did the elf superiority thing again." Luke guessed, rolling his eyes.
"I'm afraid so." Sheev confirmed. Because of Elissa's singling her out for special treatment next to us non-elf nobodies, Ocean has been made so discomposed that she ran out in tears. I think she's been humiliated and is so afraid we will get so sick of elves because of Elissa that we won't want Ocean around any more."
"That's just not true!" Shmi exclaimed.
"True it is not," said Yoda, "but thinking rationally, Ocean is not."
Will someone get her a warm bacta blanket? And Beru, if you still have some of that cream pie left over, I suggest you warm it and bring it here. Felicity, you and Ocean get that as a before bed snack tonight." Ben said.
"Mm!" Felicity said.
Shmi stood up quickly.
"Oh Shmi." Ben said, "If you're going to try to calm her down, can you get her to come to the meeting room? We'll put her in a bacta wrap there, and she'll be let in on the idea I just had."
"Idea?" Shmi looked at ben with interest. "Certainly." She hurried out of the room and down the hall.
Sure enough, Ocean's suitcase was outside the bedroom door, and the elf was just about to pick it up and go.
"Ocey, please," said Shmi, coming up to her and putting a hand on her shoulder, "don't leave like this. Whatever Elissa said to upset you, we don't want to see you go. And Felicity needs you."
"Ocean seemed to be trying to say something and couldn't get the words out. She shrugged her shoulders and looked at Shmi with tears still spilling from her eyes.
Shmi drew her into a hug, patting and rubbing her back.
This made Ocean Elf let go of the suitcase and return the hug, and her sobbing intensified.
"Shh, shh" Shmi comforted her, swaying her gently.
Neither one noticed Elissa slip past and run down the hall.
"I don't get it." Elissa muttered to herself once she was out of earshot, "I get hit, and she gets comforted. Oh well, they'll learn to respect me yet. Fixing things is not all I can do."
"Let it out, Elf, it's all right," Shmi continued holding Ocean.
While this was going on, Wicket, who had been roaming about, took the opportunity to put Elf's suitcase back inside the bedroom, standing it in one of the corners.
Shmi noticed this and smiled at him.
Wicket smiled back.
"I'm sorry." Ocean finally managed to get out.
"Ocean, you have nothing to be sorry about. There is nothing Elissa can say or do that will ever make us stop loving you. We wouldn't trade you for an army of other people, elves or not. You just mind that."
Ocean still couldn't regain her composure, but responded by hugging Shmi tighter.
"I know you love and need us too, especially with all that anxiety over your father. Then Elissa's antics on top of all that, Ocean, please let me, let us be there for you. You're not alone."
"Thanks." The elf said, letting her breath out and sniffling. "I love you too."
"Oh," Shmi said, and gave the troubled elf a few firm pats on the back.
The elf finally began to subside.
"Love you we do too." Yoda came in. "Worry not about what Elissa says. Completely different she is from you. Snarky she is. Conceited she is. All of those things, you are not."
The elf sniffled and swallowed hard. "Thanks." she said.
"Now, to the meeting room we need to be. An idea Ben has for Elissa to keep her out of trouble."
"Oh, I'd like to hear this." Ocean said, lifting her head up in curiosity.
"That's my Ocean Elf." Shmi said affectionately, giving her back one more rub before the two disengaged.
The elf smiled back through her tears. "Thanks so much, Shmi, you don't know how much I needed that."
"You are most welcome." said Shmi.
"Hey, where did - " Ocean now noticed her suitcase had moved.
"Yup yup, that would be me," said Wicket, "And if this isn't a big enough hint asking you to stick around, I don't know what is."
"Oh you!" Ocean knelt down and outstretched her arms, looking at Wicket, then Yoda.
They approached, and she hugged them.
A short time later, everyone except Elissa was in the meeting room, and the door was locked.
"May I ask what you are up to?" Elissa was caught by K2SO, a tall and very lanky droid by the door to the meeting room.
"I'm late." she said, trying to hide her startlement under cover of annoyance.
"No, you are not." K2SO replied, "This is a closed meeting that is already underway. No one is allowed in until it is over."
Elissa pressed herself against the door, trying to eaves-drop.
"Uh-uh, no listening in either. You should know better than that." K2SO said.
Annoyed, Elissa skulked off and was not seen by anyone again that night.
"Well, that was a bit rude of her," K2SO mused to himself.
As soon as Felicity and Ocean were given their night time snack, the meeting commenced.
"All right now, everyone ready for my idea?" Ben asked.
Everyone indicated they were, and he continued.
"Since work in Shmi's workshop was apparently not quite enough to keep her out of trouble, I thought perhaps she could go along with Luke and Owen and help with the work on the homestead."
Luke and Owen both flinched in reaction.
"Not such a good idea." Ben said dryly.
Everyone laughed. Even Ocean couldn't help chuckling.
"Well, she is an annoying little gnat," said Owen, "but the day I can't handle a little pip-squeak like her is the day I stop doing anything."
"And, it will keep her away from Felicity and Elf." said Sheev.
Ocean smiled at him gratefully.
"I agree." said Luke. "Besides, if she bugs me, I'll just bug her back."
"Now Luke," said Ben.
There were a few chuckles.
Beru took Felicity's and Ocean's plates when they were through, then she returned to take Felicity back to her room.
Then they helped Ocean Elf to settle on the couch in the meeting room, wrapped in a warm bacta blanket.
Everyone gave her some sort of reassuring physical contact just before leaving, and "Good night, Elf." or "Sleep well, Elf, feel better tomorrow." type assurances.
Sheev was the last one out, and he said to her, "If you are worried about getting into trouble, don't be. I knew you were provoked, and there was a lot more to your actions than just being angry."
She nodded."
Sheev continued. "I overheard you two quarreling while making my rounds." He put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "What Elissa says or does, is no reflection on you, little one," he said gently, "don't ever let her make you feel ashamed of who you are, or be afraid we might reject you. That will never happen. No matter what, you are and will always be our Elf, and we love you."
Ocean teared up again." I love you all too."
"And stuck with us, you are." said Yoda, coming back to help reassure and settle her.
The elf chuckled through her tears.
"Right Sheev is in what he says." Yoda continued.
"Thank you, Yoda." said Sheev. "Well, I'll be going to bed now, see you tomorrow."
"Goodnight," said Ocean.
Yoda settled in one of the arm chairs to stay with Ocean until she fell asleep.
The elf turned on her side with a big sigh of relief, beneath the fleece-covered bacta gel-filled blanket.
Yoda smiled to see her finally begin to relax.
It wasn't long before the elf fell asleep. Yoda sat for a while longer until Ocean's deep breathing turned into a full-on snore. Smiling, Yoda got up and made his way over to her. "Sleep tight, Hanima." He bent his head down to give her a quick light kiss on the cheek, then stole out of the meeting area.
Elissa got her phone out and texted her cousin Jess, updating her on the situation at the compound, adding "You're lucky you got yourself a hotel. I'm so close to doing that as well, but there's something I'd like to do here before that."
"Like what?"
"Teach them a lesson." The texts went back and forth for a while, until a plan was reached.
Yoda rose earliest in the morning, feeling a strong disturbance in the force. But no one was creating a force storm, and everyone still seemed to be sleeping.
He went through the visiting area where everything appeared to be fine. Elissa was sacked out on the couch, nestled in a warm blanket. She was sleeping peacefully.
Yoda grinned. Apparently Felicity did not want to share her room with Elissa after all. That didn't seem to bother the elf, who still did not stir.
So if it wasn't Elissa, perhaps Ocean left during the night. Though how she could've done that without alerting K2SO was a mystery.
Yoda moved on to the meeting room where K2SO was standing guard at the door.
"Good morning K2," he said, "Checking on Ocean I am."
"She is sleeping soundly in there, she only got up for a drink a couple of hours ago."
"Relieved I am to hear that, thank you K2," said Yoda, and went to get his breakfast.
Luke was next to rise, and he took out a box of cereal from a bottom cupboard, and a carton of milk from the fridge.
But when he went to open a cupboard door up top to get a bowl, he ran into a sticky problem.
"What's the matter with this door?" He said to himself as he tugged at the knob. "It's stuck. Darn it, this door is stuck." Luke kept trying until the door finally opened.
That's when Luke was very sorry he tried the door at all.
A set of large dinner plates and some smaller ones next to them, had been stacked so that they were leaning against the door. Now they came crashing out of the cupboard and down around Luke, making a frightful din.
"Super nova!" Luke exclaimed, looking helplessly around.
"What in the galaxy?" Even Yoda was startled.
Huddled in her blanket on the couch, Elissa experienced a silent but violent laughing fit.
"The cleanup crew will we need for this job." Yoda observed.
Very soon, rudely awakened people came running from everywhere, wanting to know what happened. Ben, Sheev, Leia, Shmi, Owen, Beru, Ocean, Felicity, even Wicket. The droids also came to check things out.
To avoid suspicion, Elissa abandoned the couch, having gotten her laughter under control enough to slip in among the curious onlookers without notice.
"Oh goodness!" Beru exclaimed, looking dismayed.
"I'm sorry, I have no idea how that happened." said Luke, feeling bad for apparently causing the accident.
"It wasn't your fault, Luke," Beru assured him.
"What happened?" asked Felicity.
"Somehow a bunch of dishes were broken, all around Luke." Ocean replied, still gawking.
"Don't anyone enter the area until 3PO and I get this glass cleaned up." said K2SO. Luke, I know this might not feel particularly dignifying for you, but I'm going to lift you out of this mess to safety.
"K2 - "
"Don't argue." K2SO picked up Luke.
Sheev couldn't help chuckling at Luke's annoyed reaction as the droid effortlessly cared and placed him well away from the dangerous broken dish disaster area. "Don't feel too bad, Luke, I had to get someone else out of a similar disaster, using the force."
Ocean looked at Sheev and put a finger to her lips.
"Oh, I remember hearing about that." said Luke, grinning.
He got the same look from Ocean.
"We'll sort this out later, if we can." said Ben. For now, I think we should let the cleanup get underway, and we all go out for breakfast."
All agreed to this, and within the next half an hour, the residents had gone out.
Elissa, still not under suspicion, joined them, pretending to be as innocent as everyone else was. ordered a surprisingly large breakfast, but then it might have been because she was not paying for it. And, she still thought she should get away with anything.
The cleanup was done by the time everyone got back home. 3PO reported that there were a few plates unbroken. The problem of the door being stuck shut was caused by a piece of already chewed gum placed strategically in the bottom corner not on the hinge side.
Ben and Beru looked particularly disgusted and offended by this.
"Eww! Felicity protested.
"Gross." Elissa added, but seemed more amused than disgusted.
"That explains it." said Luke. The door had to be held shut by something to support the weight of the plates leaning against it from the inside! I saw them tumble out from being stood on edge!"
"What? Then this was deliberately done." said Beru. "It had to be."
"I think we should carry on as usual." said Ben. "Sheev and I will try to get to the bottom of this."
So they disbanded, going to their usual activities.
Owen and Luke got ready to leave for work on the homestead. Elissa went with Shmi to help her in her workshop, and Ocean went with Felicity to her room.
Luke and Owen didn't get a chance to leave again, nor were Felicity and Ocean a minute in their room when distressed sounds came from the direction of Shmi's workshop.
"All that work down the drain!" Shmi exclaimed tearfully as she came rushing out of the workshop, with Elissa in tow. The little elf looked genuinely distressed too. "I'm so sorry!" she kept saying.
"What happened?" asked Owen.
"Everything I've been working on, destroyed! Vandalized!" Shmi shouted hoarsely.
"What!?" Owen said, and rushed to take a look.
All who heard, went and did likewise.
There were lots of other people expressing their sorrow.
Ocean added menacingly, "When I get my hands on whoever's responsible, they're gonna get it!"
"Get in line!" Luke responded just as angrily.
"All right you two, simmer down. There is nothing you can do until we find out who it is, if - we find out." said Ben.
"Do we have to go work on the homestead today? I want to be here for Grandma." said Luke.
"That makes two of us." said Owen.
"Call Mr. Wick and let him know you won't be there today." Ben said.
Shmi did not return to the workshop, but went to her room instead.
But she became aware that a small party was following her. Luke, Ocean, and Elissa.
"Sorry," she said to them, "but I need to be alone right now."
The three nodded sadly, and turned to go.
But Shmi could be heard sobbing behind the door.
Luke fumed, Ocean winced, and Elissa looked miserable.
So Ben, Beru, Leia and Ocean went out that morning to get a new set of dishes.
Of course, it took time picking out a suitable set, but they were on the way home by lunch.
Luke reported that Shmi was still too dispirited to eat.
"I'm not hungry either,." Elissa said.
"No wonder," Luke said tersely, "you sure got your fill this morning."
"That's enough, you two." Sheev admonished. "I'll just have something light. Elissa, how about you go and take a rest?" he suggested.
"I will, thanks." the elf said, and wasted no time leaving present company to be alone.
Ocean watched Elissa leave, then suddenly brightened up. "Oh! I got an idea!"
"What's that?" Ben asked.
"How would you feel about - " she started to explain.
In the early afternoon at the North Pole, Santa received communication from Ben. He was filled in on the dish disaster, and what happened to Shmi's carvings.
"I would be glad to help out, and I will check my naughty list for an update.
"We appreciate that, Santa. We were wondering if you have some elves in your empty to spare to help fix what damage was done to Shmi's projects, and Ocean mentioned someone else who is a new arrival at your place and that he is very good at repairs."
"Oh, that is right! I'm sure he would be more than happy to help out, even though he is still very shy and anxious."
In a short time, the call ended, and Santa called everyone's attention.
He explained the situation at the compound, and several elves eagerly agreed to go help with the repairs.
There was one small area that was partially protected by a sliding door. In that small room, working on some toys on a desk was a lone man. He startled when Santa came in to address him.
"Phantom,"
"Yes sir?" he looked up anxiously.
"How are you coming along with those toys?"
"I have only these three left, and this lot is set to go."
"Good, good! I'm glad working here is agreeing with you!" Santa said approvingly.
"Yes, sir." the Phantom breathed.
"I was going to move you out of here and into the main area with the others just for a while today."
"Was?" Phantom looked questioningly at Santa.
"Yes. To acclimate you gradually to our community. I still plan to do that, at a later date. But something has come up and I believe you would be the perfect addition to help out. There is a little girl on Tatooine who was supposed to receive a very special gift from a very kindhearted woman, who made her a sizable collection of figurines, by hand. This woman's shop has been vandalized. So I'm sending some elves, and you over there to help with the repairs."
"Me!?" Phantom looked astonished.
"Yes, you. Obi-Wan specifically asked for you, and it was Hanima who came up with the idea."
Santa smiled at the look of wonder that came over the Phantom as he struggled to come up with a reply.
"I can't believe it!" Phantom said under his breath, trying to keep his amazement and excitement down. "A chance to help someone else get a good Christmas - " he took in a breath and blinked as if trying to wake himself up. Finally, he said, "It's an honor, Santa!"
"Good! I will call Ben back and let him know you and a few elves are coming. Ho, ho, ho!"
Santa did just that, and then Ben called everyone into the meeting room to let them know. Then everyone went their separate ways.
Not long after, the doorbell rang.
When Ben opened the door, he was greeted by four little classic Christmas elves and one tall man with a recognizably disfigured face.
"Hello Obi-Wan sir," said one of the elves, "We were sent by Santa to fix some damage done in one of your workshops."
"Yes, please come in. And just call me Ben."
"Thank you, Ben," said the elf, and he stepped inn and removed his cote, hat and shoes.
The others did likewise.
Ocean Elf came to the door to greet them as well, and she and Ben welcomed the group warmly.
"Come sit down." Ben invited them into the visiting area where they took their seats.
"I'm ringo," the elf who had spoken so far said. "This is Micah," he indicated a taller elf with black skin and hair.
"Hello Ben," said Micah.
"This is Nadine," Ringo said.
"Hi." said the blonde and blue-eyed elf.
"And this is Drake."
"Pleased to meet you." said the last elf, who could have passed for Ringo's twin except for having blond hair and blue eyes, and a bigger nose.
"And this," Ringo began, indicating the non-elf with them.
The man winced with anxiousness.
"is a newcomer to our community, you might know him as the Phantom Of The Opera. People have called him Erik, but he doesn't like that."
The Phantom shuddered, self-consciously.
Ocean smiled reassuringly at him.
"Pleased to make your acquaintance, Phantom, welcome here." Ben said warmly.
"Thank you, sir - Ben." Phantom stammered to correct himself.
"Come now, no need to be so nervous," Ben tried to reassure him, "Before you get to work on the repairs, we must get you all settled in. After all, you will be staying for Christmas."
"Staying for Christmas!?" Phantom looked as though he had just been handed the moon.
"That is what I said." Ben said with a pleased smile.
"I can't believe it!" Phantom squeaked out in a whispery falsetto. He was trying and failing to keep his excitement under wraps. "I just can't believe it!"
Ben patted him on the shoulder and laughed. "You will enjoy it better if you are not lacking in oxygen. Breathe."
Phantom's breath came out in a giddy giggle. Tears filled his eyes.
"He's been like this since we welcomed him back at Santa's." Nadine said, grinning.
Rushed footsteps were heard, then Luke Skywalker came into view, looking frantic.
"What's the matter?" Ben asked.
"Shmi isn't responding to me. Not a sound, not a word, nothing!" Luke said urgently.
Both Ben and Ocean sprang to their feet.
"No, Ocean, you stay here with our guests."
"But Ben - "
"I'll see to Shmi." Ben insisted.
"Oh, I see we have company." Sheev said, the friendly unfamiliar voices had caught his attention. He came in and looked around curiously.
"Yes," Ocean replied. "Santa sent them to have Christmas with us and to help try to get Shmi's stuff restored."
She introduced the guests to Sheev, who welcomed them as warmly as Ben had.
The elves were still friendly and enthusiastic. The Phantom was still shy, anxious, and amazed to be welcomed.
"First things first," said Sheev, "I will get you all settled into your rooms, and there are still more people to meet."
"I can't find my flute." Felicity appeared in the entrance to the visiting area. "I'm sure I put it under my bed, but it isn't there."
"Ocean," Sheev was about to say.
"Say no more, I'll help you look." Ocean said.
So the visiting area cleared out quickly.
The newly arrived elves chattered merrily and wasted no time settling in. Phantom on the other hand took everything in with a starry-eyed gaze of wonder. Once in a while he would make expressions of disbelief. He seemed almost afraid to let himself enjoy and believe what was going on. To finally have acceptance after a life of constant rejection was a dream he fought to quash in his mind. Now, how to deal with the reality of it was something he was not prepared for. Would it all vanish if he really believed and began to accept it all?
Ocean searched high and low in Felicity's room and couldn't find the flute either. But she did find something interesting.
"What's this?" she said, looking under the bed. She reached out and picked up a note.
"What's what?" Felicity asked.
"Someone left a note under your bed." Ocean said, "It says," and she began to read.
"'Dear all:
I've really messed up and I'm sorry. I just can't face any of you after this, I had no idea things could get this bad.
Please don't look for me. It's just better this way. I'll manage somehow.
Elissa Baker'"