AU Kid Ibani 9th Birthday

[last_kallig]

It's been a year, exactly, since Ibani first set foot in the Temple of the Kyber. Which means it's Ibani's 9th birthday.

Ibani has forgotten this, which is why she's still sound asleep. (She's not used to HAVING a birthday, and last year they had to celebrate later.)

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[idontneedluck]

Chirrut marches in, playing a merry if discordant tune on a frying pan with a ladle.

It's entirely possible that somewhere in the kitchens, someone is missing these items.

It's also entirely possible Chirrut doesn't care.

[iprotectyou]

Baze follows soon after, bearing a tray with breakfast and offering Chirrut a look that could sear his nose hairs. Baze did not approve of this plan to wake Ibani up, no.

But, since Chirrut has woken her up anyway, she can eat breakfast! A birthday breakfast! Yay!

[last_kallig]

Chirrut's plan to wake Ibani up definitely works! She sits bolt upright, mind still a little foggy from sleep. "Morning, Dad, what's all this about?"

Nope, still hasn't remembered it's her birthday.

[idontneedluck]

"What's this all about? What's this... Baze. Baze, we can't have this, our daughter doesn't even know what day it is." Chirrut huffs, aghast.

[iprotectyou]

"Do you really not know?" Baze inquires of their daughter, carting the tray over to her and setting it down before her. There's porridge, and bantha milk, and--a rare treat he got from Milliways--a fresh pear. "It's your birthday, silly! And this is your birthday breakfast."

[last_kallig]

"Oh, I forgot!" Ibani exclaims, flushing in embarrassment that can be felt in the Force. "I'm not used to having one. Thank you!"

[idontneedluck]

Chirrut's momentary pang of distress at that comment gets smothered ruthlessly when he bends over to gather her into a hug. Sure, he's been there... it wasn't fun for him either.

[iprotectyou]

Baze rests a hand on Chirrut's shoulder, briefly, and then snuggles the two of them. "You're welcome, Ibani. Now eat up, so you can have cake!"

[last_kallig]

Yay, hugs and snuggles! Her dads are the best!

"I will. You should eat breakfast too, so you can have cake!" she tells them. What, she's not going to eat ALL of it by herself!

[idontneedluck]

"I don't know, Baze - do you think it's alright if we ate some of her cake?" Chirrut asks, as if he hadn't been 'overseeing' the production of entirely too much cake early this morning. "I don't want us to run short."

[iprotectyou]

"Only if she insists," Baze says, scratching his beard. He's been saving up funds for months to buy the sugar--and strawberries--necessary for a cake, and he wants to make sure she gets plenty of it. And Chirrut, too. "I suppose we can each have a small piece. And we've already had breakfast while we were waiting for you to wake up, sleepyhead."

[last_kallig]

"I insist," Ibani says cheerfully. Then she starts in on her breakfast. "I didn't mean to sleep this late, I must have been more tired than I thought."

Possibly her dads were sneaky and made sure she would be tired yesterday just so she would sleep later than usual.

[idontneedluck]

Chirrut? Sneaky? Surely he doesn't know how to do that.

"Insisting." Chirrut sighs, looking woeful. "This must be some of that growing up thing everyone talks about, suddenly your little girl is insisting things..."

[iprotectyou]

Baze also sighs, but he can't keep up a woeful face as well as Chirrut can, so the larger Guardian breaks into a laugh. "She has to grow up sometime," he says, but that really does make him sad! Oh, no!

He loops an arm around his friend's shoulders, dragging him out. On the way, he calls over his shoulder, "Please meet us in the kitchen when you want cake. And dress warmly! We're going out today!"

[last_kallig]

"I will!" Ibani calls as they leave the room.

She finishes her breakfast quickly and dresses warmly in her green outfit with the starbird on the shirt. She nearly bounces into the kitchen.

"Hi again, Dad!"

[idontneedluck]

Chirrut swoops her up into a whirling hug... mostly because he can, and if he's slightly maudlin about how she's growing up, he'll fix that by reminding himself that she's still small enough to haul around.

[iprotectyou]

"Hello, Ibani," Baze says, beaming warmly at the pair of them twirling around. "Are you ready for cake, little one?"

Baze doesn't wait for an answer; he's had the slice of cake--angel food with strawberry frosting--cut and plated for the past ten minutes. He sets the plate on the counter whenever Chirrut deigns to set her down. "You look nice today!"

[last_kallig]

Ibani giggles delightedly when Chirrut swoops her up and whirls her around and she hugs him tight.

"Yes, please!" she says in answer to the question about cake. "It's because I'm wearing some of the clothes we got at the market the other day!" She's warm AND pretty thanks to those!

Ibani sniffs the air. "Ooooh, strawberries!"

[idontneedluck]

"You would not believe how your dad obsessed over getting the very best ones." Chirrut notes with amusement as he carefully sets Ibani down on her feet. "Just about drove the sellers mad."

[iprotectyou]

"Of course," Baze says, scoffing at the very idea of not getting the best strawberries for his little girl's birthday cake. "They had to be imported, so I couldn't get a lot of them fresh, but I was able to reconstitute the dried ones and boil them into frosting. One of the shopkeepers tried to sell me strawberries that had mold on them, can you believe it? Ridiculous."

He turns to the counter and fusses with something. When he turns around, he's holding three tiny, red fruits with green leaves and stems. "But I did manage to get three fresh ones! These are all for you."

[last_kallig]

"Very ridiculous," Ibani agrees. She would imagine her Dad had words for that shopkeeper! "Thank you for finding them though, Dad."

"Are you sure?" Ibani asks, eyeing the fresh strawberries. "I'd share!" They look really good though. And they smell good too.

[idontneedluck]

"Of course! We appreciate the offer, but today is our day to give you things, and your day to get things without feeling the slightest bit guilty about it." Chirrut explains, as if this were an every-day matter. "After all, were you upset when we did not have gifts for you on our birthday?"

[iprotectyou]

"These are yours," Baze says, offering her the strawberries again. "We will share your cake, but you should eat the fresh fruit, for exactly the reason your dad said."

[last_kallig]

"Okay, that makes sense," Ibani replies, taking the strawberries. "Thank you!"

She eats them carefully, enjoying the special treat.

[idontneedluck]

Chirrut, having found himself a perch on a counter to sit and enjoy his slice of cake, smiles at her joy he can feel through the Force.

"So, what are we to do on your day? I told your dad that you'd want to form a band and go touring throughout the galaxy."

[iprotectyou]

"You and your memory. So poor, so sad," Baze teases, passing Chirrut his cake. "I told you, we need to go to the shop to pick up Ibani's special present. Remember? Unless there was something else you wanted to do, Ibani?"

[last_kallig]

Ibani rolls her eyes at Chirrut and says "Daaaad," with a familiar tone of fond exasperation.

Ibani starts in on her cake, making appreciative noises.

"Special present?" Ibani is curious. "I didn't have anything else in mind, Dad." And if she had, the 'special present' would probably have taken its place in line anyway.

[idontneedluck]

"It is not your job to think of all your presents ahead of time." Chirrut retorts, before his first bite of cake.

[iprotectyou]

"Yes, a special present," Baze says, cheerfully nomming his food. The cake has copious amounts of sugar in it, so he clearly approves. "And it's a present for your dad, too. Finish your cake, and we'll go to the market."

[last_kallig]

Ibani giggles at Chirrut's response. "I meant I didn't have anything else in mind to do, Dad."

Ibani works on finishing eating her cake with great cheer and enthusiasm. When the last of it is gone, she's bouncing in her seat with enthusiasm, making the chair creak a bit. "Can we go now?"

[idontneedluck]

Chirrut finishes the last of his slice, chuckling at her enthusiasm.

"I don't know, maybe Master Sheotar needs the courtyard swept again..." He suggests, waiting until he hears her groan before grinning. "Alright, alright, let's go, before she chases us with brooms."

[iprotectyou]

Baze laughs. Oh, Chirrut. Don't tease the kid!

"Let's go!" Baze says to Ibani. He ensures that everyone is dressed warmly before braving the cold of Jedha's outdoors.

Scooping Ibani up and placing her on his shoulders, Baze cuts a path through the crush of people in the market square. Tea, fabric, and medicine sellers hawk their wares, calling out to the Guardians and their daughter. But Baze ignores them all today, progressing single-mindedly to a shop tucked into the back of an alleyway off the beaten path. The store is right next to Gesh's Tapcafe, and Baze teases Ibani, saying they might stop there for lunch after they pick up her special present.

He ducks through the beaded curtain of the specialty off-world items shop. Populated by all manner of baubles and trinkets, the shop is warm and cozy. There's a small section devoted to paper, and some various articles of clothing, and droid parts in one corner. Baze strolls up to the counter, manned by a Sullustan. "Hello, Dyris!" Baze says. "Do you have my order?"

"Guardian Malbus," Dyris says, his jowls flapping as he bobs his head. "Of course I do. Is this the intended recipient of the gift?"

"Yes," Baze says, smiling. "This is our daughter."

"Very good, very good," the Sullustan replies, turning away from the counter to pluck up a small, metal box. He presents it to the girl on Baze's shoulder without ceremony.

Inside the box is a specially-made set of Sabaac cards, with raised bumps for the numbers, so Chirrut can read them, too.

"Happy birthday, little one," Baze says warmly, offering her a squeeze.

[last_kallig]

Ibani looks around eagerly at all the things in the shop, but smiles at Dyris as he greets them. Even after all this time, there is still a flash of pride and joy when Baze says that she's their daughter.

"Thank you," she says to Dyris as she takes the box. "Ooooh, Sabaac cards, ones Chirrut can read! Thank you so much!" she says to Baze, hugging him tightly.

Possibly the Temple of the Kyber will learn why casinos the galaxy over do not let Jedi play soon enough.

[idontneedluck]

Chirrut smiles in fond remembrance and cheerful excitement.

"I used to be quite the card shark before I came to the temple - I'll have to see if I still have the knack for it." He explains, reaching down to ruffle her hair.

[iprotectyou]

"He'll teach you everything he knows," Baze promises on Chirrut's behalf, with a wink to Ibani. "Shall we go to the Tapcafe and see how much your old dad remembers? His memory is so poor, I wonder if he'll even know how to play."

[last_kallig]

"That sounds like fun!" Ibani replies, grinning.

"Dad, what's a card shark?" she asks Chirrut. She knows it can't be literal, as no one would ever mistake Chirrut for a shark. He's entirely the wrong shape!

[idontneedluck]

"It is a player who is too good at the game for his or her own good if they aren't wary of the players they're reaping credits from." Chirrut replies with a hint of the wolfish grin that comes out during his more vicious battles. "You'll have to practice a lot to be so proficient."

[iprotectyou]

Baze laughs. "Don't underestimate our daughter, Chirrut. I bet she'll be better than you before too long."

Baze bids the shopkeeper farewell and leads their little group to the café. He orders tea for the three of them--sadly, there's no sapir--and guides his friend and their daughter to a set of chairs.

After quickly explaining the rules and dealing out the cards, Baze finds out exactly how much Chirrut remembers. He's glad they're not playing for credits.

[last_kallig]

"I don't mind practicing a lot!" Ibani explains, grinning.

Thankfully, she's not as much of a natural at THIS as she is at staffwork, or every gambling den in Nijedha would be in peril!

Still, she's picking the game up more quickly than would be usual in someone her age. Chirrut and Ibani are mopping the floor with Baze. Poor Baze.