~Masquerade

"Ya honor, Queen Amidala o da Naboo." Tarpals introduced to Boss Nass, waving his hand to the band of Naboo. Doyce Sydewynder found the Queen very distinguishable with her ghostly white face, scar of remembrance on her lip, and bright red colors on her battle uniform. With her were various Naboo security guards, a handful of outlanders, and to Doyce's surprise…

"Ja-Ja Binks!" Boss Nass rumbled on his post on a sunken statue's head. "Yousa suppose ta take dese outlandas n no comebackie."

"Heydo-dallie," Jar-Jar Binks waved innocently with a small bow, "Big Boss Nass, ya honor, ser." Doyce couldn't believe his eyes. Jar-Jar Binks? With outlanders? What next?

"Your honor," the Queen stepped in front of Jar-Jar, "I am Queen Amidala of the Naboo. I come before you in peace."

"Yousa!" Boss Nass thundered. "Yousa Naboo biggen. Yousa bringin da maccaneks! Deysa came n bust up oursa homes! Deysa dribe us all out. Yousa all bombad. Yousa c'n die!"

As if on order, Doyce and his fellow soldiers lowered their electropoles at the intruders, ready for the word to kill them all. Doyce fought back a frown, keeping a straight face. Would he kill Jar-Jar? Even if Nass ordered him to?

"I wish to form an alliance." The Queen insisted, unaffected by the threat before her.

"Your honor." A girl in another kind of battle outfit stepped before Amidala as if she were of a higher position than her Queen. Boss Nass clicked at her.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Whosa dis?" he growled.

"I am Queen Amidala." The girl insisted. A wave of puzzlement and confusion crashed over almost everyone: Doyce, Nass, Binks, a small outlander boy, and the Gungans. She couldn't possibly be Amidala. Amidala was the one with the face paint, right? "This is my decoy." The girl introduced the "Queen" "She is my brave and loyal bodyguard. I apologize for my deception, but given the circumstances, I am sure you can understand."

Then, the real Amidala launched into an incredible speech that compared the Gungans to the Naboo and included the present threat to both societies. It ended with her and her party bowing down on their knees, begging for the Gungan's help. A small child peeked from Doyce, who was slowly raising his spear away from the trespassing party in astonishment. Do the Naboo really think of themselves this way? Just like the Gungans?

Then, after a good laugh, Boss Nass agreed that the Gungans and the Naboo were allies. Everyone cheered, except for Doyce, who was shocked by the proposal. Ally with the Naboo? He would rather die!

"Dissa no a good idea." Doyce insisted to his wife. Shard took a hand from holding her baby to Doyce's shoulder for comfort.

"Da Naboo giben ussen deir unconditional suuport. Wesa c'n trust dem, n da Queen."

"But still…" Doyce shook his head. Aak, he hated the Naboo. They were just brainiacs that thought they were Gods and the Gungans were savage trash. He told his wife that while crossing his arms. She just gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze.

"Dat's whatsa yousan fadder told yas." She insisted. "Doyce, no letten yaself be led by what odda peoples say. Tink fer yerself fer a change." With a kiss on the cheek, she took her hand off of his shoulder, and left for wherever she destined herself. Doyce just stood there, staring at his feet. Things were happening too fast. Things weren't supposed to be this way.

"Whysa so glum, boyo?" a new voice asked from behind Doyce. Doyce jumped in surprise, then looked behind him. Oh, it was just Cetrar Tarpals, one of the Captain's three grandsons.

"My no lika dis." Doyce shrugged.

"My tink yousa do. Walk wid me, dere's somebody whosa really wanna see yous." Doyce walked beside his friend.

"What'sa yousa mean my lika dis? Dissa da dumbest ting da Bosses eba did."

"No necessarily. Wesa got da army, da Naboo no. Da Naboo got da brains dat da army's lackin. Wesa c'n compromise wid dis. 'Sides," Cetrar looked at Doyce, "my agree wid da Queen: iffa wesa no workin togeda, wesa all gonna disappear, foreber."

"But what if issa trick, n deysa getting oursa guard down?"

"Dammit, Doyce. Stoppa bein suspicious o eberybody. Yousa gotta trust someone sunna o lata."

"Doyce? Issa dat yous?" Doyce looked up at the new voice. Standing beside the other two Tarpals brothers, Ikuso and Ckin, was the one person Doyce thought he would never see again.

"JA-JA!" Jar-Jar practically ran into Doyce's arms. However, the strong hug that Doyce expected from his old friend was gone. Binks had gotten weak over his banishment. "Issa great ta see yas!" Doyce laughed, patting Jar-Jar on the shoulder. Had it really been ten years? "What'sa yousa doin wid da Naboo?"

"Dat's da longest taleo my could eba tell, Doyce." Jar-Jar shook his head with a laugh. "My no tink yousa real interested."

"Interested? My habn't seen yousa ina longo timeo, boyo. Yousa gots lotta spaken ta do."

"So, what'sa yousa been doin while mesa hangin wid da Naboo, boyo?" Jar-Jar grinned, putting an arm over Doyce's shoulder, and walking him away from the Tarpals triplets. "Howsa yousa granda?"

"Dead." Doyce half-frowned. "Duo years."

"Aw, mesa sowwy."

"S'kieday. My ober it."

"Howsa yousa dad?"

"Hesa fine."

"Brodder?"

"Broken leg. Hesa bein fine, tho." Doyce smiled. "Oh yeah, mesa married now."

"My tought dat. Shard?"

"Yep. Wesa gots a baby now. A boy. Sanji."

"Nicea name. Notin else new?"

"Dat'sa da most my c'n tink ob." Doyce shrugged, bringing the walk to a halt to look Jar-Jar over. "Boyo, yousa muy skinner den my rememba yous."

"Mesa banishment. Dere's no a lot o stuff ta eats up here."

"Wesa noticed. Issa hard ta keep eberybody fed. Wesa managin tho."

"Luu-ten-ent Sydewynda!" a voice gruffed not too far away. "Sydewynda, wheresa are…"

"Heresa, General Ceel." Doyce hailed. Ceel strode up on kaadu-back to Doyce and his friend.

"Da Queen sent a unit ta pick up hersa reinforcements from Teed. Yousa go ta da North Point n watch fer dem."

"Yessa." Doyce bowed his head.

"N Ja-Ja Binks." Ceel added to the outcast. Jar-Jar squeaked. "Da Boss Nass wanna talk ta yas. Mesa tink yousa n big dudu now."

Jar-Jar gulped as Doyce started to leave for the North Point. Jar-Jar ran past Ceel and to his friend.

"Doyce! No leeb mes! Mesa getten a poundin fer sure!" Jar-Jar pleaded.

"My gots a job ta do's." Doyce insisted. "Sides, iffa deysa do try ta pound yas, my bet Cap'n Tarpals probably save yas r sumetin…"

"Doy-oyce!" Jar-Jar whined as Doyce jumped on a saddled kaadu and galloped off to the North Point. Jar-Jar sighed and walked for the Bosses, ready for his punishment. "Okieday, my be lika yousa, Doyce. My go do what my gotta do."

Doyce rode for the North Point with only one thing on his mind: the day he first met Jar-Jar. It seemed like a million years ago…

…Doyce was chasing the fish up the river with rocks. He threw them into the river just inches behind its tail. It was the biggest pond fish he had ever seen, about three feet long or so. It would make a good dinner and earn him some bonus points with the Captain, since it was so big.

The fish, almost faithfully, swam up the river and away from the attack from above. Then, Doyce ran out of rocks to throw at it, and dove into the river after the fish, keeping it swimming up river and to the headwaters not too far away. Doyce faked attempts to grab it, and even bite its fast moving tail, to get it up to the headwaters where it would get trapped. Then, it ended up at a wall too big for it to swim up, and appeared stuck with no where to go. Over the wall was a waterfall just big enough for it to jump into and into the headwaters. Doyce made a lunge for it, and as expected, the fish had no choice in its tiny yet advanced brain to jump over the waterfall and trap itself in the headwaters. Success!

Doyce jumped in after it, and continued the chase to actually catch it. Then, he spotted a strange movement of life nearby. He looked to see something as big as he was swim away from the huge fish in panic. The thing looked like a Gungan, Doyce wasn't sure of his sight in the foggy water, but its arms, feet, and ears flared all over the place to steer itself away from the fish to the surface. Doyce, naturally, was curious.

He popped his eyestalks out of the water to get a look at the supposed Gungan. Yep, it was a Gungan. It was a small boy, about eight-years-old, the same age as Doyce, and looked incredibly short and scrawny for his age. The boy spotted Doyce, and waved to him with a friendly smile. Doyce decided to take a break from the hunt, and swam over to find out what the boy was doing on the surface, let alone on Captain Tarpal's private land estate.

"Heddo." The Gungan boy chirped as Doyce shook himself dry. "Whosa are yousa?"

"Mesa Doyce." Doyce introduced. "Howsa bout yousa?"

"Mesa called Ja-Ja Binks."

"Nice ta meet yas, Binks." Doyce smiled, shaking Jar-Jar's hand. "Yousa from Otoh Gunga?" Doyce recognized the white swirls on Jar-Jar's shirt.

"Uh-huh." Jar-Jar nodded. "How's bout yous?"

"Yep. Born dere, n libin dere. So, what'sa city boy lika yous doin up here on da surface?"

"Mesa trainin unda Cap'n Tarpals." Jar-Jar explained as Doyce turned back to the fishing hole. "Yousa too?"

"Yep." Doyce answered, scanning the water for that huge fish he was chasing. "Mesa been warmin up for da past couple days, catchin meals n crittas. Yousa no looka like yousa gots da stomach fer dis by da way yousa panicked back dere."

"Oh, my gots plenty o stomach." Jar-Jar informed. Doyce looked back at Jar-Jar with a challenging smirk.

"Heh, n attempt at wit; issa dat what dat was?"

"Na-uh, mesa just sayin…"

"Shh." Doyce hissed, spotting the fish's dark figure slide through the water. He waded quietly into the water, then dove below, and swam after that fish. He chased it around the lake, swimming three laps around the water, until he took the moment to pounce on the fish. With a war cry, he leaped out of the water, and attempted to jump on the fish. The fish proved too quick, and Doyce's nose stuck itself into the lake floor like an arrow through flesh. Doyce yanked himself out, and swam back up to the surface, cursing.

"Watcha yousa language, Sydewynda!" Tarpals called from the bank, "Specially when yousa round mesa."

"Mesa sowwy, Cap'n Tarpals." Doyce smiled sheepishly, swimming to the bank to stand attention. For the past couple of days, Doyce had not only been doing warm up exercises for his warrior training, but also sucking up to Tarpals so that the old man might make the hard training days ahead easier for the kid.

"Ja-Ja." Tarpals said to Jar-Jar. "Hep Doyce catch dat fish for dinna, n wesa start da trainin tamarra…"

"My no needin hep, Cap'n Tarpals, wreally." Doyce insisted, but it was too late. Jar-Jar already dove into the lake after the fish. Doyce and Tarpals waited for a few minutes, then Jar-Jar leaped out of the water with the fish beside him, and Gungan boy kicked the fish hard in the side, sending it flopping to the bank. It flopped a few times, then was still.

"Did my get it?" Jar-Jar called, swimming to the surface.

"Yousa…"Doyce stammered angrily, "Yousa tooke eater! My took days ta dribe dat fish here, n yousa…"

"Yeah, issa biiiiig fishie." Jar-Jar smiled, grabbing the tail of the fish with a smlie…

…Who'd have thought that super-strong hair brained idiot who meant no harm to anyone except hunted game would become a super-klutzy harebrained outcast? As Doyce rode out of the shelter of trees and to the vulnerability of the plains, he saw the small outlander boy from earlier walk up to him.

"Hey wait!" the boy cried to Doyce, waving. Doyce slowed his kaadu to a trot, and looked at the boy. "Are you the scout?"

"Yessa. What'sa is it?"

"Qui-Gon told me that I had to go with you so that I could tell them when Panaka comes back."

"What'sa Quay-Gone?" Doyce asked, glowering suspiciously at the boy. The boy pointed to the old outlander man with the gray hair and beard. Doyce nodded.

"Well, stand here. My tell yous when deysa comin, okieday?"

"Okay."

"What'sa yousa name, son?"

"Anakin."

"Ah-nah-ken, nicea ta meet yas."

Doyce climbed up the statue head while his kaadu grazed nearby. Anakin watched as the Gungan settled comfortably on the topknot of the head and assembled a pair of farseein. As he attached the Gungan binoculars together, his mind went back to the days of his warrior training with the old man Tarpals…

…Some warrior training it was, mearly farming and hunting for the seasonal harvest. The only catch to the training was that it all had to be done barehanded. After the farm work, they had to deliver milk to the harvesting settlements by the hunting grounds…by foot. Several of the communities were at least four miles apart, and there were many obstacles and predators in each of those four miles that made the deliveries difficult.

Then the hike: two laps around the mountain range just outside of Tarpal's estate, one lap on kaadu, and one lap on foot. The hike was fifty miles long, which made the milk delivery look like a walk down the block.

Then there were the tests at the end of the week. The hundred yard dash wasn't that bad, but then it launched into the most insane activities ever; such as swimming down a faynaa infested river, snatching kaadu eggs from their nests (at the time, Doyce had a painful time sitting down because the angry kaadu mother kicked him hard in the butt), then finding a marked rock in the forest. Then doing it again with weighted clothing and armor. Three months straight, nothing but barbaric test after barbaric test.

However, it paid off when Doyce and Jar-Jar left Tarpal's estate stronger and smarter than ever, and friendlier to each other. The day they left the estate, they had found some peko peko feathers in the woods, and pinned them to their shirts like medals. The feathers were their symbols of their new friendship. When they had to part, they exchanged hugs, vows, and "stay bombad"s. It would be another two years before they saw each other again.

It was a time of war. A strange breed of tusk-cat riding Gungans who spoke the accent of the Naboo had attacked Otoh Gunga. The children were relocated to the warrior city of Sugo Natai, and then to the hunting grounds on the surface. Doyce and Jar-Jar ran into each other as they hunted for their camps. They were wearing the peko peko feathers on their chests, as if they were never removed.

"Issa grand ta see yous!" Jar-Jar exclaimed, giving his best friend a hug. Doyce grinned.

"Issa grand ta see yous, Ja-Ja. Whatsa yousa been up tas?"

"Well, mesa birthday party got canceled…"

"Birthday? Whensa dat?"

"Tamarra."

"Dat sucks. Wid Namon-Shin-Tolh attackin n all dat, no wonda it got canceled."

"Yeah. But dat no mean my can't hab a birthday. Mesa parents gonna be dere, n wesa gonna hab a cake instead ob a pie. Dat no matta, asa long as my turnin ten tamarra."

"Well, hoppy birthday, Ja-Ja." Docye smiled, giving Jar-Jar a playful slap on the shoulder. Jar-Jar giggled.

"Tanks. My was gonna invite yas ta mesan birthday, but my didn't know yousan address."

"Yousa neber gabe mesa yer address eider." Doyce realized. "My woulda probably hunted yous down at yer school r sometin ta send yas a birthday card."

"Hey, my gots n idea." Jar-Jar said suddenly. "Whatsa camp yousa in?"

"Just da one down dat path." Doyce pointed back the way he came. "Issa no far from here."

"Neiders mine." Jar-Jar realized. "Whysa don't yas come ober ta mesa shelter, n wesa hab a birthday party dere."

"Heh, issa no gonna be much ob a party wid just ussen n yousan parents, but okieday. Whensa da celebration?"

"Tamarra."

"Okieday, see yas tamarra, Binks! My gotta get huntin."

"My too. See yousa lata, Doyce. Grand seein yas again!" Jar-Jar waved as Doyce ran past Jar-Jar and down the path.

The makeshift birthday party was a success. There was just a tiny cupcake instead of a chuba pie to celebrate with, but Jar-Jar didn't seem to give a squat. He was just content that there were people he loved with him. What a guy. He didn't seem to care about the bad things in his life just as long as there were loved ones around him. He was so carefree and innocent sometimes, he was just impossible to hate…

…Doyce kept looking through his farseein for those rescue troops, but there was nothing on the horizon. He took a second to look back at the sheltering trees. He could see the outlanders and the disguised Queen standing by the thicket. Ckin stepped beside the Queen, and started chatting with her. Doyce didn't need his farseein to see that Ckin looked nervous talking to the Queen. She just smiled occasionally or laughed and replied to him. The two robed outlanders were engaged in their own conversation that seemed to be exchanged apologies, since the gray haired one put a hand on the other's shoulder as he talked while the other one smiled.

Doyce quickly glanced down at Anakin. The boy noticed that he was being watched and waved up at the Gungan. Doyce just wiggled his fingers in a short, child-like wave, and went back to his scouting. There was still nothing by the horizon. He felt a small ping of worry for the Naboo guards. Had they been discovered?

…Shard-Rache-Naad was to be engaged to Doyce when they first turned sixteen. But the Gungan girl refused the arranged marriage, for some reason Doyce never understood. Shard was a pretty young thing, but her parents thought of her as private property to be sold or another mouth to feed instead of another member of the family. Partly because she was a first born girl. In her hometown, Sugo Natai, to have your first born be a girl was an embarrassment. Boys were something to be proud of because they made better warriors… "N cause deysa no gibe birth." Shard had growled at Doyce when they met earlier. She seemed to have a huge hate for boys. Doyce didn't care about Shard either, since he didn't want his spouse chosen for him. He never wanted to get married at all, since he figured he'd never have the kind of time for such attention.

Their perception of each other would change after a horrific event known as the Children's Crusade.

For having the most battle experience for his age, Doyce was made a squad leader by Boss Karayna Suuto. Doyce did take warrior training under Captain Tarpals, and did enlist in combat courses and the infamous Battle Game Tournaments for further experience in strategy and combat. He was given a squad of…3,000 children under age twelve. The youngest soldier in his squad was only eight years old, and had less experience. A majority of them were from Sugo Natai, the warrior city, so most of them knew how to fight.

Doyce had placed the leather hood on his head, and adjusted it for comfort since the metal band that was designed to fit the top of his head and encircle his eye stalks were rather heavy and caused him to cross his eyes to look at it. His armor was rather lightweight and the gauntlets on his hands and upper arms were only five pounds in weight. Something didn't seem right with his warrior's outfit. He couldn't put his finger on it.

He turned to the mirror, and shifted around with the "rib cage" plate that squeezed his chest. He looked like a pint-sized warrior, and was rather proud of it. He quickly made a macho pose in front of the mirror to see how he looked, and couldn't help but grin at his ego.

His ego was interrupted by nearby giggling. Doyce looked out of the corner of one eye to see that Jar-Jar, also dressed in battle armor, had snuck into his changing room, and was spasiming in mirth.

"Yousa luk funny." Jar-Jar giggled, pointing at Doyce's armor. Doyce turned his head to see his old friend.

"Luuk in da mirror." Doyce smiled, stepping aside from the mirror, so Jar-Jar could get a look at himself.

"My did." Jar-Jar continued to giggle. "But yousa…hee hee hee."

"Neber mind." Doyce shook his head. "What'sa yousa doin here?"

"Boss Karayna's lackeys hand picked a bunch o kids ta go ta battle. Mesa in yer squadron."

"What? Get outta here!"

"Really. My was as surprised as yous. C'n my be yousa second n command?"

"Sowwy, my already gots one." Doyce quickly lied. Aak, not even a million credits could tempt Doyce to rank Jar-Jar Binks higher than a Cadet.

"Yousa do?"

"Uh, yeah. My do. Uh…yousa rememba mesa arranged wife, Shard?"

"Kinda…"

"Well…Rep Roc made hersa my second n command. Shesa was no too happy bout it."

"Oh yeah, Shard's da girl who hates yousa, right?"

"Yeah. My no know why…"

"Okieday, kids!" a commanding voice shouted down the hallway of changing rooms. "Getsa ready. Karayna issa gonna speak ta yas all n fibe minutos."

"Gotta go, Binks." Doyce said, stuffing his leather clothes in a box, and shoved the box beside the mirror. "Da Bosses gonna be 'spectin mesa."

"Okieday." Jar-Jar nodded. "My guessin mesa catch yas lata, Doyce."

"Stay bombad, Ja-Ja Binks." Doyce patted Jar-Jar's shoulder as he pushed the changing door open and ran out into the hall.

"Ja-Ja Binks!" the same commanding voice shouted half a second later. "Where'sa are yous? Report back to yousa changin room!"…

…"Hey!" Anakin's voice shouted its way into Doyce's thoughts.

"Huh?" The Gungan snapped out of his remembering and looked down at Anakin. "What?!"

"Do you see anything yet?" He shouted up.

"Nutin. My tell yous if mesa seein sometin, Anakin. Okieday?""

"Okay." Anakin nodded. Before Doyce could peek back into his farseein…"Hey!"

"What now?"

"What's your name?"

"Doyce! Why?!"

"Call me Annie."

"…" That was a peculiar request. "Okieday, Ahn-iey. Justa stay dere, n my tell yous when deysa comin back." Iffa deysa comin back… Anakin must have nodded because Doyce didn't hear a response or look at the boy again. He just went back to his farseein to look for those landspeeders. They were nowhere in sight. What if they had been spotted and captured? Then what?

Doyce's mind went back to the coming battle soon to be known as the Children's Crusade…

…He and several other Gungan children around his age met in the main hall of Boss Karayna's mansion where she held a strategy meeting. Doyce expressed his thoughts and opinions on the battle plans, bringing up improvements and a back up plan if all else failed. Karayna was impressed with Doyce's thinking, but she didn't give the back up plan another thought and forbade it. She didn't say why. With final words, she sent the future army into a recess until further notice. When the meeting was dismissed, Doyce decided to go back to his changing room to rest since he had absolutely nothing to do.
Just as he was heading back, he noticed that a richly dressed Gungan girl had flagged Jar-Jar Binks from the crowd of children and started talking to him. The girl was beautiful, and very radiant in her decorative blue and white dress fashioned after a Naboo flower's petals that only showed themselves every 88 years. The girl looked very sad and worried as she talked to Jar-Jar. Doyce watched them for a bit from behind a pillar in the hall. The girl started to cry after Jar-Jar said something to her. Just as the first tear paved it's way down her cheek, Jar-Jar politely handed her a handkerchief to wipe it away. When she refused it, he just gave her a pat on the head. Doyce couldn't help but smile. Jar-Jar would always pat someone on the head when they were sad or needed cheering up. But she had to have been an absolute stranger, maybe a boss's daughter, and he was patting her on the head.
As expected, the girl wasn't cheered at all. She continued to cry, but a little more softly. Finally, they hugged and Jar-Jar said something to her that Doyce couldn't hear. He was too far away to make anything out. The girl sighed back several more tears and broke away from the hug. Smiling sadly at Jar-Jar with several more tears on her face, she thanked him and ran off, gathering some of her dress in one fist to clear her feet of trailing fabric. Jar-Jar walked towards Doyce's direction.
"Yousa can comie out now." Jar-Jar said in Doyce's direction. Aw crap, he knew Doyce was there. Doyce stepped out from his "hiding place" and into Jar-Jar's view.
"How'd yousa know my was here?" Doyce asked.
"My could smell yas. Yousa could usea bath."
"Smell? What'sa yousa, a dog?"
"Issan old trick mesa mama taught mes. C'mon, wesa betta leab fore Boss Karayna comin back." Jar-Jar put an arm around Doyce's shoulder as they walked back to their changing rooms. "Yousa were real good durin da meetin."
"Well, Karayna's plan wasa full o holes n weaknesses. My can no belieb shesa sendin kids inta battle. My no really undastandin."
"Me neider," Jar-Jar shook his head. "But yousa gotta do what yousa told, or what would dis society comein to."
"Whosa told jya dat?"
"Papa."
"Tell him my tink hesa full o it."
"Full o what?"
"Dudu."
"!!!!!" Jar-jar's eyes were practically the size of pie pans. "But mesa papa da bishop!"
"Yeah, n hesa full o dudu." Doyce nodded with a grin. Jar-Jar shook his head in worry. "Ja-Ja, yousa gotta hab yousa say in life. Yousa neber know what change yousa make in da so-called 'society.'"
"But mesa just one Gungan. How can my make any difference?"
"Why'd yousa tink my spake up in da meetin taday? One grain o rice can tip da weighing scales. One Gungan can decide da fate of hisa people. My probably sabed millions o lives wid mesa ideas. Yousa...who knows what yousa can do just by bein yousaself."
"Doyce, my no undastandin a word yousa sayin." Jar-Jar blinked.
"Justa be yerself n enjoy life, can yousa undastand dat?" Doyce growled stubbornly.
"Oh yeah, my can undastand dat!" Jar-Jar nodded with a chirp. Doyce suddenly laughed at him.
"Yousa are dummo, aren't jyas?" Doyce laughed. Jar-Jar gave Doyce a puzzled look.
"What? Whad mesa say?"
"Anyways, whosa da girl?"
"Huh?"
"Da girl yousan were talkin to? In da dress? Whosa dat?"
"Oh, dat's Oosa Suuto, Karayna's daughta. Shesa one o mesa friends. Shesa owin mesa a life dept."
"Why, cause yousa pat her on da head?"
"Na, issa goin furder back dan dat. Issa longo taleo, n yousa wouldn't like it... issa kindova lub story..."
"Yeah, my wouldn't be interested. Whysa do da girls likin yousa n no mesa, Ja-Ja?"
"My don know. Maybe cause mesa hard ta hate..."
No dat hard, Ja-Ja Binks... Doyce thought, remembering all things that he had been jealous of Jar-Jar. He had a mother, a loving family, freedom to do what he wished, a good education, a dad with high status, practically no care in the world.... all the things Doyce never had....
"Well, my gotta go now." Doyce decided, heading for his dressing room.
"Whysa?"
"Cause da battle issa in a couple o hours, n my wanna be rested."
"Oh, yousa go n takin a nap? My too." Jar-Jar decided, looking around the small hall of dressing rooms, then began to look confused as he stared at all the similar looking doors. "Uh oh..."
"What?"
"My no rememba where mesa ruum is...."
"Gaa!" Doyce moaned and slapped his forehead in annoyance. "Well, why don't yousa come n nap in mine den. Dere's room."
"Oh, okieday." Jar-Jar chirped happily now that his problem was solved. Doyce opened his door and Jar-Jar made his way in and sat on one of the bench seats. Doyce closed the door behind him, and suddenly felt cramped in the small room.
Dressin ruum? Issa should be dressin closet. Doyce thought angrily. One person in the room was comfortable enough, but two made it feel crowded. Oh well, Jar-Jar was invited in, and there was no kicking him out now. Doyce made himself comfortable on the other bench seat in a corner by the mirror, and curled on it and tried to go to sleep. However, Doyce was having great difficulty sleeping because...
"ZZZZZZZzzzzzzZZZZZZZZzzzzzz...."
"Ja-Ja! Shut up!" Doyce shouted suddenly. Jar-Jar's snoring quieted for a moment. Doyce rolled his tiny haillu into little folds and stuffed them into his ears. The tiny horns on his ear fins poked at his neck, but Doyce managed to sleep a little better with his new mufflers.

Two hours later, Doyce awoke to discover that the attack was about to begin. He woke up Jar-Jar (with great difficulty), gathered his squad, and headed out with only Boss Karayna leading the way to the battle. Upon leaving the camp settlements, Doyce noticed Boss Nass among the spectators watching the children leave. While most of the Gungans were crying as they watched their small and youngest children march off to war, Boss Nass was furious. Oosa Suuto, the girl Jar-Jar was talking to earlier, was by his side, and began crying when she saw Jar-Jar. Jar-Jar noticed her, grinned like the complete idiot he was and waved happily to her. He was the only Gungan who was cheerful about the situation. Jar-Jar may have been difficult to hate, but there were times when he was such a pea brain that Doyce wanted to beat some sense into him.

It was a five hour march, and several of the kids had dropped back in tire. Jar-Jar, Doyce, and three acquaintances of Bink's were among the very few that managed the walk to the battle field. Jar-Jar's three friends were Tarpal's triplet grandsons: Ckin, Cetrar, and Ikuso. All three were eleven years old, and had personalities that were to Doyce's liking. Ckin was a whiner, but did know how to tell a good joke...sometimes. Cetrar was extremely bossy, but he was extremely wise also. Ikuso, the oldest of the three, was the most likeable of the three as well. Ikuso seemed like the perfect kid that anyone could have, Doyce was amazed that he didn't have several million girls crawling over him.

The trees and fog parted, and the open plains revealed themselves to the coming army. Doyce continued to follow the heavily armored Boss Karayna over a hill and into a small valley of hills.

"Halt!" the female Boss called to the army of children. Doyce repeated the command in the native Gungan language for the kids from Sugo Natai. "Wesa unload here. Dissa where da armies comin." Doyce translated that to the Sugo Natai kids, and everyone unsheathed their weapons. After cestas, battle staffs, electric spears, and hand-held bubas were battle ready, all the children could do was wait.

They didn't wait long. The opposing army of traitorous Gungans appeared over the horizon.

Namon-Shin-Tolh stood over a hill at the pathetic yet large army of Gungan children. The only explanation for this strange move was to signal to Namon that he was winning. Children were his main target in his well-planned massacre. Among the children was a Gungan Boss, another prime target in his massacre. It was as though Nass was giving the black-skinned Gungan his prey on a silver platter. All the more reason for him to be suspicious.

Namon began his approach.

"Luuk!" Jar-Jar shouted, pointing at the hill to the west. Boss Karayna turned to see a member of the traitorous army walking towards them. Karayna turned her cesta in his direction, waiting for him to make the first move. The cloaked and shrouded Gungan continued walking calmly towards the army. The littler kids were scared to death, and were crying and hiding behind others. The older kids, like Doyce and Jar-Jar tried not to look afraid.

The black skinned Gungans attacked Otoh Gunga without warning, killing many children and one Boss. Nass, Karayna, and about six hundred children managed to escape, that was all. Many of the adults were injured and/or killed trying to protect the escaping children and mothers. Among the unlucky children was Tarpal's six-year-old granddaughter, Zard. Tarpals was devastated by the loss, and didn't speak for weeks. Boss Nass and Boss Karayna both decided that these mysterious black Gungans had to be stopped, and called war. However, the home team was loosing: nine to zero if the game of war had a score.

The black skinned Gungan stopped walking just feet away from Boss Karayna and the army of children. Nobody could see his face under the hood of his black cloak, only the black Gungan fingers sticking out of the metal gauntlet showed that he was indeed a black skinned Gungan. "Greetings Boss Karayna." the Gungan began with his Naboo accent. "I am Namon-Shin-Tolh, leader of the New Order. It is an honor to finally meet you."

"Namon." Karayna growled under her flat teeth. "My neber tought yousa come ta surrenda dis quickly. Wheresa...." Namon interrupted her with an amused laugh.

"Surrender? I, and my army, will never surrender when we are winning this poor excuse of a war." He looked at the children. All of the child army winced and shivered as he looked them over. "You must be very desperate if you're sending your own children into war, Boss." His eyes rested on Doyce and Jar-Jar. Doyce couldn't contain his fear. They cowered behind other kids trying to cower behind other kids. Doyce sensed something very evil about Namon, he couldn't put his finger on where that feeling was coming from, but Doyce felt that Namon was evil all over, head to toe, inside and out. The man was probably made of evil itself.

"Mesa no desperate. Mesa know what my doin." Karayna insisted, pointing the tip of her cesta at Namon's nose. Namon didn't respond, as if Karayna wasn't doing anything at all. "Dissa yousa last chance, Namon. Surrenda, n gib up. Den wesa can skip da unnecessary blood shed."

"What is this?" Namon smiled, pushing the cesta away from him with a finger. "Do you think you have some sort of trump card up those long Boss sleeves of yours? Or do you think that your 'army' is threatening to me? Good Gods, Boss, they're just children."

"Deysa warrior children, ready ta fight." Karayna insisted. Namon would have laughed in her face, instead, he continued to push the cesta away from him while Karayna attempted to pull it back. It was a barely a struggle, because Karayna could barely move her cesta another inch closer to Namon. Impossible, he was just holding her off with one finger! With a war cry, Karayna spun her cesta in the different direction, trying to crack the back of Namon's head on the other side of his head. She moved with the speed of light, however...

Namon snagged the cesta just seconds before it had a chance to hit his head. Karayna froze in surprise; How can hesa react so quickly?

With a simple bend of the wrist, Namon snapped the cesta in two, and dropped his piece to the ground. As Karayna froze in shock, Namon grinned at her, and waved his hand at her, whispering, "Long live the Bosses." Karayna was sent flying by an invisible Force. She landed on the grass on her back and a grunt of great pain. She instantly sat up just in time to see a sickeningly familiar sight: a pack of Namon's killer tusk cats...out for blood.

Boss Karayna quickly got off the ground and took out an atlatl from its holster. She stuffed a buba in it's cup, and quick as a kaadu could blink, took aim and flung it with a loud bellow to the children, "FIRE NOW!"

Doyce and the others launched bubas and electropoles at the coming tusk cats. Most of the bubas hit their mark on the cat's faces, and the animals stumbled over, stunned. The electropoles shocked some of the cats as the weapons pierced the fur of the beasts. The tumbling predators fell to the ground, causing a pile up of snarling beasts, and giving the children a chance for a small retreat.

Doyce called a back up for breathing space in the native Gungan language, and most of the children obeyed. The littler ones were too scared to move. Jar-Jar, Doyce, and Ikuso had to pick them up and haul them back with the rest of the retreat.

Suddenly, the cats taking up the rear jumped over the pile-up and at the children. There was lots of screaming and panic as the cats charged with a fearsome roar. Doyce directed the older kids to throw everything they had at the cats, but most just wet their pants. Doyce groaned in embarrassment, and threw a buba at the cats.

"Dissa gonna be a longo fight...." Doyce sighed.

Namon-Shin-Tolh watched the fight from afar with a lackey to his right. The black-skinned Gungan scratched his chin in thought.

"The Bosses aren't that brainless." Namon thought out loud. "Why would they send their children into battle?"

"Maybe for intimidation." the lackey shrugged.

"Like I said, the Bosses aren't that brainless." Namon sneered. "Either Nass is desperate, or this is a very clever trap..."

"Trap, sir?"

"Well, now that I think about it, this would have made an exempletory...."

Suddenly, an electropole stuck itself in the lackey's back, and the traitorous Gungan keeled over dead. Namon whipped his head around behind him with a growl.

"What?!" He was startled by the entire Gungan Grand Army that had snuck up behind him. With a commanded barked by General Ceel, the army charged foreword with war cries. Namon looked back at the crippling armada of children.

"Decoy....." he whispered.

"Dissa no workin, ya honor." Doyce said to Boss Karyana. Karyana said nothing as she flung buba after buba at the never ending wave of tusk cats. Several of the children had been ripped to shreds, or devoured.

'Where'sa da damned army?' Karyana thought as she fought off a cat. Suddenly, like a flood, hundreds of kaadu-mounted soldiers and patrolmen raced down the hills to the decoy battle, tearing at the cats.

"Dissa where wesa runnin." Jar-Jar insisted, hiding behind Ikuso.

"Yeah." Doyce nodded. "Dissa goin nutsen." Doyce hollered a retreat to the children, and none of the little ones hesitated. Jar-Jar was the first one to turn on his heel and haul bun. Doyce was right behind him. What was left of the children raced over a hill, and to a heaven sent sight: falsaphant-pulled carts.

"In yousa go, kids!" a kaadu patrolman called to the armada. The kids immediately rushed for the carts. Jar-Jar bellyflopped into the nearest one with an "oof!", and slid to the front to make way for the other kids.

Doyce was about to jump in too when he heard a scream of a child back on the hill. Doyce looked to see Shard with a large tusk-cat slashing at her. Shard's face was scratched badly, and she was curled up into a ball, trying to protect herself in futile. Doyce had a sudden urge to protect her from out of nowhere. He raced up the hill with a buba armed atlatl in hand. Taking aim, he swung the buba in the cat's face, causing it to roar in pain, and shrink back.

Doyce picked up the shrieking Shard by the arm, assuring her that she was going to be alright. Suddenly, the cat recovered with a snarl and snort. It batted Doyce and Shard to the ground with one paw. The force of the blow sent the two tumbling to their backs. Doyce hugged Shard to him protectively. He didn't know what came over him, but he couldn't let Shard die.

Suddenly, an electropole planted itself in the cat's shoulder, and the cat roared before it was knocked out by the electric shock. Doyce looked up at the kaadu rider as the old Gungan tugged the pole out of the cat's fur.

"Cap'n Tarpals!"

"C'mon, 'fore yousa miss yer only ticket outta here." the Captain urged, poking Doyce to his feet. "Makin sure yousa grrlfriend getten to a mediglobe."

"Norlo!" a female Gungan shouted at Tarpals. "Getten inta da front! Namon issa 'scapin!"

"Gotcha, Mizzez Binks!" Tarpals nodded as Jar-Jar's mother ran to the front ranks. "Go getten a mobe-on, Sydewynda! My got yas back!"

"Yessir." Doyce nodded, slinging one of Shard's arms over his shoulders. Tarpals returned to the battle as Doyce ran for the carts. One of the cart drivers managed to squeeze Doyce and Shard into one of the last and crowded carts left, and they were off in a flash. Doyce and Shard hugged during the trip back to Otoh Gunga. Shard cried on Doyce's shirt the whole way, and almost fell asleep. Doyce kept her awake because she was bleeding very badly, and if she fell asleep she might never wake up again. Why was he concerned for her all the sudden? Was it because he couldn't let an innocent soul die? Or did he…care about her?

Well, whatever happened to Doyce that day, it ended with Shard owing Doyce a life dept. They eventually got married out of love for each other, not because their parents arranged for it years ago. The wedding was the happiest day of Doyce's life. However, after the Children's Crusade, he never saw Jar-Jar Binks again.

It had been ten years ago. Doyce remembered that Jar-Jar was banished for "accidentally" flooding Boss Nass's mansion, which could have accounted for the two never seeing each other. Doyce's older brother, Robyne, did mention that he did see Jar-Jar up on the surface once. Robyne didn't get to talk to him; Jar-Jar ran off like a frightened animal. Doyce started to miss him, and was really sad that he never got to tell his friend good bye.

Whenever Doyce went on the surface, whether it was to visit Tarpals and his wife on the estate they owned, or to assist with the seasonal harvest, he kept his eyes open for Jar-Jar, but never saw him. Not once. Doyce soon stopped looking all together, soon forgetting about Jar-Jar Binks...until today...

Suddenly, Doyce spotted something move through his farseein. It looked like very fast moving speeders. Da maccenics! Doyce thought instinctively. However, the maccanics didn't have fast moving vehicles at all, just slow ones. Doyce increased the magnification on the farseein, and recognized the shape and style of the speeders. They were the Gian type that Panaka and his scout troops left in. They were alright! They arrived in one piece! Alright!

Doyce turned his head down to Anakin.

"DEYSA COMIN!" Doyce shouted to the overlander boy.

"Okay!" Anakin waved, then ran for his band of outlanders shouting, "They're here! They're here!"

Doyce started to climb down the statue head. He had to find Jar-Jar, and maybe find out what the Bosses did to him for punishment.

Before Doyce could go in search of Jar-Jar, he helped some of the Naboo soldiers out of the Gian speeder. He quickly looked back at the disguised Queen and the two outlanders. They were gathered around one of the speeders, and Ckin had been shooed away by a Gungan general. Uninterested in the meeting about to take place, Doyce went to go find Jar-Jar. He didn't have to go far...he tripped over Jar-Jar's fainted body.

"Aw, dammit!" Doyce yelled in surprise. "Ja-Ja! Wakie up!" It took a great deal of slapping the klutz's face to wake up Jar-Jar Binks. Doyce's theory of Jar-Jar's sleeping habits would have to be: "Iffa hesa sleepin, hesa might as well be hybernatin."

"Wha?!" Jar-Jar squeaked as Doyce helped him up off the grass. "Doyce? Did yousa hear dat?"

"Hear what?"

"Dat my....g-g-g-g-g.....bom-bom-bombad....gen-..."

"OUT WID IT!"

"Mesa bombad jen-er-all!" Jar-Jar blurted. Doyce shook his head. It was official, the Bosses were nuts. First they accept the Naboo as allies, and now they made Jar-Jar Binks, the one and only disappointment of Gungan society, a high-ranking army officer?!

"Oy vey." Doyce sighed. "What'sa da Bosses tinkin...?"

"Say," Jar-Jar smiled, looking at Doyce like nothing life shattering had happened, "Yousa gots a position in da army like my?"

"Yeah," Doyce moaned, not recovered from the Bosses decision. "Mesa lew-ten-aunt."

"N mesa jen-er-all. So...dat mean dat wesa in da same squad?" Jar-Jar tried to remember back to his drill training from many years ago.

"Only if wesa goin ta war, n wesa not." Doyce shook his head. "My hopin dat wesa no goin ta war."

"Well," Jar-Jar half smiled, putting a hand on Doyce's shoulder. "If wesa do go ta war, will yousa be my second-in-command in mesan squad?" Doyce looked up at Jar-Jar, who just smiled that goofy smile that Doyce hadn't seen in years.

"My be honored." Doyce smiled back, slinging an arm over Jar-Jar's shoulders. "C'mon, yousa gotta see mesan family."

"Yousa married ta Shard now, eh? Whosa tunk, eh?"

"Yeah, whosa tunk? She'sa lot nicer now, she'sa missed yous."

No sooner did Doyce reintroduce Shard and the baby to Jar-Jar did the Tarpals triplets stop by to celebrate Jar-Jar's new title as General.

"Yousa wonderin why Nass laughed when yousa fainted, Ja-Ja?" Ikuso grinned.

"Hesa wha?!" Jar-Jar blinked.

"Hesa told granda what hesa was gonna do, n granda fainted, just like yousa did." Cetrar laughed.

"Howsa yousa know my fainted?" Jar-Jar asked suspiciously as Doyce grinned.

"Cetrar n my wasa escortin Nass froma distance." Ikuso explained. "Cetrar fell ober laughin when yousa fainted."

"No funny." Jar-Jar insisted, but Doyce was chuckling softly. Jar-Jar decided to change the subject. "Yousa boyos tinkin wesa goin ta war?"

"Yep." Ikuso nodded, looking solemn. "No voiden it. Da only way da maccenics leabin da planet is iffa wesa kick em off."

"My wonderin what da Naboo plannin fer ussen..." Ckin thought back, looking back at the small meeting with the Queen, Naboo security men, the outlanders, Nass, and several Gungan generals. "Tinkin deysa fighten wid ussen?"

"Possible." Shard half frowned. "Mesa no fighten iffa wesa at war..." She looked down at her baby boy, who was staring at Jar-Jar's ears in awe.

"Hey," Ikuso brought up, walking to a nearby shelter, "stay here, boyos. My gots a grande idea."

"Whatsa?" Doyce called as Ikuso disappeared behind the blanket that acted as a doorway. Doyce and the others waited as Ikuso took a while to come back. Shard had Doyce hold the baby for a while so that she could rest her tired arms.

Finally, Ikuso came out with a box in his arms, and a bottle that he was holding on the neck by his teeth. Cetrar went to help him.

"What'sa all dis?" Doyce wondered as Ikuso set the box by him and opened it. Inside were a dozen fancy wine glasses. Ikuso poured some in one glass and passed to Doyce. Doyce looked at the drink in his glass while Ikuso passed around glasses to the rest of the group.

"Iffa wesa go ta war," Ikuso started, raising his glass to the gang, "den wesa gotta hab a reunion. Issa has been 10 years fer Gud's sake."

Barely tuuk a sip, Doyce thought, N hesa already drunk…

"So, heresa ta General Ja-Ja, ta da newlyweds, ta da sayin: 'N da baby makes tree.'"

"To da best boyos my could eber hab." Jar-Jar smiled, raising his glass.

"To ussen." Ckin and Cetrar cheered.

"To Ja-Ja," Shard toasted, "N hesa new position."

"Whatsa bout yousa hubby?" Doyce grinned.

"My almost forgot," Shard restated her toast. "To mesa family."

"Dat's betta." Doyce nodded, clinking his glass with hers before giving her a kiss.

"Yousan turn, Doyce." Jar-Jar urged. "What'sa yousa gonna toast?"

"Well..." Doyce looked around at the smiling faces he had known for years and years. He seemed to understand why Jar-Jar valued the simple things in life...everything had it's little value to somebody, and friends were full of hidden treasures waiting to be beheld. Doyce raised his glass, using a Naboo phrase for the first time in his life.

"To my friends." he toasted. Everybody looked at him funny. "Where'd my be widout yas?!" Doyce smiled, ignoring everybody. "Cheers."

"CHEERS!" everybody shouted, clinking their glasses together, and gulping down their drink. Jar-Jar suddenly gagged.

"Wine?!" he blinked. "Mesa drinkin alcohol?"

"Issa guud, isn't it?" Ckin smirked. Jar-Jar made a sour face and "bleh"ed a couple times, making everyone chuckle.

Friends were, indeed, hidden treasures. Seek them and enjoy their riches.

After getting yelled at for drinking before going to war, Doyce and the others were called to the war rally. There hadn't been one for years, so most of the Generals tripped over the traditional pre-battle speech. General Ceel, however, never tripped over *his* personal battle speech.

"My only gots one rule:" Ceel announced. "Eberybody fights, n nobody quits. Yousan no doin yousan job, my kill yas mesa self. My no except chicken-weaklings. DO YOUSAN HEAR ME?!"

"WESA HEAR YOUS, SIR!" Doyce and the squad answered.

"Da Queen said dat wesa creatin a diversion." Ceel explained. "Wesa gonna bring da majority o da maccaneik army from outta Teed, so dat da Queen can fight da leader. Wesa gotta gib it our all, n wesa makin sure dat deysa no turnin round back ta da city. Oursa position issa no offence, wesa defense, so wesa bringin da shields wid ussen. Any questions?"

"How will wesa know when da Queen won?" Doyce wondered.

"Wesa will know eider when wesa obliterate da maccaneic army, or when da maccaneics shut down by demselbs. Dat's when wesa won."

"How many expected ta die?"

"..." Ceel was asked that question a lot, and he had hoped that the damned Sydewynder boy wouldn't bring that up. "A hundred r so."

"No furder questions..." Doyce sighed.

"Mub out!" Ceel commanded. Doyce hopped on a nearby saddled kaadu, and spurred it to a trot. He caught Ceel, who had already mounted his kaadu, scolding something at Jar-Jar.

"Yousa makin a good example fer yousa people," Ceel scolded, shaking a finger at the Gungan, "N die well." Jar-Jar squeaked in fear as Ceel ran off. Doyce shook his head, trying to contain his mirth.

It was a very long, and for Jar-Jar: embarrassing, march to the intersection point. Captain Tarpals took the lead of the army, under Jar-Jar's cowardly insistence. Ceel's threat had the klutz sweating bullets. Tarpals agreed with a snort.

It took forever. It reminded of Doyce of the war with the black-skinned Gungans, only nobody said a word on the way to the battle field.

There were masses of the black-skinned Gungans with them. Namon-Shin-Tolh surrendered after the Children's Crusade, and allied with the Gungans. Namon became a Boss, and built his own underwater city: Orca Gunga. Namon and his men were escorting Boss Nass and the other Gungans that could not fight the war back to Otoh Gunga, assured by the outlanders that the Federation army did not attack the same place twice. Doyce hoped that was true, his family was with the returning party....

"NYYYEEEEERRRRRRRRRR-OMP!" the battle horns of the scouts bellowed. It signaled that the army was on the way.

"Halt!" Tarpals commanded the army, holding his hand in the air so that his command could be seen. Jar-Jar held up his hand too, but most everyone was obeying the old man. "Startin up da shields!" That was the shieldmen's cue to activate the fambaa-carried shield generators. The shields billowed over the army, protecting them from the oncoming danger.

Doyce heard them before he saw them. He gripped his cesta a little harder as he saw those damned white machines peek over the distance, then slowly thrum as they crawled down the hill. Then, they were still. A few moments passed, then the tanks opened fire.

Each blaster shot was absorbed by the shield, causing the barrier to ripple like a pond that had a pebble tossed in it. Doyce waited patiently as shot after shot failed to get past the barrier. Everyone was silent.

Then, the tanks stopped firing. Doyce's kaadu tensed slightly. He shushed it by whispering it to it and stroking its head. Some of the younger soldiers started cheering for their first victory.

"Shadup!" Doyce shouted at them. Most of them quieted.

"Steady." Jar-Jar called out rather softly to his squad. "Steady." Heh, a pathetic attempt to remind everyone that he was the general, but at least it gave Jar-Jar a little self esteem.

Then, things began to happen quickly. Doyce couldn't quite see what was going on in the distance, but the Gungan footmen had lined up in front of the army with their power shields, and the slingers and scytherins had bubas and electropoles ready. Then there was a loud mechanical noise, and a stomping of a large army marching closer and closer to the barrier. Doyce frowned in worry, they were sending in the army, like the kind that attacked Otoh Gunga..........

"Ouch time." Tarpals worried to Jar-Jar. Doyce pointed his cesta foreword. 'Here goes nothing...' the Gungan warrior sighed in his mind.

Then the battle droids eased through the barrier and started shooting.

"FIRE!" Tarpals shouted to the scytherians, and bubas launched from catapults, cestas, atlatls, and bare Gungan hands. Several electropoles were flung in the air, stabbing the battle droids that weren't getting fried by the bubas. And to assure Doyce that everything but the kitchen sink was flying in the air at the battle droids, he noticed that Jar-Jar was launched off his kaadu with a yelp. Doyce was about to chuckle when he saw another Gungan fall off his kaadu and was still. Doyce recognized the Gungan. It was an old schoolmate.

"Shydee?" Doyce called to the fallen Gungan.

No answer, no movement. He was dead.

Doyce suddenly felt worry. A fellow survivor of the Children's Crusade........gone......

"Doyce!" somebody called to him. "Doyce!"

"Huh?" Doyce moaned, with the faint sound of battle in his ears. Suddenly......

WHACK!

Doyce was thwaped in the back of the head. Doyce snapped out of his frightened trance, and looked at Tarpals. The old man had drawn his hand back.

"Yousa feelin okieday?" Tarpals snarled. "Ya zoned off."

"Mesa fine." Doyce insisted, bringing up a determined face.

"Good." Tarpals nodded. "Cause wesa got s'more problems...." Tarpals pointed to the barrier. Doyce looked to see some sort of rolling device plow through the shield, and fold out into a metallic nightmare. They were the destroyer droids that one of the outlanders warned about....

Meanwhile, Jar-Jar was limping around with half a battle droid caught on his foot, and doing a good job destroying the enemy around him. The droid's hand still held a blaster, and every time Jar-Jar would jerk it around, the blaster would fire, and usually hit something. At least twenty battle droids, including destroyers, were taken down by this folly.

As Jar-Jar was wining his part of the war, Cetrar was struggling with a droid. Cetrar tried grabbing it and flipping it over to the ground, but the droid was heavy. After running out of bubas to fry the droids with, the Tarpals boy had no weapons on him. So he punched the droid to pieces. ((Look closely when Jar-Jar is trying to get that battle droid torso off his foot and destroying droids in the process. In the background, you'll see Cetrar punching out a battle droid. ~Masq))

Doyce had ordered more protection around the shield generators. It was the only thing holding the tanks at bay. Although Doyce couldn't see why the tanks wouldn't just come through the barrier with the army since none of the tanks were made of water or on fire.....

Doyce launched a few bubas at destroyer droids that were gunning down several Gungans in it's sight.

Far off, a kaadu was shot to death, and it collapsed on a warrior, crushing the Gungan instantly. Battle droids finished off the Gungan.

"HELP!" Doyce heard someone cry. Doyce instantly spurred his kaadu in the direction of the cry to see a lieutenant, about 13 years old, running from battle droids that were firing at him like crazy. Doyce urged his kaadu to run faster, but noticed that he might be too late to save the lieutenant. The Gungan was shot in the leg, and fell over. The battle droids began to crowd around the lieutenant. Doyce whipped out his cesta, and bellowed a war cry. With a fierce rage, Doyce swung the cesta like a baseball bat, knocking off a battle droid's head. The kaadu plowed into another, sending the droid crashing to the ground. The two surviving battle droids turned their attention to Doyce, giving a small chorus of "Roger roger," before firing at him. Doyce cried out in pain as a laser pierced his shoulder, and he fell off the saddle of his kaadu. He didn't give up though. The moment he landed on the ground, he got back up, and whacked the droids down, but not before a back up unit arrived to see Doyce watching the two droids fall over like dominoes. The back up unit gave an echoing chorus of "roger, roger"s before opening fire. Suddenly, a footman stepped before the unit with a shield, blocking the laser shots that were meant for Doyce. As Doyce knelt before the small lieutenant, he noticed that the footman wasn't a man at all.

"Mizzez Binks!" It was Jar-Jar's mother!

"Longo timeo, nosa spake, Sydewynda." Ziza Horra Binks took a moment to smile back at Doyce. Doyce remembered her from the Namon War. He briefly got to talk to her afterward. "Get dat boy outta here. My take care o da maccenics."

"Yessa mam." Doyce nodded, picking up the thirteen year old boy.

"No touchin mesa." the boy insisted, crying in pain.

"Yousa injured. Yousa gotta go see a docta."

"Mesa warrior!" the boy insisted. "My gotta fight! Mesa wassa told ta." He screamed suddenly as his pain worsened. Doyce was suddenly reminded of all those kids in the Children's Crusade who said the exact same thing in their heads ten years ago.

Doyce made a dash for the swamps, to get this boy away from the battle.

"Doyce!" Another voice called out. Doyce turned his head as he ran to see who it was. It was Cetrar, with bloody knuckles. "Mesa outta ammo. My take 'em!" He was talking about the boy. Doyce stopped running, and allowed Cetrar to take the boy from his arms.

"Get hisa to da sacred place, r somewhere safe."

"Yousa can count on mesa, lew-ten-nant." Cetrar nodded, making a break for it. Doyce grabbed his shoulder, and realized that he lost his cesta. Oh no...

Doyce snatched the reigns of a riderless kaadu, and jumped in the saddle. His shoulder was killing him, but he wasn't sure if the term "killing him" should be taken literally. He was about to steer the kaadu back into battle when he heard an explosion, and the shields raised off the ground. Frightened Gungans stopped fighting and stared up at the fading shield in horror. Doyce was no different than his warriors. He heard a whistle of retreat, and didn't hesitate to give the order himself to his squad.

"RETREAT!" Doyce yelled as the tanks raced into the battle, firing their massive cannons. Explosions seemed to rock the earth, sending Gungan and kaadu alike flying to the ground or stumbling to the grass upon impact. Doyce zigzagged to keep himself from being an easy target. There was no way in hell he would give up his life now.

Cetrar finally made it to the swamps, and the kid had fallen asleep. Cetrar finally stopped running, and set the kid down by a tree so that he could rest. Cetrar sat next to him, and shook the kid awake.

"Heyo, c'mon. Wesa safe now." Cetrar beckoned. The kid didn't wake up. Cetrar lifted up the kid's tiny ear, and shouted into it. "WAKIE WAKIE, BOYO!" The boy was still asleep. Cetrar shook his head, and picked up the boy's wrist to feel for a pulse. "Yousa can no bein dead..."

But...

"Oh no...oh no...dissa...dissa impossible..." Cetrar bowed his head in mourning. "C'mon Gods...hesa just a kid...whysa did yousa do dis to 'im? Whysa did he hab ta die in war..."

"HELP!" Jar-Jar screamed, running for his life. Doyce noticed his old friend running around the battle like a pikobis that had it's head chopped off. Jar-Jar was a sitting duck for the battle droids to pick off, no problem. Doyce considered continuing the retreat to the swamp with his squadron, thinking that Jar-Jar would run to the swamps on instinct. He was exiled into the wilds after all, he should have learned all about instinct by now. But, something nagged at Doyce to help Jar-Jar, and he couldn't quite explain what the feeling was, but he couldn't just abandon Jar-Jar.

It could mean Doyce's life, but Doyce Sydewynder was not going to let Jar-Jar Binks die. Doyce steered his running kaadu towards Jar-Jar.

"JA-JA!" Doyce called, snagging Binks by the back of the vest and pulled him into the saddle. As Jar-Jar was laid on his stomach on the saddle, Doyce began to continue his zigzag tactic when.......

BOOM!

A cannon shot blasted underneath the feet of the running kaadu, causing it to stumble, and toss it's riders in the air. Jar-Jar went flying onto the gun barrel of a tank. Doyce was sent to the ground.......hard.

Doyce didn't move. His back hurt, and one leg was bent the wrong way. He just sucked in his pain and tried to stand up. "Ja-Ja...." he muttered, trying to pull himself up to his feet. Then there was a blaster barrel shoved in his face. Doyce had no time to react to what happened next...

....................BANG!..................

It would be known as the Night of Fire. First came Qui-Gon Jinn's funeral. At midnight afterward, all the Gungans gathered at the Podekro River, and made little wooden and paper boats with candles on them. The bottom of the boat were decorated with the name of the creator, and the sides had a design of a Gungan or person who died in the Battle of Naboo. The candles were lit, and the boats would be released into the slow moving river, and the candles would guide the dead spirits to Lake Paonga, and to their home.

Many Gungans attended the old ceremony. General Jar-Jar Binks made three boats with his mother: one for his father (St. Olmars Binks, bishop of the Otoh Cathedral, killed in the attack on Otoh Gunga), one for Qui-Gon, and the last, but most certainly not least, for Doyce.

Shard was crying very hard, as were the wives and families of other dead Gungans. Jar-Jar understood that Shard would have great difficulty raising little Sanji on her own, and explaining to him what happened to his father. He wished that there was something he could do for her. He sighed, and walked up to her after he put his first two boats into the river.

"Shard..." he began. She looked at him with tears in her eyes. Jar-Jar showed her the boat, and put one of her hands on it. "Yousa can light it, iffa yousa want ta." Shard sniffed, and took out a flint rock to spark the candle to light.

Singing a psalm, Jar-Jar and Shard released the boat into the river, singing for Doyce's soul. Jar-Jar started to cry too, and stopped singing to sob for his friend. Then, he felt a hand on his shoulder, and glanced out of the corner of his eye. It was the familiar dark purple, four fingered hand of Captain Tarpals. Jar-Jar turned his head down, staring at the pebbles at the bottom of the river bank.

"Yousan bein brabe, Ja-Ja." Tarpals congratulated.

"Howsa?" Jar-Jar shook his head as another tear fell down his cheek.

"Yousa learnin ta let go o yousan friends." Tarpals explained. "Issa sometin my neber saw yousa do before."

"Doyce wasa mesan best friend." Jar-Jar sighed. "My no beliebin hesa gone...."

"Friends r fer foreber." Tarpals preached. "People die, deysa burn in da pyre, but deysa spirits aresa foreber. Till da end o time, deysa watch ober yas like deysa always used ta."

"Doyce be watchin ober mesa....."

"O course. Hesa always watchin out fer dose hesa lubs."

"Mesa only friend....."

"Neber."

"Wha?" Jar-Jar looked up at Tarpals. The old man just turned his head to the others attending the ceremony: Anakin, Queen Amidala, Ikuso, Ckin, Cetrar, Oosa, Boss Karyana, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Boss Nass, Robyne Sydewynder, fellow Gungans who survived the Children's Crusade.......

"Yousa always had friends, Ja-Ja Binks, silly." Tarpals smiled. "Howsa long did it take fer yousa ta find dat out?" Jar-Jar had to smile. How absent-minded of him! He had friends all along! "No taken da people in yousa life fer granted, Ja-Ja," Tarpals warned, reminding Jar-Jar that he too was a friend, "deysa all hab a part in da story o yousan life, as yousa do ta dem."

"Yeah." Jar-Jar agreed, smiling a little bigger. He looked out at the river, watching over two thousand boats with lit candles float down the river. Jar-Jar Binks looked back at his friends that watched the ceremony, and was surprised to see Amidala and Anakin putting in a boat together. Jar-Jar went to them to see who they were sending to Otoh Gunga.

"Heydo." Jar-Jar chirped as he approached. Queen Amidala looked up at the smiling Jar-Jar, her face still and serious as stone

"Only you could still remain cheerful at a funeral, Jar-Jar." the Queen congratulated dryly. Jar-Jar's face quickly lost it's smile.

"Sowwy." he moaned. He quickly glanced at the boat, and saw Qui-Gon's name on the boat. "Quay-Gone has lotsa boats tonight."

"Yes." Amidala nodded. "He died to save us all."

"My eben put in a boat fer him. Mesa owed him a life debt, now my got nobody..."

"I'll take his place." Anakin volunteered as the boat was released to sail. Jar-Jar blinked in surprise.

"Wha?! Yousa do dat, Annie?"

"Of course." Anakin smiled at Jar-Jar. "We're friends, right?" After a few moments to ponder that, Jar-Jar smiled back.

"Yeah," he nodded, giving Anakin a hug. "Wesa boyos......fereber."

"Yep." Anakin agreed. Jar-Jar took a seat on a nearby rock, and Anakin sat in his lap. Amidala stood beside them, finally smiling at Jar-Jar. The three of them watched the boats sail out to the lake, no longer feeling sad for the fallen warriors, but glad that the warriors gave their lives for their people, and their freedom.

"Doyce gab hissa life to hisa friends." Jar-Jar said suddenly. "Hesa said it himself, 'To My Friends, where'd my be widout yas?!'"

"Doyce...." the Queen wondered.

"Mesan best friend. Hesa dead. Died.....sabin mesa."

"He'll always be remembered, Jar-Jar." Anakin assured. Jar-Jar gave him another hug before staring out at the river.

To My Friends, the old Naboo saying went, Never Let Us Forget Each Other Forever.

THE END