INT. SCOREKEEPER'S RYYK/COCKPIT
Llomon enters the cockpit, two large and meaty drumsticks in his hands. Crossing over to the pilot's seat, he finds Mahttoh there, fast asleep, snoring.
LLOMON: (in Dosh, subtitled) Wake up, Mahttoh, we're almost there.
When the Wookiee refuses to stir, the Trandoshan whacks him in the side of the head with one of the drumsticks.
LLOMON: (subtitled) Wake up!
Jolted out of his sleep, the Wookiee looks up at his partner and notices the drumsticks.
MAHTTOH: (in Shyriiwook, subtitled) It's dinner already?
LLOMON: (subtitled) Breakfast. You've been asleep since yesterday afternoon. (hands the Wookiee a drumstick) Now here, take it and get ready to drop out of hyperspace. We're coming up on our destination.
Taking the drumstick, the Wookiee takes a ravenous bite. Reaching for the hyperspace levers, he pulls them back, allowing them to drop into realspace.
LLOMON: (subtitled) And there's the great big ball of cheese herself.
Situated out beyond the viewport, massive even from this distance, is the ecumenopolis of Coruscant.
INT. ORRON III -- DUQUESNE HOMESTEAD/NASHIRA'S BEDROOM -- EVENING
Nashira is seated before her bedroom window, looking out into the ebon sky aglow with sparkling stars, when her mother opens the door and peeks her head inside.
CORIN: Getting ready for bed, honey?
NASHIRA: (turns to Corin) Yes, Mom. (turns back to the open window) I was just saying goodnight to Anakin.
CORIN: Alright. Sweet dreams, honey.
NASHIRA: (smiles) You too, Mom.
Corin departs, taking the time to close the door behind her.
Soon after, Nashira gets up from her chair and leaves the window. Crossing over to her bed, she discards her nightgown, revealing the turquoise nightshirt she's wearing underneath. Sliding under the sheets, she claps her hands twice, deactivating the lights. Shrouded in deep shadow, she pulls the covers up to her chin.
NASHIRA: (sighs) Nik ...
Crossing her hands under her head, 'Shira tries to relax enough to fall asleep. When that doesn't work, she turns over on her side, bracing her hands under her face. That doesn't work, either, so she flips right over on her belly, pushing the side of her face into her plush pillow. Even that fails for her.
NASHIRA: (flipping back over onto her back) God, I don't know if You even exist, but if You do, please -- just one good night's sleep. That's all I ask. Just one single night of deep, uninterrupted, REM sleep. I can't take this anymore -- I really can't.
Whether God hears her prayer and answers it will remain unknown to us. In either case, Nashira manages to drift off into a light, uncertain sleep.
INT. WAYWARD SON/LOWER GUN WELL
Anakin lies seated inside the Wayward Son's lower gun well, eyes fixed upon the streaming fabric of hyperspace situated beyond the transparisteel viewport.
ANAKIN: (morose) 'Shira ...
Before he knows it, Anakin finds himself nodding off. Before a minute can pass, he is fast asleep.
EXT. CORAL & TEAL WORLD -- HYPERSPACE (DREAM)
Leaving the conscious world, we find ourselves looking upon a most unusual planet. Floating within the blue morass of hyperspace, it is divided into two halves -- one bright coral, the other dark teal.
EXT. CORAL & TEAL WORLD -- TWILIGHT ZONE (DREAM)
Anakin suddenly finds himself standing within the gray border region between the teal and coral sides of the strange world. Before him, clad in her turquoise nightshirt, is Nashira. The two lovers approach.
NASHIRA: (frowns) Nik? (looks about their surroundings) Where are we?
ANAKIN: (looks up at the swirling violet maelstrom that is the sky) Hyperspace, I think.
NASHIRA: How's that possible? Planets can't exist in hyperspace. (beat) Can they?
ANAKIN: This isn't real.
NASHIRA: It feels real enough.
ANAKIN: No way. (beat) I know what this is. This is a dream. Yeah, that's it. This is just a dream. I fell asleep in the gun well, staring out into hyperspace, and now I'm having this crazy dream. I'm not really here -- you're not the real Nashira -- this is all just a Carrollian scenario I dredged up from my subconscious. (laughs) They say not to look out into hyperspace for prolonged periods of time.
NASHIRA: (cocks an eyebrow) I'm not real? Buster, this is my dream. You're the one who's a figment of my imagination.
ANAKIN: (sighs) Well, one of us is dreaming and one of us is a creation of that dream. We can't both be real, we can't both be having the same dream.
NASHIRA: Anakin, maybe we are having the same dream. Maybe we are both here, real, together.
ANAKIN: What? No. Not possible.
NASHIRA: This is a Force rapport, Nik. We're sharing a dream through our connection in Force!
ANAKIN: No way. You're on Orron III, I'm in hyperspace going God knows where thousands of light-years away. It can't be done, not at those distances!
NASHIRA: (rests her hands on Anakin's arms) Maybe it can, Anakin. (beat) I've read strange stories about hyperspace. Not just the usual stuff about ships encountering hyperspacial lifeforms or accidentally jumping into alternate universes and different time periods, but about people with psionic and Force potential having their abilities amplified while in-transit. That could be what's happening to us.
ANAKIN: I've travelled through hyperspace hundreds of times before, and I've met plenty of Force-adepts who have, too. I've never had something like that happen to me before and they've never told me any different.
NASHIRA: Maybe it happens rarely. (grins) Maybe they didn't get lucky.
ANAKIN: (smiles) Well, rapport or not, it's nice to see you, 'Shira. It gets lonely without you.
NASHIRA: (sneers) Oh, don't give me that "I get so lonely without you" speech. You've got a girl at every port of call and we both know it. You're about as lonely as a fat Hutt crimelord.
ANAKIN: (frowns) 'Shira, you wound me! I'd never do a thing like that. (grins salaciously) Not when I've got several fine specimens available to me right here on this ship.
NASHIRA: (cocks an eyebrow) Oh, really?
ANAKIN: Yeah. Four of 'em in fact. (beat) Well, three actually. I'm not really interested in the Gungan. Sure, she can probably do amazing things with that tongue of hers, but that face -- nah. (beat) Cmdr. Vaness and Sn. Antilles, on the other hand -- ooh, they're both mighty fine. Antilles doesn't have much of a chest, but she's got an amazing tush. She's Falleen, too. Can you just imagine it? I can. I'd enter the bedroom and there they'd both be, dressed in nothing but a pair of thongs -- a yellow one for Vaness, red for Antilles. Antilles would start pumping out those pheromones of hers and then --
Nashira punches Anakin in the arm. Very hard.
ANAKIN: OW!
NASHIRA: That's it. I can't abide an unfaithful boyfriend. You need to be chastised, and since this is a dream and I can make anything I imagine real --
'Shira brings up a chrome lightsaber hilt. With a press of the activation stud, she engages an angry red blade.
NASHIRA: (cont'd) -- I can carry through with your chastisement right here and now.
Taking several steps back, Anakin raises his hands to ward her away.
ANAKIN: (frightened) Hey, c'mon now. You know I was joking. I'd never cheat on you -- not in a million light-years.
Nashira advances on the young man menacingly.
ANAKIN: (grins weakly) Oh, c'mon, I was just fooling with you. Vaness and Antilles aren't very attractive, anyway. Too old for me -- both of them.
Locking the blade of the lightsaber on, 'Shira rears back her arm then sends the blade twirling through the air towards Anakin. He freezes, instinctively raising his hands up to protect his face. As the lightsaber hits him, though, the hilt and the plasma blade both transform. With a loud SPLASH, the young Jedi finds himself coated in layers of red-and-silver paint.
NASHIRA: (giggles) It isn't a cold shower, but it should work just as well.
Frowning, Nik wipes and flings the dripping paint off of him.
ANAKIN: Not funny, Nashira. This was a fresh outfit.
NASHIRA: And this is a dream, stupid. Now clean yourself off and come to me.
Reaching up behind his head, Anakin finds the tab of a zipper there. Pulling it up, over, and down, he unzips his pigment-marred skin and clothes as if they were one whole suit. With tugging and stretching, he manages to get the whole deal off him, revealing a brand new Anakin identical to the original underneath.
ANAKIN: There -- how's that?
NASHIRA: Servicable.
Stepping up to 'Shira, Nik wraps his arms around her.
ANAKIN: (grins) What do you think we should do while we're here?
NASHIRA: (strokes his hair) What else? (beat) Besides, I wanna see how it feels to do it long distance.
ANAKIN: Alright. But first --
Taking his hands away from Nashira's waist, Nik brings up his left hand and snaps his fingers. With a puff of purple smoke, Raia Vaness and Petra Antilles suddenly materialize; dressed in the scant articles of clothing Anakin mentioned before, they strike alluring poses before their creator. Frowning, 'Shira snaps her own fingers. With a puff of smoke, the facsimiles of Vaness and Antilles are instantly replaced with two new figures: a duplicate of Obi-Wan and a handsome olive-skinned man with long, curly black hair, each wearing the same yellow and red thongs their predecessors sported.
ANAKIN: (points at the olive-skinned man) Who the hell is he?!
NASHIRA: (takes Nik's head in her hands) Wouldn't you like to know ...
Locking their lips in a deep kiss, the two lovers lower themselves onto a large, round bed that has suddenly appeared. Now ignored, Nashira's two masculine creations exchange glances, shrug, then cease to exist in a puff of purple smoke.
Some time passes, and we now find Anakin and Nashira cuddling together under the bed sheets, both looking up into the strange blue sky with contemplation.
ANAKIN: This was nice.
NASHIRA: Yeah, it was, wasn't it? (beat) Do you think we'll ever be able to meet like this again?
ANAKIN: No. I feel that this -- whatever it is -- is a one-time deal.
NASHIRA: (sighs) It was good while it lasted.
ANAKIN: I'll continue to dream about you, though, just like I do every night.
NASHIRA: (kisses Nik's shoulder) Likewise.
With that, the dream comes to a close.
INT. WAYWARD SON/LOWER GUN WELL
Awakening, Anakin finds that the ship has dropped out of hyperspace; situated out beyond the viewport is the star-studded blackness of realspace.
INT. WAYWARD SON/COCKPIT
Entering the cockpit, Bail crosses over to the pilot's seat. Peering out the viewport, he gazes upon the emptiness before him.
CMDR. VANESS: Next route is three light-minutes out.
BAIL: (rests his hand on her shoulder) Go to my quarters and have yourself a good night's sleep. I'll take it from here.
Yawning, Vaness rises from the seat and leaves the cockpit, allowing the captain to take her place.
INT. WAYWARD SON/MAIN CORRIDOR
Moving out into the freighter's main corridor, Anakin finds Käthe Naad coming towards him from the right end of the corridor.
MSC. NAAD: (smiles) Hi.
ANAKIN: Hi. We just come out of hyperspace?
MSC. NAAD: Yeah, we did. (beat) This is the last safe leg of the journey, you know. From here we're off into Wild Space, travelling along routes few have ever travelled, some which haven't even been charted at all. We're going to be covering new ground, and a lot of it's going to be rough, even dangerous.
ANAKIN: Yeah, I know. It's almost enough to make me want to bail and hitch a ride back to civilization.
MSC. NAAD: Hitch a ride? From here? (grins) I think you'll be waiting quite awhile with your thumb hanging out before any ship comes this way and finds you.
ANAKIN: Hey, I'm a Jedi. Patience and I are old friends from way back.
MSC. NAAD: (nods) I'm sure.
EXT. SPACE
The Wayward Son returns to hyperspace, leaving the relative safety of the Known Regions of the Galaxy for the uncertain paths of Wild Space.