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Eli and Thrawn were silent as they headed to the principal’s office, both considering what on earth could be so important it warranted a visit. Eli couldn’t speak for Thrawn, but he found himself getting nervous. He remembered visits like this from his own youth, and the severe hallways of this particular school looked far too similar to the ones he grew up with. The office itself did not offer any reassurances either. While It was much more inviting than the hallways, the gaunt, unsmiling man behind the desk more than made up for the almost comfortable look of the room.
Principal Tarkin acknowledged each man as they stepped into his office, and directed them to the two chairs in front of his desk. “Good afternoon, gentlemen. As I am sure you already know, I am Principal Tarkin, and this,” he nodded to the woman seated to his right, “is Councilor Pryce.”
Councilor Pryce stood and shook each of their hands as they made to sit in two of the most uncomfortable chairs Eli had ever had the displeasure of knowing. Honestly, even chairs in the military had been more comfortable. Was this supposed to be a meeting or an interrogation?
“Mr. Vanto. Mr. Nuruodo,” she said, resuming her own seat.
“It is Mitth’raw’nuruodo, Ms. Pryce,” Thrawn said. “My people do not use your naming conventions.”
Pryce gave him a hard look before turning to Tarkin, waiting for an unspoken cue to begin. He gave her a small nod.
“Gentlemen, I have called this meeting to discuss your daughter’s unseemly behavior.”
Oh no, Eli thought. He knew war orphans could have issues, but they hadn’t really considered it lately. Both he and Thrawn had discussed the possible problems they could face given Un’hee’s past when they first adopted the girl, but she was so well behaved they’d decided to wait and see. And after nearly a year in school, they'd just sort of forgotten about it entirely. Well, Eli had. For all he knew, Thrawn may well have been keeping a watchful eye on her without saying anything to him.
“What did she do?” Eli asked. He tried to hide his unease, but the look on Thrawn’s face made it clear that Eli had done a poor job of it.
Pryce sighed and leaned toward him. Clearly, she felt Eli was the parent worth appealing to. He was the more concerned looking one after all. Thrawn looked utterly bored.
“She used inappropriate language on the playground today.”
“Inappropriate in what way?” Thrawn inquired.
Pryce flicked her eyes to Thrawn before addressing her answer to Eli in a clear yet somewhat sad and subdued voice. A bit overkill if you asked him. “She called another child a rude name.”
“Ah. Is that all?” Thrawn asked.
“Is that all?” Pryce looked downright indignant as she finally turned her full attention to Thrawn, her tone having gone up a whole octave. “We do not condone this type of behavior,” she bit out.
“Of course not, Ms. Pryce. However, I fail to see why I had to leave work for something as trivial as children name calling,” Thrawn said as he crossed his legs and leaned back. “A letter would have sufficed.”
“Well now at least I know where Un’hee’s flippant attitude comes from. The child didn’t show an ounce of remorse for her actions, and refused to apologize. Even under threat of punishment.”
“Given Un’hee’s exceptional hand to hand combat skills, I expected a meeting with both the principal and councilor of her school to warrant no less than a broken nose.” Thrawn smiled. “I am quite proud to learn she was able to maintain control in a heated situation.” He paused. “I assume it was heated if it warranted name calling.”
“Proud!” Pryce exclaimed. “Mr. Nuruodo...”
Pryce was cut off by the sound of Tarkin clearing his throat. He had leaned forward and steepled his fingers. The look on his face making it clear that he had no time or patience for Pryce and Thrawn’s argument. “Councilor, please get to the point. I’m sure we all have work to return to,” Tarkin said with such a calmly cold voice it sent shivers up Eli’s spine.
“Of course, sir,” Pryce said, wincing at the reprimand. “As I was saying, Un’hee used inappropriate language...”
“What exactly did she say?” Eli interjected, cutting Pryce off. Eli tried to keep his voice courteous so as not to upset the woman like Thrawn had, but he was tired of the vagueness.
She looked at him rather seriously as she said, “She called Cyril Orbar a poo poo head. Apparently, they had been arguing over a soccer ball. He reported her to the nearest teacher on duty who pulled them both aside to speak with them privately. When the teacher asked Un’hee what she said, she repeated the vulgar phrase. In Basic, Sy Bisti and some other language.” Pryce paused to let that sink in.
Just as she opened her mouth to speak again Eli burst out laughing, practically doubling over in his chair. He could just see Un’hee pout out her lip as she proudly announced what she said in every language she knew. It took a minute but Eli did manage to gain control of himself again. As he sat up and wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes, he noticed Thrawn’s amused look and Pryce’s horrified one.
“I fail to see the humor, Mr. Vanto,” Pryce remarked, looking for all the world like she’d just bitten into something rancid.
“I’m sorry, Ms. Pryce.” Eli said, still chuckling. “It’s just… Un’hee’s had a rough childhood. We both love her dearly, but the things she’s seen and lived through... They’re worse than most adults face in a lifetime. She didn’t even smile for the first month we had her. To hear she’s pulling the same stunts other kids her age would, and with as much sass… ” Pryce’s expression turned more sour the longer Eli rambled, trying to get across why he’d laughed so hard at what was clearly disturbing behavior to these school officials. “I’m sorry,” he added lamely, ducking his head a little and feeling his cheeks warm. Thrawn squeezed his hand reassuringly, which was a surprise considering he didn’t even remember Thrawn taking it to begin with.
Pryce huffed before continuing, undoubtedly having had enough of these two. “What I’d like to discuss with the two of you is how exactly we plan to discourage this sort of behavior in the future.” She looked at a notebook placed on the desk at her side. “We have already explained to Un’hee that her recess privileges have been taken away for the rest of the week.”
“That seems counterproductive,” Thrawn interrupted.
“I can assure you it is a common practice, Mr. Nuruodo.”
"Mitth’raw’nuruodo.”
“Furthermore,” she continued, ignoring Thrawn’s irritation, “the incident happened during recess. It seems only right that the child should have that activity taken away.”
“It’s only Monday. What do you plan to do with her for four days?” Eli demanded, just as unhappy as Thrawn was about the punishment.
“She will sit in her classroom and work on an extra assignment during recess times this week.” The son of a bantha looked like she had just explained something painfully obvious to them. Eli could feel his own anger rising, but Thrawn spoke up before he could say something he'd regret.
“I’m sorry, Ms. Pryce. I still fail to see the benefit of such a punishment. For a child like Un’hee, taking away valuable bonding time will only reinforce her ‘otherness’. As I am sure her teachers know, she is still finding it difficult to connect with her classmates. Removing her from their presence will only make this process more difficult. Would it not be wiser to have a private session with her to explain the need to be more considerate of classmates’ feelings, and create a plan to avoid such outbursts in the future?”
“How exactly would you ‘create a plan’?” Pryce looked utterly confused by this idea.
Thrawn cocked an eyebrow. “It is rather simple. Walk to the playground with Un’hee, find a place she can go to calm down when she feels her anger growing, and discuss basic anger management exercises. Make it clear that she may discuss her feelings with a teacher she is comfortable with should this fail to help.”
Pryce’s look went from confused to incredulous. “We are a school, Mr. Nuruodo. We don’t have time to coddle students. I don’t know how pampered you were as a child, but at this school we punish children for acting out.” She poised her pen over her notebook before adding, “What we need to know now is what kind of punishment Un’hee can expect when she gets home. We can only do so much here. It’s up to you to make sure our hard work sticks.” She waited, looking back and forth between the two men.
“I have already explained the best path forward,” Thrawn said. “I will discuss it with Un’hee tonight, and with her teacher at the next parent-teacher conference since you have made it clear that you will not listen to reason.” He gave Pryce a long, hard look that she could only hold for a few seconds before turning to look at Eli.
He snorted. “I plan to buy her an ice cream cone when we get out of here,” he added.
Tarkin, who had been still as a statue up to now, said, “Gentlemen, I do not believe you understand the seriousness of the situation. If you allow these sorts of actions to go unpunished, you risk raising a rebellious young woman. We are trying to create model citizens here who adhere to the power and authority of their leaders.” He considered each of them. “I am sure you understand the need for such measures. I believe you have both served in the Navy. You must know that following orders is just as necessary for the good of society as it was for the chain of command.”
Thrawn smiled minutely. “I am sure Un’hee will become a model citizen. I do, however, feel that a certain amount of freedom and informed choice is necessary for a healthy society as well.”
Eli could swear the temperature in the room dropped twenty degrees just from the look of disdain on Tarkin’s face. “Leaders make informed decisions. Citizens such as yourselves and your child follow those decisions. Without question.”
Judging by the glint in his eye and his rigid posture, Thrawn was settling in for a heated debate on the current political situation. Well, Eli wasn’t going to give him the chance. These two would just have to duke it out some other time.
He stood up, and offered Tarkin his hand. “We thank you for calling us in for this meeting, Mr. Tarkin. We will talk with Un’hee when we get home.” Tarkin stood and took his hand, ice cold eyes turning from Thrawn with obvious reluctance. Eli nodded to Pryce. “Ms. Pryce.”
He realized Thrawn was still sitting as he opened the door. “Come on, darling. Un’hee’s still waiting on the steps. We don’t want to leave her too long.”
Thrawn grudgingly conceded, as Eli knew he would, walking out the door with the grace of an emperor.
They were just stepping outside when Eli asked, “So, you want to try out that new ice cream parlor downtown?”
Thrawn laughed. “Anything you want.” He motioned for Un’hee to join them. “And you did quite well today, euhn in'a. We will discuss a better approach later, though.” Un’hee smiled as he picked her up.
“Did you really translate ‘poo poo head’ into Sy Bisti and Cheunh?” Eli asked.
She nodded.
“I didn’t even know there was a phrase like that in Cheunh,” Eli mused.
“There is not, but a direct translation of each word is possible,” Thrawn added.