The Difference Between Me and You (Ren)

[Mei-Li Yeh]

She could barely see, her hair had been getting into her eyes that burned with tears and sweat, panic taking a hold of her body so firmly that she could barely move. The night was dark and desolate, yet alive and screaming at the same time. She had no idea where she was running, no idea how to get back to where she came, and was lost while looking for the lost.

She was panting and her heart was beating a mile a minute. Any rational thought that she had left was now gone as well as her sanity. Her eyes searched in front of her, to the sides, behind her everywhere they could look they did. She was beyond the point of mere fun and games, she knew for a fact that something wrong had happened and that Hana was now lost.

Mei-Li hadn't been in Coruscant for more than two and a half months, long enough to find a home, job, and a spot in the city life, but yet not near long enough to fully grasp the unfathomable size of Coruscant. The city that never slept, the city that had two alternate sides and a huge difference between life during the day and life during the night.

Mei-Li kept running around wherever she was, still not completely sure if she had been there before. Her voice was about to go any moment for she had been screaming for nearly an hour. If she could find someone to help, anyone, she'd see a little glimmer of hope to find her, to find Hana. The authorities were nowhere to be found for Mei-Li had looked and the only source of night life she found was that in a shipyard, where she now found herself lost in the midst of huge ships.

"Hana!" Mei-Li screamed as she ran down the corridors, her eyes looking for a little girl with a red dress and pig tails. She stopped briefly to look bside, on, or under the huge ships knowing that Hana loved ships. "Hana, where are you? Hana!" Mei-Li fell to her knees and looked under a tiny craft that was being repaired, but still she saw nothing. She had fallen to the ground so many times in the past hour that the skin on her knees was being rubbed raw.

Mei-li stood up and screamed as loud as she could for Hana and waited for a reply, but all she heard was the echo of her voice. What was she going to do? How was she going to get out of the shipyard? How was she going to find her little daughter?

[Ren Wilcox]

Ren Wilcox had been working on this ship for days. He loved it. Loved its look, its shape, its size, even its bitchy attitude. But he had not been able to get it off the ground. And he was determined to have it doen by the next day.

It was late, much later than he normally stayed here. But he was willing to stay as long as it took. He was hot, and grease marked his forehead and cheeks where he had wiped off sweat with his oily hands. His hair was going wild across his face, and he could barely see for he had not turned on his work station light. He was waiting for his supervisor to shut up so he could turn everything on and work alone.

Ren stood straight and looked up and over the large ship taking a deep breath and letting it out. He chewed his lip a little, tossing his tool into his tool box and shifting his weight from one foot to the other. For a few moments, he simply looked at the ship having a mental conversation with it, asking it to please cooperate with him and work correctly.

Ren thought he heard someone yelling. It could have been his imagination, but it wasn't the first time he had heard it that evening. He had heard several cries, bit had payed them no heed, as people screamed and played loud music all the time around the shipyard. The youth of the area liked to hang around the shipyard for some reason.

But it was when the cry had seemed very close that Ren began to wonder what was going on. It sounded like a woman but the voice was muffled and he could not point out what she was saying. He glanced around his a moment, looking for the source of his voice when he caught a tiny bit of movement out of his left eye. He looked over, wondering who else had stuck around as long as he here, when most people didn't want to be here any longer than they had to.

His eyes found a small girl, dressed in a little red dress, and playing dangerously close to an active, semi-controllable engine haul. It was completely automated, and so wouldn't recognize a small child from a peice of equipment. It was also completely powered from the control box in the main control center, which was nearing a quarter of a mile away in the opposite direction and completely hidden by the ships. He knew the control manager could not see all the goings on of the shipyard, which was against protocal and the exact reason why this little girl was about to be crushed and hauled like a useless peice of machinery.

Acting on first instinct, Ren took off towards the girl. She didn't seem to notice much of what was going on around her except the beam she was balancing on and the tune she was humming harmlessly to herself.

It didn't take Ren long to get over there, but he could not reach the girl where she had already walked to. Looking over at her, and stepping over the beam she was on he crouched down biting his lip slightly.

"Hey!" he called to her. She didn't respond. "Hey!" he called, this time a little louder. She turned and looked at him. She was tiny Asian girl, two pigtails curling out from her head in small wisps. She grinned wide at him. He smiled back to make sure she knew he wasn't going to harm her.

"Hey there, pretty girl..." he said, easing to his knees to give him a little more grounding. "Do you know what this thing is?" he asked, keeping his voice lighter than he felt. The little girl glanced at the machine she was about to step into and shook her head, looking back at him. He smiled. "That's a thing I use to get rid of old stuff, and garbage. You know what I mean?" he asked. The little girl nodded. Ren nodded back to her. "You know you're about to go into that. I don't think you're old are you?"

The little girl scowled at him and shook her head forcefully, crossing her arms over her chest. Ren laughed a little, glancing breifly and slightly nervously at the machine behind her.

"Right. Okay, so you're not old. Then you must be garbage?" he asked. The girl scowled at him even more after this. She shook her head harder at him, looking angry at his words. "Oh, okay! So if you aren't old and you aren't garbage, then you don't belong in there, right?" he asked. The little girl considered his words a moment, before she stopped scowling and nodded agreeing with him. He smiled.

"So, then why don't you come down here and we'll find somewhere a pretty little girl like you does belong," Ren said. For a moment, the girl did not appear as if she liked this idea. But after a moment or two--in which Ren was sure his face got two shades lighter from holding his breath--the girl slowly picked her way down towards him. When she was in grabbing range, Ren did exactly that, picking her up and moving as far from the machine as he could get. He let out a long sigh as he rested the girl on his hip and rubbed a temple with the hand not supporting her.

"There you go...now...where do you belong?" he asked quietly, casting about for an adult to whom she might belong. Surely she wasn't just wandering about here.

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-Li ran quickly finding herself running in circles. Her mind was clouded with fear and chaos she was lost while looking for Hana. Mei-li gasped for air as tears streamed down her face what if someone took her? What if someone was harming her? What if...the anger that she felt when thinking that just made things worse she just needed to find her.

"Hana!" She screamed putting her hands around her mouth the noise echoing and hurting her ears. "Sweetie, where are you?" She spun in a circle as she looked at many ships that were docked and silent. There was no noise, just a desolate sharp silence mixed with shadows and darkness.

"Hana..." She ran her hands through her hair and felt the sweat slick it back. She needed her, her life would have no purpose if it wasn't for that little girl. She jogged ahead, her shoes slapping against the ground.

"Where are you!"

[Ren Wilcox]

Ren heard the yelling again. He looked around him. It was a woman for absolute sure, and she was upset--very much so--about something. And something gave Ren the feeling it was about the little girl now clutched in his arms.

Looking around slightly nervously, but bouncing the little girl a bit on his hip to keep her placated, Ren began towards the voice, looking around the dark shipyard. He would have called out to her, but the sound of the woman's voice was already seeming to make the little girl antsy. He didn't want to make her anymore so.

Ren turned a corner--really around the edge of a ship--and looked around again. And if it hadn't been for the bright reflection in one of the shinier ships far down the row, Ren would never have seen the woman's reflection, never would have known where her voice was coming from. He began a quick pace towards her, glancing down at the little girl.

"Is that your mom, sweetie?" he asked. The little girl looked up at him with big, brown eyes, but said nothing. Ren looked back at the woman's reflection that was quickly dissapating as she continued to run and cry. Ren chomped his lip accidentally before taking a breath. "Ma'am?" he called out. "Ma'am! Are you looking for a little girl?"

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li couldn't speak anymore, the voice was almost gone and her energy was spent. It had been over two hours since she had last seen her and the tears were unable to come anymore.

"Hana..."She said as she again spun in a circle, running a hand over her forehead. "God, where are you?" Before she was about to complain and scream for help to get to some authority type a voice called out and she felt a feeling deep inside.

"Ma'am? Ma'am! Are you looking for a little girl?" Mei-li's ears perked and she turned around and frantically searched for where the voice was coming from. It sounded like a man's but she wasn't sure. If someone had Hana safe and sound she would probably squeeze them till they no longer breathed.

"Hello?" She called out a glimmer of hope rising inside of her. "Where are you?" She began to jog around her breathing quickening as well as her heart beat. She tried to calm down but it wasn't working, if this person knew where her daughter was she'll never leave him alone, she'll be thanking him for the rest of her natural life.

[Ren Wilcox]

Ren approached the ship where the woman had been and slowed his pace, walking around the edge, still holding the girl close and casting about for the woman whose reflection had caught his attention.

As he rounded the ship, he saw a woman just little ways away from he and the little girl. She seemed to be very shaken. She was trembling, and appeared to have been crying, although he could not see much of her face, for she was turned away from him. She was slight and looked as if she didn't weigh much more than the tiny child in his arms. The tiny child who held her arms out for the woman and leaned towards her.

"Mama!" she said, the first words Ren had heard her speak. Ren smiled down at her, and then looked back up at the woman. He crouched and set the girl down. She made a dash for the woman in front of him and grabbed the edge of her dress. Ren smiled as he wiped his brow, and leaned on his knee.

"I think I found what you were looking for, Ma'am," Ren said, hoping that the woman didn't go into angry hysterics because some strange young man had been carrying her daughter.

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-Li heard a voice, one that made her heart grow back together and her nerves go calm and lose. She whipped around at the feeling of a little girl, she immediately fell to her knees and grabbed her daughter and squeezed her tightly, lifting her in her arms and standing.

"Hana! You scared me to death! Don't you ever run off again like that!" She squeezed her tightly and kissed her face, ignoring the girl who was trying to break free of her tight grasp. She kissed her face a million times and hugged her, lecturing her in Chinese, threatening her to never do such a thing again. She was hysterical with fear, relief, and thankfullness. She lifted her eyes to a man crouching down, watching them hold one another. This must've been Hana's savior, Mei-Li's savior. She spoke in Hana's ear and told her not to leave her side as she slowly sat her down and walked over to the man.

"Thank you!" She wanted to remain calm, but she couldn't. She fell down on her knees and wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. "Thank you so much." She wanted to cover this man with kisses of thankfullness, he had no idea how he just saved her from going insane.

"I owe you so much!"

[Ren Wilcox]

Ren smiled as he watched the woman scold the little girl in thier own language, he guessed Chinese, for it did not sound like any of the Japanese he had heard, and he was fairly sure it wasn't Korean. He watched the little girl try to get away from the woman as she kissed her.

The woman put the girl down and approached Ren. He was about to stand but she got to her knees and grabbed Ren around the neck, hugging him tightly and thanking him several times. Ren laughed, not sure whether to hug her back or let her calm down first. He was afraid to touch her and get ship grease on her, but he thought with as tightly as she had hugged him she probably already had it on her.

"You're welcome!" he said, gently taking her shoulders and leaning back to look at her. "I am sorry that she got lost in a place like this. We haven't the best security. I found her over too close to the engine haul. I hope she isn't hurt."

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li couldn't stop crying for tears of joy were streaming down her face like a waterfall. She laughed lightly and wiped them away and sighed.

"Thank you so much," She tried to move her hair out of her eyes and off her sweaty forehead. The emotions she just went through would make anyone go insane like she had. If this man didn't htink she was crazy by this moment in time then she would be very grateful, as if she wasn't already.

"My daughter has a problem minding me." She glanced over at Hana who was now playing with her imaginary friend, keeping in one spot thankfully. She turned and looked at her savior and smiled never seeing a man so beautiful in all her life. He had just saved her daughter and saved her from killing herself.

"Oh God, you are just..." She smiled and began to cry again throwing her arms around him. "Thank you, Angel." She hugged him with all the strength she had left inside her as if letting go meant death.

[Ren Wilcox]

Ren bit his lip hard. No one had called him Angel in a very long time. Not that this woman would know anything about it, but it still felt odd to Ren having anyone besides Jiro Lawson call him that. Ren looked at the little girl over the woman's shoulder, then looked at the woman's face, or what little he could see over his own shoulder. He touched her back lightly with his hands, chuckling a little bit.

"It's really...alright...I hope she is okay," he said, keeping his eye on the little girl as if she might wander off again and he and the woman might have to go after her again. But she was behaving fine, and Ren turned his attention back to the still crying woman clinging to him for dear life. He leaned back, pushing her to a place where he could see her face. "Its alright, she's okay now. No need to cry so hard." He said, smiling down at her and chuckling a little.

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li smiled at the man who was attempting to calm her nerves that were exposed and shaking. She had never been so hysterical in all her life and had never been so horrified of losing someone so important. She could barely breathe she was panting and trying to calm herself, but it wasn't helping, not after she took a glance at the man who had helped her daughter live.

She wiped a few tears away from her eyes and laughed lightly, letting her hands fall from around the man's neck knowing she was probably suffocating him. She looked to the ground and over at Hana seeing she was fine then drew her attention back to her angel. She touched his greasy and sweaty face and slowly hugged him around his neck again and gave him a kiss on his cheek, not caring about the grease or sweat.

"Thank you so much, my daughter means the world to mean. Losing her would be like throwing myself off a cliff." She sniffed and moved back and touched his face. "I owe you my life for saving my daughters."

[Ren Wilcox]

Ren leaned back and smiled at her. Her dedication to her daughter astounded him. He had never had, nor witnessed a parent so interested in thier offspring before. It made him shiver slightly to think that there were parents who loved their children and parents who hated them.

Slowly, Ren took the woman's arms, and raised them both up to a standing position, juts then realizing how tiny she was. Of course, being Asian, tiny came with the territory, but compared to her, Ren felt absolutely massive. He felt like he needed to lose eight hundred pounds. He glanced back at the little girl, for some reason wanting to make sure she was still safe, then looked back down at the woman.

"Well," he said, looking down at his knees, then bending over and dusting off the dirt that clung to them when he had bent over and crouched down. Then he looked back up, brushing some limp brown curls out of his face. "Are you two okay? Do you have somewhere to go? You look a little bit lost down here in the HWANG District." Ren smiled down at her hoping that didn't offend her.

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li looked at him and smiled, unable to stop. This man was her hero and for him to have helped her daughter made her owe so much to him. His questions made her blush. It was apparent he was a great person especially since he saved her daughter and was now concerned about if they both were okay. It took a kind person to not just drop a child off to the parent then leave.

"I haven't been here in Coruscant that long, I am lost." She felt stupid for having to tell him this, but she figured it didn't matter at this point since he was offering to help her even more than he already had.

[Ren Wilcox]

Ren nodded, smiling down at her. The HWANG District was not a good place to be when you were lost. The Korean business men could get hostil to you if they knew you didn't know what you were doing. And at night like this, it was likely that the gangs of the area would snatch you out of the middle of nowhere. It was not a place for such a tiny Asian woman and her even tinier child.

Nodding down at her again, Ren motioned to the building barely in sight of them. He smiled.

"Let me clock out and I can get you to where you live. What district are you in?" then he paused. He laughed. "Well, I don't think you ought to tell a stranger. My name is Ren Wilcox...I'd shake your hand, but mine's a bit dirty..." he said, giving her a lopsided grin.

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li smiled happily still unable to properly stop crying due to fear and now happiness. She shook her head and waved a hand at him before grabbing his dirty hand.

"You saved our lives a little dirt isn't going to harm me, Ren." She smiled at him and continued to study his face that was smeared with dirt, sweat, and greases of another kind. For one to haev his identity hidden she couldn't help but know he was a good person, if not a great person. She shook it gently and let it go after a moment of just holding it and staring. Nothing could stop making her think he was the most beautiful man ever put on Coruscant due to his heroics.

"My name is Mei-Li Yeh, please don't ever consider yourself a stranger." She smiled unable to stop. She felt one last tear fall from her eye and she moved her hand up to her face and brushed it away with the tip of her middle finger. She looked at her hand and realized she had just smudged grease on her face due to Ren's hand. Her cheeks were flushing due to embarassment and due to the fact that it was very warm where she was at and the smell of engine grease, gas, and oil was getting to her.

[Ren Wilcox]

Ren smiled again and then held a hand up to her to indicate that she wait for him to return. He turned back and began towards the station near the middle of the ship yard. He could barely see the man inside and waved to him as he approached. The man raised his window and leaned out, waving lightly.

"Thought you'd already gone home, Wilcox," he said as Ren strode up and stopped, looking in the window at him. He shook his head.

"Nope. Was gonna work late tonight. Decided to go home. And anyway, you don't want me hanging around here after hours, so what are you so worried about?" he asked, signing himself out and dropping off his tools. The man shrugged.

"I never pegged you for a home body. Figured you preferred work to home. Had something there you didn't like going home to. Guess I was wrong, huh? Night," the man again waved before Ren could answer and shut his window. Ren waved back and turned to go back to where Mei-li and the little girl were standing. He shook his head.

"I guess you weren't," he muttered, breaking into a jog and rounding the ship again as he cleaned his face and hands with a clean rag he had gotten off of the shelf at the station. He saw Mei-li and her tiny daughter standing next to the ships and both looking out of thier element. He smiled.

"Come on. I can get us an air taxi out of here and into your district," he said, waving a hand to them. "What one are you in?"

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-Li picked up her daughter as Ren walked away, speaking to her in Chinese just in case the man would over hear. She was telling Hana to never do that again and to never go anywhere without saying so. She was scolding her badly but then she hugged her and gave her a kiss thanking her for at least gaining the mans attention. She had to repay his kindness somehow but she wasn't sure exactly how to go about it. She would be more than glad to have him eat dinner with her and Hana, perhaps even a little reward money, but she doubted he would accept considering many people refused money now a days unless it involved drugs of some sort.

His voice made her look away and over to the man who had cleaned up slightly, his face becoming more visible and his beauty more apparent. She smiled and nodded to him in a kind gesture, clutching Hana tight.

"We live in the middle of Coruscant's school district. It is about twenty minutes away by taxi. I cannot remember the name." She laughed lightly a little embarassed for her memory when it came to big cities was not very good and she had been there for almost three months, well going on three months. "It is a pretty apartment building. Just get us near the school and I can tell you where to go, Ren."

[Ren Wilcox]

Ren nodded in recognition.

"Yeah...I know where it is. And I think I even know where your apartment building is. I think its the HighLand Apartments, right?" he asked. He saw the air taxi just pulling into the station near the ship yard, and he jogged over. He stopped by it and deposited his money, typing in thier destination, and then glancing around him to make sure none of the Korean gangs had spotted the pretty Chinese girl and her daughter.

So far, none of the dancing youths that hung around the ship yard seemed to have noticed that he was leaving with two women in tow. If they had taken notice anyway, they had not come over and tried to give them trouble. He looked at the woman and the girl and pulled open the air taxi door.

"After you, Miss Mei-li," he said, stepping aside slightly, and smiling at her. The sooner they were out of this district, the better.

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-Li smiled at him and put Hana inside first, not noticing she was practically giving Ren a nce shot of her butt. She felt embarassed and quickly slid inside, wondering to herself why she actually cared at that moment in time what anyone thought about her.

She smiled at Hana who was already falling asleep and then glanced out of the txi up at the angel. She waved him in and patted the space beside of her. She wondered what she could do to thank him for everything he was doing tonight. Money wasn't an option, but dinner seemed so...romantic for her tastes. She could invite him out for dinner as a thank you, perhaps that would be much better for them both. At least that way it would limit the amount of alone time they had steering them both in a direction of thanks instead of romance.

[Ren Wilcox]

Ren slid into the taxi his long legs being squished in the small area. He shut the door and the taxi began off in the direction of thier desitination. He looked out the window at the night view of Coruscant and remembered why he had come back, even though he had vowed he never would.

He looked over at the little girl and her mother and couldn't help but smile at them. They were both so tiny and vulnerable, he wondered if the woman's husband were big enough to protect them both. He looked them both over.

"Neither of you are hurt are you?" he asked, the question coming to him suddenly.

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li moved a piece of hair out of her daughters face, her pigtails having taken a beating since she disappeared on her. She grinned and kissed her head as she began to fall fast asleep for she was never one to stay up past 7 pm and here it was going on...Mei-li wasn't even sure but it felt late, later than usual. She looked to the right of her where she felt the man's body het resinate towards her, their closeness not being as awkward as she had thought it might've been.

She smiled at him and looked at every part of his face before she spoke, the action brutally apparent. She felt her face grow a little red for thinking he was adorable and so nice for everything he was doing. She shifted slightly and shook her head.

"No, we are fine." She replied lowly as if just a little noise was to disturb the comfortable humming of the hover taxi and Hana. She slightly moved her head to rid her eye of her own hair and to see the man better. "Thank you for asking, Ren." She glanced away for a moment to see Hana. For some reason she kept feeling like she was going to disappear even though there wasn't anywhere to go except on her lap.

"I bet you think I am an awful parent," She moved her glance back over to Ren and blinked a few times. "my daughter in an unfamiliar place playing near dangerous equiptment." She sighed and leaned back in the comfort of the seat and kept her glance on the mans chiseled face and sharp features. "If I cannot find my way around Coruscant, how can a little girl."

Mei-Li probably wondered if he'd even question what had happened, but in a way she was hoping he did so she could at least seem like a somewhat fit parent. She had no idea how she got to the shipyard, but none the less they had gotten away from a few men who were trying their best to cause trouble. Mei-Li had never wanted to find someone to help her out more than anything at that moment and now that she had found Ren she was comfortable and relaxed for she knew she and Hana could not take care of themselves in such a big city with men looking for them both. Mainly men looking for Mei-Li for a slight problem that had occurred on Naboo a few months ago.

[Ren Wilcox]

Ren looked at her and smiled, shaking his head.

"Of course I don't," he said. "Any responsible parent loses a child one time or another. Kids are just...a handful that's all." He smiled again. How could he have thought she was a poor parent when she had been so out of her mind looking for the little girl when he had stumbled upon her. That was not an example of an awful parent. Ren shrugged a little.

"Coruscant is really big, and it took me a while to learn all its crevices and little areas. Don't worry, you will learn it in time, I promise. Just give yourself a little more time," he said reassuringly.

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li smiled at his kindness nto once prying or insulting her parenting skills, even if she had not mastered it just yet. After all someone at such a young age with a child and no husband...she was constantly learning as she went.

"We were fine until a few men were beginning to follow us around and cause some sort of trouble." She glanced over her shoulder out the window as the taxi flew away from the platform making sure she saw no dark shadows lingering around. She hadn't been that scared in such a long time. She glanced back to Ren and smiled again before turning her attention to Hana who was starting to fall asleep by her side.

"I do owe you a lot for saving her, probably my own life." She sighed out as she ran her hands through her daughters hair. "Have you lived here long, Mr. Wilcox?" She suddenly felt comfortable now that they were away from that place and with someone who seemed pretty harmless. So comfortable she was ready to find out a little bit about her angel.

[Ren Wilcox]

Ren sighed out his nose, looking out the window and down to the streets rushing below them. They were blurry and anyone on them also were barely visible. Soon, Ren looked back over and smiled.

"You can call me Ren," he said quietly, before looking out the front window. He nodded. "I was born and raised here. I left a couple years back after a hard break up, but ended up coming back with an old friend and his brothers," he explained. "Me and Coruscant were first loves. I guess you can never forget your fisrt crush, right?" he chuckled. "But this is where my business is and my friends. So I don't think I will be leaving again."

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li smiled widely as she looked at him after hearing him say that she could call him by his first name. She laughed lightly at his jokes that he tossed into his seriousness, she liked his personality so far and they were getting along well. He was very kind to her and she definitely wanted to show him the proper thanks.

"Ah, yes. I lived here before I moved away. I am glad to be back but it has changed so much. The skyline..." She glanced out the window up at the tall buildings that reached for the sky. "they've added so much. I still feel like a kid marveling at huge buildlings that, in reality, are very tiny." She sighed out and looked back at him.

"As for first crushes, it's been a while."

[Ren Wilcox]

Ren laughed heartily. She didn't know how right she was at that. Ren had laid off significant others after two horrible incidents one right after the other. He had put himself fully into his work and had tried not to pay attention to the fact that he has never been as lonely as he was at that period in his life.

"Yes, the city changes constantly. But it is all for the better...I hope," he smiled at her. Then he looked at the dozing little girl and grinned. "Maybe a crush would be a good thing, give you another pair of hands for the charming little thing." He smiled at her and then looked back out the window.

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li continued to smile, not remembering how long it had been since she had done so. It felt nice to talk to someone, nice to know that she had a friend, and nice to know that someone else was seeing her pain for taking care of a young child, when she herself was still one.

Mei-li looked down at Hana and gave her a slight kiss on the had before she leaned her head back and let out a sigh, remembering how much easier it had been to be with someone.

"It does sound quite..." She frowned for a moment trying to think of the word, her mind slipping for a second. "Nice!" She laughed lightly her Chinese interrupting her ability to speak English. "But I don't see many men lining out my door for a broke single Mother!" She looked over at him seeing he was glancing out the window. The nice jawline that was chiseled and lean shimmering slightly from the neon lights they passed. Yeah, crushes sound nice, but she doubted any sane man would want the responsibility of a child.

[Ren Wilcox]

Ren looked back over at her and smiled. He understood her point, most of the young men now wanted young, beautiful, childless women. Not that Mei-li was not beautiful. In fact she was far from. She had the inherrent Asian beauty, her hair long and black, and a little bit frazzled from her earlier frantic behavior. Her face was small and attractive, her eyes large, her voice accented. Ren did not know many men who wouldn't be interested in a beautiful woman like her, although the child did throw a monkey wrench in most men's plans.

Ren did not know why anyone would turn thier nose up at the beautiful little girl now asleep on her mother's lap. She was charming, and made Ren remember taking care of his younger sisters and how fun he had always had doing it. He bit his lip and then looked back at her smiling.

"Not all men aren't interested. There is someone who will want you and your little girl. There is someone for everybody, isn't that what parents always say?" Ren chuckled a little. Although he had lied terribly because he had yet to find someone who loved him enough to stay with him. He had never found that one person who he could stay with the rest of his life.

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li smiled at Ren as she felt the taxi hit turbulence. She loved how it felt on the stomach when it began to bounce and move the cab. She enjoyed it far too much since she barely ever got to ride in cabs or hover vehicles since she was forced to stay at home.

Mei-li wondered if this man was single, even though it was far off subject from the two talking about her situation. She was enjoying the shared taxi ride more than she should have since he was really her first friend in Coruscant. She found him quite entertaining, very kind and gentle, and attractive as well. His smile was inviting and warm and Mei-li hated herself for making such assumptions when she barely knew this man personally. The thought that crossed the line far too quickly when she found herself thinking back to Ren holding Hana. He apparently had a good connection with children, for the way he was holding her...it looked so natural to him.

Mei-li knew that that was not a line to be crossed. Sure she had been running all over the place trying to find Hana and when she had she found her in the arms of a stranger, but thinking back to it now it seemed so right for him to be with her.

She looked away from Ren when she felt her cheeks grow very red from thinking of him holding Hana. She knew it was her loneliness pinning such a paternal action on the man, but it was also her desire to allow Hana to have a father in her life. Mei-li could be the mother and the father at times, but she was going to miss so much by not having a true, kind, and caring man around. How was she going to be daddy's little girl? How was she going to learn how to be a tough little girl? How was she going to know the feeling of getting what she wants by asking Dad?

Mei-li had told Ren that she was a single mother, poor, and without a job. All was true except the fact that she was poor. Jabari had been killed and she was quick to take every bit of money she could, for his dominance and harmful ways made her earn it. Most of the money went into savings and the bank while the other was spent on buying an apartment and going towards Hana's school expenses. Mei-li was very wealthy and didn't need another income, nor needed to work, but she was missing the feeling of having a husband and being able to share expenses and stories about work. She missed her teaching and missed the feel and smell of a man. But her desperation was perhaps getting the best of her for she was quick to put Ren's face on that job needing to be filled.

"Do you have any children, Ren?" She remembered he had spoken about a hard break up, was that a marriage? Engagement? Or relationship in general? If she broke up with him then...she was obviously a maniac! Mei-li glanced up at him with a soft grin on her face, watching it being lit up brightly when they entered a tunnel, the bright lights giving her an even better glance than before.

The brown locks of hair that curled, those pretty eyes, full healthy lips...attractive as could be. She smiled slightly when she found herself searching and judging his appearance far too intricately.

"Were you married? I mean...you stated of a hard break up..." She shook her head slightly and raised her eyebrows as she spoke not wanting tro seem pushy or intrusive. Ren was someone she was wanting to know, especially since he was the hero of the day.

[Litika Dor]

EDIT

[Ren Wilcox]

Ren laughed out loud, leaning back in his seat and looking out of the window, crossing his legs and considering for a moment. Oh, how could he put this delicately? 'Yeah, it was a hard break up from a man I celled with in jail.' That would be nice. Ren shrugged and looked back over at her.

"No, I was not married. I broke up with someone I think I loved very much. I was engaged about a year later and she did leave me for an old flame...can't say as it was a bad thing though," he said with another shrug. "It was completely life shattering..." he said and then turned to look back out of the window, staring at the buildings and other traffic as it went by thier taxi. He sighed out of his nose and then looked over at Mei-li.

"So, how did you and you're little girl end up single and broke here?"

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li weighed her options for the moment, she could be fully honest and tell him that she was married to an abusive husband and was not actually broke, but opted against it. She looked at him and shrugged, her body slightly bouncing from the turbulence.

"Well..." She stated as she glanced around the taxi seeing a few hover crafts pass by quickly, the noise ringing in her ears. "My husband was killed and my daughter and I moved here to start anew." Very breif on details she knew, and if they became good enough friends she might someday tell him the truth, that her sister-in-law's boyfriend murdered him.

She smiled at Ren making sure to keep the subject light and happy considering she did not mark Jabari Phoenix's death as a mournful incident in her life. Actually it was a rather joyous event...if she may be so bold. Joyous for she had met such great people, family she never knew she had, and had slightly fallen for a beautiful boy whose name she would never forget.

Mei-li had wanted to contact him, wanted to know how he was doing, wanted to see him...but she knew that it was all in the past and she was sure he did not want to see her after he was almost killed. She was two seconds away from going with them, but she knew that she had things to do before heading to Coruscant and luckily she had done all that she had planned. But she was surprised she was leaving the past where it lay...Jiro Lawson was never going to be a part of her life.

[Ren Wilcox]

Ren nodded at her. Scant on particulars, but he didn't blame her. He was, after all, just a strange man who had happened to save her daughter.

Ren thought it all over a moment as he felt the taxi take a turn, and he recognized the area they were in. They were closing in on the woman's apartment complex. Ren lost his gaze in the buildings that whizzed by him as his thoughts strayed to his own past, little of which he had shared with her. Most of which he doubted he ever would. He missed being a teenager. Of course, he was still, technically in his teens, but his twentieth birthday was coming onto him fast and he was beginning to feel old. He was beginning to see the youth draining out of his face. He looked at his old pictures, the ones he and Jiro had taken in thier jail cell, and he could see the kid in his face. He could see the kid in Jiro. He doubted that Jiro had changed much. The boy was Asian and destined to be beautiful his entire life, not subject to the ugly wrinkles Ren had to look forward to. Ren imagined that any age line that had the privilege of being on Jiro's graceful face was only going to enhance him. Enhance the beauty that was already present.

Ren sighed out of his nose as he shook his head and knocked his brain loose of his old boyfriend. It was getting to be time for him to get over Jiro. He knew Jiro had a girlfriend, or at least, guessed he still did. And he knew Jiro loved her very much. But Ren had never found anyone as hard to get over as Jiro Lawson.

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li leaned her head forward slightly, barely tilting it to see the man's face. The man she had suddenly taken quite a liking to. She smiled softly, not overbearing or out of context, but something playful and empathetic to his distant gazes. It seemed he had something troubling him, plaguing his thoughts as they sat in a moment of silence not knowing what to say or do. She leaned back and smiled a bit wider, barely showing any teeth.

"Why the perplexed look, friend?" She looked away and glanced around the cab. "You look slightly annoyed and sad all at the same time." If he was harboring personal thoughts then she was sure he'd tell her so, brush it off as if it were something silly going through his head. She knew he was probably going to considering she was just a mere stranger, another face and name amongst the many in Coruscant. She would be surprised if he'd even remember her in the morning...but the sudden thought was very nice and it made her feel good.

"Ah..." She said in a sigh keeping this conversation light and happy. "We are living in the now and all we have to look forward to is the future...no need to dwell on the past I suppose." She looked over at him with seriousness but couldn't help but muster another smile. She was doing that a lot recently. Surprising how a change of events could make someone so happy.

"I am glad to be here, glad to have made a new friend."