*Capital City Space Port, Capital City, Pantora*

Kadrol heard the landing thrusters activated. Finally. He thought. I am home. The shuttle’s door opened, and the young Pantoran stepped out. Hailing from the upper class of Pantora, he had people to do almost everything for him. One of his family’s servants, Jax, walked aboard and brought Kadrol’s luggage out in a hover sleigh. After all his stuff had been put in the trunk of their hover car, the two took off toward the house.

“Master Kadrol, how was your stay on Antei?” Jax asked, trying to make conversation during the twenty minute drive.

“Not bad. I learned a lot while I was there.” Kadrol replied.

“Well, that is good to hear,” The servant said. “Your parents have been very excited for your return.”

“I can’t wait to see them too.” Kadrol said longingly. A few more minutes passed in silence before they arrived. After Jax had parked the vehicle, The two walked toward the doors of the large house. He hadn’t even touched the handle before the door opened.

“Kadrol, you’re home!” His mother said, hugging him. His mom was fairly young, only 34 years old. She was also very sweet and beautiful. Her pink-purple hair was tied up in two buns, as many senators wore their hair. She was wearing a gold headdress that perfectly accentuated her magenta dress.

All of a sudden he felt two more arms wrap around his waist. “Hello, Shane.” Kadrol said instinctively.

“I missed you, Brother.” Shane said.

“I missed you too.” Kadrol replied. “Where are Dad and Tanya?”

“They went out to do something. They’ll be back soon.” His mother answered. The two of them walked towards the family room to catch up. Shane ran ahead.

“Shane is super happy to see you again. It’s been way longer than nine months for him.” Kadrol’s mother explained, laughing. As the two reached the family room and sat down, the door opened again.

“Those two have great timing,” Kadrol said sarcastically.

“Let’s go to the dining room.” This time it was Kadrol who ran. When he reached the dining room, he and his sister locked eyes. Kadrol ran and jumped right into his sister’s arms. She had always been pretty strong, considering she was a year younger than Kadrol was. The two shared a bond so strong that it was indescribable.

“Welcome home, Kadrol.” She said, putting him back on the ground. The two embraced each other.

“What about me?” His father asked.

“Ok, ok. I missed you too, dad.” Kadrol said, giving him a hug as well.

“Let’s take a seat and you can tell us all about your trip over some pie.” His mother said, gently. The family took a seat and his sister, Tanya, served each of them a slice.

“So, what did you do while you were away?”

“Not much. I did a lot of studying and testing, as well as a lot of training while I was on Antei… I’m getting pretty tired. I’m still running on Antei time.” Kadrol said, yawning.

“Get some sleep. We will see you in the morning.” His mom replied.

*The Next Morning*

Kadrol awoke at his usual time. Of course that time was also 5:00 here on Pantora. He took the liberty of telling the couple cooks they had that they could take some time off and that he would make breakfast. By the time his family made it to the table an hour and a half later, he had made some Pantoran-style hotcakes and squeezed some Pantorange (a delectable fruit comparable to a cross between an apple and orange) juice. He was glad to be able to give the cooks some time off. They deserved it.

After breakfast his siblings had to go to school. His father went to organize his army figurines on his battlefield of a table, or as his mom would say, “He went to go play with his big kid toys.” Kadrol, being a diplomat at heart, went to the Pantoran senate with his mom to work on some of the bills she was trying to pass.

The Pantoran senate was fairly large, but could be compared to a dot on a piece of paper when compared to the galactic senate building, which was now a landmark on Coruscant. The Pantoran senate held 112 senators, two from each sector of Pantora.

“K., I need your help with the wording in this bill.” His mother said, exasperated. K was the nickname people had given him. He didn’t fully understand why, though, because Kadrol wasn’t really a long name that needed to be shortened, nor was it difficult to pronounce. He didn’t mind people calling him that, though.

After a couple minutes of reading and analyzing speeches from opposition of the bill, Kadrol exclaimed “I think I’ve got it! Your problem is that you need to add the Naboo Comma. It should say ‘a thousand credits for physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech-language pathology,’ not ‘a thousand credits for physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech-language pathology.” The concerns our opponents are voicing is that the credits for occupational therapy and speech-language pathology, without the comma there, would split the allotted amount between the two sections.”

“Good work, Kadrol! That might save the bill!” His mother exclaimed. Kadrol had become used to helping his mom while he was home, and he had loved it ever since his mom first took him to view a senatorial session when he was ten years old. Though the most he usually did was run and get things, he enjoyed following in his mother’s footsteps. When his mother was younger, granted she had been 18 when she started, she was an aide to a senator. It was usually the only way to become a prominent member in the senate, though there were a few exceptions.

“K., Do you want to watch a session from the viewing platform with me?” His mother asked.

“I would love that.” Kadrol replied quickly. He had seen the senate debate things before, but he had never actually been in the platforms with the senators before.

“We have to be there in half an hour.”

“Ok.”

The two ate their lunch and then walked to the senate chamber. There was a loud buzz as the senators talked amongst each other before the session began.

“Order!” A Voice boomed, aided by a microphone. “Let’s debate the personal health care bill. The committee chair will be the first to speak.”

The debate took about four hours. There were a few good points in the debate, but some senators, particularly the ones who openly opposed the bill, droned on for what seemed like forever. After the debate portion ended, it came to a vote. The bill passed with a vote of 73 to 32. It was getting late now, and Kadrol and his mother retired to the house, where Kadrol fell into bed, almost immediately started falling asleep. Wow. He thought. This all started just like any other day, and I ended up getting to watch the senate in action.