Being the younger child of twin siblings who could literally feel each other's emotions was hard.
It was especially hard when you were a Solo and didn't have an abundance of friends. Seeing Jacen and Jaina every day from ages 2 till 11 (and sometimes only them) concreated the siblings bond that ran deeper than a lot of families had. He liked to think that he was as close to his siblings as they were to each other.
At least, that's what he liked to tell himself when he thought about it for too long.
People used to tell him that he reminded them of Jaina, which he could understand given the fact that they were probably the most similar in the family.
The fact that they both loved flying, machinery and basically anything else that would get their hands dirty, although drove their dad crazy, made sure that they were close friends from the moment they learned how to communicate. He had lost count the number of hours they had spent on the landspeeder out on the dunes, pushing it to its limits. Or how many times they had skipped a banquet or a dinner, sighting that they felt unwell, only to run down to the yard to mess around with an old engine or banged up motivator unit.
She also had the "Do it now, think later" attitude that Anakin seemed to have engraved in his DNA too. Having thought about it he guessed they got it from their father, who was never much of a planner. Although he was shy, he was sneaky and devious. This had caused a kind of combination that equalled the power of a shadow bomb when they were together, and only went up another level when their brother was in on it too.
Anakin got on with Jacen too, but in a different way. When they were younger, Anakin looked up to Jacen like he was some sort of hero. He always wanted to be like him, especially when he would do wild and adventurous things that Anakin was always too scared to do, like climb a tree or jump off the big canyon into the lake on Yavin 4. He also wished he could talk to people the way Jacen did. Anakin always saw it that Jacen had no fear when it came to other people, like they couldn't really do anything to him unless he wanted them to. He could walk up to anyone and spark a conversation or answer a question from a stranger as confidently and casually as if he was talking to someone he had known his whole life. It was a skill that Anakin envied more than anything and so he found himself subconsciously copying his older brother in an effort to be as confident as he was. He had always presumed this was a very typical brother to brother relationship.
As they got older though, something changed in both of them and the brothers found themselves more and more at odds. He didn't particularly like talking to Jacen about anything serious, yet he found himself always being caught in the middle of a deep conversation that was bound to lead to an argument. He had missed just being silly with him or even just having a casual conversation.
Yet, he knew himself, that even just being in Jacen's presence was a calming experience that he couldn't get anywhere else. So, to aid the physical distance they found between each other, they usually ran together. That was they wouldn't have to have any strenuous chats that could lead to another disagreement, but they could both get the time together that they both secretly craved. Anakin recognised that himself and Jacen had a deeper, more meaningful connection that went further than people on the outside could see.
Yet, no matter how close all three siblings were, Jacen and Jaina were pretty much inseparable. From the moment that they were conceived they were never separated for any substantial amount of time. Their mom used to joke that the longest they were ever apart was the five minutes between their birth.
Their twin bond made sure that they were always together, even when apart. This, along with the fact that they went to the academy at the same time (notably, without their younger brother), meant that Anakin felt more than a little jealous. Although he tried to hide it, one of the things Anakin fretted over was that his siblings were slowly but surely forgetting about him. As they were off having adventure after adventure with their friends, they were losing the desire to have any adventures with him.
Yet, he would never voice his feelings. The only feeling he hated more than the thought of him being forgotten, was the thought of him being a nuisance. That's why when he wakes up one of the rare nights they are home to get a drink and sees Jacen and Jaina sneaking through the living area's window, he ignores the pang of jealousy that hits him in the gut and decides to ignore it and go back to bed.
However, it doesn't stop him from inquiring about it the next day when he finds himself alone with Jaina at the docking bay. The siblings were engrossed in fixing up a damaged Y-wing that belonged to an old friend of their fathers. He had brought the vessel to Coruscant in hopes of finding a mechanic that wouldn't completely rip him off when he bumped into Han. Han had offered to take the Y-wing off his hands and claimed he knew two outstanding mechanics who would do it for a bargain. That way Han could help out a friend while also giving his over-active children something to do on their time off. It was a win-win situation in his eyes. Jaina and Anakin initially argued that they had hoped to use their free time to relax, but when they realised that relaxing was actually tremendously boring after half an hour, they got stuck into the task.
"Can you hand me the hydrospanner?" Jaina asked from under the ship. She was lying on a creeper and all Anakin could see was her legs, which were crossed at the ankles. Anakin reached across the table he was sitting on to get the spanner and put down the data pad he was holding at the same time. As he jumped off the side of the table, Jaina rolled out from under the ship to grab the tool from her brothers stretched arm. She gave him a wink and a quick 'thanks' before rolling back.
"So, is it hard to get out of the back window with Jacen's giant head?" Anakin asked in a teasing tone, while leaning against the ships dirty shell. From above he could see Jaina's movements still and as she slowly creeped out again, he recognised the, 'Oh no, I've been caught' face he knew he often showed his parents.
"I knew you were there! I told Jacen I saw you. He told me I was imagining things." Jaina protested as she sat up to face her brother. Anakin laughed lightly and shook his head in an almost mocking jibe.
"Yeah, well let's face it Jacen is usually wrong. So it was your fault for trusting his judgement in the first place." Jaina finally smiled at that comment and found herself trying to compress a laugh. "So where did you go?" Anakin continued as he offered her a hand to help her off the floor of the docking bay.
Jaina let out a sigh as she stood up straight and looked directly into Anakin's eyes. It was at this time that she realised how tall he was getting and when she reached to put both of her hands on his shoulders, she saw that he was at least her height, if not an inch or two taller. "We didn't want to leave you out, that wasn't our plan you know."
"I know. I get that you can't take me everywhere." Anakin felt a bit ridiculous as he spoke the words, thinking he sounded childish and as if he was moaning. He didn't like seeing the guilt in Jaina's eyes ether. He knew she hadn't told him about whatever her and Jacen had gotten up to last night for the exact reason that she didn't want him to be upset and know that she was learning he was, she felt as if she had failed.
"I get that Nik, I really do." She paused for a minute and looked almost regretfully down at the ground. A moment passed and he was about to tell her not to worry about it, when she quickly looked back up into his ice-blue eyes. "The day you turn 16, I swear, were going to bring you with us. Ok?"
He didn't want to push her, or even guilt her into bringing him somewhere she didn't really want him. He had only wanted to know what ever exciting story Jaina and Jacen surely had about last night shenanigans, not guilt-trip her into an awkward situation he could possibly cause.
"Jaina, really I don't mind. You don't have to-"
"Deal?" she said, cutting him off and letting him know that she wasn't going to take no for an answer.
Closing his eyes and conceding with a curt nod, Anakin replied with a low "Deal."
Then Anakin and Jaina got back to work, and Anakin gradually forgot about the whole thing.
That is until he wakes up the night of his 16th birthday, months later, to see his older sister fully dressed, eyes wide and shaking his shoulder. Rubbing his eyes, Anakin looked over at his bedside clock and saw it was half passed one in the morning. Groggy and disoriented from his surprise awakening, he reached over to grab his lightsaber, almost by instinct. Anakin and his siblings had been woken up in the middle of the night multiple time at the hands of danger, so it was always in his subconscious mind to be defensive. However, he knew that there wasn't immediate risk because he wasn't being dragged to the floor or pushed out the door.
"Wow calm down there pal!" Jaina said in a hushed tone while simultaneously grasping the base of Anakin's lightsaber to prevent him from causing her any bodily harm, although Anakin had a suspicion that had he actually drawn the weapon, Jaina would be more than able to handle it.
He proceeded to fully let go of the weapon so that Jaina could take it and return it to its nightly residence of his desk. When she turned back to him he had now fully sat up and was looking around his room. There was no immediate danger, he couldn't hear any screaming or panic and it didn't look like Jaina was in any rush to move him. What was going on?
"What's wrong?" Anakin asked after waiting for an explanation that never came.
"I'm keeping our deal" she said with a smirk on her face.
Anakin stopped to think for a minute about the day they had just had. Anakin had flown in the day before with Jacen to give them as much time at home as possible. It was rare they were all at home at the same time months ago, but now it was near non-excitant. Jaina on the other hand didn't account for possible hold ups to her trip and ended up leaving last minute which in turn resulted in her only arriving in the early hours of the morning. When they all got up they had breakfast together and did the annual ritual of remising of the day of his birth and looking at baby holos of him. It always caused Anakin to feel embarrassed but he could see how much his mother, father and even siblings loved talking about it.
After that he went out with his parents to personally pick his birthday present and ended up going to see his uncle and aunt. After a few hours, they made their way home, where Jacen and Jaina had made dinner, or more accurately ordered dinner, and set it up with the cake, drinks and an array of sweets. Their mother had commented that they were too old now to be gorging on sweets and sugary drinks but Anakin didn't complain. In fact, he ended up slipping into a food coma on the sofa after consuming one too many plates of cake, while watching a holovid with everyone. Then he had gone to bed with the luxury of knowing he didn't have to wake up early and had no responsibilities for the next two days at least.
However, it was now much earlier than he woke up of a normal day, let alone his days off and if he hadn't of been so intrigued, he might have been slightly annoyed. He couldn't remember any deal he had made with Jaina, but from the smirk on her face, he felt like he might want to find out.
As he was about to inquire more details from his obviously excited sister, Jacen, also fully dressed, appeared at the door.
"Would you guys come on? We don't have all day!" He said in the same hushed tone that Jaina had used to wake Anakin up. Jaina turned around to nod at Jacen and quickly turned back to face Anakin.
"He's right. Get dressed quickly." She said as she clapped his shoulders and stood up to leave simultaneously.
Still confused, Anakin complied and moved to get up. As he pushed his duvet back he was met with a rush of cold air that sent a chill down his back and caused him to shiver. As he wasn't sure what they were doing, he made a mental note to not forget his jacket. He quickly put on his clothes from the day before and slipped his feet into shoes, then he grabbed his lightsabre and clipped it to a hoop of his trousers. He stepped out into the hall and closed the door behind him. Whatever was going on, he could be sure that his parents were not in on it and if his mother got up to get a drink, like she often did, she would be alerted to Anakin's open door.
Looking left and right in search of his troublesome siblings, Anakin heard a rustling from the living area. When he reached the large open-planned room that connected to the kitchen, he saw Jacen and Jaina at the window. Jaina was fiddling with the lock as Jacen turned around to meet his gaze.
"Hey, are you ready?" His older brother asked as he stood in front of him with his arms crossed. He looked as calm as their sister was and was wearing the same smirk that she had in his room.
Anakin nodded as he stepped down into the indented sitting room and towards the windows.
"What are we doing?" He finally asked, overcome with inquiry and frankly impatient with the lack of information he had been given thus far.
Jacen frowned slightly at him and turned his head whipped back to Jaina. "You didn't tell him yet?"
Jaina didn't bother looking up and continued with her task of unjamming the window lock as she spoke. "I thought it would be better as a surprise."
Seeing her struggling, Anakin moved passed Jacen and reached out to push down on the wooden part of the window. From passed experience, Anakin knew it had a dodgy crack in it and when you pressed down on it, the lock flipped open easier. He had helped his father do it once or twice when they had cleaned the outside of the windows with Chewie. Han had specifically told Anakin not to mention to his mother because she would have made them replace it and in Han's own words, "we are way too busy to be dealing with a home renovation right now." Anakin had agreed and when he heard the click of the lock that Jaina had been messing with, he silently thanked himself for not doing anything about it.
"Always the genius" Jacen said under his breath while he through one leg out of the window and rested on the ledge. "You think you can make the jump Nik?"
Anakin wasn't sure if it was a sarcastic comment, but he rolled his eyes and gave Jacen a shove just in case it was. Not letting It lose his balance, Jacen clung onto the window frame and smiled at his younger brother. "I'll take that as a yes."
One after another they jumped down onto the patio that lay almost two stories below the apartment that they called their home. The patio wasn't actually property of the Solo's, but it was hardly ever used by anyone else. That's why, when Jaina accidently knocked over a flower pot on the jump down, it didn't disturb anyone. Anakin thought about cleaning up the mess she had made but when Jacen put his hand on his shoulder to guide him towards the gate that blocked off the patio, he decided to make a mental note to do it whenever they got back.
All three Solo's walked in silence for the next few minutes, passing the relatively quiet area where they lived. Before Anakin came out of living in hiding, the twins along with their parents, lived in a more reclusive part of the city. However, when Anakin finally came to live with his family permanently, his parents decided to move, trying to give their children as normal childhood as possible. In an effort to socialise them with the common people of Coruscant, they moved to a complex that was filled with other families. Yet, over time the fellow kids of the surrounding neighbourhood soon learned that where the Solo's went, trouble usually followed. Children were ether told specifically not to interact with them or simply thought they weren't worth the trouble. This resulted in less and less children their age being around when the kids adventured out. Over time they excepted that it was a good thing, especially for times like this when they didn't particularly want to be seen. However, it did get lonely. Especially when Jacen and Jaina were away and Anakin was left alone. He couldn't begin to imagine how his mother coped growing up as an only child in a world almost as secure as his own was, when she was brought up as a princess on Alderaan.
Physically shaking his head to try and get the thought out of his head, he spoke in the direction of his siblings who were walking in a single file ahead of him.
"So, where are we actually going?" Anakin asked for the second time, still completely unaware of where they were headed at such a late time.
"Patience Anakin. It's better if it's a surprise, Jaina was right." Jacen said without looking back.
"But I hate surprises! Jaina! Come on, what was the deal?" Anakin could hear the impatience in his voice and then realised he didn't particularly care if they heard it or not.
Jaina didn't stop walking but threw her head around to flash her brothers a knowing grin and the way her eyes lingered on Jacen told Anakin that Jacen likely had the same grin plastered on his face. He wasn't going to break them, he knew that now. So instead of pestering anymore he decided to remain quiet. That way he might be able to come across as laid back about the whole thing, which would annoy the twins to no end. This might force them to accidentally spill the secret in frustration. However, he couldn't keep his apprehension and anticipation from the force and when he felt Jaina reach out to him after a few moments of silence, he knew the new plan wasn't going to work ether.
As the trio made their way onto the busy streets of the under layer of Coruscant, the crowds began to get increasingly rowdier. Anakin knew they were coming into a rough part of the city, not only from the sketchy gambling rings and men passing with more weapons on them then planets in the Happen cluster, but also the way Jacen fell back to walk beside him instead of in front of him, while Jaina walked ahead of both with her hand resting on the top of her lightsaber. They only did that when they felt danger, which was now thick in both the air and the force.
Moving fast among the growing crowds, Jaina turned down a side lane and motioned for her brothers to follow her. Jacen fell back behind Anakin and the moment they turned into the dark and dingy ally, put his hand on Anakin's neck and pushed him into a crouching position behind a stack of wooden storage boxes.
What's going on? Why are we hiding? He apprehensively sent out to his sister who was now crouching in front of him, pressed up against the cold stone wall that blocked off alleyway.
We are fine, just stay down and stay quiet. She sent back with a sense of calm that Anakin didn't know where she was getting from. Pressed up against a dirt wall, hidden behind very thin boxes, in the roughest party of a city didn't exactly scream tranquillity.
Before he could actually form a coherent sentence, he was startled by a loud crash coming from a side door, three feet away. Stumbling through the door came a robust looking male Abyssin. He had a utility belt handing around his strangely thin waste that contrasted his large chest that pushed out from his brown, torn vest. On his belt, he wore a long knife with no cap on top, a blaster and something that looked like a flask. He was obviously annoyed and a string of courses came from his mouth as he crashed into the waste unit on the other side of the alley and disposing of a box of empty bottle. He then turned into the open door and shouted in, "If I come back and this isn't clean, I'm taking your wife and ripping her throat out!" He sulked off then, not so much walking but almost dragging himself, like his weight was too much to even lift on his thin legs.
When he turned the corner, Jaina and Jacen both promptly stood up and moved toward the wooden door that was still swinging from the momentum that the slam that the Abyssin had given it.
By the time Anakin had recovered from the shock, he saw that he was alone and followed the twins into the bar. The image that he saw in front of him was almost something from a holomovie he was sure he had seen at one point. His brother was half way across the counter of the bar, grabbing the bar tenders hand and giving him a slap on in the back in a friendly gesture. The man behind the bar was at least 70 years old and as he was smiling a toothless smile that suggested he knew Jacen at least somewhat well. Jaina on the other hand was walking across the room towards a small alcove in the corner of the room. There sat Tenel Ka, Zekk and Lowbacca, three of Jacen and Jaina's close friends from the Jedi academy. Above them was a banner that said, 'Happy Birthday!' on it along with two purple balloons on each end. As he approached the alcove, Tenel Ka looked up and immediately nudged both boys who were sitting on ether of side of her. Both of them picked up two kazoos and began to whistle the tune of happy birthday threw them.
Embarrassed by the spectacle that was being made, Anakin felt his whole face go a deep shade of red. It was bad enough when his family did it alone at home, let alone in front of all his sibling's friends.
"Happy birthday Anakin" Zekk said as he stood up to give the young man a slap on the shoulder. "Get to sit at the big table now."
"Welcome Anakin, I hope you had a fabulous day." Tenel Ka said from her chair.
Lowbacca let out a loud growl that Anakin recognised as a congratulations.
Jaina threw her arm around him and he was slightly surprised to realise that she had to stand almost on the tip of her toes to reach see him eye to eye. "Sorry bro, we tried to get some of your friends here but, you know, they are 14. Which would just have been completely irresponsible of me."
"As oppose to bringing your 16-year-old brother here, which is much better." Zekk quipped from the corner of the booth as he moved over to let her sit down next to him. Tenel Ka also shifted her weight so that there was a free space beside her, but Anakin chose to sit on a stool next the oversized Wookie. Being in close proximity to people wasn't on his list of favourite things ether and he guessed that Jacen would want to be next to his friends anyway.
"You weren't saying that when you dragged Jace and I to this dump when we were 16!" Jaina said in response to Zekk who then nodded in acceptance with a chuckle.
"You guys have been coming here since you were 16?" Anakin said accidentally thinking out loud. "How the hell did I not notice?"
"Well it was usually when you were at the Academy." Jaina replied looking almost guilty, although Anakin wasn't sure if it was because of the fact they had been sneaking out without him, or that the reminder that they were rarely ever together in the years since they started their training, with the twins only home when Anakin had to leave.
"Plus, you can sleep through an earthquake, Nik" said Jacen as he came to the table while carrying a tray with his left hand and placing the pints of beer onto the wooden table with his right. He was surprised when Jacen placed a large pint of golden ale in front of him and threw him a wink to compliment his gibe. "Not really that hard to sneak past you when you could blow up the house and you not even turn in your bed."
As the whole table laughed at Jacen at Anakin's expense, he found himself looking from Jacen to Jaina to his drink and back again. He had never really considered drinking before. It was strictly banned from the academy on Yavin IV and along with the fact he was technically still underage on most planets in the known galaxy, Anakin had never really been given the opportunity to drink alcohol. Yet now, he was met head on with the chance to fully indulge in it without the worry of being in any danger and he was somewhat hesitant.
Sensing his reluctance, Jacen and Jaina exchanged a knowing look before Jacen spoke up. "It's alright Anakin, if you don't want it, you don't have to have it."
"No, it's fine, I want to." I think, Anakin thought to himself as he reached out to grab the chilled stemmed glass that had cold residue rolling down its side. Just as he was about to take a large gulp, he felt the hand of his sister on his left arm.
"Seriously Anakin, you don't have to do this. I won't drink if you don't want to be the only one."
Letting his sister's words truly sink into him, he became acutely aware that the rest of the table were trying to appear as if they weren't watching him, drinking from their own glasses or throwing their eyes to the ground. An effort to try and ease the pressure from the young teens shoulders, he supposed. Yet, as much as they were trying to appear casual, Anakin could see them watching him intently out of the corner of their eyes.
Closing his eyes and tipping his head back, Anakin took a gulp and a half of his drink and felt the ice-cold burn run down his throat and into his stomach. It felt like the most intense tingle between freezing cold and liquid burn that made his reflexes gag. Pulling away from the glass by instinct, he began a coughing fit as his body desperately tried to force the substance out of his system.
The rest of the group let out a collective laugh and there was no hiding the fact they were staring now. Lowbacca slapped the young man on the back in an effort to stop the fit that had taken over his body. With each cough, he could feel his face get redder and Anakin begged for the force, air or even just plane saliva to stop the embarrassing episode.
"Yep. He's definitely my brother." Jaina said as she raised her drink in a mock toast. "I was the exact same my first time."
"You forgot about the bit where you passed out, my friend." Tenel Ka spoke in a matter of fact tone across the table.
"Well, the night is still young." Jacen and Jaina said in unison as Anakin realised this was going to be a long night.
As the night went on Anakin could slowly feel himself relax into the conversation and banter of the group. At the beginning, he had was aware of each new drink he was given. First by Jaina, then Zekk and so on. But now, as his head got more lightheaded and his movements became slower, he was unsure how many drinks he had exactly had.
Judging from the pile of empty pint glasses and bottles that were gathering up on the small wooden table in front of him, he guessed he had had quite a few.
He didn't know who had turned on the jukebox or when they had gone up to switch it on, but music played over their conversations and rang its way through the group, causing an even more upbeat mood as the friends laughed and enjoyed each other's company.
He also didn't know who had suggested playing truth or dare, or why he had agreed that it was a good idea, yet here he found himself. As he waited for Zekk to ask Jaina, he took another gulp of his drink, a new blue coloured concoction that Jacen said he would prefer. He was right, it was much easier to drink then the ale and was less harsh on his stomach. Yet, he didn't know if that was because of the difference of drink or just because he was drunker now.
"OK Jaina, truth or dare?" Zekk finally asked.
"Dare" she quipped as she leaned her arm, bent at the elbow on Anakin's right shoulder. The whole table let out a collective groan and Jacen rolled his eyes.
"Oh, come on Jaina!" he called from across the table as he placed both of his hands flat on the table and banged off the wooden surface. Jaina put her hands up and plastered a look of mock shock on her face while mouthing, "what?"
"You always pick dare and do it without any worry at all." Zekk complained.
"This is true." Tenel ka said in a much more casual tone then her usual self.
Anakin couldn't help but laugh as Lowie told her that they all wanted to hear some of her secrets.
"It's not my fault you guys can't come with something interesting" she said back as she picked at her nails to appear unfazed and not rise to the bait. A very typical Jaina thing to do, Anakin thought to himself as he threw his head over to watch his sister.
When it was abundantly clear that she wasn't going to change her mind, Zekk finally leaned back and said, "Jeez, ok I dare you to go up and steal a drink of Griff. Without the force."
Throwing her head back and laughing curtly so that it came out as more of whine instead of a laugh, Jaina replied, "easy."
Getting up off her stool and sauntering over to the bar, the rest of the group looked on eagerly. Leaning over the wooden counter, Jaina grabbed the attention of the bartender, who Anakin could only assume was the infamous Griff that everyone kept talking about. Griff greeted her with a smile and after a few minutes of talking, he began pulling a drink from the tap that was beside them.
"Make sure you keep an eye on her force presence to make sure she's not cheating." Tenel Ka reminded the group as they continued to watch their friend.
When the drink was pulled, Griff placed the drink on the counter in front of her and walked away. As he walked away, Jaina looked left and right as if to check her surroundings, then took the pint glass and walked towards the awaiting group.
Jacen looked at her, almost in dismay and asked, "did you steel that?"
"Didn't have to." She replied as she gulped her drink and sat back down. "He gave it to me for free."
"Hey! That's cheating!" Anakin heard his brother moan as Zekk simultaneously said, "he would never, ever in a million years give me a free drink."
"Ok one, I don't cheat. I don't need to cheat. I'm the best at whatever I do so why cheat? Secondly, it's not my fault he likes me better than he likes you." Jaina replied.
Zekk shook his head in mock disapproval and looked directly at Anakin. "Can you believe your own blood is this cruel?"
He could feel himself nodding and his numb gums formed the words before he even realised what he had said. "Yeah, I really can. She's kinda right too."
That sent the whole table into a collective laugh as Zekk did a double take and pretended to be hurt by putting his hand over his heart and shaking his head. Jaina beamed at Anakin, delighted that at least one brother knew how to make a good come back like she did. Throwing her arm fully over his shoulder and grabbing him around his neck, pulling him into a side hug.
"Yes Nik!" She called out as her other hand formed a fist and punched the air in victory. "However, that is going to make me feel bad now."
Not sure that he had heard her correctly, Anakin turned his head to question his older sister. His mouth was open and beginning to form the components of sentence, when he saw the mischievous grin on Jaina's face. Things seemed to move in slow motion as he saw Jaina reach down under the table and pulled out something white and round. It didn't register to Anakin that it was indeed a cake until it was splatted all over his face and everything was black.
Letting it fall off his face and drop onto the table so he could see and breath again, he was welcomed to the sight of Tenel Ka with a can in her hand. Again, he was too slow to block the incoming sticky string that erupted from the can and all over him. In an effort to defend himself, Anakin raised his hands up above his head just in time before Zekk and Lowie joined in. While trying to escape his attackers from inflicting anymore embarrassing peril to him, he didn't notice Jacen leave his chair until he felt his hand on the back of his neck as he pressed his face into another cake.
Completely destroyed with cake and sticky string covering him from his boots to his hair, Anakin stood up and inspected himself while everyone else clapped and began to sing happy birthday. Finding himself completely in the comfort of his siblings and friends and under the influence of quite a bit of alcohol, Anakin was still surprised to find that he held no embarrassment and only felt like laughing at his dishevelled state.
After the group had finished their enthusiastic (and slightly out of tune) rendition of happy birthday, Anakin bowed and did a 360 turn to let everyone see the full extent of the damage.
"Thanks guys, best birthday present ever."
Jacen, who was still standing to his left put his hand on his shoulder to keep him still and reached into his pocket to retrieve something. Anakin then felt him attach something to his jumper and step back to admire it. Looking down, he saw a badge attached to his now cream covered chest that said, "IT'S MY BIRTHDAY – FINALLY 16!"
"Perfect." Jacen chuckled and when Anakin looked him in the eye, he found it easy to smile back.
Anakin didn't even want to know what time it was.
If he knew it would only make him think about what his mother and father would do if they went into his room now and found him missing and more importantly what they would do to him when he they inevitably found him. Yet, he guessed it had to be at least passed half three.
Having somewhat cleaned himself up, which consisted of whipping himself with exactly two napkins and Jaina eating most of the cake off his face, the gang slowly forgot about the game of truth or dare and when a certain song that Anakin vaguely remembered coming out of Jaina's room sometimes came on, she insisted that they all get up and dance.
However, when she decided to get on the table and drag Jacen up with her to do a rendition of "Rolling on the floor", Anakin decided it was time to get another drink before Jaina turned it into a full Solo family get together.
"So, I have finally met the famous baby Solo, have I? Jeez it's about time, they never shut up about you." Griff said cheerfully as he opened the cap off Anakin's drink and placed it next to him on the countertop. He wondered how this man could possibly still be cheery at this time of night, stuck serving drunk, loud teenagers. Yet his face was as happy as anyone Anakin had seen and he seemed genuinely interested in him. He could be faking but Anakin didn't have the strength or awareness to check through the force, so he chose to not think negatively about the man who was supplying these amazing drinks.
"Not a baby anymore Griff." Tenel Ka said from beside him. He hadn't realised she had sat down, but was happy to have her company none the less. "16 years old now."
"16? Well that's practically a man!" Griff quipped with a wink. "I suppose we will be seeing the whole family here more often then. Unfortunately."
"Oh hush." Tenel Ka whined playfully. "You know they are your best customers."
"That's the truth." At that he turned away and walked somewhere that Anakin couldn't see, leaving him and Tenel Ka alone with only the noise of his siblings, more screaming then singing, in the background.
"So, have you enjoyed your birthday Anakin?"
Anakin stopped for a minute to think about the day and couldn't believe that he had a whole other party with his parents earlier on. That had felt like days ago not mere hours.
"You know, I really have. It's been great. You all really didn't have to this for me."
Tenel Ka shook her head so lightly that Anakin almost didn't see it, but he saw the slow grin that grew on her lips as she looked from the bar table top to his face.
"Well, of course you are welcome, but honestly? It was as much for them two as it was for you." She said nodding toward his mess of a family. When he turned his head to look at them he saw both twins on top of an alarmingly small round table, with one arm throw around each other's shoulders and singing so passionately into their closed fists that they Anakin thought they could break into tears at any minute.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, they just missed you so much. They went on about this night for about three months and Griff is right, they never shut up about you." She said with the grin now as wide as her face. "Meant in the nicest way possible of course."
Despite how inebriated he was feeling, Anakin still felt a sense of surprise run through him. He knew how much he missed his siblings and he knew how jealous he would get when he heard of the adventures they were having without him, but he had never stopped to think about how much they missed him.
"What? How?" Anakin asked before he realised how ridiculous the question was. "I mean why? They are off having mad adventures with you guys, I highly doubt they even remember me half the time."
For a minute Anakin worried that his loose lips had revealed too much and exposed one of his secret fears, that his siblings didn't even think about him while they were away. However, when he looked at Tenel Ka's face he saw nothing but compassion and understanding.
"Anakin, Jacen and Jaina miss you more than anything. They count down the days till they can see you again. I remember that time you came to visit before you enrolled, do you remember?"
Anakin slowly nodded, he did remember. He was 11 and his dad let him come along while he was passing by while he was on a supply run and collected him a week later when he was on his way home. The result was that Anakin got to join his brother and sister in a whole week of antics, which is a hell of a lot of antics for the Solo family. He took turns sleeping in Jaina and Jacen's dorm and during the day they would go and explore the jungle of Yavin.
"Well, when you left Jaina was so upset that she called home every day for a month and Jacen didn't want to go near the treehouse you guys had made because you weren't there to use it with him."
Anakin did vaguely remember Jaina and Jacen doing them things, but surely it was different now? That was nearly five years ago. They were only kids then.
As if she read his mind Tenel Ka suddenly started talking again. "And don't think its stopped now. Everything you do or achieve, believe me everyone knows about it. The lightsaber duels you won against your entire year? Jacen was only talking about that again last week, and I bet you anything that even Griff will know how fast you can assemble and unassemble a navigation computer Jaina has told us that many times."
As If by instinct Anakin opened his mouth to tell her the record breaking time that he had achieved only two months ago, but before he could get the number out, both Tenel Ka and Griff, who had reappeared from behind the bar, said, "43 seconds, we know."
In complete shock, Anakin looked from Tenel Ka to Griff to his siblings and back again. He couldn't believe what he was hearing and he couldn't stop the grin from forming on his face. His siblings really did miss him as much as he missed them. That really was the perfect birthday present he could have gotten.
As he looked over to his drunken mess of a family, still on top of the table, he caught Jacen's eye who began frantically waving him over. This only spurred on Jaina to call his name and encourage him up onto the make shift stage.
"Oh, kriff it." Anakin thought out loud and by the time he realised that he couldn't have stopped himself even if he wanted to, he was already being pulled up onto the table by Jacen and using Jaina's empty bottle as a microphone.
"Jaina, please stop eating the cake off my face!" Anakin said through a fit of laughter as Jaina hung off his shoulders and continued to pick out the cream of his hair.
"S'not my fault you've got such delicious tasting baking goods all over you."
"Yes, it is!" Anakin practically screamed as both of them erupted into another fit of giggles.
Jacen, who was walking slightly ahead to "lead the way", (although he was probably drunker than Jaina and Anakin combined, so it was questionable how effective he was going to be at leading his siblings all the way home) turned around and muttered something that was only slightly coherent, along the lines of, "come on drunks, move it."
They had parted ways with their friends sometime close to half four outside the bar. By that time Anakin was beginning to feel the cool chill of morning and judging that he could now see the sun slowly start to rise, it was taking them a considerably longer time to get home then it did to get to the bar.
"Well Nik, did you have a good birthday?" Jaina asked as they attempted (and failed) to speed up for Jacen's sake.
"I really did, it was great. Thank you, guys."
For that Jacen slowed down and waited till they caught up to him. He then threw his arm around Anakin so that all three of them were walking together with Jaina holding onto his other arm for support.
"You are super welcome. I for one had a great time." He said in a mature yet playful way, the way that only Jacen could.
"We are sorry we couldn't bring Tahiri. We thought about it, but a 16-year-old underage drinking in our company is one thing, but a 14-year-old? We just couldn't do it Anakin. Our morality wouldn't stand for it." Jaina said in the sincerest voice she had.
Both Jacen and Anakin were set off in yet another round of laughter as Jaina was left confused and now somewhat angry.
"Jaina Solo with an ethical viewpoint. That's a good one Jaya." Anakin said as he braced for the punch in the arm he knew he was about to receive. However, it never came. Only fellow laughter from his extremely inebriated sister. The liquor obviously made her extremely accommodating to jibes that would usually set her off.
Making their way through the stilled city, they were met only with fellow drunk citizen's making their own way home and traders passing ferociously fast, trying to get set up for the long day ahead. Anakin was relieved to know that he could sleep all day tomorrow and tell his parents that he was simply enjoying his time off.
Damn it, Anakin thought to himself. Mom and Dad, I completely forgot about the possibility of being in trouble.
Looking from left to right at his increasingly sloppy siblings, a sudden almost frightening thought came into his head.
"Eh guys." He said as both siblings turned their head so fast and simultaneously, that Anakin thought that they had both gotten whiplash. However, after a minute of staring up (and down in Jacen's case) at him, Anakin continued, "How the kriff are we ganna climb up the side of the house without Mom and Dad hearing us?"
"Young Anakin" Jacen started as Anakin laughed a boisterous laugh and shouted, "Young Anakin? I'm a year younger than you!"
"A year and a half" Jaina mumbled from under his shoulder where she had decided to plant herself.
As If he hadn't spoken at all, Jacen continued his speech. "We have done this more times than you've had birthdays. We are experts."
"Yeah sure experts" Anakin said in a sarcastic tone, looking his sister for support, but found none.
"s'true, we make Jedi stealth look like child's play." She said at the exact time that she tripped over her own feet and only stopped herself from face planting on the ground by clutching both of her brother's arms.
"Elegant."
"Thanks"
As they continued walking back, they fell into another bout of comfortable silence. Yet, Jaina and Jacen could feel Anakin's lingering fear that only came with the rush of sneaking something passed your parents. It wasn't like Anakin had little experience with that, he had been doing it since he could walk. Yet he had never been the child his siblings were and he defiantly didn't enjoy the punishments he got, especially the arguments that left him feeling guilty about what he had done. Guilt didn't eat away at the twins like it did Anakin, not guilt about this type of thing anyway. Anakin could dwell on it for days where as Jaina and Jacen would have forgotten the whole thing by the next morning.
"Don't worry, we will get you home before they even realise you were gone." Jacen spoke as he squeezed his younger brothers shoulder in reassurance.
"And even if we don't and all goes wrong, we will just tell them that we forced you to come." Jaina said in a matter of fact tone that didn't sit well with Anakin.
One thing he hated more than the guilt was other people taking his fall. He didn't respect people who didn't stand up and take account for what they had done, even himself. The siblings usually took the "all or nothing" approach when it came to getting around their parents. If they all said nothing, their parents couldn't find out anything. Just like if they all owned up to it, they usually couldn't get the truth that was ether. Sometimes Jaina's protective instinct would flare and she'd own up to something she didn't do (or didn't do by herself anyway), but the boys would never let it go and even if they did, their parents would never have believed them.
"No Jaina, don't even think about it" Anakin warned.
"Oh, come on Nik! Just enjoy it. We don't do this for just anyone you know" Jacen quipped.
"Yeah, this is our job as older siblings, to protect you. You just have to accept it" Jaina chimed in.
Before he could answer, he saw Jacen hunch down and hooked Jaina's legs over his shoulder. Looking up, Anakin realised that they were already home and Jaina was reaching up to get to their neighbour's balcony's railing. When she pulled herself up and over the side, Jacen bent down again and cupped his hands. Anakin put his left foot in his brothers' hands and as Jacen pushed up, he also reached up to the railing.
When Jacen finally jumped up to the balcony himself, Anakin grabbed his arm and stopped his siblings from continuing up to the window sill of their living room.
"Thanks guys" he whispered looking back and forth between both his sister and brother. "For everything."
Jacen and Jaina both smiled and when Jaina winked at him, he knew that they were all feeling the same way.
They did make it into the house that night, fully intact and somehow, without waking ether of their parents. That was nothing short of a miracle considering Jacen tripped over the coffee table on his way through the living room and when Anakin reached to help him up, he dropped the glass of water he was carrying and sent it crashed to the ground.
Yet, as the three teens waited for their parents to come rushing out, they were only met with silence.
After cleaning up the mess, Anakin and his siblings were convinced they had actually gotten away with it.
That was until their mother woke them from where they had drunkenly thrown themselves the night before, asking why they were all asleep in Anakin's single bed.