Title: Somebody to Lean On
Author: Emjen Enla (Fanfiction)/emjen_enla (Wattpad)
Teaser: The day Obi-Wan Kenobi was laid off from his dream job and his girlfriend refused to marry him should have been the worst day of his life. Strangely, Obi-Wan realized much later that terrible day had actually been lucky.
Rating: PG-13/T
Canon: Modern AU, contains elements of both Canons
Timeline: doesn't work with actual Canon timelines
Dominant Characters: Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, Sheev Palpatine, appearances/mentions of various other characters
Pairings: Anidala, Obitine, Obi-Wan/Ventress (what's this pairing's name? Obitress, maybe?)
POV(s): Obi-Wan
Warnings: character death, angst
Notes:
-This story will be a couple parts long. I'm hoping for three, but it might be four depending on how big the middle part ends up being.
-I've skewed characters' ages as well as some of their relationships with each other, just a warning.
-Because this is a modern AU set on Earth, all characters are human, regardless of their species in actual Canon.
-Ahsoka's description and what Chewie is in this story are inspired by other fanfictions. Ahsoka's from a story or two by katierosefun. Chewie's from a story by TheAddict4Dramatics.
-Title is from the song Somebody to Lean On.
Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars or Somebody to Lean On.
The day Obi-Wan Kenobi was laid off from his dream job and his girlfriend refused to marry him should have been the worst day of his life. Strangely, Obi-Wan realized much later that terrible day had actually been lucky.
Of course, he hadn't had the benefit of that knowledge at the time. At the time, it seemed like the world was ending.
He had just finished his second year of teaching sixth grade at Stewjon Middle School. He couldn't think of a job that would make him happier. History had been his passion for as long as he could remember and he was finally in the position to pass on his knowledge to bright eyed children.
He was also going out with Asajj Ventress, who he'd met when he literally knocked her down in at the grocery store like people only do in books. Within weeks, Obi-Wan was head-over-heals in love. None of his friends liked Asajj, they said she was "haughty" and "dark," but he didn't care. He and Asajj were perfect for each other, he was sure of it. So he bought a ring and went about trying to find the perfect moment to propose.
Then things went bad. SMS didn't make their standardized test scores, and that meant funding cuts, which lead to lay-offs. Unfortunately, Obi-Wan had the least seniority, which meant he was first to go.
Still he'd held out hope that the day would get better, after all, he and Asajj were going out for dinner that night, and he was going to pop the question.
They'd gone out to eat. Asajj had looked beautiful. Obi-Wan had got down on one knee, showed her the ring and asked her to marry him.
She'd said no, got up, and walked away.
He didn't hear from her again.
He tried to move on. It was hard when your living room was full of boxes from your classroom and you were still making payments on a ring you bought for a girl who didn't want the same thing you did.
He pawned the ring as quickly as he could. He was still making payments, but at least he didn't have to look at the thing anymore. He tried the same method with his school stuff, by piling it in the guest bedroom and shutting the door.
He didn't even bother looking for new teaching jobs near Stewjon. He couldn't keep driving by SMS every day or running into people who asked about Asajj (especially since it seemed like he was the only person who hadn't known things with her weren't going to last). So he looked for jobs far away so he had an excuse to move.
Still the summer went by and he was starting to get worried. He needed a job, he had student loans, payments on the ring and rent to pay, he couldn't keep living off his savings.
So that was why when he was offered the job at Works Elementary in Coruscant he had no choice but to accept.
This new job was not his first choice for a variety of reasons. Firstly, Coruscant was a big city and the school he would be teaching at was in the Works, which was not the nicest part of the city. Secondly, the position was teaching kindergarten, with the possibility of moving up to middle school later.
Obi-Wan was certified to teach kindergarten, but he'd never wanted to actually do it. It wasn't that he didn't like kids, he did; e was just a little uncomfortable with the idea of actually teaching kids that little.
Still he had no choice, so he packed up and moved to Coruscant.
His first day of teaching at WES was a bit hectic. He had a classroom of five-year-olds to deal with, several of whom didn't like the idea of being separated from their parents and left with Obi-Wan. Then one his new pupils named Han and his best friend, Lando, showed up with Han's huge Newfoundland dog, Chewie, and scared half the class witless.
Obi-Wan wasn't even sure where to begin fixing the mess, but then a pretty blonde woman pushed her way through the crowd of children to him. "I'll take the dog to the office," she said, "I'm on my way there anyway."
Obi-Wan stuttered his thanks and she left.
So he calmed all the children and got Han and Lando to their seats. He was thankful he'd given them spots far apart and made a mental note to make sure it stayed that way. By the time that was done, it was almost eight and he was still missing two students. He was just starting to panic about what to do when he looked up and noticed two children standing in the door, looking like they weren't sure if they should come in.
One was a boy, blonde and blue-eyed wearing a white shirt and tan pants, the other was a dark haired, dark-eyed girl in a white dress. When Obi-Wan approached them, she stepped forward. "My name is Leia Skywalker, this is my twin brother, Luke," she said with surprising maturity. "We're in kindergarten with Mr. Kenobi, is this the right classroom?"
Some of Obi-Wan's tension vanished. These were his two missing students.
"Yes, you're in the right place," he said and looked out into the hall. "Do you have a parent here?"
"Our dad dropped us off," Luke said with the same maturity. "But he couldn't stay. He had to get to work."
"Alright," Obi-Wan said pushing aside a swell of annoyance. "We'll just find your seats, then."
The rest of the day progressed much like that. Han, Obi-Wan decided, was going to be his biggest problem. When school was over, Obi-Wan released his students to their parents. Luke and Leia were the last students left, and they sat quietly together working on a coloring page.
"Who's coming to pick you up?" Obi-Wan asked.
"Ahsoka is," Luke said without looking up.
"Ahsoka?" Obi-Wan repeated.
"That's me," a voice said, and Obi-Wan turned to see a high school-aged girl with bright blue streaks in her white-blonde hair standing in the doorway to the classroom. She waved, "Did their dad tell you about me?"
"Uh…no," Obi-Wan didn't know what else to say. "I haven't actually met their father yet."
She rolled her eyes. "Figures. Anyway, I'm Ahsoka Tano. I'm the twins' babysitter. I'll be picking them up every day but Wednesday. Their dad gets out of work early that day and will pick them up himself."
The twins noticed Ahsoka. "Hi, Ahsoka!" Luke darted over to her. "We had a lot of fun! Look at this picture I colored for Dad!"
Ahsoka studied the picture. "That's great, Luke," she smiled. "Let's get yours and Leia's stuff and head home."
Once the twins and Ahsoka were gone, Obi-Wan allowed himself time to take a deep breath, then began cleaning up. He'd only succeeded in picking up the crayons when he realized he wasn't alone anymore. The blonde woman who'd taken Chewie off his hands was standing in the doorway, watching him.
"Oh," he felt himself turn red. "I didn't see you. Have you been standing there long?"
She shook her head. "No, I was just stopping by to see how you were faring."
"Well…" Obi-Wan ran a hand through his hair and looked around the classroom. "I'm alive."
She gave him a brilliantly white smile. "That you are. Is this your first time teaching?"
"First time teaching kindergarten," Obi-Wan said. "My last job was teaching sixth graders."
She let out a little laugh. "That's a big jump. Maybe you should have got the aide even though my class is bigger."
"What?" Obi-Wan blinked.
She smiled bigger "Oh, I haven't introduced myself yet, have I? I'm Satine Kryze. I teach the other kindergarten class."
For what felt like forever, Obi-Wan couldn't speak. When he managed to choke his voice back to life, all he could get out was a stumbling, "Obi-Wan Kenobi."
She didn't laugh at him. "It's nice to meet you," she said. "If you ever need any help, my classroom's right next door."
He survived the next day. That was about all Obi-Wan could say. He went home after school, fell asleep on his couch and didn't wake up until ten thirty at night. What could he say? Kindergarteners were exhausting.
Then it was Wednesday. School was over and, Luke and Leia were again the last children there. Today they were off in a corner playing with blocks and Obi-Wan was beginning to clean up. He heard someone clear their throat and looked up to see a tired-looking young man leaning against the doorframe.
"Can I help you?" Obi-Wan asked walking over.
"Hello," the man—boy really—said. "I'm here for Luke and Leia Skywalker."
For a second Obi-Wan wasn't sure how to react. Ahsoka had said the twins' father would be picking them up on Wednesdays, but surely this man wasn't old enough to be their father. Unsure what else to do, he jumped to the only other logical explanation he could think of. "Are you their brother?"
The young man bit his lip. "Um…no. I'm their father."
"Oh," Obi-Wan's face heated up with embarrassment. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you. I just-"
The twins' father waved a hand. "It's fine. You're not the first person to make that mistake," he held out a hand. "I'm Anakin Skywalker."
Obi-Wan took the hand and shook it. "Obi-Wan Kenobi."
By this point, the twins had noticed their father's arrival.
"Daddy!" Leia flew over. Skywalker bent down and she threw her arms around his neck.
"Hey, Princess," he said. "How are you?"
"Good," Leia said. "We made rainbow pictures with paints today."
"See, Daddy!" Luke—who had scampered over to the window retrieve his picture—held it up for Skywalker to see.
"That's great, Luke," Skywalker reached out with his left hand to ruffle the boy's hair. Obi-Wan noticed a gold ring on his ring finger. So the man was married, he was still so young, though.
Luke nodded. "Can we get Chinese takeout tonight?" he asked.
"We had Chinese last week," Skywalker said.
"Can we have it again, Dad?" Luke pleaded. "I like Chinese!"
Skywalker sighed. "Fine. Come on. Let's go home."
"Need some help with that?" Satine said the next Wednesday when she entered the office to find Obi-Wan struggling with the copy machine.
Obi-Wan gritted his teeth in frustration. "I don't understand what's wrong. I've been using this thing for a week now and it always worked for me before."
"It's probably jammed," Satine said stepping over and beginning to open the drawers. "It does that all the time. Principal Windu swears it jammed the very day we got it."
"Oh," Obi-Wan said lamely.
"So," Satine said as she worked on the copier, "how have things been going?"
"Well enough," Obi-Wan said. "I'm still getting the hang of dealing with a room full of little kids."
"You'll do fine," she said. "I've seen you with your kids. You're really good with them."
Thankfully, she had her head stuffed inside of a copier because Obi-Wan was pretty sure his face turned as red as his beard.
Before he could think of something to say that wouldn't sound awkward the office door opened and Principal Windu came in. He served the scene before him. "Copier jammed again?"
"Yeah," Satine tossed several crumpled copies of the worksheet Obi-Wan had been printing into a nearby recycling bin.
Principal Windu rolled his eyes. "Great. That couldn't have happened a couple hours from now when the school board's here. I keep trying to convince them that we need a new copier, but they think I'm exaggerating when I tell them how often it jams."
Obi-Wan's stomach clenched. "The school board's coming?"
For the first time he noticed that Principal Windu was dressed in a suit. "Yeah," Principal Windu said, running a hand over his bald head. "They are."
"Is Yoda coming?" Satine asked, something tense about her voice.
"Yup," Principal Windu replied.
Satine banged her head on the copier.
"Who's Yoda?" Obi-Wan asked.
"Only the most insufferable man to ever live," Satine said.
Obi-Wan looked to Principal Windu who nodded in agreement. "You'll understand once you meet him, Obi-Wan."
Obi-Wan saw nothing of the school board for the whole day, which was fine with him. The farther he stayed from the people making the actual decisions around WES the better.
It was a half hour after school had ended and Luke and Leia Skywalker were the last students left in the classroom, as they always seemed to be. It took Ahsoka some time to leave the high school and get to the elementary school. However, this was Wednesday, and the twins' father seemed to run even later than Ahsoka did, the twins had been almost ten minutes late that morning as well.
Obi-Wan was washing up some paint trays with help from Luke when Anakin Skywalker finally arrived. Leia—who had refused to help with the dishes—darted across the room to hug her father. Luke put aside the last tray very carefully then followed his sister. Obi-Wan walked closer to the family, feeling awkward but thinking that standing in a corner would be even more awkward.
"Are you feeling better, Daddy?" Leia asked then looked up at Obi-Wan. "He was feeling yucky this morning."
Skywalker's lips pursed; he mustn't have wanted Leia to mention that in front of Obi-Wan. "I'm fine, Princess. It was just a headache."
Leia bit her lip, she was worried about Skywalker. Leia was a smart girl and mature one, whatever had happened must have been more serious than her father was letting on. "Is it gone now?" she asked very quietly.
"Yeah," Skywalker gave her a one-armed hug. "It's gone, Sweetie."
However, Obi-Wan wasn't convinced Skywalker was telling the truth. Now that he knew to look, Obi-Wan thought the young man looked rather peaked. His ashen pallor accented the blue circles under his eyes. He was not feeling well, anyone who had eyes and wasn't five years old would be able to see it.
Skywalker stood up. "Let's get your backpacks and head home," that was an obvious attempt to change the subject, but Obi-Wan didn't point it out. He just went to help the twins with their backpacks.
They were almost ready to leave when Luke looked to the doorway and cocked his head. "Who are you?" he asked.
They all turned to see the oddest looking man Obi-Wan had ever seen standing just inside the room. He was short, hunched and wearing an ancient brown suit. He was almost completely bald aside from a fringe of hair around the back of his head. He leaned heavily on a cane that looked like an old stick.
The man gave Luke a wrinkled smile. "Good to see you, it is. Thought not going to see any children, we were, and sad that would be."
Obi-Wan and Skywalker exchanged a confused look.
"Mr. Yoda, I am," the man said to the twins, who stood together studying him. "Like children, I do."
Obi-Wan noticed Principal Windu and a group of well-dressed people he assumed were the rest of the school board standing in the doorway of the classroom. They all wore looks of intense frustration.
"Very old, I am," Yoda was telling the twins. "Been on the school board for a long time, I have. Never see the children, we do. Always makes me unhappy, it does."
Leia frowned at Yoda for a minute, then she drew herself up to her full height and said very clearly, "Mr. Yoda, you're strange."
The little color that remained in the Skywalker's face drained immediately. "Leia!" he gasped.
Yoda smiled at Skywalker. "Worry not. Offended, I am not. Refreshing, it is to hear one so honest," he studied Skywalker for a second then announced, "Tired, you look. Get more sleep, you should."
"Thanks for the tip," Skywalker said tightly.
Principal Windu (who until this moment had been caught in the throes of silent laughter along with the school board) cleared his throat. "Mr. Yoda, we really should get on with the tour."
Yoda nodded slowly then smiled at Skywalker and the twins. "Nice to meet you, it was," he said. "See you again, I hope to," and he left with the rest of the school board and Principal Windu in tow.
For several minutes Obi-Wan, Skywalker and the twins just stood in dead silence, then Skywalker shook his head. "He…" he said, "was probably the strangest person I've ever met."
Obi-Wan stared at him for a few blank seconds then they both burst into hysterical laughter.
Several months passed in much the same way the first few weeks of school did. Obi-Wan quickly got the hang of teaching young children and soon began to actually enjoy going to work every day. Even Han and Lando—who were constantly causing problems—were sweet kids once you got to know them.
That was different than saying Obi-Wan didn't miss his old job (it had been his dream job after all) and that he didn't have problems. He did, and money was beginning to become a big one.
He wasn't making as much at WES as he had at SMS and he had rent and college loans and the payments on that ring he'd bought for Asajj to deal with. He'd started riding the subway to and from work so he didn't have to fill up his car anymore. He thought about just selling the car and using the money to pay off the ring bill, but if he did that he'd be stuck in Coruscant. Granted, Coruscant was a huge city, but all his family and friends lived in other places and he wasn't quite ready to reside himself to not being able to visit them.
Still he needed to find a way to make some more money, he just wasn't sure what.
As the months went by, Obi-Wan began to realize that he might not be the only people having problems. The twins came back to school after Christmas Break bouncing with happiness, but by midway through the week something had change.
His first indication was when Skywalker came to pick the twins up on a Tuesday. The twins were as confused about this as Obi-Wan was.
"Don't you have to work today, Daddy?" Luke asked.
Skywalker was pale and drawn. There was an almost dazed look on his face, one that came from someone trying to function normally after a massive shock. "I'm not going to work today, Luke," he said, his voice flat.
"Why?" Leia asked.
"Later," Skywalker said, "Come on, let's go."
The second indication came the next day when the twins were almost an hour late for school. Skywalker walked them into the classroom and apologized profusely for their tardiness claiming that he'd overslept. However, the man was so disheveled and tired-looking Obi-Wan found himself wondering Skywalker had slept at all.
Number three was just after lunch. Obi-Wan was helping Leia with a project, when she said quite suddenly, "I'm glad my daddy doesn't have a car."
"What?" Obi-Wan asked. "What are you talking about, Leia?"
"Daddy doesn't have a car," she said. "When he needs to go somewhere he rides the subway, and that makes me happy because if people drive cars when they're sleepy they get in crashes," tears welled up in her eyes. "And my daddy's sleepy all the time!" she burst into tears and buried her face in Obi-Wan's chest.
Obi-Wan gently petted Leia's hair. "Leia, what's wrong?"
She shook her head.
"Do you have a car, Mr. Kenobi?" Luke asked quietly from Obi-Wan's other side.
Obi-Wan wanted to focus on Leia, but when she heard Luke's question she stopped crying and looked up at Obi-Wan, so he figured it would be okay to answer.
"Yes, I do," he said.
Identical looks of horror came over the twins' faces. "Don't crash, Mr. Kenobi!" Luke wailed and then they were both crying.
Skywalker picked the twins up on Wednesday and again on Thursday. By this point the man looked so exhausted he seemed more likely to collapse where he stood then actually be able to perform any meaningful task.
The twins were focused on a tower of blocks when he arrived on Thursday and didn't notice him come in. Obi-Wan was about to say something when Skywalker pressed a finger to his lips and motioned him over. Obi-Wan followed the twins' father out of the classroom.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
Skywalker ran a hand through his hair. "I need to ask you something and I don't want them to hear it, because I haven't gotten around to telling them this yet."
"Telling them what?" Obi-Wan asked.
Skywalker sighed and leaned heavily against the lockers. "Ahsoka's not going to be able to babysit the twins anymore. She's…there's an emergency in her family and she's not going to be in Coruscant for the rest of the year. She might be back by next fall, but I'm not sure.
"As you may have already figured out," Skywalker continued, "I have two jobs. I get home at 12:30 to one in the morning most nights. I need to find a babysitter for the twins who is old enough and responsible enough to care for them until I get home."
"I'll do it," the words were out of Obi-Wan's mouth before he had time to think.
Skywalker blinked. "Well, I…"
Obi-Wan couldn't believe he'd just said that. Obviously Skywalker had been hoping for a high school kid, Obi-Wan a grown man. Yes, he needed money, but babysitting was normally for teenagers.
Skywalker considered Obi-Wan carefully. "You're really interested?"
"I…" Obi-Wan considered backing out, but decided that he'd already committed. "If you're not opposed to it, yes."
"I won't be able to pay you very much," Skywalker said. "And its long hours."
"I can do it," Obi-Wan said, "I just need a little extra money, that's all."
Skywalker bit his lip. "Well, the twins do like you…" he mused. "They might deal with the change better than if I found a total stranger…Do you really want the job?"
"Yes," Obi-Wan said. "If you're willing to offer it to me."
Skywalker sighed then let out a breathy laugh. "Honestly, Mr. Kenobi, I'm too tired to care."
That Saturday at five thirty Obi-Wan found himself in the subway station nearest to WES waiting for Anakin Skywalker. He was going to take Obi-Wan to the apartment where they lived before Obi-Wan began babysitting the next week.
He still wasn't sure what he'd gotten himself into. Part of him was deathly terrified that he'd forced his services onto Skywalker but Obi-Wan really did need the money.
He couldn't help but wonder about the things that didn't make since about the whole situation. Skywalker said that he had two jobs, which logically meant he worked first and second shift. It had sounded like both jobs were full time, and the second shift one definitely was. Obi-Wan had never heard of someone working two full time jobs, was Skywalker insane?
There was also the issue of the twins' mother. Skywalker wore a wedding ring, so Obi-Wan had assumed he was married. However, he'd never heard the twins mention their mother, and from the way Skywalker had been talking it sounded like he was alone. So what was going on there?
He looked up and saw Skywalker threading through the crowds towards him. Obi-Wan rose from the bench he'd been sitting on and waved. Skywalker reached him within minutes and gave him a tired smile. "Hello, Mr. Kenobi. I hope this day finds you well?"
"It does," Obi-Wan said. "You?"
Skywalker shrugged. "Well I actually got some sleep last night. That has to count for something."
"It does," Obi-Wan said.
They boarded a subway and hung onto the overhead rails. Skywalker leaned against the railing and didn't say anything. When Obi-Wan looked over a couple minutes later, the young man's eyes were drooping closed.
"You alright?" Obi-Wan asked.
Skywalker shook himself then laughed. "Yeah, I'm fine. Thank you. I fell asleep on the subway last night and woke up in the political district. That's an hour ride from the apartment."
"I thought you said you slept last night," Obi-Wan said.
"I did," Skywalker answered. "Comparatively. I've spent a lot of time with Ahsoka's family these last couple days."
"What happened?" Obi-Wan asked. "If you can tell me."
"Ahsoka's older sister got in a car accident," Skywalker ran a hand over his face. "She's going to live, but…but the doctors think she'd paralyzed…permanently."
Obi-Wan's jaw dropped. "That's terrible."
Skywalker nodded. "Barriss is only a couple years younger than I am. She was going to college in Shili. She's at the hospital there and it might be a very long time before they can move her. That's why Ahsoka can't babysit for a while. Her parents are going to Shili to be with Barriss and Ahsoka's going along. I think she's even switching schools," Skywalker sighed. "The twins are really beat up about the whole thing. Barriss had pulled an all-nighter and was driving back to campus from her job. Apparently, she fell asleep behind the wheel."
That explained the twins' sudden fear of cars and their worry for their father. Obi-Wan nodded because he didn't know what else to do. "I'm sorry."
The subway slowed to a stop. "This is where we get off," Skywalker said. "Come on."
Once they were on the platform, Skywalker led Obi-Wan towards a stairway up to street level. "We're going to have to walk a couple blocks before we get to the apartment building," Skywalker explained. "You okay with that?"
"Yes," Obi-Wan said. "It's your place we're going to, Mr. Skywalker."
Skywalker stopped on the steps and turned to look down at Obi-Wan. "Do me a favor, and just call me Anakin? When you say 'Mr. Skywalker' it sounds like I'm an old man or something, and I'm not."
"Fine," Obi-Wan said. "But only if you stop calling me 'Mr. Kenobi.' I'm not an old man either."
Skywalker—no Anakin—laughed. "Alright, Obi-Wan. Alright."
The apartment building they arrived at was much older than Obi-Wan had thought it would be. It towered up in several stories of old bricks. Each apartment had a dingy balcony that were often piled with random things owned by the people living inside.
Anakin must have seen Obi-Wan staring because he smiled slowly. "Don't worry. It's not as bad as it looks. Trust me."
"Alright," Obi-Wan swallowed. "I'll take your word for it."
"We'll go up the back stairs," Anakin said. "That way we won't run into the landlady. She's not a bad person, per se, she's just in a perpetual bad mood."
They climbed up the back stairs to the fourth floor. Anakin stopped before a door partway down the hall and twisted the knob. "This is our apartment. Ahsoka's family lives across the hall," he jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "However, that won't be for much longer. Luminara—Ahsoka's mom—is already in Shili. Ahsoka and Plo—that's her dad—plan to get everything out of the apartment and head out by Monday."
Obi-Wan nodded, and Anakin opened the door.
The door opened into a small front room with a couch, a coffee table, a bookshelf and TV. The wall opposite the door had a sliding glass door to the balcony. On the left side of room were three doors. The closer two were closed, but the last was half open and Obi-Wan could see a set of bunkbeds and a couple stuffed animals inside. There were two doorways on the right side of the room. One right next to the door, which might have been a closet. The other door was just a doorway which looked like it lead into a small kitchen. The front room was impeccably clean and organized, in fact Obi-Wan didn't think he'd ever been a house this clean.
The twins were sitting on the floor, playing a board game that they'd set up on the coffee table. A very tired and sad Ahsoka was curled up on the couch watching them.
When the twins noticed them come in they abandoned their game and dashed over. "Hello, Mr. Kenobi!" Leia squealed. "Welcome to our house!"
"Come on! Let us show you around!" Luke cried, bouncing up and down with happiness. "That's Dad's room," he pointed at the first closed door. "That's the bathroom, and that's mine and Leia's room!"
Ahsoka sat up and ran a hand through her hair, laughing at the twins' enthusiasm. "I took out their toys again," she said to Anakin. "I will never understand why you hide ninety percent of the stuff in this place whenever you clean. No one cleans like you do, Skyguy."
Anakin rolled his eyes. "Glad you feel is necessary to mock my habits around our company, Snips," he turned to Obi-Wan. "My father was very particular about keeping his house pristine at all times. He liked to be able to bring his important friends over at a moment's notice and show off his perfect house and—if he was in a really good mood—his perfect son."
That was a strange turn of phrase, but Obi-Wan didn't have time to ask about it, because the twins were dragging him off to give him a more complete tour of the house.
Several minutes later, they were sitting on the floor in the twins' room. The twins were in the process of introducing Obi-Wan to their stuffed animals. Anakin came to stand in the doorway. "We're ordering pizza," he told Obi-Wan. "Do you have any requests?"
"No," Obi-Wan said. "Whatever you order is fine."
"Alright," Anakin turned to talk to Ahsoka, and the twins darted out of the room. When Anakin turned back to Obi-Wan, he chuckled softly. "They're probably going to go beg Ahsoka to order breadsticks," he said. "They know I won't buy them, but they can usually guilt trip her into doing it," he shrugged. "I guess it won't hurt if they get them tonight."
He bent down and picked one of the stuffed animals up off the floor. He studied it for a minute then set it carefully on the lower bunk. Then he picked up another. Obi-Wan watched as he carefully arranged the stuffed animals on the bed, biggest to smallest.
When he finished picking up the stuffed animals, Anakin turned and saw Obi-Wan watching. He let out a breathy little laugh. "Yeah, if I start randomly cleaning again, yell at me or something. It's a really weird habit, and I need to break it."
Obi-Wan looked around the twins' small, but homey room. "How long have you been living here?" he asked shifting into a more comfortable position on the floor.
"We've been in this apartment for about three and a half years," Anakin said, leaning back against the upper bunk. "When the twins were first born we spent a year living in my best friend's basement—well his family's basement, technically. After that I…I couldn't stand living in that city anymore, so we moved to Coruscant. We spent just under six months in probably the most disgusting apartment I've ever seen in my life, then we moved here."
"You aren't from Coruscant?" Obi-Wan asked.
"No," Anakin answered. "I'm from Naboo, originally."
Obi-Wan was surprised, Naboo was one of the richest cities in the country. Saying you were from Naboo was the same as saying you were upper middleclass at the absolute poorest. Obi-Wan found himself wondering how Anakin had gone from that to living in this apartment and working two jobs.
Anakin was studying him. "I can tell what you're thinking," he smiled. "To answer your unspoken question, when the twins and I moved here I was practically broke," he made a face. "My father wasn't happy when he figured out about the twins and their mom."
That was the first mention Obi-Wan had heard of Luke and Leia's mother. "Where is the twins' mother?" he asked. "I see that you're wearing a ring, but…"
He trailed off when he saw the look that had come across Anakin's face. The young man had gone from good-humored to completely closed off. His lips were pressed together in a thin line.
"No," he said sharply. "We're not talking about this," then he turned and walked out of the bedroom.
Obi-Wan sat on the floor, wondering what about his question could have caused that reaction. He hadn't meant to upset the twins' father.
"Its okay, Mr. Kenobi," Obi-Wan looked up to see the twins standing in the bedroom door.
"Daddy, doesn't like talking about Mommy," Leia said.
"Oh," Obi-Wan said. "I didn't realize. I should apologize, I didn't mean to hurt him." He started to get up
"Our mommy's name was Padmé," Luke said suddenly, blue eyes very wide. "She died when we were really little."
There is part one! I'm hoping to get part two out soon. If I don't get it out in a week or two, start bugging me about it.
Every time I do a nontraditional timeline AU, I make Yoda a crazy old man no one wants anything to do with. I think that's kind of funny. ;)
Hopefully all the Yoda-speak makes sense...
Please follow, favorite and review! (I'd really appreciate it.)
Emjen