Disclaimer: No part of Star Wars belongs to me, no matter how much I wish it would.
Author's Note: This story takes place in an alternate universe where Anakin never turned to the dark side, Sidious/Palpatine was arrested and persecuted for crimes against the republic and when the Jedi council discovered Anakin and Padmé's relationship they didn't expel him from the Order because of how helpful he was in bringing the Sith Lord to justice. In this universe Padmé and Anakin are raising Luke and Leia, with some help from Uncle Obi and Auntie Ahsoka. All mistakes are mine, this story has not been beta-ed.
The sun had just started to rise on Naboo, and the Skywalker family was beginning to wake.
Anakin opened his eyes slowly and enjoyed the blessed silence of the early morning hours. He hadn't gotten very much sleep the past few weeks, the seven-year-old twins had been an incredible hassle. Finally he had a moment to relax. He glanced over at Padmé, his angel, who was still very much asleep, she too had been exhausted from the rambunctiousness of the two children.
Anakin didn't have time to enjoy his peace for long however as the sound of Luke's cry echoed down the hall. Padmé rolled over and mumbled something incoherent before her arm crashed onto Anakin's head, startling him. He assumed that meant it was his turn to find out what was going on so he got out of bed, quietly walked across the room and slipped into the hallway. He walked towards the twins shared room, dreading what he would find, not because they were in any particular danger, but because he knew they were fighting again. How could beings so young have so much anger towards one another? Leia was usually the culprit, she loved to annoy her brother to no end and this morning wasn't any different.
Anakin entered the room to find an interesting sight. Leia had her brother pinned to the ground and was attempting to do something with his hair, though what Anakin had no idea.
"Leia!" he said, "What are you doing?"
"I'm just fixing his hair like mommy's," Leia replied innocently, her big brown eyes staring up at him in an attempt to stay out of trouble.
"Well it doesn't look like Luke is enjoying your hairstyling," Anakin suggested.
"I'm not!" Luke yelled from underneath his sister and he pushed her away, only succeeding because Leia knew Dad was watching. "She's being mean to me," he added.
Leia stuck her tongue out at her brother who returned the action.
"Hey!" Anakin said, "What did your mom tell you about doing that?"
They both looked at him like sad puppies, "Not to do it," Luke responded with a quiet voice.
Anakin waited for Leia to say something but she remained silent. "Leia?" he prompted, "What did mommy tell you?"
She looked at him defiantly for a moment before responding, "She said sticking my tongue out is rude and people don't like it."
"Yes she did," Anakin said, "So don't do it again, and Leia apologize to your brother for trying to 'fix' his hair."
"But it was funny," Leia insisted.
"Leia," Anakin warned.
"Fine. I'm sorry," she spat.
"Good," Anakin said, "And now that you're both awake we may as well start breakfast."
"But that wasn't a real apology!" Luke whined, "She didn't mean it!"
Anakin sighed heavily. This was not the way he had planned this morning. He had wanted to get up, have a nice cup of coffee and watch the sun rise over the lake, but no, he had to have twins who argued constantly.
"Luke, it's fine, she meant it okay? Let's just go to the kitchen and have some breakfast, Dad needs some coffee," Anakin told his son.
Luke harrumphed but didn't say another word, glaring at his sister behind their father's back. She stuck her tongue out.
Anakin brought both children into the kitchen and sat them down at the dining table. "Okay," he said, "what do you want for breakfast?" He immediately regretted asking that question when it prompted another verbal feud between Luke and Leia. Luke wanted pancakes but his sister had to disagree with him and insist on eggs and toast.
After some observing Anakin interceded, "How about both?" he asked, "Leia you can have eggs and toast and Luke I'll make you pancakes."
They both quieted for a moment, considering his offer. He couldn't believe he was actually negotiating with his children, Padmé's sense of democracy must have been getting to him.
"Okay," Leia said.
"Yeah that sounds okay," Luke added.
"I just said that!" Leia yelled at him, and the arguing had begun again.
Anakin decided to let them figure it out and turned to the stove, grabbing all the ingredients and setting to work on breakfast to the sound of Leia yelling about anything and everything she could think of that would upset her brother. Anakin knew it wouldn't be long before they woke their mother who was the real enforcer of the rules.
Ten minutes of childish arguing and Anakin's less-than-impressive cooking skills later both twins had their breakfast. The room got silent as they suspended their debate to eat. Anakin poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down at the head of the table, in an attempt to enjoy the false peace.
Finally awake, Padmé entered the room yawning. Her hair was tangled and poofy and she wore the same dress she'd had on yesterday. Evidently there was no time to change into pajamas when one had an opportunity to sleep in the Skywalker house.
"Mommy!" Luke yelled through a mouthful of pancakes, "Leia was mean to me!"
Padmé glanced at her husband desperately, pleading him to say something.
"Luke," Anakin said, "That's not how we greet people in the morning is it?"
"No," Luke mumbled.
"So what do we say?" Anakin asked.
"Good morning," Luke replied.
"That's right. Good morning." Anakin said.
"Good morning mom," Leia said, trying to best her brother who scowled at her.
"Good morning dear," Padmé said, "I see your father made breakfast."
"I did," Anakin stated proudly.
Padmé smiled at him, "Did you make coffee?" she asked hopefully.
"Of course," He responded.
"Thank goodness," Padmé said. She poured herself a cup and sat down next to him.
"How did you sleep?" Anakin asked.
"Surprisingly well," Padmé responded, "though I am starting to regret not fixing my hair before bed, it's going to be a mess to comb. What about you?"
"Same," he responded.
"I must agree," Padmé stated, "Your hair is going to be a mess to comb." They both laughed at that.
A yell erupted from the table as Leia used the Force to fly one of Luke's pancakes into his face and in retaliation he lifted some milk from his glass and shot it into his sister's hair. Anakin and Padmé both looked at their children with exasperation.
"Your turn," Anakin said, "I dealt with the hair debacle."
"Fine," Padmé said and stood up, both children froze. Dad reminded them of the rules, but Mom, Mom was the enforcer.
"Luke, Leia!" she said angrily, "How many times do I have to tell you, no throwing food…. I don't care if you use the Force or not," she added when Leia opened her mouth to retaliate.
"Yes mom," the twins said quietly. Luke had syrup in his hair and Leia had milk on her pajamas and half her head.
"Now you both have to take a bath," Padmé told them.
They whined at that in unison.
"And Anakin, you get to clean the kitchen," Padmé added.
Anakin also whined.
An hour later the kitchen was spotless and both twins had been bathed and clothed for the day. Padmé had put Leia's hair in double buns and combed Luke's hair so it was at least presentable. They were currently playing peacefully in their playroom but both parents knew that wouldn't last so they were attempting to come up with something to do to keep the children busy and distracted from each other.
"So," Anakin said, sitting on the couch in the living room, "What are we going to do today?"
Padmé had also taken a seat and stared thoughtfully out the window, looking back at him she said, "I have no idea. Maybe we could go the lake's edge and have a picnic?"
Anakin's face screwed up in discontent, "But the sand Padmé, the sand is everywhere down there."
"I know," Padmé stated, "but it's a way to keep them busy. You could go on a hike with Leia while Luke and I enjoy the beach."
"Well that sounds at least tolerable," he commented.
"Good," Padmé said. Yelling could suddenly be heard from the other room, "I think we should probably find out what they're up to don't you?"
"Probably," Anakin sighed.
They both entered the playroom to a familiar sight, Luke crying about something his sister had done.
"What's up Luke?" Anakin asked, "what did your sister do this time?"
Luke didn't answer he just sniffled.
"Nothing!" Leia commented but Anakin could sense she was lying.
Padmé chimed in, "Leia, what did you do? No lies."
Leia looked at the ground and shuffled her feet, "Nothing," she insisted.
Luke finally found the courage to say something, "She broke my toy," he told his parents, holding up a broken miniature Y-Wing.
"I didn't do it on purpose!" Leia said, Anakin knew she was telling the truth this time.
"Yes she did!" Luke yelled.
"Luke I don't think she did," Anakin said, "she's telling the truth."
Luke crossed his arms and pouted.
"We'll buy you a new Y-Wing Luke," Padmé said, "Anyway we're going somewhere today. Not too far away but I think you guys will have fun."
"Where are we going?" Luke asked excitedly, completely forgetting about his toy.
"We're going to play on the beach by the lake," Padmé told them.
"Ooh that sounds fun!" Luke said.
"Eww, sand," Leia commented.
"That's my girl," Anakin said, giving her a high five.
"Well Luke and I are going to enjoy the beach right?" Padmé said.
"Yes we are," Luke responded.
On that note the family left the room and while Padmé and Luke packed picnic things and sandcastle molds Leia and Anakin packed their backpacks for a hike around the lake. They met in the living room once all the preparations were complete and headed outside.
The sun was high in the sky and there wasn't a cloud in sight. The lake shimmered blue and the tiny island in the middle was covered in foliage. The edge of the lake was a small distance off. Luke and Leia ran down a path and out of sight yelling excitedly.
"There they go," Padmé said, "They'll be arguing before long."
"Yep," Anakin agreed, following his children. The path went through some bushes and came out by the lake's edge. There was a small dock and a large patch of sand leading into the water. Leia had stopped at the edge of the offensive substance but Luke had already made himself a flat spot by the water for his castle.
"Mommy, mommy!" He yelled, "I made us a spot!"
"That's lovely dear," Padmé said and started walking towards him, she stopped to look behind her, "Are you sure you don't want to come and play with your son?" She asked Anakin who was glaring at the sand.
"We're going on a hike," Leia replied to her mother, "We don't need to play in the sand, it's gross,"
"It is, isn't it?" Anakin said, "We'll see you later," he told Padmé and walked with Leia down another path that circled the lake.
"Okay bye," Padmé told him and she turned back to Luke, "So Luke," she said, "What do you want to build first?"
"A castle," he stated, "a big castle."
"Okay, a castle it is," Padmé agreed.
"My feet hurt," Leia told her father.
"It's only been twenty minutes Leia," Anakin told her, "There's still a ways to go, you can do it, come on"
"But I don't want to!" she yelled, ever the defiant child, crossing her arms and staying put.
"But Leia we have to be gone for at least an hour," Anakin told his daughter.
"Why?" Leia asked.
"Because if we aren't your mother will think we had no fun," Anakin replied.
"But I'm not having fun," Leia told him.
"Well your mother can't know that or she'll use it as evidence that playing in the sand isn't that bad," Anakin insisted.
"But the sand is bad,"
"I know, that's why we have to keep walking," Anakin told her.
"That doesn't make any sense,"
"It will when you're married."
"Why can't it make sense now?"
"I don't know, do you want to sit down and eat something?"
"No."
"Okay," Anakin thought for a moment, "Do you want to go back?"
"No, the sand is bad,"
"What do you want then?"
"I want a ride."
Anakin sighed, "Okay then." He knelt down so Leia could get on his back. Once she was situated he stood up again, "Are you happy now?" He asked.
"Onwards!" Leia yelled in response, Anakin couldn't help smiling a little.
They traveled like that for a mile or so, Leia asking all sorts of questions about anything she could think of and Anakin responding with complete nonsense like any dad would.
"Why is the sky blue?" she asked.
"Because every morning when the sun is just starting to peek over the mountains tiny creatures fly across the sky with paintbrushes, it takes a lot of paint but they get there eventually," Anakin answered.
"Really?"
"Most definitely."
Leia thought about that for a moment, "Is that also why the lake is blue but water is clear?" She asked.
"No, the water is blue because when the sky paint is still wet it drips onto the water, you can't see it when you look at a glass of water because you have to be far away, the paint is shy."
Leia laughed, "Paint's not shy!"
In his most serious voice Anakin said, "Oh but it is. The sky paint is very shy. Do you remember how when we leave on the spaceship the sky goes dark when we get to space?"
"Yeah,"
"Well that's because of the shy paint."
Leia was stunned, "Wow," she managed. "Wait, if the sky paint drips how come the rest of the world isn't blue?"
"Because the rest of the world is sky-paint resistant, the wind makes sure of that."
"Wow," Leia said again, "Is the wind nice?"
"Most of the time, but sometimes when it gets really windy it's because the sky is too blue."
"What if it's cloudy?"
"The paint still drips."
"Well if the paint still drips what are the clouds made of?"
Anakin responded immediately, "Cotton candy."
"No way!" Leia insisted.
"Yep, and you can stand in them and wave at ships when they pass by."
"Wow!"
"I know right?" Anakin said.
"Daddy?"
"Yes Leia?"
"Luke told me there are big monsters in the lake, is that true?"
"No there aren't any big monsters in the lake, just little ones."
"What!?" Leia asked.
"You better tell Luke," Anakin insisted.
"I will!" Leia assured him, "Are the monsters dangerous?"
"Only if you try to feed them, so don't feed them okay?"
"Okay," Leia said, "If I can't feed them, who does? And what do they eat?"
"Well, they eat pears, but only purple pears from the highest mountain on Naboo."
"How do they get them?"
"At night when everyone is sleeping the pear trees become sentient and walk down to the lakes. Then the pears float away into the depths for the monsters to eat." Anakin told her.
"Walking trees don't exist."
"Have you ever seen one?"
"No."
"Well I have."
"Really?"
"Yep, I saw one when Auntie Ahsoka and I were on Naboo helping the Gungans, back when you were two years old. Ask her if you don't believe me," Anakin mentally reminded himself to let Ahsoka in on this story.
"I will ask her," Leia said.
"It looks like we should start heading back, what do you think?" Anakin said.
"Okay."
"You should probably walk back by yourself," Anakin suggested.
"No." Leia said and grabbed his hair to hang on.
"Ow, ow, ow, okay stay if you want," Anakin told her and they headed back.
Padmé looked at the lopsided tower her son had created. It had seven small sticks poking up and leaves stuck to the the edges in odd places.
"Luke dear, what is it you've created?" she asked him.
"It's a castle mom," he said like it was the most obvious thing in the world, "can't you tell? These are the towers," he pointed at the sticks, "And these are the windows," he pointed at the leaves.
"Oh of course, how could I not see that?" Padmé said, "It's beautiful, a true palace. Now who get's to live in it?"
"Well you're invited," Luke told her, "And uncle Obi and aunt Ahsoka."
"What about Leia and your father?" Padmé asked, "Shouldn't they get to be there too?"
"But they don't like sand," Luke stated, "and Leia was mean to me,"
"Luke," Padmé started, "You shouldn't hold grudges, your sister loves you very much and your father will just have to get over his dislike of sand."
Luke sighed, "Okay if you say so, do you want to help me build the temple?"
"Of course I do," Padmé replied and they got to work.
Luke went to get more wet sand while his mother cleared a flat spot to build. When he got back the sand was smoothed out and flawless, Luke dumped his bucket right in the middle.
"Oh!" Padmé exclaimed, "Okay then I guess we're building it by hand." She started forming a rectangle but Luke stopped her,
"No mom, we have to find sticks for the towers first."
"Well lead on then," Padmé told him.
Luke brought her to a pile of smooth sticks that had washed up on the shore. He carefully examined each one in turn until he had picked the best five he could find. He then walked back to the temple-in-the-making and sat down. Padmé sat next to him.
"Okay what do we do now?" she asked.
"Now we start the base," Luke said and proceeded to teach his mother how to build a sandcastle the Luke way. He flattened the sand and made a large rectangle, taking piles of the stuff and setting them on top gently. He patted the pile he'd made and stuck the sticks in five different places. In the end it wasn't unrecognizable, just a little crooked and squashed looking.
"It's amazing Luke," Padmé told him, "I love it."
"Me too," Luke said, "Everyone's invited to this one, even Leia."
"I bet she'll be thrilled," Padmé said.
"Mommy I'm hungry," Luke declared.
"Okay let's go get something to eat from our bags."
They walked together to their packed lunches and Padmé got them out, "Where do you want to sit?" she asked.
"Let's sit on the dock!" Luke exclaimed.
Padmé agreed and they sat on the edge of the dock. Her feet dangled in the water but Luke's legs were too short to reach so he swung them back and forth in the empty air. They unwrapped their sandwiches and began to eat, Padmé had packed peanut butter and jelly for both of them.
"Mom," Luke started, "Why doesn't daddy like sand?"
"You know Luke, I think there must be a specific reason but it probably comes from his dislike of Tatooine."
"Tatooine?!" Luke said, "The scary planet with the gangsters?"
"Yep that's the one, your father grew up there,"
"Well I can see why he doesn't like sand now, gangsters are scary,"
"They sure are," Padmé agreed.
"Did he ever get in a fight with a gangster?"
"Actually when he was younger he had to save a baby Hutt with Auntie Ahsoka."
"Really? Was it scary?" Luke asked.
"Well I wasn't there but I'm sure it was very scary," Padmé said, "You'll have to ask Auntie Ahsoka about it."
"Have you ever met a Hutt?"
"I have," Padmé replied, "I met Ziro the Hutt, he wasn't very nice, he locked me in a cell."
"How did you escape?!" Luke asked in awe.
"Well your father's legion created a distraction, with the help of C3PO, and I arrested Ziro for crimes against his own family."
"Wow, that's awesome mom!" Luke exclaimed, "Maybe I'll do stuff like that when I'm older."
"I'm sure you will," Padmé said.
They finished their sandwiches and walked back to the bags to put the trash away. At the same moment Anakin and Leia emerged from the path, Leia looking incredibly pleased and Anakin looking more than a little exhausted.
"Okay Leia," Anakin emphasized, "It's time to get down now."
"Fine," Leia said.
Anakin knelt down to let her off and stood up again, "How was your beach day?" he asked Padmé.
"It was wonderful, and your hike?" she responded.
"Daddy told me stories and gave me a ride!" Leia told her mother, "It was really fun!"
"That's fantastic, are you ready to go home now?"
"No I wanna play chase! Will you play chase with me?"
"I'm sure your brother would love to play with you, right Luke?"
Luke actually seemed interested in the prospect and nodded. He ran at his sister, tapping her shoulder, "Tag, you're it!" he yelled. She screamed with excitement and ran after him.
Anakin stood next to Padmé, "Hopefully this will tire them out," he said but he knew they had seemingly endless energy and it would take a lot more than a small game of tag.
"Do you want to at least sit down somewhere?" Padmé asked him.
"Is there anywhere with no sand?"
"The dock is pretty sand free, do you want to sit there?"
"Sure."
They walked to the end of the small dock and took a seat next to each other. Anakin had to sit cross-legged to keep his shoes from getting wet but Padmé let her bare feet dangle in the water.
"I'm so tired Padmé," Anakin said.
"Me too," she responded, "Who knew twins would take so much effort?" She sighed and rested her head on his shoulder.
"They have so much energy. I haven't had more than six hours of sleep at a time in three months," Anakin said, "How are they never tired?"
"I don't know Ani I just don't know," Padmé told him.
He closed his eyes for the briefest moment, he had learned to take advantage of the small moments of peace in his hectic life. It wasn't long before they both heard Leia begin to insult her brother.
"Should we do something?" Anakin asked, eyes still closed.
"They'll figure it out on their own, I'm sure," Padmé responded.
They heard the argument increase in noise but the exhausted parents refused to acknowledge its existence until they heard the telltale sound of small feet pounding on the wooden boards of the dock. Padmé groaned as Luke came up behind them.
"Mom, mom, mom," Luke demanded.
"Yes dear?" Padmé said.
"Leia's cheating at tag."
"How can you cheat at tag?" Padmé asked.
"She just is!" Luke insisted.
"Luke if you don't have any evidence it's not a legitimate claim," Padmé told him, the senator trait shining through in her exhausted state.
"But mom!" Luke whined.
"Sorry buddy," Anakin said, "You don't have evidence."
He felt his son's frustration through the Force and knew there was a temper tantrum coming on.
"We better deal with this," Anakin told Padmé.
"We?" she questioned, "No, I'm pretty sure I dealt with it last time, you're up."
Anakin mumbled something about lack of sleep and reluctantly stood up, "Okay Luke," he said, "How did your sister cheat at tag?"
"She used the Force to run really fast."
"Well that is cheating at tag," Anakin said, a little surprised. Leia was always finding new ways to annoy her brother, Anakin could almost be proud of her.
"Leia!" Anakin yelled, "Come over here!"
Leia walked towards them slowly, dragging her feet on the wooden boards of the dock, she knew she was in trouble.
"Leia why do you have to go and cheat at tag?" Anakin asked as soon as she was close enough, "Isn't it an enjoyable game by itself? Wouldn't cheating make it no fun? I just don't understand."
"It's no fun by itself, Luke is too fast," Leia mumbled.
Anakin was surprised by this revelation, Leia never admitted her brother was better at anything.
"Well I'm sorry your brother is too fast, but I can't do anything about it, you could play a different game? You could go swimming. But no matter what you do, no more cheating, or arguing," Anakin insisted.
They reluctantly agreed but Anakin knew it wouldn't last long, there would be strife in the near future. But for now, he'd solved the problem.
"Can we go back home?" Luke asked.
"Of course," Anakin replied.
Leia ran to her mother and tugged on her sleeve, "Come on mom, we're going home."
"Okay, okay," Padmé replied, standing up and following her daughter.
The family grabbed their bags and headed back up the path towards the house. Luke and Leia ran ahead as they always did, Padmé and Anakin focusing on staying awake. By the time the parents arrived back at the house the children were already inside, chasing each other and screaming with excitement. Anakin offered to unpack and Padmé gratefully accepted, finding a nice spot on the couch to rest her eyes.
The hiking backpacks were no problem for Anakin but when he started to unpack the beach ones, things went south. There was sand, in the backpacks. So. Much. Sand.
"It's okay," Anakin reassured himself, "It's just grains of rock and shell and salt all together, no problem." He carried the beach packs onto the back patio and shook them out, sand flew everywhere but thankfully it stayed away from him, he used the Force to insure that. Once the offending substance was gone he brought the packs back inside and put them away. Then he returned to the living room and sat on the couch next to his wife.
"There was sand in those backpacks Padmé," Anakin told her.
"Oh, sorry," Padmé responded, too tired to really care.
"Well it's all gone now," Anakin assured her, "No need to worry."
"I wasn't," she insisted.
They sat together, eyes closed, listening to the distant sounds of Luke and Leia chasing each other around the house. Barely five minutes had passed when the twins entered the living room, still yelling, and running full speed towards the couches. Luke jumped to the armchair in the corner and Leia hopped onto the coffee table.
"What in Force are you two doing?" Padmé asked.
"The floor is lava!" Leia yelled, "if you touch it you die!"
"Wow, that's a bit overdramatic," Anakin responded.
At the same moment Luke decided it was a wonderful idea to jump from his armchair to the couch. He flew through the air and by the time Anakin realized what was happening it was too late. Luke landed right on top of his father, crushing some things better left uncrushed.
"Ugh!" Anakin groaned loudly, "Luke why?" he squeaked.
Luke didn't answer, instead he scrambled across the couch, stepping on his mother as well before reaching the armrest and leaping to the next couch. Anakin had to admit, his son was getting the idea of Force jump pretty well but it still didn't explain why he had to jump onto his parents to practice.
"Anakin?" Padmé asked, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, fine," Anakin managed.
Leia jumped to the armchair as well and then turned towards her father, ready to fling herself across the room.
"No, no, no, no!" Anakin said but Leia had her own ideas. She grinned wildly and jumped. Before she could land however her father stopped her in midair, suspending her there with the Force.
"No fair!" Leia shouted, "Put me down! Put me down!" Her arms and legs flailed in the air as her father set her down gently on Luke's couch. She pouted, "Why did you do that daddy? I was gonna make it!"
"Maybe so," Anakin responded, "But you would have landed on me, that wouldn't have been very nice would it?"
"Yes! It would have been fun!" Leia insisted.
Anakin sighed, he didn't have the energy to explain why it most definitely wouldn't have been fun. "I'm sorry Leia," he said, "But there's other fun things to do right?"
"No! Nothing fun."
"Well what would you consider fun?" Her exasperated father asked.
"Let's visit Uncle Obi!" Leia suggested.
"Yeah yeah!" Luke agreed.
"You know, that's not such a bad idea," Anakin looked at Padmé, "What do you think, a visit to Uncle Obi?"
"Sounds lovely," Padmé replied, picking up on Anakin's idea, "I'm sure he'd love to see you kids."
"Yay!" Luke shouted, "We get to see Uncle Obi!" He ran out the door and towards their family ship, Leia followed close behind.
"Well, I guess we're going to Coruscant," Anakin told Padmé and they followed the kids to the ship.
Less than ten minutes into the trip Leia piped up, "Are we there yet?"
"No, it takes forty minutes to get to Coruscant from Naboo," Padmé told her.
"But it's already been forty minutes!" Luke whined, "I counted in my head."
"You did?" Padmé asked.
"Yep, I counted to sixty forty times that's forty minutes!"
"Well you must be counting very quickly because it's only barely been ten minutes."
"I bet he counted wrong!" Leia accused.
"No I didn't!" Luke argued.
"Yes you did!"
"No I didn't!"
"Did!"
"Didn't!"
"Luke! Leia!" Anakin yelled from the driver's seat, "Stop arguing or I'm turning this ship around right now!"
"But he counted wrong I know it!" Leia told her father.
"I don't care who counted wrong and who didn't, if you start yelling again we won't be going to Coruscant."
Leia crossed her arms indignantly but stopped talking. Luke smirked at his sister, he enjoyed it when she got into trouble and he didn't.
"Is there a game you want to play?" Padmé asked them.
"There aren't any games to play on this boring ship," Luke whined.
"You could play hide and seek," Padmé suggested.
"There's nowhere to hide," Leia insisted.
"I'm sure you'll find a place to hide," Padmé said.
"Even if I could, Luke counts too fast!" Leia told her mother.
"No I don't!" Luke yelled.
"Yes you do!"
"No I don't!"
"What did I just say?!" Anakin shouted, shutting up the children instantly, "Go into another room if you have to argue okay?"
"Okay," they said and sat down in silence, a silence that only lasted a precious few minutes before they began to talk to one another in hushed voices.
"What are they talking about?" Padmé asked Anakin.
"I don't know," he replied, "but at least they're quiet."
"They won't be for long," Padmé said.
She was, of course, correct in that observation and neither parent was surprised when Luke asked, "Are we there yet?"
"Not yet," Padmé told him, "But we're halfway there,"
"Oh," Luke said, "okay, when we get there will you buy me a new Y-Wing?"
"Sure," Padmé said.
"If Luke gets a Y-Wing I want something!" Leia declared.
"But you broke Luke's Y-Wing Leia, he needs a new one, none of your toys are broken,"
"I still want something."
"Leia no, you don't need any more toys,"
"But I do!"
"But you don't," Padmé insisted.
"But mom!"
"Leia, stop pestering you mother," Anakin said, "How about this, Luke can get a replacement Y-Wing and you can both get one new toy."
"Yay!" they both responded and ran out of the room to discuss with each other what they were going to get.
"But Anakin they don't need anymore toys," Padmé countered, "Have you seen the playroom?"
"The one on Naboo or Coruscant?" He asked.
"I feel like that question alone proves my point," Padmé told him.
"But if we get them more stuff they'll be distracted, if they're distracted there's more time for sleep, it makes sense," Anakin retorted.
"Except for when they don't clean up after themselves and we end up tripping on their toys or breaking one on accident and causing a tantrum," Padmé asserted.
"Okay I see your points but I already told them they could get new toys, we can't take it back now,"
"No, that's true, we can't, but the next time I trip on a toy it's your fault,"
"But that's unrealistic, it wouldn't be my fault," Anakin insisted.
Padmé gave him a glance that shut him up very quickly.
The last twenty minutes of the trip passed by relatively uneventfully. Luke and Leia had stayed in the back room discussing toys while their parents chatted up front. Anakin landed the ship in the Jedi Temple hangar and stood up. Not long after the Clone Wars had ended the Jedi Council had discovered Anakin and Padmé's relationship. They had not expelled him from the Order however because of the part he'd played in arresting Darth Sidious and bringing him to justice.
Anakin and Padmé went to the back room to let the kids know they had arrived and were confronted with a strange sight.
Luke and Leia were playing a game, together, in peace. There was no arguing, no hitting or insults, they were getting along.
Anakin whispered to Padmé, "What's happening?"
"I have no idea," she responded.
"This can't be Luke and Leia, did we end up in an alternate dimension?" he asked.
"How would that have happened?"
"I don't know but it's a more logical explanation than our kids actually playing peacefully together."
As soon as it had happened the sight was gone, Luke did something wrong and Leia yelled at him, the moment had disintegrated.
"What happened?" Padmé asked her perplexed husband.
"I don't know,"
Luke glanced his mother, "Mommy, mommy are we there?"
"Yes dear," she responded.
"Yay!" Leia yelled and bolted past her parents, out the ship's doors and down the ramp.
"Wait for me!" Luke yelled and ran after her.
"Well I guess everyone knows we're here now," Anakin said.
"Like they didn't already," Padmé responded.
The parents followed their children out the door, through the hangar and into the Temple. Once inside, Anakin spotted a familiar Togruta, whom his kids had spotted first and were running towards at full speed.
"Auntie Ahsoka!" Leia yelled and jumped into her arms.
"Leia!" she exclaimed, a little surprised but happy nonetheless, "It's so nice to see you!"
"Me too, me too!" Luke insisted and he too jumped at Ahsoka who toppled under the weight of both children.
"You guys are getting so big!" Ahsoka stated.
"I'm gonna be as tall as Dad one day!" Luke commented.
"No you won't," Leia argued.
"Yes I will!" Luke told his sister.
"No you won't!" she insisted.
Ahsoka carefully nudged the debating twins aside and stood up, "Did you teach them how to argue Skyguy?"
"I don't know what you're talking about Snips, they didn't get it from me," he replied.
"Keep telling yourself that," Padmé said.
"Hey!" Anakin shouted indignantly.
Padmé and Ahsoka both laughed.
"Trust me," he insisted, "I wouldn't intentionally cause problems for myself,"
"Well that goes against everything I learned as your padawan but whatever," Ahsoka said, "Anyway, I have to get going, I'm supposed to teach the younglings today, Master Yoda insisted,"
"It's because of how well I taught you," Anakin told her.
"Yeah okay," Ahsoka said.
She went to say goodbye to the twins who both insisted they see her again very soon, and then argued with each other how long 'very soon' was. Ahsoka turned to Anakin, "Well have fun dealing with this, see ya!" and she headed down the hall.
Anakin approached his children who were wrestling on the floor, "Hey," he said, "I thought we were going to see uncle Obi, doesn't arguing keep that from happening?"
Both children paused at that, realizing the truth to his words, then Leia shouted "Race you!" and bolted away.
"No fair you got a head start!" Luke yelled but he chased after her anyway.
Obi-Wan Kenobi sat in his study, enjoying the day off. Not that there was an immense amount of work to do since the Clone Wars had ended, he still appreciated having a nice cup of tea and reading peacefully every once in a while. He had just finished a very suspenseful chapter in his mystery novel and was very eager to read the next when a loud rapping came at his door, startling him.
The energetic knocking continued as he removed his glasses and placed them in his pocket. He stood up and moved to the door, curious to know who was on the other side. A split second before he opened it however he sensed who it was, the miniature Skywalkers. But the door was already open before he could change his mind.
"Uncle Obi! Uncle Obi!" Leia and Luke shouted, running into his apartment and jumping at him.
"Whoa whoa!" he shouted, "Calm down, I can't hold both of you at the same time!"
The twins didn't particularly care and Obi-Wan ended up balancing the two precariously, one in each arm.
The parents of the rambunctious children arrived moments later, "Anakin," Obi-Wan sighed, "A warning next time would be nice."
"But they seem to be enjoying themselves Uncle Obi," Anakin laughed.
Obi-Wan gently set Luke and Leia down and straightened his robes. The kids immediately started to run around the room, investigating every little thing they could see.
"Oh I'm sure they are but I was in the middle of a very interesting book and a nice cup of tea. Besides, you haven't been to the Temple in over two weeks, I was beginning to think you'd forgotten where it was, forgive me if I didn't expect to be attacked by small children today."
"Come on Obi-Wan! It hasn't been that long!" Anakin insisted.
Obi-Wan raised his eyebrows.
"Okay fine it has been that long, but these kids are a lot of work! I'd like to see you try to take care of them for a day…" he paused and looked at Padmé who grinned at him, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" he asked his wife.
She stared at him for a moment then turned to Obi-Wan, "Thanks for babysitting," she said and they turned and ran.
"Wait, wait no!" Obi-Wan shouted after them but they were almost around the corner, "They're not even my kids!" he yelled to no one in particular.
"Uncle Obi?" Luke questioned from behind him, "Where are mommy and daddy going?"
Obi-Wan grimaced, "Good news." he said a little unenthusiastically, "You get to spend a few hours with Uncle Obi."
"Yay!" Luke shouted.
Anakin and Padmé finally stopped running after they turned the third corner. They stood against the wall panting.
"Gosh I haven't run like that since Leia ran away in the senate building," Padmé gasped.
"It's definitely been a while for me too," Anakin agreed.
"I hope Obi-Wan doesn't get too upset," Padmé worried.
"Even if he is he'll get over it," Anakin told her, "Come on, it's nap time," he walked towards his Temple apartment, Padmé following close behind.
"Uncle Obi I'm hungry!" Leia shouted.
"Of course you are," he said, "Well what do you want?"
"Food, duh," Leia responded.
"Okay," Obi-Wan said, "I guess you have your father's manners. Let's go to the fridge and find something shall we?"
"Okay," Leia agreed.
They walked together to Obi-Wan's kitchen. He opened the fridge for Leia who peered inside for a few seconds before declaring, "There's nothing good in there."
"Nothing?" Obi-Wan asked, bemused.
"Nope," Leia responded.
"Okay how about the pantry?" Obi-Wan suggested.
Leia inspected the items in the pantry as well, and seemed to spot something she liked, "Donuts," she said, "I want donuts," she pointed at the box of donuts sitting on the highest shelf. Those were Obi-Wan's breakfast donuts, the ones he ate while drinking tea and staring pensively out the window.
"Fine," he grudgingly agreed, "You can have one donut."
He pulled the box down and opened it, delicately choosing a donut for Leia, even though they were all the same size and flavor. Obi-Wan retrieved a plate, placed the donut on it, and carefully handed it to Leia.
"Now be careful with that plate, it's breakable," Obi-Wan said.
"Okay Uncle Obi, I won't break it, I promise," Leia told him. Obi-Wan sincerely doubted that but he didn't have any other, less fragile, dishes.
Not five seconds after her promise Leia ran out of the room, almost dropping the plate, "Leia!" Obi-Wan gasped.
"What? Everything's fine," she said and continued into the living room.
"Well, I survive the Clone Wars and this is how I'm going to die, a heart attack caused by Anakin's children, lovely," Obi-Wan told himself before following her.
Luke was sat on the couch when Leia approached with her donut and Obi-Wan realized his mistake. The little boy eyed his sister's food before loudly proclaiming, "Why did Leia get a donut and not me? I want a donut!"
Obi-Wan sighed and retrieved a donut for Luke, first making him promise not to break the plate before handing it over.
"Thanks Uncle Obi," Luke said. At least one child got Padmé's sense of politeness Obi-Wan thought.
"You're very welcome," he replied.
Obi-Wan sat down on the small armchair in the corner. Luke and Leia munched their donuts for a moment before Luke declared his was "gross" and Leia soon followed suit, agreeing with her brother's opinion and demanding something else.
Obi-Wan attempted to convince the twins the donuts were fine, "I eat one every day, they're wonderful, please just try to finish them," he pleaded but they weren't having any of it.
"I want something else!" Leia said.
"Me too!" Luke agreed.
"Fine, let's go look in the pantry for something better," Obi-Wan told them.
He walked into the kitchen followed closely by the children. Luke took things into his own hands and opened the pantry, standing on his tiptoes to see what was on the top shelf. He threw some things out, which Obi-Wan barely caught and set gently on the counter.
"Luke, what are you doing?" Obi-Wan questioned.
"He's finding food Uncle Obi," Leia explained like it was an everyday occurrence.
"Does your father let you do this at home?" Obi-Wan asked them.
"Yeah all the time," Leia said. It was partially true, they did raid the pantry all the time at home but usually when their parents weren't looking. If Anakin and Padmé had known they would have stopped Luke and Leia a long time ago.
"Of course," Obi-Wan mumbled.
Luke continued to search the pantry until he discovered a small bag of sweets. He yelled in victory and showed Leia.
"Yes! Candy!" she shouted and then began to do something very odd, she began to put things back where they belonged in the pantry, making it look like Luke had never been there. When she was done the children ran off, Obi-Wan having very little motivation to chase after them and also a spark of curiosity over Leia's unexpected behavior. It then began to dawn on him the problems he would face should the Skywalker twins eat all that candy, he ran into the living room.
Leia was just beginning to open the bag when Obi-Wan stopped her, "Leia," he said, "How about you find something else to eat okay? Maybe something with less highly concentrated sugar?"
"But we want candy!" Luke said.
"Luke, there are other, better things to eat," Obi-Wan insisted.
"We will have the candy," Luke said, waving his hand in front of his uncle.
Obi-Wan felt the smallest tug on his consciousness, impressive for one so young but still, Anakin's son had just tried to mind trick him, for candy.
"Luke really?" Obi-Wan said, crossing his arms, "Mind tricks should only be used under dire circumstances, never to get one's way in trivial situations, which is what I'd call this."
"Please?" Luke asked, he looked straight at Obi-Wan and pouted. With his big blue eyes and blond hair he reminded Obi-Wan of Anakin when he was young.
"Fine," Obi-Wan agreed, "But you can't eat the whole bag okay? Just two pieces each."
"Four," Leia countered.
"Three," her uncle responded.
"Deal," Leia said and picked her three from the bag, Luke did the same and handed the bag to Obi-Wan.
"Thank you," he said and went to hide the bag where neither twin would be able to get to it.
Anakin rolled over in his sleep, 'this is such a comfortable bed' he thought, he rolled a bit more and suddenly felt he was falling. He started awake, it must have been a dream. He looked around, nope not a dream, he was on the floor next to the bed in his room in the Jedi Temple.
"Wait why am I here?" He asked himself, "Where are the twins?"
Everything came back to him suddenly, and he checked the time. The clock on his bedside table read 9:47 pm, he jumped up.
"Padmé!" he shouted, shaking her awake.
"What? What!?" she said startled.
"It's almost ten pm, Obi-Wan's had the twins for almost six hours!"
"Oh no!" she shouted, "This nap was only supposed to last two hours!"
"Well I think we overslept," Anakin stated.
"We have to go!" Padmé said, hurriedly standing up, straightening her dress and fixing her hair a bit, "I can't imagine the chaos they've caused for poor Obi-Wan!"
"I can," Anakin said thoughtfully.
"Not the time Anakin!" Padmé yelled and hurried out the door.
"Wait for me!" he said and chased after her.
As soon as they exited the apartment Ahsoka rounded the corner on her way home from teaching Padawan's all day, "Skyguy?" she asked, she saw Padmé next to him, their slightly ruffled clothes and where they'd just come from, her eyes widened.
"No, no, no! It's not what it looks like Ahsoka! I promise!" Anakin pleaded, "Really we were just napping! Just sleeping, nothing more!"
Ahsoka laughed, "Yeah okay," she said, "Don't worry, I won't tell Master Yoda," she continued down the hall past them.
"There's nothing to tell!" Anakin yelled after her.
"Come on Anakin we don't have time for this!" Padmé said and hurried towards Obi-Wan's apartment.
They arrived outside the door and Padmé braced herself for whatever the children had done, she was ready to deal with anything. She opened the door, well almost anything.
It was not the first time that day the Skywalker parents had been surprised by something, but what beheld them, it was the most unexpected thing they had seen. Obi-Wan Kenobi sat cross legged on his floor instructing the two children about the Force, and they were actually listening. Luke was enraptured by what his uncle had to say and stared at him with big eyes, Leia not so much, she was playing with her hair absentmindedly, the buns had come out long ago, but she was still listening to something an adult was telling her.
The two children barely noticed when their parents gently closed the door behind them and stood against the wall, also enraptured by what was happening, but for an entirely different reason.
"-and if you truly become one with the Force you can even be invisible at times," Obi-Wan told them.
"Wow," Luke muttered, "Have you ever been invisible?"
"No," Obi-Wan said, "Even I am still learning, but with practice anyone can do anything."
Anakin took that moment to interrupt, "Maybe don't tell them they can do anything or we'll end up with flying children."
"Daddy!" Leia shouted and hopped up, running towards him and hugging him.
"Well you took your sweet time," Obi-Wan said.
"I don't understand," Padmé said, "How did you get them to sit and listen?"
"I asked them if they wanted to hear funny stories about their dad, given there are so many of them," Obi-Wan replied.
"There aren't that many," Anakin mumbled.
Obi-Wan simply smiled at him, then continued talking to Padmé, "Once they were listening Luke started asking questions about the Force and here I am."
"Daddy did you really crash 24 ships during the Clone Wars?" Leia asked.
"I don't know did I?" Anakin asked Obi-Wan.
"Yes, I kept a tally, so did Ahsoka. At one point we started making bets on whether you'd crash the ship every time we went on missions together."
"You crashed 24 ships!" Padmé said, "How come you never told me?"
"Well most of the time it wasn't my fault," Anakin insisted.
"He'll say that every time you ask," Obi-Wan told her.
Luke stood up, "Mommy," he said, "I'm tired," he rubbed his eyes and yawned.
"Well," Padmé announced, "we better get home, the kids are finally getting sleepy. Thank you so much Obi-Wan for all your help."
"Even though we never asked," Anakin added.
Obi-Wan stood up, "They weren't that bad after they calmed down, but the first three hours of energy was a bit of a nightmare. Just next time call first okay?" he told Anakin.
"Yeah of course," Anakin replied, though he doubted that would be the case.
"Say goodbye to Uncle Obi," Padmé told the children.
"Bye Uncle Obi," Leia said and hugged him tightly.
"Goodbye Leia, I'm sure I'll see you again soon,"
Luke hugged Obi-Wan as well, "Bye Uncle Obi, I can't wait to come back and hear more funny stories about Dad."
"And I can't wait to tell them," Obi-Wan replied, "Goodbye Luke."
Luke went to his mother who lifted him into her arms, "Goodbye Obi-Wan," she said and opened the door.
"Bye," Anakin echoed.
"I'm sure it won't be long before you're back," Obi-Wan told him.
"Probably not," Anakin laughed and exited the apartment, Leia close behind.
The door closed and Obi-Wan sighed, "Time to get back to my mystery," he told himself and sat down to read.
With the kids falling asleep the ride back to Naboo was much more peaceful than the the ride to Coruscant. When they arrived it was already dark on Padmé's home planet, the sky was clear and the stars shone brightly. Anakin landed the ship and stood up.
"Let's tell the kids we're home," Anakin said.
He and Padmé walked to the back of the ship and saw that Leia and Luke were fast asleep on two chairs they had found. To avoid waking them Padmé gently lifted Luke into her arms and Anakin picked up Leia. They carried the children into the house and Padmé opened the door to the twins shared bedroom, turning on the light at the same time.
Leia blinked her eyes open, "We're home?" she asked drowsily.
"Yep we're home," Anakin replied. He carried her to her bed and set her down, pulling the covers up around her.
Padmé did the same with Luke who had also started to wake up a little.
"Mommy?" he asked, "Is it time for bed?"
"Yes dear," Padmé replied.
"But I want a bedtime story," he said.
Leia was also not ready to go to sleep without a story.
"Daddy tell us a story!" Luke demanded.
Leia scooted over on her bed and patted the edge, "Come on daddy, sit with me."
Anakin obliged, sitting next to his daughter on her tiny bed. Padmé sat on the floor next to them.
"Me too!" Luke announced and jumped into Padmé's lap.
"Story story," Leia pleaded and Anakin started his story:
"Once upon a time, in a galaxy far far away, there was a princess named Leia and a brave Jedi named Luke…"
Author's Note: Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! Post a review if you feel up to it. I will be writing another story about early teenage Luke and Leia so if you're interested stick around it should be posted by April 2018 sometime.
-Luna