"So," said Obi-Wan Kenobi, pouring himself a much needed cup of caf, "One of the Jedi caretakers, Arifa Opsir, is sick, so we have been assigned to take care of a group of younglings tonight in her place."
"What?" cried thirteen-year old Anakin, choking on his blue milk. "We have to watch babies?"
Obi-Wan sighed, hiding a smirk. "I'm afraid so, Anakin. But it will be a learning experience. Perhaps you'll be put on caretaker duty when you become a master."
Anakin looked horrified at the thought.
—
That night, as Anakin and Obi-Wan went into the part of the temple where the younglings lived, they were greeted by a young twi'lek female.
"Hello!" she greeted them, smiling. "Do you understand what to do?"
Anakin opened his mouth to say No, but Obi-Wan quickly placed a hand over it, and forced a smile. "Of course we do."
"Good," said the twi'lek, turning towards the door. "Oh," she added. "One more thing: make sure you don't fall asleep. It can be very hard to stay awake all night." And with that, she turned and left.
Obi-Wan turned around. In front of him sat a mixture of ten alien and human younglings sitting in cribs, ranging from newborns, to about three. They looked nervous.
Anakin attempted to pick up a baby togruta, but failed, accidentally dropping the youngling. "Oops," he muttered.
"Anakin!" Obi-Wan cried indignantly. He picked up the now-crying child, and held him in the crook of his arm. "You can't just go around dropping babies!"
"Sorry, Master!" Anakin replied. He looked at Obi-Wan for a minute before replying, "Hey, why don't you watch all the little babies, and I'll take care of everyone else?"
"Fair enough," Obi-Wan muttered, attempting to pick up five screaming younglings at once. Unlike Anakin, he hadn't managed to drop a single one (yet)!
"Are you hungry?" he asked, carefully rocking all five of them. "I would think! After all, when was your last meal?" Reaching for the youngling's bottles, Obi-Wan let go of the younglings and levitated them instead. They giggled happily.
After making sure each youngling had the right bottle, Obi-Wan realized he didn't know which crib each child was supposed to go in. "Anakin, do you remember who went in which crib?" he absentmindedly asked.
No reply.
"Anakin?" Obi-Wan asked again.
There was still no answer, so Obi-Wan reached through the bond he and Anakin shared, finding that Anakin had taken the younglings out of the Jedi Temple.
Anakin, get back here right now! Obi-Wan said through their force-bond. Anakin didn't reply immediately, making Obi-Wan nervous.
Obi-Wan waited. And waited. After a while, he gave up, and decided to go look for Anakin before he got himself into bigger trouble.
—-
Anakin marveled at how cool the Jedi Temple looked from high up in the air. Next to him on the speeder, the younglings were giggling and pointing towards the city below.
"Pwetty!" one exclaimed, clapping her hands. Another one tugged on Anakin's braid, almost making him lose his balance.
"Padawan Skywalker," he said. "We go back now? I'm hungry."
Anakin smirked a little, wondering what Obi-Wan would do when he found out what his padawan was up to. So he didn't technically steal Master Windu's speeder, but Obi-Wan might not see it that way. "You know what?" he told the young male Twi'lek, "Why don't we go to a restaurant? Won't that be fun?" And Obi-Wan might take longer to find us that way, he added silently.
"But Padawan Skywalker," a female Togruta exclaimed. "It's past our bedtime! What would Master Opsir say?"
"Oh, she won't care," Anakin said absentmindedly, speeding past one of the Jedi Temple's many windows. For a second there, he was sure he heard Obi-Wan screaming at him, but he was pretty sure it was just his imagination.
What the kriff are you doing, Anakin? Obi-Wan yelled through the training bond.
Wow, Master, Anakin replied, did you just swear? I never thought I'd see the day when-
Stop carrying on, and go land someplace safe. Obi-Wan interrupted him with. And if you've managed to hurt any of the younglings…..
Yeah, yeah, whatever. Anakin grumbled. Not that he would actually do what Obi-Wan said...
"Why is he mad?" a female human who appeared to be about three asked him. She placed her thumb in her mouth, carefully eyeing Anakin. The other younglings nodded, all wanting to know the answer.
"Who?" Anakin asked, confused.
"Your master. He is also very sad and disappointed, 'cause you don't never listen, " the twi'lek chimed in.
"Uh..." Anakin wasn't really sure what to say. He had forgotten the younglings were force-sensitive. Fortunately, he never figured that out, because Obi-Wan took that moment to appear behind him in a speeder.
"Anakin Skywalker!" his master yelled. Anakin had to laugh at the sight, because besides being all red, Obi-Wan was also toting around a bunch of babies. Five, to be exact.
"This is not funny!" Obi-Wan cried. "I trusted you to take care of a few younglings, and twenty minutes later, I find that you have stolen a Senior Council Member's ship, left the Jedi Temple, and are now aimlessly flying around Coruscant. You're almost 14, Anakin! Will I ever be able to trust you?"
"Nope, " Anakin replied, taking his arms off of the speeder so that no one was driving it. He turned around and faced Obi-Wan.
His master glared. "Remember when I asked for your opinion? No? Me neither! How odd!" One of the babies that Obi-Wan carried took that moment to cry, so he jostled him a little. "Now come on, Anakin, go land the speeder this instant!"
Anakin sighed. If he continued this argument, that would mean a lot more meditation, but the look on Obi-Wan's face was definitely worth it. He was about to turn around and land when Obi-Wan started screaming at him
"Turn around, Anakin, or you'll crash into the wall!" Obi-Wan cried, his padawan dangerously close to a building. As annoyed as he was, Obi-Wan would rather not have a dead padawan.
"I'm trying!" came the frantic reply. Obi-Wan could only watch in horror as Anakin crashed Mace Windu's speeder into a building. But at the last minute, Anakin managed to grab his five younglings and jump onto Obi-Wan's speeder.
"Ten laps around the Jedi Temple," Obi-Wan sternly told his padawan as soon the younglings were all fed, and secured inside their cribs. "After that, you will go tell Master Windy about his speeder, and than you will meditated for the rest of the night."
"But Master," Anakin cried.
"No buts, Anakin, " Obi-Wan sighed. "I've had enough of your childish antics today. Now, for once, go do what you are told! And try not to get into any trouble!"
"Okay, Master," Anakin muttered shamelessly.
A/N: Depending on the amount of reviews I get, this may or may not be picked up for a second chapter.