Luke Skywalker was in trouble. Big trouble. And hiding from his very angry father probably wasn't helping things much. He was currently hiding in a closet, shielding his Force presence as well as his eight-year-old self was able to, praying that when his father caught him he wouldn't actually do it.

Earlier that morning, he had pranked Mace Windu by rubbing paint on his very bald head while the Jedi Master was sleeping. It had seemed funny at the time - he was sure that dad had laughed about it earlier - but now Anakin was furious and probably going to punish him very badly. Unless he turned himself in, but the thought of Master Windu's face when he had seen himself in the mirror was just too much.

"Gotcha!"

Luke gave an undignified squeak as his father grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and yanked him up. He'd been so engrossed in his own thoughts that he hadn't realized when his father had found him. I'm in for it, Luke thought to himself miserably, after seeing the expression on his dad's face. Anakin had never been one to shirk from punishing his children - he did love them, though - and now was certainly going to be no exception. It was just his luck that mom and Leia had to be out for the day, too.

"You're in for it, buster." Anakin dragged his son to their private quarters, sitting down on the sofa, holding Luke tightly by the arms. The boy didn't try to squirm- he knew that any resistance would only make matters worse.

"Luke, look at me."

Luke slowly raised his eyes to meet those of his angry father's. He bit his lip and waited for the verdict.

"Luke Skywalker, you are in a lot of trouble. You should not have pranked a Jedi Master like that, you should not have lied about doing it, and you certainly shouldn't have run off to hide from me!"

"But-" Luke began weakly, but his father cut him off. "You were disrespectful to me and Master Windu, you made poor choices, and you deliberately broke the rules. Do you know what this means?"

Luke swallowed gingerly. "That I'm really sorry and don't have to be punished?" he said in a small voice, hoping that by looking sweet and innocent his father wouldn't do it. Anakin, however, had long since learned to steel himself from that sort of thing. "You've already sealed your fate, kiddo." Anakin grasped his son firmly by the waist and lowered his pants, then hoisted him over his lap. Luke struggled wildly, but his father held him down tightly - almost so that it hurt - and positioned the boy on his knee. Luke shut his eyes tightly, tensing himself for what was to come.

Smack! Anakin hit firmly and squarely on Luke's upturned backside, then proceeded to swat him hardly from top to bottom, then starting again. Tears swarmed in Luke's eyes, and he fought not to squirm. After Anakin started over for the fourth time, his hand shot up to protect his burning backside. His father caught the hand and pinned it to the boy's back with his right arm - the one that was holding him down. After he began the sixth circuit Anakin began to speak.

"You were very smack disobedient smack and naughty smack and deserved to be punished smack. You smack should behave better smack because you are a Jedi padawan smack and smack this better not happen again smack ever! Do you smack understand?"

Tears were streaming down Luke's face by now - he didn't bother to try and hold them back. His bottom and thighs felt like they were on fire - this had been by far the worst spanking he had ever gotten.

"Well? Spank. Answer me spank young man!"

"Y-yes sir," Luke managed. Anakin, however, continued the on burst without letting up. Smack. Smack. Smack.

"Please stop!" Luke finally cried out, but if anything, the slaps continued to rain down even harder. Luke swallowed, then finally swallowed his pride. "I'm sorry," he finally managed.

The spanks began to slow, but still continued. Luke silently sobbed. At last, they stopped. Anakin stood his son up on his feet firmly and replaced the boy's clothing, ignoring the his son's whimpers of pain as best he could. "Have you learned your lesson?"

"Yes sir."

"Then go to your room. I'll talk to you in a few minutes after you have time to think about what you did."

Luke hurried to his room and closed the door. He flopped onto his bed, face-first, and sobbed quietly into his pillow. His backside throbbed so badly that he thought he wouldn't be able to sit down for a month. At last Anakin entered the room. Luke wouldn't look at him.

"Look at me, son."

Luke didn't move.

"Luke, I said look at me."

Still, his son didn't budge.

"Now, or would you rather me remind you why we are having this conversation?"

Luke slowly raised himself and met his father's eyes. To his surprise, Anakin didn't appear to be angry at him anymore. Anakin walked over and seated himself on the edge of the bed. After several long minutes, Luke finally found the courage to speak. "Are you still mad at me, dad?"

Anakin smiled and placed a hand gently on his son's shoulders. "I was never mad at you, Luke," he said. "I was upset with you. You are better than this and shouldn't have done what you did."

Luke lowered his eyes shamefully. " 'M sorry," he muttered.

Anakin gently raised the boy's chin. "It's alright, Luke. I forgive you. Just don't do it again," he added as an afterthought.

Luke nodded. "I won't" he promised.

Anakin smiled and tugged Luke onto his lap, hugging the boy tightly. "I know."