New story peoples! I am back with Anakin and all his zaniness.
Daddy Dearest
Chapter One: Enter the Baby
After debating with myself for quite some time, I have decided to write down what happened last month, in the hope that it will keep some other poor Padawan from falling into the same trap I did….. O.K so maybe the main reason is to show how, despite how much Obi Wan insists all these happenings are MY fault, they really aren't. I mean the mere thought that I would… I mean what do they think? That I'm like some sort of code breaking rebellious Padawan? How far from the truth is that?
So I'll start this out where it's most helpful to began, the beginning.
It all started with a knock on the door to my chambers. Not the kind of knock that timid company uses or Obi Wan's stern little raps when I'm late for training. This was more of a sudden boom. One second of loud noise followed by silence.
It happened to be three in the morning when this happened, and I was asleep. The noise woke me, and I did what any other being would do who'd been woken up at three in the morning by a load bang. I turned over and went back to sleep.
That's when the other noise came. A sort of squeaky whimpering outside, like from a kids toy. I tried stuffing my pillow up my ears, and even laying under it to keep the sound out. But that little whine would not shut up.
"Please go away!" I moaned at whatever was behind the door.
The noise only grew loader.
I waited for a few moments then, knowing what a light sleeper Master was. Very likely, since our rooms were next to one another, he'd wake up because of the racket and send whatever was making it away.
"Whaa! Whaa!"
Gritting my teeth and closing my eyes tightly, I counted to twenty.
"Whaa! Whaa!"
"Shut up!" I groaned, pressing my pillow over my face, "Please, please shut up!"
"Whaa! Whaa!"
I decided that whatever happened to be on the door's other side hated me, and was only seeking to embitter my life with its constant whimpering. Angrily, and with stinging eyes I could tell were bloodshot, I grabbed my light saber and flung open the door.
For all of you Padawan out there taking notes, this is mistake number one. If you are ever awakened at night by a sound outside your door, stay in bed. No matter how important it may come to be… No matter how much your Master will yell at you come dawn… Take it from me, opening the door's just not worth it.
Once the door was open, the noise stopped. "Oh great," I mumbled, "some youngling prank." I was about to turn back around when I noticed a small woven basket laying on the floor, just before the doorway.
"Whaa! Whaa!"
I let out a large gasp. Sitting inside that basket, nestled in a fuzzy blanket was a baby. I slammed the door shut, and then opened it again cautiously. The basket was still there. Once again I closed the door, knowing that somehow it must have opened a portal to a different dimension. Only that could explain the child outside my door.
Master's door opened with a whoosh, and I could hear his fury slippers squeaking against the tile floor as he approached my room. "Anakin," he yawned, "what's all that racket?"
There was a shout and inhale of surprise as he tripped on the baby basket. "Good grief! How'd this get here?" I jumped as he rapped on the door, "Anakin, you've got some explaining to do."
Sighing, I opened the door. "What is it, Master?"
"That's what I'd like to know." He shot me an accusing look from where he sat beside the baby. "Have you any idea?"
I looked the kid over quickly. "Nope,"
The baby was still crying loudly, and Master picked it up. "It had to come from somewhere, these things just don't turn up you know." He flipped the baby over like he was searching for a tag.
I lifted up the blanket, as I'd suspected an envelope lay beneath it. "Master-"
Obi Wan had it open a moment later. He read it then to himself his face grew paler and paler. Casting the letter aside, he stared at the baby's face, then at me, then back to the baby again.
"So," I asked, "what's the note say?"
Master didn't answer. Instead he put the baby back into its carrier, and carried it into his room, motioning for me to follow.
As soon as I was inside, Master closed the door and rounded on me threateningly. "You've never see this baby before have you? No idea where it came from? That's a fine thing to say about your own child!"
Alright, I thought to myself, it's finally happened. I'd been preparing for this day for along while and wasn't at all surprised by the way Obi Wan was acting. After being my mentor for ten years, Master had at long last gone insane.
"Master, just settle down," I soothed, "why don't you go sit on your bed, and I'll call the nice men to come and fit you for a new white suit?"
Obi Wan rolled his eyes and handed me the note that had come from the baby's basket. "See for yourself."
I accepted the paper with a flourish, and began reading. "Dear Daddy," I stopped and shot a startled glance to the baby, it gurgled and grinned. "Daddy?"
"Yes, my rebellious Padawan,"
I rolled my eyes, "Master, you're being ridiculous!"
"Am I?" He looked from the baby to me, "Skin deep I'd guess you fathered this child, its blonde headed, has your nose, and apparently your same distaste for authority." He drew a handkerchief from somewhere and wiped a stream of spit up from the front of his cloak. The kid gurgled; I had to admit it was pretty smart, but still…
Master was talking to himself now, voice lowered, but I could hear what he said. "It's all coming together…. Good Force, it all makes sense! The long absences, the night's he hasn't been in his bed, the distracted look, that box of chocolates I caught him with last week, the way he terminates his communicator conversations whenever I come into the room…."
Uh-oh, I could see where this was going. "Master, this is all stupid! I've never seen this baby in my life! They must have stuck it by the wrong door or something."
"Well, if you read the note it came with-" Obi wan began stooping to pick it off the floor, "It clearly states-"
"I'll prove it's not mine! We'll go to Air Space, they have a D.N.A. booth, we'll get this all straightened out now."
With a sigh, Obi Wan nodded. "If that's the way you want it, Anikan."
That was the way I wanted it alright, so as quickly as I could, I drug master and the infant to my speeder.
"Careful with the youngling, Anakin, they're breakable you know." Master rebuked me as he picked the baby off the dash board where I'd thrown it. "Some father you'll make." He grunted under his breath, pulling his eye pads down from his forehead.
I shot an angry look to the creature in his arms, it met my gaze with a dimpled smile, "this is all you're fault you know," I told it, "I'd still be sleeping off last night's mission if you hadn't showed up."
The baby opened its mouth in a yawn, and then snuggled down against Master's bathrobe. I turned my eyes back to the airway.
Air Space is one of the only stores open all night on Corasaunt, the others are all bars and clubs. The parking lot was empty except for a repair man's black and yellow craft. I pulled up beside it and hopped out. "We're here."
Master woke with a start, and then raised his blinders. "Come on!" I urged. I had to rip him from the speeder, and pull him into the store where the brightness blinded him.
The clerk at the check out looked up surprised as we rushed by. I tried to picture how it looked to him, a man with no shirt, dragging a man in a bathrobe and slippers carrying a baby down a store isle. I shuddered, but didn't let got of Master until we were beside the D.N.A. booth.
"Out of order!" I shouted, reading a notice posted on the black curtain.
"Yep!" A deep voice called, I craned my neck around the booth to see a repair man's massive bottom before the control panel. He reached back and pulled up his slopping pants before asking, "Can ya' hand me that wrench?"
I gave it to him, "when will it be fixed?'
The bottom shrugged, "from what I can tell…. Never."
"What happened to it?" Master asked, juggling the child in his hands and going for the traditional one hand under each armpit hold.
"Oh, the manager was showin' it off to some council member friend of his. Well, he tried out the machine, and turns out he's part sewer hog. Didn't sit very well with the senator, I can tell you that. Well sir, he blasted this little baby to scrap, and took care of all the other ones in the system while he was at it."
I could feel the dread washing over me, now I would have to wait for lab results, which can take up to six weeks to develop fully. No, no, there had to be another way. "Let me see that thing!" I ordered, elbowing the behind out of my way.
But it was as bad as the worker had said, sparks shot up from the circuit board, and the gears were fried.
Obi Wan patted my shoulder, "Come on, Anakin, let's get back to the academy, we'll get something figured out…"
I nodded, defeated. I knew what was coming next, an appointment with the Jedi Council no doubt. And I could tell that someone like Yoda or Mace would think I had something to do with that baby. Heck, Master even believed it. For the next month, I was sure my life would be a living hell.
I ended up holding the baby on the way back, because Master said it was putting a kink in his arm.
"I hope you're happy with yourself," I grumbled at it.
It looked up at me, and smiled its evil, galaxy-domination smile, before letting out s stream of barf which landed all over me. Boy, I could tell this was going to be fun.
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