Ten years after the events of The Protector…

Chapter 1

"A little higher, just a little…yeah, perfect. Now hold it still."

Luke held the light steady as his father stuck his head under the hood of the swoop bike. Luke was an excellent mechanic himself, but even he was stumped. So he decided to leave it in the hands of the expert. Sixteen year old Luke idolized his father in every way. More than that, he considered Anakin one of his best friends, and felt that he could tell him anything. Well, almost anything.

"I see what the problem is," Anakin said from under the hood.

"What?" Luke asked.

"Someone forgot to change the ignition fuse," he replied, standing up again. He cocked an eyebrow. "Didn't I remind you to do that last week, Luke?"

"Yeah, I guess I forgot," the boy replied.

Anakin shook his head, his son reminding him so much of himself at that age. But he won't take the same path that I took, Anakin reflected. I'll see to it.

"It's not like you to forget something like that, Luke," Anakin said as he rummaged through the parts drawer for what he needed. "I'm surprised at you."

Luke shrugged as he took the part from his father. "Guess I was distracted," he replied as he bent to replace the burnt fuse.

Anakin watched him. "By what?" he asked. "Or should I say by whom?"

Luke glance up at him and smiled. "Nice try, Dad," he replied.

The boy's too good, Anakin reflected. "So what then? What has you distracted?"

Luke finished the repair and then straightened to look up at his father. He was about to say something when one of Luke's younger siblings, four year old Anakin Junior, raced into the garage.

"Daddy! Obi's making a mess in the kitchen!" Anakin Junior reported.

"Where's your sister?" Anakin demanded, as he headed back towards the house. "Leia is supposed to be watching you guys!"

"I don't know where she is," Anakin Junior replied innocently. "I was just playing with my toys."

Yeah sure, Anakin thought, knowing his namesake well enough to suspect that he was highly involved in whatever disaster he would find in the kitchen.

"Oh boy," Anakin said when he reached the kitchen. Two year old Obi-Wan sat in the middle of the kitchen completely covered in flour. "What is going on in here??"

Obi-Wan turned his big blue eyes to his father and smiled. "Making cookies!" he declared happily. "Want some?"

Anakin had to put his hand over his mouth to hide the smile. No, this was no laughing matter, as amusing as Anakin found it. Clearly someone had been shirking her responsibilities. And her name was…

"Leia!!" Anakin called. "Leia get in here now!"

"Leia's talking to some boy," ten year old Shmi reported to her father. "She's been talking to him for over an hour!"

Anakin scowled. "Leia Skywalker get in this room this instant!" he bellowed, causing the younger ones to run away.

"What is it!? I'm on the…" Leia said as she stuck her head in the room. "Uh oh…"

"Yeah, uh oh is right," Anakin replied. "While you were talking to Force knows who, your brother, who you were supposed to be watching, did this," he said, indicating the still floury Obi-Wan, who was now taking handfuls of flour and blowing them across the room. Leia couldn't help but giggle, but stopped at once when she saw the withering look her father was giving her.

"Okay, I'll clean it up," she grumbled.

"You most certainly will," Anakin told her. "And after that you can tell me who was so fascinating that you had to talk to them for over an hour."

Leia shot her younger sister a dirty look, knowing it had been Shmi who had ratted her out. Shmi merely smiled and left the room.

"Dad, can't Threepio do this?" Leia complained as she picked up her floury brother, trying in vain to avoid getting herself covered in the mess.

"I suppose he could," Anakin replied as he pulled the clothes from the boy. "But since he wasn't the one asked to watch the baby, that would hardly seem fair, would it?"

"He's a droid," Leia stated. "What does he care about fair?"

Anakin pulled the tee-shirt up over Obi-Wan's head, sending a cloud of flour into the air. "You're joking, right?" he asked as he took the chubby boy from Leia's arms. "Now clean it up while I give Obi a bath."

"Bath! Bath!" Obi-Wan declared happily. "Want bubbles in bath, Daddy!"

"Okay okay," Anakin told him. "Now Obi, you know what you did in the kitchen was bad, don't you?" he asked as he carried his youngest child to the fresher. "Flour isn't meant to be played with."

"Not playing, Daddy," Obi-Wan protested. "Making cookies!"

Anakin couldn't help but smile the look on his son's face so much like Padmé's when she was trying to make a point stick. "Okay, so you were making cookies," Anakin relented. "But when Mommy isn't home, nobody gets to make cookies, okay?"

"Okay," Obi-Wan replied. "Mommy home soon?"

"I hope so," Anakin muttered as he set the boy down to start the bath. "Now don't go anywhere," he told him.

"Okey dokey, Daddy!" Obi-Wan replied cheerfully as he plopped down on the floor.
As the tub filled up, Anakin helped his son select just the right toys to play with, and then floated them to the waiting bath water using the Force, as Obi-Wan clapped his approval, sending more flour up into the air. Finally it was Obi-Wan himself who was levitated into the tub, giggling madly all the while.

"Now let's get you clean," Anakin said as he knelt down beside the tub. "Obi-Wan, how did you manage to get flour on the back of your ears?" he asked.

"I no no," the boy replied, sending a toy rancor to the watery depths.

Anakin shook his head with a smile. Padmé had often voiced her concerns that they were indulging Obi-Wan more than the others because he was the baby; Anakin was starting to agree with her. Still, it was so hard to say no when the boy looked at him with those big blue eyes of his…

"Daddy, Leia called me a tattle tale and a nerf herder," Shmi announced as she entered the fresher.

Anakin continued to dry off Obi-Wan as he considered what to do next. How was it that battle tactics came so much easier to him than parenting tactics? His four sons he had no trouble policing; but the girls, that was another matter. He lacked Padmé's diplomatic abilities, and often found himself getting into power struggles, particularly with Leia. If she wasn't so much like me this wouldn't happen, he reflected as he dressed the baby. "I'm coming," he told Shmi. "Just stay out of Leia's way for now, okay?"

"Okay," Shmi replied, taking the baby her father handed off to her as he left the room.

Obi-Wan looked up at his sister with a twinkle in his eyes. "Make cookies, Shmi?"

Anakin walked into the kitchen where Leia had just finished cleaning up the last of the mess.

"Looks good," he said.

"Thanks," she said, looking up at him. "Can I go now?"

"After you tell me who you were talking to instead of watching your baby brother," Anakin said, folding his arms over his chest.

Leia frowned. "Just a friend," she replied. "What difference does it make?"

"When you neglect your duties, it makes a big difference," Anakin replied. "Why are you so reluctant to tell me? What are you hiding?"

"I'm not hiding anything!" she declared hotly. "Why are you so suspicious of me all the time?"

"I am not suspicious of you all the time," he replied, trying to keep his temper in check. "Only when you give me reason to be."

Leia sighed dramatically. "Which is all the time," she muttered.

"Fine," Anakin said, losing patience. "Until you are willing to talk to me, then you can stay in your room, without the use of the holonet."

"That is so unfair!" she exclaimed.

Anakin shrugged. "Maybe so," he replied. "But you leave me no choice. If you are too busy talking on that damnable thing to look after your brother, then you are not permitted to use it. Your brother's safety is more important than your social life Leia."

Leia scowled, and was about to reply, but decided against it. As much as her father liked to indulge his children, she knew when the line had been crossed; she knew when he meant business.

"Fine," she said, and strode off to her room. "I can't wait to get back to Coruscant!" she added hotly. Anakin waited for the sound of her slamming door, which he did moments later.

"Neither can I!" he shouted back, and then regretted it immediately. "Girls," he muttered.

Padmé Skywalker arrived home a short time later. She had been on an extended leave from her senatorial duties since the birth of her and Anakin's youngest child, two year old Obi-Wan. Padmé had always loved her career; but motherhood had proven to be an even greater source of fulfillment. In fact, if truth be told, Padmé would be happy if she never returned to politics. Raising seven children was far more rewarding, certainly more challenging, than anything she had encountered in her political career.

Padmé was met in the foyer of their home by her young namesake, eight year old Amidala.

"Hi Mom," Amidala said, hugging her mother warmly. Of all her children, Padmé found that Amidala was the most like her in temperament, while still possessing the characteristic Skywalker Force abilities.

"Hi sweetheart," Padmé replied, kissing her daughter on the top of her head. "How have things been here while I was in town?"

"Interesting," Amidala replied with a smile.

"Uh oh," Padmé replied. "What happened?"

"Obi-Wan tried to make cookies," Amidala replied. "He made a mess."

Padmé frowned. "Isn't Leia home?"

"Yes she is," Amidala replied as they walked into the house. "I guess she was busy."

Padmé was about to reply when Anakin walked into the room. She could tell at once that something was bothering him.

"Hi," he said, coming over to her and giving her a kiss. "I'm glad you're home."

"Hi," she said. "I can believe it," she added with a smile, noting the dusting of flour in his hair. "Been baking?" she asked, brushing it from his curls.

"Not exactly," he replied. "But everything is under control, don't worry."

Padmé nodded, not entirely sure they were. The family vacations they spent on Naboo were always interesting; for while Anakin was a good father, his duties on the Jedi Council kept him very busy. It was Padmé who ran the house and managed the children; when he was in charge, well, things just tended to happen.

"And where were Luke and Leia this afternoon?" Padmé asked as she and Anakin walked into the family room.

"Luke was with me," Anakin replied. "Fixing his swoop bike. Leia was in her room talking to some joker on the holonet."

"Some joker?" Padmé asked with a barely suppressed smile. "Come on now, Ani; you can't expect her not to talk to boys. She's almost seventeen!"

"I can when she's supposed to be minding her brother," Anakin replied. "You should have seen the mess he made, Padmé; it was the worst one yet."

Padmé nodded her understanding. "I'll talk to her," she said. "I'm sure the two of you ended up in a fight, right?"

Anakin frowned, disturbed by his wife's ability to read his mind despite her lack of Force sensitivity. "Why would you think that?" he asked defensively.

Padmé smiled. "Because I know you both very well," she replied, touching his face lightly. "You're very cute with flour in your hair," she added.

Anakin smiled. "You know," he said, putting his hands on her shoulders, "the kids are all busy," he told her. "Think they'd notice if we just…disappeared for a few…"

"Mommy!!" Obi-Wan squealed as he toddled into the room and headed straight for Padmé.

Anakin released her as Obi-Wan wrapped his arms around her legs tightly.

"I guess they would," he said with a sigh.

Padmé looked up at him. "Later," she told him, the look in her eyes telling him that she meant it.

Anakin nodded. "Until later then," he said.

Soon the room was filled with the rest of the youngest Skywalker children who had sensed that their mother was home. Each of them all wanted to talk to her at once. Anakin merely smiled as the children all jockeyed for position with their mother.

"How does dinner at the lake sound?" Padmé asked. "Grandma invited us to spend the night."

The shouts of excitement from the children gave Padmé her answer. She looked up at Anakin over the heads of their children. The lake was a perfect idea and just what Anakin needed after a stressful afternoon of child care.

"Sounds great," he said at last.