An Anniversary Party at the Palace. . .

by mrs~*~kenobi

Standard Disclaimer: SW belongs to Uncle George. Scooby Doo belongs to Hanna Barbera. Z-Men and the Naboo Times are spoofs of X-Men and The New York Times. Who owns Digimon? (I have no clue.) Mouse Trap, The Game of Life, and Clue are copyrighted by Milton Bradley and Parker Bros. "At The Beginning" is by Richard Marx and Donna Lewis. (It's also from Anastasia, which Leia will mention.) "Your Song" is by Elton John. (It's also from Moulin Rouge, which I just mentioned.)

AN~ well, guess what! just what you've been waiting for...a sequel to "A Relaxing Day with the Kids" and "An Evening at the Palace. . ." enjoy! :) oh yeah, the Jedi action figures Luke plays with are supposed to be like what G.I. Joes and X-Men are to us.

~*~

It was another day in paradise as Anakin, still in his sleeping clothes, walked into the living room one bright Friday morning. He switched on the holo-vid and started channel surfing.

"Eight hundred channels and not a damn thing on," he mumbled to himself. "Where's the paper?" Anakin pressed a button on the intercom on the end table.

"Has the paper come yet?" he asked the servant on the other line.

"Yes, sir. I will bring it up right away for you, Sir Knight."

Anakin thumbed the intercom off and collapsed back on the sofa. The clock was sitting on the opposite end table, and he stole a glance at the upside - down time.

"Eight fifteen?" he moaned. "On a Friday? It's too dang early."

A few moments later, the paper arrived. Flipping open The Naboo Times, a hundred coupon flyers flew out and smacked Anakin right in the face. Knocking them aside, he hastily breezed through it, merely glancing at headlines. Then, one big, colorful ad on the Announcements section caught his eye.

Anakin and Amidala's wedding picture was there, accompanied by a jumble of words in cutesy font style. " 'To my Dear Husband: It was ten years ago that we were joyfully married, but seventeen when we first met. Both days will forever be cherished in my heart. Love you always, Ami,' " he read, grinning.

A sound behind him reached Anakin's ears. He turned around to see Amidala standing in the doorway, wrapped in her long pale pink robe.

"There you are," she said. "Isn't it a little early for you?"

"Oh, I just had to get up to see the surprise ad in the paper," he replied, brandishing the page. Anakin looked up at his wife.

"Did you?" Amidala whispered, sitting on the sofa next to him, wrapping her arms around him.

"I did," Anakin replied, he and Amidala's lips merely inches away from each other's. They were just about to touch when Leia, in her pink Scooby Doo nightshirt, ran into the room, interrupting her parents.

"Happy Anna's Nursery!" she beamed, then looked confused. "Who's Anna anyways?" Amidala laughed.

Luke padded into the room behind his sister, clad in his Z-Men pajamas. "It's anniversary, you dummy," he said scornfully. "Besides, Mommy and Dad's isn't until tomorrow."

"Shut up, Luke! You're just mad because I got to say it to them first," Leia shot back.

Anakin and Amidala exchanged smiles.

"Whatever," Luke replied, jumping onto the recliner and grabbed the remote.

"Are you still having the party tomorrow night, Mommy?" Leia asked, hopping on the couch in between Anakin and Amidala.

"Yes, we are, and if you are on your extra good behavior today, I'll let you stay up a little past your bedtime so that you can talk to all of Mommy's guests."

"Yay!" Leia cheered, excited to be in on a social gathering.

Luke stopped on Digimon and looked over at his parents. "Me too?"

"Of course," Anakin told his son.

"Cool!" the twins said in unison. "Tomorrow night is going to fun!"

~*~

Queen Amidala, dressed in one of her most stunning evening gowns of burgundy charmuese and chiffon, with her matching silver veil and panné cape, stood next to Anakin, who was in his usual Jedi attire, in the Palace ballroom the next night, politely chatting with a few Senators she had invited. At a break in the conversation, she leaned over to Anakin and whispered. "Seen the twins?"

"Nope," he whispered back. "What do you suppose they're up to?"

"Nothing, I hope. Maybe we'd better go find them," Amidala replied.

"I'm sure they're fine. We don't want Luke and Leia to think we don't trust them."

"Since when do we?" she teased.

Anakin played with the ruby charm dangling from Amidala's headdress. "Maybe you're right," he whispered, quietly slipping away.

~*~

Meanwhile, Luke and Leia were in their room, playing MouseTrap. They had just started to the game, as only a few pieces of the trap were in place.

Luke rolled the dice and moved his blue, plastic rodent game-piece ahead. "2, 3, 4," he read, sighing. He picked up the broken staircase and pushed it into place. "Your turn, Leia."

She rolled the dice and moved her plastic rat a few spaces. Reading the outcome, Leia moved the red drainpipe into place. She sighed and rested her chin her hands, sprawled out on her stomach.

Luke was sitting cross-legged on the opposite side of the game board. He rested his elbows on his knees and reached for the dice.

Their bedroom door was opened a crack and Anakin peaked in. He smiled, seeing his children playing a game. He stood at the door for a few moments, watching them actually act civilized for once, and surprised that they weren't in the ballroom wrecking havoc.

"Mommy and Dad's party sure is boring," Luke said, collecting a piece of paperboard cheese.

"That's cause all of the people are just standing around sipping wine and talking about boring things about the Senate. I don't see how Mommy can stand sitting through all those meetings all of the time. I could never do it," Leia agreed.

Luke snapped the plumbing onto the growing trap. "You'll have to do it someday. Mommy says you're the princess of Theed."

"I'll run away first."

Her brother laughed. "I'll come too. Then we can run away and be Jedi like Daddy."

"Better then being at their silly ol' party tonight," Leia said.

Anakin grinned, his children's words sounding very familiar. When he and Amidala were first dating, he often complained about all of the demands within the Senate that kept her busy all of the time, leaving Anakin utterly bored. He used to joke about leaving her to live in the Jedi Temple and continue his training forever.

Anakin opened the door and stepped into the twins' room. "Hey, you two. What are you doing in here?"

"Sorry, Daddy, I would've stayed in the ballroom at the party, but, uh....Luke said he was tired and I decided to keep him company," Leia said.

"Oh, that's all right. I'm getting tired, too," Anakin replied, kneeling down next to Luke.

"That's okay, Daddy. You can stay and play Mouse Trap with us," Leia beamed.

"Here! You can be the green rat! Same color as your lightsaber," Luke smiled, placing the plastic game-piece in his father's palm.

Anakin could not wipe the grin off his face. "Okay. Surely your Mommy won't mind that I'll only be gone for a few minutes."

~*~

"Happy Anniversary and congratulations, Your Highness," Obi-Wan Kenobi smiled, kissing the Queen's hand. "I hope you have many more happy years ahead of you."

"Thank you very much, Obi-Wan. That's so nice of you to say. I'm glad you could come tonight. Anakin will be pleased."

Obi-Wan released Amidala's hand and looked around. "Speaking of which, where is Sir Skywalker?" He laughed.

"Hmm, I don't know. He went to check on the twins, but I haven't seen him since he left," she replied. "I suppose I'll have to go look for him. The pianist and his musicians want to begin their presentation, and Anakin has to be here."

"You stay here with your guests, Amidala. It wouldn't be right for you to leave. I'll go find him for you," Obi-Wan said.

"Oh, thank you, Obi-Wan. You are right. As I am hostess, it wouldn't be proper for me to desert the guests. When you find him, please get him back here right away."

"Sure."

~*~

" 'Vacation in Alderaan. Collect a Life Tile,' " Leia read on the square she stopped her hovercar game-piece on. "Yay!" Anakin, Luke, and Leia were playing The Game of Life.

"My turn!" Luke exclaimed, spinning the spinner. "Four. . . . . 'Sponsor Podracing Tournament. Pay five thousand credits. ' "

"Fork it over," Anakin said, extending his hand to collect the cash.

Luke slapped the play money into his dad's palm. "Darn it. I'm almost broke!"

At that moment, Obi-Wan stepped into the room. "What in the world . . .?" he marveled.

"Hey, Obi old pal!" Anakin exclaimed. "Haven't seen ya in weeks! Glad you could come to our party tonight!"

Obi-Wan smirked. "Which one - your anniversary celebration or Battle of the Board Games?"

"Oh, to heck with that. All those stuffed shirt Senators and crap? Me and the kids are having plenty of fun, aren't we?"

Luke and Leia both pumped fists into the air. "Yeah!"

"Beats being princess of Theed any day!" Leia said.

"Yeah, me and sissy are going to run away from the boring Senate and live in the Jedi Temple forever!" Luke added.

Obi-Wan just smiled. "Well, I hate to break up this little funfest, but Amidala is going bananas that you aren't out there, Anakin. The band is getting ready to start and she's driving herself nuts because you never came back after checking on your homies, here."

Anakin looked down at his wrist chrono. "Crap. I forgot Ami told me they were starting at eight thirty." He rose to leave.

"No, Daddy, you can't go!" the twins cried.

Anakin looked down at them. "Tell ya what. If you two come back to the party and sit with me and your Mommy through the music stuff, I'll come back with you and play the rest of our board games with you."

Luke and Leia beamed and got up from the floor. " 'Kay!" they agreed.

As the four of them were walking down the hall, Luke and Leia in each of Anakin's arms, Obi-Wan looked over at his former padawan with an amused smile. Anakin grinned back.

"Kids. Gotta love 'em," he said.

~*~

"So there you are!" Amidala exclaimed, running up to her family, who were walking in through the ballroom doors. "The band's ready to start! Come on, dears, let's take our seats!"

~*~

The concert and party was just coming to a close. The band was nearing the end of their final piece. Leia was grooving along with the music while Luke was quietly playing with some Jedi action figures he'd stashed in his pockets.

The final piano riff died away. The guests applauded politely.

"That wasn't so bad," Leia said to Luke. "If I have to attend all of those boring meeting and parties when I get older, these music thingies every now and then will keep me going. You know, Luke, I think I'll stick with my princess title after all. It's not so bad. But I promise I'll come be a Jedi with you on my day off."

Luke looked up from his toys. "Okay, sounds good," he replied. He jumped off Anakin's lap.

Amidala laughed under her breath and lifted Leia off her lap. "Well, I've got to say goodbye to the guests. You coming Anakin?"

"In a sec," he said. Leaning over to the twins, he said, "Go play by the piano. I'll join you in a few minutes."

" 'Kay," Luke replied. "You coming, Princess Leia?"

"Comin' !" she said, joining her brother.

~*~

Fifteen minutes later, Anakin joined his son and daughter by the grand piano. Amidala was still speaking with a few of her departing guests.

Luke and Leia were sitting on top of the piano, playing with Luke's Jedi action figures, having them duel each other with their mini lightsabers. Anakin smiled and sat down at the piano bench. He placed his fingers gently on the keys, remembering the song he had secretly been learning on the piano to play for Amidala. He was just beginning to play a small part of it when Obi-Wan walked over.

"Well, I think the party was great. You oughta give Amidala a pat on the back for the ouutstanding hostess she was," he said.

Anakin grinned. "I'll probably do more than that."

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes. "Always the sex driven one, aren't you?" he laughed, then changed the subject. "Since when can you play the piano?" he asked as Anakin started to play a simple tune.

"It's a surprise for Amidala. I've been learning a song I've been wanting to play for her on our anniversary. When she's through with saying farewell to the guests, I'm going to play it for her."

"I only hope you can sing," Obi-Wan joked.

"Of course," Anakin assured him, starting to play something else. " 'And you can tell everybody, this is your song. . . it may be quite a symbol, now that it's done. I hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind, that I put down in words. . . ."

Obi-Wan smiled with amusement. "You're just going to hound me about seeing that movie forever, aren't you?" he asked rhetorically.

Anakin answered anyway. "Yup."

"Hello all," Amidala said, suddenly appearing among the group. "Well, it's over. They're gone. What say you and I spend a little time together before going off to bed?"

"Sure," Anakin grinned. "I have a surprise for you. Can the kids and Obi-Wan stay?"

"I don't mind," she smiled.

"Okay. Well. . .Leia, why don't you introduce me?"

Leia and Luke put their toys aside and perched on the edge of the piano. Leia cleared her throat dramatically.

"From Anakin Skywalker to his lovely wife Queen Amidala," she began, "A song for you. It's also from Anastasia. Play it, Daddy, play it!"

Anakin placed his fingers on the keyboard and started to play, striking each note precisely, digging his fingers into the keys. " 'We were strangers, starting out on a journey, never dreamed of what we'd have to go through. . ."

Amidala sat down on the bench beside Anakin, smiling as he played the song. Anastasia being Leia's favorite movie, she'd heard the song hundreds of times and knew it, but never realized that it fit she and Anakin so well. He continued to play, looking into her eyes, as tears ran down her cheeks.

"Life is a road and I wanna keep going, love is a river I wanna keep going on. . ." Anakin continued on. Then he turned to Leia.

"Starting out on a journey!" she sang.

Soon, the last note died away from Anakin's fingers. He looked up at Amidala from the keys.

Through her joyful sobs, she said, "I love you."

"Ditto," he replied softly, leaning in and kissing her.

"EWW! Mushy stuff!" Luke yelled. "I'm going back to my room to finish playing our board game! Come on, Dad, you promised!"

"I did," Anakin said, breaking he and Amidala's kiss. Looking over at Obi-Wan, he said, "You coming? I can whisk out the Clue board!"

"Yeah, c'mon Obi-Wan!" Leia exclaimed. "You come too, Mommy! Let's all have our own Anna's Nursery party! And this time, it'll be fun!"

"ANNIVERSARY, you dumbhead!" Luke said.

"Whatever!" she said back. Turning to her parents and Obi-Wan, she exclaimed, "Now are you coming or what?"

~*~*~

el fin

~*~*~