Chapter 2

The sounds of laughter and children's voices floated over the still waters of Lake Varykino as the Skywalker family made their way to the Lake Retreat. Anakin watched Leia, noticing that she had sat as far away from him as she could, sensing that there was something more on her mind than just his reprimand.

"What's eating her these days?" he finally asked his wife.

"Leia?" Padmé asked, seeing where his attention had been drawn.

"Yeah," he said. "She's been even moodier than normal lately, have you noticed?"

"Yes I have," Padmé admitted, watching their eldest daughter as she held onto Obi-Wan who was trying to dive into the lake. "Maybe you ought to ask her."

Anakin snorted. "Yeah, like she'd tell me," he retorted.

"Well she won't if you don't ask," Padmé replied with a smile. "You and she have always been close. She'll open up to you if you approach her the right way."

"We'll see," he replied. "Shmi said she was talking to a boy on the holonet for over an hour," he told her, watching his wife closely for a reaction. "Do you know of anyone special she's been talking about?"

Padmé shrugged. "You'd know better than me," she replied evasively. "You see her at the temple all day."

Anakin narrowed his eyes, realizing that she was hiding something. "That doesn't mean anything and you know it," he countered. "What are you hiding?"

Padmé looked at him. "Keeping a confidence doesn't necessarily imply hiding something," she replied diplomatically, and then stood up as the gondola reached the shore.

"Smooth, Senator Skywalker," Anakin said as he too stood up. "Very smooth."

Jobal and Ruwee greeted their grandchildren warmly with many hugs and kisses. With Pooja and Ryoo grown women now, it was only when the Skywalker children came visiting that they had the chance to indulge their grandchildren. And indulge them they did; Anakin and Padmé knew that there would be little in the way of routine over the next day or so while they visited. But with their vacation on Naboo drawing to a close, both reasoned that they could allow a bit of indulgence before returning home to Coruscant.

"How are you, Ruwee?" Anakin asked, shaking hands with his father-in-law.

"Good, Anakin," Ruwee replied. "I'm good, you? Looking forward to getting back?"

Anakin shrugged. "Well, part of me is," he admitted. "Don't get me wrong, I love spending time with the kids…"

"But it's exhausting," Ruwee finished with a smile.

Anakin laughed. "Yeah, you could say that. Thanks for the invitation; the kids love it up here. So do we," he added, looking at his wife.

"Well relax while you can," Ruwee replied. "You know how Jobal likes to spoil the kids while they're here."

"I do indeed," Anakin replied.

The family dined on the terrace that evening, the warm summer breeze and the glorious sunset adding to the enjoyment of all. Ruwee and Jobal sat by with expressions of amusement on their faces as they listened to their grandchildren prattle on.

Anakin and Padmé sat back and enjoyed themselves, allowing Padmé's parents to keep the children amused. Anakin noticed that Leia kept checking her wrist chrono, and that she seemed very edgy. She noticed her father looking at her and, after looking at him briefly, turned to her younger sister and started talking to her, trying to throw Anakin off the scent. What are you hiding, Leia? Anakin thought as he studied his eldest daughter. I know you're hiding something, and I'm not going to rest until I find out what it is.

Padmé sat at the dressing table brushing out her long hair as Anakin sat on the bed, his back against the head board, his arms folded over his chest.

"Something on your mind?" she asked, looking at his reflection in the mirror.

"Just wondering who has Leia so distracted," Anakin answered.

Padmé smiled. "I thought you could read her mind," she remarked.

Anakin looked at her. "That isn't funny," he replied. "You know who it is, don't you?"

Padmé said nothing, but set her brush down and stood up.

"Don't you?" Anakin said again as he watched his wife walk over to the bed.

"Do you really want to talk about this right now?" she asked.

"Are you trying to avoid the topic?" he challenged.

Padmé laughed. "No," she replied, slipping off the light robe she wore over her nightie. "I'm trying to get some quality time alone with my husband," she told him.

Anakin suspected that his wife was trying to distract him; he was quite certain of it in fact. But it was far too seldom that they had time alone without the fear of at least one child intruding upon them. With Jobal and Ruwee hosting a pajama party for the youngest children of Anakin and Padmé, they were afforded a rare night where no nocturnal visitors were expected.

"Is that what you're doing?" he asked, holding out a hand to her.

Padmé nodded. "Does that interest you?" she asked, putting her hand in his.

"Let's see, a night spent with my beautiful wife without fear of having to hide under the covers when the inevitable interruption occurs?" he asked with a smile. "Is that what you're talking about?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm talking about," she replied, nestling up close to him and running one hand over his bare chest. "Just imagine, we have the whole night to ourselves," she said.

"Let's hope so," he said, pulling her close. "Because I don't want to be interrupted," he added.

Padmé laughed as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "Me neither," she agreed.

It was early the next morning, far too early for Anakin's liking, when the door to their room opened and two little intruders came running inside on small bare feet.

"Mommy!" Obi-Wan squealed as he and Anakin Junior crawled onto the foot of their parents' bed.

Anakin opened his eyes reluctantly as his two youngest sons clamored up between him and his wife.

"Good morning," Padmé told the small boys, hugging them both. "You're up early this morning."

"I'll say," Anakin yawned.

"Can we go swimming?" Anakin Junior asked.

Anakin closed his eyes, pretending to drift off. But his wife wasn't fooled.

"Yes, of course we can," Padmé said, "right Daddy?"

Anakin made no reply, so Padmé gave her boys a knowing look. In a moment Anakin was attacked by three pairs of tickling hands, and his ruse was over.

"Okay! Okay!" he cried as he writhed in laughter. "I surrender! Let's go swimming!"

Padmé smiled and winked at the boys. "Works every time," she said. The boys giggled and scurried out the door to get their bathing trunks.

"You enjoyed that, didn't you?" Anakin asked his wife as he reluctantly got out of bed.

"Yes, very much so," Padmé admitted. "It's not everyone who can best the indomitable Anakin Skywalker."

Anakin laughed. "Yeah, right," he replied. "Let's get this over with," he sighed.

"Such enthusiasm," she teased.

A short time later

Padmé sat on the beach, laughing as Anakin Junior and Obi-Wan buried their father in the sand.

"Are you enjoying this?" Anakin asked, his head sticking out of the sand.

"Yes I am," Padmé assured him. "Very much."

Anakin laughed at her candor.

"Okay Daddy, now!" Anakin Junior announced as he and Obi-Wan sat back in the sand.

"Now Daddy, now now!!" Obi agreed, clapping his hands.

Anakin closed his eyes and concentrated, the excitement he felt from his two youngest sons making it difficult to do so. But soon he was able to do so sufficiently to send the sand that trapped him to start lifting off of him. The two boys clapped furiously as the sand started to swirl around and up into the air, forming a giant funnel of sand that eventually blew out into the lake.

"Again, Daddy, again!" Obi cried.

Anakin sat up, brushing the sand from his body. "Again??" he asked.

Obi-Wan nodded enthusiastically.

"Why don't we go swimming instead?" Padmé suggested, standing up.

Anakin looked up at her, grateful for her suggestion.

"Can you throw us into the water, Daddy?" Anakin junior asked.

"That I can do," Anakin replied standing and scooping up Obi-Wan who began to squeal with delight.

Anakin Junior soon joined his younger brother in the water, and they were soon joined by their parents.

"Leia, let's go swimming," Shmi pleaded. "Please??"

Leia looked at her younger sister. "Shmi, I don't feel like it," she said. "Go on in, everybody else is swimming. You don't need me."

Shmi frowned, clearly showing her disappointment. "You never want to do anything fun with me anymore," she complained.

"That's not true," Leia replied. "We do stuff together all the time."

"We used to," Shmi corrected her. "But ever since you started liking that boy you don't do anything with me anymore."

Leia frowned, and cast an anxious glance to her parents. "Will you be quiet?" she hissed. "You know how mad Dad would be if he knew about that."

Shmi folded her arms. "Why shouldn't I tell?" she asked.

Leia narrowed her eyes. "Because I'm your sister and you love me," she said.

Shmi rolled her eyes. "So what?"

Leia sighed loudly, and stood up. "Okay, okay," she said. "You win. Let's go swimming."

Shmi smiled triumphantly, and took Leia's hand as they walked towards the water.

Anakin watched Leia, sensing that she was annoyed. Usually she loved playing with her younger sisters, both of them; but lately he'd noticed that had changed, and that Leia seemed put out by the girls' demands of her attention. What is going on with you, Leia? He wondered. By the end of this weekend I'm going to find out, I promise you that.

Dinner that evening was full of laughter as the visit wound down. The Skywalker family would be returning to Coruscant in the morning, and Jobal and Ruwee wanted to squeeze in every moment they could with them.

"So are you looking forward to returning to the capital?" Ruwee asked Padmé and Anakin.

"Yes and no," Padmé replied. "Vacation is always so nice, but it's good to get the kids back into their routine," she added.

"I guess it won't be long before little Obi becomes a Jedi apprentice as well," Jobal commented.

Anakin and Padmé looked down the table where Obi was blowing bubbles in his milk through a straw. They looked at one another and shook their heads, neither one of them being able to imagine their youngest child in the Jedi Temple.

"I'm not sure the Order is or ever will be ready for Obi," Anakin commented with a smile.

"He's a little…spoiled," Padmé added. "You know the baby and all."

Jobal smiled. "Well, he's still a baby," she said. "Little Ani was like him too when he was two, wasn't he?"

"I'm not sure he was quite as ….active," Anakin replied.

Ruwee laughed. "Well I think he'll be just fine," he said.

Jobal smiled. "You could always have one more so he wouldn't be the baby any more," she suggested.

Anakin's eyes widened. "Another one?" he asked. "You're joking, right?"

Ruwee and Jobal both laughed; Padmé, however, did not and said nothing.

It took the combined efforts of all four adults to get the children to bed that night. Luke and Leia assisted, as they often did, and by midnight everyone was in bed and the vast house was finally quiet.

"As much as I love being here, it will be good to go home," Padmé said as she climbed into bed with Anakin.

Anakin nodded. "The kids need to be kept busy," he said. "Otherwise they just get into mischief."
Padmé smiled. "Now who does that remind me of?" she asked.

Anakin laughed. "I can't imagine," he replied. "The kids are just as bad as me, is that what you're saying?"

"I didn't say they were bad," she said. "I believe mischievous is the more appropriate word."

"I see," he replied as she snuggled against him. "Not like Obi-Wan's kids," he said. "They're perfect," he added, a trace of sarcasms in his voice.

"They are not perfect," Padmé countered, somewhat defensively. "They're no better than our children, Anakin."

"You don't see the things I see, Padmé," he told her. "They never speak out of turn, never come to class late…they're always well behaved."

"Jealous?" she asked, looking up at him.

"No, of course not," he replied. "I wouldn't change our kids for anything. But it's just a little…embarrassing when they pull the stunts they do sometimes."

"What stunts?" she asked.

"Well, you know," he replied. "This thing Qui-Gon has for Darth Vader…it's really driving me crazy."

Padmé had to suppress her laughter at this point. "He's only ten," she reminded him. "He'll outgrow it."

"I hope so," Anakin grumbled. "Yoda keeps asking me when I'm going to bring Obi to the temple," he told her. "Can you just see him there? The place would never be the same." He sighed sleepily. "Good thing he's the last one," he yawned.

Padmé frowned, and looked up at him. But he'd already closed his eyes and was drifting off, so she decided not to say anything for now.