A/N: Again if any of you are confused about the dates and time, I have the link to the wookieepedia page that explains the star wars standard calender in my profile. Just copy and paste it. Some of the words you see in here are misspelled for a reason. As you read you will understand why. Now onto the story. I hope that you enjoy this chapter.
Telona the fourteenth 17 BBY
Naboo: Theed: Naberrie Home.
Anakin walked in the door to his in-law's house after a grueling day at work. Ulrich Fuller had been riding his ass about getting Fuller's Engineering's latest project done in time. Anakin had gone over the plans for hours and seemed to find something wrong with them every day. He was beginning to think that the project was impossible. Of course he had visited Padme after getting off at work and vented his frustrations. If she was awake she would know just what to say to make things more smoother. But it had been over eighteen months that she was in the coma. So far there had been no change in her condition. Anakin was at a loss for how he could help her other than pay for the best possible care.
Anakin forced aside all of his negative feelings and smiled when he saw Luke and Leia sitting on the floor together building towers with blocks. It was startling when they started building towers like those on Coruscant with their building blocks just days ago. Now it was endearing. Of course they did this while their cousin Janren rolled on his stomach trying to take their blocks and stick them in his mouth.
As on cue both twins realized that their father was standing there watching them and both cried "Dada!" in unison. Anakin was about to walk over to them when Leia pushed herself up on her feet and began wobbling her way over to him.
Jobal instantly set aside her book and watched in wonder as her youngest granddaughter walked for the first time.
Snapping out of his shock Anakin bent down in time for Leia to reach him. When she grasped her little fingers around his pant leg, he scooped her up in his arms and bestowed little kisses along her cheek. "That was wonderful, Leia!" he praised.
Leia put her fingers in her mouth and lightly chewed before smiling and giggling, completely oblivious to what she had done. She looked up at her father and smiled at him. "Dada!" she repeated holding her hands up high.
Luke watched the exchanged with wide blue eyes. Not to be outdone by his sister, he too pushed himself up on his feet only to fall down on his butt with a "oof".
Anakin saw this and smiled. "Come on, Luke. Come to me," he encouraged holding out his free hand.
Luke looked at him with his wide blue eyes. When Anakin nodded to him, he pushed himself back up on his feet and stumbled as he placed one foot in front of the other. He fell back down and cried in frustration.
"You can do it, Luke, I believe in you," Anakin encouraged. In his arms Leia watched her brother with her wide brown eyes.
Luke looked up at his father and pushed himself back up this time walking the distance between him and his father. Anakin wrapped his arm around his son and pulled him closer. "See, I knew you could do it!" he praised his son. Luke looked up at him and smiled pleased that he pleased his father. Anakin stood up, cradling both children on either side of him.
"You look tired," Jobal observed.
"I'm fine," Anakin assured her.
In the past eighteen months since he first came here Anakin had been welcomed into the family warmly except for Ruwee. While his father-in-law was pleasant towards him, Anakin still wasn't accepted by the patriarch of the Naberrie family. Anakin doubted if Ruwee Naberrie would accept him before Padme woke up.
Jobal of course treated Anakin like she would treat her own son, but Anakin did not call her "Mom" like Darred did. Jobal understood this after he explained to her about his own mother. Sola of course treated him like an older sister would treat her younger brother. Anakin found Sola to be very opinionated which sometimes annoyed him but he knew that she meant well. It bothered him most when she would tell him how to raise Luke and Leia at which times he made his point clear in short clipped tones. Sola usually got the picture. Darred on the other hand treated Anakin like he would treat one of his buddies. But Darred wasn't Anakin's best friend. That role was still filled by Obi-Wan who Anakin made sure to keep in contact with. Of course Ryoo and Pooja adored their "Uncle Ani" and always made sure to show it. Pooja was constantly presenting Anakin with pictures that she drew in her free time while Ryoo had just recently gotten into poetry and presented him with her first poem. These were the kinds of things that Anakin pinned up on his refrigeration unit.
Jobal walked up to him and inspected his face noting the dark circles under his eyes. "Why don't you leave Luke and Leia here and get some much needed rest," she suggested.
"I'm fine, really. It's just been a long day," Anakin told her.
Jobal gave him a look that stated that she didn't believe him. "Anakin, Dear, You really should get some rest. Here let me take them for the night," she persisted reaching for both twins.
"I said that I was fine," Anakin told her shortly.
Jobal dropped her hands. "Alright. But the offer still stands," she said.
"And I appreciate it, but I can handle things fine on my own now," Anakin told her.
"I know, Dear," Jobal said gently and kissed both of her grandchildren's foreheads. Leia reached over to plant a wet sloppy kiss to her grandmother's cheek and Jobal smiled. "I love you too, Leia," she said. Luke reached out and gave her a hug. "And you too, Luke," Jobal said still smiling.
Luke and Leia each clutched at Anakin's shirt as tightly as they could. Leia buried her face into his neck while Luke watched everything that was going on around him. Each twin knew that they were going home now.
"I'll be by first thing in the morning to drop them off. I might be a little late in picking them up tomorrow, this project that I'm working on is taking more of my time than anticipated and Fuller wants it done on his schedule rather than the set one," Anakin told her.
"Of course, Dear," Jobal agreed. "Just promise me that you wont work yourself to exhaustion; I always hated it when Padme would do it," she asked.
Anakin smiled. "I promise," he told her.
Jobal smiled. "Thank you," she said.
Anakin nodded before turning to leave. He was grateful that he only lived within walking distance from the Naberrie home. He was even more grateful for Darred who had found the house for him because in no time he was able to walk in the door of his own house. He had made the right choice in raising Luke and Leia on Naboo. Here you didn't have to worry about thieves and murderers like on Coruscant or about the sand people on Tatooine. But the jedi in him learned to be cautious anyway; because shorty after walking in the front door he activated the security system that he had installed. He walked straight into the kitchen before putting both Luke and Leia in their respective dining seats at the kitchen table.
Anakin then set to work in preparing two small bowels of oatmeal following the simple instructions through the food replicator. When the oatmeal was done he placed the lukewarm bowels in front of Luke and Leia and handed them their spoons.
Both Luke and Leia looked down at their oatmeal and back up at their father. Anakin sighed. "Don't give me that look you two. You both know that I can't cook," he told them.
Luke dipped his spoon into his oatmeal and for a second Anakin thought that he was going to eat it. That was before his precious son flicked his spoonful of oatmeal at his face and giggled.
Anakin reached for a napkin to wipe the oatmeal off of his face. "Daddy's had a rough day could the two of you please behave?" he asked gently.
Leia fixed her big brown eyes on her brother before turning them back on her father. She dipped her spoon in her oatmeal before putting it her mouth like a good girl.
Anakin smiled. "Thank you, Princess," he breathed. Leia seemed to beam with the praise, especially the nickname that Anakin had bestowed upon her.
Luke looked over at his twin and got the look on his face that said to Anakin that he wasn't going to be outdone by his sister again and jammed his spoon his his oatmeal and made sure that Leia was watching him before he slowly sucked on the oatmeal.
Anakin groaned as the early stages of sibling rivalry began to show itself. "Please be good," he begged. Both Luke and Leia looked at him; each wearing innocent expressions. "I'm done for," he muttered before taking out a pre-prepared meal from the refrigeration unit and used the replicator to warm it up. When that was done he sat down across from Luke and Leia. "This is better than food rations, I'll give that much credit," he said offering Luke and Leia a smile knowing that they knew nothing about his role as a jedi during the war.
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Anakin knelt down in front of the bath tub as Luke and Leia splashed the bubbled water that they were in. Luke splashed some of the bubbles at his father and giggled. Anakin however was prepared this time and used the force to stop the bubbles from hitting him and instead floated them to land on top of Luke's head. Luke frowned in confusion and reach above him for the bubbles.
Anakin smiled. "Can't find them, can you, Son?" he asked as Luke tilted his head up still searching for the bubbles.
Leia then offered one of her toys to her father after she had been chewing on it. "Why thank you, your highness," Anakin replied taking the toy and setting it down on the edge of the tub. Leia looked at him square in the eyes giving Anakin a good view of her eyes. "You have your mother's eyes, Leia," he said sadly. "And her hair, I imagine that you'll end up taking after her."
Leia put her fingers in her mouth once again and cast her eyes down momentarily as though sensing her father's pain. Luke on the other hand had given up his search for the bubbles and took the toy that his sister had offered their father. Instead of following his sister's lead, Luke threw the toy at Anakin hitting him in the forehead.
"Thank you, Son," Anakin said dryly and put the toy aside. Luke smiled happily. Anakin brushed a few strands of honey blond hair out of his son's eyes. "You'll be needing a haircut soon, Luke," he said. Luke reached up and touched the top of his head and Anakin smiled. "Lets get the two of you washed okay," he said. Both twins looked at him each getting ready to cooperate.
When Anakin reached for the soap Leia grabbed his mechanical fingers and looked up at him with her big brown eyes. "Owech," she said. She did this all the time.
Anakin smiled. "It did hurt," he agreed.
Leia tightened her grasp on his fingers. "Owech Dada," she said.
Anakin laughed a little. He understood what she was trying to say even without the force. "A bad man did it," he told her.
Leia then kissed his hand. "Bauttor," she said.
"It's all better now, thank you," Anakin replied.
Leia fixed her eyes on him again and gave him a big smile making Anakin smile at her childish innocence. Luke scooted closer in the bubbles and offered a toy starship to Anakin also fixing his wide eyed gaze on him. Anakin took the starship silently thanking the force for these two little miracles. He truly didn't know how he would get through this life without them. He didn't even want to think about what could have happened.
"I know that you two don't understand this yet but you both are very special. I don't know how I could have lasted without you. The two of you saved me from myself; I love you both so much," Anakin told them brushing their hair out of their eyes.
For a moment Anakin thought that they understood him as they reached for him, both planting wet, sloppy kisses on his cheeks.
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Helona tenth 17 BBY
Naboo: Theed: Skywalker home. Midday.
Anakin sat on the floor in the living room with Luke and Leia as they built towers with their blocks. They had moved up from building one Coruscant type tower up to building a whole city. In all of the different datachips he had on parenting and child development Anakin knew that Luke and Leia were far advanced for their age. Everyone seemed to be utterly amazed with them. But to Anakin this was normal. At the age of three, Anakin had already built five droids out of spare parts he had found. Before he bought the child development datachips; Anakin was truly baffled by everyone's amazement. It was hard to explain how Luke and Leia seemed to advance so fast.
Anakin took the building block that Luke handed him and placed it in the correct spot for the tower that would represent 500 Republica. "Someone very important is coming to visit today just to see the two of you," he said.
Leia looked up at him. "Dada geeddi," she said.
Anakin smiled. "I was a jedi," he confirmed.
"Geeddi commawn," Luke said looking at his father.
Anakin smiled. Both children were already in strongly tuned with the force that it almost amazed Anakin. "That's right," he said and placed another block that Leia had given him in it's place for another tower. "Obi-Wan is a very good friend of mine. He taught me everything that I know. Things that I will be teaching the two of you as you get older," he informed them. "You don't remember the last time Obi-Wan came to visit but he is very fond of you both," he told them.
"Unca Obi Commawn," Luke said fixing his big blue gaze on his father.
Anakin laughed. He couldn't wait to see Obi-Wan's face when Luke and Leia call him that. "Yeah, Uncle Obi is coming. He should arrive any minute," he said.
As if on cue Anakin felt the familiar presence of his old master just outside and waved his hand at the door, using the force to open it. Luke and Leia jumped up and ran over to the door shouting "Unca Obi" just as Obi-Wan walked through the door, closing it behind him.
Anakin laughed at the expression on Obi-Wan's face as he heard his new name and each twin tugging on his cloak.
"They got big fast," Obi-Wan said bending to inspect both twins.
Anakin stood up from the floor so that he could greet his friend. "What did the council say when you told them that you were coming here?" he asked.
"Oh the council is very interested in Luke and Leia. This is the first time that a jedi is known to have any offspring," Obi-Wan said. "They've ordered that Luke and Leia be tested," he informed his friend.
"Tested for what?" Anakin demanded.
Obi-Wan looked Anakin in the eye. "They want Luke and Leia to come to the temple, Anakin," he said.
"Out of the question," Anakin said flatly. "They can order you about all they want but I'm no longer a jedi; they have no power over what I will and will not do and I will not allow them to test my children like experiments," he told him.
"Anakin, the council has decided that if Luke and Leia show a high connection to the force that if either them decided to become jedi then they have the opportunity. They have agreed to come to any agreement that they can get with you in order to do this," Obi-Wan told him.
Anakin mulled this information over. He knew that if either Luke or Leia wanted to become a jedi, that he would not get in the way. But he also didn't want to loose either of them to the jedi order or it's code. "What is the catch, Obi-Wan?" he demanded.
"You know as well I do that the code will never be amended unless someone proves that there are flaws in it," Obi-Wan told him.
Anakin looked him in the eye. "And you think that Luke and Leia are the key to amending the code?" he questioned.
"I didn't say that," Obi-Wan told him.
"But you were thinking it," Anakin told him.
"Sometimes change must be forced," Obi-Wan said. He sat down on the couch with both Luke and Leia crawling up next to him giving the jedi their full attention. "I've spent a lot of time thinking about what nearly happened, Anakin, and I have come to the conclusion that the order failed you when you needed it the most. I almost failed you because I stuck to the code so many times. There are flaws and it is these flaws that almost drove you to madness," he said.
"Have you spoken about this with the council?" Anakin asked hollowly.
"I wanted to run it past you first. I will not betray your trust, Anakin. If you tell me not to bring it up, I wont," Obi-Wan answered.
"I don't want them to know, Obi-Wan. I don't want anyone to know," Anakin told him.
"Very well," Obi-Wan agreed. "It is your choice. But I still think that you should talk to someone about it. A brush with the darkside is not an easy thing to overcome alone, Anakin," he told him.
"I have you to talk to, don't I?" Anakin pointed out.
"That you do," Obi-Wan agreed. "But I wasn't seduced by the dark side. I still think that you should at least talk to someone who has," he advised.
Anakin shook his head. "No. No one can ever know about it," he said.
Obi-Wan sighed. "I have given you my opinion and I stand by it but I will not force you to do something that you are not ready for," he said. It was then that he noticed the building block city on the floor. "Are you trying to give a lesson about Coruscant?" he asked.
Anakin looked down at the city that Luke and Leia built. "No. That is Luke's and Leia's work. I only helped when they wanted me to," he answered.
"Impressive," Obi-Wan commented. "Have you shown them holo's of Coruscant?" he asked.
"No," Anakin answered.
"Interesting," Obi-Wan said and looked at both twins. "As Master Yoda would say, the mind of a child is truly a wondrous thing," he said and chuckled.
"You mean that this isn't normal?" Anakin questioned gesturing to the building block city.
"Not without proper training," Obi-Wan answered. "Have you begun their training?" he questioned.
"I was going to wait until they were older," Anakin admitted.
"Like you?" Obi-Wan questioned.
"Well not exactly," Anakin said and took a seat opposite of Obi-Wan.
Both Luke and Leia grew tired of sitting and waiting for attention. Instead they made two toy starships float in the air and race each other. Anakin and Obi-Wan watched this with wide eyes.
"I think that it is time you began their training," Obi-Wan stated.
"I was just thinking the same exact thing," Anakin agreed.
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"So how is the new project that you are working on?" Obi-Wan asked as he set the table in the kitchen.
"Not as good as Fuller expects," Anakin answered making sure to keep away from what ever Obi-Wan was cooking, not wanting to mess it up. "He keeps pushing for an impossible deadline. The problem is that we haven't made much progress. Every time I have one problem fixed in the design a new one pops up."
"Are you saying that it can't be done?" Obi-Wan asked walking over to the stove to add something.
"I didn't say that," Anakin told him. "I'm positive that it can be done. But when you put this kind of project on an impossible deadline there could be a lot more problems than anticipated," he told him.
"Did you tell your boss that the jedi are the most patient beings in the galaxy? We're not expecting this to be done anytime soon," Obi-Wan asked.
"I tried. Fuller isn't concerned with making the deadline to please the order. He wants to make sure that he is the first to finish this project successfully. This order is just a publicity order, nothing more. I told him that on no uncertain terms was he going to mention the fact that I had a part in this. For once I am grateful that Fuller believes himself to be a god," Anakin told him.
"It is amazing that the holonet still has no idea where you are," Obi-Wan commented. "What exactly are the problems that you've encountered so far?" he asked.
"I'll show you," Anakin said gesturing for Obi-Wan to follow him. He lead Obi-Wan to a room off of the living room which was littered with spare parts and designs.
"I see that you still skip order while working," Obi-Wan commented taking a look around. He walked over to stand next to Anakin in front of a desk where Anakin activated a holoprojector presenting the plans for the new brand of jedi starfighters. "Well the outside almost looks the same," he said.
"It's what's inside that counts, Master," Anakin said pressing a button and showing Obi-Wan the schematics. "Not only will these new starfighters have a working hyperdrive but they each will be equipped with a strong cloaking device," he said. He pointed to a spot in the schematics. "That was the first problem. In order to fit a starfighter with both a hyperdrive and a cloaking device, you needed to find room to put them. The second problem came when we decided to fuse the hyperdrive and the cloaking device together. That obviously didn't work," he explained.
"This sort of thing has never been attempted before, how could your boss set it on a deadline?" Obi-Wan asked doubtfully.
"That is my reasoning, but Fuller doesn't see it that way," Anakin told him. His danger senses kicked in suddenly and he quickly turned in the direction that they had come.
"I sense it too," Obi-Wan said.
Before either of them could move they heard a loud crash following by high pitched wailing. Anakin sprinted out of the office with Obi-Wan close at his heal. They stopped when they reached the kitchen. There on the floor was Leia who was rolling to a sitting position while Luke sat on the floor screaming his head off as blood oozed down his forehead and broken glass surrounded him. The table itself had been turned on it's side behind them. Before Leia could even attempt to kiss her brother's booboo better Anakin quickly scooped Luke up in his arms and brought him over to the sink where he inspected the child's head.
"It's pretty deep," Anakin said looking at the large cut on top of Luke's head. He grabbed several cloths in an attempt to stop the bleeding.
"Luuke owech," Leia said.
Obi-Wan picked her up and used the force to right the table and clean up the glass. "These things happen, Anakin," he said.
"They're not supposed to happen on my watch," Anakin told him over Luke's wailing. "I think that I need to take him to get stitched up," he said.
"I'll pilot," Obi-Wan said.
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Helona tenth 17 BBY
Naboo: Theed: Almas Medical Facility. Afternoon.
Obi-Wan sat in the waiting area with Leia who was busy coloring while Anakin was in the examining room with Luke as the child got stitched up. He knew already that Anakin was blaming himself once again. Obi-Wan truly worried about Anakin. He knew that his former apprentice and friend was holding on by a string. Anakin wasn't happy, Obi-Wan could sense it from across the galaxy. That in itself bothered him. For the past two years Anakin seemed to be forcing his smiles or laughs; a stark contrast to the Anakin Skywalker that Obi-Wan once knew. He often wondered if Anakin would ever heal. Obi-Wan knew without a doubt that Anakin would be handling Palpatine's manipulations much better if Padme was awake. He sometimes cursed his duties for not being available to help Anakin through this all of the time. He also cursed Anakin's stubborn pride for not being willing to take council from a fellow jedi who had been seduced by the darkside. The jedi council was not as oblivious to what Palpatine was attempting as Anakin liked to think. But Obi-Wan dared not to say as much to his friend. Anakin was barely holding it together as it is. If it weren't for Luke and Leia, Anakin would have been dead by now; that much Obi-Wan was certain.
Obi-Wan was brought out of his musings by the arrival of Luke now sporting a white bandage around his head. He had finally stopped his wailing and now calmly sucked on a sucker candy. He looked up at Obi-Wan with his big blue eyes and offered his candy to him. Obi-Wan smiled. "That's your candy, Luke, you keep it," he said gently.
Luke wordlessly put the candy back in his mouth and plopped himself on the seat next to Obi-Wan staring at him.
Obi-Wan couldn't stop himself from being a little unnerved by the child's intense staring. "You get that from your father," he said to the child knowing that Luke knew exactly what he was talking about. Luke smiled widely.
"Where's Leia?" Anakin asked as though appearing out of no where.
"She's at the table coloring with the other children," Obi-Wan answered.
"No she's not," Anakin said dangerously.
"What?" Obi-Wan demanded turning his attention to where he saw Leia last. "Oh blast!"
"You said that you would watch her, Obi-Wan!" Anakin snapped.
"I swear, she was right there!" Obi-Wan told him jumping up.
Anakin let out a vial oath in huttese. "I'll not ask you to watch my kids again," he snapped and quickly went in search of his missing daughter.
Obi-Wan quickly picked Luke up. "Come on, lets find your sister," he said and inwardly groaned. This certainly wasn't the right day to visit the Skywalkers.
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Anakin searched the medical facility calling out Leia's name earning strange looks from patients and staff. He knew without a doubt that many were recognizing him but at this point and time he just didn't care. All he cared about was finding his daughter. Leia was barely two years old, just how far could she had gotten unnoticed? Anakin bit back the fear that Leia had been taken by a stranger or worse a slaver. He would know if his children were scared. No, Leia just happened to get her little hands into something that she wasn't supposed to. That was all. Anakin forced himself to remain calm. He recited in his mind the basic meditation steps and reached out with the force. He searched for Leia's force signature and instantly knew where she was.
When Anakin arrived at the door to Padme's private room, he found it slightly open. Opening the door fully, he found Leia standing on the chair next to Padme grasping her tiny hands on her mother's arm.
"Mama wayke up," Leia said.
Anakin walked fully into the room and brushed Leia's hair with his hand. "She can't, Princess," he told her sadly. Leia looked up at him with her big brown eyes silently asking why. Anakin picked her up and set her down in his lap as he took a seat. He didn't know how to explain this to her. He realized that if the situation had been reversed, Padme would know exactly what to say. "Your mama was hurt a long time ago, her body is still trying to heal," he explained gently.
Leia gave him a look of understanding before reaching over to kiss her mother's cheek. "Beuttor," she said.
Anakin smiled sadly and kissed the top of her head. He didn't have the heart to tell her that it wouldn't work this time.