Naboo:
Anakin was more than surprised that Ruwee and Jobal had welcomed him into their household when he had arrived. He had to admit that it shocked him to see that the couple had aged as drastically as they had since his last meeting with them. Then he remembered that he hadn't seen them in two decades. Of course their hair would be completely white. Ruwee said little to him as he led him through the house.
"Luke is in the backyard. He has been expecting you."
Anakin nodded as he followed Ruwee towards the patio entrance. The old man gestured towards the open doorway that led to the back patio as he spoke, "You should know that I am only tolerating you because of the fact that Padme asked me to."
"Of course that is why. It doesn't take a genius to know that I am a galactic outcast at this point Naberrie."
Ruwee snorted in response as Anakin passed him.
Anakin noticed Luke and Mara glaring at him as he approached the couple.
"We have some plans today and we were getting ready to go house shopping. Sola and Darred have picked out a Realtor friend of their's to show us houses on the market," Mara stated.
"I see, well I won't intervene," Anakin replied.
"It means that we don't have time to deal with you today," Mara rudely stated.
"Who is watching Ben since my grandparents are going with us?" Luke asked.
"Ryoo and Pooja have plans and not my mother," Mara replied.
Mara turned towards Anakin with a smile as she looked back at her husband.
She turned back to Anakin as she spoke, "After all that you have put this family through you do owe everyone something. I am giving you a job today and I am giving you a good fifth chance after everything so don't mess up on me."
"What do you mean?" Anakin asked.
"You are going to babysit Ben today," Mara stated.
"Me?" Anakin asked in shock.
"The rules are simple, he doesn't eat any sweets or sugar or any junk. He takes a nap at about fourteen hundred hours. Other than that play with him take him to the playground just supervise him. Be careful, he can pull a lot over your head if you aren't watching him carefully."
Anakin noticed his grandson watching him curiously as Mara spoke, "Ben I want you to be good and I want you to listen to your granddad. Can you do that for me?"
"Yes mommy," Ben replied
Mara stood up as Luke glanced at her, "Mara I don't know if this is the best idea. My dad isn't the best with children Ben's age. The moment he is alone with children is the moment that he becomes a kid."
Anakin glanced at Luke with a frown, what does he mean this is when I become a kid? Anakin asked himself mentally.
"Luke he can make sure Ben stays within those guidelines. I know he can."
Luke shook his head as he looked his father in the eyes, "Don't let her down and we will talk after dinner tonight."
"Ok," Anakin replied.
As Luke walked out of the house with his wife he sighed, "I don't think this is a good idea Mara."
"I think it is a great way to show him that he is a part of the family Luke. He will see now what is expected of him he is your father."
"And look at how he brought me up. He's nothing more than a hardened military commander. He spent my entire lifespan fighting wars. He's almost forty six years old and more than half of that life he has spent in war. Do you really think he should babysit our son unsupervised Mara?"
"Give him a chance for Force sakes," Mara replied.
Luke said nothing as he noticed the nervous looks that covered the faces of his extended family.
Anakin looked at Ben as he spoke, "Do you want to play a little bit of ball?"
"I want to work on that speeder that daddy was working on in the garage. I was handing him tools while he worked. Maybe you can finish the job while he is away. He started it last night."
Anakin raised an eyebrow as his young grandson led him towards the garage.
He soon found himself staring at the speeder that Ben was speaking of. The hood was popped open and it appeared that Luke was looking at the engine.
He moved towards his son's work and nodded, "I think I can easily pick up from where he left off."
It was two hours later when Anakin finally emerged from beneath the speeder. Ben was still watching his grandfather work intently from his perch on the work bench.
Anakin shook his head, "Ben we need to go buy some parts before the job can be finished and I am getting hungry. Maybe we can go out to eat. How does that sound to you?"
"It sounds great granddad. Can we get bantha burgers?" Ben squealed.
Anakin nodded as he slipped his tunic on, "Of course we can. Come along."
At that moment Anakin heard his comlink buzzing. He answered it and was awarded with the sound of Leia's voice, "How are things going with them?"
"I don't know Leia they kind of left me when I got here."
"Left you?"
"Hi Auntie Leia!" Ben squealed.
"Ben?" Leia asked in shock.
"They kind of dumped Ben in my hands and told me I was a babysitter for the day. I didn't argue with them about it," Anakin interjected.
"That means they must be open to mending. Just do a good job," Leia stated.
"I am trying," Anakin replied.
A half hour later Anakin sat in the cafe with his grandson as a nervous young waitress moved towards their table.
"Ben where are your parents today? Why are you with Darth Vader?"
"Mommy and Daddy are looking for a new house so they told granddad to babysit me."
Anakin casually glanced at the waitress and nodded, "That is the truth."
"Well if you had other intentions I suppose you wouldn't be here eating. What can I get you?"
"I'll have the Shaak special. Ben wants his usual kids meal although he asked for a milkshake with it."
"It looks like he already has a soda too," the skeptical waitress commented.
Anakin glanced at the empty glass of soda and nodded, "Yeah he just is living it up today."
"Milkshake and soda is way too much sugar. My daughter is his age and I wouldn't let her have this much in her life."
"He'll be fine," Anakin replied in agitation.
Forty minutes later, Anakin and Ben walked out of the Nabuian cafe with full bloated bellies and satisfaction written all over their faces. Anakin and Ben linked hands as they walked through the city towards the shop where they would buy the needed speeder parts.
As he walked he felt Ben tugging on his cloak.
"I see candy!" Ben exclaimed.
Anakin noticed a vending stand with a large selection of sweets.
Of course he would get his grandson one of the large suckers to suck on or how about some of the other fruit flavored sweets? Anakin pulled out his credit chip as he looked at Ben, "Go ahead and take your picks."
Mara and Luke climbed out of the speeder in exhaustion as Ruwee and Jobal looked at the young couple in amusement.
"At least you two have it narrowed down to three houses. Jobal and I narrowed it down to six after our first day of shopping when we were young parents," Ruwee stated.
"Six houses?" Luke asked in shock.
"The funny thing is that last one is one of those six that we almost bought," Jobal interjected.
"That's right I thought that place seemed familiar," Ruwee stated.
"That one is too far away from the rest of the family," Luke muttered.
"That one two streets away is nice," Jobal commented.
"We like that one a lot," Mara said as the door of the Naberrie home opened.
Mara stepped into the house and was awarded with the sound of plastic crunching under her boots. She bent over and picked up a small candy wrapper as she glanced at her husband, "Does your father have a sweet tooth or something? Ruwee and Jobal don't..."
Mara's words trailed off as Ben pranced into the room in delight as he screamed, "Mommy! Daddy!"
Luke covered his mouth as Mara hugged her son.
Ben stepped back and jumped as he spoke, "Mommy Grandfather is working on great granddad's speeder. He took me when we went to get parts and we had lunch," Ben stated.
Mara nodded as she spoke, "Why are your hands so sticky Ben?"
"The sour pops that he bought for me mommy."
A laugh escaped Luke's lips as Mara turned back to her husband, "He didn't."
"Mara my father's idea of babysitting isn't ours. He probably allowed Ben to run around like a drunk rancor."
"I would think that Vader would be about as strict as they get," Ruwee stated.
"Think again he allowed me to get away with things when I was a kid that I would never allow Ben to get away with," Luke replied.
"Like what?" Jobal asked.
Before Luke could answer his grandmother's question Ben spoke, "Daddy how come you and mommy never gave me soda before? I didn't know what it was but granddad let me have it at lunch today. It is so tasty and there are lots of bubbles in it."
Mara's eyebrows narrowed as Luke glanced at his grandmother, "Like drinking soda."
Mara shook her head in anger as she looked at her son. Ben was just four years old and going on five years. In those years they had made sure to never expose him to soda or anything so unhealthy and toxic. The same was for candy and sugar. Now thanks to her father in law her baby had been exposed to sugar at a high capacity.
"He is on a sugar high and a caffeine high," Luke said as he looked at the energy that his son was displaying.
Mara shook her head as she stormed past her husband and towards the garage where she would find her father in law.
Anakin closed the hood of the speeder and turned around to the face of his angry daughter in law. "Am I in trouble or something?"
"Remind me not to ask you to babysit Ben without supervision. I swear a fifteen year old could have done better."
"He's still in one piece. I don't see what I did wrong."
Reina Jade entered the Naberrie home as she followed her prancing grandson towards the kitchen where the rest of the family was. As she passed the hallway that led to the garage she could hear her daughter's angry voice.
"Let me get this straight in one day you gave my son a milkshake a soda and an entire pound of candy from that street vendor. Am I correct?" she heard Mara yell.
"I didn't realize that you were so strict on his diet," she heard Vader state much to her shock.
"Strict Anakin? Strict? You call that strict? He probably got at least a thousand grams of sugar and you are calling me strict?"
Reina noticed her son in law at her side as he covered his mouth.
"You let him babysit Ben?" She asked in horror.
"It was Mara's idea and now Mara is tearing him up," Luke replied.
Reina noticed the dustpan and broom that sat in the corner with countless candy wrappers. "So he lets Ben just run all over the place?"
Luke shook his head, "I just had to get out the vacuum for the kitchen. I'm making Ben clean up all of the flour that he spilled when he decided to play in it. That was after he got bored when my dad was working on the speeder in the garage."
"What will you do next time?" Reina asked.
"Next time he will babysit with supervision," Luke replied.
Reina couldn't help but laugh as she noticed Mara walking past her.
"Hi mom," Mara called out.
"Hello sweetie," Reina replied.
Reina's eyes were glued on the hallway as she saw Vader walking into view. She soon found herself looking into his blue eyes as he stopped to face her. She noticed that he was looking her over as well. She was remembering the pain that this monster had caused her. She was still remembering the countless nights she had spent in her bed for a year as she wondered what her daughter was enduring. She was reliving the moments of suffering as she was helplessly imprisoned in her own palace. Now she was facing the man that had caused her all this pain. So many nightmares about her only child suffering. She learned after two of the worst years of her life that Mara had been forced to marry a man who cherished her and loved her. Luke was everything she could have asked for in a suitor for her only child and he was still much more. Her own son in law had become her own son. He had been forsaken by this man, his father. His father had forsaken his own wife his own order and above all the entire galaxy he had forsaken. She shook her head she was better than this. She was a Nabuian, not just a Nabuian she was the Queen of Naboo. A true Nabuian forgave the evils and the transgressions that were committed against them no matter how great. She was better than the evil notorious Emperor Skywalker and she could show that by forgiving and accepting him.
"I haven't seen you since the end of the war," Reina said.
Anakin nodded, "I had to leave for a time in order to find myself."
"I've been told that you finally did. Did you also find forgiveness for yourself?"
"That I have yet to find. I've done too much."
"You decided to mend things with Luke though?"
"I'm trying," Anakin replied.
"Good because if you don't you miss out on the lives of your grandchildren and I can't wish that on any grandparent. I missed out on about a year of Ben's life and that was too much. Now that they are here I will get to see him more."
"Yeah Padme is looking forward to retiring so she can spend time with him too," Anakin said.
"Are you going to consider the same thing as your wife Anakin? Are you going to retire?"
"We will see. Well I better get going."
"Going?" Reina asked.
"Yeah you probably don't want to see me any longer than necessary after all the pain that I've caused you."
"I am the Queen of Naboo Skywalker. The Nabuian's don't hold grudges. We don't hate either. Both of those things are unhealthy. Your presence isn't an issue for me. Ben is your grandson too and Luke is your son. Mara is my daughter and Ben is my grandson. Like it or not but that makes us one family and don't forget that your wife is a friend of mine. We might as well start learning to accept each other now."
Anakin couldn't say a word back to Reina's firm statement. It was impossible to argue with the Queen and even if he wanted to what could he say? He didn't know what to say.
He casually glanced back at the nearby couch and sat down as Reina passed him.
Sola and Darred were seen filing into the living room as Anakin sat on the couch in shock by what had just been stated to him. He failed to notice Sola's cold eyes as she glared at him.
Luke turned his head away from his mother in law as his aunt entered the kitchen in anger, "What is he doing here?"
"Mara invited him to stay," Luke replied.
"Where is Ben?" Mara asked.
"He's outside trying to exhaust himself. Thanks to my dad he has a lot of energy. Mara decided to let my father watch him when we went house shopping."
"Oh dear I can only imagine how that went for the poor kid," Darred stated as Mara walked past him.
"Vader is probably so strict the boy barely survived," Sola muttered. Mara turned her head back towards the older woman with a chuckle as she shook her head, "Oh no Aunt Sola you have it all wrong. He has no boundaries or rules for a four year old child. He even lets Ben do things that even Luke would never allow and we all know how laid back Luke is."
Sola's jaw dropped, "You cannot be serious."
"I think I want to kill him for all of the sugar that he let that boy have today. Not to mention that Jobal and I had just finished cleaning up his bedroom and his toys. He didn't even make him pick up."
"And the kitchen was a mess," Luke added.
"His idea of babysitting is becoming a child's best friend," Ruwee interjected as he entered the room. Luke covered his mouth as he noticed his mother in law from her position at the far side of the room laughing as she held up an additional candy wrapper.
I know it has been ages and yes I'm still alive. I took a winter term that took up a lot of time along with work and right now I'm taking 14 units and some labs. Other than that I am well and alive and looking forward to completing this. Thank you for reading and reviewing. I decided to give you some comedy for this chapter.
