Chapter 37

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'Something is Happening'

'The Unabridged Version and the Youngling Version'

'Say Uncle!'

'Splish-Splash'

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Anakin returns to Naboo to retrieve his angelic duo. He truly misses the twins. It has been a whole week living in the house without them. The droids stayed on Naboo as well. It was just as well. Having anyone in the house, even droids, would have made it difficult to have that special moment with Isabel. Thinking about her made the week bearable because a door had finally opened for him.

As he stands at the gate, he sees Luke appear. Three servants exit the house carrying luggage to the ship. Jobal insists to her husband that they should at least be civil. They manage a nod in reciprocation of Anakin's acknowledgement of them. Luke approaches his father. Anakin immediately breaks his gaze at Jobal and Ruwee. Luke is carrying scuba gear he got for his birthday. He is wearing his yellow flippers. His goggles are on his head. His new A99 aquata breather is tucked away in the pouch of his Youngling life vest.

"Hey, Dad! How do you like my Gungan feet now?" Luke flip-flops like a duck over to his father.

Anakin smiles and rolls his eyes. Luke hugs his father. He lifts his flipper-covered feet off the ground as Anakin almost sweeps him off the ground.

"Nice. You're not wearing that gear on the ship."

"How come?"

Anakin pretends to grumble as he points to the boarding steps.

"Get on board the ship."

Luke almost sees a smile on his father's face as he makes his way up the ramp with some difficulty.

Leia leaves the house via the patio door and waves to her teenaged cousins Ryoo and Pooja. The girls are giggling. Leia has made them laugh more in one week than in all their years growing up on Naboo. Leia's irreverence and vibrant life force was intoxicating to the older girls. They let Leia take command as they spent the past week playing dress up, beauty parlor and flirting with Jev Nerran, the teenage neighbor and local heartthrob. They sit out on the back patio on the deck chairs, sipping lemonade, painting their nails and watching, 'not-so-discreetly' as Jev mows the lawn across the way.

Pooja and Ryoo think that their young cousin is hilarious. They beg their grandmother to let Leia stay up past her bedtime so they could have a slumber party. They sit up eating ice cream and flipping through Intergalactic teen idol magazines Leia enjoys beings around her cousins and their teen friends. Each teen heartthrob in the magazine has a mini bio attached to the holograph. They all shriek and giggle when little Leia draws little hearts around one boy she finds'Hot.' Ryoo makes a sour face.

"Ewww! Han Solo?" Leia, he's a pirate and a rebel."

"I know, but he's cute."

"I guess…the cute ones are always delinquents or crazy."

"I just think he's cute but I would never marry him. Daddy calls boys like this scoundrels."

The girls giggle. Leia likes being treated like one of the girls. She feels grown up.

When Leia sees her father standing at the gate, she is his little girl all over again. Ruwee and Jobal smother her with hugs and kisses before she leaves. She walks up to her father and smiles. There is a big yellow Chrysanthemum in her hair. She is holding a floral clear vinyl tote with various items inside. Anakin almost laughs.

"Hello, Daddy."

"Hello, Sweet pea."

"You look really handsome today, Daddy." She sniffs him as he leans over to kiss his daughter. "You smell nice too!"

"Why, thank you, Leia. I washed."

Leia thinks for a moment then laughs.

"I know you wash, Daddy but you're wearing cologne."

"Obi-Wan's girlfriend Bunny is working part-time at the mall. Your uncle Obi-Wan dragged me there. She wouldn't let me leave until I let her give me a facial. She said she needed the points for her beauty school course. The next thing I know, I'm walking out the store after purchasing the entire men's skincare line. I got the cologne as a bonus for all the crap I bought. Stuff cost me 175 credits."

"But it's really nice, Daddy." Leia touches his face. "Your face is softer."

"Thank you, Leia. So, ready to go home?"

"Of course I am. I need someone to give me ultimatums. No one threatens like you do, Daddy."

Anakin points to the ship.

"Get on the ship, you…."

"Wait…wait! See my hair? Neat ponytail, huh?" She twirls around for him. The skirt of her little yellow and white sundress swings as she turns.

"You look lovely, Sweet pea."

Jobal and Ruwee watch from the path leading to the ship. They see how well Leia has bonded with her father. Leia takes her father by the hand and board the ship. She turns only briefly to wave to her grandparents. The smile on her face is unmistakable. She truly misses her father. The droids follow. Threepio is complaining as he walks behind Artoo.

"The nerve of that Ruwee Naberrie shutting me down. Just because I told him he shouldn't nag the twins so much. I told him that those two little demons were free spirits and needed to go about their day unhindered…wait...that doesn't sound like anything I would have said…that Leia has been tampering with my program. That little…just wait until I tell the master. He'll give those two the 'what for…' But they'll never get a spanking to teach them a lesson, I'm sure of it. They have him fooled."

As the droid babbles on, Artoo is inside the ship already. He stands at the door and operates the controls to the boarding deck. He raises the ramp then lowers the ramp. This happens about four times. The astromech droid revels in taunting the poor protocol droid. Threepio panics and scampers up the moving ramp.

"Oh, Dear! A ship malfunction? Don't go! Wait! Don't leave me here!"

The twins and Anakin are laughing. Anakin stops and tries to behave like a responsible adult.

"Alright, Artoo, you had a good laugh. Let him inside before he has a breakdown."

Threepio steps onboard the ship. He snubs the little droid. Artoo chirps something sarcastic to him. Threepio responds in a huff.

"You'll never get a 'Thank you' out of me, you over-sized citrus juicer!"

He sees the twins sitting in one of the cockpit chairs. They are laughing. Leia turns in the chair and points.

"Threepio, you looked as if you were dancing the 'Cha-cha.' It was funny! We watched you on the security camera the whole time."

"The whole time?"

Leia smiles and nods in agreement.

"The whole time."

"Little monsters."

Anakin turns to the twins.

"Ok, what do you want to do while we head home? Want to take a nap?"

Leia looks up at her father.

"I'm staying up. I want to ride up here with you, Dad."

Luke protests.

"But he said I can sit up here and be his co-pilot! Get out of the chair, Leia!"

"You get out of the chair!"

Leia shoves Luke off the seat.

"But I asked too! Daddy!" Luke pushes his sister off the chair. "Hey1 Daddy, Luke shoved me!"

"Enough, you two. You can both sit with me but you have to keep quiet and you have to listen."

"Are we listening to music?"

"No, Luke, you're going to listen to me. The sound of my voice is better than music. One day the two of you will be driving a ship." He whispers to himself. "God help us."

"Cool!"

Anakin points to the chair.

"Sit in that seat; the both of you."

"We have to share?"

"Sit where I tell you or you're going to the lounge and taking a nap."

The 'dynamic duo' hop up in the co-pilot's seat.

"So, did you have a good time here on Naboo?" He fastens them into the seat.

"Yes. Leia got yelled at."

Anakin fastens them in tight.

"Oh, really?" Anakin already know what happened but he's interested in the twin's 'version' of the events leading up to Uncle Darred's meltdown. "I trust you were on your best behavior and a reprimand was unwarranted."

Luke clarifies things for his father.

"Close to it. We're kids, we're not perfect, Dad!"

"I understand, Luke." He almost releases one of his laughs but purses his lips. He tries to give them a stern look. Luke looks up at his father. The yellow scuba flippers are still on his feet as he swings them back and forth. He and his sister are securely buckled in right now. Interrogation time.

"So, you want to hear what happened?"

"Please."

Anakin is waiting for the Youngling 'Modified' version of the turn of events. He is hoping not to have to punish anyone but this can't be good. He stands in front of the co-pilot's chair, folds his arms across his chest, and listens. At least they won't escape his clutches should corporal punishment become necessary.

During their weeklong stay on Naboo, Luke and Leia spend the night at their Aunt Sola's house. Leia arrives late for dinner. She is deciding what outfit to wear. Her aunt laid out a white pinafore with red piping at the sleeves and cherries embroidered on the front just before Leia woke up from her nap. Leia cannot find her matching 'bunch o'cherries' ponytail holder. She figures she must have left it on the dresser in her grandmother's room the day before. Being the fashion-conscious tyke that she is, Leia could not make her grand entrance without her full attire. She decides to wear her green sundress and her Greenleaf ponytail holder instead.

Aunt Sola asks Pooja to get Leia and bring her to the table. Luke offers to 'help.'

"I'll go get her, Aunt Sola."

"Luke, you stay right where you are. I don't want to send a search party out for both of you. Pooja, go see what's keeping her."

When Leia arrives at the table, Aunt Sola speaks to her.

"Leia, it's not polite to keep people waiting. What happened to the clothes I put out for you?"

"I'm sorry, Aunt Sola. I won't be late again. I couldn't find my hair accessories so I had to change my clothes."

"Leia, there will be no more wardrobe changes. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Aunt Sola. But I can't concentrate on my dinner if my outfit sucks."

Ryoo and Pooja giggle. Luke makes a face. Uncle Darred is not amused.

"Ryoo, Pooja, don't laugh. Her antics are not funny."

Leia responds.

"It's not an antic, it's true."

Aunt Sola looks across the table at her young niece.

"Eat your dinner, Leia. Do you do this at home?"

"What? Eat dinner? Of course I do. My father wouldn't let us starve."

Uncle Darred speaks up.

"You know full well what your aunt means, Leia. You need discipline. I don't think you get much of that at home."

"We get it where it counts."

"When your Aunt asks you to do something, you are to comply immediately."

"What's comply?"

Uncle Darred squeezes some lemon over his Kachirho Sea Bass as he speaks. Leia watches him. He looks as if he is preparing the poor fish for a post-mortem massage. Anakin remembers meeting him during his visit to Naboo with Padmé during the Clone Wars. He swears the man has OCD.

"Seems that school you're attending…is not offering you the best education."

"It's a great school. Actually, I do know what the word 'comply' means."

"That smart mouth won't carry you far, young lady."

Leia rests her elbow on the table as she listens to him ramble on and prepares his fish for eventual consumption. He has re-arranged the spinach on his plate. The fish has a traumatized expression on its face. Luke and his sister exchange glances. Leia watches him.

"Are you building something?"

"What?"

"It looks like you're building a house for your fish."

"Never mind about my fish. Your food is getting cold." He starts to eat when he sees something else that 'bothers' him. "Elbows off the table. We're civilized, not Wampas."

"Why are you so grumpy?"

"I'm not grumpy."

Sola quietly interrupts.

"Darred, it's okay. She'll eat at her own pace. Leia, sweetie, sit like a proper lady, please? Thank you."

She looks at her husband for a moment. He glances back at her as he swallows a forkful of his fish.

"What?"

The following day Sola and Darred take their daughters and the twins to the water park near the lake. Ryoo and Pooja are excited to go because there will be boys there. They have outgrown the water park long ago but a few boys are there from the boys' prep school and a few university students. They join the twins on the slides, each taking a child on their lap for the rapid decent. Luke raises his arms in the air as she sails down the winding slide with Ryoo holding onto his waist. After two runs down the slide, Leia has had enough. Pooja sees a few boys she wants to flirt with. Leia is not interested in watching her cousin go boy chasing. She walks over to her Aunt.

"Leia, are you done already?"

"Yes. I feel like a sponge. There's only so much sliding a person can take…except for, of course, Luke. He'll keep going all night if you let him."

Aunt Sola smiles as she lathers her young niece with another application of sunscreen then wraps her in the towel.

"I'm glad he's enjoying himself. The girls were so excited when they found out you and your brother was coming over. They told me, 'Mom, for once you can treat us like adults now that the twins are here on Naboo'."

Sola smoothes Leia's hair then pins it back into a ponytail. How's that?"

"Fine. Thanks."

"Where is that girl? I can't believe she left you alone. You stay here with your uncle until I get back. She was responsible for you. I'm going to give her a piece of my mind when I catch up with her."

She taps her husband who is on his mobile phone talking business. He nods as his wife speaks. He is still conducting his call as he turns slightly and sees Leia standing beside his wife. Sola leaves them to search for her wayward teenaged daughter.

Darred shouts into the air. The phone is clipped over his ear as he paces. Children, soaked from taking numerous rides on the water slide, run pass him. Leia stays close by, keeping in pace with him at every turn. Finally he points to a bench close by.

"Sit over there where I can keep an eye on you. Don't move." Leia turns then walks over to the bench and sits. Her uncle continues his conversation with whoever is on the other end of his headset. "…What do you mean the ice is gonna break? ...Did you foresee this? …Well, what do you want me to do, design another skating rink?"

This conversation goes on for several minutes. Leia is flipping through a large picture book.

Meanwhile someone appears. She looks up and smiles. The visitor sits beside Leia.

'Hello, little princess. Is this seat taken?'

"Sure, there's no name on it."

'He doesn't stay in one place for long, does he?'

"I think it's nerves."

'Why don't you call him?'

"He looks really preoccupied."

'Hmmm…and he talks to his food. Trust me; I heard him.'

At the end of the call, Darred turns to speak to Leia.

"Alright, missy, that wasn't hard, was it? …Leia? Leia! Now where did she go? Leia!"

Leia's uncle spins around trying to spot her in the throngs of children scampering around in bare feet or water sandals as they leave the water slide. Aunt Sola calls back to him. She is followed by Pooja would has had her encounter with a university student interrupted. He mother had a worried look on her face as she hurries over to her husband.

"Darred? What's wrong? Where's Leia?"

"I told her to stay put. I did. The next thing I know, she disappears on me."

"Where did you tell her to stay?"

"I told her to sit on the bench…over there…"

As he turns to point to the bench. Sola gives her husband a suspicious look. Pooja giggles.

"Dad, she's right here."

"Leia, where did you go?"

Leia is still flipping through the book.

"I didn't go anywhere. You gave me specific instruction to remain here. You left me."

Pooja hugs her. "Leia, I should have taken you with me. Dad didn't do a good job did he?"

"It's okay."

Aunt Sola kisses Leia on the head.

"Oh, sweetie, are you alright?

"I'm fine."

Meanwhile, Sola takes her husband aside to speak to him.

"Darred, what's gotten into you? This isn't like you."

"I don't know. Listen, I love your sister's children; I really do…for some reason, they get me all worked up, especially Leia. I didn't mean to be so short with her these past two days." He scratches his eyebrow. "I guess I'm under a lot of stress."

"If I see you on the phone on anymore family trips, I'm going to rip it off your ear and toss it in the lake. I promise you."

"I didn't do a good job watching a seven year old."

"Exactly."

Pooja is chatting with the university student who is on lifeguard duty. She doesn't hear Leia chatting with her visitor right now.

'He's got a tongue lashing. Those Naberrie girls can crack that whip in the most subtle and charming way.'

"Here they come."

'Well, I think you'll be okay from this point on.'

"Thanks for the visit, Qui-Gon."

'Why, Leia, you're growing up. I kinda liked being called Guy Engine.'

"Well, I am seven years old now. I can pronounce my 'Q' and 'U' sound combinations."

'You are indeed turning into a beautiful young lady.'

"Thanks."

Qui-Gon leaves as Uncle Darred approaches the bench.

"Hello, Leia. I am so sorry; I have been a terrible uncle today."

"It's okay. You have a lot on your mind."

"No excuse. I behaved badly. Forgive me?"

"Sure."

Darred gives Leia a tight hug. Just as everyone relaxes, Ryoo and Luke return from their fifth ride on the slide. Luke runs up to his sister. His hair is still dripping and his swim trunks are soaked and clinging to his legs.

"Wow! Leia, you have to get back on the ride! It is so cool!"

"Okay."

Luke wave his hand for Ryoo to join them for another ride.

"Ryoo, come on!"

"Luke, no more, you're killing me. My bum is numb." She laughs to her parents. "Mom, Dad, Luke loves this ride. He's addicted."

"Luke, aren't you tired?"

"No, Aunt, Sola. I want to go again."

Uncle Darred hands his wife his phone and pulls his shirt over his head. He steps out of his khakis to reveal blue and white surfing shorts.

"Sola, don't throw away my phone."

"Go play. You need to have a good time."

Ryoo winks.

"Cool and Funky surfing shorts, Dad."

"I may be a workaholic but I still have style. Luke, Leia, let's go!"

Leia races ahead of them.

"I want to ride up front!"

Uncle Darred sits and Luke sits directly in front of him. Leia sits in front of her brother.

"Luke, hold on to me."

"Okay. Kawabonsai!!"

Darred rolls his eyes and laughs.

"Oh what the heck! Kawabonsai!"

The three sail in tandem down the slide.

This is their version of what lead to the Uncle Darred meltdown. Anakin stares at his children. They look up at their father with those still angelic-looking faces.

"Will you excuse me for a moment?"

Anakin leaves the cockpit. He walks to the pilot's refresher and locks the door. He laughs aloud.

Luke and Leia look at one another; they remain strapped in the chair.

"Leia, he doesn't believe us does he?"

"I don't think so, Luke. That man can read right through us."

After Anakin is able to contain himself, he returns to the cockpit.

"Okay, you young felons, I'm going to give you your first flying lesson, so listen up."

He shows them the controls. The control panel lights up and the ship begin to make a soft low hum.

After liftoff, Anakin continues speaking to his 'student pilots.' As soon as they are out of Naboo airspace, he turns to look at his little darlings. After many frequent flyer miles, they are sound asleep. Anakin can switch the ship to autopilot now. He leaves his chair, unfastens his water-sliding champions, and carries them to the sleeping quarters. Just as he predicted, they are asleep in the first hour! He naps for a couple of hours close by. He is thinks how great life is going to be. Things are going to be different now. He hopes Isabel likes his new cologne.

To be continued… 'Home and Away'

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Attention Readers: It might take 24 hours or more for the next chapter. In the meantime, I hope you're enjoying this heart wrenching story of rebirth and forgiveness.

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