Title: A New Order
Author: Jedikma
A/N: Thank you jedi71, REV042175, Sith Lord Darth Revan, and SoloKenobi for your reviews! Your questions will be answered in time. korrd I won't be covering enough of the timeline to bring in the Luke/Mara relationship or Han, but I thought it would be fun to mention some of the future characters in the Temple. Since this is AU maybe that is where they ended up instead of the true story. ;)
ewan's girl: Thanks, as always for your support! ;) Hope you are feeling much better now. This chapter is for you. Hope you enjoy. :)
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Chapter 4
Afternoon found the children back in the gardens for more appointed playtime as parents floated in and out. After a morning of Council meetings and checking on his current padawan, Obi-Wan finally managed to get to the Parent's Day activities. He sat on a bench across from the play area with Reeft on his lap and Garen coming up to him every few minutes to tell him of all the important happenings in his little life.
Obi-Wan had missed Siri since she had been there to see the children in the morning and couldn't stay for the entire day. That described so much of their existence as Jedi. They were always on different schedules and more often than not, those schedules didn't cross.
Anakin was there, however, visiting his brood. Sitting next to Obi-Wan he was involved with Luke in conversation.
"But why can't you be my Master?" Luke asked earnestly.
"Because, Luke, I am your Father." Anakin attempted to explain. "The way it is now, the Council is going to mix up master/padawan pairs so that parents aren't with their children. But maybe Obi-Wan will be your Master when the time comes."
Luke looked at the bearded Jedi. "But he's old."
Anakin started to cough, trying to hold back a combination of laughter and embarrassment.
"Yes, Luke, I am old. Your father helped a great deal with that process, I might add." A grin spread across Obi-Wan's face. "By the time you are ready for apprenticeship, I will be a real fossil."
Luke's face turned crimson as he looked to the ground. He pushed the toes of his shoe into the grass. "Sorry, Master Obi-Wan." With that he quickly turned to join Garen on the play structure.
Obi-Wan looked to his younger son who smiled around the thumb in his mouth.
"You think I should worry about this?" He asked Aankin.
"The thumb sucking? No. Don't worry he'll grow out of it, Obi-Wan. Leia used to suck her middle fingers all the time, then just stopped one day."
"Watch this." Anakin continued as he reached forward to gently pull Reeft's thumb from his mouth. The boy increased his mouth's hold around the digit until Anakin was firmly tugging on his hand. Anakin laughed. "He's got a suction on that thing more powerful than the Force!"
Obi-Wan shook his head and smiled. Being a father was still such a novelty and the boys brought to him a joy he couldn't quite put into words. He loved them, but tried hard to balance his affections with all the teachings he had grown up with as a Jedi.
"So the Council has asked you to marry Siri. To be honest, I don't know why you two haven't made a formal union before now." Anakin said resuming the conversation that was continually interrupted by one child or another.
"I've tried to talk to her about it, but she has never been very receptive to the idea. Siri has always liked to have her own space and she is happy with the way things are."
"Maybe you aren't romantic enough, Obi-Wan. Tell her she is an angel and that you can't breathe at the thought of not being with her."
Obi-Wan gave an unreadable look to his former padawan as silence lingered between them. He cleared his throat. "Please tell me you didn't say that to Padme."
"As a matter of fact…" Anakin began.
"No, don't tell me. There are some things that are better for a Master not to know!" Obi-Wan raised his hand in mock repulsion and the child on his lap giggled. "With words like that, Padme must have taken pity on you!"
Anakin returned the laugh. "Well, possibly."
"Anakin, you know if I said something like that to Siri, I'd have a lightsaber up my nose or somewhere else equally unpleasant. I'm not a romantic and I don't think that's Siri's issue."
"Definitely not if you've been close enough to her to get her pregnant three times." Anakin grinned. "Have you ever considered holding out on her until she does marry you?"
"Actually, I did try that once."
"So what happened?"
"Have you seen her current condition, my former padawan? She obviously won."
Anakin shook his head. "I would have never guessed you couldn't pull that off."
"I did well for four weeks. Of course, for three of those weeks either she was off planet or I was, but one night she was playing her music too loud and I had to go to her quarters to get her to turn it down. That's when she asked me to dance with her. It was the most amazing thing because she wasn't acting or dressed provocatively, but all I could see was this strikingly beautiful woman who was the mother of my two sons."
Anakin laughed heartily at this confession. "Yes, they have a way of just getting to you, Obi-Wan. It is more powerful than any Force suggestion."
"I've learned to never underestimate her. She had to shake me out of a very sound sleep the next morning all the while saying something about how futile it was to hold out on a woman in her prime."
Anakin gave Obi-Wan an interested look. "Really?" He questioned with emphasis and then threw his shoulders back proudly. "Umm maybe it's a good thing I married a woman older than myself. It will be easier for me to keep up with her."
"Don't count on it. If you want my advice, Anakin, you should start preparing for that phase now."
Anakin's younger son suddenly diverted his attention. "Hey! Luke! Don't let Qui-Gon eat that bug!" Anakin stood up and moved towards his three-year-old. As Anakin grabbed the child by the waist and held his plump hand away from his little mouth using the Force, Luke came from the opposite direction to Force brush the insect out of the boy's hand. Anakin lowered the sandy haired young one back to the ground and returned to the bench.
"Obi-Wan, why don't you just tell Siri what you told me. Once she knows the facts of the situation, I don't think she is going to refuse to marry you. She has her own way of seeing things, but I would be willing to bet she doesn't want to live without you anymore than you want to live without her."