Ch. 19
Leia gaped at Luke, open mouthed, the corners of her lips turned up into a kind of smile, pointing at him.
"Look what Lukey did! Look!" She yelled to her parents, attracting the attention of the few Jedi in the cafeteria who weren't already staring at the Skywalkers. The Jedi upon whom Luke had dumped his tray looked highly annoyed and yet amused at the same time.
"Yes, we saw it, thank you Leia," Padme said patiently, rolling her eyes. Leia giggled, still amazed, and Luke smiled around at all of the faces turned towards him, obviously proud of the attention he was getting.
"I don't even believe it!" Leia proclaimed, wide-eyed. "We're just standing here and then, boom! Luke drops the tray all over him! I mean really, that's a clear violation of his personal rights!"
Anakin turned to Padme, as no one else could have taught Leia those words. Padme looked around as if she didn't see him, smiling to herself sheepishly.
"Padme," Anakin said loudly, and she turned to him as if just noticing him for the first time, and smiled distantly. "She's four."
"Like I said before, she just repeats what she hears me say!" Padme explained frustratedly.
"Yes, what she hears you say when you purposefully bring her to meetings," Anakin said, laughing.
"You know what, I bring them both, if Leia chooses to repeat it, that's her choice," Padme said defiantly.
Anakin shook his head, laughing. He approached the knight to apologize, and the knight bowed respectfully. "Please," Anakin said warmly, "there's no need to be bowing to me right now," he laughed. "My son has just destroyed your robes, and if anything, you should be angry at me."
The knight smiled. "It's ok, really Master Skywalker," he assured him.
"Trust me," Anakin said, "I've ruined more robes in the past few years than most Jedi ruin in a lifetime- so I know how much of a hassle it is to get new ones. So, we're very sorry. Luke?"
Luke nodded innocently, blushing, pretending to be utterly humiliated and not extremely proud of his accomplishment.
"What do you say Luke?"
"I'm very sorry, sir," he apologized as sweetly as possible, "I didn't mean to."
"That's quite all right, Padawan Skywalker," the knight assured him, and walked away to change his robes.
"Nice dramatically sweet apology Luke," Anakin teased his son. "It won't work with us."
Luke looked at the ground, muttering to himself dejectedly, as Leia laughed.
"All right, let's try this again," Padme began, but just as she was getting new trays for the children, Anakin put his hand on her shoulder to stop her.
"Wait," he said, getting his 'I have a brilliant idea' look in his eyes. "I just thought of something-"
"Uh oh," Padme said worriedly, teasing him, but Anakin ignored her.
"What if we could get two things accomplished at once?" Anakin asked, and Padme stared at him, extremely confused.
"What?" She asked, raising her eyebrows suspiciously.
"Three things, actually," he continued, still not filling her in on his idea.
"Anakin please, just tell me," she said frustratedly.
"I say we go to Dex's," Anakin suggested proudly.
"And what, exactly, other than eating, would that accomplish?"
"Well, we could stop at home and change, first of all…"
"And the third thing?" Padme questioned unenthusiastically.
"Well, who else would likely be eating there, who just left us five minutes ago and isn't in here?"
"Oh!" Padme understood, suddenly getting his meaning. "That is a good idea!"
"I know it is," Anakin said, as if it were obvious.
"I've certainly never admired your modesty," Padme said offhandedly, and he turned towards her, pretending to be very insulted. She just laughed, and whenever she laughed, he couldn't even pretend to be upset for more than a second. His frown turned to a smile and he laughed too, then stopped and stared at her. She stopped laughing too, and returned his gaze, looking into his now serious eyes.
"What?" She asked, quietly and lovingly, smiling at her husband.
"I just love you so much," he said, completely seriously.
She smiled, really touched, as he blushed. "I love you too," she said, moving towards him and laying her head against his chest as he hugged her.
"I'm just so glad we're all safe and back home," he added, and she kissed him warmly. He held her to him, but she broke away suddenly, and he looked at her, concerned.
"What is it?" He asked worriedly.
"No one told us to stop…" Padme said, eyeing him warily.
"Oh no," Anakin said as he looked furiously around the cafeteria for the twins. "Where did they go?"
"Honestly, we take our eyes off of them for one second…" Padme sighed, and she and Anakin once again began the familiar routine of running all over the temple to find the twins.
"You go that way, I'll go this way," Anakin instructed, and Padme nodded and began to run off. However, she turned around quickly, looking at Anakin, annoyed.
"I don't know my way around here!" She reminded him, her hands on her hips.
"It doesn't matter, you don't have a destination," Anakin yelled back, as he continued to run backwards down the hall. "Just retrace your steps and meet me back here in ten minutes, if we haven't found them by then…well, we might never find them."
"Anakin! Don't say things like-" Padme began, but was cut off as Anakin, still running backwards, ran into several Jedi Masters. She laughed out loud, and as Anakin smirked at her she quickly turned to pursue her children so that the Jedi Masters would not see her laughing so improperly.
"Good job using your Jedi instincts, Master Skywalker," one Master teased him, and he bowed quickly and began to run off. When he had run a few feet down the hallway, he turned back. "Have any of you seen my children?" He asked breathlessly, and they all shook their heads and laughed. Anakin groaned and turned around so that he was running forwards in pursuit of the twins.
After what seemed like hours of searching, but had actually only been about five minutes, Anakin and Padme ran into each other in a corridor of the temple.
"How'd you get here?" Anakin asked accusingly. "This is my side!"
"Excuse me!" Padme exclaimed defiantly. "Who says it's your side? I was under the impression that I'm still on my side, so maybe you're the one on the wrong side."
"Look, I know the temple better, and, with all due respect Padme, you can get lost in our own apartment walking from our room to the kitchen."
"Anakin, that was after our anniversary party, and you know I wasn't exactly… in a good state of mind," she said angrily. "And may I remind you that about five minutes later you sliced through the freezer door with your light saber and nearly decapitated me in the process."
"Oh yeah… why, again?" Anakin asked, as they both tried desperately to remember the events of that night.
"I believe you were trying to get rid of the humming noise it was making," Padme remembered, enjoying very much Anakin's embarrassment. "I think you called it the 'stupid Hoth ice monster in our kitchen,' if my memory serves me correctly."
"Well, obviously, your memory of that night can't possibly be serving you very well, considering," Anakin argued defensively.
"No, no, that I remember quite clearly, Anakin," she said confidently, as Anakin grumbled incoherently, pouting. "After that, it does get a little fuzzy," she laughed, and Anakin couldn't help but laugh also.
"Yeah, I don't really remember it at all…but I really did hate that freezer," Anakin confirmed. "I'm glad it's gone, the new one's way better. I seriously couldn't sleep with that thing," He finished proudly.
"Still, I'm not sure using your light saber to slash through it was the right way to deal with the situation," Padme joked.
"For the last time Padme, neither of us was thinking clearly!"
As they both continued to laugh, a very sticky Luke, with a frozen treat dripping fruit juice down his hands and robes, came strolling towards them.
"Oh, hello mommy and daddy!" He said cheerfully, continuing to happily lick his treat, as if it were a business meeting. Padme and Anakin turned to each other, highly amused.
"Um, hello Luke," Padme said, waiting for Luke to explain himself. However, he just continued to eat happily, completely oblivious that his parents were waiting for an explanation. "What are you doing here, Luke?" Padme prompted him.
"Oh," Luke responded, as if just noticing their looks for the first time. "Just taking a walk," he explained matter of factly.
"Where'd you get that?" Anakin asked.
"Master Obi Wan gave it to me," Luke explained. "I saw him at the entrance to the temple, with Sabe," Luke said casually, and Anakin and Padme stared at each other excitedly, shocked. "Oh! I wasn't supposed to tell you that. That's why he gave it to me, promise you won't tell!"
But Padme and Anakin were already rushing towards the temple entrance, hoping to encounter Obi Wan and Sabe somewhere along their path. Luke continued to walk the way he had come, away from his parents, finishing his treat.
"I can't believe it!" Padme exclaimed incredulously. "I can't believe they wouldn't tell me! She's my best friend, she had better tell me everything!"
"I know!" Anakin commiserated, "I am going to make so much fun of him…"
Suddenly, Anakin and Padme looked at each other, laughing. "This is why," Anakin said, and Padme nodded.
"They're over here!" Anakin announced, and Padme looked at him questioningly.
"I'm a Jedi, remember?" Anakin asked sarcastically, and Padme nodded, following him. The entered an atrium-like area where several hallways met each other, and saw Obi Wan and Sabe standing at the far end, arm in arm, talking peacefully.
"We know!" Anakin yelled loudly, as he rushed towards them.
"Anakin, really," Padme scolded, and Anakin looked at her sheepishly. "Faster!" She said, laughing, and Anakin smiled and continued to rush towards them.
"Oh dear," Obi Wan lamented sadly, as Sabe smiled ruefully at him.
"I can't believe you didn't tell us," Anakin pouted, and Padme nodded, crossing her arms.
"It's not very courteous to withhold such important information," Padme said importantly.
"Don't… don't politicize us," Obi Wan protested, and Padme rolled her eyes. "Talk normally."
"Why didn't you tell us?" Anakin demanded angrily.
"Maybe because of how we thought you'd react?" Obi Wan said sarcastically, rolling his eyes and gesturing towards Anakin and Padme who stood staring critically at them.
"We're your best friends!" Padme informed them angrily.
"Probably your only friends, too," Anakin added defiantly, staring at his feet.
"Maybe if you two were a little more mature…" Obi Wan said quietly.
Anakin grumbled incoherently.
"Sabe," Padme said warmly, turning to her friend. "Why didn't you tell me?"
Sabe looked away, blushing. "We just didn't want to make a big deal…"
"Sabe wanted to tell you, Padme," Obi Wan informed her, and Padme looked happier.
"Um, hello!" Anakin said angrily. "What about me?"
"I just knew you would give me a lot of grief about it," Obi Wan said, smiling at Anakin. "I thought I'd hold off on that as long as possible." Anakin again pouted.
"But now that you know…" Sabe said, trailing off, but she and Padme smiled at each other secretly.
"Why don't we all get some lunch?" Obi Wan suggested, and Anakin and Padme nodded. "By the way, where are your children?"
Anakin and Padme turned to each other, suddenly realizing that they had left Luke to wander the halls and hadn't seen Leia in about twenty minutes. Obi Wan raised his eyebrows at them and they sulked off to go and find their children, talking in hushed tones the entire time they were in earshot of Obi Wan and Sabe.
"Look at them, commiserating together," Obi Wan said, and Sabe laughed.
"You're right, this was funny," She said, and he smiled as they continued to walk arm in arm towards the gardens.