Ch. 20
Warning- serious Anakin Padme mush (my favorite thing… and hopefully yours too!) Enjoy…
Anakin and Padme strolled hand in hand through the halls of the temple, casually searching for the twins. At this point, the twins had been loose for so long that the Skywalkers knew rushing to find them would do no good- whatever mischief the young Padawans were up to would already be unpreventable, it was only Padme and Anakin's job to encounter them sometime soon and help fix the problems. Both parents were also enjoying the time alone, having found it increasingly rare to have a quiet moment together.
"This is nice," Anakin said quietly, voicing the sentiment of them both. He felt so warm and happy inside just walking through the halls with his wife, looking for their precocious young children- his family was perfect, and he couldn't wait to get the new addition who would arrive in a couple of months. He smiled down at Padme, who gave him an amused smile back.
Padme too was enjoying this, though both Anakin and she found it humorous that they now actually found it peaceful to be searching for the twins when they were undoubtedly up to some kind of awful mischief. This type of situation used to drive Anakin and Padme crazy, but nearly five years of living with their twins had taught them to relish any time alone, even if the reason for being alone wasn't necessarily a good one.
"It is," Padme agreed, inching closer to Anakin's side as he put his arm around her shoulder. "We never have any peaceful time alone anymore… even if it is because our children are most likely wrecking havoc on the Jedi temple."
Anakin smiled, leaning down to kiss her on the cheek. "Oh, I'm sure they're being good," he assured her, smiling confidently.
"Anakin, your idea of being good is quite different from mine," Padme told him. "It is in the mischief department where they expressly take after their father."
"I certainly am good at it, aren't I," Anakin said ponderously, and Padme laughed.
"It's ok though," she told him. "It's one of the things I love about you."
"I know," he said, and she rolled her eyes. "It's this face," he said knowingly, giving her the mischievous and determined look that he knew she loved.
"That's the one," Padme agreed, kissing him.
"It's the one you just can't resist," Anakin said seductively.
Padme, ever-proud, looked away, "Anakin, please, I have far more self control then you give me credit for," she joked. "You, on the other hand…"
"I am the king of self-control," Anakin said loudly, and a Jedi Master passing them in the hallway laughed, and then tried to cover it up as a cough. Padme laughed out loud.
"That's the most preposterous assertion I've ever heard," Padme informed him. "And I'm the Chancellor, I hear crazy pronouncements daily."
Anakin looked at her sadly and defiantly. "What, I've gotten so much better!"
"Yes, you have gotten better, love," she told him comfortingly, giving him a kiss on the cheek. He smiled, thinking he'd won, and she smiled back lovingly.
"You're incredible," Anakin said sweetly, kissing her forehead. Padme giggled, and kissed him on the lips, secretly relishing being able to sneak a kiss without being told by a tiny voice to stop. However, as the kiss deepened, she was ironically jarred from the euphoria of the moment when she heard Leia cough very loudly.
"Ahem," Leia made sure her presence was noticed. "Please, not in front of me, ok parents?"
Anakin and Padme sighed and looked at each other, eyes twinkling with amusement.
"Hello Leia," Anakin said cordially, not taking his eyes off of Padme.
"That's the look that leads to babies," Leia warned, now fancying herself an expert on the subject.
"We're sorry," Anakin told her, now turning and scooping up his daughter. "Is this better?" He laughed, showering her cheeks with loving kisses.
"A little," Leia giggled as her father's unshaven face tickled her. "Ow, you seriously need to shave dad."
Padme laughed in agreement. "Yeah dad," she giggled, "I wasn't going to say anything, but I tend to agree."
"Excuse me but if you two have already forgotten, we've been stranded on Kashyyyk for two days, it's not as if I had time to freshen up," he said defensively, lovingly hoisting Leia in the air up to his shoulder.
"Woah!" Leia giggled. "You're so tall daddy!"
Anakin smiled. "You should have seen Obi Wan's Master, Leia. He was much taller than I am now."
"Wow!" Leia giggled excitedly.
"By the way, Leia, where's your brother?" Padme asked, suddenly remembering that the job was only half accomplished, and that half the trouble was still loose in the temple.
"Haven't seen him in a while," Leia informed her. "Probably still crying about how I stole his frozen fruit thingy away from him."
Anakin and Padme looked at each other, amused.
"That wasn't very nice Leia, why did you do that?" Padme asked.
"He wouldn't share," Leia said simply. "So I took it to teach him a lesson. If he'd shared, we would have both had some, but since he wouldn't share, he didn't get any."
"Leia, in that situation it would have been better to use your words to come to a compromise," Padme told her. "I bet you could have convinced him to share."
"Well I used my light saber instead," Leia said proudly, but Anakin looked at her sternly.
"Leia, that was very irresponsible," Anakin scolded her. "Not only was it mean to take your brother's ice cream, but using your light saber for that purpose is completely against the rules, not to mention very immature. You could have hurt him- a Jedi never uses a weapon to steal, Leia, even from twin brothers, and especially not to inflict pain on anyone innocent and undeserving."
"Who says he's innocent? What's undeserting mean? I was hungry!" Leia said quickly, confused.
"Sometimes I forget she's only four," Anakin said to Padme, who smiled in agreement.
"Anyway, he's not very far away," Leia told them, sensing her brother nearby. "Just over there." She pointed.
"Impressive, Leia," Anakin said proudly. "You're right, he is over there."
Anakin and Leia walked knowingly to another corridor, Padme following behind frustratedly.
"Sometimes I really hate not being Force sensitive in a family full of Jedi," she grumbled, and Anakin hugged her to him.
"It makes you special," he said lovingly, kissing her on the forehead. Padme smiled back weakly, knowing that it actually made her not so special compared to them. "That's not true, you're incredible, Padme," Anakin assured her, reading her thoughts. "You're the Chancellor for Force sake!"
Padme smiled, but then hit him on the arm. "Stop reading my mind," She scolded.
"I'm sorry but we have a very deep Force connection, sometimes it's hard," he told her.
She looked up at him, touched. "Really? You can have deeper connections with some people?"
"Of course," Anakin told her. "When you're in love, like we are, you are deeply connected," he said firmly, kissing her again.
"I like that idea," she said warmly. Knowing that at least to Anakin their love had some kind of form that could be sensed and felt through more than just normal human feeling was quite touching. Padme smiled, finding Anakin's hand and squeezing it as he smiled down at her.
"There he is!" Leia announced as they walked up to Luke, who, instead of mourning over his lost dessert was dueling in the hallway with a Padawan at least three years older than he, and winning.
"Hi!" Luke said proudly as his family approached, never taking his eyes off of his opponent. "Just a minute," he told them as he continued to spar.
"Come on, you two know better than this," Anakin said angrily, picking Luke up quickly and pulling him away from the other Padawan.
"No sparring in the halls," he scolded both of them, as they hung their heads. "Bow to each other," he instructed, setting Luke down in front of the other boy. "And apologize."
They did so, bowed again, and then turned to Anakin, waiting for a punishment.
"Go on, you wouldn't want me to have to report you to the Council do you?" He asked, as the two boys shook their heads nervously. Eyeing Luke one last time, mischievously, the boy turned and ran off, bowing quickly to Anakin as an afterthought.
"I'm sorry Master Skywalker," he said breathlessly, running away.
Anakin turned to Luke, waiting for an explanation.
"We were just playin'" Luke said, looking at the ground.
"I know, but you know that is against the rules, Luke," Anakin said strictly.
"I know, sorry daddy," Luke said. Anakin looked at him sternly. "Master Skywalker," Luke corrected himself, with a hint of an amused glance at Leia. Anakin, content, turned to lead his family towards the Council Room for their meeting. As he walked ahead, Padme caught up with him, placing her hand gently on his arm.
"I like when you're strict, Master Skywalker," She said, raising an eyebrow at him suggestively and brushing her body lightly against his.
Longingly Anakin stared at her, forgetting himself. "Sith, Padme," He said suddenly, regaining his composure. "Please don't do this inside the temple."
Padme smiled, proud of herself, and stepped in front of him to catch Luke, who had run ahead. "King of self-control," she muttered to herself, rolling her eyes, as she grabbed Luke's arm.