Chapter 5

"Hello mother," Obi Wan said as he hugged Shmi before giving her a kiss on her cheek, which surprised his mother slightly as Obi Wan seldomly showed much affection towards others. Not even his family. Hugs and kisses just weren't his thing.

"Obi Wan!" she said happily, glad to finally see her eldest son after what felt like forever. It had however, only been a month since they had last seen each other, because in the Skywalker household, food was scared, and once a month, always on a Saturday, the whole family would meet up home at the Skywalker house, eating all of Shmi's delicious food that she delightedly would make.

"How are you? How the east side?" His mother asked while she looked at him over, making sure that he wasn't too thin, or anything like that.

"I'm fine mom," Obi Wan said, slightly amused. "The east side is also fine. Not so chilly yet. How are my siblings, by the way?"

Shmi exhaled loudly at his question, an almost weary look coming over her face.

"Ahsoka is an opinionated little ray of sunshine, and… Anakin is… Well, Anakin…"

Obi Wan nodded at his mother's words. Then he heard the loud music coming from upstairs, absolutely coming from his younger brother's room. At least he thought so, because he was pretty sure that his nine-year-old sister only listened to Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and similar stuff like that, and not Nirvana, Green Day, Alice in chains and Red Hot Chili Peppers, and things like that. He almost felt bad for not living at home, because he knew how though his mother had. Especially when it came to Anakin and the demons that the boy fought daily.

Obi wan, 21 years old, and the oldest of the Skywalker kids, didn't live at home anymore, because he was currently studying law at Yale university far away across the country in Connecticut (count on him to attend an Ivy league school!). Before telling his mother that he had been admitted to Yale, Obi Wan had been afraid of giving his mother a stroke, but she had taken it better than he had had though she would. She had only cried a little, while hugging him so hard that he thought he would pass out, threatening him that if he didn't come home and visit at least once a month, life would be sour for him. He had laughed gingerly at that.

That was three years ago, and now he had just started his third, and final year at Yale law school. Soon, he thought happily, he would finally get his degree, and become a lawyer like he had always wanted to. And maybe soon he would also be settling down with a happy family of his own, he thought happily.

He had met a girl back when he started studying at Yale. They both were in the same law class. Her name was Satine Kryze, and Obi Wan had fallen hard for her. Her silky hair was a pale shade of blond, a pretty rosebud mouth, skin ironically as pale as satine, and eyes a pretty shade of crystal blue. Obi Wan was glad that she also loved him back.

Obi Wan never had it easy with love in his life. Not since his father died at least. When Qui Gon had died, Obi Wan had found it hard to show others affection. He wanted to of course, but he was afraid of getting to attached, because surely it all would just come crashing back down again. He had tried with others before he met Satine, tried to show affection, tried to love, but every single time, he retreated away and fled, broke it all of just before it was about to get too serious. There was this girl called Siri Tachi, that he had dated in high school, for example. She had fallen quite hard for Obi Wan, but he, afraid of committing, and merely dating her for the attempt of forgetting, and numbing the pain of his father's death, had broken it all off, and harshly so. Obi Wan had broken her heart, and he had never forgiven himself for doing so. She just wasn't the right person for him, however. He knew that, and so did everyone else.

Then, a few years later, he had met Satine, and she had completely changed his life for the better. She had helped him heal unlike anyone else, and she had helped him to open up, and talk about his feelings and issues, instead of bottling it all up, making him feel even worse and more stressed. Satine had also helped him forget, but in a good, healthy way. They had taken things slow and steady, but now, after three wonderful years of dating, he had finally proposed to her. They had dressed up in nice clothes, gone to a wonderful seafood restaurant in New Haven. There they had eaten the restaurants best courses, and drunken their finest wine, a bottle of Chardonnay shared between them. Then he had proposed to her, bending down on one knee in front of her, with the ring box in hand. She had said," Yes! Oh yes Obi! I will gladly marry you!" before throwing herself at him, kissing him madly.

He wistfully remembered that night with a small smile on his bearded face. He was then broken out of his small rivière, as he remembered that his mother was standing in front of him, calling out his name questioningly.

Oh, yes. That was another small problem. He hadn't actually told his family that was engaged. Or that he had had a girlfriend for the last three years for that matter. Oops.

He did feel bad, like really bad, for having keep Satine a secret from his family, but he also hadn't had a single clue as of how to actually tell them. Satine hadn't pushed him, however.

She had just said, "We can wait till you feel ready Obi." He appreciated that, but now that they were engaged, he knew that he couldn't drag this out any longer. His family had to know. Satine deserved better.

"Hmm… Mother. I… I actually have someone that I want you to meet," Obi Wan said, interrupting his mother's insistant questions that he, to be completely honest, hadn't listened to so well.

"Oh?" she said while raising one dark brow in pure curiosity. "Who?"

"I… Just wait a moment. I'm going to get something from the car," Obi Wan said before swallowing dryly, and then dashed out to the car on the driveway that he was renting while in California, leaving his mother, standing in the kitchen with arms crossed over her chest, looking both bemused and irritated at the same time.

When Obi Wan reached the rented blue car, he felt as if he could finally breath again as he laid his eyes on his fiancé, who sat in the front seat of the car, waiting for him.

"Obi Wan. How did it go? Have you told her yet?" Satine said just after opening her car door when he came close enough. She had a look that was a mixture of both curiosity and concern on her face.

At her question, Obi Wan immediately raised a hand up to his neck where he proceeded to scratch it lightly, thinking about how to explain the situation that he had put them it.

"Well, No… Honey. I haven't told her yet. Maybe it will just be easier if we both tell her at the same time?"

"Alright. Perhaps it is so," Satine said, while nodding her head in agreement.

He helped her out of the car, and together they walked up the driveway, hand in hand, towards the front door.

"Here goes nothing," Obi Wan muttered under his breath, just before opening the door.

When they walked into the kitchen, Shmi stood with her arms across her chest, just as he had left her. The still curious look on her face now even more intense than before as she noted the blond girl that had walked into the kitchen together with her oldest son. Her brown eyes went down to their conjoined hand before going up to their nervous faces again.

"Hello," Shmi said calmly, almost even shyly.

Obi Wan who had had his eyes on his mother during the whole time momentarily moved his gaze to his fiancé. He squeezed her hand that he was holding in his own lightly before turning back towards his mother.

"Mother, this is Satine. My… Fiancé," Obi Wan said, his voice breaking halfway.

The look on his mother's face almost scared him. He couldn't tell of she was happy, or angry, or ecstatic. Her eyebrows were raised up in a slightly surprised way, and her mouth was round, forming an o-shape, but not in an exaggerated way.

"Your WHAT?" she then said in a shocked voice.

"Fiancé? Your… Your engaged?! Oh, Obi Wan, why haven't you told us!"

Shmi then turned towards Satine, but the look on her face wasn't one of anger.

"Welcome to the family Satine!" She said loudly, throwing her arms around the blond woman, hugging her tightly.

Satine laughed slightly in surprise at first before saying, "Thank you, Mrs. Skywalker."

"Oh, it's alright! Just call me mom," Shmi said, now almost on the verge of happy tears, before turning back to her son, now with a slightly irritated look on her face.

"Why haven't you told us you were in a relationship! And for how long?!" She then once again turned back towards Satine.

"You can't believe how happy I am that he finally has found someone that he wants to settle down with, Dear."

Obi Wan winced slightly. He knew that he deserved it, but it wasn't often that Shmi Skywalker raised her voice at anyone, being the mild, calm, and kind woman that she was, so when she did, the person getting the wrath of it should be scarred.

At least she seemed to like Satine however!

Obi Wan gulped again before answering.

"Well… for three…. years…"

"Three YEARS!? OBI WAN KENOBI SKYWALKER, IF YOU STILL LIVED AT HOME, AND WEREN'T 21 YEARS OLD, I WOULD GROUND YOU!"

Obi Wan could only laugh nervously in reply, now regretting all his prior life choices.

By the time it was time for dinner, things had been explained, and tempers were vanquished. Around the table sat the Skywalker family, along with the guests and soon to be members of the Skywalker family, Satine, Cliegg and Owen.

The atmosphere was happy, and the conversations were pleasant. Everyone was engaged in some sort of conversation, Shmi and Satine about the ring and the still to be planned wedding, Obi Wan and Cliegg about all sorts of things, and Ahsoka and Owen about their likes and dislikes. The only one not engaged in any conversation was Anakin, simply because he didn't want to. The boy barley left his room, except from when he went out in the garage, where he sometimes would spend hour, tinkering with some machine parts, a place where he actually felt like he is enough, because life is so much easier when you are fixing things. When he isn't tinkering with machines, while in the throw of manic relapse, he feels as if the world is too much and that it's about to drown him.

Currently, the presence of his soon to be stepdad and stepbrother wasn't putting him in any better mood. It wasn't that he disliked them. No, he had nothing against them. The problem however was that he felt like his mom was betraying his dad by moving on. Therefore, he sat there, feeling annoyed and bitter, wishing that he was anywhere but there.

As he sat there silently, his mother would sometimes avert her gaze towards him, giving him reassuring and grateful smiles, happy that he at least had at least come down tonight. Sometimes he's to drowsy because of his medication, and sometimes, it's simply just because of the drugs.

Tonight however, Anakin wasn't high for once. Tonight, he had at least tried to make an effort because of the dinner they were having. He knew how much these things meant to his mother.

After a while, as he sat there, practically just poking at his food due to his lack of appetite, something that his mother said caught his attention, making him look up at his mother.

"Our new neighbors moved into the house next door a month ago. I feel so ashamed that I haven't gone by to say hello yet!"

His mother's words made him wonder. New neighbors? He knew that the former owners had decided to sell the big house next door and move somewhere else, but he hadn't been aware that it had been sold. I guess that's the price you have to pay when you're high all the time, Anakin thought quietly to himself.

"I'm thinking about going over there tomorrow with a gift. Some cookies perhap-"

"We have new neighbors?" Anakin asked, with almost even a slight trace of curiosity in his often so somber voice.

His mother looked at him, almost in surprise, because he had sat silently during the whole dinner. She smiled slightly at the almost invisible show of curiosity coming from her son.

"Yes Ani-"

"Don't call me that," he interrupted her, his voice cold and almost spiteful, the former trace of warmth in his voice now gone. "It makes me sound like a child. And I'm not a child."

Shmi could only nod, as she didn't want to argue with her son in front of everybody else, knowing how prone he was to a quick temper. It saddened her a little, how changed her son was from when he was a small child, always so happy and cheerful, prone to laughter and mischief. Shmi knew of course, that the boy's moodiness wasn't because of her. It occurred because of the medicine he had to eat for his health. She would never forget that they when she found him on the bathroom floor, passed out and bleeding from the cuts on his arms.

Never had she been so scared. Not even when she had learned of her late husband's death. She reasoned that the fear that she had felt there and then was because of how similar Anakin was to Qui Gon. His looks, his coloring, his personality… She guessed that she was afraid of losing a part of her husband. A reminder of him…

"Of course, A- Anakin. But yes, we have new neighbors. Apparently, they have two daughters around your and Obi Wan's ages."

He only nodded in reply, leaned back further in his seat, and retreated back into the shell of himself once more. Shmi could only smile sadly.

The growing family sat there for a while, a sort of silence settling around them, full of both everything and nothing at the same time. So many different things unsaid, and yet too much said. Sometimes one would lean in and take small bite out of the moment, asking a question, commenting on how good something tasted. Frankly, no one knew what to do. The moment was tense and awkward, and at the same time, filled with so much potential. Good or bad potential, however… that was a hard question to answer.

"Well," Shmi said suddenly, breaking the now awkward silence in the dining room. "Who's ready for dessert? I made apple pie," she said, standing up before pushing her chair back in. she started walking out of the room before turning around again. "Anakin, could you help me in the kitchen, please?" Shmi asked sweetly, her voice filled with so much careful hope.

Anakin shrugged his shoulder before saying, "Sure." He got up from his seat, and together the two of them walked to the kitchen.

"I know you're feeling tired, and that you aren't enjoying this so much as I am, but I know that you are trying, and that makes me so happy." Shmi said this with almost tears in her dark warm eyes. She hated that her little boy was feeling so bad. Hated that he had been feeling bad for so many years. And she hated the fact that she couldn't do anything about it.

"Yeah, yeah… Whatever," Anakin said, looking down, not wanting to look his mother in the eye. He plucked up the fresh plates and the silver spoons just as his mother picked up the pie.

While he was completely sober and clearheaded that night (due to the facts that he hadn't taken any drugs because of the dinner) he still felt drowsy because of his medicine. He was tired, wasn't very hungry, and frankly, he just wanted to be alone.

He had tried, like, really tried for his mother's sake, but he just felt like he was about to snap at any moment. And the problem with this was that he didn't want to.

He loved his mother. He always had, but at the moment he needed space, and the affection coming from his mother was only making it all worse. He didn't want pity. He didn't want their tears. He desperately wanted them to believe that he wasn't emotionally unstable. The problem, however, was that he was unstable.

"Ani," Shmi said again, momentarily forgetting, going into old habit, and that… That was the last drop.

"Ughhh! Just shut up!" Anakin said, putting the plates and the spoons down before bending down and lying his face into his hands, taking a few deep breaths, trying to calm his racing heart, but to no avail. "I— Fuck!" He said, before turning around and racing up the stairs, towards his room, leaving poor Shmi standing there all alone in the kitchen, weeping silently for her son.

Anakin ran to his room, slamming the door after himself, and Shmi went to the bathroom where she dabbed her face with cold water, before going back to the kitchen, grabbing the things, and then rejoining the others in the dining room, pretending as if nothing had happened. Pretending that Anakin had just had an energy dip. The others could only nod, also pretending that everything was alright.

Anakin, about an hour later, sat at the window seat before the closed windows, looking out at the street, the house next door, the sky… everything and nothing. Just anything to distract his mind, which he had lulled with some weed just a short while ago.

He hated himself especially much when he was at his most fragile. It wasn't as if he had wanted to lash out at his mom. He didn't! Bu he just couldn't control himself when everything became too much.

He sat there by the window, smoking a cigarette when something caught his eyes. He looked away from the calm street, so typical of a neighborhood filled with families of all sorts of ages and constellations, up towards the house next door.

Just on the other side, precisely opposite his window, stood a girl, and not just any girl. It was the girl from school. The stranger. She in his dreams. The girl without a name. And she was looking straight at him.


A/N: Oh! A cliffhanger!? Who doesn't love a good cliffhanger!? If you all guessed that they are neighbors, then YES! You guessed right! And don't worry, I'm not going to tease you all anymore. From now on, they are actually going to talk to each other!

And finally, some Obitine! Now that I think about it, this is actually the first time I'm writing Obitine! They're not going to be huge characters here in this story, but they will pop around, here and there! ;)

I still want to thank you all for the sweet reviews rolling in, and I just wanted to reply and say something about a comment that I got just yesterday on the last chapter. The comment goes like this:

Although this is au fic, I still see their similar personalities as those in the original work. That's why I like au. Different universes have different possibilities, which is very interesting. To be honest, in the beginning I was worry that you would write Padme as the kind of little girl born with a golden key but simple and unprepared. I was finally relieved to see this chapter. Although she is no longer a brave and strong queen or a mature and experienced senator , she is still Padme, kind and wise.

I feel like this comment really pinpointed something good here. Since I started writing this story, I have during these first few chapters had a little bit of a hard time writing from Padmé's POV, because she doesn't really have any problems. It's much easier to write from Anakin's POV, because he is a more complex character! Why are complex character easier to write somehow? ;)

Anyway, I really appreciated this comment because it helped me a lot! My goal has always been that Padmé will not be some sort of Miss little perfect. I hate Mary Sue's, because a person cannot be that perfect! Movie Padmé, and the Padmé in this story is flawed and not perfect in anyway, even though she is privileged. I guess I just wanted to get this said.

Also, I feel like writing Padmé will be so much easier now that they (her and Anakin) are getting to know each other. Now when she is going to take a deeper dive into his complex mind and his darkness, you know…

Anyway, once again, thank you all so much for the lovely feedback, and stay tuned for the next part!