Chapter Eleven: Caleb learns a bit more about the family dynamic known as the Specters...

~Mace's POV~

I glanced over at Obi-wan, vaguely wondering how it was that he was still betting that Padme was not force-sensitive. "Master Windu? Your thoughts on the child?" Master Mundi spoke up, cutting through my thought process.

I cleared my throat loudly, turning back to face Anakin. "He appears to be adjusting to life here. However!"

"Knew it... too good to be true." Anakin grumbled under his breath, interrupting me. I glared at him, suddenly very tempted to tell him that the reason why we had assigned him to help my grand-padawan with the search for Darth Kanan.

Anakin looked down at his feet upon noticing my glare, so I continued on with what I was telling them. "As I was saying... Ezra revealed earlier today that he has an elder sister that is also very strong in the force that this Kanan fellow has been training as well. Last night the two of them somehow managed to share a dream. He is now curious on the chances of that happening... especially since they're not twins. She's older than him by two years."

"What?! Those poor Specters! They must be devastated over losing two children to the Sith." Obi-wan somehow managed to stop Anakin from leaping to his feet, shooting his former padawan a look.

"There is a good chance that they believe they gave the child to the Jedi unaware of the existence of the Sith." Obi-wan gently rebuked him, before shifting to look at the rest of the Council. "Perhaps we should call Padawan Dume in and release Anakin from this meeting?"

"But we barely touched upon the fact that he knows about another Sith named Fulcrum that is apparently a female Torguta!" Anakin protested,this time rising from his seat.

"Yes...we heard. Now can you please go and rest. You've been on guard duty a bit too much with our young guest." I waved my hand through the air, mentally adding on that he needed a break from the rest of us so as to spend some more time with his wife.

Anakin looked as if he was about to protest once more, only for Obi-wan to lean forward and whisper something into his ear. Anakin's eyes widened in surprise, gawking at us for a minute, before turning to face Yoda. "If it is alright with Master Yoda?"

"Go, you must. Stress, you are." Yoda waved his hand, officially dismissing the young Jedi. The second he got that dismissal, Anakin just about tripped over himself bowing to the council and backing out of the room as fast as he could. "Summon Dume, we must." A smile twisted on Yoda's face as he watched the hurried retreat of Anakin.

Plo shook his head, lifting his mocktail up to take a long sip. "We really need to find a way to deny the Chancellor every time he insists that Anakin go out to battle. His wife does a wonderful job keeping him in the light when he is with her."

"Perhaps we could arrange more downtime on the field so that he can call her more often?" Obi-wan suggested as he fiddled with his straw.

Yoda hummed, before quickly hiding his mocktail. "Dume, here is." There was a quick scramble as we all hurriedly hide our own mocktails once again.

~Padme's POV~

I gratefully sank into my plush armchair, hurriedly pulling off my brand-new high heels. Rubbing my foot, I winced at the soreness in my feet. if I had known that my last meeting was going to go over two extra hours, I would have worn one of my other older pairs of heels. Exhausted, I leaned back, closing my eyes so as to observe the peaceful silence of my apartment a bit better. No sooner had I done that, that I felt a pair of familiar hands grasp my right foot, gently massaging it. "Ani..." I opened my eyes to stare at my husband, who unabashedly smiled at me as he continued to rub my sore foot.

"I believe it is the husband's job to give his wife a foot massage whenever her feet are killing her." Anakin shifted his position so that he was sitting on the edge of our plush couch instead of the floor, all the while keeping a hold of my foot.

I leaned back, a grin crossing my features. "Oh? Is it? First time I've heard of this?" Recalling the conversation that I had overheard the child have with Mace, my smile vanished.

Anakin looked up, concern flashing in his eyes as he noticed that I was all business. "Padme, Angel? What is it?"

"Ezra mentioned earlier about an older sister that is still in Kanan's control. Part of me wants to say that he stole both children away...but what if that isn't true? What if they purposely gave their children to a Sith lord...knowing he was a Sith and not a Jedi?" I reached for his hand, grasping it in my own smaller hands.

Anakin squeezed my hand tightly, his thumb rubbing circles along the back of my hand. "Then we'll try and stop him from taking anymore."

~Ezra's POV, Couple Hours Later~

I squirmed slightly, peeking over my latest book to watch Caleb go over his homework. "That looks like fun."

"Mathematics? Fun?" Caleb looked up, surprise flashing across his features. I nodded slowly, suddenly unsure if that was the right thing to say. "To each their own I guess." Caleb turned back to his assignment, before asking a rather sudden question. "Hey... Ezra? Besides your sister, do you know anyone else in your family?"

I paused, glancing back at him in surprise. "Sure. Specters don't leave fellow Specters behind after all." A rule that Kanan instigated after I got captured mere hours before I officially joined the crew. Caleb gave me a weird look at that, making me turn red as I turned to bury my face in the book I was reading. "It's a rule that Kanan insists upon. Fine by me."

"Wait...you mean Kanan, your master, is a Specter too?" Caleb dropped his pencil at that thought.

I blinked rapidly, before shifting slightly on my bed. "Well... yeah. I only call him Dad when bucketheads..." Recalling who I was talking to and when it was, I hurriedly backtracked, my face burning at my slip up. "I mean troopers arrest him. He's cool like that." And so many other ways. Not that I can tell Caleb without mixing up the future. That and he gets super annoyed when I call him dad.

"Bucketheads?" Caleb questioned me, bewilderment edging his voice.

Embarassed, I sank low into the mattress, suddenly wondering if it was possible to turn invisible. "It looks like they're wearing buckets on their heads..." Caleb blinked slowly, his expression telling me that he was thinking about that, before bursting out laughing.

A/N: Done! Not gonna mention that I was supposed to work on this yesterday but was lazy all day. Yeah... looks like Palpatine calling Dooku requesting that he gets rid of the boy Ezra Specter will be next chapter. Fun. As a reminder, I won't be going over to Sabine's POV until a few weeks have passed in this story/ she's well enough to **************. Oops! Nearly spoiled that part of the story! Looking things over, that is the only conversation that didn't happen.

Also in case you don't live somewhere that as mocktails, that is just a soda with flavorings and sometimes cream. Or, as my oldest sister explained to my older brother, Mormon drinks. They're nonacholic and super good...and if they appear in any of my stories...that typically means that I've got one on my desk. Anyways! I would love to see guesses on what it is that Obi-wan told Anankin!

Reviews:

Dumbledore19: Glad to see that you found the meeting with Palpatine so funny. Yeah... of course that will be important later in the story! You're right... running away in that kind of situation is the perfectly normal response. Sorry I was late with this chapter... I knew I had some conversations that needed to happen... but I had no idea how it was supposed to go down.

Review!

SkyTalon