A/N: Because I love modern aus and can't get enough of them, I just had to write my own.
Summary: Padme Amidala built bridges with people, especially with her 4th grade students. When new student Ahsoka joins her class, she is ready to start building a bridge to the young girl. Anakin Skywalker doesn't trust easily, especially when his little sister is involved. But he's drawn to the 4th grade teacher and willing to trust Padme with the darker battles his family is facing.
Chapter One
Tuesday, 3:40
The clock it seemed was against Padme, it's slow ticking seemed to drag on. Impatience wasn't something used to describe the young woman at her desk often, if anything she was deemed one of the more patient faculty members of the school, but it had been long day. It seemed to her that the day would continue to get longer as she was on After Care duty today. The after school program needed more work, she was pushing for it to be better organized so that not every teacher had to remain until their entire class had been accounted for and have it be more a joint effort. Where all the students could be brought to the cafeteria or auditorium or gym with a handful of teachers watching them.
As it happened now, so long as there was one student in each class room then that teacher had to remain. Padme supposed it wasn't the worst thing, but her patience was trying her and judging by the looks of it, it was getting to her last student as well. The fourth grade girl was currently lying down in the reading area, possibly sleeping or daydreaming. While this particular student did have a tendency to daydream, she also wasn't the type of student to be quiet for long periods of time. Even with the girl's chatter, Padme had yet to make a breakthrough with her. It had been her personal mission to make a bond with each of her students, whether it was over a story, music, a subject, a game, it didn't matter what it was.
Ahsoka Tano was a tough case to crack and Padme still hadn't quite gotten through to her yet. The young girl had joined her class three weeks ago, she had immediately made friends with the other students and did well on most of her academics. Shy was not in Ahsoka's vocabulary. Out of the sixteen nine to ten year olds Padmé had in her class, Ahsoka was the most out going of the bunch.
Padmé glanced at her wall clock, 3:45, the pair had been here for almost fifteen minutes since the carpool ended which lead to them journeying back inside the classroom. She stood up from her seat and made her way over to the young girl whose arms and legs were spread out on the green rug by the little library. Currently she had her blue and white beanie with braided strings on which the young girl had pulled over her eyes.
It gave Padme a moment to study her exposed young face. Her skin was a soft warm color, though she had pale sections from vitiligo on her cheeks and forehead. When Ahsoka was asked to tell the class something about herself, she had told everyone she had vitiligo and if anyone tried to make fun of her for it, the joke was on them because Ahsoka said she loved the uniqueness of her skin. Padmé wished she had the confidence of a ten year old again.
"How are you holding up kiddo," Padmé asked with an amused smile as she looked down at her student.
Ahsoka tilted her head to the side and moved her hat so she could to look at her teacher, her blue eyes contrasting against her bronze skin, "Bored."
"None of these stories catching your eye," Padmé commented as she took a seat beside her student.
"No," Ahsoka said as she sat up right, she looked at the two shelves, "The ones that were interesting I read during our free time last week."
Padmé nodded, "Guess that means I need to start restocking these books."
Ahsoka didn't comment. Most of the time, Ahsoka was a bit of chatter box, but today it seemed she was on the more reserved side.
"It isn't like your brother to be this late," Padmé mused out loud.
Ahsoka silently agreed with a nod of her own.
Padmé was not entirely aware of what Ahsoka's home life was like and it was not her place to question it. What she did know was from the rumors that circulated along with the limited information she had received from of the girl's legal guardian. Four weeks ago, give or take a few days, a man who was a little older than herself named Obi Wan had come to the school wanting to enroll his younger sister. From what Padme had gathered, he was the head of the household so to speak. He had been incredibly kind and polite, wanted to meet with her personally in order to see who he would be entrusting his sister to.
Padme had given him a standard tour, talked about the daily routine, expectations, classroom rules and answered all of his questions. She had met with him on Thursday, Ahsoka joined her class the following Tuesday. At first glance, Padmé wouldn't have guessed that he and Ahsoka we're related, but after seeing them side by side during carpool she could see similarities in their eyes and cheek bones. It was Obi Wan who always arrived on time to pick up Ahsoka, a kind smile ready with some small talk before the two departed.
"He might be with his fiancée," Ahsoka said after some moments of silence, she had on a sly smile, "Obi wan that is, none of my other brothers are engaged or dating."
Padme wracked her brain for a moment, she knew there were four brothers, but it took her a moment to think of the names. So far Padme had seen Obi Wan the most, but she had taken note of two others who came to get Ahsoka together. Rex and Cody she believed were their names, twins and the main difference between the pair of them was that one of them had blond hair, the other brown.
It had been Cody who introduced himself to her, in much the same manner as Obi Wan had while Rex appeared more laid back and didn't offer any small talk. When she had first seen them, she had been able to pick up on the resemblance instantly. Their skin tones were closer in shade, foreheads had similar shape along with their noses. Rex or Cody, sometimes both, were also punctual, they often showed early and waiting for their sister.
"They might have forgotten' Ahsoka said offhandedly, "Will you have to call them and be like 'hey, you forgot to pick up your delinquent'?"
Padme breathed a laugh, "You aren't a delinquent Ahsoka and I'm sure they wouldn't forget you." Well Padme wasn't sure, it had certainly been something that had happened to students of hers in this class and others. But she wouldn't share that information now. "I would need contact them at four, so we have some time to wait. Rather than just sit here staring at the ceiling, do you want to play a game or work on your art project while we wait?"
Ahsoka shrugged, "Project."
The pair climbed onto their feet and made their back to the craft table just by the library. On the wall behind the table were twenty cubbies where the students could place their drawings, painting or sculptures. Today their art projects consisted of popsicle sticks and glue which turned out to be messier than Padmé originally thought, but her students were having fun with it. Ahsoka pulled out her project which was a rough model of an F15 airplane that was missing the tail, but was certainly coming along. For the hour of their art time today, Ahsoka has run free with the activity. This was the third plane she had made.
"Do you like planes," Padme asked as Ahsoka set up the pieces she needed on the table.
Ahsoka nodded, she wore a bright smile, "Yeah. Sometimes my brother and I will go watch them take off and land. He works at the airport sometimes, he says one day I could be pilot."
"That would certainly be a fun career," Padme said grinning, "Do you have a favorite plane?"
Ahsoka looked thoughtful for a moment before she answered, "The F/A SuperHornet, 1999 design because it looks cool and it can fly faster than the speed of sound. Or the Dassault Rafale, a French supersonic flyer."
"Hmm, you know I might have a book on airplanes," Padme commented as she made her way back to her desk.
Ahsoka walked with her, clearly excited by the idea of a book solely about airplanes. Sure she had some books about planes at home thanks to her brother, but she always liked looking at more of them. After a few moments of searching, Padme lifted up a roughly seventy page book filled with all kinds of aircrafts. Grinning at Ahsoka's obvious excitement, she handed the book over to the young girl who flipped through the pages, skimming over the pictures and words once to get a feel for it.
"Wow," Ahsoka said, her eyes sparkled, "It looks like it talks about the evolution of planes. My brother has a book like it, but not the same."
"Consider it yours to take home," Padme told her.
Ahsoka gaped for a moment, but quickly recovered, "Really?"
Padmé nodded. A squeal of excitement left the young girl followed by a series of thank yous. Though Padme didn't know much about airplanes, well she knew next to nothing about them except that she didn't like turbulence, she knew she had made a break through with her newest student. It seemed like airplanes were the key. Ahsoka raced back to the craft table, carefully and quickly put her project away, then rushed over to her desk so that she could start looking at the planes in her book. The energy radiating off of Ahsoka made Padme happy. What made her even happier was Ahsoka's next words.
"Ms Amidala, come look at this," Ahsoka exclaimed, she held the book up and turned it around for Padme to see as she walked over, "It's the Wright Flyer. Can you believe all the planes we have today came from this one?"
Padme stood in front of her seated student with a chuckle, "It is certainly impressive that our modern aircraft started out that way."
"Technology is funny like that," said a masculine voice.
Ahsoka and Padme turned together at the sound to see in the back corner of the classroom where one of the doors to see a young man standing there. He was leaning against the door frame, a dark t shirt and blue jeans on. Padme felt her heart flutter in surprise from being startled and from the sight.
"Skyguy," Ahsoka called out jumping from her seat and running over to the young man to hug him.
Padme watched as the young man wrapped his arms around Ahsoka, his smile warm, "Glad to see you Snips."
The young man made his way over to Padme, an arm still wrapped around Ahsoka's shoulders. She had guessed he was tall from a distance, but now that he stood in front of her, she had to guess he was at least six feet tall, a good six to eight inches above her. And now that he was closer, she could see the resemblance he shared with Obi Wan clearly, but it was his blue eyes that captured her. A clear sky blue color, identical to Ahsoka's though hers were just a shade darker. She also took note of the scar over his right eye. Padmé momentarily forgot that she was supposed to be annoyed with his tardiness considering he was almost forty minutes late.
"Sorry about the lateness," he told her, time smooth and sincere, "There was a bit of a mix up on who was supposed to be on pick up duty today."
Padme offered him a smile, "Of course, it was no problem. These things happen from time to time."
He playfully nudged Ahsoka as he asked, "You give your teacher anymore trouble than usual during your wait?"
Ahsoka rolled her eyes, she stuck out her tongue, "You're the troubled one."
"Am not," he replied, then stuck his tongue out at her.
"Ahsoka was no trouble at all," Padmé said with a light laugh.
"No trouble huh? Clearly you're spending too much time with Cody and Obi Wan," he turned his attention back to Padmé, his smile both kind and confident, "You could say I'm the fun brother."
Padme crossed her arms over her chest, her smile sideways, "I'm sure."
Ahsoka stepped away from him and grabbed the book Padmé had given her, "Look at this book she gave me, it's like yours."
"Is it now," he said, he sounded genuinely intrigued.
Padmé spoke as he took the book from his sister, "I take it your the brother who works at the airport and takes her to watch the planes?"
He laughed softly, his blue eyes found her brown ones, "That would be me. Oh forgive my rudeness, I didn't introduce myself. My name's Anakin Skywalker."
Knowing that he didn't share a last name with Ahsoka or the other brother, Obi Wan, sent a flurry of questions into Padme's mind, but she wouldn't voice any of them. Anakin extended his right hand to her, which she noticed was covered by a black glove that reached up to his elbow. She shook his hand and offered him a gentle smile.
"Padme Amidala," she replied as she lowered her hand, she then turned to Ahsoka, "I'll see you tomorrow Ahsoka, don't forget to finish the next chapter in our story."
Ahsoka groaned at the reminder, "Okay."
"It was nice to meet you, Padme," Anakin told her, his smile warm and the way he said her name made Padme's heart flutter.
"And you as well," Padme replied politely.
And with that, Ahsoka had grabbed her backpack which Anakin took from her before pushing her hat down to cover her eyes. Playfully, Ahsoka shoved at him and the two left the classroom laughing with each other. And it seemed just like that, after school care wasn't so bad.
"Your teacher seems nice," Anakin commented as he climbed into the driver seat.
"Yeah, she is."
Anakin buckled his seat belt, he asked her, "So what is she like? A fun teacher? Stickler for the rules?"
"Ms Amidala is pretty sweet, but tough," Ahsoka said with a slight huff, her next words were brighter, "She can be fun too. Yesterday at recess she joined me, Trace and Riyo in double dutch after Bariss left."
Anakin nodded at that, he'd have to start picking up Ahsoka if he intended to learn more about this, Padme Amidala. An angel had been the first thing to come to his mind when he saw her today. Soft brown curls that hung loosely over her shoulders, dressed in a nice blue dress that cut off at her knees and a light white sweater. Very beautiful indeed.
Anakin started the car, "Alright Snips, what are we thinking for dinner that Obi Wan certainly won't approve of?"
"Pepperoni and sausage pizza," Ahsoka said instantly, "With a bunch of soda."
"Sounds perfect to me," Anakin grinned in response.
The journey home along with the ordering of pizza had been relatively quick for Anakin as it happened more in a blur than anything. His mind was still on the school teacher, he could not get her face out of his head or ignore the linger smell of the tropical perfume she had been wearing. A bit absently, he pulled into the garage, effectively blocking the twin's car inside and letting his own car be blocked by Obi Wan when he returned. Once the garage door closed, Rex opened the door that would lead inside.
The nineteen almost twenty year old man had a grave look on his face that Anakin definitely didn't like, but he'd been having an odd feeling all day since Obi Wan's message. The look of course vanished soon as Ahsoka hopped out of the car. While the fourth grader was mature for her age and could handle just about anything thrown at her, there were a number of battles that her brothers would ensure she didn't have to face yet. To let her be a child for as long as they could.
"Hey there commander," Rex greeted at Ahsoka came up to him, she gave him a mock salute as he went on, "Cody's working on some papers in the basement, I'm sure he'd love the company."
Ahsoka rolled her head back as she groaned, "I can't believe I just get home and the first thing you tell me to do, is homework with Cody."
Rex chuckled, he nodded to the side, "Move along. Sooner you get it done, the sooner I can kick your tail at Mario Kart."
"Yeah right, you're going down Captain," Ahsoka said then ran past her brother inside the house.
Their house wasn't very luxurious, but considering it was a six bedroom house, it was on the nicer side of things. As Anakin shut the garage, he glanced past Rex into the kitchen to make sure Ahsoka wasn't lingering around. The very last thing they needed was for her to hear them discuss the heavier topic of their life. Rex made his way inside, leading Anakin over to the island so that the pair of them could talk about the matter.
"What's the status Rex," Anakin asked, his gaze level despite the the storm of unease and anxiety inside of him.
Between the vague and ever cryptic message from Obi Wan and the emails he had yet to dive into from all kinds of people he was worried to speak to, Anakin knew this wasn't going to be a good update. Especially with the way Rex was carrying himself right now. Dressed in a white and blue long sleeve shirt and jeans, with he deemed as casual and relaxed clothing, he stood rigid and practically screamed apprehension. His expression was tense, eyes drawn in a way Anakin knew meant trouble, but just what kind of trouble was beyond him at the moment. Rex wasn't one to mince words, he was straightforward, but if he was hesitant to get this new information out, then clearly it was bad. Must be worse considering Anakin was the last to know.
"It's about the old man. He's filing for more visitation rights. You and Obi Wan will be meeting with some lawyers on Saturday."
A dark shadow passed over Anakin's face as he processed those words, "Which one? You can use their names. I don't care."
"Grandfather is filing for the visitation. The other is still locked away," Rex answered plainly, but didn't hide his wince knowing how his older brother felt about them.
Anakin barely held back a scowl at the first part, though the second gave him some pleasure to be sure. Because of incidents in the past, Anakin preferred to call their family members anything, but what they were to him. Sometimes he used code words instead since it made him feel better about the situation, it was Rex and Cody who used the 'proper' titles all the time, Ahsoka following their lead for the most part. However she did participate in Anakin's code names, but for a different reason than his own.
Obi Wan still referred to their grandfather the same way, their former stepfather on the other hand wasn't referred to as such. It was the only exception Obi Wan ever made when it came to decorum. The code names were amusing when Ahsoka was around, it was when she was out of ear shot that they turned more degrading due to the ever raging custody battle over the fourth grade girl. It was only partially stable at present, throwing in this visitation request rubbed Anakin the wrong way and likely would cause more problems that they didn't need. The timing of it seemed off. It all added fuel to the fire growing inside of him.
"He's already allowed to see her on holidays," Anakin remarked dryly, "Why is he asking now? What exactly is he trying to do here?"
Rex shrugged, his face looked regretful, "I wish I knew more, but Obi Wan wouldn't tell Cody or I all the details. I only know that grandfather wants to revisit the current arrangements in place."
Anger surged inside Anakin, he opened his mouth to speak, but was silenced by the pounding of footsteps followed by the shriek of laughter clearly belonging to the only child of the house. Said child came barreling into the living room on their left. Ahsoka crashed into the black couch, then used her momentum to flip over it so that she was sitting there instead of hunched over. Though she didn't stay there long. On her feet a second later, she turned to her right to see Anakin and Rex still standing by the kitchen counter.
"Anakin, Rex, help," Ahsoka cried witht he widest smile as she ran over to her brothers.
Anakin and Rex exchanged curious and amused glances with each other as the fourth grader came to stand between them. The look on her face screamed mischief along with some giddiness there as well. It told Anakin she had likely pulled off a prank on Cody. Before he or Rex could question her, Cody appeared in front of them, sliding to a halt actually.
His face was a carbon copy of Rex's with only a few lines of difference that one wouldn't notice without having been looking for in the first place. The best and easiest way to tell the two of them apart had always been their hair. While Rex's was a brighter blond color with an outgrown buzz cut, Cody's was dark brown and usually in a blended short cut with the sides buzzed down and the top maybe half an inch long.
Cody pointed at Ahsoka, "Hand her over General, she's coming with me."
Anakin glanced at Ahsoka, fully tempted to do so since it would get a great reaction for her, he looked back at Cody, "Care to tell us what happened?"
"A prank gone right perhaps," Rex questioned watching his twin amused.
Ahsoka answered them proudly, "I pranked him fair an' square. His face was priceless."
Cody shook his head, struggling not to smile and keep up his annoyed attitude, "Like a kind brother, I was trying to explain the math problem on Obi Wan's white board, but this youngling decided to switch out the expo marker with a sharpie when I wasn't paying attention."
Anakin barked a laugh at that, all the tension from the earlier conversation leaving his shoulders. He could only imagine the horror on Cody's face when he realized what Ahsoka had done, followed by the idea of what Obi Wan would do when he found his white board sharpied with elementary school math.
"Nice one Snips," Anakin said as he lifted his hand to give her a high five, which she eagerly returned.
Cody shook his head disapprovingly, "We shouldn't encourage this."
Anakin only grinned, "Oh come on Cody, what's a little harmless sharpie trick? I just can't wait to see the look on Obi Wan's face when he finds out."
"When he finds out what," said Obi Wan in the door way that lead to the garage.
Four pairs of eyes turned to look at the head of household, dressed in beige colored oxford, light pants and ginger colored blazer. It had certainly been a long day for Obi Wan and based on the wide eyes of his younger siblings watching him, he had a feeling it was going to get just a bit longer. However he certainly didn't mind at that this moment. Seeing them all together crowded in the kitchen reminded him that they were all still here.
"Hey Obi Wan," Anakin greeted with a sly smile, "Your home early."
Obi Wan set his satchel down on the counter, "Yes well I was able to leave the office early. Care to enlighten me on what you were waiting for me to find out?"
Obi Wan's clear eyes were drawn to Ahsoka who was covering her mouth trying not to laugh. Ah, so she was the culprit of whatever mess had come up. If given the opportunity, either Rex or Anakin would take the fall for her if she were in trouble. Cody sometimes would as well, but not quite as much since he actually believed in discipline unlike the other too. That wasn't quite fair to Rex if Obi Wan was being honest, however Ahsoka usually forced his hand.
"Something you care to tell me little one," Obi Wan asked with his head tilted slightly down at her.
Ahsoka could barely bite back a smile, "It won't be as funny if I just tell you. Can I show you instead?"
Obi Wan replied, "I don't see why not."
Ahsoka beamed at him and ran out of the kitchen through the living room.
"No running," Obi Wan called to her exasperated.
The only response he got was laughter.
Obi Wan turned to his brothers, the lightheartedness on his face dissolved instantly, "I'm home early to discuss the meeting we have on Saturday. Rex, you'll be in charge of Ahsoka then. I'll give you some money so you two can spend the day out. I don't want her questioning what's going on."
Rex nodded, "Understood."
"There's something fishy about this visitation request," Cody commented, his unease clear, "The timing is odd. Especially since it's almost time for her to visit him once again."
Obi Wan offered Cody a reassuring look, "You can call him father around us Cody. That is who he is to you, Rex and Ahsoka."
Both Cody and Rex appeared visibly uncomfortable by that despite the assuring tone. There wasn't necessarily bad blood between them all, but it wasn't great standings either. The man may have been their father by blood, but he was no longer someone they could truly call dad. They only used the title when it was deemed necessary and out of some respect, a respect that Anakin didn't believe the man deserved and there were certainly moments the twins agreed.
Yet there were other times when they were torn on the matter, it all lead back to the pounding feet that belonged to Ahsoka. She came running back inside the kitchen holding the twenty four by eighteen inch white board with fractions all over it. It only took Obi Wan a second to realize why she was breathlessly laughing. A simple prank to be sure.
"Is that sharpie," Obi Wan asked incredulous, his surprise exaggerated for her benefit.
Ahsoka nodded still smiling, though she looked a little sheepish, "Cody was helping me with math and I switched the markers out."
Cody took the board from her, "Yeah, ha ha ha, very funny. Now I'll have to clean it, hope it won't stay."
"It is permanent marker," Ahsoka said dryly.
"Well considering you'll be the one cleaning little one, you should hope it comes off," Obi Wan told her, only mildly stern, "Otherwise I am afraid the ice cream I just put in the freezer will go to waste."
Ahsoka gaped at him, "You can't hold ice cream hostage, it's treason."
"Is that right? Well in that case-" Obi Wan 'lunged' at Ahsoka and quickly caught her in his arms, "I should hold you hostage instead."
Ahsoka laughed at him as he lifted her up, "That's not fair."
Obi Wan just smiled, "I think it most certainly is fair." He set her down a moment later, "You and Cody can go clean the board while I start getting dinner ready."
The doorbell rang just after the words left Obi Wan's lips. He pulled out his phone that connected to the Ring system so he could see who it was. When he spotted it was a pizza delivery man, he realized dinner had been handled.
"Who ordered piz-" he didn't bother finishing the sentence as Anakin and Ahsoka ran to the front door. "No running in the house!"
Cody and Rex laughed at that. The pair of them gathered some cups and plates to get the dinner table ready while Anakin and Ahsoka carried the boxes into the dining room. For a few moments Obi Wan just remained in the kitchen, enjoying the sounds of clattering plates, easy laughter, the voices of the most important people in his life filling his ears. He hoped that wouldn't change any time soon, but he often found wishing for something last was a sure way for it to be lost.