"-probably the best goal I ever scored in a game! You shoulda seen it, the crowds were going nuts, I was going nuts; basically it was epic-"

"Ms Sunter, come to my room, I can show you my Enterprise!"

"Alright but… no 'Ms Sunter', okay? It feels weird!"

"...Aunt Naomi?"

Naomi stilled, then beamed. "Of course Cole! That would be wonderful."

Cole grinned and pelted ahead of her to his room, leaving Anakin with Ulisses.

Anakin glanced around at the walls, noting the decor. "Fencing?"

"Yeah, I've always liked it. Elegant but… still dangerous, right?"

"Yeah… you know, Naomi has a fencing club or something she goes to. It's called the Temple of Knights, I think."

"No way, I go there too!"

Anakin glanced up in surprise as he followed Ulisses into the kitchen for more pizza. "Really?"

"Yeah! I didn't know Naomi went, though; never saw her. I go in the mornings; guess she must come later."

"Yeah, Naomi comes to work in the mornings… that must be it." Anakin continued to look around, gaze moving over trophies from more sports than he could name. "Well, it looks like you keep busy."

"I try, man. Can't stand doing nothing." Ulisses snagged a piece of Hawaiian and chowed down.

Anakin snorted and reached for meat lovers. "You're disgusting."

"-ey, this is the stuff. The fruit makes it… healthy!"

"No, I don't think it does."

"Fruit is healthy. Cole says so."

"I think Cole is the only person with any sense in your household."

"Yeah, but he's boring. Kid only eats cheese pizza. Of all the unoriginal…" Ulisses trailed off, shaking his head in disappointment. "Sometimes, I can't believe we're related!"

Anakin nodded, and reached for another slice, catching himself just as the piece started to lift off the cardboard. Anakin grabbed it quickly, and dropped his gaze to the floor. What was wrong with him? What was it about Ulisses that made restraint so hard to remember?

WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

"And over here is where they keep the engines. This is the fastest ship in the whole universe!"

Naomi nodded, smiling. "It looks fast."

"Yeah! I built it without instructions or anything - just made it up. And this is where they have the turbo lasers!"

Naomi grinned. "I watched Star Trek a long time ago, but I don't remember turbo lasers."

"I'm not sure if they're really in the show, they just sounded cool. And here's the bridge, and ooh! The main reactor core is in here!"

Naomi nodded, turning around to take in the rest of Cole's room. It was cluttered, and decorated wall to wall in posters, action figures and a random assortment of other objects she couldn't identify. Naomi's arm brushed against a shelf of action figures, and one tumbled off it's wooden perch.

Cole's hand snapped out to catch it without his even turning around.

"Your reflexes are good!" Naomi praised, placing the toy back where it belonged.

Cole turned and grinned up at her. "Not as good as Ulisses's! He always kills me when we play video games or spar."

Naomi shrugged. "Well, he is a lot older than you."

Cole scrunched up his nose. "Only six years. It isn't that much."

"When you're 15, it is that much. It won't matter so much when you get older, though."

Cole sighed, and put down his ship. "When I grow up, I'm gonna learn to be a great fighter, better than Ulisses. That way whenever he gets in trouble," Cole glanced up at Naomi and smiled. "I can protect him."

Anakin pushed his door open, the creaking of wood melding with his thudding steps on the paneled apartment floor.

The Force whispered to him, barely a murmur of a presence sparking in his consciousness.

Anakin whirled to the window, as tendrils of cold air chilled the room from it's open sille. A shadowed figure crouched in the frame.