Disclaimer: I hereby disclaim Star Wars.
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Unfortunately, Anakin slept restlessly, and not for very long. Obi-wan had only been meditating for about half and hour when he was suddenly smacked in the face by something large, soft, and heavy. He quickly flung it to the floor and scanned the room for danger, but all he found was Anakin lying casually on his side, his head on Padmé's pillow, his eyes wide open and watching Obi-wan past the spot where his own pillow had once been.
Obi-wan gave him a look of disgust.
"I'm bored. I wanted to see what you would do. My head hurts."
"Wouldn't have been easier to throw Padmé's pillow? Then you wouldn't have had to move."
"Hers is cool. Mine's not."
"You could have just turned yours over," said Obi-wan, picking up Anakin's pillow from off the floor.
"Uh-uh."
The pillow was warm to the touch on both sides. Obi-wan set it down on the chair, then went over and felt his pillow-flinging friend's forehead again. It was very warm.
"Stop, your hands are cold!" wailed Anakin, turning his face away.
Obi-wan consulted the instructions on the fever reducer. Another two hours at least before he could give Anakin another dose.
"I'll be right back," he told Anakin. "Drink some water or something while I'm gone." He re-wet the cloth he had used before with more cool water, then stuck it Padmé's freezer for a few seconds. He saw a couple of cold packs inside and made a mental note to use them next time. He carried the cloth back to the bedroom. Anakin was sitting on the bed, arms crossed, staring defiantly at the glasses of fluid that sat on his nightstand.
"Oh, for goodness' sake, Anakin, stop acting like a four-year-old and drink your water!"
"I don't want to throw up."
"Do you feel sick?"
"No."
"Then try some! You'll be fine, just like before!"
Anakin scowled and grabbed the glass of water and took a tiny sip, deliberately spilling some on the comforter.
"More than that!"
He took a big gulp of water.
"Swallow," commanded Obi-wan.
He obeyed, then shoved the glass back at Obi-wan.
"You are perfectly capable of putting it back on the table yourself."
He scowled more, but did as he was told.
"Now, lie down."
"My pillow's over there."
"I thought you wanted Padmé's pillow."
"It's not cool anymore."
Sighing in exasperation, Obi-wan picked up the pillow and put it back where it belonged. "But no more throwing them. Now, lie still." He held the cloth to Anakin's head.
Anakin grimaced. "It's cold!" he howled, squirming and twisting and wriggling as much as he possibly could.
"I thought you wanted cold."
"Cool! This is freezing!"
"Anakin, just live with it! It'll warm up in a few seconds! Don't you want to get better?"
"Mmmmmmm!" Anakin grunted. He kicked his blankets vigorously into a wad at the foot of the bed.
Obi-wan sighed again. "Anakin, you make your three-year-old twins look mature!"
"Oh yeah? Well, you shoulda been here when they were all sick last week! They both wanted Mommy all the time, and this hurt, and that hurt, and Luke wouldn't take his medicine, and Leia wouldn't sleep, and they didn't want to stay in bed, and they kept saying they were bored, and didn't sleep at night…"
Obi-wan couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"What?" asked Anakin, completely oblivious.
"Nothing. You wouldn't like it if I told you anyway."
"How do you know?" Anakin demanded, pouting. "I might like it."
"No."
Anakin scowled. "Mmmm!" he grunted again, demonstrating his displeasure.
He refused to lie still on the bed, instead tossing and turning and twisting about so that Obi-wan had to hold the washcloth on his head.
Just then the door opened, and Padmé came in. "How are we doing?" she asked, suppressing a yawn.
Obi-wan turned his head to look at her, his hands still holding the cloth. "Uncooperative, restless, and feverish."
"I'm bored!" growled Anakin.
Padmé shook her head. "Oh, Anakin. Obi-wan, the twins are awake now, so if you are tired of trying to deal with Anakin, you could take over with them again."
"Whatever you prefer," said Obi-wan. The door opened again, and Luke's head poked in. "Mommy, can we show Daddy our pi'tures yet?"
"In a minute, Luke." The blonde head was withdrawn, and the door shut again. Padmé stood thinking for a minute. "Anakin is bored, and the kids want to show him their pictures," she mused.
"Stop talking about me like I'm not here!" said Anakin.
Padmé ignored him. "Why don't we put Anakin on the couch in the living room?" she said. "Then, maybe he'll stop saying he's bored. And it'll help keep him awake until it's time for his next dose of medicine."
"Yes!" shouted Anakin, sitting up. "Please, let me out of this room before I die of boredom!"
"So dramatic," said Padmé with a smile. "Come on, let's get you set up on the couch. Obi-wan, if you'll get his things?" She picked up Anakin's pillow, the box of tissues, and the glass of water and followed behind Anakin as he toddled into the living room. He started out confidently, but they could see from the way he walked that he was a little lightheaded. When he reached the couch, he was quite willing to lie down and relax. Padmé put the pillow at one end of the couch and got a couple of extra blankets from a shelf in the closet. Obi-wan put the rest of the things on the end table.
Luke and Leia came running in. "Daddeeee!" they screamed, and jumped on top of Anakin, knocking the breath out of him. "Unh!" he grunted.
"No! Luke and Leia! You know better than that! You don't jump on Daddy when he's sick!" Padmé shouted in exasperation.
"Sorry, Daddy!' giggled the twins. "We made you a well pi'ture!" offered Leia excitedly, thrusting her drawing into Anakin's hands.
"A 'well picture'?" he asked in confusion.
"Get-well cards," Obi-wan explained.
"Oh! How… nice," said Anakin, a little tiredly. "Uh… what are they?"
"Mine's us all together, and you all better!" Luke announced happily.
"An' mine's a gundark!" said Leia, looking quite pleased with herself.
"A gundark?" poor Anakin said, absolutely baffled.
"Maybe she wants you well and strong enough to pull the ears off one!" chuckled Obi-wan.
"We made some for Mommy, too, 'cause we didn' make her one when she was sick! I made flowers on Naboo, and Luke made a sunset!"
"Great!" Anakin said with as much enthusiasm as he could muster. He was obviously beginning to tire. To Obi-wan, he said, "Padmé gets flowers, and I get a gundark!"
The children continued to frolic around the room, but Anakin clearly was worn out. Obi-wan had an idea. "Padmé, would it be all right if I took Luke and Leia to the Temple and took them on a walk in the Room of a Thousand Fountains? That way, they will get out of the house and Anakin can get some rest."
Padmé thought for a moment. "That would be lovely," she said finally. Obi-wan called the children and told them his plan.
"Yippeeeee!" they cried. "We're going for a walk, going for a walk!" they chanted, jumping up and down excitedly. Anakin observed silently, trying to hold his eyes open.
"Why don't you relax and try to sleep while we're gone, Anakin?" Obi-wan suggested.
But Anakin was stubborn. "I'm bored. I want to watch HoloNet."
Padmé sighed and rolled her eyes, but there was an amused smile on her face as she turned the HoloNet on. Anakin stared at it, eyelids drooping.
"He can be such a child sometimes," said Padmé. "I think he doesn't like to admit weakness, and it bothers him when he can't hide it."
Obi-wan nodded knowingly. "He's always had a little more pride than perhaps was good for him."
Padmé bent down to kiss her children goodbye. "Now, you two had better behave for Mr. Kenobi," she told them.
"We will!"
"I'll have them back in an hour and a half, maybe two," Obi-wan told Padmé. "Will that be enough time to get Anakin to fall asleep?"
Padmé just nodded over at the couch, where Anakin was already out cold, despite the HoloNet being on.
Obi-wan laughed softly. "Yes, that's Anakin all right. Well, we'll be back in a while." He led the children out to the speeder and drove off to the Temple.
Once there, he led them through the halls toward the Room of a Thousand Fountains. They were about halfway there when Luke suddenly announced. "I gots ta go to the 'fresher."
"Me, too!" added Leia, squirming a little.
Though they were right next to the refreshers, this was a bit of a conundrum; Obi-wan couldn't take Leia into the men's refresher, but he also couldn't go into the women's with her! He quickly scoured his brain for a solution. Both of the children were beginning to look rather distressed when Siri happened along. Obi-wan sighed in relief. "
"Could you please take her to the refresher for me?" he asked.
She smiled kindly. "Of course," she said, and took the little girl by the hand and led her in, while Obi-wan took Luke to the men's.
When they met again outside, Siri asked, "Aren't these Anakin's two?"
"Yes," said Obi-wan. "He's ill today, and I am taking them to the Room of a Thousand Fountains to get them out of the house for a while."
"Well, that was sweet of you!" she said. "I hope you have a good time!" Just like that, she flashed him a smile and was gone. Obi-wan felt his cheeks redden slightly, but he cleared his throat and led the children on.
They were satisfyingly thrilled when they reached the huge room, full of lush grasses, trees, and of course, bubbling, splashing, trickling fountains and pools of water.
Leia skipped joyously down the path. "Come on, Lukie!" she cried, grabbing her brother's hand trying to drag him along. "Skip with me!"
Luke held back. "Skipping's for girls," he said with something akin to disgust.
Obi-wan saw Leia let go of her twin; her brown eyes grew extra shiny and her lower lip began to tremble. Attempting to avert disaster, Obi-wan quickly assured Luke that it was indeed permissible for boys to skip, too. Luke looked at him dubiously for a minute, then brightened. "Okay!" he said cheerfully, and the two of them skipped down the path, hand in hand. Obi-wan followed at a more dignified pace, but kept them in sight.
Unfortunately, they still managed to find a puddle to splash in and had completely soaked their shoes and socks by the time Obi-wan was able to get their attention. "Your Mommy will not like that you got your shoes all wet," he reprimanded gently. "Come, get out of the puddle, and we'll walk a little bit more to dry them out." Luke complied, but Leia stood and pouted for a moment. Finally, she splashily stomped out, arms crossed. Obi-wan was thinking how much she was like Anakin had been as a child when she somehow slipped and landed on her bottom in the puddle of water. She sat there for a moment, surprised, then let out a wail.
"Oh, dear. Come now, it's all right, you'll be fine. You're no hurt, you just got a little wet, that's all." He idly wondered why it was that she was perfectly happy to splash in the water, but when she accidentally fell in it, it was a traumatic experience.
The little girl continued to cry, even as Obi-wan helped her out of the puddle. She stood there on the path, tears streaming down her face, until Obi-wan finally picked her up and hugged her, ignoring the fact that the front of his robes got soaked from the chest down because of her dripping wet dress. "There, there," he soothed, holding her close as he carried her down the path. She buried her face in his shoulder for a minute, then popped up and squirmed to get down, her sobs ceased, and only a few sniffles and telltale tears indicated that anything had been wrong.
"I'm okay now," she sniffed. "Let's go!"
"I think we will go back and return home, so we can put you in dry clothes, Leia."
"Okay." The children turned around and began skipping back. Suddenly, Luke stumbled and fell flat on his face, arms extended. He lay there, stunned, for several seconds, then began to scream. Obi-wan rushed to his side. One of the knees had been torn out of his pants, and both of his knees were scraped and bleeding, as were the heels of his hands. Obi-wan scooped him up in his arms and led both children to the infirmary for some bacta. Leia watched with interest as Obi-wan washed Luke's wounds and applied the bacta to them.
Suddenly, she piped up. "I want some, too!"
"But you aren't hurt," observed Obi-wan
"Yes I am! I falled down before!"
"You don't need bacta for that!"
"But I want some. Please?"
Obi-wan indulged her and painted a tiny streak on her hand. She seemed satisfied, and Luke had stopped crying, so Obi-wan began leading them out of the infirmary.
"Wait!" said the Healer who was in charge of the waiting room. "Little boys who are good when we patch them up get these!" She handed Luke a red lollipop. He rewarded her with a big smile, then pulled the wrapper off and stuck it in his mouth.
Leia's eyes got big. "What about little girls who are good?" she asked.
The Healer smiled benevolently. "They get purple ones!" she said, handing one to Leia. She also immediately set to work on it.
"What do you say?" asked Obi-wan.
"Thlank lou!" they said around the lollipops.
Obi-wan looked at his chrono. "Well, the time has gone by!" he exclaimed. "I told Mommy that we'd be back half an hour from now, so we had better go back to the speeder. Come, don't walk with those in your mouths, you'll choke!" They walked the fifteen minutes back to the speeder, then took of and headed for home, the twins once again contentedly sucking their lollipops.