A/N: Okay, yes it has been a long while. I've been dealing with some personal issues like I've said before, and writing seemed like it didn't matter anymore. Hopefully, all this is out of my system. Thanks for putting up with the long delays and I hope you enjoy.

Chapter Nine: To Be Young Again

Luke stared intently at his reflection in the mirror in front of him, and his bright blue eyes stared right back. But they weren't his eyes, were they? The electrical eyes had belonged to Anakin first, and Luke wasn't sure if he was okay with that. He quickly flattened his hair, trying to cover up his eyes, but this only made him realize that even his hair was just a copy of Anakin's.

Letting go of a heavy breathe, Luke moved away from the mirror, unable to look at himself any longer. This evidence combined with the subtle fact his supposed brother had tried to kill him made it hard for Luke to believe that Anakin was the one lying to him. It seemed much simpler to just stop fighting it, and so he had. Luke was tired, after all, and the idea of being the son of this particular Jedi didn't seem as bad as it once had.

However, Luke's mind did not allow him to think very far ahead. He just wasn't ready to face the thought of spending the rest of his youth as a Skywalker. For the moment, Luke remained blind to the future. He was content, just as long as he stayed naïve about what was to come.

"Luke," called Anakin from the other room. "Luke, are you ready? It's almost time to go."

The young boy's eyes went wide as he suddenly remembered what today was. Instead of going to the living where Anakin was waiting, Luke moved swiftly towards his closet. He knew it was childish, and he knew it was unlikely to work, but he couldn't just willingly be guided to his own doom. The least he could do was stall for time; maybe it would somehow cut the meeting short, though Luke doubted it.

Once he was inside of his closet, Luke carefully shut the door. He wondered how long it would take Anakin to find him. Luke knew it couldn't take him too long. Anakin was a Jedi Master, and they didn't earn that rank by having poor senses.

Just as Luke thought, only seconds later the door to his closet flew open with Anakin on the other side. The older man wore an annoying expression and amusement. Without a word, Anakin extended a hand down to his son, helping him off of the closet floor.

"Did you really think that would work?" Anakin asked him, pushing him towards the bedroom door.

"No," Luke admitted, "but I don't want to go. Can't we skip it?"

Anakin lightly chuckled. "I wish. Council meetings are the most boring things I've ever had to endure."

"Then why do we have to go?"

"Because I'm a grown up and sometimes I have to do dreadfully boring things," said Anakin. He locked the apartment door behind them and set in the direction of his favorite speeder.

Luke made a tortured face. "Then I'm never growing up."

"Good luck with that," Anakin commented.

"Don't you wish you were young again?" Luke asked, pulling off the best innocent face he had in him.

"I am young," said Anakin, narrowing his eyes at Luke. He knew exactly what the boy was doing, and yet he was compelled all the same.

"Fine, younger," Luke clarified, looking at Anakin hopefully. He actually felt like he had a chance of convincing the man of skipping the meeting. Anakin sighed as he opened the door of the speeder and slide inside. Luke followed, but watched Anakin as he thought about the crossroads in which he was faced.

Anakin sat in the speeder without touching any of the controls. He couldn't believe he was considering skipping a Council meeting which had been specifically set up for him and Luke. It wouldn't look good to the Masters to be a no-show, especially after working so hard to earn the rank of a Master in the first place.

Glancing over at his son's reckless stare, it became obvious to Anakin what he needed to do.

"So, where do you want to go?"

The grin that spread across Luke's face was enough to tell Anakin that he had chose correctly.

"Really?" Luke said, his smile fading only slightly. It was although he thought that Anakin was playing a cruel trick on him.

"Yeah, I have the whole rest of my life to be a grown up. Not so much to spend the day with my son," Anakin replied.

"Can I pilot, too?"

"No," Anakin said automatically.

"But you have the whole…"

"Nice try," Anakin said, "but no."

"I win!" Luke shouted triumphantly from the other machine.

Anakin slide out of his, snatching his head and wondering what had just happened.

"I thought you were supposed to be a good pilot?" Luke taunted him. The boy obviously had inherited Anakin's arrogance; the Jedi Master only wished Luke had inherited his height, too, though Padme's short genetics did make it easier to keep tabs on him.

"Don't get too excited," Anakin said in a low voice, "it was only a flight simulator."

"Whatever," Luke said, his eyes set on another game and he raced over towards it, leaving Anakin standing there by himself.

From his pocket, his commlink started to go off. Foolishly, he checked it only to realize that it was from the Council room, again. It had been going off all day, but Anakin did not want to answer. He knew it was childish, and that the Council was probably worried that something had happened. For some reason, it felt good to act irrationally. Obi-Wan wouldn't approve of his and Luke's escape to the arcade, but Obi-Wan was on Tatioone many worlds away. Anyways, Anakin was far past the days he had to worry about Obi-Wan's approval.

After the two of them had played nearly all the games in the arcade twice, they headed to get some food. They had played past lunch time, making both of their appetites monstrous. Anakin let Luke order things Padme would never allow, and Luke ensured that he wouldn't tell his mother all the junk that Anakin himself had consumed. They were partners in crime.

"I want to go home," said Luke as he pushed an empty plate away from him.

Anakin frowned. He had thought Luke was past this. "Luke, I already told you that isn't going to happen."

"No," Luke said. He directed his eyes to the table. "I want to go back to your home."

Anakin felt both relieved and happy. It seemed as though Luke was finally coming around to the idea of being a Skywalker.

"Okay," Anakin agreed, "let's go."

He tipped the waitress, and the two of them set off towards the exit. Once they got there, Anakin let out a loud groan. Large drops of water hit the ground and collected in giant puddles, and Anakin hadn't parked the speeder very close at all.

"Sweet! Rain!" Luke bolted out the double doors before Anakin had a chance to grab the back of his clothes. Anakin stood back for a moment and watched as Luke jumped into one of those gigantic puddle, splashing himself with a rather large amount of water.

It reminded Anakin of the first time he had experienced rain. For him, it was magical. He had grown up on Tatioone, a place where rain didn't exist. As a nine-year-old, Anakin viewed the rain as a miracle, as hope, but now his view took a more pessimistic turn. Rain was no longer a divine invention, but an unfortunate weather condition that had to be endured on some days.

Determined to feel like a kid again, Anakin charged after his son. He made sure to dash straight through all the puddles. Forgetting to care about how he looked, Anakin made a huge force-assisted leap in a puddle Luke was standing in. Luke took his foot and slashed it against the top layer of water, effectively drenching the part of Anakin that wasn't already wet.

Before Anakin could retaliate, Luke had taken off in a different direction. Anakin ran after him. It didn't take long for him to catch up and bring his son down into one of the biggest puddle he had ever seen. Both of them broke out into laughter, but unfortunately it was lived.

"Umm, Sir?"

Anakin broke his attention away from Luke to see who was addressing him. It was a middle-aged man who was dressed in a Republic official uniform. This couldn't be good. Anakin helped Luke to his feet, and then grinned at the official sheepishly.

"Is this your son?" The official asked him.

"Why, yes he is," Anakin said overly enthusiastically, hoping his positive tone would help their case. He placed his hands on Luke's shoulders. "This is Luke Skywalker."

Despite the Skywalkers goofy smiles and upbeat attitudes, the officer's expression remained firm. "How old is young Skywalker? Ten?"

"Thirteen," Luke told the man angrily, causing Anakin to tighten his grip on his son as a warning.

"You're short," said the officer.

"Yeah, that is from his mother's side," Anakin interjected before Luke exploded due to his short temper. "Is there a problem, officer?"

"Why, yes. I have to wonder why such a young boy is not in school."

All of sudden, Anakin felt like a stupid parent. Of course Luke should be in school. His sister was, so why hadn't he thought of enrolling Luke?

"We're taking a personal day," Anakin said.

"I see," said the officer, though he clearly wasn't impressed. "Make sure he gets to class. I know all you Jedi think you're special, but you still have to abide by the laws."

Anakin nodded as the officer moved on. Once he was out of earshot for sure, Luke kicked the ground and made a sound of protest.

"What a jerk," said Luke, passionately. "Can't you fire him?"

"No," Anakin said dismissively. His thoughts were still with the whole school issue. He wondered if Luke could handle being in class with everything that was going on. Him being a trained as a Jedi was certainly not going to happen, so Luke most definitely had to attend school sometime.

"Can Padme fire him?"

"Maybe," Anakin said, thoughtfully, losing focus on the problem. "But he was right, Luke, you should be in school."

"Why?" Luke challenged as they reached the speeder.

"To learn things."

"I already know everything."

Anakin rolled his eyes without offering any sort of reply back. He put the problem in the back of his mind, and only thought of the great day he had with his son. He would worry about school another time.

Padme was less than pleased when her two boys came home drenched from head to toe. She fussed until the both of them got into dry clothes, but continued to worry when Luke developed a cough. Although he would not admit to the adults that he was sick, Luke stayed lying around the rest of the evening and even refused to eat anything.

"I can't believe you let him play in the rain," Padme said. "It is freezing out there."

"It seemed fun at the time," Anakin said, for lack of anything else to come up with.

"I haven't heard that excuse in a long time."

"What do you mean?"

"That's what you used to say after doing completely idiotic stunts," Padme explained. "I think Luke is a bad influence on you."

"Nah, he just reminds me of me, a long time ago," Anakin told his wife. "I forgot how fun I was."

Padme laughed, "I'm glad you two had fun, even if it means Luke is sick and the Council is mad at you."

Anakin grinned, pulling his wife close to him. He had also forgotten how great his wife was. When most people would mad at him, she understood exactly what he needed to feel like himself. Padme actually loved him just because he had to be him. Padme's smile diminished as she looked Anakin in the eyes.

"What's wrong, angel?"

"Obi-Wan stopped by. He's back from Tatioone. He said he has bad news."

Anakin closed his eyes as he realized he couldn't run from being a grown up forever. The real world was still out there.

God's way is not a matter of mere talk, it's an empowered life.

1st Corinthians 4:20

A/N: Hope you enjoyed it! Sorry for the lack of plot, but I felt like this story line would help me heal from all this 'growing up' crap I've been going through lately. Anyways, please please review! Don't know when the next update will be, but hopefully soon!