Disclaimer: Disney owns Star Wars, not me. All the characters and places (except for my OC Analise Joy) belong to them.

"aaaa"-talking out loud."aaaa"-talking through a holo. 'aaaaa'-inner thoughts. aaaaa-talking through a Bond

AN: Thanks for the review necessaryreading:) I'm writing Ahsoka as Anakin and Analise's little shadow. She wants to be just like them like any younger sibling:)

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Chapter Four

'What can I get Ani for our birthday? It needs to be something just for him...something I know he'll love...something that I can give him that won't be openly going agnist the Code.'

She went through her duties as if a droid simply following her programming. Analise never really thought about celebrating her birthday every time it had come around since her arrival. She had to admit that her thirteenth birthday had been the best. That was the day the Council had officially allowed her to join the Jedi Order, made her a Padawan to the famous Grey Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn, and announced that Master Qui-Gon had been granted permission to officially adopt her and Anakin. As a special treat, they had gone to Dex's to celebrate.

That was what they had done for the twins' fourteenth birthday. A special dinner at Dex's with simple, small, and practical gifts. Gifts that wouldn't raise any eyebrows at the Temple.

They hadn't been able to do anything special for their fifteenth birthday. They had been rare separate missions planets apart. Messages had been exchanged, but it was the four of them being reunited at the Temple weeks later that had been the best gift for Analise. A faint blush stained her cheeks as she remembered the hug Obi-Wan had given her.

In a way, Analise missed the little parties that marked her early birthdays on Earth. They had never been very big as she had very few friends her own age. It was normally her first Da, their housekeeper, and herself. She had caught glimpses of the insane birthday parties on TV sometimes and heard some of the older girls at competitions and auditions talk about their own lavish parties. She didn't want anything like what she had seen or heard, just something simple with her family and friends.

Analise shook her head. Her Padawan braid hit her face gently. Dreaming of a birthday party, she was being foolish. She was more than just an Earthling now. She was a Jedi and Jedi did not have birthday parties. They did not exchange gifts openly and none of those gifts were meant to lavish or overly sentimental.

So it was back to trying to figure out what exactly to get Anakin for their sixteenth birthday. Something he would love, that would be something he would use. Something that wouldn't go against the Code.

"Credit for thoughts?" Startled Analise knocked over a tray of tools. They clattered onto the floor.

"Oooo...poodoo!" As soon the word she had picked up from Anakin slipped past her mouth, Analise quickly covered it. It wasn't exactly a bad word. Just one that she didn't think she should say in polite company. Turning bright red with embarrassment. She was never this clumsy during her Force Healing lessons.

"You're drifting away today Analise. Are you alright?" Jedi Master and Head Healer Vokara Che eyed her pupil. She worried about the Earthling. The teen was a little bit more fragile than the other human Padawans and Che could only guess it was the years spent on Earth where advances were slow to come and decades behind them apparently. Yet Analise didn't want to be seen as weak. She would keep up or die trying, a reckless impulse like Anakin. Softer and hidden deeper, but still there.

Che could only picture the kind of Jedi Knights the Skywalker twins would be. Strong and gentle. Anakin rushing into danger headlong without any real plan. Analise a step behind after putting together the most basic of plans. Both willing to do what it takes to save lives.

"I'm fine Master Che. Truly." Analise rose from the ground with the tools back on the tray which she set on a nearby table.

"But your thoughts were clearly not in the hear and now Analise. You father would not approve of you dwelling on the future, on what might be's. The Force did not bless."

"Be mindful of the future, but not at the expense of the moment," Analise ruefully recited a saying she had heard Qui-Gon use many times to chide Obi-Wan with when the Knight spent too much on a vision the Unifying Force had given him.

Che nodded. "A wise saying to remember. You are like him Analise in which connection to the Force you hold strongest. The Force blessed you with the strongest connection to its Living aspect that any of the Master have seen in years."

"I know Master Che...And I wasn't dwelling on the future. Not like that." The Healer's eye ridges raised.

"Then where were your thoughts young one?"

"I...I...I was trying to figure out a gift for Anakin." Analise ducked her head, wishing that the floor would open up and eat her. What would Master Che think of such un-Jedi thoughts? She was a Master and bound to the Code and...

"A gift can take a lot of thought."

"Pardon?" Analise looked up at the taller Twi'lek with wide eyes. Che laughed a little.

"Think me stuffy do you?" Che copied Yoda's speech in the affection, playful way much of the Jedi did. "The Code does not forbid the giving of a gift Analise. It was just always assumed to be acting out of emotion, out of attachment."

"But..." Analise frowned, biting her lip. It was a look Che knew well. Analise only looked like that when she wanted to express an idea that she knew could get her in trouble. "But as living beings we need attachments right? To keep us grounded and feeling. I mean even staying true to the Code, to the Order...that's a kind of attachment right? I mean we're Jedi, not droids and the Code says we can't act out of our emotions. We don't need to turn them off."

As it always did, Analise's logic and way of thinking left Che speechless. The way she looked at things made Che question the way the Jedi had worked for decades, centuries. Her warm, loving nature was in a way soothing. The younglings brought in while Analise was taking her lessons from Che were often more willing to sit still if Analise was in the room with them.

Then again the three men in Analise's life were more willing to sit still if she was in the room with them. Though if Che needed them to stay for longer...she was starting to think about getting a Temple Guard or two to stand watch. The twins had gotten very good at figuring out ways to sneak into the ward if one of them or Obi-Wan or Qui-Gon had to stay for a day or two. The twins simply didn't want to let their ones to be left alone if they were hurting.

"Do not worry about what the stiffer Masters will say Analise." She patted her hand. "You and Anakin are turning sixteen. That means soon the two of you will be Senior Padawans with more responsibilities to the Republic and the Order. In just a few short years, the two of you could be Knighted. Enjoy this time while you can. Be young."

"That's what Da says."

"And he's right...I'm not sure Qui-Gon Jinn will ever grow up." As intended the comment made Analise giggle. "As for a meaningful gift, what are things Anakin likes? Besides being an overprotective big brother to you and Ahsoka."

"Well..." Analise chewed on her lip in thought until Che stopped her. "He likes to mess around with droids, fixing them. He likes to work on ships and speeders too when he gets the chance. Anakin likes working on them almost as much as flying...I can't get him a ship though or a speeder or a bike...but..." Anakin did love flying. His eyes lit up whenever he told Analise about his days as a Podracer or when he flew a Naboo battleship by accident and found himself destroying the droid control ship over Naboo. Anything the flew though was out of the question. What remained? Next to flying he truly enjoyed...Analise's eyes lit up and she clapped her hands a little. "I have it Master Che!"

"You do?"

"I know exactly what I can get Anakin that he'll love and will be a perfectly practical Jedi gift. I just need to buy it first!"