Anakin, Help Me
15 years
"Mom, can we have a sleepover?" Leia Skywalker asked one night while eating dinner. Padme Skywalker looked up into the hope-filled eyes of the twins.
"A sleepover? With who?" she asked, placing her fork on her plate and resting her chin in her hand.
"Just some friends from school," Luke answered, taking a sip of his juice. Wow, getting information out of these kids is as hard as choking a bantha. Padme thought to herself.
"And who are these friends?" she asked, adding a bit of hinting humor to her voice.
"Winter. I think you've met her before," Leia said.
"And Biggs! You know him too!" Luke interjected loudly.
"Luke! No shouting at the table!" Padme scolded, scowling at him. She turned back to Leia. "Yes, that should be fine. When?"
"Tomorrow. They're coming over after school," Leia said. "We already made plans because we knew you would say yes and Dad would say no, so we planned it when he was still on the mission."
Padme bit back a laugh. "Next time ask me first, okay?"
The twins nodded.
"Now, start clearing the table. Then we can prepare for your friends."
...
They had reenacted The Battle of Geonosis.
Padme rubbed her forehead and sighed. The living room was a shambles. There were blankets strewn across the floor, not to mention the couch cushions and the makeshift lightsabers, which were really paper towel tubes. Currently, the teens were putting on pajamas so they could watch a holovid before bed, so that gave Padme a few minutes to clean up.
She heard a thump down the hall, and went to investigate. She peeked her head into Luke's room, and found all four teens, still clad in their tunics and pants. Luke's closet door had come off its hinges and fallen to the floor.
"What happened?!" Padme asked in shock.
"The Battle of Geonosis," Leia replied.
"That was the big pillar that fell when the acklay rammed it," Luke said.
"I knew I should've never told you guys that story," Padme muttered. "Okay, Luke, you get to go without a closet door until da gets home. And puh-lease stop with Geonosis. Now go put your pj's on. I'll make popcorn."
That got the kids moving. The girls slipped out and across the hall to Leia's room to change.
Padme left the boys' room and headed to the kitchen to make some popcorn. The teens emerged from the bedrooms a few minutes later, clad in pajamas and carrying pillows. They walked into the living room and sat on the floor with their backs resting against the couch. They then gathered the scattered blankets from their Geonosis reenactment and wrapped them around themselves.
Luke slyly reached for a paper towel tube that was colored purple and bopped Biggs over the head with it.
"This party's over," he said in a low voice.
"No it's not!" Biggs said, leaping up and tackling his friend. Winter and Leia giggled, then jumped on top of the boys. Padme nearly dropped the bowl of popcorn when she walked into The Battle Of Geonosis.
"What are you doing?" she asked, setting the bowl down on the side table. Four heads popped up from the heap of bodies on the floor.
"The Battle of Geonosis," Biggs explained as if it were obvious.
"Well, settle down and start your holo, 'kay? It's getting late." She handed them the popcorn with a shake of her head and departed the living room. Once in her bedroom, she commed Anakin, who answered almost immediately.
"Hey, Angel," he greeted, smiling.
"Anakin, help me," was all she said.
"What's the matter?" he asked, a look of concern marring his features.
"Have you ever had four 15-year-olds in your home at one time?"
"Uh, no."
"Ani, they reenacted The Battle of Geonosis. Twice. They also knocked Luke's closet door off the wall and the whole apartment is a mess."
"What are they doing now?"
"Watching a holovid."
"Okay, well I guarantee they'll crash pretty soon."
"Actually, I haven't heard any noise from the living room in a few minutes. I'll go check on them." Padme got up from the bed and walked to the room. There lay 4 teenagers, sprawled out on the floor, sleeping soundly. "You were right, Ani."
Anakin smiled.