Two years later
Anakin wakes up to a weight on his stomach. Wiping the sleep out of his eyes with the back of his hand, Anakin looks to see who is sitting on him. He sees the smiling face of Ahsoka looking down on him. When she sees that he is looking at her she starts to jump on his stomach.
"Wakey, wakey" Ahsoka keeps saying while continuing to jump on his stomach with a big smile on her face. She appears to be enjoying herself immensely, Anakin thinks.
"Soka, I'm awake but can't get up if you continue to jump on me. So. Get. Off. Me!" Anakin says while playfully shoving Ahsoka of off him. She complies but still stays close by while Anakin gets out of bed. Firstly Anakin makes a trip to the bathroom to brush his hair and teeth before going back to his bedroom and intending to grab his clothing so that they can go to the playroom to play a bit when he suddenly becomes aware of Ahsoka following him. Turning around he looks down at his sister. Alright, she is his, in fact, half-sister but he cares for her as if she is his full sister. And most importantly he doesn't care for the fact that they have different mothers. Ahsoka is also too young to understand what it means while she does understand that she and he have different mothers. At first, when they told her a few days ago she was confused as she didn't understand how that could be. In her opinion, if someone is sibling they have the same parents. After Anakin told her that the fact that they have different mothers doesn't mean that he doesn't care for her or that they are siblings, she was really happy but hasn't strayed much from his side whenever they were awake. The only times when she did was when either he had to go to school or if she had to take her nap. All the other times she has stayed close to him. Anakin doesn't understand why she does it and intends to ask her later on but know that he wants to know why she would follow him around when he is just readying himself for the day.
"Ahsoka, why do you follow me around here in my bedroom?" Anakin asks after having crouched down so he is at eye level with her. He has seen his father and Tahl doing the same for Ahsoka and also for him when he was smaller. So he copies their behavior.
"I don't want you to leave me" Ahsoka says quietly while Anakin can tell from her voice that she is close to crying. He had asked Tahl about it once. She had explained to him that Ahsoka is still little so she is really open in her emotions. She doesn't know just yet how to hide things, nor has she the experience doing so. Anakin really hopes that she doesn't start to cry as he doesn't know how to handle it. Thus he asks
"Why do you think I will leave you?"
"Because you will want to spend time with your mommy as I do with mine. I don't want you to go and not come back to us" Ahsoka answers and is already silently crying.
"Ahsoka, I can't go to my mommy anymore because she is dead. Besides, I would always come back to you as you are my precious little sister who I wouldn't want to miss for all the money in the world. Now, why don't you let me dress on my own and after breakfast we can go play all we want" Anakin says calmly while wiping the tears of Ahsoka 's face.
"Okay, but what does it mean that your mommy is dead. Where is she now? Can you go visit her?" Ahsoka asks with a frown on her face. She doesn't understand what Ani said about his mother and she wants to get an answer out of Anakin now. She never liked it when she didn't understand something. Besides daddy always told her to ask when she didn't understand something.
"You can better ask Tahl or daddy about it. They can better explain it to you than I can. I don't know how to explain it to you Ahsoka" Anakin says and can see that she is not happy with his answer but she gives him a nod showing she agrees with him. Anakin is sure that she will ask questions about dead the first opportunity she has. He believes that opportunity to be during breakfast. He makes sure to remind himself that he has to mentally prepare himself for it.
"See you soon" Ahsoka says and walks out of the room. When she stands in the door she waves at him before closing the door behind her. Anakin waves back but then notices that she is still wearing her pajamas.
"Was she still wearing her pajamas?" Anakin wonders aloud while shaking his head. He knows that he has to get started with dressing himself before Ahsoka gets back to his room or there will be trouble. The last time she had to get him when he wasn't ready she actually made dressing more difficult as she wanted to help but made the problems only bigger.
Ten minutes later Anakin has gotten himself fully dressed and steps out of his bedroom. He starts to walk towards the dining room when he hears Ahsoka's voice calling after him. Turning around Anakin can see her running towards him. Looking further into the hall he can see that she had to have come from her bedroom as he can see miss Ti standing there looking a bit frustrated. He knows that she can be frustrating when she wants something and he is sure that Ahsoka has yet to learn that not everything goes as she wants it to. When she reaches him she crashes into him and it takes some struggle to stay standing and not fall on his butt. Looking down he can see that Ahsoka is looking at him with a big grin. Anakin swallows once as he knows from experience that she has planned something and he doesn't know what that is just yet. Also, he is unsure if he will like it or not. Ahsoka has a bit of a mischievous streak something he has had to experience quite a lot. He is her favorite victim though he wonders if she had done similar things to his father and Tahl and what their reactions were. Also, he wonders if he has ever acted the way she does or not.
"Hey, snips. I see that you did manage to dress. Or did Miss Ti help you? I think it is the last one, am I right" Anakin says teasingly while also grinning at her. Snips is the nickname he gave her for her snippy behavior while she instantly retaliated by calling him Skyguy. This all happened around six months ago when she was trying to get him to play with her in a snippy tone. Anakin has to admit that he kind of enjoyed their bickering. It made the day less boring as it was after school and they only had boring classes. Since then they have been bickering from time to time though Anakin refrains from it in public after one event when they were at a celebration. It was made big news by the media and his father had told him to refrain from it as it draws attention to him which he wouldn't want. After that, he wasn't allowed to watch or read the news for a few days while it all died down.
"Of course Miss Ti helped me, Skyguy. I don't know how to do it on my own just yet. You know that. Just as you know she allows me to put the easy pieces on all by myself" Ahsoka says pouting a bit while letting go of Anakin's legs. She takes his hand and puls a bit to get him to come with her. Shortly afterward they walk together to the dining room. During the trip, Anakin reflects on their growing relationship. They are growing increasingly closer to each other because there are no other children around their age in their family. Also, there are things they can't talk about to anyone, as other people don't understand those things as they never experienced them themselves. They are free in their talking and doing while Anakin knows that it is expected that he acts responsibly for his age because he is a member of the royal family. So he doesn't have a lot of freedom. The only freedom he has is in their quarters and the shielded parts of the palace gardens as the press is always trying to figure out what he is doing. He remembers that it took him quite a lot of time to get used to it. In Ashoka's case, it is different as she grows up with it so she experiences these things from a young age.
After a short walk, they arrive at the dining room. Opening the door Anakin can hear his father and Tahl discussing their plans for the day. Anakin knows that Tahl intends for him to join her on a trip to an amusement park as a reward for his latest report as she had offered it to him and given him to think about it. He managed to keep his grades up while also managing to finally maintain a good grade for Spanish. It was really difficult in the beginning as he knew next to nothing about the language and he had to learn the things the other children learned from a small age really fast if he was to be able to keep up with his classmates. Tahl will open a new area of the amusement park which has been built the last few years. It was a really big addition to the park. Afterwards, they are allowed to visit the attractions and he is allowed to enjoy a few of them. Also, he had been asking about what he would have to do when he is older and Tahl suggested this to which he readily agreed. His father will work through his correspondence as usual before spending the remainder of the day playing with Ashoka, as Tahl told him. Stepping into the room Anakin says
"Good morning, Daddy, Tahl"
"Mommy, daddy, good morning. What will we be doing today?" Ahsoka asks impatiently. As it is a Saturday they don't have school and most of the time they spend together so Ahsoka wants to know how they what they will do today. Anakin can hear chuckling in the dining room as his father and Tahl are both amused by Ahsoka behavior.
"Good morning to you too. As for what we will be doing today, you'll learn that after dinner, Ahsoka. Anakin, what is your opinion on the offer I made you yesterday?" Tahl asks.
"I would like it, Tahl" Anakin answers smilingly and can see that he becomes the center of attention because of his reaction. He and Tahl became really good friends after a few months that he lived in the palace with his father. But it really developed after she took him on a weekend-long vacation to an amusement park in the north of the country. This was done to serve as a short break from school and public life for both of them. Anakin really enjoyed his time with her there and got to know her better. As a result of this, he became really good friends with her.
Anakin and Ahsoka take their seat at the table and the family is soon starting on their breakfast. Eating breakfast is done in silence. Anakin uses this time to think back to the last few years. It all went so fast that he only now that he is thinking back is noticing that is has been two years went already. He has made a few good friends at school during these years while he also learned that not everyone really intends to be his friends. There are people who only want to be friends with him for the attention and fame it will get them. It was a really painful lesson he learned. He had to cry a lot afterward. Because of this Anakin has become more careful in choosing who his friends are and will be. He takes his time getting to know them before calling them his friends so that he is more certain that they are not out of fame or attention. He also likes his school as it offers great opportunities to develop individual passions and to become involved in the community. Anakin became involved in the schools Model United Nations on a recommendation from his father. His father also took a part in it when he was younger and suggested that Anakin do the same. This so that he would learn some important skills which he will need once he takes his official duties on. Also, Anakin knows that he is already becoming better at public speaking and debating situations. He notices this when he had to speak to the class or discuss matters with some of his classmates. It had all become easier for him with time. In the beginning, he didn't like it that much but with time he came to really enjoy it as he is allowed to voice his opinions. Most importantly he learns how to express his opinions in such a way that others understand what he wants to say while also not offending someone. Anakin can tell that these skills will be really helpful once he is older.
In the last two years, he had to accompany his parents only to the official events where it is expected for the entire royal family to be present. This happens only a handful of times each year. For most of the other days, he is left in peace by the press while there is still the occasional photographer who will take pictures of him in private setting. Anakin knows that he has become really good at finding the places where the press can't find him so that he will still have some time for himself. The events he had to show up at weren't the most interesting events in his opinion and Anakin had to make sure that when he was bored it didn't show on his face. It took a bit of practice but Anakin is sure that it is barely visible anymore. Also whenever there was such an event his father forbid him from watching the news or read the newspaper afterward so that he wouldn't be bothered by what they would say or write about him. He will be allowed to watch and read it when he is older. This also gave him the impression that he has a face to uphold in public as otherwise there will be talked about by the press. This is something he made sure to avoid as he didn't want it then and doesn't want it now so that he won't bother his father and Tahl with it. He knows that they will have to deal with whatever is said about him as he picked up a few conversations about it.
Thirty minutes later everyone is done with their breakfast and Anakin follows Tahl to the limousine which will take them to the amusement park. His father moves towards his office while Ahsoka goes to the playroom to play a bit until their father is done with his daily work.