Chapter 2 - Family Drama
Anakin had stayed with his wife and children for nearly three weeks before the comm came in. Obi-Wan looked irritable when his face popped up on the holo. "Anakin! This isn't one of those times when you can pull a juvenile stunt and go running off who knows where. We are at war. There's an empire that's taken over, have you heard about it?" His voice was thick with sarcasm.
Anakin bowed his head in apology. "I'm sorry, master. I know I left you hanging."
Obi-Wan looked up, surprised to hear his former padawan take to the scolding so well. "Meet me on Wrea. Yoda has a task for us to accomplish there at the old comm tower."
"Understood, master. May the force be with you."
"And may the force be with you." Obi-Wan could be seen pushing a button on his machine, and then his holo disappeared.
Anakin left his small shuttle feeling very grim. He knew he'd have to leave his wife and the children eventually, but it still felt too soon.
"Ani what's wrong?" Padme frowned when she saw Anakin walk into their house.
"I just heard from Obi-Wan. He wants me out on Wrea." Anakin pouted as Padme walked up and put her hands in his. Her eyes were reassuring "Are you sure, because I can comm him back and tell him something's come up? A landslide. A Village of innocents raided by a swarm of Lyleks."
Padme just laughed. "Oh Anakin. Go. If anything happens here, I'll call your mother, or Beru. She's been dying to babysit her new niece and nephew."
"Ok, I'll go." Anakin leaned over to kiss his wife.
After a good long kiss Padme pulled back and slapped Anakin across the chest. "Go, keep that oaf out of trouble." Anakin leaned back for another quick peck before he pulled himself away and walked back outside.
Before Anakin left Tatooine, he stopped by the Lars family homestead. When they showed up so suddenly, the Larses had kindly allowed them to stay, but as time progressed it became apparent they needed to figure something else out. With Palpatine, or Darth Sidious, in power, few places were safe for the Jedi. Even certain Jedi supporters were being arrested and interrogated by the empire. Anakin knew his wife would be among them if she returned to Naboo.
Padme's credits would be no good in Tatooine, but she had a nice shuttle she took from Coruscant, several expensive dresses, and her jewelry. Anakin felt bad pawning off her belongings, but Padme insisted. Cliegg, Anakin's stepfather, took the items to barter and bought them their house with it.
The Skywalkers lived only a little while from the Lars homestead. Anakin could've walked if he wasn't going off planet soon after. He stepped out of his shuttle and waved to Owen, his stepbrother, who was working some piece of equipment on the farm. Then he walked up to the main house and knocked. Smiling, his mother greeted him with a hug.
"Oh, Anakin. Come in. Did you bring Padme? The babies?" She looked past him but found no one trailing behind.
"No, Padme's at home. That's what I wanted to talk to you about," Anakin began.
"Come inside. I was just getting Cliegg up in his hoverchair."
"Mom, why don't you let the droid do that?" Shmi just looked up dumbfounded. "The droid I got you guys. It's programmed for home care like this."
"Oh, I don't know how to use that thing." Shmi waves her hand dismissively.
"It's simple, say 'Teleki' and give your command. It's all in the book. Look, here." Anakin held the instruction book on his personal datapad. "To move the patient to a hoverchair, use the command 'transfer patient to mobile seating.'"
"He doesn't like being referred to as a patient" Shmi corrected. Then she sighed and turned towards the deactivated droid. "Ok, Transfer patient to mobile seating." Nothing happened.
"No, mom. It doesn't have the circuits that a protocol droid has. You'll need to call it Teleki, then give your command."
Shmi rolled her eyes. "Oh, I can't remember all these commands. Last time I used it the thing brought your stepfather up onto the roof. I have a feeling if I asked it to prepare him a meal, I'd find him in the pot."
This time Anakin rolled his eyes. "Then why don't you take C3-PO back. He knows all the commands already."
"No. That isn't necessary." Suddenly the family's gift of a protocol droid made a lot more sense. Anakin didn't remember his mother being so technophobic, but then he always was the one she called in to get things to work.
"Alright, alright." Anakin gave up. "I actually came to say that I'll be going away for a while. Padme is going to call here if she needs anything."
"Are you sure you have to go." Cliegg said from where he was seated on a couch.
"Yes, Obi-Wan has summoned me to Wrea. I left them between a rock and a hard place. If I don't go now, it'll be even more suspicious. Plus there could be trouble."
Cliegg nodded. "Then go. I'll send Owen and Beru to check up on them."
"Thank you." Anakin said. He found his stepfather to be a difficult man to get along with, but at least when it came to family, the man had one priority. He gave his mother a hug before he departed from the home.
Back at his shuttle he found Owen cleaning sand out of his shuttle's engine compartment. "Getting her cleaned up for you." Owen says, looking anywhere but at Anakin.
"Thanks," Anakin says.
"You're going away again." There's a pause which Owen takes for confirmation. His face turns slightly redder. "I was raised on Tatooine my whole life. I never got the chance to go away for special training, but one thing I was taught was that your family is everything. Should be everything."
Anakin felt confronted. "Are you saying I don't care!"
"If they were my family, I wouldn't leave my children."
"They're not your family!" Anakin shouted back. He then turned to see his mother and Cliegg's faces from a window. His shouting had attracted more attention than he realized. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Then he turned back to Owen. "Obi-Wan is like my family too. You don't leave family. Well, I left them to come here. And now I have to go back to them. If you could make sure Padme and the twins are safe while I'm gone, I'd appreciate it very much."
Owen nodded, then turned to walk away. The stress of the situation hadn't left his eyes.
Anakin got into his shuttle and prepared for take-off. He hoped Obi-Wan would be more agreeable, he doubted he could do with another conflict today. Though somehow, he doubted he'd be so lucky.
Well, you didn't expect the Skywalker Larrs families would be without conflict, did you. I had to use my imagination to create much of the part of Cliegg, Owen, and Shmi, as their parts in the movies were small. I hope you like what I did. As to Cliegg Lars, I am kinda excited. I'm a wheelchair user myself, and a disabled star wars character is hard to come by.
As to Wrea, I have to use my imagination some. I hope I don't cross what's already in the existing lore. I go mostly off of Wookieepedia.
