Anakin and Padmé had missed lunch by a few hours. After a few more hugs, Anakin went to his and Padmé's room to change out of his armor into loose clothing. The whole family would be going out for dinner later, and the Naberrie family had to maintain the image that they were not politically or violently involved. Opinionated, sure, but not involved.

While he was redoing his hair in front of the mirror, he saw Leia poke her head in the room out of the corner of his eye. "Hey, Dad?"

He managed to respond despite holding a hair tie between his teeth. "Yeah?"

"So... sixteenth birthday, the Rebellion..."

"Hey, what did we say about the first day back?" he reminded her, pulling some of his hair back and tying it off. "All Rebellion talk needs to wait until tomorrow. You know this."

"We've been waiting! Sixteen years!"

"And in the grand scheme of things, one day is a lot shorter than sixteen years," he teased, sitting down on the bed. "You'll survive. Give your mother one day where she doesn't have to worry about any of that."

Leia didn't look happy, but she didn't ask again. Flopping on the bed next to him, she complained, "I don't see why we can't do the 'one day' later or something. Why is it always your first day back?"

"Patience, young Padawan," he teased, even though technically Leia was Obi-Wan's apprentice, not Anakin's. When she lifted her head to glare at him, he knew she was listening and added, "We came home to see you, not talk shop. Family comes first, especially on your birthday."

She sat up and leaned against Anakin, who rubbed her shoulders for a moment while they sat together. Leia had always been her father's daughter, eager for a fight and quick to get involved in any sort of trouble. She went back and forth between stopping the trouble and making it worse, often toeing the line when she thought she could get away with it. Unlike Anakin, though, her parents, aunt, and uncle were trying to teach her how to utilize that fierceness rather than suppress it. So far, it was working rather well, but Anakin remained the person who could connect with her best.

Kissing her forehead, he spoke quietly. "Believe me, none of us have forgotten that you want to fight. We haven't ignored it either. All four of us are prepared to talk about it with you and Luke tomorrow. Not today. We'll go out for dinner tonight, train tomorrow morning, go over the past few months, and when we've finished with that, we're going to talk. Alright?"

"Okay," she conceded, but she looked up at her father. "I'm holding you to it, though."

"Deal," Anakin agreed, expecting nothing less. It was a lot easier to wait when you had a promise to address the situation at a specific time. It was the same technique he had used last year when the twins tried to ask for the same thing. "Come on. I haven't eaten yet."

Leia stood up and led the way to the kitchen, immediately running into Luke, who was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. "I told you, it wasn't going to work."

She stuck her tongue out at him and passed him, much to Anakin's amusement. Luke shrugged. "I tried to tell her."

"A for effort, kiddo," he praised, agitating Leia slightly. She glared back at both of them before turning the corner.

"Tomorrow?" Luke asked, having overheard the two of them talking earlier.

Nodding, Anakin gave him the specifics, knowing Luke would try to negotiate otherwise if he didn't. "After the family meeting, but we need to go over a few things that happened before we start making any sort of plans. Training, then meeting, then we'll talk." He pointed down the hall. "But first, sandwich. I'm hungry."

"Well, if you had gotten here sooner-"

"I got here as fast as I could! It's not like I was trying to be late!"

"Suuurrre, Dad."

~

Obi-Wan was sipping on coffee and watching as Anakin made three sandwiches in the kitchen: one for Padmé and two for himself. Luke and Leia had disappeared, probably to make plans for their proposition to join the Rebellion, but they came back not long after. Luke slid to a stop in his socks, and Leia hopped on top of the counter and sat there.

"So what's the word on the street?" Anakin asked, leaning on his elbows as he chewed. His kids had made friends with those who lived closer to the city and usually knew about current events among local Nabooian youth.

"The word on the street is that Ackle is a piece of rancit," Leia muttered darkly, and Obi-Wan pinched the bridge of his nose.

He had already heard this story, so he gave Anakin some context. "Four days ago, and yes, this is the young man whose parents work at the news station."

Anakin looked to his kids. "The last I heard, Ackle was decent. What happened?"

"His family took a vacation to Theed, and he met some dignitary's daughter," she explained.

"Which wouldn't be a problem, except he was courting Alyssa," Luke interjected, referring to a farmgirl down the street.

He paused eating as the name rang a bell in his mind. "Haven't they been seeing each other for over a year now?"

Leia nodded, glaring at nothing in particular. "They were until Ackle came back to Lake Country, and Alyssa went over to visit. She saw a recording he kept of the girl."

"Well, that was a dumb move on Ackle's part. How's she doing?"

Shaking his head, Luke took this one. "We went over to check in with her as soon as we heard. She's cooped up in her room, refuses to leave or do anything. She's been skipping school, too. That's how we heard: Sly didn't see her in class and asked if we knew what was going on."

Setting down his mug, Obi-Wan asked, "How is it that you know more about what's going on in that school than those who attend? If someone so much as sneezes, you two are the first to know."

"People vent to us all the time. It's one of the advantages of being homeschooled. We're removed from all the drama, so they know we won't snitch to anyone," Luke reasoned, brushing his hair out of his face. "Parents don't count."

"How does that work, though?" Anakin asked, starting on his second sandwich. "You two were friends with Alyssa and Ackle. It makes sense that you're helping Alyssa. It's not her fault Ackle's acting like an asshole-"

"Anakin..."

"-but what about him?"

Luke looked at Leia silently. She grinned mischievously. "As his friend, I felt that it was my responsibility to give him what he deserved."

"Is he dead?"

"No.

"Was there any property damage?"

"Uh uh."

"Is he in the hospital?"

"Nope."

"Is who in the hospital?" Padmé asked, coming around the corner. She had just finished changing into a casual dress (although her standard for 'casual dress' is higher than most) and overheard the end of the conversation. She pointed at her daughter. "Off the counter."

Leia complied and slid off the countertop. "Ackle."

Sternly, Padmé made eye contact with her daughter. "What did you do?"

"Nothing! Not really, anyway. No broken bones, no noticeable bruises, I don't even think he got scraped or anything."

Anakin pressed his lips together, trying not to laugh. He needed to be a good example and not encourage his daughter to beat up people, but it was really hard. The fact that Leia had a standard for 'nothing' as far as physical damage went was probably not a good thing. Unfortunately, Anakin wasn't one to talk.

"Mom, he cheated on Alyssa," Luke explained, intervening for his sister. "He had it coming this time."

"Alyssa- Alyssa Orrano? She's such a sweet girl. What did she do?"

"Nothing! That's the point!" Leia insisted, gesturing out the window. "The poor thing found out Ackle made out with some rich girl in the capital, and you know her, she's not going to stand up for herself. Someone had to."

She considered it, clearly leaning toward compassion for Alyssa. "No one is in the hospital?"

Proudly shaking her head, Leia answered, "Not even close, I went easy on him. All I did was wind him so he couldn't get away and kick him in the crotch a few times. He's fine."

It was clear Padmé was a bit torn. She never encouraged her children to get into fights, but she understood that sometimes, exceptions had to be made. "You shouldn't go around beating up your friends. At least tell me Alyssa will be alright."

"She will eventually," Luke predicted, "but she's barely left her house for the past week. She just needs time."

"My favorite part about this is where cheaters fall in the hierarchy of evil," Anakin commented, trying to control himself. "There's bounty hunters, bullies, cheaters, and then there's the Empire. At least we're all on the same page."

"You're ridiculous, the whole lot of you," Obi-Wan groaned, shaking his head. Looking to his Padawans, he reiterated, "When I said you have a responsibility to fight for justice, this is not what I meant."

Luke crossed his arms, smirking. "You should have been more specific, then."

Obi-Wan pointing his finger at the twins, then at Anakin and Padmé. "Those are your children, right there. Yours."

The couple looked at each other, both of them trying to suppress their laughter. There was never any doubt that their children would be similar to both of them. Still, Luke and Leia had also inherited their... less desirable traits, such as Padmé's stubbornness and Anakin's recklessness. It was handy when they were a senator and a warrior, but their teenagers did not use their characteristics for those purposes.

Not bothering to answer Obi-Wan's accusation, Anakin slid Padmé's sandwich over to her so she could eat. Obi-Wan gave up trying to chastise the twins, and Luke and Leia grinned at each other. They got away with their antics this time.

Sola joined the rest of her family in the kitchen, and her eyes settled on the twins. "I thought I told you to clean your rooms earlier this morning."

"It's not that bad," Leia insisted, but Sola wasn't having it.

"You're not going to do it later, that much, I know for sure," she reminded her niece. "You won't want to do it after we come home from dinner, and I guarantee you'll be too busy talking about other things to do it tomorrow."

Luke narrowed his eyes. "How do you know that?"

"I've known you your entire lives. Trust me, you won't."

"Guys," Anakin interrupted, pointing down the hall. "Just get it done. It'll take fifteen minutes if you hurry."

The teenagers gave up arguing and left the kitchen, and the adults watched them go. "Do it well!" Sola reminded them, making sure to be loud enough that they heard her.

"I still don't get why they listen to you," Padmé muttered, shaking her head. "None of us can do that anymore."

Anakin shrugged as Padme started eating. "It's a teenager thing."

"Whatever it is, it's working," Obi-Wan concluded. He had long since given up trying to understand it. "Speaking of, the speeder is out in the shed whenever you're ready for it."

"They'll want to take it out for a spin," Sola predicted, glancing down the hall to make sure the twins weren't listening. "What's your plan for gifting it to them?"

He looked around at the other three. "Do you think you can keep them out of the garage for half an hour? Artoo and I'll tinker on it and make sure everything is ready to go, and they can leave an hour or so early. That way, they'll have enough time to both take turns practicing flying the speeder before we meet them for dinner."

Nodding, Obi-Wan smiled. "We'll keep them busy. Let us know when you're ready."