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“I don’t think we should be doing this, Leia.”
The 10 standard girl in question rolled her eyes at her twin. “Don’t be a baby Luke.” She said, “We’ll be back before anyone notices.”
She led her brother to the replusercraft station in front of the Temple. There were a few Jedi Knights and Padawans standing around in the station, seemingly having a heated debate about Midi-chlorians and whether or not they carried out the will of the Force or were merely an extension of it.
As long as they avoided the group, they wouldn’t be noticed, Jedi were notorious for their heated religious debates. She grabbed Luke’s hand and pulled him behind the screen of the replusercraft station and shushed him as he began to protest being dragged about.
When the repulsercraft pulled up, Leia and Luke went into the second car, while the other Jedi waiting entered the first. Thankfully the public transportation on Coruscant was completely free as she had only gotten enough money from the Quartermaster to buy food from Dex’s. At least she thought so. Most Jedi were not very well versed in currencies and how much things cost so she had had to look up the average cost of a milkshake on Coruscant. Three credits each, was what the holonet had told her. She had asked for eight just in case it wasn’t enough.
The Quartermaster had definitely been suspicious when she had asked for credits, as usually only Jedi who were going on a mission needed credits, but Master Baldor had still given her them. Xe had a soft spot for the initiates and would usually give them what they asked for unless one of the Creche Masters had banned it.
They found seats on the transport near a small family with two kids around their age with the hope that they would blend in. The only problem was, they were very obviously wearing Jedi clothing, cream robes and tunic, with brown leggings underneath.
The mother saw the twins sit down and pulled the younger child, a girl around 7, away from the two. Leia stuck her tongue out at the woman and pulled her brother closer to her. Even though he was technically older than her, Leia acted like an older sister to her more sensitive brother. She thought he would probably end up as a Creche Master. She was hoping to get a Master who could train her to be a Counselor. Leia was already thinking about getting Master Windu to be her Master.
When they arrived at the stop closest to Dex’s Diner, about a block away, Leia strode off the transport, pulling Luke behind her so he would get distracted by anything as he was so prone to doing.
The diner was crowded when they arrived, with only barseats open. She pulled herself up on the stool, using the Force to help her brother up. They sat at the counter side by side, Luke placing his favorite stuffed animal, a small Tooka from the Creche, onto the counter in front of them.
Leia adjusted her robe and called out for the droid waitress behind the counter, “Hello!”
The droid rolled over to them and pulled out her notepad. “Hello sweethearts,” She cooed at them. “What can I get for the two of you today?”
“Two blue milkshakes please!” Leia asked, smiling sweetly at the waitress.
“Coming right out darlings.” The waitress said before she paused. “You're a Jedi right?” Leia nodded while Luke didn’t luke up from making his stuffed Tooka fly around with the Force. “Usually you younglings come in groups. Where’re the rest of ya’?”
Luke of course took that moment to look up and respond, “Oh, they’re back at Anohrah ,” His Basic wasn’t as good as Leia’s and he sometimes forgot words. “We came alone because Nalah got sick, so Jaieh Chi said we couldn’t come but Leia still wanted to get milkshakes so we took the replusercraft by ourselves for the first time!”
“ Luke, cadeo duah .” Leia hissed at her brother.
“Uh huh,” The waitress said. “And what are your names?”
Leia sighed. “Leia and Luke Skywalker-Amidala.”
“Well Luke and Leia,” She said. “You’re going to eat and I’m going to have Dex call Obi-Wan to come and get you.”
Master Kenobi. The man often functioned as their finder even though they had been brought to Anohrah by their parents. But Master Kenobi had been their father’s Master and brother-padawan, so hee would often visit them in the Creche like their enishee had their finders. He would sigh and complain about the Skywalker mischief, like he did when they were little and Luke had a habit of wandering off, but he was never very strict and usually let them continue what they were doing.
The waitress rolled away to speak to the besalisk in the kitchen, the owner named Dex, and Leia turned to her brother. “ Why did you do that?!”
Luke set his tooka back onto the counter. “ Master Chi was going to find out anyway, there was no point trying to hide it .” He said. “ Besides, we still get our milkshakes. ”
As he was speaking, a child 9 standard, their age, came up beside them. “Hi!” She said waving at them. “My name’s Varina. My Papa and Dad want to know if you want to sit with us?” She pointed back at two men, her fathers, sitting in one of the booths. One of the men was a clone like Waxer or Boil. Leia didn’t recognize the man, but she knew a lot of his brothers as many clones were in and out of the Temple.
Luke grinned at her. “Yeah! My name’s Luke and this is my sister Leia. She’s really bossy.”
“I am not!” Leia said indignantly, but Luke was already getting off the stool to follow Varina. She huffed and followed after him.
She sat next to her brother with Varina on one side of the booth, with Varina’s fathers on the other side. “This is Luke and Leia!” Varina said.
“Hi kiddos.” The clone said. “I’m Cy and this is my husband Deke.”
Luke waved, seeming very shy, so Leia took over for him. “I’m Leia and this is my brother Luke. Thank you for letting us sit with you.”
“Of course.” Deke said. “You kids aren’t very safe on your own. Does your Master know where you are?”
“They do now.” Leia said, glaring at her brother. “Master Kenobi is coming to get us soon.”
“I served with General Kenobi a few times during the war.” Cy said. “I was in the 21st with General Mundi and we worked with Generals Kenobi and Skywalker a few times.”
“Master Mundi is fantastic!” Luke said, suddenly gaining back his confidence. “He does art hour with us sometimes and got our clan these really cool paints from Alderaan. They changed colors in different temperatures.”
They talked with the small family until the waitress, FLO, brought them their milkshakes. Luke stole her cherry and ate it before she could protest as he always did. At least they weren’t in the refectory with Master Yoda waiting for them to give him some of their meal. Master Yoda never had to wait in line.
As they were finishing their milkshakes, Leia felt another Jedi as the door opened. Master Kenobi walked up to their table. “Leia. Luke. Master Chi has been very worried about you.”
“ Heleo. ” The two muttered, Luke swinging his feet against the booth.
Master Kenobi turned to Deke and Cy. “Thank you so much for keeping an eye on them Cy and…”
“Deke Nuwest.” Deke shook his hand. “It was our pleasure. They’re sweet kids.”
“I’m going to go pay for you two and thank Dex as well.” Master Obi-Wan said to the children. “And then we’re going back to the Temple and you’re going to apologize to Master Chi.” He started walking to the kitchen. “And don’t forget to say thank you.”
Luke and Leia bowed to Cy and Deke. “Thank you.” They said in unison.
“As I said before,” Deke said. “It was a pleasure. I hope we bump into you again sometime.”
Master Kenobi came back to the table and Luke hugged Varina. “Bye Varina!” He said as the two of them followed Master Obi-Wan out. Leia waved at the girl and she waved back.
“ Come now. ” Obi-Wan said, herding them into a Temple speeder he must have borrowed. “ You may have spoiled your dinner, but you still have to attend. ”
“ We didn’t spoil our dinner.” Luke said, fastening his seatbelt. “ We just had dessert but before dinner instead of after. ”
“ I am a diplomat, Luke.” Master Obi-Wan said, pulling into the speeder lane to the Temple. “ That line of reasoning won’t work on me.”
Luke giggled and opened his window, sticking his hand out to feel the wind. “ All limbs in the speeder Luke .” Master Kenobi reprimanded. “ We can’t have another Skywalker lose an arm .” Luke pulled his hand back into the speeder, but kept the tips of his fingers hanging out.
Leia looked out the window at the city speeding by. It was so crowded and loud, so unlike the Temple, it was hard to believe they were in the same system, much less the same planet.
They drove past the Senate Rotunda, where the younglings had taken their last field trip. She had really liked the Senator that had led them around. He was from Alderaan and Master Chi had seemed to trust him, unlike some many of the other Senators. He had told them to call his Bail and had known all their names by the end of the day. Bail had even told Luke that he had reminded him of their mother, which was usually something that Leia was told.
They arrived at the Temple hanger and all exited the speeder. There were dozens of Jedi and Clones mulling around in the hanger, fixing speeders, talking, or getting ready for a mission. A few greeted them as they walked through the hanger, but Master Obi-Wan didn’t stop to chat, leading the two children to the refectory where the rest of the Heliost Clan would be, eating an evening meal.
The refectory was crowded when they got there. The low tables were full of Jedi, with a few clones scattered around. There was a quiet buzz of laughter and talking, but it never got too loud. Most rooms in the Temple were designed to keep noise from traveling.
Master Kenobi brought them to where their clan was sitting, the five other children happily eating and Master Chi chiding Alid to eat xir vegetables.
When she saw the twin, she jumped up to hug them and swat at their heads. “ What were you two thinking ?” She asked. “ You could have gotten hurt or taken or anything. Do you even think before you act ?”
“ Sorry Master. ” Leia said, not sounding all that sorry. “Nothing happened though.” She added, switching to Basic. “We’re fine. We only went to Dex’s.”
Master Chi sighed and shook her head.
“I’m sorry too.” Luke said, actually sounding sorry.
“Oh, it’s fine youngling. Just don’t do it again.” She bowed to Master Obi-Wan. “Thank you Master Kenobi, for rescuing my wayward charges.”
“Oh it’s no trouble.” Master Obi-Wan said, bowing back to her. “It’s been my job since I was a knight to keep any Skywalker out of trouble.” He walked away with a goodbye to the clan.
The twins sat down next to Rinninin, their Nautolan friend. He handed them their plates that Master Chi had saved for them without a word, as was common for him to do. He rarely spoke but when he did, it was about something important.
“Tomorrow, the two of you will meditate on the importance of following the rules put in place to protect you.” Master Chi said. “And no dessert for a week.”
Leia opened her mouth to protest but realized that it was actually a fair consequence. Also, if she complained she might be assigned more meditation, which kinda sucked. Luke enjoyed meditation much more than she did and was much better at it.
They ate their dinner, the other children asking questions about their adventure. They traded food and seats throughout the meal. Tobee talked about how he thought Knight Tano would bring him to Shili to earn his akul teeth because Master Shaak Ti was on a mission in the Outer Rim. Rimia was spending more time with Knight Offee and thought that she would be apprenticed to her very soon.
When dinner was over, Master Chi brought them back to the Creche sleeping rooms. Nalah was already asleep in her bed, curled up like a Tooka with a heavy blanket thrown over her. Luke went over to her and placed his stuffed Tooka in her arms.
The children all found their normal places to sleep with Tobee and Claybra fought over the spot that they would inevitably end up in together. Rimia went into the other room in order to change into her sleeping clothing and soft sleeping veil and the rest of the 6 children changed in the open, into soft sleeping clothes and threw their daily robes into the hamper, where a cleaning droid would later pick them up.
They curled up in their mats and cots, with the stuffed animals that had chosen for the night, speaking softly as not to wake Nalah. Master Chi bade them goodnight and went to her adjoining sleeping area. They all knew that Nalah would wake up at some point and crawl into their Creche Master’s bed, like they all always did when sick. They fell asleep one by one, content with their lives.