Chapter 3: Strange Thoughts, Detention & Strength
Their first day had been somewhat successful aside from the broken window, that Anakin, Obi Wan and Ahsoka had decided to head down to the local bar for drinks to celebrate of course Anakin and Obi Wan’s minds were still thinking about the two beautiful mothers they met at the school today. They couldn’t get them out of their heads and they hadn’t been thinking about getting into another relationship but these women were different and besides, they really did hope they weren’t taken, but then again, what man wouldn’t want to be with Padme and Satine.
Anakin took another sip of his drink, “I don’t mind that I’m having to pay for the broken window, I felt bad for her and it was an accident. Kids make mistakes” he explains to Obi Wan and Ahsoka as Ahsoka rolled her eyes. “You’re smitten with their mother, I saw it from the moment you saw her, you were like in a trance or something” she teases taking another sip of her drink as Obi Wan cheekily smirks. “And your lady friend from this morning will be so disappointed to hear you’re moving on” he grins. Anakin then takes a small handful of peanuts that were in the small bowl in front of him, tossing them at his friend only making him laugh harder.
Ahsoka grins “You ARE smitten!” she exclaims “I knew it and then you are going to be crushed when you meet her husband” she points out. Anakin shakes his head. “As beautiful as she is, I didn’t notice a wedding ring nor the mention of a father” he reminds her. Obi Wan then speaks up. “Her friend I spoke to, was very lovely and kind. Her daughter is a bright sweet little girl” he reveals as Ahsoka notices he, too, also had the same smirk on his face. She gasps. “You’re smitten too!” she cries before she giggles. “This is going to be quite fun” she cheekily smirks taking another sip of her drink before she then adds “Especially when you both meet their husbands” she teases as Obi Wan rolls his eyes whilst Anakin just playfully punches her on the arm.
Meanwhile, instead of wanting to spend the night at home, Padme was spending the evening with her parents, sister and brother in law. Luke and Leia were playing with their cousins Ryoo and Pooja as Padme sighs once more after explaining the situation that took place with Luke and Leia’s teacher.
“First day back at school and Luke’s already gotten himself into detention and after he promised he wouldn’t play with the ball in class” she tells them “I couldn’t believe it and on top of it all, the teacher was thoughtful and understanding and even agreeing to help pay for the window” she adds. Sola, who was helping their mother to clean the dishes from dinner, speaks up. “Well, Luke and Leia do surprise you and ……..” she was then cut off by Padme. “Don’t!” she snaps “start on that again” she warns her “They don’t have a father, they don’t have enough discipline. I’m doing my best. Their father is not involved with them and it’s for the best” she reminds them turning back to look out the window seeing her young twins playing on their cousin’s play set.
Flashback
Seven years ago….
It had only been a week since Padme had given birth to not one, but two healthy twins, a boy and a girl she named Luke and Leia and while she wanted to be happy, she felt a tinged of sadness, for she was going through this happy time alone. She had her family but she thought she would be married or at least with the man she loved. Rush. But he was long gone, she had gone through the whole pregnancy without any word from him and so she had tried one last attempt to reconcile with him.
She had a photo graph of Leia, Luke and herself along with a letter to him. Now her heart skipped a beat when she found a large envelope at her door with his name on the back. It had worked or so she thought. After she had put the twins down for a nap, she sat down and opened the envelope. She felt her heart breaking and tears in her eyes, it was not the letter she was hoping.
“My dearest Padme,
Luke and Leia are beautiful and precious, but my dearest Padme, I cannot come back and be the man and father you want me to be, I wasn’t ready for one baby let alone two! I know you will be the strong willed, protective mother but I feel I will let you down and it will lead to us fighting and I do not want to wish Luke and Leia to grow up in a house with fighting parents.
And so, this is another hard decision for me to me, enclosed, you will find legal papers signed by me which surround my custody rights to the children. I know this will be hard for you to hear and I wish there was another way Padme but I told you I wasn’t ready and I’ll always love you Padme. Luke and Leia will be loved and looked after with you and your family.
Sincerely yours, Rush.
Padme didn’t even feel the letter fall from her hands, for the tears were running down her cheeks before she had even finished. Not only was he not coming back, but he had given up all rights of the twins which told her he wouldn’t even try to contact her to see them if he was ever ready. For the first time ever, she felt all alone.
End of flashback
“Luke and Leia have been fine without a father for seven years. Sure they can be a handful but they’re just kids” she reminds them before she adds “And besides they have their grandfather and their uncle helping them” she points out as Sola moves over towards her. “And Darred loves being their uncle but you have to admit, at times, you let them get away with things” she warns her. Padme gasps. “Sola!” she cries as Jobal then speaks up. “Sweetheart, it’s true. Remember you told me that Luke and Leia were banned from the TV when they came over, your father let them watch it and you didn’t say anything but let them continue watching with him” she tells her.
Padme looks up at her mother seeing her give her a sweet kind smile. Padme knew she was right. She did try hard to enforce discipline when needed to, to her children but at times she did struggle. It was one of the reasons why she didn’t date much, not just because how men would freak out when she told them she had children but it wouldn’t change anything, her children came first and she would just need the strengthen her discipline stance.
Whilst Padme spent her evening with her family, Satine was having a quiet night in and had just put Isabel and James to bed and was now deciding she would finish some work she had brought home with her whilst she watched some TV. She was in the middle of taking notes on an upcoming case she was about to take, when she suddenly received an unexpected video call on skype. It was not unusual for Satine so she didn’t hesitate to answer, of course the moment the video opened on her screen, she wished she didn’t.
“Well, well, look what crawled out of the trash” Satine scoffed as she looked at the dark blond haired male in the video. “I thought the last words you said to me were ‘Don’t expect me to send money for you to raise that thing” Satine reminds them scoffing “Vizsla” she mutters. The man only simply laughs. “I was foolish Satine, we were only married for three months and already you were excited when you found out you were pregnant” he tells her. “I would have thought you would have told me if I have a son or a daughter” he goes on as Satine rolls her eyes. “You have nothing, I have a beautiful sweet seven year old daughter who will never know how her father simply abandoned us all because he wasn’t ready even though we were already happily married” she informs him.
She then noticed a small smile cross his face as he breathes “A daughter” he simply replies “I have a daughter, please Satine, I need to see her” he pleads as Satine gasps. “In seven years, you haven’t sent a letter, a phone call, email or any present and now you want to see her” she tells him “You will never see her. She doesn’t even know you exist!” she snaps as Vizsla pleads once more “Please Satine, I’ve had a change of heart. I still love you and want to be with you” Satine scoffs. “Now you want to be with me. I loved you and you broke my heart and left me pregnant and heartbroken!” she exclaimed “You will never see her and if you try to come near her, I’ll take action” she warns him and before he could respond, Satine abruptly shut off the laptop ending the video call.
Satine placed her hands over her face as she sighs in frustration, she couldn’t believe it. Not one word from him and now Vizsla was trying to crawl back in her life and then there was her little son James to look after, he didn’t know about him. And then, Satine had a thought and re opened her laptop. She was going to ensure her children and her were protected against her ex husband.
The following morning, Padme and Satine both carried out their normal routines with getting their children ready before taking them to school. When Padme saw her friend, she noticed her friend was looking more tired and not her usual cheery self. Padme took Leia’s hand in one of her hand and Luke’s hand in the other before she moved over towards her friend who was helping Isabel out of the car before lifting little James into her arms.
“Did you sleep at all last night?” Padme asked her friend “You look terrible, like when you were up all night three months ago when Isabel and James were both sick” she points out as Satine and her start to walk down towards the classroom. “I’ll talk to you later after the kids are in class, but let’s just say a certain someone called me last night” she hints. Padme gasps. She didn’t need to ask her because she had remembered stories from her friend about her ex husband and Padme knew after all this time he would have been the last thing she wanted.
Flashback – A.N In this flashback, its again seven years ago and both Padme and Satine are pregnant, Satine is four months pregnant and Padme is three.
“You should consider yourself lucky you didn’t get married before finding out Rush was not ready for a family because you could have been in my position. Newly married, happy to be having a child and your husband just walks out” Satine scoffs. They were both in the break room having a morning break. Padme sighs. “But at least you were married when you found out you were pregnant, when I told my parents, my mother was upset because she thought I was being ‘careful’ till I was married. She didn’t tell any of her friends” she tells her.
Satine shook her head “Harsh, but still Vizsla, should have known this could happen now that they we were married and what does he do, he freaks out” she goes on sighing “Should have seen it coming, he freaked out about the wedding and thinking we were spending too much. Almost didn’t show up to the rehearsal dinner” she explains. Padme took her a sip of her drink
“Charming” Padme replies although it was in a tone of sarcastic as Satine nods.
“And if I do see him again, I won’t be kind” she assures her and Padme remained silent but truly believed her new friend.
End of flashback
As Padme and Satine both reached the classrooms, Satine looks back at her friend. “I’ll be a few extra minutes, I need to talk to Isabel’s teacher” she tells her just as Ahsoka greeted Padme, Luke and Leia at the door. “Good morning” she smiles “I think you’ll both like today’s lessons” she tells them “They’re more practical” she teases. Luke and Leia’s eyes excitedly widen before they gave Padme each a big hug and raced inside.
“I think you just made their morning, they love any chance to do any type of crafts” Padme admits. Ahsoka chuckles as Padme went on. “I’m sorry once again for how I reacted on our phone call yesterday. I was just in shock” she confesses as Ahsoka waves a hand. “It’s alright, and it was an accident and Luke knows not to do it again” she promises her. Ahsoka then turns to head back into the classroom as Padme watches from the door, Leia reading one of her books and Luke eagerly awaiting for the lesson as she then sees their teacher, Mr. Skywalker. So handsome and yet Padme was not going to let herself obsess over another man.
James rested his head on his mother’s shoulder as Satine explained her situation last night with Isabel’s teacher Mr. Kenobi. Isabel was already inside the classroom with her friends awaiting the lessons to begin. “I’m really sorry I have to do this but she’s innocent and well, Vizsla will probably say anything to convince you that she needs to come with him” she explains “Isabel can’t even know he’s there, he’ll say something like I’ve been in an accident or something” she adds.
Obi Wan nodded as he listened to Satine. This was a concerned mother worried for her child about her ex husband, something he couldn’t wait to point out to Ahsoka. Obi Wan then spoke once she had finished. “Ms Kryze, I can promise you that you have no need to worry, only if you tell me someone else will be picking her up, I’ll listen to no one else” he promises. Satine breathes a sigh of relief before she surprised him and then placed a hand on his arm.
“Thank you” she smiles “I thought I would never have to deal with this” she admits before she goes on “I’ll see you again this afternoon when school is over” she tells him before she moves back down the hall leaving him standing there watching her go. He couldn’t explain it but he felt that smile across his face watching her leave before he headed back into his classroom.
Moments later, when Satine met up with Padme and they started to walk back up towards the car park, Satine spoke. “Vizsla, has some nerve to contact me wanting to know if he has a son or daughter and then he asks to see her!” she exclaims in anger as Padme listens to her friend. She didn’t have any anger towards Rush any more, especially after the letter he sent shortly after the twins were born, so she didn’t know how she would react if he tried to contact her years later.
Padme then looked over at her friend “So what are you doing to do?” she asks her as Satine answers her “I’ve spoken with her teacher who has promised me Isabel will be safe and I’m going to file legal papers blocking Vizsla from trying to obtain his rights” she explains. Padme tilts her head. “He would really do that without telling you?” she asks as Satine sighs as they reach their cars. “I don’t know but he seemed persistence to want to see her, why I don’t know” she admits. Satine opens the back door to start strapping James into his seat.
“Can you do me a favor?” she calls back to her. Padme nods. “Of course” she replies just as Satine closes the door. “You’ll be at work before me so can you print out the custody documents for me and place them on my desk?” she asks. Padme nods. “Of course, anything to help you” she tells her moving towards her car. She didn’t know what she would do herself if Rush came back into the picture but Satine was headstrong and she was showing she was going to fight.
When lunchtime came around and the school bell rang to signal the children to go out to lunch and play, all but Luke remained in the classroom along with his teacher. Anakin looked over at Ahsoka. “Ahsoka, you can go for your lunch, I’ll be fine here with our young friend” he tells her. Ahsoka nods before she picks up her bag and moves out of the classroom. Anakin then looked across at Luke. “Luke, you may go get your lunch but you must eat at your desk, then you can wash the paint brushes from the art lesson” he instructs him.
Luke nods understanding keeping quiet. He wished he was out with his friends but hopefully this week would go by quickly so the detention was soon over. Luke moved over towards his bag and took out his lunch bag bringing it back to his desk. He looked over at Anakin who was working at his desk, taking a sip of his own drink.
Luke kept quiet as he started to enjoy his peanut butter sandwich that his mom had made. She knew it was his favourite so she was trying to make him feel better. He then started to draw in his art book while he ate. He was startled when he heard another voice enter the room. Silently looking up, he recognized the figure as Isabel’s teacher Mr. Kenobi and he moved over towards Anakin who leaned back in his chair seeing his friend enter the room.
“When Ahsoka said you were running the detention, I almost didn’t want to believe it, it’s unlike you” he grins taking a seat in front of him as Anakin shrugs. “Well, I wouldn’t be a good teacher then if I gave it to Ahsoka now, would I?” he smirks as Obi Wan chuckles “Still, it’s unlike you because you were never the teacher who ran the detention” he admits. Anakin shrugs once more looking over at Luke “Better get a move on Luke, or you’ll be cleaning those brushes even after everyone is back” he warns him. Luke nods before he finishes his lunch, gets up to put his lunch box back into his bag then moves across to the wet area where Ahsoka had placed the brushes in a bucket. He started to run the water into the sink before he set to work as Obi Wan and Anakin continued to talk
“Really never thought I’d see this” he grins as Anakin sighs “He’s a good kid, he just made a mistake. His classroom work and participation with his peers is amazing for one so young and his sister is also very smart” he notes as Obi Wan shook his head. “Interesting, you chose to note those two after you already met their mother” he teases.
Obi Wan then goes on, leaning back in his chair, “Although if you did have a crush, I don’t blame you. I had a conversation with Isabel’s mother today and she’s very lovely and Ahsoka was right, she isn’t married” he grins as Anakin cheekily smirks. “You really are smitten there buddy” he tells him “Not since Siri left, have you acted this way” he confesses. Obi Wan shrugs before he goes on “And what about you?” He asks “You are looking forward to another encounter with Luke and Leia’s mother today” he smirks as Anakin shrugs “Well, this afternoon I’ll be walking the class up to the car park to wait for their parents and perhaps I’ll turn on the charm” he hints.
Obi Wan and Anakin both shared a laugh just as the school bell rang signalling the end of lunch, the end of the day was close however for Anakin and Obi Wan things would turn out differently at the end of the day.
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Padme was startled by the knock at the door and surprised to see Satine there, she looked a little worried. “Padme’” she spoke as she entered the office. Padme gets up from her seat. “Satine, what’s wrong?” She asks. “I was wondering if perhaps your sister wouldn’t mind picking up Isabel from school and James from day care?” She asks “I’ve been told I need to be in court with my client all afternoon which means I won’t be able to make it to the school” she explains. Padme nods
“Of course Sola won’t mind, I just messaged her about picking up Luke and Leia because I have back to back clients coming in this afternoon and I’m sure she won’t mind. We’ll pick them up from her house together” she suggests. Satine happily hugged her friend. “You have a wonderful sister and you are a wonderful friend” she tells her. Padme smiles. “I’ll message her now, you inform the school what will be happening” she tells her.
Satine smiles once more just as there was another knock at the door and both Padme and Satine looked over to see their other colleague and friend Bail Organa standing at the door. Bail had only recently come back to work after his honeymoon with his wife Breha. Padme smiles over at him. “Bail, what brings you here?” She asks “Is there something we can help you with?” She goes on. Bail nods. “Actually, I know you both have clients this afternoon but I was wondering if perhaps one of you could help me with this latest case of mine” he admits. Satine sighs. “I would but my client’s probably already headed to the court house so I’ll see you around” she replies before she exits the office as Padme answers him. “I have some time before my next client, I’d be happy to help you” she tells him. Bail breathes a sigh of relief, “Thank you so much, I really appreciate this” he tells her as they moved back over towards her desk to begin helping her friend with his case.
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When the school bell rang out that afternoon for the end of the day, Anakin, along with Ahsoka led the class up to the car park. Ahsoka had been informed by one of the school office’s assistant that Luke, Leia and their friend Isabel would be picked up by Luke and Leia’s aunt. Ahsoka decided to wait till they reached the car park before she told them and know both men would be disappointed. Obi Wan was following them with his class up to the car park where other classes and teachers were along with parents coming to collect their children.
Anakin looked around for Padme however he was startled when he heard Luke and Leia rush past him. “Aunty Sola!” They cried as he looked over to see an older dark brown haired woman standing with two other young children, one looked around twelve years old and the other looked about nine. Ahsoka grins before she leaned in towards her friend. “Oh, I forgot to mention Padme’s sister is picking up her children and Ms Kryze’s daughter today” she tells him. Anakin looked down at her, looking disappointed before he saw the woman move towards him. She smiled right at him and Anakin could see she was Padme’s sister for she shared similar features with her. “Hello I’m Sola Janren, Padme’s sister. She and Satine asked me to pick up Luke, Leia and Isabel” she explains.
Anakin, trying to hide his disappointment simply then answers “Well, you’ll forgive my surprise, it would seem my aide here forgot to tell me” he admits just as Obi Wan joined them. Anakin then looks over at his friend “Obi Wan, this is Mrs Janren, Padme’s sister and she will be collecting Isabel, Luke and Leia today” he tells him. Obi Wan looks a little worried as Sola smiles. “I can see you look worried and don’t worry Satine told me you might be concerned since your conversation with her this morning” she points out. Obi Wan nods before he looked down at the young children around her looking quite comfortable.
“My sister and her friend couldn’t pick up Luke, Leia and Isabel because they’re backed up with clients all afternoon” she explains as Ahsoka then speaks up. “It’s no problem. These two…..” She pauses to look at Anakin and Obi Wan “Only want to discuss the student’s developments with the parents” she tells her. Sola chuckles “I’ll be sure to tell my sister and Satine that next time” Sola replies taking Luke’s hand in one and Leia’s hand in the other before Leia took her friend Isabel’s in the other as Ryoo and Pooja started to head back to the car.
“It was nice meeting you Mrs. Janren” Anakin tells her before she turns to head back after her daughters leaving Obi Wan, Anakin and Ahsoka standing there. Ahsoka grins up at her friends “Boy, do you two have it bad” she teases “You two were really disappointed” she adds as Anakin and Obi Wan both then glared over at their friend. Anakin shrugs “Well, it could have been worst and could have been a boyfriend or something” he only replies and its only day two” he reminds her as they continued to watch the children heading off home with their parents.