Disclaimer: You really think that, if I owned Star Wars, I'd limit myself to writing fan fiction? Seriously, if it were mine, I'd totally be writing some novels by now!

I am working on pre-writes of several longer stories at this time, but feel like I will go insane if I don't actually post something soon! And don't you dare question the possibility of my becoming more insane than I presently am!

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In this story, Palpatine is dead and Anakin has disclosed his marriage to the Jedi Council, but they have allowed him to remain a Jedi. He has, in fact, recently been elected to the Council himself. All the Jedi Masters have decided to be nice to him (finally!) In short, everything's great for him right now. Well, almost…

"He's late again," remarked Ki-Adi-Mundi to no one in particular. The Jedi Council was in session – or would have been if its newest member had arrived.

"Isn't he later than usual this time?" asked Plo Koon from beneath his mask.

"No," said Obi-wan Kenobi. "He's always exactly five standard minutes late. By that reckoning, he has another… twenty-eight seconds."

"Stop making excuses for the boy," said Mace Windu – but his eyes betrayed his mild amusement.

Kit Fisto wasn't amused. The famous smile that always accompanied him into battle was missing today. "We just gave him nearly a week off! Couldn't he manage to be on time just once?"

Obi-wan shook his head ruefully. Anakin's twenty-eight seconds had expired. "Young children require a lot of care, and can be very unpredictable. If Anakin's children are anything like what he was even at the age of ten…"

This elicited a smile from every member of the Council. If that were true, their often-mischievous Chosen One might have met his match.

Anakin's customary five minutes lengthened into seven and a half. "What is keeping the boy?" wondered Stass Allie.

At that moment, Anakin burst into the room. He was slightly out of breath, and his eyelids drooped. "Ah, hi," he panted.

"Eloquent, as usual," said Saesee Tiin dryly.

"Beginning to worry, we were, young one," admonished Yoda gently, almost teasingly.

Anakin stopped in the middle of the room and threw a dramatic, supplicatory gaze towards the ceiling of the chamber. "I am twenty-five years old!" he shouted in mock exasperation. "I am married and have three-year-old twins! Why is it that I am still a 'boy' and a 'young one'?"

"Age is relative, young Skywalker," said Yoda, earning a brief chuckle from everyone.

"Speaking of your family, how are they? I heard they were ill," inquired Stass Allie.

"Yes, they're all just getting over stomach flu. Luke came down with it five days ago, and Padmé and Leia got it the day after that. I'm the only one who hasn't gotten it. I can't thank you enough for giving me that time off to take care of them; it's hard enough for Padmé care for two sick toddlers when she's well. She never would have made it while she was sick herself. It's been rough; she needs to sleep, but the twins keep waking her up, so I've been pretty much taking care of all three of them around the clock. I'm sorry I'm late, but I wanted to make sure the twins were asleep before she left. I don't want her to overtax herself trying to take care of them."

"Well, I hope they all recover nicely," said Obi-wan. "But now, let's begin this meeting so you can return to them as soon as possible."

"I second that motion," sighed Anakin, sinking wearily into his seat.

They began their discussion. Things had been much calmer since Anakin had removed the threat of the Sith from the galaxy – so much so, in fact, that the Jedi were almost wondering what to do with themselves. It had been so long since they had focused on study of the Force for its own sake that it seemed a strange concept to many of the younglings. The Council spoke of putting more emphasis on the original purpose of the Jedi into the children's early training. Halfway between that and the discussion of who to send to settle the boundary dispute on Makisto, Obi-wan noticed Anakin's eyelids sagging shut and his head nodding. The young man perked up a bit at the possibility of action, but he stayed on Coruscant most of the time these days because of his family, although he occasionally ferried Jedi to planets upon which they were needed. Obi-wan knew that the likelihood of Anakin making it through the entire meeting was very slim – although the Council meetings were now much shorter than they had been during the war, this meeting still had as much as two hours left to it.

Sure enough, by the time they got to the progress of the search for additional sources of Ilum crystals, Anakin's eyes were closed and his head was tilted back, resting on the back of his chair.

When they spoke of the request from the citizens of Tatooine that something be done about the Tusken raiders, Mace Windu directed a question to Anakin. The young Jedi's only response was to suddenly tense for a moment, then slump over the side of his chair. Half the Council frowned, the other half smiled as they watched him sleep. "Poor boy," said Stass Allie. "He was telling the truth about his family – he's absolutely exhausted."

"Let's allow him to sleep," said Kit Fisto, and impish expression flitting across his face. "We'll wake him when the meeting's over – or better yet, just let him wake up on his own and find the chamber empty. It will be a gentle reprimand not to do this again. Also," he admitted somewhat shamefacedly, "I want to see his face when he wakes up!"

This was one vote on which the Council unanimously agreed – without the aid of the Force! When the meeting was done, each member crept from the camber as quietly as usual, then took off to the security room where they could watch the hologram.

To his credit, it was only an hour after the Council had adjourned when Anakin woke up. He slowly opened his eyes, then shut them again, then opened them once more, this time focusing on his surroundings. The Council members all smiled as they watched Anakin wake up fully, glance frantically from empty chair to empty chair, then run from the room looking almost comically horrified.

Then Obi-wan ran to intercept his young friend and to assure him that all was well. He was walking down one of the hallways when Anakin smacked into him at full speed, sending both of them sprawling on the ground.

"Well!" exclaimed Obi-wan in surprise. "I was expecting several things, but that was not one of them."

"I'm sorry." Anakin apologized breathlessly. "Is the Council mad at me?"

"No, on the contrary. We all found it rather amusing. Your presence certainly makes things more lively on the Council."

"D-d-don't do that to me again!" begged Anakin, still shaky.

"Only if you fall asleep again," chuckled Obi-wan. "Now, my friend, I suggest you go home – and may I recommend that you get some rest?"