The twins were sick, and Padmé was away on a business trip, leaving Anakin to fend off for himself. It wasn't that he didn't mind taking care of the twins—hell, he hated seeing them sick. And Anakin knew that there had been something going around, and he also knew it was only a matter of time before his own kids would get it, but he wished he had some better warning about how two five year olds would react to getting sick.

"How're you holding up?" Padmé asked now, her hologram form flickering before Anakin. "How're the kids?"

"Finally got them to sleep," Anakin said, slumping down on the couch. "First Leia started complaining that she couldn't smell anything, and then Luke started complaining that he couldn't smell anything, and then they both threw a tantrum about not being hungry." Anakin rubbed a hand over his eyes, ignoring the sharp stab of pain through his head at even that slight movement. "But they managed to get something down, and then Luke threw up."

Padmé winced. "I wish this conference would wrap up faster," she said. "I want to be there."

"No," Anakin said, "you really don't." He set his hand down. "It'll be okay," he said. "I think this is the worst of it. Give it another day or two, and they'll be back to their normal selves." He tried for a smile, and Padmé smiled back, though it appeared just as strained as Anakin imagined his own probably was.

"You should get some sleep too," Padmé suggested. "You look miserable."

"I'm only miserable because they're miserable," Anakin replied, and that wasn't too far off from the truth. But he also decided not to tell Padmé that he had woken up with a sore throat this morning, one that hadn't gone away for the entirety of the day. And the headaches had started even before then, and same with the dizzy spells. But Anakin couldn't get sick. He wasn't allowed to get sick, not right now. "And then they won't be miserable, so I won't be, either."

"Have you considered calling Obi-Wan or Ahsoka for help?" Padmé asked. "I'm sure they'd be happy to—"

Anakin shook his head. "Don't want them to catch whatever they have," he said. "And besides, they're busy."

"You know they won't mind."

"Yeah," Anakin said, "but their hands are already full—re-organizing the Jedi Order and all that." And Padmé and he both knew that was true: after the fall of Darth Sidious (or Chancellor Palpatine, whichever, whatever), there had been some scrambling within the Jedi Order. Some good scrambling, some bad scrambling—but mostly good scrambling, with the Council finally giving in to the fact that, well, the Hero with No Fear did save the galaxy with his wife, so they might as well allow the marriage. And there had been some more good scrambling and some more re-thinking of the Code—mostly long debates and Council meetings, all of which Anakin tried not to fall asleep in.

Ahsoka had come on board the new project of re-organizing the Order too, of course. Though with a wary eye and crossed arms, she had given in, although when she first walked into the Council chambers, she had been very clear: "I'm only doing this because the galaxy was almost overturned a week ago." There had been some meek apologies, some awkward silences, but Anakin knew that Ahsoka was growing more and more comfortable by the day.

As for Obi-Wan—well, Anakin always knew his master would be on the frontlines of this new project. There had been some hesitancies, mostly lots of little dances between Obi-Wan and the rest of the Council, and then Anakin had finally been the one to break the silence, protesting that "I think Obi-Wan would be perfect for the job". That had earned Anakin a stink eye from his former master, but so far, it seemed that nothing had gone completely awry in the Order just yet.

All that to say that Anakin knew that his friends were busy. He had been busy—but with children in the mix—

"Well, get some sleep," Padmé said now. "You deserve it."

"So do you," Anakin replied. "Save the galaxy for me."

And with exchanged "I love you"s and "good night"s, Anakin trudged into the bedroom. He slumped into bed, feeling just the slightest bit guilty that he was relieved to end the call—but Padmé was right: he needed to sleep.

Not even bothering to throw on the blankets, Anakin closed his eyes.

"Daddy?"

Anakin felt small hands on his arm, some shaking. And then Anakin was dimly aware of some shuffling at his side, and then he felt someone's breath on his cheek. "Daddy?"

Anakin opened his eyes. Leia's small face hovered above him, eyes wide. "What's wrong?" he mumbled, rubbing his eyes with the heel of his hand. "Do you feel bad?"

"No," Leia replied, "but Luke threw up again."

Anakin sat up, his heart sinking. "Okay," he said. "You stay here, okay?" He slid off the bed, just barely catching himself before he could fall over. He straightened himself just in time to find Leia already sliding off after him. "Leia—"

"I wanna help," Leia said.

Anakin paused. "Okay," he said, turning around. "Then can you grab Luke's blanket? It should still be in the washing machine."

Leia nodded, and with the determined step that only Anakin's daughter could have, she hurried out of the room. Anakin, in the meantime, headed off to the children's bedroom—or at least, tried to. His head hurt, and the sudden brightness of the hallway lights temporarily blinded him. Anakin leaned against the wall, trying to make sense of the dots flashing in front of his eyes. Keep it together, Skywalker.

He found Luke sitting up in his bed, his face already streaked with guilty tears. "I'm sorry," he said in a small voice. "I didn't mean—"

"It's okay," Anakin said, crouching down in front of Luke. He looked down at the mess on the bed and, keeping his voice light, he said, "How about we take a quick bath, huh?"

Luke nodded, and Anakin scooped Luke out of the bed, ignoring the vomit that he knew was staining his own shirt. He carried Luke into the refresher and, after setting him down on the sink, turned on the water in the bath. A few minutes later, Luke was clean and looking a little brighter than he had in the whole day.

"I'm going to change your sheets, okay?" Anakin said, guiding Luke out of the refresher. "Your sister should be in Mommy and Daddy's bedroom—you wanna stay—" Anakin broke off with a cough, and he turned away sharply, just barely turning away from Luke in time. His chest hurt—they felt too tight, too constrained, but he forced up his head, tried to hold back another oncoming cough as he turned back around to Luke.

"Do you feel bad?" Luke asked in a small voice.

"Just a little bad," Anakin replied, and at Luke's wide eyes, he said quickly, "But it's okay. I'm okay. Go join your sister, alright?"

Luke hesitated, but Anakin gave his son a little push. "Go on," he said. "She's got your blanket."

Luke gave a tiny little nod, leaving Anakin in the children's room by himself. Anakin changed his shirt first, shivering at the slightest exposure of skin. He made mental note to grab something warmer later, but for now, he had some other work to do.

He took a few more shaky steps, managed to take hold of the edge of the sheets. He tugged the sheets off the bed and shoved them aside. He stumbled towards the linen closets, found the extra sheets. Anakin's head hurt. He alternated between attempting to shove on the sheets and turning away to cough into his arm. By the time he had finally fitted the new sheets around Luke's bed, Anakin wanted nothing more than to crash into the bed itself.

Anakin shook his head. He needed to get his kids. He staggered back down the hallway, leaning against the wall for support until he finally reached the bedroom.

"Alright, you two," Anakin said, fighting to keep his voice even, "beds are ready."

"Can we stay here?" Luke asked.

And Anakin's chest hurt then, and it had nothing to do with the fact that he had just been coughing a few minutes ago. Luke and Leia both looked at him with equally wide and hopeful eyes, their faces so eager and innocent that Anakin didn't know whether to laugh or not. He would have laughed, probably, if he didn't feel like he might cough on attempt.

"No," he said, walking towards the bed. "You guys need to get some actual sleep, okay?"

"But we wanna sleep here," Leia protested. "Please?"

Anakin shook his head. "I don't want you guys to get worse," he said, sitting on the edge of the bed. "Mommy's coming back soon, and you two need to be back to normal." He felt a cough building up in his chest again, tried to force it back down. Bad mistake. Anakin's eyes watered instantly, and he turned around, coughing into his elbow with the vengeance force of something being held in for too long. He felt movement on the bed, and instinctively, Anakin lifted his other hands: Stop.

"Daddy?" Leia sounded scared then, and Anakin hated himself for it. "Are you okay?"

Anakin heaved in a few breaths, tried to steady his breathing as he turned back around. "I'm okay," he said, but he couldn't miss the thinness in his own voice. "This'll be gone in the morning." He started to stand up, but when the floor spun beneath him, Anakin quickly settled back down on the bed. "But I need you guys to go back into your beds, okay?"

There was some silence, and Anakin could practically see the gears turning in his children's heads before Leia finally nodded. She stood up and, taking Luke's hand, they both slid off the bed. "Are you sure you'll be okay tomorrow?" Luke asked, looking up at Anakin.

Anakin smiled. "Absolutely," he said. He nodded towards the door. "I'll see you guys tomorrow, okay?"

There was another pause, and then both Luke and Leia nodded before they headed out of the room.

As soon as they were gone, Anakin fell back down against the bed, muffling his coughs with a pillow.

Anakin felt something cool and wet sponging his forehead. He shivered, trying to curl away from whatever it was—he was already too cold. His limbs felt sore from shaking too much—he wanted to stop shaking, but he was cold—

Anakin opened his eyes slowly, and it only took him a few seconds to make out Obi-Wan's blurry figure sitting by his bed, cloth in hand.

"'wan," Anakin mumbled, rubbing his eyes. "What're you…?"

"Padmé called," Obi-Wan said. "She mentioned something about your hands being full?"

Anakin groaned, trying to sit up, but Obi-Wan was already pushing him back down. "But you're busy," Anakin protested—or tried to protest. The words grated against Anakin's throat, caused his eyes to water. He swallowed, but that hurt too, and then a glass of water appeared before him.

"Windu's covering for me," Obi-Wan explained as Anakin took the water. "And you seemed like you needed some help."

Anakin handed back the glass. "The twins—"

As if on cue, Anakin heard laughter floating from outside the bedroom, followed by Ahsoka's gleeful, "you're it!"

Obi-Wan smiled at Anakin. "Ahsoka's keeping them busy," he said.

"But isn't she—"

"She's also been covered," Obi-Wan said. He started to settle the cloth back over Anakin's forehead, but he cringed away, rolling over on his side to keep his cough contained in the pillow. A great pain erupted in Anakin's chest and his side as the cough overtook him, and then Anakin felt Obi-Wan's hand on his back, trying to ease the cough out of him—

"Don't wanna get you sick," Anakin mumbled, when he finally caught his breath. "You shouldn't have—"

"Come?" Obi-Wan finished, sounding skeptical. "You sound and look terrible." Anakin felt the mattress sink a little underneath him, and then he felt Obi-Wan's cool hand on his cheek. "And you're burning up."

"Feel cold," Anakin mumbled, shifting away from Obi-Wan's touch.

"That would be your fever," Obi-Wan replied lightly, but Anakin could feel the slight edge underneath the words—knew that tone because Obi-Wan had used it before, usually right before a ship crashed. "It would also help if you actually slept with a blanket." There was a shift on the mattress, and then Anakin felt one of the lighter blankets settle over him.

"Thanks," Anakin mumbled, and he buried his head into the other pillow again, trying to stifle his cough. He failed miserably, and Anakin was left grasping at the sheets as he tried to steady himself, but he couldn't breathe—

"Anakin," Obi-Wan said sharply, and then Anakin was being dragged up into a sitting position, and Anakin turned his head away, trying to keep himself from hacking all over Obi-Wan, and to his relief, that at least worked, but Obi-Wan was still too close—

Anakin tried to push Obi-Wan away with one hand, the other clawing at his chest as he tried to search for breath. "Go," Anakin said weakly. "Don't—" He leaned over the other side of the bed, chest heaving as the last of the cough left him. For a few seconds, it was all he could do to remain at that side, trying to remember how to breathe properly again.

"Come here." Obi-Wan tugged Anakin back gently, carefully. "Don't lie back down just yet—we need to make sure you can breathe easier." He grabbed one of the other pillows, set it down on top of the other before letting Anakin sink back into the bed. Obi-Wan sat back on the bed, regarding Anakin with the worried expression he knew only too well.

"How long?" Obi-Wan asked at last. When Anakin didn't answer, Obi-Wan repeated, "Anakin. How long?"

"Only got this bad today," Anakin mumbled.

"That's not an answer."

Anakin avoided Obi-Wan's eyes as he twisted his hand in the blanket. "Day before yesterday," he admitted. Hurriedly, he added, "It wasn't that bad—not an emergency."

"And you didn't think it could have gotten worse, as it clearly did?" Obi-Wan asked. "Why didn't you call for help?"

Anakin looked up at Obi-Wan. It had been a while since Anakin had seen him, now that Anakin really thought about it. At least a couple of weeks, maybe less than a month. And it felt mostly good to see him—familiar.

"You're busy," Anakin finally said. He meant to say it matter-of-factly, objectively, because he knew such was the truth: Obi-Wan was busy. Ahsoka was busy. Everyone was busy. He tilted his head back against the pillows, closing his eyes briefly. He was tired—he could sleep for years. Still, Anakin forced his eyes back open, found Obi-Wan's startled expression.

"Anakin," Obi-Wan started softly. "You—"

But before Obi-Wan could say whatever it was he was going to say, the doors slid open, and Luke and Leia barreled in, their faces bright and flushed.

"Daddy's awake!" Leia said cheerfully, just as Ahsoka appeared at the doors.

"Guys," Ahsoka said, frowning, "your daddy needs rest, remember?" She walked into the bedroom, shooting Anakin an apologetic smile. "But I gotta say, glad to see you up, Skyguy." But Anakin noticed the way her eyes flickered just the slightest bit, noticed that all-too familiar look of concern before Ahsoka's expression smoothed out again. "How're you holding up?"

"Fever, cough," Obi-Wan reported for Anakin.

"I'll be fine," Anakin said, because Luke and Leia were right there, watching the exchange with bewildered expressions.

"Daddy's sick?" Luke asked at last. He looked at Anakin, biting down on his bottom lip. "Is it because of us?"

"No," Anakin said quickly. "This is just a small—" He coughed into his fist. He had hoped to contain it in just one cough, but no, Anakin's chest squeezed painfully as the coughing worsened, deepened. He was vaguely aware of some movement, and then Ahsoka saying something, and by the time Anakin's vision cleared, Luke and Leia were at the foot of the bed, struggling against Ahsoka's grip. And even though it killed Anakin, he looked up at Ahsoka with a silent plea, and Ahsoka gave the slightest of nods.

"Come on, guys," Ahsoka said gently, guiding Luke and Leia by the shoulders. "Why don't we draw some pictures for your daddy?"

"But—" Leia started to protest, turning around to look at Anakin, but Ahsoka was gently directing her out of the room.

Obi-Wan was the first to speak. "You should eat something," he said, looking over at Anakin. "Or at least drink some more water."

"I'm fine," Anakin mumbled, closing his eyes. "I drank enough." He rolled his head over on the pillow, opened his eyes again to focus on Obi-Wan. "I just need to sleep."

Obi-Wan pressed his lips together. "Sleep would be a good idea," he said carefully. "But when you wake, we'll see about food."

Anakin nodded wearily. "You don't have to stay," he added after a beat of silence.

"I know," Obi-Wan replied.

He stayed.

Anakin fell asleep.

Some things floated in and out of Anakin's sleep. He heard the distant shouting of the twins from outside the room, and then he heard some murmurs above him—Ahsoka and Obi-Wan, he knew, even without opening his eyes. He could feel their worry, and he wanted to wake up then, tell them to stop, he was fine—

He felt too cold one second, and then he felt too warm. He tried kicking off the blankets, only to drag them back up because he would be freezing a few minutes later. He felt water trickling down his forehead, whether that was sweat or some compress, Anakin couldn't tell. His muscles felt sore, his head felt sore, everything felt sore.

"Anakin, you need to wake up."

Anakin felt gentle hands supporting his back, moving him forward. Anakin tried to fight back—no, let me sleep—but then he felt a cool hand resting upon his forehead. He sighed, leaning against the cool touch.

"Ahsoka, the medicine."

"Here—" The hands supporting Anakin's back loosened its hold, and when Anakin re-opened his eyes, he found Ahsoka and Obi-Wan's worried faces hovering above him. "There he is," Ahsoka said, breathing out a sigh of relief. "We brought back some medication. It'll help reduce the fever a little bit."

Anakin was dimly aware of Obi-Wan holding up a pill, a glass of water. "Careful," Obi-Wan said as Anakin dazedly took the glass. "Slowly."

Maybe it was just because Anakin was tired, or maybe it was because of the fever, but Anakin actually listened. He blinked a few times, trying to greater focus on Obi-Wan and Ahsoka. "Time?" he asked, just barely swallowing back a wince at the pain in his throat.

"Evening," Obi-Wan replied promptly. At Anakin's flinch, he settled a hand on Anakin's shoulder. "You needed the rest."

"The kids—"

"Are taking a nap," Ahsoka assured him. She sat down on the bed. "They'll be okay. They're a little worried about how their dad's holding up, though—and I wouldn't blame them." She crossed her legs, leaned in a little towards Anakin. "You know you could have called us, right?"

Anakin managed a weak grin. "I had it under c-con—" He stuttered around a cough, leaning briefly away from his friends. Both Ahsoka and Obi-Wan instinctively reached for him, but Anakin tugged himself away. "I had it under control," he finished.

Ahsoka and Obi-Wan exchanged a skeptical look.

"Anakin," Ahsoka finally said, "Look at yourself. You're a mess." She said it so matter-of-factly that Anakin had to remember that ah, yes, his former apprentice had grown. Ahsoka tilted her head at Anakin. "What's going on?"

"I—nothing," Anakin said, trying to avert the intent look Ahsoka was giving him. Since when did she become so focused? He found himself looking at Obi-Wan instead, who wore the same troubled expression that Ahsoka had. Anakin chose to look above their heads instead. "You two have more important things to worry about."

At that, both Ahsoka and Obi-Wan exchanged another skeptical look.

"I can see you," Anakin mumbled.

"Great," Ahsoka said, turning back to Anakin. "Because you're an idiot."

Anakin blinked. "What—"

"No offense, Skyguy," Ahsoka added, as though it were an afterthought. "But if you really think that we're too busy to help you out, then—"

"What she means is," Obi-Wan said, giving Ahsoka a meaningful look, "I don't think we're about to stop worrying about you just because the war is over. Or because things are different." He looked at Anakin, his expression softening. "It would be a shame if you truly believed otherwise."

Anakin lowered his eyes. "'m sorry," he mumbled. "I didn't—things are different."

"Of course they are," Ahsoka snorted. "But we're still here, aren't we?"

Anakin felt Ahsoka's hand on his arm, Obi-Wan's hand on his shoulder, and a lump that had nothing to do with his own ailments rose in Anakin's throat. He swallowed roughly, looked up at Obi-Wan and Ahsoka. "Thanks," he said at last. He tried for a smile, and this time, it felt real. "Thank you."

And Ahsoka and Obi-Wan smiled back, and that felt right.

Luke and Leia would crawl into their parents' bedroom later that day, they would find Ahsoka and Obi-Wan on either side of Anakin, their heads perched on Anakin's shoulders. They would giggle quietly amongst each other, and then Padmé would follow them into the bedroom. She would need to record the image before waking them all.

A/N: ROTS? Don't know her. Anakin Skywalker defeated Sidious and proceeded to have a family, and Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka Tano revised the Jedi Code, and they're all one big happy family. I don't know what ya'll are talking about.

As always, reviews/constructive criticism are greatly appreciated!