BUT CAN YOU JUST IMAGINE HOW ANNOYED PALPATINE WOULD BE his life would be never-ending string of trying to get a hold of Anakin (I mean, would Anakin give him a time of day if he can spend it with small kids who absolutely adore him instead?)
he keeps comming over the years, but itâs always like
âAnakin, my boy, we havenât seen each other in a whileââ
âIâm sorry, Chancellor, nowâs not the best time. Iâm tutoring a class.â
âMy dear boy, I wonder if we could meet for a chatââ
âWell, it canât be this week, weâre going to Ilum, but maybe laterâŚâ
âAnakin, Iâd like toââ
âIâm terribly sorry, Chancellor,â Obi-Wan Kenobi answers. The apologetic tone might be just a tad exaggerated. âAnakin is on a trip with younglings, he mustâve left his comlink behind accidentally.â
âYouâve reached Anakin Skywalkerâs private comlink. Leave the message after the tone.â
âItâs such a shame that Council doesnât consider sending you on this campaign, considering the lightsaber skills you demonstrated when I was last visiting the Temple, Anakin.â
âThank you, Chancellor, but this is precisely why I need to stay behind. In fact just the last week, the Masters decided I should take over some advanced lightsaber classes, considering senior Padawans accompanying their Masters on the frontlines need the training. I might take the Bear Clan along, make it a learning opportunity for the young onesââ
Palpatine closes his eyes slowly. He knows this from experience; Anakin wonât let himself be budged from the topic of little monsters for at least another half an hour.
âAh, Chancellor Palpatine. Anakin left his comlink behind again, heâs in classââ
âAnakin, I hoped youââ
âOh! Chancellor,â the voice on the other end is distinctly female, and Palpatine recognizes it after a second. Kenobiâs second Padawan. He barely restrains the urge to gnash his teeth. âUm, SkygâI mean, Master Skywalker canât pick up now. I can tell him you called? Itâs just that he was helping me with forms, and he forgot his comlink, and heâs probably already in crècheâŚâ
Then thereâs that one time when an actual youngling picks up the call. The less said about his reaction to that incident, the better.
ââfortunately, they were all right in the end. But in my opinion, this should never happened in the first place, Chancellor.â
Palpatine snaps awake. Was that⌠was that anger? Finally, the hours of listening to worthless drivel about Jedi younglings paid off.
âMy boy, I absolutely agree,â he begins slyly, but before he can continue, Anakin steamrolls on.
âI think Jedi Order is too deeply entwined in the conflict! I honestly donât think even senior Padawans should be anywhere near battles, not to mention in command of GAR, but now even younglings are acceptable targets for Separatists and pirates! Master Yoda and I were talking about this lately, andââ
Palpatine swallows a scream of rage with some difficulty.
âForgot his comlink again, Master Skywalker has. With younglings, he is.â
Slaughtering younglings moved to the top on the list of things Darth Sidious will do after taking over galaxy some time ago.