Legend of the Jedi Princess 3: Return of the Doresho

Rattle Snake Part 2

It was 3:00, the end of the school day. Kids who didn't have after-school activities to get to today either went to get picked up by their parents, boarded the bus pod, or sat on the benches to wait for their guardians to retrieve them.

Boba, Omega, Gabby, and Lamenta all met at the school's front yard and sat at the benches outside of school, where they waited for Anakin to come pick them up. They looked around. 

Their speeder wasn't in sight among those arriving. Knowing Anakin, he had a tendency to be tardy, but he was usually on time where his children were concerned. Whether it was Boba and Omega cheering at a game, Lamenta dancing at a ballet recital, or Gabby giving a presentation for a school charity event, Anakin fought to be on time to support them, and to take them home in time for dinner.

Five minutes passed, that being the usual amount of time past dismissal Anakin arrived when it was his turn to pick up the kids.

"Shouldn't Dad have arrived by now?" Omega asked.

"He's probably just running late." Lamenta shrugged.

So, the kids waited, and they waited.

The kids began to get bored as ten minutes passed. Boba decided to get a head start on his homework while they waited. Omega started to do the same.

Gabby took out a book she'd been reading for class, and Lamenta started practicing her plies by a bar on the fence surrounding the school's rose bush garden.

Another ten minutes passed. Still no sign of Anakin.

"Okay, that's it. I'm calling him." Gabby said, getting out her phone and calling Anakin. "I hope he's okay."

But Anakin didn't answer his phone.

Gabby tried again a few minutes later. No answer again. She got worried.

"Daddy isn't answering his phone." Gabby said.

"Let's remain calm here." Boba said. "I'm sure there's an explanation for why he's not answering."

"Who's on our safe side adult list?" Omega asked.

The kids started to think of who else they could call. Some of their family wasn't even on-world, but then they remembered Carmine was simply spending time with Shmi today, so Lamenta phoned her father.

Thankfully, he answered.

"Hi, Daddy." Lamenta said. "Sorry to interrupt your time with Grandma, but Uncle Anakin hasn't come to pick us up from school, and he's not answering his phone."

"Funny, I was actually about to call you about that." Carmine said.

Carmine told Lamenta that he and Shmi just arrived back at the palace, and Anakin and Sapphire left the twins with them and left in a big hurry, saying he couldn't explain why.

"All he said was 'Kara, Dad, emergency, no time to explain!' and then he ran out."

That got the kids really worried. What if Mariverde struck?

"Stay where you are, kids." said Carmine. "We're coming to get you now."

Carmine soon arrived with the horses to pick the kids up quickly and brought them back to the palace.

"All of you, stay here." Carmine said. "I'm going to make sure the others are okay."

"But we wanna help." Gabby said.

"You can help by staying out of trouble. If this is Mariverde's work, this is something to leave to the grownups."

The kids reluctantly stayed behind with their grandmother while Carmine ran through one of the mirror portals to get to Coruscant quickly.