We both were taken to the admin office where the school staff ran through some security checks on me, verifying that I'm a legit person whom Sabina assigned to pick up Hussaini from school. My fear of being detained turns agitated by its procedures, interrogated me like I'm going to kidnap him for ransom.

Duh! I'm 15. Why would I want to do that? I'd rather kidnap Justin Timberlake instead of a ruthless boy like him. When Sabina confirmed on me over the phone, they finally released us both and allowed me to take Hussaini home.

"Can I make you happy kid?" I offer, still catching that solemn look in his face. "Do you want some ice cream?"

"Okay," he says finally, calmer this time.

I take him to AmpWalk Mall which is across Hussaini's school for a couple of McDonald's ice cream, one sundae cone for him and a hot fudge for me. Occupying a spot by the corner of the restaurant, we devour our deserts before I begin my initiation for a peace treaty.

"Maia tells me you go by the name Saint," I seek verification from him.

"Yeah," he affirms, licking the sides of the sundae from melting off. "But it's Master Vader to you."

"Not if you call me Queen Amidala," I negotiate.

"You can't be Queen Amidala," he argues. "You're an ugly wrench."

"Look, we both got off on the wrong foot," I change the subject. "But you and I need to cooperate from now on. Maia won't be babysitting you anymore, so I will. And I hope to be a permanent one, or at least long enough until you don't need me anymore."

"Well, I don't need you now," he scowls behind his sundae. "I need mommy."

"Yes kid, I know. But as much as we both want mommy to be with you 24/7, she's working very hard to support your sustenance, your education, everything. That's why she's coming home late."

"I wish daddy's around," he sighs and scans around the restaurant. "Daddy brought me here every week after school. His friends work here."

"Really? Where is he now?"

"Back in Dublin," he replies in between the licks. "Daddy would take me to his apartment after school and then mommy picked me up after work. Sometimes I stayed with him on weekdays and mommy on weekends."

I give an acknowledging nod. It's tacit that this could be his dad's favourite spot since this mall also houses the Irish Embassy.

"Why doesn't Maia want to babysit me anymore? Is it because I locked her up in a bathroom? I thought I said sorry," he asks sloppily, smudging the ice cream around his mouth.

"No, kid. She likes you fine," I assert while taking a piece of napkin and wipes of the smudges on his face. "She just needs to sort her things out. That's all."

"What sort of things?"

I take a deep breath, eliciting a plausible explanation before I speak. "Let's just say that she's busy like mommy but without all that adult stuff."

"How about you? Aren't you busy?"

This kid really asks a lot of questions.

"I'm manageable. And adding you into my schedule doesn't bother me much," I give a diplomatic answer, leaving out the details of crunching up my timetable for my PMR exams scheduled in October which is compulsory for all 15-year-olds to take. "Are you happy now?"

"Not really," he smiles cheekily, biting off the cone by its rim. "I wanna watch 'The Wild Thornberrys' and 'Spongebob' when we get back."

"Sure, Saint," I force out the name 'Saint' from my mouth. "Under one condition, you need to finish your homework before mommy comes back."

"We'll see about that," he smirks and gets off from the chair. "But you'll call me Master Vader, not Saint."

"Then you shall call me Queen Amidala, MasterVader," I respond obliviously, pushing back the chair behind me to stand up. 

P/S - At this juncture, Sofia was unaware on the relationship between Queen Armidala & Master Vader because 'Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones'  didn't arrive until later in 2002. And there were no media that could reveal this news. People have to wait Episode II to find out.

P/P/S - Like what you've read so far. Don't forget to ⭐

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