Office hours [all day]

[sith_happened]

Anakin was in his office as usual, poking through old holographs of Juliet. It was amazing how much she'd changed in a year and a half.

Looking at pictures of his daughter took his mind off of his other, far more troubled, thoughts.

The door was open.

[OOC: As is the post, though please be patient with me if there are sudden bouts of SP. Not a good day.]

Comments

[trigons_child]

Raven would hope she wasn't one of those troubled thoughts, but odds were she was.

She'd teleported down from her room to the school. Walking meant seeing people, and while she was trying to gather her nerve to go to classes that day, it was easier to be avoidy. Moving into the doorway, she greeted Anakin with a soft "Good morning, Professor Skywalker."

[longislandiceme]

Bobby was not, typically speaking, the kind of person who liked to admit to having a problem, and even less so the kind who would then actively seek help with that problem.

But the past few weeks had been far from typical, and even he had to admit to himself that this was... Something that needed to be fixed. So here he was, knocking on Professor Skywalker's door.

"Sir?"

[SP is loooove. *sneak on at work*]

[sith_happened]

"Good morning, Raven," Anakin answered just as quietly. "Come in."

[sith_happened]

Anakin glanced up and smiled. "Bobby. Come in."

[trigons_child]

"I have missed this," Raven said with a tiny smile as she sat down. "It feels as if it has been so long." Well, it had been for her, technically.

[sith_happened]

Anakin nodded. "My office hours felt empty."

Like a lot of his hours had, really. He'd spent a great deal of time in the last few weeks staring into space.

[trigons_child]

"I am sorry to have caused you so much distress," Raven said, biting at her lower lip. "I allowed my fear to get the better of me, and it led to disaster."

[life_inshadow]

"Hey," Tara said from the doorway as she peeked her head in. "Does the offer on shielding lessons still stand?"

[solo_sword]

So Jaina didn't have any holos today, but she did bring with her a bag of caf that she held up in one hand upon arrival at the office. "I come bearing gifts."

[sith_happened]

Anakin wasn't going to disagree with her assessment--he'd seen far too many people in his office over the last few weeks to.

Instead he nodded. "There is a Jedi saying, one of the first I ever heard: 'Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering. It's always prove true for me."

[sith_happened]

"Of course," Anakin said, waving her inside. "Find a seat."

Since there was only the one that he wasn't occupying, it should have been a pretty easy thing to accomplish.

[sith_happened]

"Real caf!" Anakin said, looking thrilled. "Come in!"

[trigons_child]

"You have told me that before," Raven said, nodding. "But I was so afraid there was nothing anyone could do to help me that I could not bring myself to tell anyone the true extent of my struggles."

She'd come the closest with Anakin, but even then she'd managed to avoid much of the details of her nightmares, or how her father had controlled her to go see Max in hopes of provoking her fear and anger.

[solo_sword]

"You know, I don't get that reaction when I show up without a present," she grinned, putting the caf on his desk.

[sith_happened]

"I have felt similarly trapped," Anakin said quietly, "so I understand you not telling me everything--it's a natural instinct to take your fears and lock them up inside, like acknowledging them will give them power. In fact, it's the exact opposite."

[trigons_child]

"The night before my father took me, I was going to run away," Raven confessed. "I knew I could not resist his power. I thought I could protect you all if I left."

Like she'd left Azarath, and that dream had come true after all.

[life_inshadow]

"Lots of choice," Tara joked lightly, as she took the seat and pressed her hair out of her eyes. "So it's been ... a weird week. Good. But weird."

[sith_happened]

Anakin nodded, not looking that surprised. "I thought you might have been thinking along those lines." His expression turned grave. "Do you believe that would have changed anything?"

[sith_happened]

"How are you dealing with the weird part of it?" Anakin asked.

[life_inshadow]

"Well, I mean, I'm happy she's back," Tara said. "You have to be, right? And -- you told me it might happen. Kind of. I just ... grew up thinking dead was dead. Like most people."

[sith_happened]

"That's because I love caf more than you," Anakin teased.

[trigons_child]

Raven shook her head. "Probably not," she had to admit. "My father still would have taken me over. And you all would have still come for me. All I might have done was delayed you long enough that it was too late."

And she'd still be serving Trigon, and they'd be serving her.

[solo_sword]

"It talks back less, I'll say that for it," she said, sitting. "And now I think I know how to get back on your good side when I need it. Maybe I should stock up next trip."

[sith_happened]

"Destiny can be a bitch that way," Anakin replied usefully.

[sith_happened]

"Or else they're some version of a zombie, and that's not good either," Anakin agreed, nodding.