Office hours [all day]

[sith_happened]

Anakin opened his office door.

And stared.

Someone had redecorated.

Anakin stomped around the office examining streamers on the ceiling and paint on the wall, then the glitter-bestrewned Farrah Fawcett poster, and finally flounced over to sit in his chair.

With its pink boa.

He waved a hand and started up his little galaxy of stars, then picked up a pen that had been decorated with feathers--all of his pens had been decorated with feathers, what the hell?--and hoped no one visited today.

Though that didn't seem very likely.

[OOC: Door's closed, post is open!]

I Am What I Am - John Barrowman

Comments

Re: Visit Anakin in the afternoon

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

"So you'll tell me the traps to avoid," Luke said, looking into Anakin's eyes. "I trust you," he said, then took a deep breath. "Please?"

Re: Visit Anakin in the afternoon

[sith_happened]

Anakin was quiet for a very, very long time.

Finally, "All right." He sighed. "Close your eyes and concentrate. Reach into the Force and feel for other people's presences."

Re: Visit Anakin in the afternoon

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

Luke did as instructed. His father's presence was easy to track, of course, so he pressed his eyes closed and concentrated. "There have been so many people in here," he said finally. "How do you separate them all out?"

Re: Visit Anakin in the afternoon

[sith_happened]

"Concentrate harder," Anakin said. "Separate the sensations out. Find the ones that feel newer."

Re: Visit Anakin in the afternoon

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

Luke reached into the Force and tried to separate out all of the people who'd been here--Rory was strongest--her pain was still resonating all those months later--but she wasn't newest. "Dean's been here," Luke said, opening his eyes. "And Isabel. And a boy I don't know."

Re: Visit Anakin in the afternoon

[sith_happened]

Anakin's eyes shone with pride, but he just said, "Good," instead. "You're a quick study."

Re: Visit Anakin in the afternoon

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

Luke beamed. "You're a good teacher," he said. "Oh! Which reminds me." He passed over the sheet of paper. "We got this in Villains and Villainy today," he said. "I highlighted the ones the Emperor had a problem with."

Re: Visit Anakin in the afternoon

[sith_happened]

Anakin, looking curious, took the piece of paper from his hand and began reading.

He burst out laughing at the first one. "In our defense, they started that way in the Clone Wars," he said. "I didn't get the look then either. Why make helmet you can't see out of?"

Re: Visit Anakin in the afternoon

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

Luke almost asked "could you see out of yours?" but it seemed too soon for that kind of question.

He was thrilled to see his father laughing.

"I liked 'My Legions of Terror will be trained in basic marksmanship. Any who cannot learn to hit a man-sized target at 10 meters will be used for target practice,'" Luke added, grinning.

Re: Visit Anakin in the afternoon

[sith_happened]

Anakin rolled his eyes. "That's what you get for using the same batch of clones for more than 20 years. After a while, they just start to break down." He smiled. "Well, and stormtrooper school left a lot to be desired."

His finger scanned down the page, smiling ruefully at #25. "'No matter how well it would perform, I will never construct any sort of machinery which is completely indestructible except for one small and virtually inaccessible vulnerable spot,'" he read. "And you certainly don't build the damn thing twice."

Re: Visit Anakin in the afternoon

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

Luke's eyes met Anakin's. "You didn't want to build another Death Star?" he asked. "I never knew that."

Re: Visit Anakin in the afternoon

[sith_happened]

"I didn't want the first one," Anakin said quietly. "I thought the entire concept was ridiculous overkill. I was glad to see it gone."

He looked down at his hands. "The Emperor, as you might imagine, wasn't interested in my thoughts on the matter."

Re: Visit Anakin in the afternoon

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

"I can imagine," Luke echoed softly. "Forgive me for saying it, but you didn't exactly have a reputation for being the reasonable one."

Re: Visit Anakin in the afternoon

[sith_happened]

Anakin pressed his lips together in a small, unamused smile. "I wasn't," he admitted, "but on this...I was still enough of a Jedi to know what the impact would be on a galactic scale if it was ever used."

He toyed with a befeathered pen. "And it was as horrific as I'd thought. Palpatine only saw it as another tool in his quest for more power. It wasn't. It was the metal personification of evil and I'm glad you destroyed it."

Re: Visit Anakin in the afternoon

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

Luke smiled. "It needed to be done," he said quietly. "Ben almost collapsed when Alderaan died. Looking back, I don't know how I missed feeling all of those lives disappearing."

Re: Visit Anakin in the afternoon

[sith_happened]

He must have been so disappointed in me.

"You weren't fully tuned in yet," Anakin said. "I know you felt it all on the second Death Star." His eyes flicked up to look at his son's face. "I'm so sorry for not acting sooner."

Re: Visit Anakin in the afternoon

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

Luke gave him a gentle smile. "You acted soon enough," he said. "If you're looking for someone who's going to be angry, you're going to have to look somewhere else."

Re: Visit Anakin in the afternoon

[sith_happened]

"Force, but you're like your mother," Anakin blurted before he could stop himself.

Re: Visit Anakin in the afternoon

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

Luke practically jumped off of his chair in his eagerness. "Tell me about her?" he asked. "Please?"

Re: Visit Anakin in the afternoon

[sith_happened]

Anakin stared off into the distance. "She was beautiful," he said softly. "Brave. Brilliant. A Senator from Naboo who knew it was forbidden to marry a Jedi and did it anyway." He rubbed at his eyes. "She looked a lot like Leia, and her name was Padmé Naberrie Amidala."

The tears were falling anyway. "And she loved you."

Re: Visit Anakin in the afternoon

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

Luke's eyes were shining, too. "How did she die?" he asked softly.

Re: Visit Anakin in the afternoon

[sith_happened]

Pain and guilt rolled off of Anakin in waves.

"I don't know," he said finally.

Which was sort of the truth.

And all of the truth he was ever going to be prepared to share with his son.

Re: Visit Anakin in the afternoon

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

"You never tried to find out what happened?" Luke pressed, confused.

Re: Visit Anakin in the afternoon

[sith_happened]

"She was gone!" Anakin exploded. "I couldn't feel her in the Force. How could it possibly matter how it happened?" He glared at his son. "It was the most painful moment in my life," he said, visibly fighting for control. "I loved her more than...more than anything. Losing her..." he shook his head, at a loss for words.

Re: Visit Anakin in the afternoon

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

Luke shrank back into his chair. "Father, I'm sorry," he murmured, feeling a little battered by the power of the emotions.