sith_happened | Office hours [all day]

Entry tags:

Office hours [all day]

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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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.

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."

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

"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."

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

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."

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."

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."

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."

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

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

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."

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

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.

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

"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.

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

Anakin took a long time to look back up.

"You deserved to know," he said, voice hoarse. "It's just not something I bring up often." He rubbed at his eyes. "For obvious reasons."

Luke nodded and stood up, walking around the desk to touch his father's shoulder.

"I'll go," he murmured.

The muscles of Anakin's shoulders were rock-hard with tension. He nodded. "Thank you," he whispered. "I'll see you soon?" He looked over at Luke, suddenly uncertain. "If you want me to teach you, I mean."

"Are you kidding?" Luke's entire face lit up. "I'd love that!"

He gave his father an impulsive--and more than slightly awkward-- hug and bounced out the door. "Bye!"

Anakin waited until he was sure his son was gone, then reached into the desk drawer for the picture V had left him.

And cried--choked, ragged sobs of loss and guilt.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Office hours [all day]

Re: Visit Anakin in the afternoon

Re: Visit Anakin in the afternoon

Re: Visit Anakin in the afternoon

Re: Visit Anakin in the afternoon

Re: Visit Anakin in the afternoon

Re: Visit Anakin in the afternoon

Re: Visit Anakin in the afternoon

Re: Visit Anakin in the afternoon

Re: Visit Anakin in the afternoon

Re: Visit Anakin in the afternoon

Re: Visit Anakin in the afternoon

Re: Visit Anakin in the afternoon

Re: Visit Anakin in the afternoon

Re: Visit Anakin in the afternoon

Re: Visit Anakin in the afternoon

Re: Visit Anakin in the afternoon

Re: Visit Anakin in the afternoon

Re: Visit Anakin in the afternoon

Re: Visit Anakin in the afternoon

Re: Visit Anakin in the afternoon

Re: Visit Anakin in the afternoon

Re: Visit Anakin in the afternoon