sith_happened | Same damn rocky bits [late evening]

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Same damn rocky bits [late evening]

Anakin hadn't really moved from the spot where he'd been sitting for the last two days, except to pull out his comlink after his children had left to stare at it for a good two hours, debating whether to call or not.

As the minutes ticked by, Anakin finally picked up the comlink one final time and called Rory.

[OOC: For Rory, plz. Conversation NFB, people involved totally up for grabs.]

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"Hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi I watched cartoons and playeded!" Vladdie announced.

Do you think he'll be okay if I let him run around while we talk? she murmured in Anakin's head.

I'll keep an eye out, he promised.

"Cartoons, huh?" Anakin said, putting on a smile that didn't come close to reaching his eyes. "Sounds like fun."

"Was!" Vladdie said, tugging on Rory's hand.

"Vladdie, sweetheart," Rory said, kneeling so they were at eye level. "You want to go play for a little while? The grownups have to talk for a little bit. It's going to be really boring."

"Ewwwwww boring! Play!" Vladdie shouted.

She let go of his hand and watched him run off. "So what do you need?"

Anakin, when he met her eyes, looked haggard. "I wanted to apologize in person," he said quietly. "My behavior the last nine days has been inexcusable."

She nodded. "Okay."

Anakin crumpled just a little bit more, but turned his face away hopefully before Rory could catch the look.

"Junes are bad," he whispered. "Seeing Leia didn't help."

"Why are they bad?" she asked, shoving her hands in her pockets and tentatively approaching.

"Today was Padmé's birthday," he told his boots.

It all fell into place.

"...oh." Rory remembered how hard that first anniversary had been without Anakin, when she'd thought he was dead. It had to be a thousandfold worse for him.

And no matter how uncomfortable it made her, or how her gut twisted, she couldn't leave him alone like this. "Oh, Anakin."

Anakin hunched up his shoulders. "It was a long time ago."

"Doesn't make it hurt less."

He gave her a wobbly smile. "Made it hurt more, really. I haven't let myself feel in a long time."

"That's not good for you," she said quietly. "It makes it all so much worse."

He wrapped his arms around himself and nodded. "So I've discovered," he said softly.

He shook his head. "And my daughter hates me. Not that I expected anything else."

"Leia doesn't hate you," Rory said immediately.

Anakin's eyebrows shot up. "Have you talked to her?" he asked, sounding a bit desperate to be told yes.

"...not about this," she said, "but she doesn't hate you."

"She said she already had a father and he'd died on Alderaan," Anakin whispered. "That didn't strike me as a place where we can start building anything."

"The only family she knew she had until this year died on Alderaan," Rory said. "Can you blame her for her grief?"

"Not at all," he said in a broken voice. "Especially since that was my fault."

Rory looked at him. "Anakin. She might not ever forgive you. But she doesn't hate you."

No, she had no way of knowing whether that was true. But her first priority was to comfort him.

Anakin ran his hands through his hair--clearly not for the first time that day--and gave a humorless chuckle. "It was...really, really bad."

"I don't doubt that. She's probably really, really hurting," Rory said softly. "It'll get better, though."

Anakin turned to look at her, not bothering to hide the tears that were welling up in his eyes. "Hard for it to get worse."

Rory acted on instinct and closed the distance between them to hug him.

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