Same damn rocky bits [late evening]

[sith_happened]

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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[sith_happened]

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

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

"Doesn't make it hurt less."

[sith_happened]

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

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

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

[sith_happened]

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."

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

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

[sith_happened]

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

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

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

[sith_happened]

"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."

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

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

[sith_happened]

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

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

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.

[sith_happened]

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."

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

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

[sith_happened]

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."

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

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

[sith_happened]

Anakin clung tightly, trying not to sob into her shoulder.

It...kind of worked.

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

"Shhhhh," Rory soothed, stroking his hair.

[sith_happened]

He pulled himself together quickly, but wasn't all that anxious to let go of Rory. "Forgive me for being an idiot?" he murmured into her hair.

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

"Which time?" she asked, smiling a little.

[sith_happened]

"Let's start with the most recent and work our way backwards," Anakin said with a sheepish smile, pulling back a bit.

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

Rory nodded with a soft little smile.

[sith_happened]

"Force, I love seeing you smile," Anakin whispered, running a knuckle down her cheek.

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

"I like that you can make me smile now," she whispered.

[sith_happened]

Anakin wrapped his arms around her again and held her close. "You're the only thing keeping me from flying completely apart some days," he said.