Ye olde shuttle parking [Monday morning]

[sith_happened]

He wasn't even sure if she was going to be coming, but Anakin was back at the shuttle at their normal time.

You know, just in case.

He had his robe folded neatly on the ramp and had popped one of the control panels open and was keeping his hands busy as his ears listened for approaching footsteps.

Desperado - Johnny Cash

Comments

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

Rory almost turned around and went home a few times before steeling her courage and making her way over. "Hey."

[sith_happened]

Anakin's entire face lit up. "I wasn't sure you would come."

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

"I'm learning to fly," she said mildly.

[sith_happened]

Anakin gave her a soft smile. "You're pretty good at it," he said. "Where do you want to go? It has to be fairly close, I'm afraid. I have an appointment at the end of the day."

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

"No nebulae. And not our star," she said softly.

[sith_happened]

"There's a lot of universe out there for two friends to look at, too," he said quietly.

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

"You can pick," she replied, just as quietly.

[sith_happened]

"I need something with a bit of a challenge to it," he said, "but I can do that on my own time if you don't want to race asteroids today."

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

"That sounds fine," she said, nodding. "I need to practice, since I've only got a couple more weeks to do this."

[sith_happened]

Anakin's face fell. "Yeah. Let's not waste any more time here, then."

He nodded his head towards the shuttle. "After you."

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

She walked up the ramp and strapped herself in, ignoring how he'd just reacted. "What kind of appointment do you have?"

[sith_happened]

Anakin turned his head away as he focused on the preflight sequence. "There a staff meeting," he said vaguely.

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

"Oh," Rory said, eyeing him and feeling like she was missing something. "Okay."

[sith_happened]

"It's time the teachers took a stand," he said, looking back into her eyes. "The students shouldn't feel like they're out there alone on this."

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

She smiled a little. "I don't think they do."

[sith_happened]

"You might not have noticed," Anakin said with a wry smile as he flipped the engines to life, "but I have a bit of a habit of trying to save everyone."

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

"No," she deadpanned. "You?"

She worried her lip with her teeth, concentrating on taking off. "What is she doing to people, anyway?"

[sith_happened]

"She turned Rikku's legs around, but you saw that," Anakin said, racing them through the atmosphere. "And I only know what happened to Luke through what I felt. She sliced him with something, then threw him into something else."

His eyes went flat. "We had a chat, she and I."

He zipped past the moon and headed out towards the outer planets. "And she has a quill that writes with your own blood. I hate that thing."

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

"She what?" Rory stared, horrified. "She's cutting people?"

[sith_happened]

"She made Luke bleed," Anakin said through gritted teeth, "but I'm trying this thing where I don't kill people."

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

"She do anything to you?" she asked softly.

[sith_happened]

"Do you think I'd let her?" he countered.

Which didn't answer the question.

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

"No. Did she?"

[sith_happened]

Anakin was quiet for a long moment. "She didn't do a thing," he said.

Which was true from a certain point of view. He'd been using the quill.

"Don't go near her, Rory," he said quietly. "Please?"

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

"Only if you tell me what happened between you and her," she said just as quietly. "You're stepping around your words."