Skywalker Apartment [Wednesday morning]

[sith_happened]

Anakin had spent the last week and a half coming up with worst case scenarios for how Jaina was doing, and finally couldn't stop himself from picking up his comlink any longer.

After all, he'd had some experience with lashing out in anger when someone he loved had died. He'd give anything to stop Jaina from following in that path.

He paced back and forth across the living room floor as he waited for his granddaughter's boyfriend to pick up the damn phone.

[OOC: For John, as it says...]

Comments

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

Video golf was a lot harder than the actual game, causing John to answer the phone a little distractedly and without checking the caller id. "Hello?"

[sith_happened]

"We are not having this conversation," Anakin began. Introductions were for other people.

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

John sighed and hit pause. "What conversation are we not having?"

[sith_happened]

"The one where you tell me how Jaina is." Underneath the normal bluster, there was real worry.

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"Maybe you should be asking her," John replied, not that he thought she'd appreciate that call, but who knew.

[sith_happened]

Anakin snorted. "Because she'd want that call. I'll be back in a week where she can't hang up on me. But I can't feel her from here," which terrified him. He could point in the general direction of Luke even with a galaxy in the way. "You can tell me how she is."

Anakin wasn't good at asking for help.

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"She's fine," John told him finally. "She just needs time."

[sith_happened]

"Fine," Anakin repeated flatly. "Do I strike you as a very stupid man?" He ran his free hand through his hair and reined in his temper. "I've been where she is," he finally said. "She's not fine. She's just not thinking about it. There's a difference."

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"Hey, she's come a long way in less than two weeks," John argued, not that he was planning to share how he knew that. "She'll think about things when she's ready."

[sith_happened]

"How far?" Anakin asked. "Does she smile? Volunteer to talk? Spend any downtime outside the salle or the flight sim?"

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"Not often," John answered. He'd learned there was no point trying to lie to Jedi. "But I'm working on it."

[sith_happened]

Some of the muscles in Anakin's back finally began to relax. "Good," he said. "Our family has a tendency to think that if it's not talked about, it's the same thing as being fixed."

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

Yeah, John couldn't argue that line, given his family was also anti 'talking about it.' "Well, I think she knows it's not fixed."

[sith_happened]

And here was where Anakin started treading into dangerous waters. "The way I see it," he said carefully, "is that we are working with two separate but interrelated problems--losing Jacen and Anakin and her path down into the dark. Would you agree?"

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"What are you getting at here?" John asked warily, not answering the question.

[sith_happened]

"If you work with one problem, it might be easier for me to address the second one."

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"And what makes you think she's gonna let you?" John asked, not sure what game Anakin was playing at with that idea.

[sith_happened]

"Who said anything about let?" Anakin replied. "I told her that I'd drag her back to the light by the hair if I had to. The people she has back home are entirely too cavalier about going to the dark side, and the man she's chosen to be her Master..." he trailed off. "I don't trust him further than I can throw him without Force help. I've been where she is and it can get much, much worse. I won't have another member of my family making my same stupid mistakes."

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"First, much as I agree that guy's a problem," and he really hated admitting this next part, "he's the only reason she's back so let's not burn any bridges there. Second, she's not going to the dark side."

[sith_happened]

"Dark side again," Anakin corrected. "Don't kid yourself into thinking she wasn't there while she was home. True Jedi don't use Force lightning on other people." He wasn't going to think about what Jolee did with the stuff. "There's more to the dark side than just Jedi and Sith."

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"Whatever, Jaina's not doing it again," John was more determined than certain.

[sith_happened]

"It doesn't exactly work that way," Anakin said a little acerbically. "The dark side is the quick, easy path. It gives you exactly what you want. Turning back isn't like flipping a switch...and with Durron as her master, she'll probably be sliding far too close to gray for my tastes as it is."

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"Sometimes it takes a little gray to get things done," John pointed out. "But I think you probably knew that already."

[sith_happened]

"A very little," Anakin said. "What Durron had her do wasn't gray, it was just wrong."

[missed-the-gate.livejournal.com]

"You might have a point there," John allowed. "Tell me what you think it is I can do here." He thought it best to know that before agreeing to anything.