Office hours [all day]

[sith_happened]

Anakin had dreamed about Padmé again last night, feeling an almost irresistible draw back to the island (which he had damn well resisted, thank you very much. He was here because he had a job, not because the island wanted him), and was feeling guilty and cranky Anakin wasn't one to trust feelings of calm, warmth, and love. He wasn't really used to feeling them.

And the feel of waiting that the island seemed to be exuding had set the skin on the back of his neck crawling. His hand kept twitching toward the lightsaber he wasn't wearing on campus.

The door was open, but be wary of the twitchy Jedi.

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[trigons_child]

Raven knew she was in trouble, but at least it was a good kind of trouble. If that made sense. So she wasn't entirely fretful about going to Anakin's office after her first period class. Just a little bit fretful.

"Good morning, Professor Skywalker," she said from the doorway.

[sith_happened]

Anakin sighed. "Where do you want me to start?"

[trigons_child]

"Wherever you feel best," Raven said, looking down at the floor. "I know I was foolish."

[sith_happened]

"Foolish doesn't come close to what you were," Anakin said, voice growing a little heated. "Suicidal is more accurate. Don't do that."

[trigons_child]

"I did not see any other choice!" Raven protested. "My home was being destroyed and I could not think of any other way to stop it."

[sith_happened]

"Did you ask any of us for ideas?" Anakin demanded.

[trigons_child]

"There was not time," Raven said, fighting back tears.

[sith_happened]

"There was time," Anakin said, ignoring the tears for the moment to deliver what he believed to be the more important lesson. "Every problem cannot be solved by you sacrificing yourself for it, Raven. It took all of us working together to defeat Trigon," for however long it lasted this time--Anakin wasn't optimistic, "and to try to take it on alone is simple pride. I thought you'd paid attention in my classes."

[trigons_child]

Raven shook her head. "It was not pride," she said. At least she didn't think it was, though she could see how believing herself to be more important to Trigon than destroying Azarath could be seen that way. "It was desperation," she went on. "And...it was wrong, I know that now. It will not happen again."

Maybe.

[sith_happened]

"That's all I want to hear," Anakin said, some of the tension leaving his shoulders. "I do not like saying goodbye to people, and I wasn't certain I'd be seeing you again."

[trigons_child]

"I was not certain of it, either," Raven said quietly, wiping a hand across her eyes. "And it is not something I wish to ever endure again, either the leaving or the being with my father."

[sith_happened]

Anakin silently handed her the tissue box--as close as he would come to apologizing for making her cry.

[trigons_child]

Raven gratefully took a tissue and dabbed at her eyes, then finally sat down. "Thank you," she said. "And I am sorry."

[sith_happened]

"I know you are," Anakin said with a tiny smile, pointing under her eyes. "I think you got a little smudged."

[trigons_child]

Curse her addiction to black eyeliner!

"I will fix it later," she murmured, blushing a little. "I am just glad to be home in Fandom again."

[sith_happened]

"I'm happy to have you back," Anakin said. "Let's keep the ceremonies with creepy men in cloaks to a minimum for a while, okay?"

[trigons_child]

"I did not expect the Justice League to interrupt as they did," Raven said, frowning. "I had gone to them once before for help, before I came to Fandom, but...as you could see, they believed me to be evil."

[sith_happened]

"They were ignorant, stubborn, short-sighted and poorly dressed," Anakin decided. "I wish I had punched more of them."

[trigons_child]

"Their blindness has cost me my mother," Raven said quietly, twisting her hands together. "And made me see more of my father than I had ever wished to."

No, she wasn't referring to the loincloth, thank you.

[sith_happened]

Anakin chose to focus on the loss of the mother, too. "I am very sorry for your loss," he said quietly. "How are you handling it?"

[trigons_child]

"It was difficult at first," Raven admitted. She crumbled the tissue in her hand and tried to will herself not to tear up again. "But it has become a little easier to bear. Part of me cannot believe that she is truly gone." She forsook everything she believed in for me and Azarath and the Earth."

[sith_happened]

Anakin nodded. "I lost my mother when I was not much older than you are," he offered quietly.

[trigons_child]

"How long did it take for it not to hurt so much?" Raven asked. Maybe less time if she stopped blaming herself.

[sith_happened]

"Honestly?" Anakin gazed into her eyes. "Years. I'm not very good at letting things go."

[trigons_child]

"I do not want to keep feeling this way," Raven said, shaking her head. "I have tried to distract myself, but as soon as my mind quiets then I think of Arella and there is so much pain and sorrow and guilt." She dabbed at her eyes again and managed a tiny half-smile. "This is not an emotion I wished to learn."