Secluded bit of beach (yes, there's still some left, shhh) [afternoon]

[sith_happened]

Rory had met Padmé and had liked her. His namesake, deceased, grandson was somewhere on the island.

Anakin needed peace, and he found himself on a familiar spot of beach--the place he'd come when he was a teenager and had found the crashing waves soothing.

He closed his eyes, reached out into the Force, and tried to find calm.

[OOC: Also open, though expecting one.]

Comments

[sith_happened]

Anakin shook his head. "He told me that in order to save Padmé, I'd need the power the Dark Side offered that the Light couldn't. And like the desperate idiot I was at the time, I believed him. Philosophy didn't enter in until much later."

[nonelikemesince.livejournal.com]

Anakin was quiet for a long time. "The closest thing I can think of that I've had to deal with was trying to stop the Peace Brigade from capturing the Academy kids, but even then, even if I had a vision of it that was something I knew how to handle. I'm not sure I have something I can compare to that, to understand it, but then I sort of had stories of you hanging over my head all my life as a reminder."

He was matter-of-fact about it; there wasn't any bitterness there.

[sith_happened]

"Yes, I imagine you would have heard those stories about me," Anakin said with a slightly tired sigh. "I wasn't supposed to even be married, let alone about to become a father, and I was too stubborn and stupid to ask for a second opinion about an offer that sounding too good to be true."

This was the most honest Anakin had ever been with anyone about this part of his life--he'd figured there was no point in holding anything back from the dead.

[nonelikemesince.livejournal.com]

Anakin smiled slightly, ruefully. "I wish I'd had this chance before, but it still means a lot to actually get to meet you. Hear your side of everything. I'm sorry about the, ah, more unfortunate reputation you have for most of our galaxy though."

He sat up a little straighter and tried to look his grandfather in the eyes. "From everything Tahiri's told me, and from talking to you now, I can say it was definitely an honor to be named after you despite all that."

[sith_happened]

He would have gotten a sense of how deeply touched Anakin was to hear him say that before he retreated back behind a deeply ingrained sense of resignation. "Oh, I more than earned the other reputation, too," he said. "It was my choice to stay Sith for decades. It wasn't something that was going to be solved with a hug and someone understanding my childhood."

[nonelikemesince.livejournal.com]

"I don't doubt that. The HoloNet may lie, but I'm related to far too many former Rebels to think otherwise," Anakin answered, his gaze steady. "But if Mom and Uncle Luke could forgive you, so can I."

Of course, Uncle Luke could forgive just about anything, but that went without saying.

[sith_happened]

Anakin nodded, looking a bit tormented. "This Leia doesn't know yet."

[nonelikemesince.livejournal.com]

Anakin winced and, instinctively, projected comfort toward him -- a weird, weird thing to do when talking to the man who'd tortured your mother, but what about this entire situation wasn't weird? "That would be pretty awkward, yeah. For you more than her right now, I'd think."

[sith_happened]

"Alderaan still exists," Anakin said. "I have an internal countdown clock ticking down until the moment she hates me."

He sounded...resigned.

[nonelikemesince.livejournal.com]

Anakin, who had always had an effortless answer for just about everything, didn't know what to say to that right away.

"It won't last forever," he offered.

[sith_happened]

"Unless you think I should tell her now," Anakin said, "but that seems to shift far too much of what happens next when I try to see the future."

[nonelikemesince.livejournal.com]

Anakin's expression turned troubled, and he nodded. "As stubborn as Mom can be, I don't know if anyone could convince her not to try and stop it," he agreed. "It sounds like a horrible thing to say, all those lives lost, but how that would alter everything is too complicated to consider."

Which sounded so cold, under the circumstances. "Besides, visions of what might be are hard enough to deal with. This . . ."

[sith_happened]

"It's how she meets Luke," Anakin said, nodding. "And...other people."

Han, Anakin. Say it.

[nonelikemesince.livejournal.com]

A tiny trace of inquisitive humor broke through Anakin's preoccupied expression.

"And Dad?"

[sith_happened]

"Yes, him," Anakin said, making a face. "How has that ship not fallen out of the sky?"

[nonelikemesince.livejournal.com]

"Sheer Solo stubbornness," Anakin replied, grinning. "There's absolutely no scientific explanation for it."

[sith_happened]

Anakin smiled. "That explains Jaina. Solo stubbornness and Skywalker stubbornness?"

[nonelikemesince.livejournal.com]

"It's quite a combination," Anakin agreed with a chuckle. "Try growing up with it."

[sith_happened]

"No thank you," Anakin chuckled. "But I can't see you as much of a pushover either."

[nonelikemesince.livejournal.com]

"Hardly," Anakin replied. "Threepio, on the other hand, had some really frazzled circuitry."

[sith_happened]

"That was probably my fault," Anakin said with another laugh, "unless he's been completely rewired."

[nonelikemesince.livejournal.com]

"Repaired half a trillion times by now, to estimate conservatively, but I don't think Mom and Dad are any more willing to do that than Uncle Luke would ever be to memory wipe Artoo," Anakin assured him.

[sith_happened]

Anakin's smile grew. "Yeah, I've known Artoo for a very, very long time."

[nonelikemesince.livejournal.com]

"Do you? I thought you'd have heard a lot about him at least. He's part of the family as much as we are." Anakin paused. "Were, in our case."

[sith_happened]

"I met him when I was nine," Anakin said with a fond look on his face. "He used to belong to your grandmother."