Sunday evening, Room 405

[emo_padawan]

Anakin walked into his room, limping slightly from his adventures in ice skating, and sat down with a sigh.

He pulled his boots off, laid down on the bed and closed his eyes. He concentrated on removing some of the soreness in his muscles.

It wasn't going very well.

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[auroryborealis]

After stopping by her room (by way of the lobby) Rory checked her voicemail, and decided to stop by Anakin's room.

For his sake. Really.

She got up to the fourth floor, and hesitantly knocked on the door.

[emo_padawan]

Anakin reached out with his senses. Rory.

He sat up.

"Door's open," he called.

[auroryborealis]

Rory stuck her head in. "Hi. Got your message. Thought I'd stop by," she smiled.

[emo_padawan]

"Come in!" Anakin said, waving her into the room.

"I hope I didn't sound like as big an idiot as I felt leaving that message," he said quietly, blushing. "I started with a plan and then it just went all babbly and wrong on me."

[emo_padawan]

A dark part of Anakin was very, very happy to hear that the teacher would be getting in trouble. He liked it when the system worked.

"I'm always standing in line these days," he said lightly. "Guess that's what happens when you go to a school full of hero-types."

[auroryborealis]

Rory laughed softly. "Yeah, that and the fact that so many people here have such short fuses when it comes to stuff like this."

She sighed. "It shouldn't have upset me as much as it did, really. But if I reacted like that, when I can only relate...kind of, in a metaphorical and emotional sense...I can only imagine what it must have been like for an actual rape survivor." She bit her lip, thinking of something Veronica had told her awhile back. "I'm pretty sure we had one in there."

[emo_padawan]

"The teacher doesn't think," Anakin said sharply. "This isn't a normal place. What might be hypothetical somewhere else has happened to someone here."

He gave Rory a little squeeze and then pulled back. "Metaphorically or not," he said softly, looking at the scar on her neck, "it's still a violation, and no one should be trapped into having to talk about it for class credit."

[auroryborealis]

Rory's brows shot up, and she smiled. "Well, we did have the option of sitting out in the Emo Closet. It's this little room in the back where you can go sit during class if you don't like the subject matter."

She rolled her eyes, and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "Of course...why we should even need one is beyond me. And can I just say that 'Emo Closet' is probably the most condescending name ever?"

[auroryborealis]

Rory gave Anakin a sad half-smile. "I know how tough that can be. I mean, having to give someone up like that. I was kind of forced to, once. Not for any particularly good reason, and it's not as though I was going against any set rules or anything."

She shrugged. "It's pretty much not the same at all," she confessed, "but I'm trying to relate."

[emo_padawan]

Anakin ran a hand through his hair. He couldn't quite believe he had just said that he and Padme were probably over. She had been what he had wanted since she had first walked into Watto's junk shop all those years ago. As unattainable as the stars.

But damn, he had tried.

He could feel the waves of sympathy that Rory was emitting through the Force. It was soothing, even if it wasn't quite filling up the Padme-shaped hole in his heart. A hole that shouldn't be there at all if he was going to be the Jedi everyone thought he should become.

But now that he had felt that kind of closeness with another being, it was going to be hard to pretend he didn't crave it.

He shook his head. A problem for another time.

He gave Rory a small smile. "Thanks," he said quietly.

[auroryborealis]

"Of course," Rory returned softly. "And like I said the other morning...if you ever need to talk about stuff..." She shrugged, clasping her hands behind her back. "I mean, the thing that happened to me isn't the same at all, but I can still be sympathetic and listen."

[emo_padawan]

"Oh, I'm sure you don't want to listen to me ramble about Padme," he said. "Who left without, you know, a phone call or a note to say she'd miss me or how long she'd be gone, and blast but I sound like one of those crying women in a holodrama."

He rolled his eyes and sighed. "It was just nice to have someone around who understood me, you know? Without having to explain all the details." He snorted. "Han Solo won't exactly fill that same void."

[emo_padawan]

"Becoming a Jedi is a lifetime of learning," Anakin said, leaning slightly into Rory. "Normally it takes at least 25 years to go from being chosen to become a Padawan to facing the Trials of becoming a Knight." He shrugged. "I'm actually pretty far ahead of schedule, given how late I began my training

[auroryborealis]

Rory looked over at Anakin, studying him. After a long moment, she softly said, "So you're gifted. Special. Which means that you'll probably end up being a Jedi earlier than everyone else. Which is...amazing."

She bit her lip, and looked down at her hands. "So these visions you had...are you sure they aren't nightmares? Or blips in your subconscious?" Rory shrugged. "My dreams are based on reality, but I'm a special circumstance. It's rare for dreams...nightmares...whatever to actually mean something. Unless you're sure that's not what it was."

[emo_padawan]

Anakin smiled. "Maybe. Chosen One or not, the Council isn't going to cut me any slack. Probably make it more difficult, just to make a point."

He sighed. "That's why I went back. To learn how to tell the difference. These felt...real. I could smell things, see things, feel things that hadn't happened." He wrapped his arms around himself. "That I really, really hope never happen." His eyes were haunted. "Master Yoda told me not to dwell on them. He didn't say that they weren't true, though."

[auroryborealis]

Rory continued to chew on her lower lip, her eyes scanning his face in concern. She finally just wrapped her other arm across his front and hugged him.

"It'll be okay," she murmured, mostly because she didn't know what else to say. "Um, Master Yoda is right. Don't dwell, or you'll drive yourself crazy."

[auroryborealis]

Rory made the 'eep' noise again, and giggled. "Tickling is bad," she said solemnly.

"And it's nice to know some things don't change, since my mom does the same thing. She knows the perfect hangover cures, but won't share all of them with me until I hit twenty-one. Stupid responsibility."

[emo_padawan]

"Yes, tickling is bad," Anakin replied, his eyes twinkling. "But hangovers are worse. It's not an age limit thing for us--it's a power thing. I bet I could figure it out if I thought about it hard enough, but Obi-Wan just loves mocking me for the headaches I get on those very rare mornings after I've overindulged." He winked. "I'd hate to take such joy from his sad and lonely life."

[auroryborealis]

"Then you're nicer than I am, since I'm pretty sure my mom doesn't even know I've had alcohol without supervision except one time. And I've shamelessly mocked her the few times I've seen her inebriated. And I inherited her penchant for barely remembering things the morning after, so it's always funny to remind her of, say, the time when she drank Founder's Day punch and did a Coyote Ugly-esque dance on a table," Rory snorted.

Her eyes went wide for a moment. "Oh, and that's completely secret. I keep forgetting she actually teaches here, and could get in trouble for stories like that."