fandomhighdorms | 2nd Floor Common Room, Friday Evening

"Sith are the anti-Jedi, yes," Anakin said, grateful that his babbling had made some kind of sense to her. "And I'm not sure they ever really disappeared. Their very nature is deception. They always work in pairs--a master and an apprentice. They don't seem to need anyone else, except for pawns to snag in their plots." He sighed. "And to try to find two among the quadrillions of beings in the galaxy? It's the work of a hundred lifetimes."

He looked down at their interlocked hands and felt a warm glow. Her hands were probably cold or something, though. No reason to think she might be thinking anything but friend-type thoughts.

"Thank you," he said just as quietly. "I like to hope so."

"So is it possible there might be more?" Rory asked, worried. "Or that they could be...anyone? That's scary. I mean, how could you know? I mean, it can't possibly be as easy as you being able to sense that they're evil, or something, or else it wouldn't be a problem."

She bit her lip. "And what weapons do they have? What do they do, in terms of...like, what is their goal?" She flicked her gaze down to their hands, and then back up to his face. "I mean, if this is a hard subject for you or anything, we don't have to talk about it. I'm just curious."

"Two is quite enough," Anakin said with a harsh laugh. "The Archives that lay out what two Sith, properly motivated, can accomplish? Well, are mostly locked to Jedi who have achieved Mastery because the content is so disturbing but the glimpses even Padawans are allowed..." Anakin trailed off. "Darkness. Rage. Hatred. Death. Chaos." He shivered. "End-of-civilization type stuff.

He looked at Rory. "The Sith are the monsters under our bed. They hate the Jedi. They want to use the Force to remake the galaxy in their own image." He ran a hand through his hair, making it stick up in little spikes. "We just don't know how. We just know that they're getting stronger."

Rory unconsciously gripped his hand a little tighter. She chewed on her lower lip, her eyes wide as she studied Anakin's face. "That's terrifying," she said softly. "I mean...that was an obvious statement for me to make, but...."

She shuddered a little. "No wonder you want to fight them. And I know it's stupid to ask, but if there's anything I can do...." She waved her free hand and gave a shaky half-smile.

"I didn't mean to scare you," he said quietly, moving a little closer to her. "I'm sorry."

He smiled at her offer. "I'm being taught by the only Jedi in the last thousand years to even see a Sith Lord." He frowned slightly. "Or, at least, I was being taught by him. Regardless, I think that we'll be ready when we finally uncover them." His eyes blazed. "Which we will. I think that might've been what I was, you know, born to do or something."

He blushed. "Which sounds stupid."

"You didn't scare me," Rory lied.

"And it doesn't sound stupid at all, when you're, y'know, destined to do something," she said with a gentle smile. "That might be it. That'd be amazing, if it were what the whole Chosen One thing is referring to."

Anakin looked into her eyes and recognized the lie for what it was. He appreciated the gesture, though, and gave her hand a little squeeze.

"Prophecies are a funny thing," he said. "They have a nasty tendency to bite you in the ass and mean something completely different than what you'd think. But if I'm meant to fight the Sith?" He gave a tight smile. "That'd be a worthwhile way to spend my life. Even to give me life."

His face broke into a cheeky grin. "Of course, I'm planning on being the greatest Jedi in the history of the Order, so maybe the Sith'll just come to me. It'd make life a lot easier."

Rory smiled, squashing the fear that was bubbling up inside her. "That's incredibly admirable," she remarked quietly. "To make that kind of commitment. Or sacrifice."

She swallowed hard and carefully extracted her hand from his. "And yeah. You're going to be an incredible Jedi. Not that I know anything about the qualifications, but...it's a feeling."

She knew she should probably make the full statement by moving away. But she didn't. Not right then, anyway. There was plenty of time for her to make points like that.

Anakin's hand felt incredibly empty when Rory moved hers away. Strange.

"Thanks," he said, finally, frantically playing their conversation back in his mind to figure out what he had said to make her move her hand. "That means a lot to me."

Jedi. Ohhhhh. He blushed for no reason whatsoever.

"Sure," Rory said, smiling and scooting a tiny, tiny bit away. "I mean, my ambitions aren't nearly as big as yours, and I have more confidence in you than I do in me."

"Then I'll have confidence in you," Anakin said. "Because I'm absolutely convinced that once you've decided you want something nothing would stand in your way."

Force, he hoped he was right.

He'd think about why he hoped that later.

Rory's smile widened and became a little smug. "Well, I don't know about that. But I do usually get what I want, whether it's my own doing or not. So yeah."

She moved a little tiny bit further away. "But sometimes even I can't get around certain things. And that's when I respect the rules and back off," she said a little more softly, looking at her hands.

Anakin nodded sadly and held in a sigh. He moved a little bit away from her as well.

"Sometimes the rules seem needlessly cruel," he murmured.

Rory glanced over. "But they're there for a reason," she said quietly. "Usually, anyway."

This time Anakin did sigh. "Yeah."

He stood up. "I should be heading to bed. Need to work on the sim tomorrow. I mean, if you still want to do that."

"Of course I do," Rory said, tilting her head curiously. "Why wouldn't I?"

Anakin's cheeks flushed. "No reason. Thought you might be getting tired of seeing me around all the time." His tone was light, but his eyes were still serious.

Rory blushed a bit. "No, don't be silly. Of course I'm not tired of seeing you. If I were, I woudldn't seek out your company," she said cheerily.

"Well, that's true," Anakin said, allowing himself to be cheered up. He ran a hand through his hair again and gave her a small, hopeful smile. "See you Sunday, then."

"See you then!" Rory said, still in the completely happy voice. As an afterthought, she added, "Sleep well, Anakin-Bananakin."

"Anakin...wha?" He turned and looked at Rory with his eyes very wide. Maybe she was bit by a gremlin.

He looked hopefully around the room. Didn't look like it. Anakin-Banakin? Seriously?

"Um," he said eloquently. "Let's just stick with Anakin, okay?"

Rory grinned. "I was testing it out. You don't like it? It's so cute!"

Anakin tried really hard not to make a face like he had just bitten into an unripe piece of fruit.

It was mostly successful. "I appreciate the thought, really," he began. "But yeah, um, not really loving the nickname."

Rory laughed. "I was just trying to cheer you up," she confessed. "But I'll let that one die. Doesn't mean I can't think of more."

Anakin gave her a big smile. "The effort was great. The name slightly less so. Feel free to come up with something else."

2nd Floor Common Room, Friday Evening

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