Anakin Solo (anakinsolo) wrote in thedoorway, @ 2015-01-12 15:38:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | !log, anakin solo, obi-wan kenobi |
RP Log; Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Solo
Who: Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Solo
When: 12 January, Monday afternoon.
Where: Potts Tower basement.
What: A meeting of the Old & New Jedi Order
Rating: Low.
Status: COMPLETE.
Obi-Wan had been to the basement on more than one occasion since his arrival. It was one of the few places in the Tower that he could find the peace to meditate. And he liked the sense of tranquility that he seemed to find there. But today, he could almost tell that he would not find his usual peace and tranquility. It was like the Force had told him that just before he stepped out of the elevator and onto the lower floor.. Today, just wasn't going to be a day for meditating. That became obvious when he saw the boy. He was practicing in the space where Obi-Wan usually meditated, and what's more, he had to be one of Luke's students. No one else could move with such reflexes, or with such attunement to the Force. Obi-Wan cleared his throat, doing his best to draw attention to himself. He could have just as easily slipped back into the elevator and disappeared. But he supposed that there was a reason that the Force had guided him here today, and he couldn't be a hermit forever. He was a Jedi Master. He should act like one. Practice had been a more intentional part of Anakin's existence daily in the new year. He had classes once again which meant he had to arrange that schedule around his classes and he'd taken up working part time for Gaige and her garage, using his skills to tinker with things for her, and get a little extra money in the process. He had plans for that money, so it was worth the time he was spending on it - but it did mean he had to carve out practice and meditation whenever he could find the time and today, for forty minutes, he had found a bit of time. He was running through some simple drills, working on some things he'd been practicing with his Uncle when he became aware of the presence through the Force. It wasn't a familiar presence which meant one likely scenario, a scenario that left him slightly self-conscious as he slowed at the end of the room opposite where the Jedi Master had entered. Anakin stopped, switched off his lightsaber, and turned around to face the newcomer. Outside of the initial contact on the network he hadn't really spoken to Master Kenobi - a thing he'd been hoping to change and it seemed the Force had decided perhaps right now was the time to change that. Anakin offered a quick grin to the older man and strode across the room towards where Kenobi stood. Self conscious or no, there was a part of him that really just wanted to stand in front of Obi-Wan Kenobi in person. Anakin had heard so much about him from his Uncle, from his Mom, from the histories Tionne had been able to put together. He was a legend in Anakin's mind and it was bewildering to be in the same place with him - although considering all the bewildering things the Tesseract had thrown at them - this was less bewildering than some. "Master Kenobi," he said in greeting. "I was just taking a few minutes for some training. But if you need the space," he waved a hand and shrugged. "I probably use it more than my fair share." "Anakin." He bowed his head slightly in greeting, recognizing the boy from their brief exchange on the network. It was perhaps telling that Obi-Wan hadn't ever really adjusted to being a Jedi Master. And now that hardly mattered. He'd arrived in a world which thought of him as a mere fiction, something that he was happy to corroborate. Anything, really, to keep a low profile. It was bad enough that his fellow Jedi looked upon him in awe, in that way that he sometimes looked upon Master Yoda. And wasn't that enough to make him want to step backward, to evaluate what it was he had done? And that was just like him. Always humble, unwilling to see his own accomplishments even when they were brought to his attention. Being here was no exception. "I didn't mean to disturb you. I was only looking for somewhere to meditate. Sometimes, this part of the Tower is almost peaceful." He smiled, amused. "Perhaps we could draw up a schedule." "It's no bother," Anakin offered with a half-grin. "Truly it isn't. And my schedule is a little all over the place right now between classes and work," he added and stored his lightsaber on his belt suddenly feeling awkward. There were a dozen questions Anakin wanted to ask the man sitting in front of him. Questions about the Jedi, about the Force, about Anakin Skywalker - the man his Grandfather had been before - the man Anakin knew very little about really, but all of them seemed demanding, and somehow more intimate in topic than he should ask someone who was - at least so far as Obi-Wan would be concerned - a total stranger. And just because Anakin had heard story after story of the man in front of him, didn't mean he knew Master Kenobi either. Anakin had grown-up with stories after all and he knew some of the ones that had been told about his Uncle, his parents, and the lack of absolute accuracy there-in. He shifted his weight on his feet and let out a breath. "And it is peaceful at times. It's a good place for practice or meditation or… any of the above. Although not much like Tatooine. At least not like Tatooine the times I've been there," he shrugged. "On that we can agree," said Obi-Wan. "Though, I'd be hard-pressed to find anything in this city that reminded me of Tatooine. It's too cold, for one." He'd had a number of chances to explore the city around them, and he'd found that, while superficially an overcrowded, tiny island, New York did have its good spots. There was the large archives building, with the guardian lions, that he rather enjoyed. And he'd only yesterday had a chance to explore the botanical gardens in the Bronx. "And I think we can both agree that there are far too many sentient beings here. Not that the population of Tatooine isn't respectable." He considered Anakin for a moment. "I can tell that you don't want to compare the relative climates of here and Tatooine. It's already a boring subject, and we haven't got to the flora and fauna." He shook his head, smiling again. "Your grandfather was the better one at jokes, I admit." "Occasionally if I look at the skyline just right I can pretend I'm on Coruscant," Anakin remarked. "It wasn't always this cold though. When I arrived in September last year it was better." But Obi-Wan was right that he really didn't care about the climates of this planet versus the ones they knew in their galaxy or even how like to Coruscant New York really was (and really it wasn't), or any of the other things that he or Obi-Wan had mentioned thus far. Truthfully the final sentence got far closer to anything Anakin really wanted to talk about with Obi-Wan. Jedi, his grandfather, just - things. And on some level Anakin was afraid he was hero worshipping a bit - but it was hard to be completely objective under the circumstances. Anakin Solo had always wanted to be a Jedi Knight, to serve, and Obi-Wan Kenobi had been held up as an example by his Uncle much as Anakin held his Uncle up as an example and here they were. And unless Anakin was very mistaken Obi-Wan had a fair idea that he was curious. Anakin turned serious, but with the smallest of smiles on his lips as he nodded: "I always figured I got my sense of humor from Dad, but hey, if grandfather had decent jokes there would be worse things to get than his sense of humor." There was a beat and then he turned his blue eyes onto Obi-Wan's face. Anakin had carried his grandfather's name for nearly two decades, grappled with that past, the possibility of the Dark Side, and perhaps come out more determined to not follow in his Grandfather's footsteps than he might have been had he not carried that name. For years he'd hated that his mom had named him that - but in recent years it had become less a burden... "How long ago for you now?" Obi-Wan frowned. That was not the first question that he would have asked. But surely now, he could speak of Anakin Skywalker without thinking about what that man had done. He could speak of the best pilot he'd ever known, a great warrior, a friend... He met Anakin's gaze evenly. "It's been a year since the Republic fell. Your uncle has just started to walk." He had witnessed that from afar. In part, because he didn't want to draw attention to Luke's presence, and in part, because he simply wasn't allowed near the Lars' establishment. "And I've been -" He gestured vaguely. "You might say rotting away in the desert. Communing with the dead." There was a hint of sadness in his voice. As though he were remembering something that he'd hoped to forget. "I never really was one for adventures. They always just seemed to find me… and us." He sighed. Perhaps this isn't what the boy wanted to hear. But between the great man Obi-Wan had known and the villain that followed, he'd long given up trying to find a sense of connection. And maybe he hadn't failed. It wasn't his decision to make, really. But this was the sort of argument that could go around and around his head, unsolvable. A riddle. "Anakin, you bear the name of one of the greatest men I ever knew…And if I have the answers to what you seek, I will gladly give them to you." He paused. "But I believe some questions have no answers. That is the riddle of the Force." The edge of Anakin's lips turned up in a smile. The idea of Uncle Luke just barely walking, being as tiny as Anakin remembered his cousin, Ben, being at home, was comforting. Everyone had once been small, and that even adults, heroes, people he'd thought had everything figured out - were as lost as he sometimes was. A bit how he felt right now, because while all of it - the old Jedi Order, the empire, his Grandfather, were just stories to him, the man in front of him had lived them and it was no doubt as painful for him as talking about things that had happened during the current war were for Anakin. The question had been perhaps to both address the bantha in the room, and to determine where he should go now, but he found he didn't have a better idea after asking. The smile faded into something more serious and he considered options. "I was supposed to be named after my father," he offered finally. "My Mom named me after grandfather at the last minute. I think it was her way of saying after however many years she'd known the truth that she believed he had good in him even if she'd never seen it. I get that it's…" he hesitated thinking briefly of his brother. "likely painful to talk about. And I don't mean to pry. But everyone I know only knew the man he became not the man he was. You know the man he was. I've spent my whole life living in the shadow of what he became, hyper aware of the Force, and wanting to be a Jedi, and knowing the Dark Side was there - and that's not a complaint, it's been my particular burden and It has and likely will continue to help me grow. But I don't know that it's so much answers I seek as it is - maybe understanding. Or maybe just someone to ask questions with." he stopped and shrugged and offered Obi-Wan a small smile. "There's a lot you never get to tell Uncle Luke and there's a lot the Empire destroyed." Obi-Wan listened. He listened to what Anakin said and what wasn't said between them. As though he understood that these were things that needed to be said, things that couldn't be learned from stories passed down, or books, or fictional portrayals. And that, in a way, Anakin needed a similar understanding from him. They were both Jedi Knights. One had seen the death of the Order, the other a new birth. And yet, the age-old questions remained. Questions that reminded him of what he had lost, and of pain that he'd thought he'd relinquished long ago. "Your grandmother said the same thing before she died." That memory alone made him want to turn away from the conversation. But Jedi didn't fear pain. They embraced it. They accepted that pain and death were aspects of life that couldn't be avoided. "And I suppose she was right. There was still good in him. The greatest wisdom, I think, of the Jedi is to accept what we don't know. The Dark Side is powerful. It is dangerous. But it is alluring. It can hide its true dangers until it is too late. I failed your grandfather in that respect. I turned a blind eye to dangers that I knew were there." He hesitated. "But nothing makes a Jedi fall, Anakin. It is a choice. And not one to be made lightly." The younger man nodded his head, brows furrowed slightly. "It's easy to fear the unknown," he said simply. "But you're right about the choice: people have to choose. A friend helped me see that... That my choices could be different. And they would be." Anakin's voice held a quiet commitment undergirding the statement. "The Force seems to have brought us all here. And in an order that... It didn't bring me until Uncle Luke was here so he could heal me when I got here. And Jacen didn't arrive until there were three Jedi Knights here, and Jaina right after him. And then you, when I'm pretty certain Uncle Luke needed someone to talk to... Maybe we all did. It's just... More than coincidence I think." Obi-Wan reached out a hand to touch Anakin's shoulder. "I don't know if it counts for anything. But from what I've seen, you're an excellent Jedi. Your grandfather… I think he would be proud of all of you." He smiled warmly. His memories were painful, but they were only that. Memories. They couldn't hurt him. There was much more to look forward to, things that he needed to be able to let go of the past to find. "Sometimes, the Force has a strange way of answering what we seek to find. Perhaps the Tesseract acts similarly." "I hope so," Anakin nodded. He rather liked the idea of Anakin Skywalker being proud of him, all of them. The one thing he knew for certain about his grandfather, the thing he was pretty certain he shared in common with - and didn't mind being like him in - was that family mattered to him. It was the reason why Anakin continued to give his brother a chance despite it seeming that Jacen did not feel similarly. Or if he did, he had a funny way of showing it. "I made a new years resolution - if you want - to renew my training," Anakin said. "They've got me taking classes here, I have to until I'm 18, so it's around those classes, but I figure that there is still use for my skills here, and there was a lot I wanted to do at home that I'll never get the chance to, so I'm going to do it here. It's so much more peaceful here than it is at home, but this planet has been attacked before it seems and they don't have nearly the defenses we'd have at home… it seems foolish to not improve if I can." Obi-Wan nodded. "That explains why you're here today." He paused, considering how rusty his own training must have grown since being on Tatooine. And if this planet was attacked, what role would he play? He'd never been able to idly sit by while others were in danger; that was part of the reason he'd ended up in half his unwanted adventures over the years. "I think -- If you'd have an old man like me, I'd certainly like to train with you. There's a lot I need to learn about this world, and about the future…" "Perhaps you could teach me." A half-grin splashed across Anakin's face and he shrugged with supposed carelessness. But the idea was obviously amenable to the younger man. "I'd be honored to train with you. I know there's a lot I have to learn yet. And this world has people to protect same as ours does. Thankfully, with not quite the intensity we've got when I'm from, but still…" There was the ever present thought of Rikki, possibly the person he cared most about protecting - even though she'd probably punch him to hear him put it that way. "But if you were here to do meditation - I should let you." "Then we can learn together," Obi-Wan agreed. It was time that he accepted that the Jedi Order had changed, and that somehow his own efforts had initiated that changed. "You're welcome to join me. If you have more pressing commitments, I understand, but... " He supposed that if a year on a desert planet hadn't managed to coax out his old master, nothing ever would. He doubted Anakin's presence would really make a difference in that regard. The offer felt sincere, and while Anakin did need to work on some reading for his class work tomorrow he'd planned on spending at least another half hour down here training, which meant he had the time to spare and more than that, the idea of companionship from someone who was a Jedi, but who wasn't family - was appealing. Anakin nodded his head at Master Kenobi's offer. "Nothing more pressing than this," he said simply as he took a step back towards the open space on the floor. Jedi practice time with Master Obi-Wan Kenobi? What could be more pressing than that? |