Aizuwakamatsu, Japan, Thursday [Daytime]

[firstofitskind]

Time to leave behind the hustle and bustle of big city life and head to somewhere a little quieter! Today we're back on the train and heading to Aizuwakamatsu.

Comments

Re: Amida Temple

[sith_happened]

Anakin smiled. "You'll be okay," he said, "but not if you avoid looking."

Re: Amida Temple

[thatwaslucky]

"Did you ever look at yourself like that?" Rey wondered.

Re: Amida Temple

[sith_happened]

Anakin nodded. "I thought of that part of myself as a krayt dragon--they're huge, native to Tatooine, and terrifying--and never, ever went near it until it was far too late."

Re: Amida Temple

[thatwaslucky]

"Did it feel like a krayt dragon to you?"

Rey definitely didn't feel like she had a krayt dragon.

Re: Amida Temple

[sith_happened]

"A small one, at first, easily ignored," Anakin said. "But there was always fear. And I was told very, very early that fear led to anger, anger led to hate, and hate led to suffering, so I just...didn't allow myself to look over there. And that was a mistake."

Re: Amida Temple

[thatwaslucky]

What if you just started out with anger?

"What would you have done about it if you looked?"

Re: Amida Temple

[sith_happened]

"I don't know," Anakin admitted quietly. "That's why I've been meditating so much this week."

Re: Amida Temple

[thatwaslucky]

"Because of me or because of you?" She still felt bad either way.

Re: Amida Temple

[sith_happened]

"Because of me," Anakin said. "I can't help you if I don't have myself calibrated."

Re: Amida Temple

[thatwaslucky]

"Is there any way I can help?" asked Rey, again, a person who worried about herself and yet automatically asked that question.

Re: Amida Temple

[sith_happened]

Anakin shook his head. "As you'll learn, this is a thing you do by yourself. There are parts of me I have no wish to share." He smiled. "But thank you for the offer."

Re: Amida Temple

[thatwaslucky]

"I feel bad," she admitted. "I shouldn't have subjected you to that."

Re: Amida Temple

[sith_happened]

"I knew what I was agreeing to," Anakin said firmly. "You needed to know, and I needed to be there."

Re: Amida Temple

[thatwaslucky]

"It won't happen again," she promised.

Re: Amida Temple

[sith_happened]

"Because you won't try or because you won't tell me?" Anakin asked quickly.

Re: Amida Temple

[thatwaslucky]

"I won't try. Not with this," she told him. "I won't hide this sort of thing from you."

Re: Amida Temple

[sith_happened]

Anakin visibly relaxed to hear that. "Thank you."

Re: Amida Temple

[thatwaslucky]

"I'm really not trying to hurt anyone," Rey said.

Re: Amida Temple

[sith_happened]

"I know you aren't," Anakin said, sending a pulse of reassurance through the Force.

Re: Amida Temple

[thatwaslucky]

She really did appreciate that. "Should I leave you to it?" she asked.

Re: Amida Temple

[sith_happened]

He smiled. "I don't mind the company, but I imagine you'd rather spend your vacation elsewhere."

Re: Amida Temple

[thatwaslucky]

"It's not that," Rey said. "I just don't want to bother you." More.

Re: Amida Temple

[sith_happened]

"You are never a bother," Anakin said softly.

Re: Amida Temple

[thatwaslucky]

"I don't want to worry you more when you're trying to meditate," she amended. But she appreciate that too.

Re: Amida Temple

[sith_happened]

"I meditated so I don't worry," Anakin said, smiling, "which is something else my teenaged self did not understand."