( inbox )

[jedies]

( text | voice | video )

Comments

[jedies]

I did. A man named Flynn, I believe.

I also know that this month had some kind of rage-induced atmosphere. Many people were affected.

[demonicbeauty]

Yes...

[Not a terribly good excuse in Ariadne's book. But then, she finds the idea of killing--even justified killing--utterly repulsive. There's always another way. There's always another way.

Still, she sighs, gathering her thoughts carefully.]

Obi-Wan, you've told me about the Force many times. And I will admit, I haven't always understood.

But...Maul is concerned about Anakin falling to...the "Dark Side."

[jedies]

[ ah. that is a tricky topic. ]

There have been signs. I am working with Anakin to dispel what is troubling him.

[demonicbeauty]

[Ariadne is quiet a moment. For all of her pixie-like energy, her next words are chosen very carefully, spoken softly and with a sense of gravity that she doesn't usually possess.]

Obi-Wan. I'm going to need to hear more than that.

Because of some great, cosmic joke...my face is setting him off. I'm stuck in this, whether I want to be or not.

But I do want to be. Because Anakin is my friend and I care about him.

[jedies]

[ yes. that part is especially troubling. obi-wan knows why and the implications there . . . cannot be avoided. ]

What would you have me do?

[demonicbeauty]

Just tell me the truth.

What's going on?

[jedies]

[ obi-wan exhales quickly. ]

Padme is . . . romantically involved with Anakin. Enough that they had children in secret.

And I believe Anakin was having visions of her death.

[demonicbeauty]

[Ariadne is able to breeze by that first part without a thought. Under other circumstances, she might at least pretend to be surprised, as if this were startling, new information.

But she finds she can't do that. She respects Obi-Wan too much to lie to him like that.

So she moves on to the second part.]

And you mean to train his mind? To try to wipe away the visions?

[jedies]

[ he shakes his head. ]

All I can do is remind him that visions are unpredictable and generally unreliable. Visions can be implanted. False.

I suspect another person's hand in them. Palpatine. And while he has acknowledged that Palpatine may not be good, I fear the damage and fear has dug itself deep.

[demonicbeauty]

Obi-Wan...

[There's a sense of "you should know better" in her tone there, although she doesn't say it.]

This isn't something that can be intellectualized. Loves lives in the heart, not the head.

[jedies]

I am aware. But he has to open up to be helped.

I cannot force him to accept it.

[demonicbeauty]

[He's right about that. But in her experience, some sense of commiseration is often very good at getting snarly males to be less...snarly.]

Have you considered talking to him about Sabine?

I mean, the way you talked to me about her.

[jedies]

[ he sighs. ]

I have spoken to Anakin about Satine many times. It is normal to have feelings of fear and sorrow. But he will not confide in me.

[demonicbeauty]

Is it, though? Normal to feel that way?

[She frowns.]

The way you talk about the Jedi, it sounds as if they treat those feelings as dangerous and bad. Something they discourage feeling. And if you discourage a feeling, that means you don't get a lot of chances to see it expressed in the right way.

[Ariadne sighs.]

I'm not a Jedi. And I'm not a snarly male either. I've never been in love and I've never been loved. Everything I know, I know from seeing it.

[jedies]

[ his frown deepens. ]

We have powers that could be used to hurt others. As witnessed quite clearly by Maul and Savage. Love is a part of the Jedi, but we choose to be selfless with it. Even feelings like anger, sorrow, hate . . . we are allowed to feel.

But if we let those feelings control us and drive us to do unconscionable things, then we are no better than animals. Love is not an excuse to hurt someone. Hate is not an excuse for violence. Sorrow and pain are not excuses to lash out.

My masters have loved. As have I. And that love is still within me.

We do not discourage feeling. We encourage peace.

[demonicbeauty]

And what better way is there to demonstrate peace than to talk about your own struggle with the exact same emotions?

[These Force-users are so frustrating.]

Maybe what Anakin needs more than a teacher is a friend.

[jedies]

Which I have done. As I already stated. I did not tell him my struggles in order to lecture him.

[demonicbeauty]

[Ariadne is...skeptical. But she lets it go.

And breathes out a long sigh.]

What if the worst should happen? What if Anakin falls to this Dark Side?

What should we expect?

[jedies]

[ obi-wan purses his lips. ]

Akin to Maul's earlier self, I would say.

[demonicbeauty]

Earlier self.

[She considers this a moment, not-too-pleased.

But then. Then the hope lights up her eyes.]

So we'll be able to pull him back?

[jedies]

Yes. Going to the Dark doesn't mean the end. You always have a choice to free yourself from it.

If you choose to reach out.

[demonicbeauty]

I see.

[Another moment of thoughtful silence.]

Will he try to hurt everyone? Or just the people closest to him?

[jedies]

[ a brief pause. ]

Most likely, he would lash out to those who he perceives have done him harm.

[demonicbeauty]

So, both of us.

[jedies]

[ obi-wan falls silent. ]

I would intervene long before then. And I must do so now as well. I was busy last month and thus, did not realize Anakin was so duly affected but I will be more mindful from now on.

[ he can't afford not to be anymore. ]