"Consider it a foretaste of your Knighthood. Most problems don't have a well-defined solution."

She smiles a little. "Makes it more fun."

"I may not be able to duplicate your feats, but I can still sense what you are doing. I will try to offer what help I can."

"Thanks. You're - really good at helping."

"You make me feel like I can do anything, eventually."

"I'm only pointing to the path."

"It's - more than that. I like working with you. Wanna find paths we can travel together."

Elesse smiles.

"I have been planning on recommending you for Knighthood soon. When we finish this mission, I think."

That quiets her mood, a bit.

"...I think I'm probably ready in general, but - "

She shrugs.

"I don't really want to - or maybe I'm not really ready to - take missions without you. Sounds... Lonely."

"I think we can still work together."

"I'd like that." Elesse is so good.

"...I feel really lonely in my head right now too, so I - might calm down eventually."

"'Lonely' without the battle meditation?"

"...I think so, yeah. It's - a sort of restless feeling I get a lot. It goes down when I'm floating in the Force, or when I'm around you, or when I'm touching someone... And it reduced a lot during the battle."

"Hm. I'm not sure I've run across something like that before."

"I don't think the battle meditation caused it, just that it made me notice it more. Might just be a - me thing."

"That would make sense. You're never content with the average."

"I like being a statistical anomaly, it's true."

"Most of what I say is true. It's one of my better qualities, according to most."

She laughs. "Then it must be impressive, given all your good qualities."

Elesse smiles.

She smiles back.

Then: "Hm... Where should I start, do you think? On figuring the battle meditation out? If that's even possible on this trip..."

"It might be difficult without a large body of people to coordinate. But you can practice reaching out to me, without leaning on our bond."

She nods. "Probably the girls wouldn't mind drilling with me, too, once we're done with this mission..."

"Is now okay for us to practice?"

"The ship can look after itself for a while."

"Alright."

She settles in to meditate.

Reaching for the battle meditation is - harder, when she's not being pressed. And it's hard not to reach for Elesse directly via their bond, but...

Anakin's done this once already. She knows what it feels like...

...What if she goes indirectly?

There's no one around them, but there could be - if Anakin floats into the Force first, then loops to connect to Elesse -

She's everyone and everything, she is the ship the void the stars they're passing the Force and the Force is everything and the Force is Elesse, and of course Elesse's right there, Elesse always is -

Her Force presence is warm and comforting as always, but beyond their bond Anakin can feel another side, the way her mind is always working, considering contingencies for Dooku, the clones, Anakin's training...