"I try not to underestimate the Force. And, if anyone could... I've seen people weaker than you pull off feats more impressive than interacting with a Force ghost."

"Very well. I know a certain ritual that allows me to call forth a ghost and another that will bind it to living flesh. Mine, specifically."

"...Would it harm her at all?"

"The risk, I think, is lower than it would be with others, given our apparent similarity."

She nods, slowly.

"In any case, she may not have left a ghost."

"How would you find out?"

"By going to Mustafar."

...They'll be getting to Coruscant well before Luke and Leia anyways, at their current rate -

"Do you want to divert to there?"

"I would not object."

"I'm not in a rush to get back to Coruscant. I can reroute us to Mustafar easily enough, then." She stands, heading for the cockpit.

Occlus smiles to herself.

Ani pauses, for a moment, to update Luke - he's moderately worried, of course, but...

She can't truthfully tell him she trusts Occlus.

Of course, she hadn't even trusted Elesse. Not really. Doesn't trust Leia, and Leia's the other person Ani would hand an empire to on a platter.

...Trusts Luke, but trusting Luke is somewhat like trusting gravity.

But Luke has a bizarre amount of faith in Ani's ability to make decisions that everyone in the galaxy doesn't promptly regret, so he doesn't push her.

She redirects the ship towards Mustafar.

Occlus returns to her meditations.

Ani leaves her to it, instead focusing on trying to center herself, to sort through the jumbled tangle of her emotions - her motives -

She won't support Occlus over her children. She... Isn't sure she'd support Elesse over her children. Probably wouldn't, though Elesse probably also wouldn't make her pick. Occlus might. (If she tries to force Ani to side against Luke and Leia, Ani will kill her.)

(She spends a short while sorting through the preemptive grief that thought causes her. Ani will kill her and then feel very bad about it, probably, but she feels bad about everything lately, so.)

She definitely would have chosen Elesse over the rest of the galaxy. Arguably did. Occlus... Remains to be seen, but Ani's children are astonishingly good people so probably 'would Ani set the universe on fire for her' is a philosophical thought experiment. Setting the universe on fire would turn her children against her, so Ani won't do it. She'd probably feel kinda bad about it, anyways...

...Ani can't protect her children if she's dead, so 'sacrifice herself for' is also a thought experiment.

And she needs to remind herself she doesn't know Occlus that well yet.

Leia would oppose someone trying to create a new Empire. Hopefully Occlus keeps to her quiet library, then... But if Ani has to pick who to gift the galaxy to - probably Leia.

A traitorous part of her brain whispers she'd have to find a second galaxy for - Elesse or Occlus, then.

Ani spends a while turning that thought over.

...She refuses to let herself jump off that cliff this quickly. No falling madly in love with someone who looks like her first crush just on similarities. That would be stupid, and Ani - okay is very arguably stupid.

But she's capable of acknowledging it, at least.

But - peace and prosperity and democracy and cheering crowds for Leia, places to explore and people to befriend and help for Luke, all the knowledge of the universe for Occlus -

Ani... Thinks that's the best split.

For - the possibility of finding Elesse's ghost...

If the ghost is sapient - is Elesse - Ani needs to apologize, obviously. Needs to check whether Elesse would find being bound to Occlus acceptable. Needs to -

(get Elesse to love her, the traitor brain says)

Ani examines that thought.

...Did Elesse ever love her?

- Elesse definitely wasn't as far gone as Ani. She wouldn't have tried to kill her, if she was, no matter what Anakin did.

It's kind of an unsettling revelation how much Luke's constant stream of obvious affection helps Ani not feel - adrift, cast aside, trapped -

Possibly one of the conversations Ani has with Elesse's ghost - assuming Elesse's ghost exists and can be conversed with - is about feelings.

She finishes that thought, examines it, and...

Pulls the knowledge that Luke, at least, loves her around her shoulders, and lets her anxiety bleed into the Force, and centers herself. Not so much in calmness and peace like the Jedi would teach, but -

In love. Always love.

She's much calmer, for the rest of the trip to Mustafar.

Mustafar is much as she last left it, fire and darkness, both physically and in the Force.

Occlus sees why Ani was reluctant to think about the place.

Ani does her best not to let the bad memories overwhelm her.

Quietly, she leads Occlus to where the duel occurred. " - It was here," she mumbles, staring - at where Elesse had fallen (where the girl who'd once been Anakin Skywalker had lain, crying and almost dead, until Sidious deigned to fetch her and trap her in that metal monstrosity - )

"Yes. I feel-" Occlus pauses. It's almost like hearing an echo of her voice.

"Hm. This will take a moment." She begins sketching in the air with two fingers, eerie purple sparking out Sith runes.

She watches, tense and trying not to be.

After a while, Occlus frowns, frustrated.

"There is nothing here. Almost, I thought- But the trace is too weak."

...She isn't sure if that's relieving or - sad -

"It has been - nearly thirty years."

"I have claimed ghosts centuries gone. Though not Jedi."

She nods. "I've known Jedi to leave ghosts - including ones who can independently influence the world - but..."

She shakes her head. "I don't know why - that varies."

"There are many factors and potential complications."

"I suppose so..."