A somewhat startled person - blue, see through, no one else is responding like they can see her - appears in the middle of the bus, nearish her.

She blinks. Attempts to dismiss the shade. It's not hers.

Not a cape, either. She can't sense it.

She straightens up in her seat, slowly.

She turns to face the Keres, looking - disturbed, almost.

"Who are you?"

"The Keres."

"Who are you."

None of the other passengers are close enough to hear specifics over the sound of the bus, fortunately, so long as she keeps her voice low. The not-shade doesn't seem to have any trouble at all hearing or making herself heard, though.

"Anakin," she says, examining the Keres, before her attention turns outward and her brow furrows. (Something about the Keres seems to be bothering her, though she doesn't look at all afraid.)

"Where is this?"

"Somewhere around St. Louis."

"...Which sector or planet?"

"...Earth."

She frowns and her gaze briefly goes distant, before refocusing on the Keres.

"...Is your planet in contact with anyone else in the galaxy?"

"No."

"Ah." She pauses, a bit awkwardly, then - "Alright."

"Where are you from."

"I'm a wanderer and always have been, so - it's hard to claim any one planet as home."

"I'm not from this planet, though; I mostly travel in the Mid and Outer Rims of the known galaxy."

"...This is the only bit of the galaxy we know."

"If you're pre-contact, that makes sense."

"Known to my civilization, I suppose."

"Are you human?"

"I used to be."

"Humans evolved on this world. There's a fossil record."

"...Huh."

"We don't have evidence of human evolution; the home world of the species is entirely unknown, and there's no well grounded theories."

Shrug.

A little smile. "I enjoy archeology, so it might be an interesting mystery for later..."

She drifts a bit closer, though she mostly seems to be looking out the window.

"Would you like to know more of the galaxy?"

"Yes."

"I'd like to show you it."

"Hmm."

"I'll want a ship regardless," she says. "My ability to teleport is apparently still very unreliable."

"And - it's nice to travel with company."

"Haven't heard of a teleporter than can go that far. But no one's been able to get hardly anything into orbit since the Simurgh showed up. She'll go after any ship you try to build."

Hum. "How does she do that?"

"Depends. Either show up and smash it directly, show up and let the heroes smash it trying to drive her off, or manipulate some poor asshole into smashing it five years after they were exposed to her song."

"What's her song?"

"How she influences the world. It's not a song, really, just a kind of- noise. Gets in your head. She uses her precog to figure out what makes you tick, what your triggers are. Sets up dominoes."

"...Not something I'd like to have exist in this world, I think."

"Nobody wants the Endbringers."

"Then I imagine no one will object if one stops existing - there's multiple?"

"The Simurgh, Leviathan, and Behemoth. And they're unkillable. People have been trying for twenty years."

"Nothing's unkillable in the end," she says, though something in her voice sounds... Sad. "Even if it's stood for millennia."

"Hn."

"Good luck with that."

Grin. "I'll save the incredibly ambitious clean up projects for when I'm better oriented to this world, how about."

Nod.

Soft smile.

"Is there anything I could help with right now?"

She stirs just enough to make the handcuffs visible.

"Can you get these off?"

She focuses intently on the cuffs (the Keres gets the impression of a flinch, even though her face didn't really reflect one).

- And each cuff breaks in half.

"Hah."

She smirks, flexes her wrists. Tucks the broken metal away.

"Who put those on you?"

"A cape called Eidolon."

"Why?"

"He wished to imprison me for the crimes I have committed."

She stays still for a long moment, expression unreadable and distant. 

Then: "Ah."

"Questions of law and punishment are... Complicated - but you shouldn't be chained."

"I rather agree."

Small smile.

"I doubt it's possible for you to have committed as many crimes as I have, so - I'm not in any position to point fingers."

"But these days... Violence is something I disprefer needing to resort to."

"Then you came to the wrong world."

"Perhaps, and perhaps I came to the right one."

"It is no small task you set yourself, if you aim to change things here."

"Good. I'm not one for small ambitions."

Soft huff of laughter.

"-Do you want to sit?"

She nods and sits beside the Keres with a smile. (Though she doesn't seem to be actually affecting the seat at all.) "Thank you."

"Where do you come from, beyond the Mid and Outer Rim, then?"

...Hum.

"I was born into slavery on the planet Tatooine. It's a miserable place, even without that. The entire planet is a barely inhabitable desert. A group of people with powers similar to mine - the Jedi - freed me, and I joined them after. But - we stayed on the move, and..."

"...The Jedi haven't existed for decades, anyways."

"If I've had a place to be from, it's been - only briefly."

"Sounds- lonely."

"...It has been. And - "

"Most people can't perceive me, anymore."

"I'd guessed that much, the way the bus isn't rioting."

Smile. "I could pretty easily stop them from noticing either of us, even if I was usually visible."

"Huh. Neat trick."

"It gets complicated if there's a large crowd, they already know we're here, there's indirect or automated observation, or they have reason to be looking closely - "

"But that would've mattered a lot more when I was a teenager, and I've been doing this a long time."

"How long?"

"I'm over fifty, and I've been connected to the Force my entire life."

"That is a long time."

"Experience isn't the only thing that matters with the Force, though."

"What else does?"

"Emotional state, focus, mental strength, desire..."

Hum.

"What other abilities do you have?"

"I can move objects - and whether a bunch of atoms form a discrete object or not is a matter of perspective, which matters mostly to how fine my control is. I can heal others. I can see the future, the past, far locations, and things that didn't happen but could have - though that's difficult to trigger on purpose outside of the immediate. Relatedly, I can tell if I'm in danger, and I can figure out the best path to accomplish most goals. I can sense my environment and the minds of others, and I can influence those minds. Anything other than small nudges is difficult, though. I can communicate directly mind to mind with someone, and I can share and view memories - which is harder but not impossible if someone is resisting me. I also react very quickly."

"In life, I could enhance my body, and I had a laser sword." Her lips quirk a bit. "I no longer run on biology, though, which does make me likely immune to attacks that aren't through the Force."

"More mundanely, I'm a talented pilot and mechanic. I have extensive generalist knowledge in a lot of fields - war, philosophy, politics, history, various sciences..."

"Pretty wide spread, that."

"Not an uncommon one for trained Force users, though, especially once we get a bit of real-world experience with it."

Shrug. "If you say so."

"You know... I think it's all something you could learn to do, too."

"What makes you say that?"

"I can feel how connected people are to the Force, and - your connection is untended but strong."

"How does one begin?"

"It depends a bit on your teacher, if you have one. Meditation and improved self knowledge was popular among the Jedi - that can be slow to produce even initial results, but it's safer and more consistent."

"I was - taught initially by the slavers, through pain and danger in ways that would only stop if I reached for the Force. I wouldn't recommend that method, to anyone."

She makes a face.

"No, I've had enough of that sort of teaching."

There's an echo of melancholy and understanding in her. (She's making a point of making her emotions very visible in the Force right now, even if it feels strange, and - it's easy, natural, around someone who feels and looks so much like Elesse.)

(Who isn't Elesse. Anakin vowed pacifism, but - meeting whoever hurt the Keres would test that.)

"It - left me with a lot to unlearn, when it happened to me."

Shrug.

Small smile. "It sounds like you're out of that situation, though?"

"When I got my powers, I killed them and left."

"Good."

"Mm."

"Can you teach me? About the Force?"

"Yes."

"I've never really had a student before, though, just to warn you."

"There aren't any other teachers lining up to take your place."

"And here I was about to say that makes you special," she teases.

"Makes both of us special, then."

"Fair enough."

Heh.

Grin. "You'd be special even if I'd had a hundred students, though."

"Well. Obviously."

"Already aware of your own brilliance?"

"Something like that."

Smile.

"Where are you planning on going, right now?"

"North Carolina. On the east coast of this continent. There's a power there I'm interested in collecting."

"Collecting?"

"On this world, some people have superpowers. There are a lot of different kinds, flight, superstrength, building advanced technology, shooting lasers out of your hands. My power lets me collect others as shades that I can call up to serve me."

"What happens to those whose powers you collect?"

"They die."

"So - I also dislike being around death, not just causing it."

"...That may be a problem, then."

"The things I want to teach you wouldn't require violence to learn, you know, and - I expect the zenith of your power in the Force will be much greater than whatever you can scavenge here, and it will be yours."

"Self defense is - a bit different. But I can assist in defending you, and I am willing to escalate if nonviolent or nonfatal resolution fails, there."

"Hn."

...Her immediate reason for going after Cask has just been obviated. And it probably is a better idea to lay low for a while. Let people forget, grow complacent.

"...All right. While you're teaching me, I won't go hunting anyone, how about."

"A good compromise."

"Will you also agree not to use my teachings for your hunts, if our arrangement ends?" A brief, quiet pause, before: "I don't object if you use them to defend yourself if you draw attention that you'd need my teachings to escape, but..."

That same sense of sadness. "...I'm tired of enabling death, too."

If she does, Anakin won't know and she has other tools besides. Good to keep this secret.

"Agreed."

"I'll know," she says, softly. "I won't retaliate, but I'll know."

"...Okay."

She regards the Keres for a long moment. 

Then, voice still soft: 

"I destroyed a planet."

Blink.

"Personally...?"

"I didn't order the weapon built. I didn't draft the plans. I didn't construct it. I didn't issue the final order, nor did I activate it."

"I participated, all the same."

"We used a weapon of mass destruction to turn a planet and all its two billion inhabitants into so much dust. 'Personally' is a complicated question."

A small, humorless quirk of her lips. "And that isn't even why I quit."

"I am tired of enabling death."

"I-" understand is the wrong word. "See your point?" she tries.

"Thanks."

"So where do we start?"

"So long as we're here - might as well start with the more subtle foundations."

"Have you ever meditated before?"

"Not really."

"A noisy bus isn't often the best place for classic meditations, but we can start on some things."

She explains controlled breathing exercises and an initial posture to take. (One with much less slouching. Feet on the floor, spine straight, chin up, hands on thighs...)

"Work on establishing an even rhythm first. Over time, you'll want to slow your rate down - but you need to be able to control that rate, first." (The pattern she recommends - breathe in, hold, breathe out, hold. She wants the Keres to try three seconds in, three seconds hold, four seconds out, and two seconds hold first, and increase each of those numbers until she feels she's pushing herself - and exhale time should be increased fastest, the hold times slowest. The point is control, not holding her breath.)

Weird way to sit on a bus, but whatever. She doesn't care about these people.

It takes her a while to get the hang of counting her breaths, but after that she doesn't have much trouble.

Next - mindfulness. Noticing her own body, her surroundings. Not focusing, not analyzing. Awareness. 

And once she's decent at that (it's very hard to do for more than brief stretches), Anakin starts asking her questions about her environment. Tells her not to think to hard, not to analyze - to use her instincts. 

The questions gradually require more and more inference, of course, until Anakin is asking her things she has absolutely no way of knowing the answer to.

(Anakin nudges her whenever her breathing falls out of rhythm, whenever her attention falls out of that ready awareness, focuses too sharply or scatters.)

The questions are trickier. Trying to answer them disrupts her breathing rhythm, and balancing the awareness is even more delicate.

She does best when she forgets to take time to think.

She's good at encouraging that. 

Yeah.

They get pretty far before the next stop.

Does the Keres want to get off here? 

She could. Not much point going to North Carolina, now. Might be better off finding somewhere quieter, more isolated.

"Being surrounded by nature has always helped me, personally, especially somewhere with room to exercise."

"We're not too far from the Appalachians, if we head southeast a bit. Can probably find a cabin to rent."

"That sounds nice. What are the Appalachians like?"

"Old, worn down mountains. Heavily forested, sparsely populated."

"Perfect, then."

Easiest way to keep going... probably a car. She's got enough cash to cover a beater. It only needs to take her a couple hundred miles, if that.

...Can Anakin improve it. The motor sounds off, and she thinks the steering wheel will be sticky...

...If she can do it without people noticing.

Pull over to some deserted rest stop, maybe, and she'll see what she can do without extra supplies.

Sure.

The answer is: an awful lot! She thinks the brake pads need replacing, but that's about the only easy fix she'll need supplies for, at this point. (She did have the Keres go ahead and get some common basics, like oil.)

She uses it also as a demonstration in moving objects and predicting the best course of action through the Force, as a bonus to the car driving much, much better now. 

Hmm. Useful.

She strives for that. 

Hit the mark, here.

In another couple hours, the landscape begins rising in a series of rolling hills before them, and she begins looking for a likely exit to pull off at.

She admires the scenery - and nudges the Keres to use her instincts to find an exit.

It's a little harder to meditate while actively driving.

Which is what makes it good practice. 

Tch.

(She is exaggerating her annoyance.)

She's polite and only laughs a little.

"Regretting becoming my padawan yet?"

"Is that your word for student?"

A brief flicker of melancholy, then - "It was the Jedi word."

"No. Not regretting it yet."

Smile.

And back to mindful meditation? 

Yeah. She only swerves out of the lane a little bit.

But the exit she does wind up picking leads them to a place they can rent an isolated cabin long-term for cheap, so.

A resounding success.

Seems to be.

"Any impressions so far on the Force?"

"...I'm not sure. It seems... ephemeral."

"It can be. It moves when we try to grasp it, and it slips away from us easily. It's everywhere, in everyone and everything - and it connects all those things together, and it's nearly impossible to notice without training."

"It's eternal, too. Once you have the Force - nothing can take that from you. You can be stopped from reaching it temporarily... But you are still a part of it."

"That sounds... appealing."

"It's nice."

"There's some parts that can be overwhelming - especially once you're immersed, you... Can't close your eyes again, I've found."

"Nothing's ever free."

"No."

"And the cost of this is lower than most, so long as you have some basic caution."

"That's what I have you here for, right?"

"Of course."

Smirk.

Oh that's a lovely expression indeed...

"Ready for more lessons?" she murmurs.

"I believe I am."

Good.

The Keres can start with moving objects with her mind. Like, say...

That big boulder over there. (It looks very, very heavy. She wouldn't be able to nudge it without powers or serious machinery - or some very clever and careful use of shovels and pickaxes downhill of it.)

She settles down to meditate about it.

She lets the Keres try on her own at first, not stepping in with suggestions unless the woman seems to be getting unhelpfully frustrated.

Breathe in, hold, breathe out, hold...

It's a very heavy rock. She knows this. Her awareness tells her this. She tries reaching out but-

"It's too heavy."

"What makes it heavy?"

"The... mass?"

"Would I be trivial to move, then, since I don't have a mass?"

"No, because there's nothing of you to move."

"Then how am I moving?"

"You're a ghost. How should I know?"

"We are luminous beings; there is nothing to me that isn't to you - and I move the same way I always have, by forming the intent and then making it manifest in the world."

"...So I just need to think harder?"

"Has thinking hard helped with your instincts?"

Huff.

She can't help it. She giggles.

"Okay, okay, I'm being a pest about explaining this, I know."

"The Force doesn't operate on 'conventional' physics, padawan. The rock is heavy in the Force only because you think it is; it'd feel equally heavy if it was a very convincing paper facsimile."

"So I need to unlearn my assumptions."

"Yes."

"You're strong, padawan. A mere stone is nothing before you."

"Hn."

Back to meditating. Find the rock, feel the rock. Lift the rock. The weight doesn't matter because she's not using anything that cares about the weight to lift the rock. The Force just- apparently- does things.

Lift the rock.

Lift the rock.

And...

The rocks lifts.

She opens her eyes slightly to peek-

Grins in triumph.

Approving smile. "A solid beginning."

"Thanks."

"How long can you keep it up?"

"Let's find out."

She settles in to watch, keeping up a light (moderately distracting) conversation on some of the philosophical underpinnings of Force use.

Now that she's got it, maintaining isn't as much of a problem. Some wobbles when Anakin makes a surprising point, but she lasts a couple hours.

Very good.

"You control your focus well," she says.

"I've had some practice blocking out distractions."

"I can tell - and the way you maintain focus is good, too."

"I would like to revisit some of those points when I'm not distracted, though."

"Fair enough. A good debate requires full attention, after all."

"Yeah."

"I'm looking forward to it."

"What else do you have for me?"

Hum.

"Right now I'd like to evaluate your current knowledge a bit more, actually, so I can plan lessons a bit better." And, teasingly: "Plus, I wouldn't mind more of an orientation to this world."

"What do you want to know?"

Quite a bit - for herself, she has a few clarifying questions about the tech level, capes, the circumstances around powers first showing up in the world - how powers first manifest and how they change over time, more details on the Endbringers... And questions about how to access further research herself. 

(She also evaluates the Keres' knowledge of philosophy, assorted sciences, combat, and the like; this most mixes in with questions about the world.)

They've got computers, the Internet (Probably a good way for her to learn more, though they don't have reception out here. Try the library.), airplanes, Anakin's seen cars, guns, grenades, nuclear bombs, pictures from the surface of the moon. Tinker powers usually only mess up local tech levels; their creations are not very suited for duplication or mass production unless you're Masamune.

Capes first started appearing in the early 1980s, about thirty years ago. Scion was the first cape, a glowing golden man who does pretty much whatever crosses his inscrutable path, whether that's rescuing kittens from trees or putting out wildfires or driving off Endbringers. By the end of the decade, capes were common knowledge with more appearing all the time. People get powers from trigger events, moments of intense psychological stress. The mechanism is not well understood; it's basically impossible to force or predict a trigger which makes it hard to study except in retrospect, and a lot of capes don't like to talk about their triggers.

Behemoth showed up in 1992, he manipulates energy, usually to set things extremely on fire. Leviathan was '96, a hydrokinetic that also creates a 'water shadow' that echoes his moves. The Simurgh appeared in 2000 and no one even realized her danger until people in the area she was at all started going crazy six months later. One attacks about every three months on a rotating schedule of appearances.

The Keres herself has a pretty solid grounding in most fields, but she's a generalist, not a specialist.

And the Keres has this type of power? 

Yes. The PRT, a governmental organization of non-powered people tasked to police capes and liaise with the Protectorate, a group of heroic (as opposed to villanous) capes, has some broad categories for the general types of powers that exist. Brute, breaker, striker, shaker, changer, blaster, tinker, mover, thinker, master, stranger, trump. These are descriptive rather than proscriptive, based on what tactics are likely to be effective against a given cape. The Keres herself would be called a trump/master. Trump for her ability to collect other capes' powers, master for the shades of those powers she calls up. And of course, depending what she has out, other labels would apply.

"Can you show me a few?"

"Sure."

She's got a lightning generator, a robotics tinker, a short-range teleporter, a wild energy blaster, one that can walk through walls... and more.

She can only have three out at a time, but has no trouble directing each simultaneously to act independently or in concert.

"Interesting..." she murmurs. "They seem to be accessing something similar to hyperspace tech..."

"What does that mean?"

"Hyperspace is what we use to travel faster than light. It's an alternate dimension, effectively."

"So... you think powers are crossing dimensions somehow?"

"They're not using the Force, so - their effects don't make a ton of sense otherwise."

"I suppose. We don't have a good explanation based on our knowledge of physics."

"My civilization knows a good bit more about that, fortunately, though I've never heard of powers exactly like this."

"Maybe you can figure them out, then."

"It'll be a good project - and, hopefully, a useful one."

"If you could control or duplicate or block powers, it would be."

"Even just predict them better."

"Or that, yeah."

"Improved base knowledge is quite helpful with using the Force towards something, too."

"Helps your intuitions?"

"Yes - especially in directing my focus, in anchoring my vision, and in interpreting what I feel."

Nod.

"Thank you for all this, by the way."

"It seems more like I should be thanking you."

"A mutually beneficial arrangement."

"And before now I'd only read about those."

"I'm glad to provide a more than theoretical introduction, then."

She laughs. (Definitely not a giggle. Giggling is beneath her dignity.)

(It's very pretty and definitely dignified laugh.)

She smiles, fondly.

...Yawn.

"Time for bed?"

"It seems so."

"Goodnight, then."

"Good night."

Off to bed with her.

She stays up - stays near.

She... Meditates. Tries not to have too much of a meltdown from the wash of the emotions she's been pushing aside, tries to channel them safely through her.

She even mostly succeeds.

The Keres is not in tune with the Force enough to notice this while she sleeps, evidently.

She stays asleep quite late, if left undisturbed.

She's not exactly surprised. (Fondness washes through her, bittersweet - it helps.)

She slips into the house when it seems the Keres will be stirring within the next thirty minutes or so, and... Do they have any tea or the like, here...

There's a primitive coffeemaker in the kitchen.

She'll see if there's any coffee around, then, that doesn't seem spoiled...

Some, preground in a metal can. Doesn't seem very high quality, but it is reportedly caffeinated.

She's going to have to poke the Keres about groceries...

She makes some coffee with it, all the same, as she feels the Keres stirring.

Nine of ten Keres agree: shitty coffee is better than no coffee.

"Do you have grocery stores here?"

"Yeah... There's one back in town."

"I don't need to eat - but I could cook for you, if you want go get supplies."

"Sure."

"Could maybe even make some actually decent coffee."

"That'd be a change."

"Not used to luxury like that?"

"Haven't had the time, mostly."

"We'll see about making some, then."

"Mm."

First errand of the day, then.

Fair enough. 

She has some suggestions for things she could substitute for what she knows how to make - though they do have different foods here than she's used to. 

She's willing to take Anakin's suggestions. They will sound good enough.

Good.

For lessons today - Anakin wants to focus on physical exercise and enhancement this morning.

That'll be a change from her usual activities.

It'll help with using the Force.

Hrm.

Well, she'll try.

Intent is a good start. 

She has a pretty vigorous idea of what even a low level of fitness should be. 

The Keres... is not quite up to standards.

She eases off fairly gracefully. And - well, using the Force can ease some of her soreness, but Anakin wouldn't actually recommend using it to push herself at this point.

Not that she really wants to push herself right now.

Maybe someday she'll start enjoying it. 

Not today.

She'll give the Keres some time to rest before moving to simply intellectually taxing lessons. 

How thoughtful.

Smile. "I do remember what being new to this felt like."

"Fair enough."

"Are you finding any part of this particularly interesting?"

"The meditation is... interesting. It's not really something I've tried before."

"It took me a while to get into it, but... It's nice."

"I like that feeling of calm awareness, now, though perhaps it's more... A serene focus without actual stillness, in ways? Serene again isn't the exact word, but..."

"It's- centering."

"Yes. Places you firmly within yourself."

Nod.

"It's easy to slip, though, and think your center is somewhere it isn't."

"And the sort of deep self knowledge you need to avoid that can be - painful, very easily."

Hmm.

"I don't think I'm lying to myself like that."

"Good."

"You'll want to be careful not to start, then."

"Fair enough."

Back to studying, then.

There's a lot, which steadily becomes more and more apparent, each lesson revealing a world of things the Keres could, someday, know. Each opening her mind to things she does know, now. They could spend a lifetime just in this cabin learning and growing if they wanted, and they'd still have more to learn. (Or, so Anakin claims.)

Sadly, there are mild concerns like 'paying for the rent' (it's very cheap especially what with this being the off season, and she has a lot of money, but cheap doesn't mean free) and 'the Keres has that pesky arrest warrant out.' Plus - Anakin is driven to learn more of the world and of powers (albeit subtly).

Even that - she can put it off.

She's... Anxious, really, about ensuring the Keres' safety in the long term. She doesn't express it like that, of course -

But, she'd really like to get seriously working on that spaceship, and they can scavenge some raw materials but not really enough out here, not for a hyperdrive.

(And, the eternal problem - too much scavenging, too many strange purchases, risks making it obvious there's a Tinker in the area.)

There are ways to do quite a lot with surprisingly little- but yes. At the end of the day, they will need materials.

But her training in the Force continues apart from those concerns. She practices, meditates, trains her mind and body. Her discussions with Anakin begin to open up her viewpoint. She doesn't fully agree with the pacifism, might not ever adopt it herself... But she can understand the viewpoint. Understand why Anakin thinks that way, why she thinks it's important.

Several weeks later, the Keres says "I've been thinking about changing my name."

She inclines her head. "What to?"

"I'm not sure. The keres were Greek myths, scavengers of battlefields who would pick souls to carry away."

"That... doesn't seem to fit me, anymore."

"I don't know much of this world's mythology," she says. "But - I could tell you something of mine, or of our history, or of names in general."

"I'd appreciate that."

"I haven't consistently gone by Anakin Skywalker, for one - that was the name given to me at birth, but for a time, I was known only as Darth Vader..."

She describes the naming tradition of the Sith, and how those names were chosen - there's pain in her, deep and old, and she does clarify that she isn't really a Sith anymore, but...

It's context. 

The history of the galaxy is long and convoluted, and her mother was a slave taken to Anakin's home world from elsewhere, one among numerous displaced souls - the myths she was raised with were formless, shifting, nameless things, never fully one tradition nor another, growing and twisting with every step in the chain.

She'd - liked the history she learned as a Jedi better, honestly, though she notes it's somewhat strange to take on another person's full name. Their family or clan name, certainly. There's groups she can tell her padawan about, though, if she wants to adopt another collective name.

(She mentions, off handed, briefly, that 'Skywalker' is very likely to become a myth name, sooner or later.)

"Maybe I'll be Skywalker," she says, teasing.

- It's hard to tell on a translucent blue ghost, but, she just might be blushing extremely furiously. Her eyes are definitely wide enough, and she doesn't respond immediately. 

She laughs.

"Ah, I don't exactly object - uh - it might get recognized, when we get off this planet and into galactic civilization..."

"Myths have to be famous, right?"

Giggle blush. "I suppose so."

"I'll be Skywalker, then."

"I'm honored."

"I'll try to live up to it."

"A tumultuous history is going to be part of the story of the name, I think."

"I - "

"There's nothing you need to live up to. Just a new future to forge."

"All right."

(She adores her student. She - hadn't expected the strength of it when this all started. Hadn't expected how it's quickly overcome her pain, which only lingers at night, now, when her student isn't in front of her being wonderful. And even at night - she's more at peace.)

(She'd be full to bursting with this emotion if she still had a body to contain it in.)

"I'll help, of course."

(Skywalker is sensitive enough now to pick up on this. She smiles.)

"Thank you."

"It's my pleasure."

"I can tell it is."

Blush!!! 

"There might've been perils with teaching you sensing..."

"So much for foresight, hm?"

"That's one of the things you'll learn with experience, padawan. The Force is a capricious being, and the future is ever in motion."

"I'll be on guard."

"It does mean the future contains many possibilities..."

"Any especially fun ones?"

Another blush. 

"Maybe."

(...She's a disaster who still doesn't know how to articulate and be forthcoming about her wants, isn't she.)

Headtilt.

"...I'm not sure how that would work, with a ghost."

"...I think I actually have only vague theoretical knowledge of how - any of it'd - work with a body..."

"Well. The Internet could certainly aid your theoretical research, though I'm sure the librarians would frown at you. Or," pause, "I could give you a... practical demonstration."

"Oh."

"That'd be - I'd like that."

"If, of course, you can fit something like that into our busy schedule."

"Recreation is very good for learning, you know."

"Well. Fair enough."

Soft, adoring smile.

"...You're very pretty, you know."

"I've been told."

"I like the compliment better, coming from you."

Yet more blush! "You're gorgeous, and smart, and strong, and intimidating, and quick on the uptake, and self possessed..."

Happy laugh.

"And funny, and you have the most beautiful smile, and a wonderful laugh."

Grin. "Well now."

"I think I'm getting quite excited." She starts taking off her shirt, slowly.

!!!

Her brain short circuits. Just a little.

Oh-ho. The rest of this should be fun, then...

Anakin doesn't get any less stunned!

Skywalker makes sure she goes over the salient points several times then. To be sure the idea sticks.

She's a very, very attentive student.

Good, good.

"So," she asks after her performance is finished, "what did you think?"

"Better than I could have ever imagined."

"Spark any premonitions?"

"Perhaps some ideas."

"Oh good."

Blush! 

And her gaze drops to the floor, shyly.

"Let me know when you might be ready to act on any of them," she purrs.

Her padawan - Skywalker - is so, so pretty and wonderful, and - 

Anakin wants to be told what to do, she thinks, still looking at the floor. She's out of her depth, and... She wants Skywalker to command her, maybe, and would even if she knew what she was doing here. 

"I am when - whenever you want me."

"I want you now."

Soft 'oh.'

Then, without actual real input from her brain: "Yes ma'am."

"Good girl."

Her eyes go extremely wide. "I - try," she murmurs, gaze dropping a bit again.

Hee.

Blush!

"Do you - want me to tell you my ideas, then?" She bites back a ma'am, but - actually - "Ma'am," she adds without much of a delay at all.

"Please do, Anakin."

"I have very fine control over objects," she says, "Even if I can't wield them in my own hand..."

She'd intended to offer to use that to - mimic - what she'd watched Skywalker do to herself, but - "I could take over more of - serving you." Blush. "More than just by making breakfast." 

"I would like that very much."

"Whatever pleases you."

She'll describe exactly what would.

She has a lot of fun obeying, executing Skywalker's every order perfectly.

Very, very good girl.

Anakin's delight is immensely loud in the Force, there for Skywalker to peruse, to do whatever she wants with. 

And Anakin's not going to be the one of them who gets tired. 

Skywalker basks in Anakin's happiness and this keeps her going longer than she would otherwise-

But all good things must eventually come to an end. At least for now.

This good thing is one that can rise anew rather easily, at least.

Anakin makes dinner that night and serves Skywalker reverently.

"Thank you, Anakin."

"You're welcome, ma'am," she says with a soft smile.

Smile.

Smile.

(She's going to have a lot to think about while Skywalker sleeps, won't she...)

Skywalker sleeps very well that night, so.

Good.

Of course, despite their newly discovered cause for hedonism, there are still lessons to be had... Though Anakin would understand if Skywalker wants a day off, all things considered. 

Better to stick to the routine.

Fair.

And teaching Skywalker is fun.

It's her charming personality.

Her excellence all around, especially as a student.

Exactly.

- Normally, she'd be happy to flirt all day, but, she tenses suddenly, attention drawn toward the outside of the cabin -