She nods and steps closer, hovering next to Elesse rather than sitting immediately. 

"Use your words please, Anakin. I am not a mind-reader."

Mrrr.

"I was - thinking something over," she says, softly but firmly, and then sits beside Elesse - still not quite touching, though. No less distance than she's kept before.

"Fair enough." Elesse accepts this. (Pushing too much will scare the prey away, and that is the last thing she wants.)

She grins at Elesse a little.

Then: reading?

Reading.

The last few days of the vacation follow much the same pattern as the previous ones. Elesse is only a little regretful when it comes time to leave.

They'll keep in touch, though - and there'll be other vacations.

(Anakin's been opening up slightly more - definitely preening more openly, complimenting Elesse more - but she's clearly held herself back from pushing.)

(Elesse sees the 'other' Anakin for two of those days - she seems entirely unaware of the flirting that's been happening. She's more active, more assertive, chooses places she wants to see and demands Elesse take her there. She likes Elesse too, though.)

Elesse keeps up their text-based communication, sending Anakin this or that interesting picture or article with her commentary, inquiring about her studies, sharing some thoughts about daily life. (She's interested to see if there's a detectable difference between the Anakins in this medium.)

The 'other' Anakin is in fact detectable - she's much less formal, quicker to respond, less clearly flirty but still inclined to compliment Elesse, far more blunt, more inclined to gossip, less concerned with current galactic events or justice or anything very Jedi-ish, but still very much interested in history and in topics that some might consider taboo...

She can certainly have some interesting conversations with Elesse, though that tends to come up more during their occasional in-person meetings, when Elesse invites Anakin out to a lunch or a museum or a park.

She usually sees the more typical Anakin for those - but the apparently younger one is appearing more and more often, especially as their conversations deepen. 

(She never takes more than half the 'dates,' though Elesse can gradually start predicting and then nudging which Anakin shows up for some of the trips - especially things like museums and parks where the two's interests diverge.)

(Useful to know.)

Elesse enjoys spending time with both of the Anakins, in their different ways. (More, in fact, than she thought she would. Something that grows increasingly obvious as time passes. She needs to... consider.)

All too soon, the one year anniversary of Elesse and Anakin's meeting approaches. Elesse sends Anakin a whimsical birthday card for the occasion.

She gets a card in return, teasingly referring to an anniversary. It's handwritten and drawn, with two subtly distinct handwritings, each accompanied by an image in its own style, both showing different things from their vacation to the lake-house.

Aww. That's so sweet. (It is. It is very sweet.)

Anakin hears less from Elesse in the runup to the Senate session ending, but she does invite her to another vacation retreat.

I'd love to! Do you have a location already?

(Anakin has been getting on and off busy, too - she has missions, of course, sometimes rather long ones, sometimes ones she can't message Elesse while she's on. She has classes and exams. She tries to keep up her side of contact, though, no matter how hectic things get.)

Alderaan.

The immediate reply:

!!!

The follow up, nearly half an hour later:

I'd love to see your homeworld. When are you going?

A week.

Okay!

She has some follow up questions - if there's anything special she should pack, how long they'll be staying, exact details of the flight off Coruscant - but mostly she's just really eager for the week to finish up.

It will be fairly similar to the last trip- though they'll be at higher altitude, in the local autumn, so she'd be well advised to pack warmly. (Though there will be an indoor pool.)

She can do that.

And, a week later - Anakin arrives early the day they're scheduled to depart.

That means she beats Elesse to the spaceport.

"Hello, Anakin."

Grin!!! "Hey, Elesse!"

(By the Force signature, this is the more mature, calmer, flirty Anakin. By the way she's just barely restraining herself from bouncing, she's excited enough that barely matters.)

"You seem excited. Are you ready to go?"

"Absolutely!" Tiny constrained wiggle.