It isn't much of a decision, in the end. 

She gets up. She finds what she needs to leave a note. She stares at it, blankly, for a few long moments, before writing - 

Elesse - I'm sorry. I couldn't wait. I couldn't keep doing this. I love you. 

Please take care of yourself. 

There's so much more she could say. Reasons. Reassurances. Recriminations. But she's tired. So, so very tired, and her mind is nothing but pain when it isn't dulled by exhaustion or worse - 

She has sleeping pills. She's been unable to sleep on her own no matter how tired she gets, and... It feels appropriate. 

She knows how much to take. (She's been saving them so she'll always have enough. It isn't too hard, with the excuse of her long deployments.)

Anakin curls up in Elesse's bed, wrapped in one of Elesse's robes, under her sheets. She puts the note on the beside table. And she takes her pills, and she closes her eyes - 

And it isn't so much that she opens her eyes, it's that - it's like dreaming, or waking up, or dreaming and then realizing she's already awake - 

It's like looking at her body from the outside. No physical senses - no sense of her own skin, of gravity, of the dryness in her mouth nor the vague headache behind her eyes. No pressure of her feet on the floor. No pulse in her chest. Her vision is almost disorienting - pure information, no imperfections from her eyes. 

Anakin stares down at her body, and realizes that killing herself technically didn't even work. 

She doesn't know how long she stares, trying to process - it's weirdly easy to think. Her thoughts don't skitter off on their own. Her mind doesn't try to eat itself. Old images don't shove their way to the front. Nothing yells at her. 

Her chest doesn't hurt. She... Thinks she has emotions, but they're weak and well behaved next to the tempest that has been whirling around and through her for - 

Years, maybe.

She stares long enough that morning comes, and her comm goes off -

"Anakin?" Elesse's voice comes over the comm. "Anakin, are you there? I'm not receiving visual on this end."

...Oh No.

She... Has not tested if anyone else can perceive her - she's never seen a - ghost - the closest she's heard of is ancient Sith lords leaving behind revenants in tombs - 

- What if this is just. What death is like. 

"Elesse?" she tries, voice uncertain and wavery.

"Anakin? ...All right. I don't know if you're there or if you have the comm set to auto- I'm calling because you said you wanted to talk. We're breaking orbit now, so I don't have very long. Call back if you get this in the next twenty minutes or so. Oh, and if you're in my room, please refill the soap in the 'fresher, I didn't have time to put in the work order."

- She starts crying. It feels weird, like she's going through the motions of it, the actual emotion shallow - "Elesse - " she tries to shout, but she knows her teacher can't hear -

Something rattles in the room - she hasn't lost control like that with the Force in forever - 

- She affected something -

Hesitantly, clumsily, she focuses on the Force and tries to type - 

elesse somethings wrong

"-Wait, I'm getting a message... Anakin? What is it, what's wrong?" She reaches out to feel along her old bond with her padawan (something that she hasn't done very much of at all, these past few years).

Anakin is... Muted. Small. 

But - large at the same time. Diffuse like she sometimes gets when she's battle meditating, though Elesse has at best brushed against that. A sense that she's still there, still alive, but... Also not. 

She's scared, and the thundering echoes of her despair and self hatred from before her death nearly swamp that. She's numb, and also upset enough she feels like she's barely cohering. (Like maybe this is one last gasp before she truly joins the Force.)

Her emotions aren't as bad as they were, when she had a body, and she can actually think through them - 

But they're still pretty unpleasant to be feeling. 

She hadn't expected to have to deal with the fallout of this. She hadn't thought of how to tell Elesse, because that wouldn't be her problem anymore. 

Except now it is. 

(She's regretting killing herself, right now, except for how she's also kind of regretting it not working.)

'Elesse I'm sorry,' races along their bond, loud and clear and echoing, and she reaches back as well -

Elesse has been very busy, distracted running two and a half theater's worth of campaigns, only managed to carve out this time to call Anakin back because last-minute changes had delayed their departure time slightly, so all her scheduled calls are over with and she has the next twelve hours of comm-free hyperspace to get her work done. She hasn't been worrying so much about Anakin because all the reports she was receiving have been saying that Anakin has been one of the highest-performing Jedi. She is rapidly reconsidering the wisdom of that assumption. Anakin, it seems, is not fine. Elesse should have worried about her more. Elesse should have pulled strings to get Anakin under her command, at least for a little while. It's going to take too long for her to get back to Coruscant, to arrange that Anakin is still on Coruscant when she gets there-

Humorless laugh over their bond. 'I don't think that's - a problem anymore.'

This shouldn't be funny. It isn't. It's just... Absurd.

She doesn't want to let Elesse into her mind, to her senses right now - she suddenly wants to delay Elesse knowing - 

That'd... Be cruel, probably. 

'Elesse I'm still here but - but I think -'

She doesn't think. She knows. But she can't say it, not yet. 

(How is she supposed to tell someone about her own death?)

'Anakin... What happened?'

`Elesse I - '

She reluctantly opens up her senses a little if - Elesse wants to look. She doesn't think Elesse should look. 

'I killed myself. I don't think it worked.'

Shock. Dismay.

An overpowering urge to give Anakin a hug.

She wants a hug! She wants a hug so much - she wants to see Elesse at least once, that'd been her biggest hesitancy with killing herself - 

She reaches desperately for Elesse like she can bridge the gap between them with nothing but her determination -

And then the world lurches and changes around her. 

"Anakin!"

Elesse can't, actually, give her a hug.

She's spent the last - forever - spending a very significant chunk of her waking hours in battle meditation.

It doesn't really occur to her that 'meld into Elesse's mind/ body' is not a normal action, here. She wants a hug. She does not have a (living) body. Elesse has a body. The solution practically suggests itself. 

Elesse. Uh. Wasn't expecting that.

She will try not to kick Anakin out instinctively, to be open and welcoming.

...She can leave if Elesse wants? (She is not particularly affected by Elesse's aborted flinch. She's... Very hard to kick out when she doesn't want to leave. (Not all of the people put under her command are enthusiastic about it. But they have orders, and she has orders, and, well...  There's never room for insubordination.))

(She's trying very, very hard not to just be Elesse like she normally would, but... Her sense of self doesn't have good boundaries.)

She's - also trying not to just attempt taking control of Elesse's body, but - can Elesse hug herself? If she's okay with Anakin staying. 

Yeah. Elesse can hug herself.

Hug! And warm snuggly feeling wrapping around Elesse. 

Oh.

This is. Nice.

'Love you,' she thinks/ sends/ is. 'I'm - sorry.'

'I should be the one saying that.'

...She has a lot of strong and conflicted feelings about who's to blame which sound very unpleasant to deal with and she - does not have any spare cope right now. 

And. Speaking of. 

'I don't want - anyone knowing I still exist.' Assuming she keeps existing. 'Other than you.' Because then she'd have to figure out how to fix the thing where she still exists, which would make Elesse sad.

'All right. I won't tell.'

Warmth/ gratitude/ love. 

...Somebody is probably going to find her body soon. Her leave wasn't very long, and - she thinks it's already been over an hour - since. Maybe longer. (Almost certainly longer.)

...Elesse will have to act like she doesn't - already know. 

Elesse would have felt their bond break.

...It was. Honestly probably a couple hours ago. 

That's - gonna be obvious from her body. 

And Anakin doesn't think Elesse's the type to just - keep working. If she feels that. She hopes Elesse isn't.

...Elesse hopes she isn't too.

...Maybe just. Act like they'd already broken their bond. 

Maybe.

(In the back of her mind, Elesse is running through the steps it would take to get to a small shuttlecraft and away from the fleet without arousing suspicion or putting blame on her troops when they drop out of hyperspace for a nav check.)

...Okay Anakin has very little ground to stand on here. However. She just tried 'how about instead of dealing with my problems by talking to people, I do Not That, and make everything someone else's problem instead,' and then she messed up and had to tell Elesse an even worse thing than being suicidal rather than successfully making that not Anakin's problem. Though she's really pleased Elesse would go AWOL for her.

That is a point, yes.

They can pretend - something else went weird with the bond. They don't have to claim Elesse didn't care, or that they'd already broken it. And Elesse can message someone and say something feels weird and ask them to check on Anakin, and then - resign after. And go AWOL if they won't let her. Anakin wasn't all that sure she'd be allowed to leave, the atmosphere seemed... Off.

Elesse is... not sure if any Jedi would be allowed to resign from this war. Not at this stage.

...Possibly Elesse should just go AWOL now, yeah. Simpler.

Also Anakin knew it.

This war has... made many things harder.

Time off would be good for Elesse.

She has a lot to sort out. Even besides- her neglect of Anakin.

...Yeah.

And Anakin - already abandoned her girls. Abandoned any good she could do as part of the war, because...

It's a trap. All of it. And Elesse shouldn't be trapped either. 

A trap?

...There's - weird twisty thoughts in Anakin. Things she can't think about. 

But it seems really really obvious to her that the war is going nowhere good. That they're not going to win. No one is going to win. It's just - a meat grinder, that will eat up the entire galaxy. And maybe fighting is better than surrendering but - 

There's some small goods they're doing. But it's all... Pointless. 

(Why she thinks that is... A little twisty. But a lot of it is that continuously using battle meditation - being in so many fucking battles, she can coordinate multiple legions at once, she needs to be physically present for the biggest longest most complicated battles but most battles aren't that, most are things she can do from across the galaxy if she has an anchor - and. It's done weird things to her. To her perception of the Force.)

(She can see, clear as a calm day under a blue sky, that there'll be no victors in this war.)

Elesse definitely needs to meditate on this.

It's getting - harder to not just take Elesse. Anakin's feeling a bit - blurry. So she steps out, and the depth of their connection - especially Anakin's connection to Elesse's senses - fades a bit. 

"...I think you might've been right about just leaving now."

"I think so. I don't-"

"I do not think I can continue to participate in this war."

"...I couldn't."

"So let's leave. Together."

"All right."

The fleet has entered hyperspace by now, so they have... a while, to plan.

And to - meditate. Think about things. 

Anakin is... Not alright, even if she's better than she was. (Somebody is almost certainly going to find her body while they're in hyperspace.)

She's... Struggling to think about all of it, though - she's able to think about more without her head screaming at her, but there's just...

A lot.

Very much a lot.

Elesse is... going to do the minimum necessary such that she can get them away safely. The rest can wait.

Yeah. 

(...She doesn't really know what to do with herself right now. When she can't curl against Elesse or try to sleep, and when the contents of her head are... Unpleasant like this.)

They could try meditating together. (Elesse is only a little worried this will break down the walls she's put up to keep functioning.)

...Depends on if Elesse wants - to hear everything at once, or a bit at a time as - she's able to handle it. 

...A bit at a time might be better.

Okay. 

...Does she have anything Anakin can read or do? To get her mind off of the everything. 

There are a myriad of logistical things Elesse had been intending to arrange during this trip. It would be helpful for those left behind...

- She doesn't know if she can. Do that. Mentally. 

That's entirely fair. Elesse has her library on her datapads still, though she has not had time to read for pleasure in quite a while.

Neither has Anakin - reading through Elesse's library sounds nice. 

Will she need any help setting up?

...Probably. She can use the Force still but it's awkward to type with. 

Then Elesse will aid Anakin before tending to herself.

Best Elesse.

She's... doing her best.

Anakin knows they have a lot to talk about with what happened, but - 

She loves Elesse. 

Despite everything.

She loves Anakin too, which is the important bit.

(Happy Anakin!)

It's the most important part. (Elesse still loves her and wants to keep her so Anakin can't have fucked up too much.)

Mm. They'll make it work.

Yeah. 

Right now: meditation and preparation for Elesse, and just... Unwinding for Anakin.

And shortly before the fleet is due to drop out of hyperspace, Elesse sends out a quick flurry of orders which have the combined effect of clearing a path to the shuttlebay, ensuring one is unattended long enough, and that the doors are permitted to open long enough for their chosen craft to streak out and execute a brief Force-guided series of microjumps to shake off pursuit.

Anakin is really helpful for that - her sensitivity to the Force is a lot higher than it was when she was a padawan. Higher than the vast, vast majority of full Masters - possibly higher than anyone alive, though that's harder to figure. 

They may need to do some more training to help her adjust.

If Anakin's willing.

- Maybe in a little bit. 

Touching the Force feels weird right now. 

Elesse would expect so. Does Anakin think she can take over flying for a while?

Definitely. 

Elesse is going to go take some time to try to sort out her feelings, then.

Alright.

And of feelings, Elesse has... rather a lot. Start with the guilt and the shame that her padawan killed herself, and the hurt that Elesse feels because of that. Add more guilt because Elesse contributed to Anakin's problems, by ignoring her, by not making time for her. She was busy, busy running the war. Time that she didn't spend on talking to Anakin was time spent on making sure her troops had a better chance of survival. Add up all their lives on one side, and Anakin's on the other, and then all the Separatist armies that she was fighting and... Where does the scale end up? If she was able to go back and choose again, would she do the same thing? She wouldn't, she thinks. Not at the cost of Anakin's life.

Looking at in from the perspective of the Jedi Code, did Elesse make the right choice? The many lives, the peace the Republic promised. (The looming darkness Anakin hinted at.) Would she be permitted to choose otherwise, if she could go back? Would she even want to. What is one life, against all the galaxy?

It's been a long, long time since Elesse has had to confront this sort of turmoil in her soul. It scares her.

They come out of their series of hyperspace jumps eventually, at a planet Anakin feels will be a good place to scrap their shuttle and swap it out for something less... Clearly Republic.

It has traffic control, though, and she thinks it has specifically very lazy traffic control, but... Someone with a working mouth still will need to talk to the officer.

"Elesse," she calls, softly. 

Elesse does not want to come out of meditation and face Anakin the world.

"Elesse? I need you to talk to traffic control."

She comes to with a flinch. Anakin is dead. Anakin needs her. Anakin is dead. Anakin is talking to her because Anakin needs her. Anakin is dead because Elesse failed her and Anakin needs her.

Elesse's breathing is rapid and short. "I- I can't-"

" - Elesse?!" 

She does not know how to deal with Elesse having a panic attack! ...And also someone needs to do something soon or else traffic control will get suspicious. 

Anakin mentally flails a little bit and then flows into Eleese's body, gently nudging her back - it's almost instinctive, really. Anakin does this a lot for soldiers with battle fatigue. Anyone freaking out on their first deployment, or about seeing their sisters torn apart. When a moving body is needed, but... It matters a bit less than normal who's controlling that body. 

Elesse can continue having a panic attack in the back of her brain while Anakin gets the body itself under control, sure.

...Mental hug? Or - Anakin can leave her alone to process. 

Hugs are good. Right now, hugs are good.

She'll wrap Elesse up in a warm blanket of fuzzy feelings, then. 

That is nice. Cozy.

Good.

(And - Anakin likes using Elesse's body for things. It's all the nice parts of having a body without all the horrible parts, and she likes feeling Elesse in her mind. Being able to wrap cozily around her like this.)

She'll get them through traffic control and then landed with no trouble, then sets out for the tasks that'll make it easier to keep evading pursuit - new, less distinctive clothes... A small blaster... Then arranging to sell the shuttle no questions asked... Buying a ship... Acquiring some supplies, too, beyond what Elesse took with her. Especially things that won't stand out if they use them in public. 

And... She's really tempted to acquire some nice things, too. Good food. Soft pillows. But it's Elesse's credits, and she'll be the main one using things...

Credits are meant for spending. They should buy what they can here, Elesse thinks, and acquire more later if necessary.

A reasonable selection of good food and soft pillows (...and a pretty bracelet, and some nice smelling soap) it is, then.

(Soft pillows are so soft. Best texture.)

Does Anakin intend to stick around to enjoy them for a while? (Elesse's tone of thought is lightly teasing.)

Well, she'll bring them back to the ship, but - 

If she sticks around in Elesse's body to rub her face on the pillows... That depends on Elesse, really? (Anakin is... Aware she's bad at asking for or caring about consent. But she doesn't want to do things Elesse wouldn't like.)

Elesse doesn't mind. She finds it... comforting, in some ways, to have Anakin be driving her body like this.

Anakin likes controlling Elesse's body, which works out - a lot more than she'd expected to, actually, she... Hadn't really enjoyed doing this in the war.

The circumstances are... somewhat different, she expects.

...Very different. In a lot of ways.

Mental hugs.

Snuggle! (Warm glow - she adores Elesse.)

(That is such a nice feeling to experience.)

Then she's going to adore Elesse even harder.

Ah, a virtuous circle.

The best kind.

Indeed.

Though they shouldn't stay on this planet too long, Elesse thinks.

No - but she can snuggle in hyperspace, too...

Sounds like a plan, padawan.

Perfect, then.

(...Not Thinking about things is weirdly both - harder and easier like this. Easier not to dwell, certainly, but harder to just... Keep her thoughts on track.)

Does she want to talk at all?

...Maybe. If Elesse thinks she's ready. 

...Possibly she will need a little more time in meditation.

...Fair enough.

Not sure if she can do that while Anakin's running the body...

Anakin can step out? Or they can keep cuddling and trying not to think about certain things.

Maybe just a little more cuddling.

Sounds excellent to her. 

(...Something maybe safe to think about: where do they want to go, other than 'away'?)

Most of the places Elesse knows are Jedi-related in some fashion. Although...

There's always Maz.

Maz?

Maz Kanata. An old friend. Runs a bar that's quite famous in certain underworld circles.

Elesse's never mentioned her. 

Surely Anakin doesn't believe that time Elesse ended up in a Hutt prison was by accident?

Okay, now she's gotta hear this story. Sounds like Maz might be (the good kind of) a bad influence. 

Maz's bar (more accurate to call it a castle, really) is known as neutral ground for the underworld. As long as you don't start trouble, you can drink, rest, and hold meetings in peace knowing that if anyone else starts trouble, the full wrath of the most infamous pirate queen since the Ruusan reformations will be brought to bear. Maz is, therefore, well-positioned to keep tabs on the pulse of galactic criminality, and knows just about everyone there is to know. The only major faction not welcome at all is the Hutts. Maz has a bit of a grudge against the Hutts, and is not above passing information and facilitating connections that will cause trouble for the Hutts.

Hence her friendship with Elesse?

Elesse inherited the contact from Yoda, in fact. Friendship may be stretching the term- Elesse did end up in prison based on the last tip, after all.

And met Anakin, which makes it the best tip ever.

Heh. Elesse supposes so.

They'll have to thank her. 

They can, if she'd like to.

If Elesse thinks it's safe to tell her about Anakin still existing. 

It's entirely possible Maz will guess on her own. She has a certain sensitivity.

But - is she safe?

Of all the people they could share with... Maz isn't a bad choice. Elesse was thinking of asking for help with scrubbing her identity, which is a point of vulnerability anyway.

...There's someone Anakin wants to contact, too, and that'll be hard to do subtly without help. 

They can look into that as well.

Especially if Maz might be willing to help - this... Isn't something she wants more people than necessary to even suspect about. 

Discretion is not a service Maz is unfamiliar with, at least.

Good.

What's the best path to her? (Anakin can fly it while Elesse meditates a little?)

Elesse can provide the planet's coordinates.

Thanks. 

And she steps out of Elesse's body. 

It takes her a second to adjust to being in control of her own body again.

"I'll be in the cabin then, if you need me."

"Alright. I'll be able to just hear you through the bond if you need me..."

"Hopefully I won't wake up screaming again."

"...Yeah." That had been. Bad.

And on that note... Elesse is going to try again to sort herself out.

And Anakin's going to work on getting the ship to Takodana.

Elesse, when she emerges from meditation some hours later, is feeling much better.

"Meditation go well?"

"It did, yes."

Smile! "Good." Wow wanting to merge into Elesse's brain to see what she's thinking now and deny her all mental privacy is a very awkward urge to be having.

"I'm not done, I think, but I see the start of a path."

"...I - still don't. Not one for me." She's been instead pretty aggressively avoiding thinking about certain topics. It's - refreshingly a lot easier than it used to be. 

"If you need anything, Anakin, anything at all..."

"I don't - know what you can provide." What Elesse would be actually willing to do.

"Whatever you need."

She stares at Elesse, overwhelmed - by the offer, and by the enormous task of evaluating if it's true. (Not just if Elesse means it - if there's things she hasn't thought of that she wouldn't try to provide - but if Elesse would. Be able to. Because Anakin is... Pretty sure Elesse can't actually do everything Anakin needs. Let alone everything Anakin wants. And she doesn't know how to even start defining what she needs.)

"And if it's anything I can't do personally, I will find whoever or whatever can."

"...How do you know you mean it?" she asks, hesitantly, quietly.

"The path I mentioned. This is it."

"Doing - whatever I want?"

"Whatever you need me to."

"...Where's the line between need and want, here?"

"I think," Elesse says, "that is something that we will need to work on together."

"There's - a lot of stuff I want. But I'm not... Really sure what I need."

"We can work on that. In the meantime... you can always, always ask."

"...I want to talk about what happened. I - think I might need that. But... Once I start thinking about it, it'll be hard to stop, so - I want to talk about everything. If you're - ready."

She should've asked Elesse for something sexual, that'd be petty and fraught but less scary.

"I am, I think."

"Okay."

"I - I don't know where to start..."

"Neither do I."

"...I could possess you and then - think about that - and you could. I guess follow things?"

"If you would like to."

"I think so..." And she steps into Elesse - her head is a scattered mess right now. 

Maybe Elesse's calm can help.

Yeah. It does. A lot. 

She needs it, because - even without her body screaming at her all the time, even without her mind eating itself, even without the insistent voices berating her - even having left the military - even having Elesse's attention back - 

A lot of the reasons she killed herself still exist, and the reasons that don't still exist - left scars. Pretty deep ones. 

Can she tell Elesse about some of those scars?

...She didn't have any friends, after she became Elesse's padawan. No one to turn to, no one to rely on, no one to care about except Elesse - she didn't see any of her friends from before ever again, and none of the other children liked her, and they were always on the move, and the Jedi discouraged attachments -

And Anakin was so, so tired of having hostages against her. And some things - many things were too raw, too vulnerable, to talk to Elesse about. Not without processing them first, but... She didn't know how to do that from inside her own head. 

(She made a friend, after her knighting - she's not entirely sure how, actually. Senator Breha Organa is... Quiet, and Anakin wasn't nonverbal yet but was still... Incredibly socially awkward with no idea how making friends works. And she did speak to Breha some, but... For some reason, she felt pressed to keep the friendship secret. Hidden from everyone. And there's - some of the still existing hurts, a bit too raw to poke directly, tied up with exactly how much she trusts and will confide in her friend.) (That thought is a faint tangent, but Elesse can pick up on it.)

Elesse is sorry she neglected Anakin in this way.

...She isn't sure how much that helps. The problem is still - there. 

That's... Probably actually a problem that still exists. Not just a scar. 

It's... something Elesse herself struggles with. She doesn't have many people she's close with.

Yeah. 

Anakin doesn't know how to fix it, especially not - now. 

It's possible they can try to... find some sort of community somewhere. Anakin can use Elesse's face to be a participant...

...Maybe.

And Maz might be able to help. 

She'd probably suggest they join a smuggler's ring.

It'd be a change of pace if nothing else. 

Anakin did just get them this very nicely anonymous ship. Not exactly a freighter, though.

They can see about trading up. 

Elesse feels entirely comfortable trusting Anakin's judgement on what makes a good ship.

Smart of her. 

Don't say she hasn't learned at least one thing.

Anakin hopes she's taught Elesse more than just one thing...

That would be nice to think.

Does she think so? 

Perhaps... A certain approach to life, to finding joy in small things. Something Elesse does not practice as much as she might.

Wiggle!

Cute.

Anakin is! And so is Elesse.

What a pair they make.

The best kind of pair.

Mm. It's... very good to have Anakin back.

Elesse had missed her more than she realized.

...Yeah.

Anakin had missed Elesse like - like everything was gone. 

She hadn't even noticed amidst... everything else. Until it was almost too late.

...Oh.

Did - did she think about Anakin at all? 

Anakin - pulls back, almost. Her side of the bond grows quiet, and her expression goes distant and hard to read. 

'I'm sorry.'

'...Okay.'

'...I want to exist right now and want to keep trying to - want to exist but - I think I might need - a possibility of the option to. Just. Stop. If I - someday can't keep trying.'

'If that is what you need, I will support you.'

'I love you, Anakin.'

- She steps into Elesse's body suddenly, curls up at the back of her mind with their bond blossoming open. (She's sad and scared and she loves Elesse and doesn't understand how Elesse can love her back when Anakin's so - broken and imperfect.)

Elesse opens up to Anakin like a warm embrace.

It's never been about- wholeness, or perfection. It's about people.

Her mind wraps around Elesse's like she wants to cling and never let go (and she starts vaguely wishing she had a separate body so she could kiss Elesse. (She loves Elesse in every way she knows how and has had a lot of - desires, urges, somethings - that she's never really come to grips with.))

Many mental and emotional hugs for the Anakin.

(That's- flattering. And... intriguing. Elesse doesn't hate the idea.)

...It'd be complicated, now. Though Anakin could use Elesse's body to kiss someone or tell Elesse who to kiss which is in some ways extra intriguing.

It would be complicated. But now is when they are.

She - wants to figure it out, if Elesse wants to. 

Making Elesse Using Elesse's body to kiss someone else might be good for - other things, too. But it'd be less... Intimate. 

For the next little while, at least, it's just the two of them.

Are there - things they could do alone? (...Anakin knows basically nothing about this.)

Elesse knows a couple tricks, knowledge which she will make available to Anakin.

!!!

She's a little torn between telling Elesse things to try so Anakin can watch, versus taking over Elesse's body and experimenting directly (with Elesse watching). 

Elesse would be all right with either option.

Nnnn she wants to take over. 

Elesse takes a mental step back, inviting her to do so.

She takes over smoothly, then - do they have a mirror?

They can configure one in the cabin.

Then she wants to start with learning what Elesse looks like - and some physical explorations from there...

All while paying pretty rapt attention to Elesse's reactions in the back of her head. 

Mmmmm. Elesse basks in Anakin's attentions.

She has a couple hints if Anakin wants. Or they could play a game of hot and cold if she'd rather experiment...

Hot and cold, how about. (Anakin's basking in Elesse, and she wants to wring more reactions, and a wider variety of them.)

Warm glow of amusement.

So far, then, Anakin's on the cool side of warm...

She'll keep exploring - both physically and mentally. (She really enjoys praising Elesse.) (She also really enjoys the body's reaction to pain. Elesse might have a slightly different opinion about that.)

Praise is hot! Elesse likes Anakin's reaction to the reaction more than she dislikes the reaction, so pain is also very warm. (The body is Anakin's to do what she likes with.)

Oh, she likes that thought. (Elesse is Anakin's, too.)

She is. All for Anakin.

She'll be sure to take an apprppriate amount of advantage. 

Which is to say every advantage?

Naturally. 

Perfect.

Elesse is perfect. Such a good girl for Anakin. 

Little happy blush.

Awwww, cute. (Anakin adores her Elesse.)

And Elesse loves Anakin.

(This was a very good idea.)

The most fun one can have in hyperspace, definitely.

And there's more fun to be had outside of it?

Other options, at least.

Like what?

Podracing, for example.

She sticks her tongue out at Elesse. 

Laughter.

What did Anakin think she meant?

Something a bit more relevant to what they're doing currently. 

Oh, well, in that case...

There are certain tools they don't have access to, changes in scenery like a beach or a forest open new possible arrangements.

Not to mention what the addition of other bodies could do.

Mmmm, her Elesse has a lot of good ideas.

She does have her moments, doesn't she?

A lot of those, too!

Anakin is too kind.

(Elesse takes back control of an arm so as to pat her on the head.)

She breaks down giggling. 

'You like that?' she teases.

'I like it when you're a dork.'

Laugh. 'Then I shall continue.'

She turns and kisses the hand Elesse took over. 

Oh, how sweet.

'Love you, dork.'

'I love you too, padawan.'

Warm cozy afterglow time? 

Yes indeed.

At least until the journey's ending.

...Probably Elesse should control the body while talking to Maz?

That will be simplest, yes.

Anakin pulls back some, then. 

And Elesse will secure them a landing spot, then it's off to the bar.

Which is more like a castle, really, bustling and busy with banners displaying the symbols of all sorts of syndicates, gangs, and mercenary organizations flapping over the courtyard.

It's really interestingly busy! Anakin is having fun looking at everything - and is also apparently totally invisible to everyone here. 

It's a brief adjustment for Elesse to be the only one present and in charge of interacting with people, but in short order she gets set up at the bar with a drink. Then they're just waiting to be noticed, which shouldn't take long.

Maz makes her way back to the main room and over to Elesse in fairly short order, hopping up next to her and saying, "I hadn't expected to see you back here," without much preamble.

"The Force sets us on strange paths sometimes," Elesse says.

"Yours stranger than most, it seems."

"From Jedi to general to out-of-work spacer."

Amused huff. "You've changed a lot from that little girl tagging behind my old friend, dearie."

Hum. "Such things are harder to notice from the inside..."

"Many things are. People and events alike."

"What do you make of recent... events, Maz?"

Hum. "A long discussion. Not one for the bar, I think."

"Do you still have those private rooms upstairs?"

"I do." She picks up her drink and hops down off her stool, before leading the way up. 

Upstairs it is. (It's a good sign Maz is willing to relocate, she thinks.)

"So... You had questions for me?" she asks once they're alone.

"More of a hope for assistance, really."

Her gaze cuts over to where Anakin is hovering quietly. "You have your work cut out for you."

"At least now I know it is front of me."

"I can't fight the Republic for you - but I can help you all the same."

"We're... not looking to jump back into a war."

"I'd hope not - but the war might come for you anyways."

"Perhaps. It would be nice to find some peace before it does."

"That I can help with."

"Thank you, Maz."

"You want a place to stay, a ship, and some work, then?"

"That would be the short of it."

" - And people for me to talk to."

"Most won't see you," she says, almost gently. 

"I can use Elesse's body. So just - I want to be around people who won't. Notice or care who she is."

Hum. "Entirely doable - that's why I built this little bar."

"You'll let us return?"

"Yes - if you don't break bar rules."

"I think we can manage that much."

"Then you'll keep being welcome."

Smile.

"What sort of ship do you have for us, and what sort of work?"

She has a variety of leads for them to pick from...

Elesse will certainly defer to Anakin's judgement on the final choice, but she has a good feeling about that light freighter...

Oh that freighter has potential - she's got plenty of room for after market editions, and the things Anakin could do to that engine...

Sounds like true love.

Which means Elesse will get her for Anakin, since Elesse's in true love with Anakin? 

Naturally.

Good girl. 

Well. That sure makes Elesse feel a way.

A good way? 

A good way.

Smug Anakin!

They can explore that more once Elesse gets their new ship...

Is that a hint to get a move on?

A bit stronger than a hint. 

Oh my.

As she commands.

Very good girl. (Anakin is excited about Elesse's reaction to that...)

She is going to contain herself until they have some privacy again.

...Hmmm...

Even with Anakin thinking naughty things at her?

Elesse is a Jedi Master and she has more control over herself than that.

She will, however, be sure to wrap up the details of the ship and their first cargo very quickly.

Anakin wants to test that self control, now. 

Evil little gremlin that she is.

Bold words, when Elesse's the one who introduced her to sex. Really, Anakin's doing her a favor. Providing her with what she was clearly asking for...

And enjoying it far too much.

(Elesse loves her for it.)

If Anakin's enjoying it too much, then what about Elesse? 

Elesse is enjoying the exact right amount, thank you very much.

Well, if Elesse properly enjoys it when Anakin's mean to her, then it's a bit silly to claim that Anakin enjoys giving Elesse what she wants too much.

There's nothing wrong with being a bit silly with your loved ones from time to time.

Then nothing wrong with Anakin being silly by trying to make Elesse lose her composure in public. 

Flawless logic. Well played, padawan.

Smug!

(Speaking of... Some of those thoughts Elesse'd had at her earlier about potential tools to help with their fun times could be relevant to those efforts...)

Something that could be remotely controlled, perhaps?

By someone with the Force, if nothing else. 

That should be reasonably easy to arrange.

Before or after celebrating their new ship?

Oh, definitely after.

Elesse doesn't want to delay celebrations?

Not even a little bit.

Impatient.

Elesse has been extremely patient up until now. Now she would like to stop being patient.

A good girl like her does deserve to be rewarded.