MCA #6- Monday evening

[solo_sword]

It had been, overall, an emotionally exhausting end to the week. Unexpectedly, though, after talking to some people and getting some overall normalcy going while she visited with her little brother... It made things more okay. If she'd talked at all casually about Anakin's death, she had to be making progress, she figured.

There were still a lot of people she wanted to see, though, and she had to keep reminding herself that she couldn't just stroll onto campus and see them uninvited anymore. At the same time, she was trying to give space and not be crowding anyone just because she was doing okay, which meant she was doing her best to shut down the urge to go out and hunt her friends and family down. At the moment, she was accomplishing this by sitting quietly in her chair, fiddling idly with her comlink, and debating whether she should give her parents warning for what she was bringing home to them this weekend.


[Expecting one, but she won't turn down visitors.]

Comments

[weetuskenraider]

After spending all of yesterday holed up in her room and most of today holed up in her alcove (when she wasn't in class), Tahiri realized she really should talk to Jaina; if anyone else was going to be more or less reeling from the weekend, who else would be?

She really hadn't headed out into town since coming back from the preserve on Saturday night, but here she was now, knocking on Jaina's door.

[solo_sword]

Jaina reached out just to see who was on the other end of the door, and when she felt that particular presence, she was definitely getting up to answer it. She opened the door, already opening it enough for her to come in, and said, "Hey. I've been debating tracking you down."

[weetuskenraider]

"You might have had your work cut out for you," Tahiri said -- ironically, since she had a feeling hiding from Jaina would be a challenge. "I haven't exactly been social the last couple of days, so tracking would have been about it."

She took a breath and rubbed at the back of her neck. "I would've come to find you sooner, but, well."

[solo_sword]

"Yeah," she said, completely understanding. Not that it kept her from starting with, "How are you doing?"

[weetuskenraider]

"Pretty well," Tahiri admitted, "all things considered."

She studied Jaina for a moment. "How about you? I know we're supposed to be prepared for unexpected things, but this was a bit hard to prepare for."

[solo_sword]

"I'm okay," she said, actually feeling it. She gestured to the sofa in case Tahiri wanted to sit, and said, "Didn't see it coming, no, but... I'm glad it happened."

[weetuskenraider]

"Yeah." Tahiri took her up on the invitation, dropping onto the sofa with her hands clasped in her lap. She actually managed a smile, and it didn't even feel forced. "So am I. For all the weird things this island's done, we got the chance to say goodbye, you know?"

[solo_sword]

She nodded, taking a seat. "And he was actually here. Not just a ghost, but someone you could hug and... Fandom did something right for once."

[weetuskenraider]

"It really did," Tahiri agreed. "Just like I remember him."

She bit her lip. "That was the part that really hit me. He was the same. We're . . . not. Not any more."

[solo_sword]

Jaina got what that meant, too. Blame her current situation for going there immediately, maybe. "So you're... What does that mean, exactly?"

[weetuskenraider]

"Going to be okay, I guess?" Tahiri tried. "Not feeling bad about getting on with my life, I suppose. He seemed pretty glad about that; I could tell."

But she was still pretty stuck on one point. "Jaina, we got to see him again."

[solo_sword]

Jaina couldn't help but smile at that. "Does it still feel unreal to you, too?"

[weetuskenraider]

"It does." Tahiri almost grinned in response. "But not in a bad way. It's almost a relief, really."

[solo_sword]

"I wouldn't call it a relief, personally," Jaina said. "More... settling."

[weetuskenraider]

Tahiri considered that, then nodded. "Settling's closer to it. It wasn't as if there was some huge moment of revelation or anything like that. Just sort of . . . realizing."

[solo_sword]

"I'm glad you got to have that," Jaina said honestly. When she'd first found out about Ben and Tahiri there had been a lot of 'What about Anakin?' thoughts, but after seeing what the lack of closure had done for her Tahiri... "Seeing his reaction had to help, too. Knowing he's okay with it..."