[ It shouldn't affect him this deeply, her touch — almost featherlight and oh-so-gentle — roiling all manner of emotion and conflict in his chest, and filling it with the sort of longing he had since forgotten more than a decade past. He finds himself shifting the barest fraction towards her, as though caught up in her orbit, and notices the stark absence when she lets her hand drop.

He reminds himself that the Jedi are forbidden to indulgences like this. And then he reminds himself, again and not for the last time even in this conversation alone, that the Jedi have long since stopped existing, so does it really matter? ]

I know, and I'll admit that fault lies with me. I'm afraid I'm a little out of practice where being a suitable conversational partner is concerned. [ He admits this, lightly. ] But I can tell you whatever you'd like to know, though I can't guarantee it will be any more exciting than what we've experienced here.

[ Much of his life has been embroiled in politics of nearly every kind. But it's easier, somehow, to talk about these things than it is to share all of his shame and regret and grief, the stuff he had quietly kept very close to the chest despite his masters' teachings. ]

And I certainly wouldn't wish to bear this burden on anyone else either, least of all you.