fandomhigh | Ethics [Monday, March 11, 5th period]

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Ethics [Monday, March 11, 5th period]

Anakin was leaning against the desk as the Ethics class walked in. A crumpled version the syllabus was in his hand.

"I hope you all stayed dry this weekend and kept your fish throwing to a minimum," he said. "The syllabus says that we're supposed to begin a discussion of the seven deadly sins today, but I want to get to know you a little bit first."

He was supposed to be a new instructor, after all.

"What manner of action do you find unforgivable?" he asked, his voice and manner completely unreadable. "Treason against your country or homeworld? Stealing from the defenseless? Slavery? Murder? Let's not worry about extenuating circumstances for the moment. If I were to tell you I killed children, most of you would recoil, correct? Where do you draw that line in your head? How far does someone have to go before you say 'that's wrong and there's no getting past it'?"

He avoided John's eyes as he paced around the room, finally pointing at a student. "Go ahead."

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She sat down, thinking. "The ability to compensate for the partner's weaknesses. If your partner is easily distractable and wants to go watch the flying porpoises, then maybe you need to be able to keep the partnership on track. Or if one is hurt than the other has to keep going."

Anakin smiled. "That sounds ideal. Have you had a partnership like that?"

"I think so," Katara said, smiling back. "Twice, I think." She paused, remembering that Molly had liked and trusted Anakin. "Can it be a partnership if you think you hate the person until the very end?"

Anakin gave her a sad smile. "Absolutely."

She nodded, wondering if she'd accidentally stepped into a bad spot. "Umm, you don't know him, but Zuko, one of the students in this class, he's not going to be at school anymore."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Anakin said. "Is he all right?"

"He will be. I think," Katara said. Even if she'd left him still half-strength in the middle of a war zone weeks away from Ba Sing Se. She looked down. "He didn't want to come back so..."

This might explain the guilt he'd been feeling from her, "...you left him behind?" he finished quietly.

She nodded.

Anakin scooted closer.

"I've been there," he said softly. "He told you to do it?"

"He thought he should stay there because there wasn't a place for him at Fandom," Katara said quietly. "And I couldn't heal him all the way." She scowled. "I didn't even like him."

"That doesn't tend to affect guilt much," Anakin commented. "It takes some time to realize that you did the right thing." He met her eyes. "And you did. You can't make choices for someone."

She dropped her eyes then raised them to meet Anakin's again. "You can't even make them choose right?" Katara asked, half-jokingly.

Anakin gave her a small smile, letting her see, just for a second, how tired he truly was. "Not ever," he said. "Once you start imposing your will like that on another person, you begin to lose something that makes you human."

Katara nodded, watching Anakin carefully. "That makes sense, I guess. You can't make someone do what you want because it'll make you feel more comfortable or make your task easier." She thought again. "But if you did, you could apologise for it perhaps. And make reparations."

"Better to seek forgiveness than permission?" Anakin said wryly. "That only works up to a point."

She shook her head with a small smile. "No, I wasn't thinking of that. I was thinking of a friend because I didn't want to think of him being in that situation. A real friend. Not a fake friend who is really me."

"Always an important distinction," Anakin said with a small smile. Without realizing it, he'd begun to imitate Obi-Wan's mannerisms when Padawans would seek his advice. "Does your friend have the power to physically change someone's mind?" he asked.

"No, he just hits really hard," Katara said, unconsciously rubbing the back of her head.

"That can be pretty persuasive," Anakin agreed. "What kind of problem do you think he's going to need to change people's minds about?" He smiled. "If you can talk about it, of course."

"There's a war, and..." she shook her head and was a bit unsure if she was talking about Aang or Zuko now. "It needs to be won."

Anakin's eyes looked far, far older than his body. "Wars are never really won," he said. "They just continue until one side's too tired to go on."

Katara looked very sad as she watched Anakin. "It's been a hundred years. Can't we make it stop?"

"All things are possible," Anakin said. "In my home galaxy they have just eliminated the Emperor and are trying to establish a new government. That only took 18 years."

"Do you think they'll be successful?" Katara asked.

Ethics [Monday, March 11, 5th period]

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