fandomhigh | Fandom High Graduation Ceremony Class of 2007 Part I

The sun was shining high in the sky above the front lawn (not that this would matter to certain members of the audience since there was a nice awning and shaded pathways). A stage was set up with a podium and several seats for the administration and guests. Off to the side of the stage, a guitar for musical performances.

In front of the stage, blue and gold chairs were set for the largest graduating class in Fandom High history (not that it was a tough record to achieve), and to either side of those chairs were bleachers for students, family, friends, alumni, and residents of the town of Fandom who wanted to wtiness this event.

It was a beautiful day for a graduation.

[OOC: ~~Please wait for OCD.~~ You're good to go! This post is mostly for audience mingling, general graduation stuff, and such. Look for Part II with your standard Fandom Surprise early this afternoon.

It'll be kind of hard to miss the events of the second post, so you might want to hold off an any post-graduation posts for a while to avoid being Jossed.]

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"Well, he is and he does," Callisto said, possibly misinterpreting Anakin's silence. "I just... never cared about it, not the way he obviously did."

"What did Logan make you see?" Anakin asked softly. "Or remember, or forget?"

"He took my memories, he laughed and cracked jokes while he did it," Callisto said. "I had the mind of a child, I thought my mother was going to come and find me to take me home. Parker had to tell me why she wasn't. Then Bridge figured out how to break the spell, and I remembered. Everything."

Something scary lit up in Anakin's eyes. "I'll kill him."

"Tried that, didn't work."

"I've had a lot of practice since I graduated."

"Maybe you won't end up choked then."

"I was a bit of an expert at choking back," he said dryly.

Callisto rubbed her neck unconsciously. "He doesn't breathe, remember?"

"Yeah, but Logan still needs to," Anakin said darkly.

"Good luck expecting him to fight his own battles."

"Kill off the weak ones first," Anakin said, going back on old instincts.

Bad Anakin.

"He won't know what hit him."

"Good," Callisto said flatly.

She managed a small smile. "Thanks, Anakin. I'm glad you're not...I'm just glad."

Anakin moved his hand tentatively towards her shoulder. "That goes for you too," he said softly. "Don't let them have this kind of power over you. Neither of them is worth your time."

Callisto stiffened slightly, before reaching for Anakin's hand. "It hurts."

Anakin squeezed her hand gently. "I know it does," he said. And he did: her pain was pulsing through the Force like a living thing. "And believe me, I understand holding onto pain. But you let it go, even a little bit, and it becomes so much easier to breathe."

"It's all I have," Callisto said. "Everything else gets taken from me."

"It's letting them win," Anakin said. "You are so much stronger than this, Callisto."

"No, I'm not."

"You took a gut wound and barely slowed down," Anakin said, voice intent. "This is just another kind of gut wound. You'll get through this if I have to drag you by the hair to do it."

Anakin sucked at motivational speeches.

Callisto's lips quirked at the visual. "If I was strong I wouldn't have let it happen."

Anakin shook his head again. "You didn't expect him to behave like that because who could? This is on him. If he's sleeping through the night, you should too."