fandomhigh | Ethics [Thursday, September 2, 2nd period]

Anakin walked into his classroom precisely on time and gave the students assembled there an appraising glance-as the door clicked shut behind him. "I'm Master Anakin Skywalker," he said in a voice that was intended to carry. "You may address me either as Master Skywalker or Professor Skywalker. This is Ethics, and we're going to skip the introductions--I'll figure out who you are, if I don't recognize you already--and move straight to our first discussion."

His cloak flared out behind him as he handed out the syllabus. "Today's topic," he said, pointing to the top of the page, "is self sacrifice: knowing the difference between saving people and being a pretentious twit."

Anakin wasn't a great believer in softening his language.

"Any time I ask a a group of people what they would do to save someone they love, they blither on about how they would set the world on fire, lie, cheat, steal, kill, die, et cetera, et cetera. I've been at this school five years now and realize that half of you have probably already been put into this situation. I'm never in a mood to hear adolescent ramblings about how wonderful you were or might hypothetically be."

He leaned back against his desk. "What I want to know is what would make you walk away. When do you decide that the risk isn't worth the cost?"

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//It... depends what it is yer saving them from,// Jono said, his voice quiet. He'd gotten to thinking again, heaven help him, and didn't really feel like giving dirty glowers around the room today to anybody who paid extra attention to him for the way he spoke. //Something outside of yer power? Something outside of theirs...? Is the fate death, or misery, or worse?//

He shrugged faintly.

//It can't really be so black and white. Sometimes, th'only thing you can do to save somebody is to let go.//

Anakin's expression was sympathetic.

For him.

So it might be hard to recognize.

"And that last sentence is one of the hardest things there is to learn," he said quietly.

It hurt. Jonothon couldn't deny that. It had only been a week since his conversation with Death, and knowing that it was coming didn't make it sting any less now.

//It is... but it's th'truth. All there is t'do is what needs t'be done. What you want isn't important, not when it matters most.//

"Which sounds good, but then there's living with that decision," Anakin said, sending a quick pulse of reassurance through the Force towards Jono.

//Life is made of decisions,// Jono replied, feeling that pulse of reassurance and more than willing to open up to it. //Funny thing about that is, we have to live with them all.//

"I think that's why old people look so old," Anakin replied. "It's the weight of decades of decisions as well as the aging process."

Jono nodded faintly, contemplating the area somewhere in the general direction of 'down' while he worked out a proper reply to that one.

//I imagine it's a fairly good reason for at least a few young people looking so old, as well.//

You didn't have to have decades worth of choices behind you to feel weighed down by them, after all.

Anakin, whose eyes looked much older than the 27 years he copped to, nodded. "Indeed."

His eyes narrowed; another mindtalker.

However, he did nod agreement with the student.

Ethics [Thursday, September 2, 2nd period]

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