"So," Master Xio said carefully as they started his session the next day, "how did it go, yesterday?"

They sat in the normal room, him on the edge of the armchair across from hers. Anakin looked at her with the barest smile. "Very well, actually."

She looked only marginally relieved at that. "Any nightmares?"

He shook his head. "None that I remember."

She cocked her head to one side. "No other side effects that you know of?"

He frowned. "Are you… looking for something in particular?" He wasn't quite sure what 'side effects' would be worth noticing. He actually felt rather… normal, considering. He wasn't at his best, yet, but he didn't feel particularly badly either. Was she looking for something specific?

The white-haired master sighed. "I've been speaking with Healer Girth and we came to a realization that his definition of 'normal' and mine are… different."

Anakin cocked his head. "How so?"

Her lips thinned a little, more in resignation than anger. "A Jedi lifestyle is, in and of itself, stressful. As such, we, as a whole, tend to be used to higher states of stress – and the after effects – than what most would consider 'healthy'."

Huh. That certainly made sense. If someone lived in a certain condition, then it did tend to become usual and they either adapted to it or broke. He cut off that train of thought before it could go down a very dark black hole.

Master Xio sighed again, slumping a little. "I've noticed some symptoms of what he's pointed out in multiple Jedi I've treated over the years, ranging from mild to extreme cases. Those mild cases I tended to pass off as normal. It isn't that I didn't understand or know about it, per se, but that I just didn't make some mental connections that I, as a therapist, really should have." Ah, that would explain the guilt he could sense from her.

"It isn't your fault," he said slowly, unused to being the one giving her advice. "You didn't know."

"Hmm," she replied, gaze distant. "Perhaps. But apparently some of my fellow Jedi mind-healers did know of these symptoms and the effects, so it was there to find. I made a note to stress it in the teachings and classes mind-healers have to take for future reference. After that, it's just a matter of time to work through it and forgive myself for not looking deeper."

Well, that was something he could definitely relate to. It was nice to see her taking her own advice. But that also made him curious. "What symptoms – or repercussions – are you looking for?"

She took just a couple of seconds longer to shake her thoughts away and straighten up, matching gazes with her patient. "First, let me tell you a bit more about stress for context*. Stress is your body's reaction to harmful, potentially harmful or perceived harmful situations. The most common reaction in relation to stress is to release hormones to temporarily help your body deal with said situations.

"The most common of these hormones is adrenaline. Adrenaline can be helpful and beneficial to the body, but it is meant for temporary usage. Using it – or having it in the bloodstream – for extended time periods has effects on the body, many of which are harmful." She paused and glanced up at him to make sure he'd followed her so far. At least that was the impression he got, so he nodded. She returned the gesture and looked down at her data pad again.

"Now, prolonged stress has its own serious problems not always caused by adrenaline, although there is a lot of overlap, but I'm going to focus mostly on the effects of adrenaline, just to illustrate my point. Here are some common symptoms of continued adrenaline spikes: they can damage your blood vessels, increase your blood pressure, and elevate your risk of heart attacks or stroke. They can also cause headaches, soreness in the chest or abdomen and weight gain. They can also result in anxiety and insomnia. Again, a lot of these are symptoms of more general stress as well, but are most often seen with prolonged adrenaline spikes.

"I bring this up, Anakin, because you've gone through several very stressful situations recently: seeing your previous abuser, everything that happened with Dooku and the fact that I know you still put yourself in reckless or dangerous situations a couple of times a week – you've admitted as much to me before. This can be especially damaging to children both physically and psychologically, so with that in mind, are you suffering from any of those symptoms? Pain in your muscles, chest or abdomen? Insomnia? Headaches? Weight gain, even?"

Truthfully, Anakin had been thoroughly exhausted the day before – the kind of exhaustion he liked to work himself into because it led to dreamless sleeps. He had also been fighting a headache for the last week, ever since… well, Dooku and that whole fiasco, so maybe she was right to worry?

"Um, no weight gain," he said, "and I slept well last night, but I haven't been sleeping very well otherwise," he admitted. "I've also had a mild headache off and on for the last week or so." He wouldn't bring up the specific event if he didn't have to. She knew what he was talking about.

She sighed and nodded. "I was afraid of that. I'd like to have a healer look over you before you go today, if you don't mind. Just to run a couple of tests and maybe give you something for that headache or sleeping."

Anakin would like to say his face didn't fall… but it did. He hoped he didn't look too stubborn. He hated the healer's wing, especially when staying there.

"Meanwhile, I have some exercises that can help you activate your parasympathetic nervous system, aka the 'rest-and-digest' system – which counters the 'fight-or-flight' system."

He frowned a little, having never heard of a 'rest and digest' system before.

She went on. "First is meditation. I think this might be one reason why meditation is so strongly encouraged in our order, because it helps to promote equilibrium in the body and allows for your body to rest and repair itself."

That might explain a couple of things about his first life, when he'd hated meditating. Although, come to think of it, he'd been kind of neglecting meditation exercises lately, so perhaps he'd have to look at fixing that. It was certainly better than ending up in the healer's wing because of something like this… which, he realized now, had happened multiple times, especially during the Clone Wars.

"Other exercises," Master Xio continued, "to try that promote equilibrium: Deep breathing exercises; slower kata forms, especially those without lightsabers or that focus on deep breathing, stretching in combination with the movements; speaking to friends or family about stressful situations so you don't dwell on them as much; keeping a diary of your feelings or thoughts; eating a balanced, healthy diet; exercising regularly; limiting stimulant and alcohol consumption; avoiding bright lights, computers, loud music and holo-projections before bed."

"I… have been slacking on meditation recently," Anakin admitted. He hadn't realized why it was so important, but he had a strong suspicion that most Jedi didn't.

"But you have been speaking about stressful situations and exercising regularly, so I'm sure that has helped," his mind-healer pointed out.

Anakin nodded. That was true...

Master Xio studied him for several more seconds before putting the holopad down on her knees and folding her hands.

"I also bring this up, Anakin," she said, "because despite you telling me that yesterday went well, and despite having talked it over with your therapist, you're still on edge. Can you tell me why?"

Anakin blinked. "Am I not shielding?" he asked.

The mind-healer shook her head with a sad smile. "No, you are. You just confirmed my suspicions though."

She always had been too good at guessing.

It was Anakin's turn to sigh, although he kept it internal, but felt some amusement lacing his thoughts. He really should have known better. Then he sobered as he confessed. "I'm frustrated that I can't figure it out. I'm on edge, but… I can't tell you why."

Master Xio frowned. "Was it something he said?"

The time-traveler shook his head. "No."

"Something you said or did?"

Again, he shook his head.

She thought about it for several seconds. "Was there something out of the ordinary?"

He thought back over his talk with the man. No, nothing had really gone out of the ordinary. It had gone completely as expected…

Wait…

"It… went too well," he realized.

"What do you mean?" the mind-healer ventured cautiously.

The time-traveler looked out the window at the Senate building in the distance feeling a little dazed. "I missed something. Nothing ever goes that well around me – especially not when it comes to him. But I cannot figure out what I overlooked." Besides the obvious movements for mints and stress balls that Anakin hadn't tried to hide… and what had he gotten out of those? Did he just pass that off with Anakin's story of being wary around him due to his past? He hoped so, but knew better than to accept that as truth.

The Jedi Master puzzled through that for a couple of seconds before responding. "Would you know if you'd given something away? Would he have let you know?"

The daze began to clear and Anakin stiffened. "No," he said, starting to feel a little sick. Well, there was the nausea she'd been talking about earlier. "Although, if it had been something big enough, he would have made a move..." but the smaller slip-ups were worse, in a way, because they built up over time and...

Oh, Force... what had Anakin let slip already? Just by walking into that Force forsaken room? He hadn't wanted to think about it, but the thought came crashing into consciousness without care for what it destroyed on the way.

"Anakin," Xio said worriedly. He blinked and took several deep breaths, releasing his worry to the Force. Then he nodded at her, letting her know he was fine. He'd known what would happen and what he would walk into. They just had to make contingency plans. Right. Yes. Contingency.

"I... do not know what I may have let slip," he heard himself say, and then braced himself against the flailing typhoon in his stomach. He swallowed, then steeled himself as best he could, allowing a stony expression to fall over his face. "We should plan for the worst." And the best. And everything in between.

The white-haired master looked unsure. "What would you classify as 'the worst'?"

Anakin opened his mouth, then closed it again. There were a lot of worst case scenarios now that he thought about it.

"That he finds out I'm from the future," he finally said. "That he finds out, somehow, that I used to be Vader. He doesn't know my weakness, yet, but he will not confront me until he has something to hold over me."

Xio frowned. "Could he find any of that out? Truthfully?"

With Dooku potentially on his side? "It's... possible," Anakin said. "Unlikely, but possible." He could try and remember what he'd let slip to Dooku, but while he'd gotten to where he could be more detailed as Vader, even then he had never been good at keeping track of things like that. He'd always relied more on the Force and strong-arming his way through more or less every obstacle in his path. He'd just have to assume he'd let some crucial piece of information slip somewhere and that Sidious would figure it out sooner or later.

"What will he do if he finds out?" She'd taken out her notepad again and was typing away, apparently going – at least partially – into her 'analytical mode'.

"That depends on what conclusion he draws," Anakin said slowly, "and how he comes to said conclusion. If he finds out I'm from the future, he will want to ascertain how far into the future I am from. If he realizes that I've told the Jedi who he is, he could very well attack the Temple."

That made Xio stop for a moment, brow furrowing. "How? He doesn't have the clone army you spoke of. Does he have access to droid armies already?"

Assessing like this tended to calm Anakin down, give him the focus he needed, and he welcomed that now. "Unlikely. However, he does not need to attack physically to destroy the Jedi."

The older woman paused again, eyes widening. "You're talking about a campaign? That could be political suicide."

Anakin shook his head. "I don't think you understand exactly how good that man is with words. He could likely have something drawn up within hours that would set the Temple's standing back for years, if not decades. I wouldn't be surprised if a campaign of his could drive the Jedi from Coruscant." Her eyes got bigger, but she didn't question him again, so she must have sensed the truth of his words. He felt her release some of her own fear to the Force and then dive right back into analytical mode.

"Why hasn't he already used this tactic?" she asked.

He almost snorted. "Because it would be a heavy blow against the Jedi, but it wouldn't wipe them out. The Order would be around to rebuild itself eventually, stronger than before. Not only would that grate against his Sith sensibilities, but it would allow many potential, future threats to his Empire to remain. By playing the long game, he slowly diminishes the Jedi numbers – mostly in the war, but I wouldn't be surprised if he had a hand in some of the deaths before the Clone Wars as well. He is, after all, Chancellor and has some sway over what missions the Jedi receive and who is sent on them."

Despite her otherwise emotionless face, he saw her swallow. No doubt if she didn't have such a healthy skin-color, he'd be able to see green.

"Then he starts the clone wars and wipes out as many Jedi as possible," she concluded. "In one, fell swoop."

Anakin's lips tightened, and he debated telling her his own conclusions. Ultimately, he decided that she needed to understand the gravity of the situation and the thorough nature of his old master's plans.

"In the future I come from, less than one percent of the Jedi survived the year following order 66. The numbers continued to decrease from there. I know of maybe a dozen Jedi who survived a decade. Kenobi, Vos, Jareth, Tano, Olin, Master Yoda..." He closed his mouth and breathed out his pain and guilt and hatehatehate of himself (with only partial success) into the Force before speaking again. "To my knowledge, only Master Yoda lived past two decades." And he'd only known that because he'd felt the old master die.

He couldn't look up and meet her eyes, so he gazed off to one side of her, knowing she stared at him in disbelief.

"No one else?" she asked softly.

"To my knowledge, no."

"There were… no Jedi at all?" she said it as if she were in shock, which she likely was.

Anakin paused. "Jareth took on a padawan, as did Obi-wan, albeit shortly." Because Luke had been far too untrained to have studied under him for long by the time Anakin had... killed him.

Would he ever get over that guilt? Or the guilt about the fact that he hadn't felt any guilt at the time?

"If the Jedi lived on," he forced himself to keep going, "they lived on through those two alone. Ezra Bridger and... my son."

He wondered if she'd address the elephant in the room of who had killed all those Jedi. He wasn't sure he could deal with that at the moment. Not with Palpatine and everything else going on. Besides, wasn't it obvious? Or was it just him?

"I... see," she finally said. Then, to his relief, she didn't linger on the subject. "Going back to the problem at hand, if the Chancellor finds out about our knowledge of him, he could still very well ruin the Jedi publicly and socially, if nothing else."

"Then he would likely set up situations that would whittle down their numbers even more. It could potentially be just as devastating, simply not as satisfying," Anakin concluded.

Master Xio thought about that after she finished typing. "You're describing a very... overconfident man."

Anakin couldn't help a small smile at her words, thinking back to his son's observations. 'Your overconfidence is your weakness.'

"If Sidious has an exploitable flaw, it is his arrogance."

"He's a phenomenal actor then. 'Arrogance' and 'overconfidence' are not the words that come to mind when describing him."

Anakin didn't answer, mainly because nothing needed to be said.

Master Xio went on, defining a solution to the problem as best she could. "So we need something to counter a campaign like that. One of our own, perhaps?"

"If it is something that can be implemented subtly as soon as possible, it will have more chance of success."

"I will speak with Master Yoda," she said. "What would happen to you, though, if he discovered any of your secrets?"

Anakin swallowed. "He will either try to turn me to his side… again, or have me killed before I do more damage."

"We'd have to keep you here, then," she said, muttering and making more notes. "Keep you safe."

Anakin shook his head. "It won't make a difference."

Master Xio stopped, blinking at him as if that didn't compute. "But the Temple is a fortress. He can't get in… can he?"

The former Sith's smile held no mirth this time. "There have been temple break-ins in the past. And what safety I did have would be gone if the Jedi were forced off of Coruscant." Not to mention he would not do well in a cage. He'd always fought against his captors in one way or another, and that would only get worse now. His racing circuits had been his outlet recently, and even though he knew such outings couldn't last indefinitely, having that taken away right now would not do well for him. Or likely, the Jedi.

"In addition, I would only have sanctuary here so long as I was young enough. Even if the Council let me stay for some reason, defenses eventually fail. Jedi can out-perform most sapients. Emphasis on the word 'most'. I could give you a list of bounty hunters and pirates off the top of my head who could take on Jedi and would have a good chance at winning." Jango Fett, Cad Bane, Aura Sing (although, to be fair, she was Force Sensitive), Jena Zan Abor, Granta Omega, a good number of Mandalorians (some including Death Watch, as much as he hated to admit it). He'd even, reluctantly, put Honda Ohnaka and his crew on that list, at least under certain circumstances – and Honda happened to be very good at creating favorable circumstances.

"So we'll have to address the Temple's security?" the mind-healer asked.

Anakin shook his head. "While that is a good idea, there is no such thing as an impenetrable fortress."

She frowned at that and cocked her head to one side. "How would you respond to that situation, then?"

Fortunately, the former soldier had thought about that. "Were I confined to the temple, I would likely go mad." And then he'd snap and do something rash, like confront the man himself. Or start killing people who got in his way. Or both.

"But how is that different from...?" she faded off as she realized the implications. "You... don't stay exclusively in the temple now... do you. That's what you do that's dangerous… isn't it."

Once again, he chose not to answer, simply quirking an eyebrow ever so slightly.

"Right. We'll... have to address that at some point."

"To be fair, Master Yoda knows," Anakin pointed out. Well, he was pretty sure the old master knew. For the most part. "As does Siri. She's begun to come with me, recently."

Master Xio's eyes widened again, then narrowed. "I... see. Well, there's that at least, I suppose. I will have to have a talk with them as well, then. Good thing Master Yoda's coming today." She looked entirely too happy when she said that. Anakin frowned and probed her Force signature. No... no darkness. He let out the breath he'd been holding as the Jedi Master blinked and then looked back at him, concerned.

"What was that? Is everything okay?" she asked.

"You just seemed... rather happy to get a chance to yell at him."

She blinked for a moment, then snorted. "Oh, it isn't that. I just find it effective to let people know of my displeasure and it tends to be easier to present it as a smile. It's one of the few habits still lingering from my Knighthood days."

He quirked an eyebrow again. "You do know it won't have any effect on Master Yoda, right?"

She deflated a little. "True. Ah, well."

"When is he coming?" Anakin asked.

"He should be here soon," Xio replied, looking at her chrono. "Very soon. Now, actually. Where is—"

Right about then, they both felt him slowly approaching from outside.

"Apparently he was hiding his presence," Anakin said dryly.

"Indeed," the mind-healer said with fond exasperation.

"Once a troll always a troll?" Anakin asked.

Xio whirled around to him, shocked. "Anakin!"

He grinned, unrepentant. After a moment, she let out a chuckle. "It's good to see you joke... although we should probably work on your sense of humor."

The time-traveler just shrugged, still smirking. "Mine is better than Obi-wan's was."

"Was?" she asked.

He shrugged again, although this time with far less amusement. "I don't know him as well now."

She frowned and looked like she wanted to say something, but the door opened and Master Yoda hobbled in.

xXx

After the usual formalities and greetings, Tai'k decided to get right down to business.

"Master Yoda, we were discussing some of Anakin's more… dangerous habits," she said as she shot the boy a pointed look. He gave a few tells of embarrassment, but otherwise just stared straight at her. She couldn't help but think that even that must show how much he'd come to trust her and Master Yoda.

"His escapades from the temple, you speak of?"

She frowned and glanced at the time-traveler again. This time he looked away, although his expression remained stoic.

"He says they can be dangerous."

The Grandmaster just looked calmly at Anakin. "Dangerous, leaving the Temple can be." Well, he wasn't wrong. Just what details did he know?

"What exactly do you do, Anakin?" she asked sternly.

He looked right back up and met her gaze again, all tells gone. That… was not a good sign, for his mental health or for the nature of his excursions.

"I race speeders."

What.

Anakin continued, either not noticing or not caring about Tai'k's surprise. "There's a local, floating ring that tends to switch between bases, although I usually go to one in particular. I race speeders so I have enough money for any… future ventures."

"Future ventures?" the mind healer probed.

"Currently I am funding the rescue and rehabilitation of slaves on a fairly small scale."

There were so many issues with that she didn't know where to start. Fortunately, Master Yoda seemed to.

"Rescue them, how do you? On Coruscant you have been."

Anakin didn't answer for a moment. She had a feeling they weren't going to like this. So many red flags...

"I have a… contact who acts as a go-between."

"Contact?"

He sighed, deflating just a little. "A bounty hunter."

What.

"He is an honorable person, despite his chosen profession."

The mind-healer resisted the urge to rub the bridge of her nose. "Define 'honor'," she said. "Which code does he follow?"

He definitely suppressed a wince there. "The Mandalorian code. The Old Code."

She had to close her eyes and take a deep breath, releasing all of her worry to the Force. "Anakin," she said, "do you know what Mandalorians – especially old code Mandalorians – think about Jedi?"

A pause. "Yes."

"And he hasn't tried to kill you?"

"Not yet…"

Still not getting any better.

"Does he even know you're a Jedi?" she asked.

She really didn't like all of his hesitations. "He knows I study here."

Tai'k frowned and she noticed Yoda's ears drooping a little. As much as she wanted to continue on this subject, another thought at his words struck her. She'd never really considered it before, but…

Her stomach clenched at his avoidance. She could only think of one reason why he wouldn't answer that outright.

"Anakin… do you not consider yourself a Jedi?"

His mouth thinned out at that but he looked her firmly in the eyes when he answered.

"No."

The mind healer forced herself past what felt like a punch to the gut. She… thought she understood, but at the same time, did she? It made no sense to her, and yet…

"I… I'm going to need an explanation, I think." She really just didn't understand. He was an initiate. He was taking classes. He was here in the Temple, helping them.

The boy let out a long sigh. "Jango Fett and I actually have very similar views on Jedi."

This… was getting worse by the second. Had she misjudged his progress? Had Girth as well?

"Tell us, will you, what they are?" Yoda asked, voice soft and sad.

Anakin looked away again, this time more out of focus than embarrassment. "I joined the Sith for a reason. I cannot agree with the Jedi tenants – not all of them, in any case. And while I cannot agree with the Sith tenants either, that doesn't mean I automatically revert to Jedi teachings. This universe is not as simple as 'Jedi', 'Sith' and 'Non-sensitive'.

"The basic principles of both orders… they failed me once. Perhaps I just understood them incorrectly, but the idea of embracing peace and ignoring emotion seems just as wrong as the idea of peace being a complete lie. I want to be better – I still believe I can relearn morality here better than just about anywhere else at the moment, but that doesn't mean I can live by the Jedi Code.

"There are good people here – good examples and good influences. There are also not-so-good examples and influences, but I don't believe that negates the good the Order can do. Not anymore. I've always fought for people. I don't fight for ideals. Perhaps that makes me unwise or childish, but it is how I have always been."

He paused and coughed a little. "It didn't help that I grew up hearing about the great Jedi who were peacekeepers of the Galaxy – who would come and save everyone one day. Even after coming to the Temple, I still had the underlying thought of 'that's what a Jedi should be.' The Order never lived up to that. I realize that is my own fault," he said that through gritted teeth – him and his pride, "but the Order certainly didn't help with some of what they expect from it's members. Did you know that in less than a decade, over half the younglings will be given command – an army rank – and told to fight on the front lines of a war? Do you know how often I took my own padawan into battle?

"Some peacekeepers. All I could see as I grew up in the Temple was how everyone preached to me how I was wrong. How I could never be right unless I completely agreed with them. And then, everyone else felt it was fine to toss their morals out of the airlock." He shook his head. "Jedi are good people – flawed people, and… I realize expecting differently is unhealthy. But I cannot abide by their – by your tenants. I will happily work along side you to save the universe, but I'm not sure I can ever come back here – not fully."

Silence fell over the room as Tai'k breathed a quiet sigh of relief. While the idea of him rejecting her own ideals hurt in its own right, she could also see where he was coming from, and she couldn't say she blamed him either.

"Is that why you haven't accepted Padawanship under Siri?" she asked, half to let him realize that she wasn't upset and they could continue the discussion without her subsequent rejection of him, and half because that made a lot of sense and she wanted confirmation.

"Partially," he responded, looking relieved, although he did shoot one uncertain glance at a very still Yoda. "But it also didn't feel right."

"Plan on staying with us, how long, are you?" Yoda asked with no inflection. Tai'k shot him an uncertain glance herself.

Anakin straightened a little. "Until Palpatine is taken care of… at least. Although I wouldn't wish to leave the people I've come to care for so readily, either. I suppose, I will stay as long as the Council allows me to."

Yoda put his hands on his gimmer stick and then hid his mouth behind them, looking contemplative, if troubled. "Think on this, I will. But back on track, we should come, yes?"

Both Anakin and Tai'k nodded.

"I don't want to give up racing. It's an outlet for me, right now and something that helps me plan for the future. Also, Siri accompanies me to make sure I don't compromise the Temple's defenses, and to assist should something happen."

Which he didn't think would occur from the tone of his voice.

"Hmm. While live here, you do, follow the rules, you should. Exist for a reason, they do."

Anakin's face went blank again. "I will, if you demand it," he finally said, practically through gritted teeth, "but I don't think it will be beneficial to anyone mentally." He shot a glance over at the mind healer. "This is probably my oldest remotely healthy coping mechanism." One he couldn't give up when he was working on so many new behavioral issues while confronting his former abuser.

This time, Tai'k gave in and rubbed the bridge of her nose. Truthfully, the fact that he could see that his racing may not be the healthiest was a step in the right direction, albeit a small one.

"He's right," she said to the Grandmaster. "I don't like it, but taking this away from him right now wouldn't be advisable."

Yoda just let out a, 'humph', and then a nod. He wasn't happy with it either. Which brought her back to just one more point she had to make before they moved on.

"You realize that we don't like you putting yourself in danger like that because we care for you and your safety, right, Anakin?"

His expression softened the slightest touch. "Yes."

"Then your homework for today is to think up other potential coping mechanisms that aren't so dangerous as racing in an underground circuit that could replace this mechanism. We won't implement them for now, but I'd like to discuss ideas of ways you and those who care for you can both find acceptable for you to release your emotion and energy on."

Anakin didn't look happy (more like resigned), but he did nod and agree.

"Very well then," she said, looking down at her data pad. Ah, yes. "Now to discuss permanently discontinuing Anakin's sessions with D40…"

Eventually, they decided that permanently retiring the droid would be fine, and Yoda promised he'd try to stall the Council from calling Anakin in as much as he could, but pointed out that he'd have to face them eventually and speak about his 'dark master' with them. Then Master Xio wondered if they could limit Anakin's time in front of the Council, as that was something she could definitely advocate for. The Grandmaster seemed sure the Council members would agree to that initially, but depending on what Anakin told them, could advocate for longer meetings later on. Now they just needed to figure out what Anakin could say that the Council would believe.

It was still a plan forward, even if not one any of them were particularly looking forward to.

xXx

AN:

*I did get most of this directly off of the Web MD and NIMH websites, but I remember similar wording in my college textbooks, so I'm pretty sure this is accurate and up-to-date.

So, I'd like to thank all the people on my Discord. We've been having some fun discussions and I really appreciate some of the knowledge you guys bring to the server. I was really worried about starting a Discord, but people have been trying to be polite and while there have been a couple of problems here and there, everyone has acted like an adult that can step away for a minute to cool down and others are willing to step in to let people know that things are getting heated.

I have drawn one picture over the stream (as practice), which can be seen here: www (period) deviantart (period) com /obi-quiet/art/anakin-and-Ahsoka-cropped-856064469?ga_submit_new=10% 3A1600931225 (without spaces - or you can just go to obi-quiet (period) deviantart (period) com and look in the Star Wars folder) I'd like to draw more, but I've been dealing with health issues and then family problems. I'm hoping to get into it more, although people might just have to deal with me drawing my original webcomic instead. *Shrug* Sorry, it's what needs to get done.

This is likely the last therapy chapter for a while. It's mainly to show that even when things go well with Palps, that doesn't put Anakin at ease. Probably not a bad thing in some ways, but an be mentally damaging in others.

In a couple of chapters, we're probably going to be getting a short time skip, but it will likely be a couple of weeks at most.

Last but not least, I would like to thank Khalthar, Carradee and Quathis for all of their help, as always, and AngelGidget for the new cover artwork! (ARTWORK *dances* and it's so good too! )