Aeris frowned when she felt Dren coming closer to the room. Was he that determined to save this girl? Did she matter that much to him? She supposed it wasn't surprising that he wanted to protect his friend. She couldn't fault him for that. And despite her display before, she knew it was nothing more than that. She wasn't actually jealous of the other woman, except perhaps the fact that he seemed to care for her a great deal, while she seemed to mean little. He was disappointed in her and assumed the worst of her. Even now he undoubtedly feared what she was doing to the other Jedi.<br/><br/>As she healed the girl, her comm went off. "How are you holding up?" she asked as she answered the call, pushing her thoughts from her mind. "We're holding our own. But some back up would be nice, if you can spare someone." Saila replied. "Got it." Aeris ended the call just as Dren smashed his fist into the ground outside the door.<br/><br/>She reached out to Jax using the Force. "Jax." she spoke within his mind. "Go give Saila some backup." she instructed. He couldn't actually respond, but she could read him through the Force well enough to know that he agreed to do as she asked, and she could feel him heading off in the direction of the others. Good. That meant no distractions.<br/><br/>The moment the doors flew open she stood, spinning on her heels to face Dren, who now leaped towards her. Rather than using her lightsaber, Aeris reached out a hand and used the Force to send a blast at him, strong enough to throw him back against the wall behind him. From there she leaped after him, activating a single white blade, using the Force to press him back against the wall. She landed inches away from him, her blade meeting his and pressing against it. "My, aren't we presumptuous." she narrowed her eyes as she spoke in a sort of casual manner unbefitting the situation.<br/><br/>She stared into his eyes, hesitating to make a move. After a moment she sighed, "Your friend is fine." she informed him, knowing he was worried that the girl might be dead. It would make if difficult for them to have any sort of conversation if he was focused on the other woman and her well-being. "She's just unconscious." she added, not mentioning that she had healed the girl. He didn't need to know that. She hadn't done it for praise or his approval anyways.<br/><br/>She kept him cornered for a moment longer, her saber pressing against his with enough force to make movement difficult. "I'm not who you think I am, Dren. I might be a Sith, but I'm not like them. This was never what I wanted." Her words this time held a little warmth, and her sincerity was obvious.<br/><br/>She hesitated a moment, her green eyes staring into his for a moment longer, showing her frustration at the situation, and a myriad of other emotions that bubbled just below the surface. After a moment she clicked her tongue and looked away, jumping backwards and landing in the middle of the room, stepping to the side to allow him to go to the other woman, should he so choose. Her saber was no longer active as she watched him, waiting for his next move. She had no desire to fight him, but she wasn't sure that the feeling was mutual. She wondered what he would do. Would he believe her? Would he check on his friend? Or would he continue to presume to know the situation and attack her once more?<br/><br/>She wanted to explain things to him, just like she wanted to tell him how she felt about everything, about her leaving, him staying, about how he didn't try to stop her or fight for her, and about how much it hurt that he thought so little of her now, even if she didn't show that pain. She wanted to explain why she was standing before him as a Sith when she had left to become a grey Jedi. She wanted to tell him that she wasn't a servant of the Dark side, even if she did wield its power, since he was clearly too distracted to put those pieces together for himself. She wanted to tell him so many things. She also wanted to ask him so many things. Why hadn't he tried harder to get her to stay? Why hadn't he come after her? Fought for her? But those things could wait. They would have to. This wasn't exactly the best time and place to be having a heart to heart, no matter how much she might want it.<br/><br/>At any rate, she didn't even honestly know if he was the least bit interested. She didn't know if he still held any fondness for her, or if he was just hurt, angry, bitter, or perhaps even indifferent, although she doubted the latter was the case. All she knew for sure was that he was clearly disappointed in her and obviously thought the worst of her. She guessed she couldn't blame him, really. He was just going off of what he saw, rather than allowing his memories and his past feelings to get in the way. Perhaps there was more to it than that. She didn't really know at this point. Still, she wished he would at least try to understand, to figure out why she was a Sith, what had happened, who she actually was, despite whatever title she held. Or at least give her a chance to try to explain before he passed judgement on her. Either way, she guessed that she wouldn't really know how he felt about any of it until he told her, since he seemed intent on trying to prevent her from reading him. Rather than asking, however, her eyes met his, searching them for any sort of answer and waiting to see what move he would make.