Aeris watched as everything played across his features. He didn't believe her. She didn't need to read him to see that. It was written all over his face, not to mention that it was exactly the reaction she expected, if not what she hoped for. Why would he believe her? She was here with the Sith. All evidence pointed to her being one of them. Sith weren't exactly known for being beacons of truth. They were manipulative and deceptive. If he believed her to be one of them, then he would naturally expect the same of her, even as she was trying to tell him that she wasn't like them. As far as he knew, she was lying, trying to get him to let his guard down.<br/><br/>She didn't move for a time, just stared at him, partly because he could decide to attack her at any moment, and partly because she couldn't quite seem to tear her eyes away from him. Evidently he decided to take this opportunity to gain the upper hand. He sent out a shock wave through the Force, sending her flying backwards. She managed to twist herself midair so that she landed on her feet, continuing to slide back another couple of feet before she finally stopped. She frowned when he held his saber ready and came after her. Despite him coming after her, she didn't reignite her saber, which she'd deactivated after being sent flying backwards. Instead she stood there, an unusually serious look on her face. What was she going to do? She didn't want to fight him. All she wanted was to make him see. But how?<br/><br/>Thankfully, for whatever reason, he stopped before he reached her. She hesitated to answer his question. Not because she feared his reaction, but because it wasn't something that was easy to explain. "I..." she began, but hesitated once more as the latter question sunk in. What had happened to her? Did she really seem so different to him?<br/><br/>She glanced up at the pillar that cracked, then to the ceiling that rumbled for a moment before stopping. This place wasn't going to be safe for much longer. He had to know that. Yet he stood his ground. Did he want answers that badly? She wanted to give him those answers. She just hoped he would believe her rather than disregarding what she had to say because of the way things appeared.<br/><br/>"That isn't an easy question to answer." she finally spoke again, her green eyes once again resting on him. She put her lightsaber away, as a sign of good faith. A foolish move, perhaps, but she just had to hope that he wouldn't attack, and if he did, that she could either stop him without her saber, or draw her saber fast enough. "I don't walk among the Sith because I want to be like them. I do it because once, they were like me. Or at least I thought they were." she tried to explain. "I do it because the other option is to give up on them and let them fall completely into the darkness with no one to remind them that it's wrong. I do it so that maybe, just maybe, I can prevent them from becoming like the Sith of old. I do it because... I have nothing else." she didn't know that any of that made sense. Maybe it didn't. But it was the best she could do right now.<br/><br/>"As for what happened to me... I don't really know how to answer that. Nothing happened to me. Not really. I'm the same as I ever was. It's just that everything and everyone around me changed. For me it was adapt or run away. Again. Last time I chose to run and... " She hesitated, looking away from him. "I didn't want to run again. So I guess that changed. Not that I had anywhere to go even if I did run." she paused and looked back to him, falling silent.<br/><br/>She was silent for a long moment, giving him time to speak, if he so chose, before speaking up again. "I'm sorry, Dren." Her voice was so soft that it was barely audible over the distant sounds of battle coming from a little deeper in the temple. She clenched her hands into fists and stared at the ground as she fought back the many emotions she felt. "Why?" she asked, her eyes finally looking up to meet his once more. "Why did you let me? Why didn't you even try to stop me? Was it so easy to let me go? To forget me?" she asked, confusion and pain evident on her features. "Then again, I guess you always did excel at controlling your emotions. Not like me. I never was very good at hiding how I felt, was I?" The tiniest hint of a smile tugged at the corner of her lips at these words.<br/><br/>A few moments later, the ceiling began to rumble again, the crack in the pillar beginning to spread. Chunks of debris fell around them, most of it not coming too close to the two of them. "You should go." she spoke up, her words seeming torn and pained. "Take your friend and go, before this place comes down on our heads." she knew it wasn't going to hold up much longer. She didn't want him to go. Despite everything, the thought of letting him go again hurt. She had so many things she wanted to say, to ask. And letting him go now reminded her of the pain she'd felt that day. But this time it was unavoidable. The ceiling wasn't going to hold up much longer, and it wasn't like she could take him back to the temple with her. Besides, he had his friend to tend to.<br/><br/>She frowned slightly as the crack in the pillar began to spread to the ceiling above and chunks of debris continued to fall. She looked past him to the other Jedi, who remained unconscious against the wall. A chunk of debris fell, heading straight for her. She could have let it crush her. It wouldn't have been her fault. He couldn't have really blamed her for it. Then she'd be out of the way. But that wasn't who she was. She was a Sith, sure, and the girl was a Jedi, technically her enemy, but she wasn't cruel. She only hoped this wouldn't come back to bite her later on. She reached out with the Force and stopped the falling debris before it could reach the Jedi, moving it to the side and dropping it.<br/><br/>"Get her out of here." she tried to force the emotion from her voice and remind him that they needed to go. She'd saved her twice now. Because of him. She didn't know that she would do it a third time. She probably would, if she were being honest, but she shouldn't. There was no telling when one of the other Sith would show up, the way this place was shaking.