She leaned on him, and he felt that same feeling from before. That feeling of completion, that feeling of something deeper. He turned to her slightly, and put his arm around her back, letting her carefully rest upon him. She explained what she was sensing. He thought about it for a moment, "this monster--this Sith, he's twisting them somehow. Maybe he's making them into servants? Or creatures that do his bidding? We can't let him leave this planet--or else who knows what he'll do to the galaxy."<br/><br/>She couldn't move on, not for the moment. He could feel it. Everything told him he should let her down to rest upon the wall, but he didn't want that. He suspected she didn't either, but he wasn't sure. Though the connection they had always shared, something strong through the force, it was stronger every moment they were near each other. He felt like she wanted to be here, with him--but maybe that was just his mind playing tricks on him.<br/><br/>He could feel they were safe for now. He turned and put his other arm around her, holding her gently, letting her leave his embrace if she wanted to. He figured it was a more practical way to hold onto her--which is what he told himself. "You can rest for a moment," Dren told her. "I won't leave you."<br/><br/>As they remained, he though of the moment she left him, back at the Jedi temple--the turmoil it caused him. He spent so many years meditating to finally suppress those feelings, and it was as if this one meeting undid all of that. He could see that moment when they fought, and when he tried to see her the next morning. Her room was bare and empty. She didn't say goodbye. She did leave behind a necklace--and he remembered how he kept it safe in his room, in a box underneath his bed. Perhaps it didn't help his recovery of her leaving, to hold onto a part of her, but it was something he needed to do. It was a necklace he had given her after all, made of leather and a stone he had fastened. Perhaps she had left it behind by mistake, or on purpose, he didn't know. He had almost forgotten about it, but it was all coming back to him.<br/><br/>Without moving--still holding on, he asked the question that had been burning in him, "why did you leave Aeris?" He couldn't bear to hold back his emotions. He needed to meditate--because every word poured out of him with purpose and sorrow that he was trying to hold back and hide. "I went to find you the next day--but you were gone." He bit back anything more, because he shouldn't be like this. He was a Jedi after all.