Thal-ion was taken back by the extra warmth they were sharing, but it was so pleasant he didn't even question it.  Whatever was happening...was happening for a reason, and he found he had zero desire to end it.  Instead, he just gazed back steadily and with exceptional warmth into her blue eyes...such beautiful blue eyes.  Had he not realized just how divinely beautiful those eyes were until just now?  Why now?  What had just taken place for him to notice now of all times?  Just as much as she seemed to find his presence warm and comforting; so also did Thal-ion find her own presence as wonderful to him.  The Force seemed to hum between them...still resonating with the song he had hummed to her...to sooth his companion.  It was, perhaps, the strangest thing he had ever witnessed in the Force...though he was still rather young and had much to learn.  He stepped a bit closer to her...his gaze never shifting...just watching...gazing into those eyes...those beautiful vibrant blue gems she had gazing back.  A deep slow breath...filled with wonder and delight.  Yes, those eyes were held beauty, but they held more:  warmth, trust, friendship, warrior, explorer, Jedi, woman, fire, compassion, tiredness, confusion, comfort, and more...so much more.  When had he noticed her so?<br/><br/>None of that, however, mattered in the immediate here and now.  Instead, though he had suggested they go and get some rest...the two of them just stood there staring into each others' eyes.  It was as if some enchantment of the Force were working on them both, but this again did not matter to Thal-ion.  Once more, he reached up to play with her hair...it felt so natural, and yet so perfectly new.  With this movement, there came a smile such as he had never thought to share for any person...for any woman, and yet he felt it spread across his face brightly.  Without thinking about it; the young Jedi Sentinel led Alethea with his arm around her shoulders to his cabin.  Step by step they took together...with him leading her there without a care in the universe for the events to come.  All he wanted to do was take care of his very tired, troubled, and somehow rather extremely beautiful companion.<br/><br/>Again...the notice of her beauty.  When had that happened?  When had she gone from being his Jedi friend and warrior to a beautiful Jedi woman?  Did it even matter why and when it happened; for the result was still the same.  He had noticed her in a new light, and with their connection to the Force...she shone all the more brightly to him.  An image came unbidden to his mind...an image of the red-haired Mara Jade arrayed all in white as she married Luke Skywalker. He wondered at such an image; for he had not been there for the ceremony...not having been around even at that time.  The two were so vibrantly alive in the Force, and it made the young Sentinel all the more curious.  It would be something for him to think on later, but his mind and heart were focused more on Alethea.  Despite this image - he did not stop leading her to his cabin, and once at the door...he opened it, and led her in.<br/><br/>"We must rest," he whispered to her ever so softly, but his voice was less than vocal, and more telepathic...resonating in the Force.  He motioned to the bed...his mind touching her own of how he simply wanted to share it with her...to hold her as they slept - for they certainly needed such.  In this way, they would not have to be apart, and their rest might be more comforting.  The very idea of intimacy did not even enter the young Sentinel's thoughts.  His only desire was to comfort his companion...this woman who shone in the Force, and with whom he had fought side-by-side with against the Dark Side.<br/><br/>The invitation stood there...waiting an answer...an answer only she could provide.