Aeris hugged her knees to her chest and rest her chin atop her knees, closing her eyes and taking in slow, deep breaths, calming herself down a little more easily now that she was apart from the others. She looked up when she felt Jek’s presence approaching. He knelt down beside her and took hold of her hand, telling her that things would work out. She stared into his eyes as he spoke, finding peace and calm again in his presence. “I know,” she replied softly, giving his hand a light squeeze.<br/><br/>She leaned over to rest her head against his shoulder lightly, without leaning too much weight on him or falling into his arms. “I’m sorry,” her voice was soft, barely above a whisper as she hid her face from him. “I tried to stay calm, I just… I couldn’t breathe,” she whispered, trembling slightly before she took another breath and exhaled slowly, fighting to maintain control. She could still feel An’s anger and frustration, even from here, which made it harder to fully calm herself, but his presence helped, and soon she was breathing easier.<br/><br/>“I’ll be okay,” she told him, giving his hand a squeeze, “Thank you,” she offered a small but somewhat weary smile before giving him a kiss on the cheek and moving so that she could stand up. “You are right. We will need to work on this back on the cruiser. This can’t keep happening,” she said as she looked at him as stretched after standing up. “But for now, we have a mission, so let’s focus on that,” she gave him a small smile and then exhaled heavily. “Splitting up might be a good idea,” she agreed, addressing his earlier suggestion.<br/><br/>She could tell that they would meditating, so she hoped that they would get themselves under control. Still, she didn’t think that it was a good idea for them to all be together right now. Tensions were high, and the last thing they needed was for all of them to be distracted if someone couldn’t keep it together. As much as she wanted to believe that they could pull it together, she just wasn’t sure she was willing to risk it. Besides, perhaps it would be good for them to face whatever lie ahead on this mission together, without her or Jek there to fall back on.<br/><br/>“I hope you don’t mind pairing up with me,” she didn’t think he would, but she gave him the choice nonetheless. She wanted to stay with him. She knew that with him, she could maintain her calm and her focus, she was safe from those overwhelming emotions. She closed her eyes, opening herself up to the Force again, but only as much as was necessary to reach out to An-Lok and Jax.<span style="font-style: italic">”We are going to split up. Jek and I will head for the group to the north. There’s another group nearby, to the west,”</span>she told the two of them telepathically, transferring her knowledge of the nearby Force Sensitives to them as she suggested a group for them to take.<span style="font-style: italic">”We’ll meet back at the shuttle when we finish. Good luck,”</span>she added before focusing on Jek once more.<br/><br/>“Alright, I let them know. We can start with the group to the north,” she suggested before sharing her knowledge of the Force Sensitives on the planet and their locations. It included what he needed to know about the location of the group she suggested they go for first, as well as information about the children on the planet, if he wished to find a way to contact the Jedi as well. “Shall we?” she asked, giving him one more smile before she focused, going back into her mission mode as she began to lead the way towards the first group.<br/><br/>--<br/><br/>Jax heard the commotion as An left the ship, but he tried to focus on his sort-of meditation. It wasn’t long, though, before An appeared behind him, telling him that they needed to meditate. Another time he might have made a comment about how he was trying, but now was not the time, and they did both need to meditate. Perhaps if they did so together, it would help them both to calm down and to get back into sync, if only somewhat.<br/><br/>He followed after her without a word when she began to lead him to a more secluded spot. He sat across from her, crossing his legs and placing the backs of his hands on his knees, palms and fingers opening upwards. He took a deep breath, opening himself up to the Force, even though he admittedly felt just a little hesitant. He felt it flowing into him, helping him to banish his thoughts and emotions as he slowly exhaled. He continued this, slowly finding peace, focus, and calm as he centered himself in the Force. He remained open in the Force, allowing his calm and peace to radiate outward to her. He gathered that she was no longer used to meditating, so unconsciously, he reached out to her in the Force, to guide her.<br/><br/>He continued to meditate until he finally felt calm and centered again, like he could focus on the mission ahead. It was about this time that he heard Aeris’s voice through the Force, informing them that they would be splitting up and giving them a recommendation for where to start, as well as information about the other groups nearby, before adding that they would meet back at the shuttle once they’d finished. He hadn’t responded with any words, but he transmitted a feeling of understanding and acceptance of what she’d said.<br/><br/>Once she had finished, he slowly opened his eyes, looking across at An-Lok for a moment before he stood. He waited until she had opened her eyes and was ready before he held out a hand to help her up, although he would not allow his touch to linger to hold her hand like he might have before. He needed to stay focused on the mission. “Ready?” he asked, waiting for her confirmation. “Shall we head west?” he asked, planning to take the recommendation Aeris had given. If she had something else in mind, though, he was willing to listen.