Jax had no answer when Jek wondered when they would encounter them and he communicated this to the other man through their bond. All he knew what that this feeling was getting stronger. It would be soon, but whether soon was today, tomorrow, or several days from now, he could not say. Likewise, he couldn’t say who it would be or even how many of them there would be. He had hoped two, hoping it was An-Lok and Aeris, but in reality, the Force was sparse on the details, so he had no real basis for that, only his heart.<br/><br/>When they found the cantina and took their seats, Jek ordered for them as he took a brief glance around the room, using the Force to feel for any danger, but he sensed none.<span style="font-style: italic">“I’ll take this side and you take that side?”</span>he offered, gesturing only slightly with his head, first left, then right. He was reaching for the drink that had been placed in front of him when Jek moved to cover it, advising him not to drink it. He gave a somewhat nervous chuckle, wondering just how bad it must have tasted before deciding that he really didn’t want to know.<br/><br/>Soon the bartender returned with their food and he looked at it somewhat warily after Jek’s response to the drink, examining it closely before deciding that he would try it first, since Jek had tried the drink first. He took a bite and tried not to show his disappointment. It was dry and bland,<span style="font-style: italic">“You are not allow to order every again,”</span>he joked with the other man, suddenly wishing that he had followed the other man’s lead before and bought some fruit. At least that would have been palatable.<br/><br/>When the bartender returned, he gestured for her to come closer and whispered something to her. She whispered back and then he nodded, after which she nodded, taking their drinks and returning with glasses of brightly colored liquid that looked as though they might be more suitable for girls than men such as themselves, but he didn’t care. He took a sip of the liquid, which was much more palatable when mixed with some juices, nodding to the woman and smiling before thanking her. He then grabbed the shaker on the counter and sprinkled it generously over the food, which at least improved the bland taste, although it did nothing to improve how dry it was. At least it was sort-of edible now.<br/><br/>As he slowly ate the food he listened carefully to the conversations around them. Most of them were useless, some even detestable, but none of his business. Eventually, though, he heard whispers of Sith on the planet, the gossips all voicing their relief that they had not been spotted near here, but several towns over. He glanced at Jek, wondering if he had heard this information, too. There were also rumors of some nobles holed up in their homes, but the gossips didn’t know what town they were in.<br/><br/>He took his time eating and once the group left, he looked back at their table to see if they had left anything behind. He noted what appeared to be a handkerchief of some kind, which she quickly snatched up before the wait staff went to clean the table. He closed his eyes as he tried to gain some information from the object. He was able to see flashes of when the woman had heard the rumor, which included little useful information, other than that they thought it was a few towns over, and the name Kessik, but whether that was the name of the town, a family name, or the name of someone in the family, he did not know. At least it was something, he guessed, slipping the piece of cloth onto the floor, out of sight of the Twi’lek cleaning the table, but in an obvious enough place that they would notice it when they moved around to the other side of the table.<br/><br/>He looked to Jek, wondering if he had heard anything useful, but not asking. They had stayed here long enough, he thought, so when they had both finished their food and drinks he asked, “Ready?” He thought it best to continue on their journey. They could at least make it to the next town over before dark. They could decide together whether to try another cantina there or turn in for the night once they arrived.<br/><br/>----------<br/><br/>Aeris felt a little bad for being somewhat harsh with the other woman, but she hadn’t meant to be, she was only trying to get their mission over with, for both of their sakes, and she knew that this was the easiest way to get through to her. She didn’t have time to feel bad about it, though, so she hoped that she would be forgiven, or that perhaps An would realize what she was doing and why. Either way, they moved over, obtaining a speeder and heading for the next town.<br/><br/>She glanced at the other woman when she spoke up, telling her that she couldn’t face him. She could guess that she was referring to Jax. She listened as An continued, suggesting that Revan had led them to something better and that if she’d have faced Jax, she wouldn’t have left. Aeris wondered if that was true. Was this really better? Sure, she was glad that they had helped to end to war and stop the bloodshed, but the problem was that one war had led to another and the bloodshed had never really stopped. The only difference, really, was that they were now the ones responsible for shedding that blood. Was that really better? She couldn’t deny that it had come with perks, that they had more freedom, which felt like a better life; but still, she couldn’t deny that their freedom from the Jedi had come with a cost. She also thought that there was no way to know that it would have been An who would have been swayed from her path and not Jax. She didn’t voice either of these things, though. They wouldn’t change her mind.<br/><br/>She gave a mirthless chuckle when An suggested that she was strong, that she had always been. “Is that really true, though?” she wondered when An suggested that she was better at controlling her emotions. “Burying my emotions and hiding them behind a mask isn’t controlling them. I run at full speed every day, running away from all of my demons, all my emotions. I’m terrified to look behind me, because when it comes down to it, I’m afraid to face the things I’ve done and what I’ve become. I’m afraid of what I’ll find if look in the mirror,” she admitted, glancing over at the other woman. She didn’t need her abilities or their bond to tell her that she was hurting and heartbroken. She took a deep breath and decided once again to be brutally honest. “I’m just a coward. And so are you. I’m running from myself, and you’re running from him,” she told her as she hopped out of the speeder.<br/><br/>She would respect An’s choice, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t be honest about what she thought. “Then again, I can’t exactly lecture you about facing your demons when I’m still running from mine, can I?” she laughed bitterly, “Anyways, I think you’re wrong. You deserve better than you’re giving yourself credit for. I suspect that Jax would be happy to see you, no matter what you look like,” she said honestly, walking around the speeder to stand next to her, placing a hand on her shoulder once again. “Besides, it’s not like you look like some twisted beast. You just have a cool, edgy vibe. Some guys dig that,” she grinned, trying to cheer her up a bit. “It’s your choice, though. I won’t stop you if you really want to go back to the ship,” she told her, shrugging as they began to walk through the streets.<br/><br/>She could feel the Force Sensitives, following the Force to where they were hidden. As they neared the house, she had broken off from An, slipping around the back of the house. She heard An’s approach to the house, which was announced by the sounds of guards hitting the walls, her boot making contact with the door, and the door hitting the ground inside the house. She then demanded their location and Aeris could guess what her visage might look like. She could have gone with her, but brute force wasn’t really her style, and it wasn’t as though the other woman would have listened if she’d asked her to try to stay calm. Besides, the woman needed an outlet for her anger, and who was she to stop her?<br/><br/>Instead, she snuck around the back, slipping in the back door unnoticed. Thanks for An, there were no guards left in this part of the house because they had all rushed to meet the obvious threat. She quietly strode through the rooms unimpeded to where she felt the individuals in question. She found a hollowed-out portion of floor beneath a rug in a back room and then, using the Force, lifted the makeshift trapdoor. “Hello there,” she greeted the small group of people huddled in the small space. They looked terrified, not that she could blame them with all the ruckus her friend was causing. “Don’t worry, I’m not here to hurt you,” she assured them. “Yeah right!” she heard a young boy retort, “Like we’d believe that,” he said, his eyes glancing in the direction of the noise in the front. “What, that? Don’t mind that. My friend is just having a bad day. She’s just… decompressing,” she explained with a grin. “Please don’t take them,” an older woman pleaded and Aeris sighed, looking at all of their terrified faces.<br/><br/>“Honestly,” she rubbed her forehead. “Look, I’m sorry, really. As you can tell, my friend is quite worked up and I don’t think she’s going to let you go,” she explained, using An’s tactics as leverage to convince them that the best thing for them was to surrender. “It'll be easier for everyone if you just come with me,” she told them, using the Force to exude calm, to try to ease their suspicion and make them more cooperative. She saw them looking at each other and smiled, “I promise, if you come with us, we won’t hurt anyone else. We’ll leave them in peace,” she looked at the ones she could tell were Force Sensitives, then to the others, “We’re not going to hurt them. I’ll make sure they are treated well,” she assured the others, putting out more calm vibes and lacing her words with some Force Persuasion.<br/><br/>After a moment, one of the older girls spoke up, “Fine. We’ll go with you, just promise you won’t let her hurt them,” the girl told her boldly. Aeris smiled, “I like you. You have my word,” she held out a hand to shake on it, but shrugged when no one took it, “I should be offended, but I’ll let it slide,” she said, as though she were being gracious by not getting mad. “Alright, up,” she helped them all out and then strolled to the front of the house, using the Force to block an object that flew towards them. “Found ‘em!” she announced with a cheery tone that was ill-suited to the situation.<br/><br/>Upon seeing An, one of the children hid behind Aeris, “You promised you wouldn’t let her hurt us!” he exclaimed and Aeris chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of her neck as she shrugged to her friend, as if to say ‘sorry, but I had to tell them something,’ before looking back to the child, “I did indeed. She won’t hurt you,” she assured him before looking to An with a mischievous glint in her eyes that belied the innocent grin she gave her, “Right, An?” she asked, holding back her snickers. She would apologize to the other woman later for making her the bad guy. Just then, one of the older kids looked at An, "Are you sure you can protect us? She looks really scary," he pointed out, "and you..." he looked her up and down, "...don't. Uhhh... No offense," he added the latter as if it would soften the blow. "Doh," Aeris put her hand on her heart as though she were wounded, "Story of my life," she hung her head in defeat, expecting that it was now An's turn to laugh at this turn of events.