Jax smiled, seeing how happy An was when he complimented her. She returned the compliments, telling him he had gotten strong. “Thank you,” he replied with a smile, happy to have all of his hard work pay off and be recognized. He smiled lightly when he felt her move to crawl on top of him, returning the kiss with a soft kiss of his own. He called her princess again and she swatted him, which made him laugh lightly, “Of course not. It’s our little secret,” he smirked, looking down at her and putting an arm lightly around her as she shifted back to the floor, curling into his side with her head resting on his shoulder and her hand on his chest.<br/><br/>“Hmmm. Probably,” he replied to her suggestion that they get something to eat, or perhaps go back to bed. “I could eat,” he mused, “Do you want to head back to your—our—quarters?” he asked, looking back at her, his hand gently rubbing her back. Either way, it seemed that the quarters would be their destination. Still, he didn’t make any move to get up yet or to disturb her when she’d just gotten comfortable and, honestly, he was happy where he was for now, too. When she was ready, though, he was happy to go back to the cabin and enjoy some more alone time with her, whether that meant enjoying a meal together, snuggling, catching up, or enjoying one another as they had before. No matter what, he would be happy.<br/><br/>-<br/><br/>Aeris smiled just a little as he caught her, his hands grasping her rear, returning her kiss as he carried her to the bed. He made a soft sound when his shin found the bed first, then turned to sit down, placing her in his lap. She got comfortable there, enjoying the feeling of his hands gently rubbing her back over the thin fabric of her shirt, one of her own hands sliding up into his hair while the other lingered behind his neck, gently tracing over the exposed skin. She could feel that for him, this was enough, although he would be happy to do whatever she wanted. For the moment, she was happy as they were, happy to just be with him, to feel the soothing comfort of his arms around her, the warmth of his body against hers, the soft feel of his lips on hers, the way he tasted as he kissed her deeply, the love and passion that they shared through their kiss and their bond, and the calm and safety she felt in his presence.<br/><br/>She had no doubts how he felt, if she couldn’t feel it through their bond and through the Force, his actions left little room for doubt. She could trust him, rely on him, depend on him, even if she had no one else in this universe. In that moment, her past, her insecurities, her fears, her jaded view of the world didn’t matter, as though they had disappeared and all that was left was him. She reveled in this and in him for some time before she finally broke the kiss, pulling away only enough to look into his eyes, her hands cupping his cheeks. “I love you,” she told him gently, her bright green eyes sincere and filled with love as they searched his warm brown eyes until she’d evidently found whatever it was she was looking for, then she leaned in to capture his lips again in another deep and passionate kiss, happy to follow where ever it led them.<br/><br/><br/><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold">-Several days later-</span></div><br/><br/>After returning to the surface of the planet once more and successfully collecting several Force Sensitives of an appropriate age, they had returned to the battlecruiser and had moved on, heading to the next planet. There were supposed to be quite a few Force Sensitives at their next destination, so they would most likely be able to meet the minimum requirements for their mission with this stop, although that did not mean that they would end the mission there. Despite having come to an agreement to allow the two Sith Lords to continue their mission in hopes of learning the true objective, tensions were still running high as they neared their destination.<br/><br/><br/><br/>Aeris had woken up early, unable to sleep any longer, despite having slept better in the past few days than she had in years. Perhaps her body didn’t know what to do with all of this sleep, or perhaps she was simply feeling a bit restless, knowing that they were nearing their destination. She hadn’t wished to wake Jek, though, so she’d given him a gentle kiss on the forehead and then slept out of bed, donning some lightweight training attire and headed out.<br/><br/>She had set up a route that she liked to run, made up of areas that had less foot traffic, and where there was almost never a soul in sight in the early hours when she liked to train. She used the Force to silence her footsteps as she ran to prevent her from making a lot of noise. Her run lasted about an hour and ended at the training center, where she would continue to train for another hour or two. Today, when she entered the training center, she found that it was occupied.<br/><br/>Jax had woken early too, and he hadn’t been able to sleep, either. He had laid in bed for a while, not wanting to move and disturb the woman sleeping next to him. Eventually, though, he felt the need to get up and do something, so he had gently managed to separate himself from An and after giving her a gentle kiss on the cheek, he’d dressed and headed up to the training facilities. By the time Aeris finished her run, he was already there doing some strength training.<br/><br/>“Good morning,” Aeris greeted him as she entered the room before she began to do some stretches. “Good morning,” Jax returned the greeting. “Couldn’t sleep or are you always up this early?” he asked. Aeris shrugged, “Both, I guess,” she replied, not wanting to explain that until a few days ago, she’d rarely slept. “I’m usually not here quite this early, though,” she explained, answering the question he was really asking.<br/><br/>“Feeling nervous?” he asked, which got him a shrug but no real answer. He chuckled, “Fair enough. Well, do you want to spar a little, since we’re both here?” he asked as he finished the set he had been working on. “Sure, why not,” she replied with a light smile. She hadn’t sparred with him in a long time. “Hand-to-hand? Or do you want to break out the sabers?” he asked, happy to get in some training in either with a sparring partner. “Let’s start with hand-to-hand. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a decent sparring partner. We can break out the sabers if we have time,” she answered, getting a nod of agreement from him.<br/><br/>They both took their positions and then on the count of three they both sprung forward, immediately launching blows at one another. Aeris dropped low as she slid in past his guard, using the Force concentrated in her outstretched palm to enhance her strike as she made contact with his abdomen. He grasped her wrist, pulling her forward to land a blow of his own before she wrapped around his left arm as he struck, bringing her left leg behind his head, her right moving up as she twisted her body, using the momentum to twist his body along with her, bringing him down hard and pinning him to the mat.<br/><br/>“I don’t remember you being able to beat me so easily,” he groaned as he tapped out. Aeris shrugged, grinning as she stood and held out a hand to help him up. “That’s probably exactly why I beat you. I’m not the same girl I was back then,” she pointed out, reminding him not to underestimate an opponent, without using so many words. “Fair enough,” he nodded, getting back into his starting position.<br/><br/>The next few matches were not so easily won, with both using the Force focused in their hands, forearms, feet, and legs to enhance their strikes and soften blows that were blocked as they went almost blow for blow many of the matches. In the end, Aeris beat him in the tie-breaker match before they both sat down for a little break. “You’re a lot faster than you used to be,” Aeris noted. “And you’re a lot stronger,” Jax replied, taking a drink of water from the bottle he’d brought with him. “I guess real experience truly does make a difference, huh?” he mused, considering that her instincts and ability to predict his movements were the biggest leap in her skills, and these well things honed by real battles.<br/><br/>Aeris pursed her lips slightly at the question, “Yeah,” she answered, keeping her voice level. “It changes you. For better or for worse,” she said, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. There was a silence that hung in the air for a little while before Jax spoke again. “Are you really going to go through with this? Collecting these Force Sensitives and delivering them without even knowing why?” he asked before adding, “It doesn’t bother you at all?”<br/><br/>Aeris frowned just a little, “It doesn’t matter. I accepted the mission. When I say I will do something, I see it through. I don’t go back on my word,” she told him, her voice filled with determination. “Can you at least understand that much?” she asked, glancing over at him. She would do what she had to do with or without his approval, but still, even after all this time, he felt like a brother to her, and it felt weird and awkward to know that he disapproved of what she was doing, that he couldn’t understand why she did what she did. She wanted at least this one thing to hold on to.<br/><br/>“Yeah, I can understand,” he replied, placing a hand lightly on her head. He did understand, and he thought that she needed this, so he would give it to her, and he wouldn’t push it. He still didn’t necessarily agree with the mission, but he understood her desire to finish what she started. “How about another round?” he asked, thinking that they could both use the distraction, and the chance to vent again. “Sure,” she smiled a little, taking his hand and coming to a standing position.<br/><br/>They both took their opening stances and began to spar again using the same Force-enhanced strikes and blocks. Neither held back, both going at it like they were stress pounding a punching bag, except their blows were more powerful, and the punching bag blocked and hit or kicked back. Thanks to the force of each blow as the Force of each strike met the Force of each block, the force of the blow and the sound could be heard and felt throughout the entire room, so it would probably seem like they were doing a lot of damage to one another. In reality, they each blocked almost every strike from the other and used the Force to soften the impact they suffered, so there were few blows that actually made contact with anything other than arms or legs. At first glance, though, one would likely see a very different picture.