As they entered the training room, Jax took off his own robe and hung it next to An’s by the door. When An told him that the training sabers here were not very good, instead suggesting that they use their sabers on the training setting, he shrugged, having no issue with it. “Sure,” he agreed, unclipping the hilt from his belt and adjusting the power to the weakest setting. She then asked if he wanted to use the practice droids as well, he guessed to make things more interesting.<br/><br/>She explained their settings and that she didn’t recommend setting it beyond a certain point. “Why don’t we start with a simple duel and go from there?” he suggested. It had been a while since they’d dueled, so he thought that it might be nice to be able to focus on that and learn one another’s style of fighting again before adding in anything else. It would be good for them to be familiar with how the other fought now, in case the time came when they would need to fight alongside one another. They would both likely be able to get a feel for the other’s style while fighting, even with the droids, but he kind of wanted to start with this, so that he could focus only on her for the moment.<br/><br/>As she crossed the room to where he stood, she asked if they should start together or at opposite ends. “Together is fine,” he suggested, although he had no real preference. He followed her gaze when she told him how to turn the droids off and on and he took note of it before turning his attention to her. He returned the brief kiss and then chuckled at her teasing. “I’ll do my best,” he responded to the teasing with a half-smirk, igniting his own blade. It was an amber-gold color, similar to the color of An’s eyes.<br/><br/>He took a stance, starting in the Djem So variation of form V. “Go on three?” he suggested, counting to three before he attacked. He struck with a heavy, but surprisingly quick falling avalanche blow from above, coming down hard on her blade, with the force of not only his own overwhelming physical strength, but also using the Force to further enhance the blow. He was not generally one to enjoy acrobatics, so he made no fancy leaps or flips, instead he went for economy of movement, limiting his movements to those that were necessary, both to limit the energy he expended and creating a tighter defense by limiting exaggerated movements. This did not mean that he focused on defense, though, as he employed the principles of Djem So and the fluid riposte to immediately counterattack each time he parried one of her blows, and if the opportunity presented itself, he would push his assault further with heavy-handed blows<br/><br/>--<br/><br/>Aeris had leaned against the wall casually as she’d watched him messing with the things in the bridge and the cockpit, putting in information he had that her system might not, or altering settings. She found it amusing, but also somewhat endearing that he seemed to be making himself at home as she wanted him to. When he’d finished, she had led him to the last area of the ship, where her quarters were. In here, he hadn’t touched anything, just looked around the room until after she’d spoken.<br/><br/>She was grateful for his arms around her when he pulled her to him and held her, telling her that as long as he was around, she wouldn’t have to worry about such things again. She nodded just a little in his arms, knowing he meant that, and finding some peace as he held her, gently rubbing her back and giving her a kiss on her head. As he sat next to her on the bed, she looked at him, her eyes searching his as he told her she didn’t have to run anymore. She’d spent so long running, she wondered if she even knew how to stop. Still, she wanted to stay, to be with him, and to believe that what he said was true.<br/><br/>As he continued to hold her close, she could feel that he had fears, too, that he didn’t want to lose her again, either. She was thankful for that, if nothing else. She took solace in his words when he promised her that he would stay by her side every night, so she didn’t have to worry about those nightmares. “Thank you,” she said softly, leaning into him and hiding her face in his shoulder, holding him probably a little too tightly, as if he might disappear if she let him go.<br/><br/>They couldn’t change the past, but perhaps he was right, in time they could learn to accept it. She knew that this was easier said than done, though. She had never been good at accepting things and letting them go. There were still things from her past, from before they’d ever met, before she’d been taken in by the Jedi, things he didn’t even know about that still haunted her to this day, in some form or another. Still, she would try, because she wanted to move forward, to have a future that wasn’t bleak, a future with him, where they were both happy.<br/><br/>Trust didn’t come easily to her, doubt did, it had always been this way for her. That’s why she had always questioned everything, because she doubted everything. She hadn’t grown up in the Jedi as Jek and An had, she hadn’t been raised to trust, knowing there were those she could rely and depend on. She’d grown up knowing she was alone in the world and that she couldn’t depend on anyone for anything other than to hurt her and let her down. The Jedi had helped, she had learned to trust their group if nothing else, but the past seven years had been hard, and it was easy to fall back into old habits and thoughts. She knew she could trust him, though. She wanted to. She would. She would choose to believe his words, knowing that he meant them, and hope that the universe didn’t let her down.<br/><br/>“Do you want to continue your tour?” she asked once she had come to her resolution, choosing to trust in him, even if she couldn’t trust anything else good in this world. She made no move to get up or to pull away from him yet, happy to stay there for a little longer and to let him bring her peace and comfort as only he could. When he was ready, though, she would do as she must and release him to take him on his tour around the battlecruiser.