Log:Of Kybers, Wraiths, and Dunes

Saito follows the call of his kyber crystal home after 25 years...

OOC Date: March 21, 2023 (Optional)
Location: Tatooine
Participants: Saito, Aria Voss

Of Kybers, Wraiths, and Dunes

The red-haired man that walkss in the deserts of Tatooine tried to have everything planned out. For him, a methodical man was a happy man. So, when he finallyy had a kyber crystal, he already knew what he would do.. The idea was to return to Tempis, bond witht he crystal and build his lightsaber. For him, the process would be fairly simple. During his training, he had a particular afinity for the weapon. He can remember as a child trying to understand what eacdh individual part was used for in the construction of the weapon of a Jedi. What he didn't expect were the dreams. During his trip back to Tempis, the dreams started, horrible nightamres where he was killed alongside his parents, where their whole pharm was burned to the ground still with him inside. It didn't take him long to understand that the crystal was trying too eiter show or to teach him something. So, it was with trepidation that he, for the first time in 25 years, set foot on this cursed planet. Before leaving his Belllab, he only sentt one signal to the only person that in his mind could help him with this current situation. The truth was that he wasn't close enough to the other Jedi for them to help him with a situation that was so personal. So now he walks in the desert, wearing appropriate clothes, a canteen attashed to his waist, the crystal hidden in his tunic. Just a head of him, he can make out the outline of what appears to be an old, destroyed moisture pharm.

"These coordinates are out in the middle of the desert, ma'am," the pilot had said.

Aria sat in the co-pilot's seat of the shuttle, getting a little more hands-on experience with the controls. "I'm aware," is all she'd said.

At twenty years old, the Voss Galactic heiress was better known to the public as a hedonistic party animal than a responsible executive, much less someone that anyone could /personally/ count on. She'd had her picture taken in clubs from Coruscant to Rishi, at galas with other rich notables and politicians, and had the tragedy of her spiraling life of privilege both dissected and predicted by the media at large.

But all that was changing. In the last two years, she'd formed secret connections with the Rebellion, established lines of sending them intelligence and, to some extent, resources, set up a charity named the Galactic Hope Initiative to give a public face to her philanthropic efforts, and now, of all things, she had befriended a Jedi.

Well, more than befriended.

When the message came in, there was no hesitation. She would already be late to arrive, even if she dropped everything and left immediately, so she called and had her private shuttle prepped on the pad while she went to change. No corporate attire or revealing cocktails dresses, for this trip. The pink-skinned Zeltron opted for more practicality with a jumpsuit, boots, and a scarf. She pinned her long, raven hair up behind her head in a messy bun and sighed as she stared out the front of the cockpit.

It seemed like it took an eternity for the swirling blue vortex to revert to real-space, distant stars shifting from lines to pinpricks of light. And then the looming, brown ball of Tatooine just ahead, lit by the system's twin suns. The thin, pale line of its atmosphere glowed -- not the blue of water-rich worlds, but silvery. Pretty, if she didn't know it was so harsh, down there. Of course, she'd only ever been once.

"I want you to leave me, once we land. I'll send a signal for you, when it's time to be picked up."

"Ma'am," the pilot had objected, "there are raiders..."

"It's not a request. I won't be alone. I'll be fine."

[PASS ( +23)] Saito's Meditation @ (100) diff.

For the Padawan, being back to this desert was bad enough. Hee promised that he would not return to this planett again after what he had lost here. He kneels on the sand,, breathing deeply, trying not to get the heat get to him and reaching out to the force, his eyes closing. He feels calm and peace enveloping him, all the sadness and anger that being here brings to the surface subsiding. He knows that its temporary but he does it anyway. Plus meditating allows him to feel the crystal pulling him to exactly this place. As he stands, he frowns. "Of course you would bring me here," there is no real understanding in his tone. Currently, he's simply someone thats unhappy for being here and for having to deal with bad memories. He doesn't approaches the pharm yet. He simply isn't ready. As he stands on the desert, a single tear slides down his cheek, a pang of sadnesss in his heart.

The atmosphere raged against the forward viewport of the shuttle, burning red hot while the stabilizers fought to keep the bumping around to a minimum.

The pilot was calm, flipping a few switches, while Aria held on to the control yoke like it might run away from her. "Nice and easy," the man next to her said. "Reentry should be clearing in a moment."

And it was the truth. The flames subsided. The bumping stilled. And all that remained was seemingly endless, brown sand in all directions. A sea of dunes.

Aria's violet eyes shifted down to the console in front of her, and she called up a map, keeping the shuttle level in the process. It wasn't an easy task to focus on both -- at least, not for someone who rarely had the opportunity. "Is that it?"

"That's the spot. No way to know what's there until we get there, though."

There were no clouds, but there was a sandstorm raging far in the distance. Thankfully, it wasn't in the direction she was steering them. From the ground, the small shuttle would barely have been a dot high up in the sky, but it traversed quickly at such an altitude, crossing miles in seconds.

"Go ahead and bleed off some altitude. We're getting close," the pilot instructs, and Aria nudges the controls forward, following the pointer on the map until they were close enough to see some vague shapes on the ground...

The sun-bleached homestead, partially buried under shifting sands, bears the scars of heavy weapon fire and countless sandstorms that have battered its walls and eroded its once-sharp edges. A few moisture vaporators, now rusted and in disrepair, stand like skeletal sentinels around the property, no longer able to extract precious water from the arid atmosphere.

The skeletal remains of a once-thriving hydroponic garden sit desolate, the dry soil and broken irrigation system offering only a faint reminder of the life that once flourished here. A few remnants of machinery and equipment, corroded by the unforgiving Tatooine environment, are scattered across the property, slowly being swallowed by the encroaching sands.

In the distance, the twin suns of Tatooine cast long shadows on the desolate farmstead, their merciless glare a stark reminder of the harsh and unforgiving world in which this forsaken moisture farm has been left to decay.

[PASS ( +6)] Saito's Meditation @ (100) diff.

Slowly, Saito started to walk towards the destroyedd moisture pharm that had been his home. He tries to reimersse himself in the force to find a bit of peace but this time itt barely works. More tears fall to the ground, the Jedi finally starting to allow some of the anger and sadness that he spent all these years so carefully concealing starting to come to the surface. He barely manages to control his emotions when his eyes land on the broken machinery. He turns his head to the wreckage of an old Gonk droid, remembering that he used to play with that droid as a child. For him, each of these broken machines has a story to tell. He touches the crystal on his pocket, feeling its warmt. He brings it out, letting the sun shine on its surface. "Why, why is there no collor?" he asks the air.

It wasn't just the ruins, it was the tiny figure of a man among them that sent a shock of something just short of physical pain through Aria's chest.

"Take over. Set us down over there," she said, pointing with one finger at a flat bit of desert. She handed over control of the shuttle to the pilot as she rose, already moving to the back of the ship.

The duffel bag she had packed was utilitarian at best. Two comlinks, a planetary GPS, extra water, a blaster with extra energy packs, a knife, an extra scarf, some things to start a fire, and a first aid kid. Whether or not she could actually /use/ any of it was anyone's guess -- including hers. But, at least she had it.

She slung it over her shoulder and grabbed a pair of goggles, too, placing them over her eyes. The ship wasn't even on the ground, yet. She could feel the vibration of its landing skiis extending, but she was already hitting the controls on the side door of the ship, sliding it open. With the repulsors kicking up sand, it felt like a thousand tiny little bee stings on her cheeks, but she squinted through the cloud of particles until she could see the ground coming up. Two meters.. one meter..

As soon as she could, she jumped out of the doorway and into the sand, trotting away from the ship and pulling her scarf up around her to shield her skin as much as she could. As soon as the pilot saw her outside, the ship was lifting back up into the sky again.

Soon, it's only the two of them in those ruins. Within seconds, the shape of the shuttle is barely discernable, and even the roar of its engines are fading into the distance. And then all that's left is the sound of the wind across the sand. And the dull /thud, thud, thud/ of Aria's boots sinking and pushing through the sand, carrying her towards the lone Jedi.

"Saito!" her voice calls out, worry already evident in it, her telepathic abilities already focusing on him, trying to gather every hint of what she's walking into...

If this was a normal situation, the Jedi would have been able to sense the Zeltron. Even without the force, he would be able too notice the shuttle from miles away. However, this isn't a normal situation. Saitoo only notices the shuttle when it is nearby, raising his head in tiem to see the ship disappear. The Zeltron can feel a miriad of emotions coming from the Jedi. There is a overwhelming sense of sadness and of loss emanating from him. He turns his head when his name is called. This time, there is no smile, his hand simply raises to wave to the Zeltron, indicating that she should come closer. At least the tears have stopped, the only signal that they were here are his slightly red eyes. He manages to regain some of his composure. "Hello.. I didn't think you had received myy signal." his tone is dull, almost detashed.

Walking through the sand was a little like pushing through snow for someone that wasn't used to it, except worse. It was course, and it got /everywhere./ It was already sneaking in the tops of Aria's boots as she trudged along. The wind whipped at the fabric of her scarf, and the /smell/ of the desert was... fascinating. For a woman that spent her life in big cities, from Coruscant to Nar Shaddaa, being in a place this desolate was like being in a dream. Or a nightmare.

"Hey.." Aria's voice is gentle, soothing as the distance between them closes. She pulls her goggles down around her neck, letting the dangle. Closer to the farm, the sand was more firmly packed. It was easier for her to cross those last few meters. But she showed no sign of slowing down.

She practically jogged straight into him, wrapping her arms around him and burying her face against his chest. He might have had the Force, but she had her own kind of magic, projecting the warm reassurance of her emotions onto him with that telepathy, trying to help him find that calm sense of safety with her.

"I told you before you left I'd be there if you needed me," she says, smiling against him. "I'm sorry it took me longer than I wanted. But I'm here, now." A pause. She pulls her head back just enough to look up at him. "What are you doing here?"

She didn't need to ask where /here/ was. She knew enough about him, about what this place must be. She just didn't know /why/ .

The red-haired man allows the Zeltron's embrace. Hee wraps his arms around her in return and brings her close. A sigh escapes his lips as her empathy manages to calm him somewhat. Slowly, he breaks the contact and takes a step back. "I'm not sure if you'll believe me, but.." he puts a hand in a pocket and comes out with the kiber crystal, the stone gleaming in thee two suns of the desert. "This sent me here, Aria.. You'll probably only sees this as a crystal but.. Its far more than that.. This crystal is very important to a Jedi.. Its not just an object.. Its.. Almost alive.. The crystal chooses a Jedi to bond to.. And well.. Believe me when I say this isn't a dogma.. This crystall called me to it.. Now we have to bond.." he shows her the crystal, which currently only gleams in the two suns, withoutt collor. "The crystal sent me visions, Aria.. Visions of this place.. It wanted me to come here.. And now that I think about it, its not exactly surprising.."

Violet eyes sweep down to the offered hand and the crystal within it. In fact, it really was just another crystal. Colorless. Pretty, maybe, in its own way, just for being unique. Something that Aria could have warn on a pendant and never have been any the wiser about its properties.

"Saito, I have /no/ reason to doubt you," she says, her hand gently scooping under his and closing his fingers back around it once she'd had a look. There was something about the thought of dropping it in this sand that sent shivers down her spine. It would be like losing it in an ocean.

"I may not /understand/ ... but I believe you." Her eyebrows tug a little closer together, still worried about the man and now this crystal that's giving him nightmares.

"This... is where your parents..." It's a statement rather than a question, a gentle acknowledgement of her understanding of the significance of this place. "But why would it want you to come /here/ ? What was in the visions?"

Aria's eyes shift from him briefly, towards the ruins of the old home. The main building, a dome-shaped adobe structure, has lost much of its original color, now blending almost seamlessly with the surrounding landscape. A cracked, dust-covered doorway leads into the shadowy interior, where long-abandoned furniture and personal belongings are shrouded in layers of sand and grit. Neglected tools, remnants of a family's forgotten dreams, hang on the crumbling and partially destroyed walls, many of which still bare the tell-tale signs of scorch marks.

[PASS ( +37)] Saito's Meditation @ (100) diff.

"Yes, Aria.. It is here where my parents were killed," Saito's tone is soft, sweat pooring from his forehead due to the two suns. He takes a sip from his canteen. "In the nightmares, all of them end with me dying alongside my parents. As for why.. I can understand why it wants me to come here, Aria.. This place-." he sigths and looks at the doorwayy before his eyes go to the skeleton of the Gonk droid. "I lost part of myself here, Aria.. When I left, I swore to myself that I'd never come back to this planet.. I guess the crystal wants me to face a few things that I didn't want to." he doesn't smile but the Zeltron can sense his calm and gratefulness for her being with him. His gaze returns to the forgoten Gonk droid. "I remember that droid.. It was a good friend.. Even tough I didn't understood what it was saying, we were able to.. Understand each other.. It was destroyed when it tried to help my father to deffendd the house." his tone is distant, eyes leaving the skeleton. Slowly, he starts to walk towards the house for a moment before he pauses near the entransse. He closes his eyes andd simply tries to feel the force around him. His brief meditation works, the Zeltron can feel a sense of peace now coming form the human.

There were so many questions to be asked about what happened, about why he would want to relive what had happened, about where the crystal even came from or why he would want it when it was causing him so much obvious pain. All of them are etched in the concerned little lines on Aria's forehead when she looks back at him, but none of them are asked. Not now. Not yet.

Her gaze shifts to the mechanical corpse, a sad little smile touching the corners of her lips. A boy and his best friend -- a Gonk droid. She could almost picture it. A little red-headed Saito, knee high, running around this place at the height of its glory. A future moisture farmer.

And then her eyes are back on Saito. No. Not a moisture farmer. A future Jedi Knight.

She swallows quietly, watching him turn and walk towards the house, keeping a respectful distance away and watching her step. There was rubble everywhere, most of it obscured by sand, it was easy to miss and lose your footing. But there were also personal things. Droid parts. Tools. Pieces of broken furniture. Probably... pictures? Holodiscs, buried somewhere beneath the rubble. Toys, too. He'd been so young, after all. She wondered how much was left after the sands, animals, and scavengers had picked through anything vauable...

"Take it slow," she says softly, watching him and offering a gentle, encouraging smile. A reminder that she was still here for him. That he wasn't alone. But careful to give him the space he needed.

[PASS ( +14)] Aria Voss's Search @ (100) diff.

The redhead continues to walk through his family's destroyed pharmstead. His eyes once again go to thee destroyed Gonk Droid. Something that many saw as simply a energy generator had another meaning for the pilot. He reaches out a hand to touch the droid's carcass. "Thank you, Gonky.. You were a good friend." his words are said in a low tone, almost a murmur. He continues to walk amidst the destroyedd machinery and discarded toys. For the first time in his life, he allows himself to simply feel the loss and the sadness, tears once again starting to run down his cheek. Aria finds a lot of things. Toy ships, one of them being a X-wing. She alsso finds, on the property's edge, a feww rusted pieces of blasters, just another sign of the massacre that happened here. Slowly, Saito turns to Aria. "You must have questions, Aria.. Go a head, ask them, if you want," he offers her a soft smile, glad that at lesat someone is with him.

"I... don't want to upset you," Aria answers softly, looking up from crouching next to an old model X-Wing that she was tenderly brushing the sand off of. "I'm here to support you. To... do whatever I can to make this easier for you. I don't want to..." She purses her lips, huffing out a breath. "I don't want to make it worse by digging up memories you'd rather not face."

But that was the rub, wasn't it? Memories he'd rather not face.

She lifted the X-Wing carefully, but under it was a faded fabric patch that looked as if it had been cut away from a larger garment.

The insignia is of a ghostly figure emerging from a swirling sandstorm. Draped in tattered robes, it has piercing, hollow eyes that seem to gaze ominously into the distance. Its outstretched arms are engulfed in the tempest, and the design is framed by a circular band of unity and strength. Letters are etched into the band in jagged script: Wraiths of the Wastes. The whole thing is rendered in shades of sand and dark gray, references to the harsh Tatooine environment and their elusive, shadowy nature.

Well, now she had a question.

"Who were the... Wraiths of the Wastes?" Violet eyes lift, and she stands, patch in hand, to offer to Saito.

Saito offers a warm smile to Aria. "Thank you, Aria.. You being here.. Means a lot to me," Saito replies, smilling once again. He watches she brush dust of of the toy X-wing for a moment. "I've always wanted to be a pilot.. I remember my father saying that if I gott old enough and saved enough credits to buy my own ship, that he'd be happy to support me." The Zeltron can sense the human's melancholy, tough the emotion doesn't show on his face. He blinks when Aria shows him the patch. "Well, I.. I have no idea," he says after a moment of thought with a shake of his head. "I mean I've not been here for more than 20 years.. I've never heard the name before." He offers Aria his hand. "Come, Aria.. Lets get inside.. I should have come back here years ago.."

Aria turns the patch back over to look at it, trailing a light-pink thumb over its surface and brushing a bit more of the dirt off. Nodding, she says no more on the topic, just sliding the patch into one of the outer pockets of her duffel bag and then taking his offered hand.

She didn't really know what to say to all of that. Those violet eyes of her watch Saito, softening when he tells her how grateful he is that she's there. "Thank you for calling me," she offers, giving his fingers a gentle squeeze. "I wouldn't be anywhere else."

But then she goes quiet again, still watching her footsteps and letting him lead, her duffel bag pushed around to rest against her back.

[PASS ( +69)] Saito's Meditation @ (100) diff.

The pilot gently squeezes Aria's hand as they enter the house. The inside is a mess, just like outside. Sand has tacken over most of the surfaces. It appears that whatever attack happened here was heavy enough that some of the walls exploded. The house lies mostly in ruins. Saito walks with his head down, not trying to hide his sadness. He moves to sit down on the ground and reaches out to the force,, openning himself to it. He bares himself open to the force and aknowledges his sadness and anguish, eyes slowly closing as these feelings are substituted by acceptance and a sense off peace and stillness. The Zeltron would probably notice the change with herr empathethic ability. In a moment there is sadness and melancholy.. The next, there is only peace and calm.

[FAIL ( -26)] Aria Voss's Sleight Of Hand @ (100) diff.

Aria is twenty years old. She was five, when the Sith stormed the Core Worlds. By the time she was old enough to really understand any of it, the Jedi had become the whispered bogeymen of the galaxy, bounties offered not just for them, but for their lightsabers -- their symbol.

When Saito admitted what he was to her and she refused to turn him in, that bounty naturally extended to her, too. 'Known Associates,' it was well known to include. Well, it wasn't the first time she'd defied the Sith Empire, and it wouldn't be the last. Not by a long shot.

Growing up in a galaxy ruled by real bogeymen, their Force-using Acolytes and Masters, it was hard to get to the truth of... well... anything. It wasn't exactly like you could just go down to the library and pick up a copy of Jedi Knights 101. There was plenty of material headed up like 'The Scourge of the Empire: The Jedi Menace' but once Aria was old enough to understand what the Sith stood for, she'd decided that any enemy of theirs must be a friend of some sort.

And that's what she found, here. A friend. A source of hope. A companion. Maybe more. She still had a hard time getting her mind around their instant connection. Maybe it was a combination of personalities, histories, timing, empathy, fate... /the will of the Force/ , he'd put it. The thought brought a little smile to her lips. Well, who was she to argue with that?

When Saito found a spot to sit, she released his hand and gave him the space he needed to meditate. She tried to be respectful of the noise she was making, only the shuffling of her boots and the occasional shift of some small object she was looking at filling the room. She found a broken shelf, fingers sliding over the objects contained. A few ruined old books. Knick-knacks they'd bought from traveling traders, probably. A datapad. She takes the corner of it and pulls -- then there's a little /thud/ as something on the shelf falls -- and she winces.

"Sorry," she whispers, brushing it off and turning it over in her hands while he does his... Jedi things.

[PASS ( +52)] Saito's Meditation @ (100) diff.

Slowly, Saito's eyes open and he stands from thee floor. The young man smiles to the Zeltron. "No worries, its ok," he says calmly, the calm being a result of his meditation. "Aria.. I swear that when this is over, you'll understand what is oging on." pulling out the crystal again, he looks to it. "Now II see." he reaches outt with his mind and touches the crystal's presence,, allowing his deepest feelings to flow into the crystal. His hopes for a better future, his happiness for the bonds that he had forged and his comitment to the light. If the Zeltron is paying enough atention, she would be able to identify a few echoes coming from the crystal, tough its nothing readable. Its clear that whatever is going on,, it is as if there are two minds involved. He holds the crystal in his palm, feeling a large sense of calm, peace and tranquility, eyes closing once again.

/Not the time, Aria./ Her violet eyes were on that datapad, curious if it was still operational, but Saito's words brough her attention back up to him and she thought better of it. Instead, she tucked it into her duffel bag, too: filed under /something to poke into later/ .

"I trust you."

The truth of those words creates its own little echo inside her, bringing a larger smile to her lips. Was there anyone else in the galaxy she could honestly say that to? Certainly not /that/ readily and completely.

Saito's focus on that crystal, though, brings Aria back to her feet, taking a few steps closer, watching that crystal. It's the little... /noise/ , in her mind, that she can't quite pinpoint that makes her frown, her brow narrowing. A /feeling/ she couldn't place. Another mind in the same room, but nothing she could identify as /sentient/ .. nothing like anything she'd ever felt with her limited empathic abilities. It was just... /there/ , sharing in that overwhelming calm with Saito.

[PASS ( +29)] Saito's Meditation @ (100) diff.

Saito continues to stand still, eyes closed, trying to focus on his connection to the crystal. It is a difficult process. Sometimes, the link would get weaker and he'd have to concentrate to continue the process. He can sense ratter than feel the bond with the crystal being completed. He feels a overwhelming sense of satisfaction and excitement when he feels the crystal get warmer in his palm. He opens his eyes and all traces of his sadness and loss are now gone. There is only the force and the peace that he still feels. He opens his palm and gasps. Without a word, he approaches the Zeltron and shows her the crystal. Were as before it was without collor, now it glows a healthy green. Cilent tears fall from Saito's eyes and hee decides too simply let them continue. Were as before the tears were sad, now they are tears of acceptance of what had happenedd here, in this ruined moisture pharm. "The crystal, Aria.." he starts slowly, reaching out with a hand to grasp the Zeltron's. "The crystal is the main component in a Jedi's lightsaber," he explains, feeling like that he owes explanations to the Zeltron that decided to acompany him.

The moment was not unlike watching the birth of a child or the sculpture appear out of a block of granite. It was magical, enthralling, and intimate. Simultaneously, it was easy to feel both like an intruder on an intimate moment and privileged to be able to witness it. How many people alive, today, could honestly say they'd ever seen such a thing? How many people in galaxy that weren't Jedi could ever have said it?

Aria's attention was rapt and unwavering. She stood nearby, both watching in awe and /feeling/ through her emotional connection with Saito. She breathed slowly. Deeply. But where only moments ago, she was using her telepathic abilities to help calm him, now /she/ was overwhelmed -- overwhelmed with /exactly/ the same emotions that Saito was feeling, like she'd gotten caught too close to a supernova.

Tears fall from her own eyes, but that sense of peace and acceptance is absolute. She had tried to help calm him earlier, but Aria had never felt calm like /this/ in her entire life. Everything was at peace. The whole galaxy seemed to just /make sense/ , even if she didn't understand it. She trusted it. She trusted /him/ .

And then her eyes are down on the crystal, its beautiful verdant color absolutely striking against both his skin and the brown sand that surrounded them. It was its own oasis in this desert, teeming with life.

She feels Saito's hand and her violet eyes lift to his, fingers interlacing, moving closer to him as if drawn by a magnet. And then her eyes go wide.

"You're building a lightsaber..."

Her smile grows, as does the excitement inside her, and then she's rising up onto tip-toe, one hand gently touching his cheek as she places her lips against his in a soft, warm embrace.

Saito gently wraps his arms around Aria, still enveloped by the sense of peace and calm. He answers her kiss gently tough he pulls back after a few moments, offering her a warm, bright smile. "Yes, I'm.. I'm not sure how long it will take me but it is a part of my training." he reaches out to grasp her hand in his, intertwining their fingers together, his other hand placing the bonded crystal in a pocket. "I once said I'd never come back to this planet.. Now I'm not sure anymore," he smiles, starting to finally accept his loss. "I.. My parents wouldn't want me too walk around carrying their loss in my shoulders.. I guess thats why the crystal brought me here.. I had to let them go," finally, there is no sign off anymore sadness in the young man. "I feel like I'll be able to grief them properly from now on.. And you were here with me.. Thank you, Aria.. I have no words to express how much that meant to me." he holds her hand and starts too walk towards the destroyed entransse of the house. "Being a Jedi iss not about not feeling, on the contrary.. Its about feeling and accepting what we feel.. Its about accepting things like loss, sadness.. And surviving, despit feeling them.. I'd never understood that until now.."

Aria's own smile shines like the twin Tatooine suns as she gazes up at Saito, her lower lip coyly tucked between her teeth after their little, intimate moment. But she walks with him, hand in hand, as he starts towards the door, listening to his words and sticking by his side.

"When you talked about them, before, it was... really hard. I could /feel/ it, you know? I wanted to know more about them, but it felt like I was hurting you by asking," the pink-skinned woman says, carefully stepping over the rubble on her way out of the home. Her violet eyes shift over and up, her smile still lingering. "I don't feel that from you, anymore. So, maybe once we're settled back on Nar Shaddaa and we have some time, I can ask you all those questions I wanted to."

A twinkle of mirth flashes across her eyes. "Like what /little/ Saito was like.." Her free hand crosses her body and finds his ribs, a finger digging in to a tickling spot she remembered before -- only a quick tease, enough just to playfully make him flinch.

"And what you remember about them. Like that story about your father. And you wanting to be a pilot. Those kinds of memories."

Something catches her eye, though, and she drops Saito's hand, taking a few quick steps over to where the toy X-Wing had been on the ground, before. She had mostly cleaned it off, before, but now she lifts it again, blowing the sand off of it. "May I keep this?"

"Yes, it was really hard," Saito nods to Aria. "The truth is that what happened was always difficult for me, Aria.. I've always felt angry and sad.. And to make things whorse, I didn't want to really aknowledge how I felt." he watches the Zeltron picking the toy X-wing of of the ground and nods. "Of course, feel free." her tickle atempt causes the youth to flinch and to chuckle. "Not fair, sneak attack!" he playfully elbows her, seeming to be completelly in peace despit where he is. "Don't worry, Aria.. When we get back to Nar, I'll be more than happy to answer your questions." he pauses and frowns for a moment. "There is one thing, tough.. I won't be able to return to Nar.. Not now, at least.. I have to finish this project.. This might take mee some time but we'll be in contact.. Plus you know that you can call me whenever you need me.." he squeezes her hand, kissing the back of it gently.

There's a moment of disappointment that flashes across the Zeltron's features, Aria's lips pressing together in childish jealousy of his other obligations. But it's only a moment before she's smiling again, using some of his calm to push the petulant, spoiled rich kid inside her aside so the woman she could be -- the woman she /should/ be -- has a moment to shine and be there for him.

"I understand," she says, a little grin twisting one corner of her lips. "I know you're busy. I won't try to interrupt you unless it's important. Just don't forget you still owe me dinner."

Her eyes watch, cheeks flushing, as he lifts her hand and kisses the back of it. Her chest swells with the breath she inhales, her smile wide enough to make her cheeks hurt. It was crazy how /easy/ it was to be with him.

"At least let me give you a ride to the starport?"

She reaches back into her duffel bag with her free hand, pulling out a little comlink and flipping it on. "Hey, Kale, it's Aria. I think we're done out here. Go ahead and start heading this way."

Noticing the Zeltron's disappointment,, the Jedi wraps her in a brief hug. "Believe me.. When I return,, it will be worth the wait, you'll see." he brushes his lips against hers in a chaste kiss before he breaks the hug. "Well, sure, we'll go have dinner together.. But you pick the place.. You know nar more than me." he gently reaches out for her hand, intertwining their fingers as they wait for Aria's ship, his mind already on his nextt stop, the hiden planet of Tempis.