Tingel Arm

Jade wasn't fussed over the outcome of the bet, after all, it was Z'har's money she was using in the first place. She followed the gentle pressure of his hand under her elbow as they made their way over to the bar. She raised her glass in response to his toast and lightly clinked it against his before downing the glass quickly. She set it back on the counter upside down and looked at him with one eyebrow quirked up in an unspoken challenge. Since they had some time together, and then a longer flight to Coruscant for her, she didn't consider it irresponsible particularly since she had a quick metabolism as far as consumption of alcoholic beverages went.

"Let's hope our luck doesn't run out. Where are you headed after we split up? Or is it top-secret?"

Unlike Z'har at the moment, Ael herself was rather well placed in terms of funding. She wasn't an avid spender, and over the years had quite a tidy amount set aside, not to mention the recent stimulation from her latest county collection. She had never been to Honoghr, but she did know of it as the homeworld of the Noghri, most famous for the death of Grand Admiral Thrawn. She appreciated his willingness to keep her informed of his whereabouts, though she knew he could just as easily be spinning her a fairytale.

After picking up her refilled glass the slim Jedi woman followed her taller Zabrak companion over to what looked like a comfortable loveseat that provided enough room for both of them, but a nice amount of intimacy as well. He sat down first, then she joined him, gracefully seating herself sideways with her back against the further arm and her legs draped across his lap. Ael took a sip of her drink, momentarily reflecting on the situation as an example of her comfort level and trust as far as he was concerned. She was fully aware of what was transpiring around her, but she was also relaxed with him.

Looking up at him, she nodded in agreement. "What do you wish to know?" She knew that speaking of herself wasn't something that came easily, not after so many years of keeping her own counsel as far as she was concerned. "Ask me anything."

"This?" Jade unclipped a lightsaber from the left side of her belt. Its hilt was a couple inches longer than that of her own lightsaber, allowing for it to more easily be wielded with two hands. Across the grip were long charred burn markings. She hefted it for a second, feeling its weight before passing it to Z'har in case he wished to look at it more closely.

Eventually she answered his question.

"Most of the burn marks are ones I put there myself," she flexed her fingertips reflexively, remembering that fight, one of only three occasions when she had drawn on her own emotions and the Force to a degree that involved the use of Electric Judgment, a green-tinged lightning that many Jedi preferred not to use as being a power that could pull one closer to the Dark Side.

"Long before I met you, the first time I was on Coruscant in fact," she frowned, this was something she hadn't really thought about much in a long time, "when the Jedi were working together for a time, I found a friend, more like a brother actually: Anakin Starrunner. That was around the time when Serrin Roma and I became friends as well."

She laced her fingers together, shifting just a bit so that she was more comfortable.

"For reasons that I have never understood, Anakin decided I was his mentor figure. Not as in his master, but someone that he looked up to," she clarified, "he struggled with a lot of things, and I tried to help. He ended up disappearing for some months, and when he returned, he had fallen from the Jedi and become a Sith. Even then he did not forget his time with the Jedi---" she trailed off for a moment, clouds flickering through her otherwise clear, green eyes, "he asked me to kill him, to keep him from injuring others."

"It was a long fight, but not as long as it could have been. In the end, I took his saber and told him I would remember the Jedi he had been."

Jade took it and for a moment her thumb hovered over the igniter switch, but she clipped it to her belt and leaned back, hands folded loosely in her lap as she considered what to ask of him. She could have asked him about his family, but instead she chose first what might be a less personal topic.

"How did one like you end up all the way out in the Tingel Arm? It's not exactly convenient for pretty much anything."

Ael's head was tilted slightly to one side as she listened to him. She couldn't help feeling almost as if he was a prisoner though. To be sure, Etti IV was nicer than Kamino---it was impossible to stay dry on that planet due to what felt like chronic rainfall. She had found it rather unpleasant atmospherically speaking.

"For someone who has so much power and influence, it almost feels like you are trapped. Or that is how you perceive yourself?"

She twitched her left index finger, invisibly poking him in the shoulder.

"Family troubles? How did you end up with such an extensive family anyway?" she inquired with a quirked eyebrow and a half-smile. Despite her own knowledge of his prowess in various domestic arenas, she somehow had never really thought of him as a family type person.

Ael reached over and took his left hand in hers, placing it just above her knee before covering it with her own as the two of them were sitting together.

"I'd hate to think of you being trapped though, Z'har. Most beings are meant to be free."

She nodded, though aware that he'd just pointed out there was more to this story than could be told at this time. She bit back all the witty retorts and suggestions that came to mind, though a mischievous spark darting through her eyes could tell him she had thought of them.

"What of all the women in your life then?"

She asked nonchalantly, more as a passing matter of academic curiosity than a more studied inquisition.

She replied with a wordless embrace, not really having an idea anymore how to put feelings like hers into words.

Eventually she smiled, "While I am flattered of course, I seem to recall that we met over a chromite deal. And you base your economic empire on a mining operation---I would think rocks are your stock in trade."

She tapped the back of his hand lightly, before running her hand through her hair tucking it back behind her ear.

"Anyway, I have gotten away with several questions in a row."

"One child. Unfortunately he took after his father in everything that ultimately mattered." Jade winced uncomfortably. "Till the end anyway."

She shrugged. That specific memory was one she had locked away and refused to think about for quite some time. In the immediate aftermath it had hurt too much, and then she had been too busy with just surviving. When she did have time to properly think it over, it had seemed like ancient history almost, and she couldn't see a point in dredging it all up again.

And now Z'har had asked.

"It's a long story, involving political cloak and dagger fights, not a little intrigue and possibly even murder. My homeworld was not a good place to be in the end."

Clouds flickered through her eyes. Even though she was an exile and had been so for many years, part of her would always love the planet she'd been born on. In terms of terrain and environment, Corellia was quite similar, and in addition to her friendship with Serrin, that was a major reason she had decided to make it home.

"I hated surviving, running, it isn't easy you know," she glanced up at him for a moment, "I still feel guilty, wondering if I should have gone back. But I hope I saved more lives by staying away."

Some questions really didn't have answers, not until much later. And by then the asker usually was not around to ask the questions again. She looked over at Z'har, thinking about what to ask him.

"What was your family like? Before---" she broke off, thinking on the memories that she had seen and then used against him so many years earlier. She slid closer to him.