Chapter 11 - Scarlet versus Azure

So the galaxy is a strange place when the republic socializes with the hutts. Maybe to curry a little favor with the galactic underworld bigwigs was a good idea in the long term. Many hutts had an open relationship with the imperials after all and had a lucrative business relationship…

But a hutt sponsored party in the name of the republic on Coruscant? Catered and entertainment provided by Torga the hutt? It sounded ridiculous, coming into it I expected half dressed slave girls hobnobbing and backroom boot knocking with our less then savory senators but it was marginally respectable. The band was a small time group of bith and weequay that played smooth and easy music excellent for slow dancing, or face and rapid for those that wanted a little rhythm. Ass shaking cantina jazz wasn't on the menu apparently…

And the food, dishes and tastes from all over the galaxy with some foods that would be considered contraband for coming from Imperial space. Torga had contracts with everyone and exploited it to his great success.

Torga finally arrived himself as the senators, generals, and other assorted bigwigs applauded his entrance. He waved politely at them, soaking in his their praise as he shook hands. Honestly if the rumors about him were true he was an extremely decent sentient, for a hutt. He was however also the only guest to come with an unarmed bodyguard.

Some mandalorian from the look of it. He wore a shined up, blue traditional mandalorian helmet that looked much newer than the old dented durasteel chestplate he wore, along with his duster coat. He looked like a tattooine gunslinger… I always did like those vids personally. The bodyguard was strangely accompanied by an azure blue skin Twi'lek, she hung on his arm like a very seductive accessory. She wore a traditional twi'lek evening gown, so it showed an awful lot of skin and also not enough… it started as a sort of twisting cloth above her waist, holding her large firm breasts in place and revealing much of her toned smooth belly and slightly toned arms. But then as if lowered below her waist it turned into threaded strips, as she walked it seemed to show her legs as if a curtain but not enough that she was flashing the crowd with each step. It was very fashionable nowadays apparently…

Some of the men in the room would look at her and only see a vision of beauty. But I knew different. That woman was just as dangerous as the mandalorian she held onto. She was far too fit to be some escort or slave girl… But I wasn't here for Torga, oh no, I was here for someone else.

General Batu Radoo: Human male from one of the Republic occupied planets, currently leading the eastern ground forces on Telos. Good leader, respected diplomat, fine soldier.

Traitor.

My superiors were following evidence that Batu was meeting with Imperial Ciphers, and word in the field Batu was planning to meet up with a Cipher while he was visiting Coruscant and deliver Republic battle plans. My job was to prevent the exchange if it happened and catch the Cipher if I was able. Only problem was that I wasn't allowed a blaster into this party, the only weapon I had was the field issue folded hold-out blaster strapped to my thigh. It had six shots in the charge at most, and was just a little obvious under my dress if I didn't sit just right.

I had worn a white backless gown; it matched my lekku and accentuated my curves and scarlet colored skin. it had a long slip up my legs allowing me easy access to my pistol if necessary but kept it just hidden enough so people wouldn't notice. I swirled the water in my glass as I watched General Batu exchange a joke with a handful of republic senators as they ate at the table that sat at…

…It was fucking lonely. It was a solo mission and the first one I had since Dormund Kaas… but this was a party and I was alone 'drinking' at a bar.

"Scarlet Trooper can you hear me?" the hidden com in my ear cackled as Cloud Nine, my handler echoed inside it.

"Yes…" I whispered, slowly pretending to sip my glass as my eyes lingered on Batu. "What is it? And when in the field you can just call me Scarlet."

"Just checking in." she said methodically, ignoring the shortening of my name. "Have you noticed anything suspicious?" she asked. I rolled my eyes, watching Batu intently. Cloud Nine was a nice enough girl but she was too by the book. Agents needed to be flexible. Spies needed to adapt. We need utter and complete focus.

"Hello there." I jumped suddenly shocked as the voice came undetected from beside me, I turned my head to find the twi'lek watching me intently. Where the fuck did she come from!? She was wearing heels on marble! She continued to watch me intently, examining my face. For half a vain moment I wondered if she simply liked what she saw.

"…I'm sorry?" I said, composing myself. The twi'lek shrugged as she examined me. I didn't need this right now I had to keep my attentions on Batu. I need to know who he talked to, who he saw. The Cipher agent, if there was one, could be anybody. The twi'lek however just continued to examine me, her golden eyes roving over my body and suddenly I felt a little vulnerable. "Can I help you with something?" I asked finally, a little frustrated.

"No. I can help you though…" as the bartender finally got to her, she smiled politely at her and said, "I'll have a crystal clear naboo on ice please…" She had manners I'll give her that, "In a glass like hers." She added deliberately pointing to mine.

The drink quickly came, a slightly bubbling drink that looked just like water. It was a mixture of some Naboo light alcohol and then promptly watered down. She nursed the glass but didn't drink on it.

"…So are you new to the spy game?"

I went rigid. No fucking way.

"I'm sorry?" I replied very calm and collected, and keeping a level head and tone. Regardless of recent events I was still a very good spy. "What do you mean?" to anyone else nearby I would have sounded like any regular person. There were no hitches in my reply, no trace of denial in my voice.

"An attractive woman at a bar, alone, drinking water…" the twi'lek said, "And watching…" she looked quickly at Batu, "A republic general. So are you a rookie or something?"

I glared at her as Cloud Nine began shouting, "Abort! Abort! We have been found out!"

"Shut up." I hissed and the twi'lek looked at me somewhat confused.

"Handler having a panic attack?" she asked under her breath so only I could hear her.

"Who are you?" I said firmly, and quietly, my hand resting on my thigh ready to slip under my dress and grab my hold-out pistol.

"I'm Yura." She replied briskly, holding her glass to me, "I'm a just slave girl here to have a good time." I watched her confused, and she slowly took my water and replaced it with her own drink. Subtly and quickly, nobody would have noticed.

"Here's a tip." She said soflty, swirling my water now as if it was always hers, "When out on a stakeout at a bar order a crystal clear naboo with ice. There's so little alcohol in it you'd need five of them to even get a buzz, so you can have the illusion of actually drinking it. You let the ice in the glass melt so it looks like you're getting a refill without actually getting one. If someone catches you with water like I did they'll know your hiding something. Drinking water at the bar means you want to stay sober, and staying sober means your trouble."

I snorted. It was a clever idea. I'm not so conceited as to ignore good advice. "…So, are you a Cipher?"

Yura laughed again lightly, "No. I told you, I'm a slave." She gestured to the mandalorian standing by Torga as the hutt laughed along with a group of bigwigs. "His slave." She said with a strangely small amount of pride in her voice.

"The hutt?"

"No the…" she hesitated for a moment, "Mandalorian." she finished softly, "He's Torga's top, and favorite, bounty hunter."

"Good for him." I replied dryly, letting my eyes wander to Batu again, he was still sitting at the table. "So why are you here giving advice to someone who is not a spy." I replied deliberately, hand resting on the grip of my blaster.

"You can take you hand off your hold-out. I was just curious." She replied catching the bartender again, "Excuse me I'll take two Dormund Blaasts, one with a straw." She said sweetly, the bartender looked at her confused.

"Scarlet Trooper have we, or have we not been compromised?" the com crackled to life as Yura described the unfamiliar drink, "Do you need to pull out?" she asked determinedly.

"No." I replied, "Shut up Cloud Nine I can't hear anything…" the drinks Yura ordered arrived, strangely orange colored, one glass had a straw. "So… Miss Yura, what do you want?"

She took a long draft from the glass without a straw, "Right now? I want to go over there…" she gestured with her head, causing her lekku to shake, at the mandalorian and Torga. "…And dance with my boyfriend."

I smirked, but inside I was a little sad. Okay I was very sad, but she looked so happy about it, it was infectious. "…Good for you." I said, happy for her.

"Do me a favor though if you meet him." Taking the glass with a straw, from the counter "Don't tell him I said that…"

"Said what?" I asked surprised, taking a sip from my glass, letting the soft taste of the drink warm my insides.

Yura winked slowly at me, seductively "That he's my boyfriend… It drives him crazy."

"So he hates it?" I asked surprised feeling a little sorry for her, "Sounds like an asshole…"

Yura laughed loudly and melodically, "No!" she smiled cheerily at me with apparently perfect teeth, "If you told him that, he'd take me into a back room and plow me until I couldn't walk!" she giggled happily, as I laughed. "And I want to walk tonight you have no idea how good a dancer he is.

"Cheers then Miss Yura." I said. I found that I couldn't really hate her, I certainly didn't trust her; she was clearly not a normal 'slave girl' with her observational skills and her 'helpful tips.'

"Cheers miss-" she paused as the glass of her drink tapped mine, "Ah… I forgot republic spy rules, no names…"

…She was definitely suspicious. But my instincts told me she wasn't an enemy… at least not an enemy of the republic. Something in the back of my mind bothered me however as she approached the mandalorian with the drinks, he slowly lifted the helmet, keeping the rest of his face hidden, and sipped it up quickly before being pulled him violently to the dance floor by Yura. His hand letting go of his glass up in the air as he stumbled away with her. 

With reflexes belying his hutt like size Torga's hand shot out and caught the glass deftly before placing it on the table. The people around him clapped rather surprised but he easily waved it away before continuing his mingling.

I watched, just a little enviously, as Yura pulled her mandalorian to the dance floor. Promptly placing his hands on her hips and slowly, but surely moving slower as the band suddenly slowed to match as if taking a cue from Yura's presence, and the other dancers paired up to slow dance. I quickly came to the conclusion that she must have arranged for this… And she was right, he was an amazing dancer.

I envied her as they slowly moved across the dance floor with everyone else… The look on her face… As she gazed into his eyes behind the visor you could tell she absolutely adored the man under the mask… I knew the feeling. And as I thought of it my body reminded myself of how I reacted when I had that feeling… and as it often did, I drifted into my fantasies of Aiden as I watched Yura have a moment with the man she clearly loved.

"Scarlet Trooper report! You heart rate has spiked!" Cloud Nine desperately shouted, "Are you under attack?"

"What?! No!" I hissed, quickly blushing purple as I squirmed in my seat. My panties were suddenly much wetter than they were a second ago, "No nothing is wrong!" I quickly replied softly, "It must have been an error." But I knew it wasn't and again I turned to watch Yura and the rest of the dancers…

Correction; Yura and the bounty hunter dancing… The dance floor had cleared and it was as if a light shown down upon them. They say when dancing you're only as good as your partner, and again her's was amazing… I have to admit, I was hypnotized as he waltzed majestically with well practiced ease across the floor with her. Striding wide and twirling slow he pulled all the attention to Yura, practically turning her into living art. She was very good at dancing, but clearly he was a master of it. The music flowed to a halt as he dipped Yura with surprising strength and held her with one arm as she pressed her head against his helmet…

It was super fucking romantic and I suddenly found myself hating it as much as wanting it. I had no idea why.

She whispered something to the bounty hunter and she stoked the mask, obviously pretending it was his face as the crowd erupted in cheers and clapping, Torga especially with massive booms coming from his hands. As Yura was pulled rather embarrassed back to her feet, she walked away from the dance floor leaving her boyfriend to stand next to Torga.

Shit Batu. Quickly I turned and sure enough he was still there, politely clapping for the 'amateur show'. I was starting to think, watching him lean close to a twi'lek senator and whispering something with a smile, that all the rumors were untrue. Nobody approached him, he hasn't gone anywhere, he wasn't doing anything suspicious I was beginning to believe it was bad Intel.

"Woo!" Yura breathed, fanning her face dramatically, and sitting next to me again, "Water please." She said breathlessly as the bartender hurried away. "…Now I know how Milky felt… By the Force, I need to get him into a room soon. Or not, how soundproof are the bathrooms on Coruscant again?"

I sighed, rolling my eyes as she smiled at me, "Why are you back with me when you could be doing that?"

"Because then some guys might come over to you and start talking to you, and distracting you." She said conspiratorially as her water arrived. She smiled smugly over the glass, "Have you noticed those CEO's over their eyeing you?"referring to the corellian men in the far corner of the room

"I did." I replied honestly, "The short one has been eyeing my ass all night."

"Well it is a very nice ass…" Yura said, playfully looking at it, "I can hardly blame them."

"Uh huh. So I've been told." I smirked at her.

"Aren't you going to complement my ass?" she asked a little indignantly.

"Don't you have a boyfriend for that?" I sniped back chuckling.

"Yes but it's nice to hear someone else say it who is not try to get in my pants…" then eyeing me up and down knowingly added, with a seductive grin, "Yet, I suppose… with my track record."

We both started laughing lightly… but then the laughter stopped as somebody screamed over the noise and the band.

"Torga the Hutt!" all the attention in the room turned to a pale man with a bald head dressed as a waiter. Inwardly I cursed, I knew an imperial assassin when I saw one. "Your brother says happy birthday!" he said pulling a mini- hold-out blaster from his jacket, "And goodbye!"

A blaster like that had only one shot; sacrificing clip size for being almost completely undetected. Imperial assassins used them on suicidal runs; he wasn't expecting to leave here alive… my mind moved rapidly as everything slowed around me… people were scrambling out of the way as Torga watched in fascinated horror as the assassin aimed at his bulk. I could draw my pistol and by proxy draw attention to myself, but then Batu would know and quickly figure out that he was under suspicion. He might be a traitor but he wasn't stupid. But letting Torga die to an imperial assassin on the republic capital planet? Even the hutts that didn't like him wouldn't talk to us after that…

But as he fired… the problem was sort of solved. With an act of bravery that seemed wasted on a hutt, even a hutt like Torga. Yura's boyfriend… whatever his name was, slid into the blast and took it center mass to his chest piece, slamming hard against Torga who had caught him. Yura screamed in horror, dashing across the room towards him and pressing herself against him in despair. I stood their stunned and suddenly very cold…

I felt empty. Yura wept openly over his dead body as the assassin tossed the blaster aside and charged Torga with a vibro-knife. Torga remained still as if accepting his death with honor… and then Yura stopped crying.

Amazingly the mandalorain reached under Yura's dress through the strips on her legs. I saw Yura's face blush and she practically had an orgasm at his touch. She spun away as the mandalorian aimed a hold-out blaster at the surprised assassin an arm's length away and fired. The impact stopped the assassin dead in his tracks and he collapsed to the floor. Cold and dead.

Torga helped the mandalorian to his feet as the people around them applauded, medics quickly coming on sight to check him out. Yura shoved them away briefly and gripping the side of the man's helmet she gently pressed her forehead against it. A sign that she was silently telling him she was glad he was okay before taking the hold-out blaster from him… and placing it exactly where it had been under her dress before anyone noticed.

The medics hauled him away out of the room and he was followed by Torga, practically singing his praises in huttese. Yura, looking rather frustrated and nervous, approached the bar quickly and reach over the counter grabbing some hard liquor.

"Ma'am you need to pay for…" the bartender began but Yura silenced her away with a cold look.

"…Tough guy you have there…" I noted as she ripped the cork from the bottle with her teeth and drank deeply.

"…Tough tech. Our jawa mechanic installed a small shield in that chest piece." she said, drinking the bottle like a fish to water.

"Smart." I said nodding, making a note of the idea for our own troopers.

"Problem is it only works once before it needs a charge." She replied, pouring a glass and drinking from it, "And there was no guarantee it would work since this was its first test run. He wasn't sure it would work tonight."

"Wait. That means you expected the attack." I asked slowly as my mind began to spin.

"Yeah. Today is Torga's birthday." She said, shrugging, "I don't expect you guys to know but his brother Tuuba sends assassins every birthday… it usually doesn't take."

"…You guys knew the assassin would attack…" I said slowly, "…And Tuuba had access to Imperial assassins?!" I turned and my heart dropped.

Batu was gone.

"Shit!" I hissed suddenly as Yura watched me quickly run towards the table staring at the only remaining senator. "Where did Batu go!?" I demanded.

He stared at me rudely, "My dear girl do you have any idea-"

I pulled my badge showing it to him, "SIS Agent. Where did he GO." I repeated coldly.

The senator gulped as he looked at it, before pointing to a door offside, "He said he had to get something from his room and then left after the assassin attacked." He replied just as the soldier's assigned to guard outside entered the room to detain the dead assassin.

If they were here… then they weren't around the building looking for the Cipher agent.

"Where's his room!?" I shouted desperately as Yura approached curiously.

"1920" he shouted and I dashed off, Yura right suddenly behind me. The elevator was agonizingly slow as I jammed the button desperately, "Come on. Come on!" there was no point in taking the stairs we were fifty floors down.

Yura calmly approached me from behind, pulling out the hold-out blaster from her dress and checking the charged, "So what did this general supposedly do?"

"He's been selling republic plans to the empire." I replied, jamming the button harder, "He was supposedly meeting a Cipher today. That assassin was clearly a distraction so he could slip away."

"Hmmm." Yura replied thoughtfully as miraculously the elevator arrived as she entered with me.

"Why are you even here?!" I asked suddenly realizing she was following me.

She shrugged again, "Figured you could us another blaster, Ciphers are no joke."

"You're a civilian!" I said, as the elevator stopped and I quickly ran down the hall with Yura.

"I'm a slave to a bounty hunter who just got shot because of this FUCKER." She replied firmly, and I flinched at her look. I think I once saw a vid, long ago of a fallen jedi who butchered an entire platoon of imperial troopers; it was to study his combat forms. The look of rage and fury on his face was unmatched, horrifying.

Yura had that same look.

"…Don't shoot to kill, we need him alive so we can get him on trial." I said, quickly counting the doors and approaching 1920. "And I need to find out if he's really guilty so…" I pulled a small recording device from a hidden pocket in my dress, "We need to wait just a moment.

"Understood." Yura replied professionally, far too professionally for a slave girl to a bounty hunter.

"Who are you?" I whispered questioningly, leaning on the right wall beside the door, staring at her, "Really?"

"I'm Yura…" she said simply with a shrug and a smile, her anger briefly dissipating. "I'm a slave."

We listened for movement of noise in the room; I placed my recorder onto the door. Listening to anything implicating his guilt… and soon I heard it. As the sound of a window opening was heard

"Was the assassin really necessary?" Batu asked as footsteps landed lightly into the room.

"Well no, but it provided a lucrative opportunity didn't it?" came a new voice, female and full of venom and honey. That was definitely the voice of a cipher agent.

"You're cutting it close this time…" Batu hissed, "When am I getting my own ship? You've gained miles of ground on Telos because of me, I want my command! I am sick and tired of trudging around rakghoul infested ruins. Bloody republic shoving me in that backwater…"

"Yes yes…" the cipher replied impatiently, "Take it up with your contact."

"You are my contact!" he hissed angrily, "And I will be shown respect."

"Put your hand down general… do I look like your wife?" she replied calm and collected, "If you try to hit me you're losing the hand… and I am not your contact. That would be the old cipher 10… I am the new one. And there is a new deal…"

"I did what you people asked!" he growled angrily, "Bundles of data on troop positions, logistics, formations! I want an extraction now!"

I kicked the door down, I had heard enough. I got a brief glimpse at the cipher in the room who looked, regardless of my sudden intrusion, utterly bored to be there.

I recognized her! It was the busty Chiss barista on Dormund kaas who screwed me over!

Full breasts tightly packed into a skintight combat suit (that was noticeably too small in the chest) she had a long sniper rifle strapped to her back and a pair of pistols at her side. Her hair was cut boyishly short and her red eyes gleamed dangerously, standing out against her azure blue skin as she looked at me. With practiced ease and a stoic demeanor she flipped the table between us and them and quickly ducked behind it as I fired. Shattering the window behind them as the general ducked behind the tableas well.

Shit, five rounds left.

Pressing against the door she stood up quickly to fire a barrage from her pistols. "Give me the data." She said calmly ducking back down behind the table.

"Not until we are long gone!" he replied, causing me to audibly hear her sigh. Batu was now desperate after being caught, his career was ruined now after being caught with the cipher, even if a couldn't prove his guilt he would be striped of his command simply for being caught associating with one.

"Don't you do it Batu!" I shouted, firing over his head as he stood up promptly dropping back down, "You're not leaving that room unless it's in chains!"

"You'll never take me alive!" he shouted angrily from behind the table. "Give me a gun!" he shouted at the cipher.

"No." she replied simply. We all were a little taken aback by that.

"What do you mean 'no'!?" he yelled indignantly, clearly having a fit behind the table.

"I mean I'm not giving you a blaster." She said simply, and far too calm, "The rifle was a gift and these are mine."

"They are going to kill us!" he shouted, "Give me a gun!"

"No." she replied adamantly, firing a barrage of blaster fire to keep us out of the doorway "…Agent Scarlet Trooper, I believe that is your handle now correct?"

I stood still… how would she know that? Shit was there a leak in the agency? "Yes." I finally replied, "Don't tell me you're going to negotiate?"

"As a matter of fact yes." She replied calmly.

"What?" Yura and Batu said suddenly.

"You're a fucking cipher, you don't negotiate with republic agents." I said coolly.

"Your handle is Scarlet Trooper?" Yura asked skeptically, looking confused and completely off the point.

"Not now, please!" I hissed desperately back at her. 

"I have not received the data necessary to fulfill my objective." The Cipher replied logically, "And I've exhausted the use of this general so I am fully willing to cut my loses…"

"Excuse me!?" Batu shouted indignantly, "How dare you ignore-"There was a sound of a blaster being fired and Batu started screaming as he fell into our sight. She had shot him im the leg judging from his position.

"Now. I will leave you information on Batu to convict him completely. "In exchange I won't kill him now, and you let me go."

"Can I kill him?" Yura asked full of bloodlust.

"Stop, just stop!" I hissed, "…Stand up Cipher." I said, loudly placing my gun on the ground. "…Let's talk." 

The Cipher stood up, back to the window and a rather polite look on her face. "We did already." She pulled an odd shaped data stick and tossed it next to my gun, "You should get him looked at…"

Smiling smugly, a pair of blaster pistols popped into her hands from her sleeves and she leapt backwards. Yura dove at me tackling me down as the blaster fire roared above me as 'Cipher 10' dove backwards out the open window providing her own cover fire.

"Shit!" we shouted together and quickly ran to the window…

She was gone.

"Shit!" I roared again, angrily glaring at Batu whimpering pitifully on the on the ground clutching his leg.

"Scarlet trooper! Scarlet Trooper, are you there?!" my com suddenly erupted into life.

"What ?Cloud Nine? And here I thought you were giving me space."

"Oh thank the force." She said sounding oddly relieved, "Scarlet Trooper we lost contact with you since the assassin. You've been radio silent until just now, I've been trying to reach you."

"Radio silence?" I replied. The cipher must have been using a scrambler. "…Well it doesn't matter…" I said, walking towards the data stick she left on the floor and my blaster as Batu cringed on the ground. "…We got him."

Hours later I sat at the bar as the place began to empty out. Assassination attempts, blaster fire and a traitorous general were just too much to keep up the festivities for a 'civilized' Republic. Yura sat next to me, obviously disappointed she didn't get to shoot Batu.

"So what's next for 'Scarlet Trooper'?" she asked, "… and can I get a code name?"

"I don't know…" I replied, swirling my drink, "How about Slave Girl?"

"Nah… how about…" and she waved her hand as if displaying a title, "Azure Dream. We could be partners! Azure and Scarlet."

"…Sounds like a Holo-girl name." I replied with a smile, she too grinned and we both chuckled.

"…Have you checked on your boyfriend?" I asked, sincerely concerned.

"Yeah he's fine…" she smiled, but stared thoughtfully into her glass, "…he's always fine… at least now I can play nursemaid, assuming of course he's not too sore…" she sighed softly, frowning as she drowned into her own thoughts. "…Want to know a secret?" she asked me suddenly. She looked very vulnerable.

…my whole life was secrets… so why not another.

"Sure."

"…He's not a mandalorian…" she said slowly, "We borrowed the helmet from one of the real ones…He's just this… former imperial; he didn't want to risk anyone recognizing him now that he's a bounty hunter."

"…So you told a republic spy?" I asked chuckling, "…You must be really drunk."

Yura stared thoughtfully into her glass, "…It's just… it's a part of him he shared with me. Shared with the crew and…" she framed her drink with her hands, "…And I don't really share anything with him… but I worry, and I get jealous sometimes, and I feel just a little empty when he's not around… I had a panic attack when he got stabbed, short story I'll tell you some other time…"

...I could relate… even to the stabbing part. Kolto can do wonders if applied quickly enough.

"I just feel like I'm lying to him…" she said softly, "…and I am. Just a little… you asked me 'who I was'." She looked at me, completely and utterly exposed. "…I like who I am now. Who I am with him… but the fact of the matter is it's been so long don't know anymore."

I watched her quietly; I wasn't exactly an expert on love myself… but I wanted to try to. Yura was… well now she was a friend, she probably saved my life from blaster fire. I felt I could trust her… I felt that I could help her. "Cloud Nine, I'm signing out."

"Wait what?" I pulled the com from my ear and placed it on the table, listening to the unknowable chatter that was her anger.

"…Listen. Awhile back I met a guy…" I took a deep breath; the only person I ever told this too was Pali, I had given my superiors some bogus line about torture. And it kind of was... "…He was a trooper… he caught me and could've handed me over to the patrols…" I cleared my throat and continued, "… But he didn't. Instead he did… things with me…"

"Things?" Yura asked, but clearly already knowingly.

"…Things…" I confirmed with a nod, "But it was… different. I felt something real with him that I never felt before. He made me feel alive…" I stared at her, showing her my sadness, "…But I know I can never see him again. Never tell him that. He's this… goal that I can simply never reach. So let me ask you this… does he make you feel alive?"

"…Yes…" Yura replied.

"…Then who gives a fuck?" I replied with a warm smiled, "Just be fucking happy and don't question it."

…We hugged… and she left soon after to go find him. I sat there alone, wallowing in my success and my memories… "Hey." I said to the bartender as she walked from out in the back.

"Oh come on, I want to go home…" she replied rolling her eyes.

"…What's in a Dormund Blaast?" I asked her, remembering the drink Yura ordered. I suddenly felt like trying something new.

"Oh that weird drink?" she replied pulling a bottle of dantooine pear juice. From the cupboard of the bar, "Apparently it's popular on Dormund Kaas. It's mostly dantooine pear juice and a shot of naboo clear. I heard it's so strong it makes you piss smell weird." My heartbeat rose rapidly as the pair of trigger words shot a message to my loins, and I suddenly wanted a familiar and very desired taste…

Subconsciously I licked my lips, remembering the long ago taste of Aiden and found myself quickly falling into thoughts of me in my bedroom later tonight.

 "Pour me one." I said firmly, quickly becoming wet at the mere smell of the juice.

***

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