The next day, Ben went back to the cantina around the same time Jastra had been working the previous day. To his delight, he saw her standing behind the bar when he arrived.
"Good evening, stranger," she said with a sly smile as he took a seat at the bar.
"I told you my name yesterday, Jastra, have you already forgotten it?"
"No, Ben, I haven't forgotten."
"Good." Ben smiled. "I was beginning to worry that I was forgettable."
Jastra laughed. "For as much as you stand out 'round here, I don't think I'll forget you any time soon! So what're ya gonna have?"
"Ah, nothing today. I've got some work I have to do." Which was the truth, from a certain point of view—he did have to comm his father to let him know of his progress, but that could be done any time. He didn't want to seem too eager, so he would pretend he had somewhere else to be.
"But I was wondering if you would have dinner with me. When's your next evening off?"
Looking slightly stunned at his forwardness, she asked, "Going awfully quickly, aren't you? We only met yesterday."
"I'm not going to be here forever, so I figured I'd ask while I had the chance."
"Well, what if I'm married?" she asked, raising her eyebrows
He hadn't thought of that. She wasn't wearing a wedding band, but not everyone did; especially out here in the outer-rim.
"You're to flirty to be married," he replied.
"Trying to sell drinks!"
"You would have mentioned it first, before telling me I was being quick." He smiled
"Do you have an answer for everything?"
"It runs in my family."
"Six o-clock," she replied.
Ben just stood there with a puzzled look on his face.
"Six o-clock, local time. Tomorrow. Here. I'll let you take me out."
"Great!" Ben exclaimed. "Although I don't really know where we can go, not being from around here and all."
"I'll think of some where," she answered with a sly smile, "probably expensive for the hassle you've given me."
"Any where you want to go is fine by me. So, I'll see you at six?"
"Don't be late," she said as she walked off to help a customer.
Ben went back to his ship, so he could use the hyper comm and contact his father. Ben gave a full report of how his mission had been going, but before he could hang up, Luke stopped him.
"What else, Ben?"
"What do you mean 'What else'? I told you everything," Ben replied, truly confused.
"I'm not asking you Jedi to Jedi, I'm asking you father to son. There is something else."
Now understanding what his father was getting at, Ben feigned innocents. "I don't know what you are talking about."
"That cute, innocent act may work on others, but I'm your father, Ben. You've made the same look when you're lying since you were little."
With a big sigh, Ben finally said, "I met a woman."
"A woman?" Luke replied slightly surprised
"Yes, a woman. I'm taking her out for dinner tomorrow night."
"That's great, Ben!"
"Well, sort of," Ben mumbled
"Sort of? Why is that?" his father asked
"I don't have a clue what we will talk about. I'm almost sure she will ask about the work I'm doing here and I can't tell her the truth, but I don't want to lie to her, either. I can probably manage to get around that, but when I tell her a fake last name I will be lying," Ben said, exasperated
"So tell her the truth. It's not a good idea to start a relationship on half-truths and lies."
"I want her to like me for me, not because of who my parents are. No offense."
"None taken."
"Now that I think about it, I guess it doesn't matter anyway."
"And why is that?" Luke asked
"Dad, she lives on Tatooine, I live on Ossus. That is a lot of space between two people."
"Your mother found me, and I'm from Tatooine."
"Yeah, but she didn't find you on Tatooine."
"Well, technically she did, but that was at Jabba's Palace and she was trying to kill me at the time," Luke said with a smile
Ben shook his head. Even after knowing for years the circumstances in which his parents had met, it still freaked him out to know that his mother had wanted to kill his father. Looking at them now, and the love they have for each other, people who didn't know that little fact would never guess it.
"Well this is only the first date, so I guess I shouldn't be jumping the blaster yet. There' s just something about her..."
"Have fun, my son, but don't forget you are there for a reason," Luke reminded
"I haven't."
"Good. Comm me when you have more information. May the Force be with you, Ben," Luke said, smiling
"And with you, father."
Ben sat starring at the blank comm screen, contemplating what he was going to tell Jastra. Not coming up with an answer, he decided he would meditate to clear his mind.
