Both Vestara and Ben stared utterly transfixed upon each other, as if trying to comprehend the fact that they were staring at one another. Both blank yet confused they were both at a loss for words and unable to respond.
Of all the Jedi, of all the people on this planet, of all the millions, billions, if not trillions of people she could have encountered in this place she ran literally face first into the person she is most unprepared to face at this moment. She sat trying to figure out all the possible convergences that could have led to this moment, how it was they were at the same place at the same moment.
She had been informed by Mirta that the Jedi had left Coruscant, she had been informed that the Skywalker family no longer held any direct political ties to the Senate or the Republic, she could not fathom what he was doing here.
Slowly but surely it began to dawn on her that Ben was likely not alone, while he might not have someone with him at that moment there may very well be more Jedi with him, and she was certain that if that were the case she was likely to run into one she had in some way offended in the past.
Not fully ready to face the numerous possible scenarios going through her mind, none of which were pleasant, Vestara slowly began to drag her foot to the side so as to prepare herself to flee. As her foot shifted her boot drug across the ground creating the slightest of noises, minor but enough to pull Ben out of his trance.
"VES?!" He did not seem to pleased to see her.
At the sound of his voice Vestara immediately began to panic and took off running, fleeing from Skywalker with such haste she didn't realize she wasn't even paying attention to where she was heading. Franticlly speeding through nearby crowds Vestara was consumed by one single thought, to evade Skywalker. As her mind steadily began to calm from the initial panic she realized she could still very much feel Ben's presence nearby ,as she was now aware of it, and it was steadily growing closer.
She was running, and Ben was chasing.
The sudden realization of this only made her panic further, their last encounter had been violent and nothing had happened to her knowledge to fix the situation, now immersed in fear of what he would do,how he would react to her, she hastened her steps fleeing further from her destination verily unaware of where she was headed.
Crowds of people of various races flew past her in a blur as she ran past them, and the overwhelming tumult Coruscant typically emitted began to turn to white noise around her, soon all she heard was the stomping of Ben's boots as he followed behind, all she heard was herself and her pursuer.
Vestara cursed herself at her terror as she fled, hating herself for being so frightened and unable to face him, hating that she made so much uncertain. When once she was certain they would be happy to see one another , she had tried him and his family, tried their patience with her so many times she now honestly wasn't sure as she figured even Ben's father Luke had to have a limit to his patience.
Continuing to cut through the numerous crowds, turning each corner and intersection that she passed, and trying to avoid colliding with any large incoming objects and transports that came her way, ultimately it set in she was not heading for the spaceport where the Kandosii had docked. Her best hope to avoid an unnecessary confrontation would be to make her way back to the ship with the Mando'ade aboard, it was unpleasant the thought of using them to avoid this particular matter but she saw little alternative.
As she continued her flee she looked around to see if there was any structures she recognized to lead her back to the spaceport, she had memorized multiple paths back in the event that her initial route was somehow compromised, like being chased through the city by her livid ex-boyfriend. After a brief moment she spotted something that looked familiar, and to her relief she realized she wasn't too far off course and began to ease her way back onto the appropriate path.
"Upon retrospect, if I ever want to plead my case to him, running like I saw a rancor probably wasn't the best choice."

Though unsure of whether she was simply fleeing from him or actually leading him somewhere Ben kept to his pursuit. He was more than surprised to see her here of all places, in fact surprised didn't even scratch the surface. He tried to comprehend the reason's she would be on Coruscant, specifically the reason's she would be at the Senate archives, but nothing immediately came to mind. Any reason,purpose or scenario he could come up with was unpleasant to consider but he decided to save these thought until he learned how she got here, with whom she came with.
Ben easily noticed in her haste she didn't seem to have a clear destination, she was simply running, fleeing from him. He guessed her fear of him stemmed from their most recent encounter, when he found her working for the Qrepths, and he in anger attempted to violently apprehend her. Now just like then she was fleeing, though now she did not fight back she simply retreated and this confused him, Vestara was known to flee if the situation called for it, if she had a trap or machination in place but never one to simply run out of shear terror.
Ben recalled how in his first meeting with her she had actually injured his father, he injured her right back, but it always surprised him that she was able to even harm his father whom he considered the most powerful Jedi. Vestara had always displayed a ferocity in combat and a capacity to wade through great pains when in conflict, he'd seen her continue through being struck by lightning, being stabbed multiple times while suspended in the air, and both he and her together fought Abeloth after being deprived food and water for three days, she had displayed an enduring tenacity and bravado, for this reason her behavior confused him.
Before he could become too immersed in his current train of thought it occurred to him she now seemed to have corrected, to have directed her path towards something.
"Where are you going?"
While keeping pace with her he eased his pursuit so that he could keep up with her, keep her in sight but not catch her so that he could find who was with her.
"You can't be alone. You rarely are."
The chase continued for close to half an hour, the remainder of which Ben entertained himself with the thought of the scene they must be making, she was running from him as fast as she could, while he chased. He considered all of the tawdry ways this event could be misconstrued by the people around them, all the various scenarios the passerby's could invent and began to laugh at all of this.

The pursuit finally concluded full circle, back at the spaceport near the spot the two had first encountered each Ben still following near behind Vestara hurried through the main lobby to a corridor that would lead straight into the hangar the kandosii was docked in.
"Almost there."
Much to her dismay however as she came upon the door at the end of the hall it would not open. Repeatedly and frantically she tapped the buttons on the keypad next to it, but simply received a prompt signaling that a ship was either docking or disembarking from the hangar. During her last visit to Coruscant she learned that as a security protocol the entrances to the hangar bays of the spaceport's would lock while a ship was leaving or entering, and could not be opened until such time that it had completed this act.
This fact had actually gotten her in trouble as she had fled from a group of Sith towards such a location while the Millennium Falcon was docking. The fact that it was docking, as well as the fact that THAT very ship itself was docking led to a regrettable chain of events.
Within the midst of her frantically tapping the keypad she became aware of the the approaching sound of heavy foot steps and heavy breathing, alerting her that Ben had caught up and she was cornered. As she turned to face him the first thing she became aware of his right hand, which tightly clutched his lightsaber, though not active he held it at the ready.
From his saber she turned her gaze up to his face, he was panting heavily and sweating profusely from pursuing her through the streets and crowds surrounding the Senate buildings, his expression could only be described as highly unamused.
Vestara herself looked around at herself, the locked door behind her, and an individual most displeased with her with a weapon at the ready, realizing the familiarity of the situation as a whole she began to laugh.
"It's quite hard to ignore the irony of all of this." Ben's expression remained stern and unchanging. "This is the exact situation I found myself in when the Sith were here. Me, a locked door, and an unhappy party with a blade at the ready."
"So this is what happened that day? That's what your telling me, that you got cornered?"
"Do you honestly think I would attack your family of my own will? I would endanger a child, your niece, intentionally?"
"YES! Yes I do!" Vestara's head sank in response to this direct and prompt answer. "You have on numerous occasions given me little reason to think otherwise. I'm sure, like always you have some other explanation for what happened that day, but what reason do I have to believe you. You've always been so good at making up stories as far as your loyalties are concerned, what reason do I have to believe anything you say?"
"Because I didn't hurt any of them when I had the chance. I saw your aunt, your uncle and your niece and I had been ordered to kill them. I had an opening to kill them, I could have complied and won myself into the Sith's good graces, instead I threw the bomb at their Ship. A large ship that couldn't possibly be destroyed by a single detonator."
Ben stopped and considered this, he had watched the footage of Vestara throwing the thermal detonator at the Falcon, and he could actually see his family in the video,it was true they were in view. "So you claim you deliberately missed?"
"YES! Surely there were cameras, watch the footage, I couldn't have made the throw without guiding it through the Force. If I could see them why would I bother ensuring the bomb hit a specific location away from them?"
For a moment Ben allowed himself to begin to hope that whatever bad blood existed between them was merely the result of a grave misunderstanding born of a horrid and dire situation, but there was still more to settle. "That all may perhaps be true, but what about Allana herself, when you told the Sith who she was!?"
"I already said before..."
"No, you didn't! Tell me what actually happened, how did you even learn who Allana was?"
"What happened? What happened is I killed Taalon so he wouldn't become just like Abeloth, and then I killed my father." Ben's expression softened towards her as he knew quite well that wasn't easy on her. "And they, the Sith, knew exactly what I had done and wanted me dead. When they invaded Coruscant they came after me in great numbers intent on making that a reality, I lost count of how many I had to cut down to stay alive but eventually I was outnumbered. So I did what I do best, I ran." Without looking at it Vestara began to tap on the nearby keypad. "But when I reached a door just like this one, your aunt and uncle were docking the Millennium Falcon so the door locked and stayed that way until docking was finished. So I was cornered, and tried to make excuses to spare myself from them but they didn't buy any of it, so I had to think of something, something to save myself, and it just came out."
"'It just came out'? That's what you have to say?"
"Think of me what you will, but I've never knowingly harmed a child and you and I were together at the time, I had no intention of harming your family anymore."
Ben finally relaxed enough to holster his saber "Everything you've said could very well be true, or it could all be more lies, how am I supposed to know, how could you convince me of the former?"
"Abeloth."
"Come again?"
"The Sith were serving Abeloth, when I helped you kill that thing, or at least that body, I betrayed them, I may as well have killed a Sith Lord. But I stayed and helped you fight a literal monster that terrified me, that...thing scared me. But I stayed and fought after that same monster deprived us of food and water for THREE DAYS! Why would I put myself through all of that if I was serving them!"
As much as he hated to admit it, that actually made sense to Ben.
While Ben stood in an awkward silence Vestara leaned back against the door and crossed her arms.
"I did try though. To be a Jedi that is. I did try. But honestly when I think about it every time I was faced with a challenge I faced it as a Sith would. But let's not kid ourselves as much as I wanted it, there was too big a difference between what I wanted and what I knew.
For that matter would you and I have really worked out?" To this Ben's head shot up and and he stared curiously. "You and I come from two different worlds literally and figuratively, I was born Sith and your a Jedi, how would we not have inevitably found ourselves at opposite ends?"
Hearing this his eyes widened. "Well you clearly know nothing about MY family! So let me tell you a few things. My cousin Jacen you know about. So let's start with my Grandfather, the personal apprentice of the Sith lord Palapatine!"
"Oh, sweet force not that maniac."
"My grandfather played absolutely no small part in the destruction of the previous Jedi order, then he went and tried to strangle his wife, WHILE she was pregnant with my dad and aunt Leia!
Now you ever heard of planet Alderran?"
Vestara rather hastily shook her head. "No."
"And you never will, because he blew it up! Grandpa made an entire planet EXPLODE, everyone on it included! Then he went and froze my uncle in corbanite and had Boba Fett sell him to a crime lord!"
"Mirta didn't mention that."
"Now what he did to his own son, my father! My father was raised by his Aunt and Uncle, up until Grandpa had them killed and lets their BURNT, FLESHLESS CORPSES on the doorstep for dad to find when he got home! And we can't EVER forget the time he chopped off daddy's right hand!" Vestara had been aware Luke had a prosthetic but never knew the cause, now that she knew she wasn't sure it she had wanted to know.
"Now let's move on to my mother, she was never a Sith but before meeting my father she was Palpatines personal assassin, assigned to kill my dad even. And oh, did she try. She was considered by some to have been Palpatines very best assassin, you don't get that title without leaving a trail of bodies in your wake.
Now, I love my mother, and I always will, but once upon a time she was not a good person. She did bad things for a bad person.
And finally let's talk about me myself. Let's talk about what my cousin almost turned me into."
A great sense of dread came over her, as she felt as though she really didn't want to hear what happened between Ben and his cousin.
"I didn't open up to the force immediately when I was young, some things happened and I was too scared to open up to it, ironic when both your parents sit on the Jedi council. Somehow my cousin helped my get through it, and in a sense became my unofficial Jedi master. Jacen was like a brother to me, and when he fell to the Dark side, when he became a Sith he exploited all of this. He used my undying faith in him to convince me to turn on my own family, to in some cases even try to harm members of my own family. I killed someone simply because he said so, every time he told me to do something I did it because he made me think everything he said and did was right! He once sent me on a simple mission to retrieve something, what isn't important, but when I found what he wanted me to retrieve I went to leave immediately."
"What's so bad about that?"
"Because heading home meant ignoring a small defenseless child whose only parent had just died. I was starting to head home when I looked at a photo of my parents, and realized they would think the worst of me for knowingly letting a small child die! Not that I should have had to think about that in the first place! So I went back and got my X-wing destroyed in the process, and the little girl and I were stranded with no food. Now comes the part of the story where I first met our mutual acquaintance Ship, wanna hear how that went!?"
"I really don't!" Vestara was well aware of how influential Ship could be on his own, she hated to fathom what distress he might have caused Ben in the past, but before she could stop him Ben continued.
"When I first met Ship he didn't immediately offer me a ride off world, he didn't open up with a gesture of good faith to the first Force-sensitive he'd encountered in who-knows-how-long. No Ship looked at me and saw that I was on the verge of starvation, so he told me to kill and eat the child I was protecting! That was his solution, cannibalism. And you wanna know what?!"
Vestara cringed as he paused, fearful and horrified of how horrid his past might actually be, Ben noticed her distress and decided to placate her mind before continuing.
"The child,as far as I am aware, is to this day still alive." Hearing this Vestara relaxed, if only slightly.
"But for a moment I thought about Ships suggestion, and considered it a plausible solution. But then reminded myself killing and eating children is WRONG! I HAD TO REMIND MYSELF YOU DON'T EAT CHILDREN! I shouldn't have to remind myself that cannibalizing a little girl is WRONG! But that's what Jacen did, that's what he made me! A person who stop's and thinks about it! That is the kind of person I have to work at NOT being! That's who I have had to learn not to be, but some times pieces of that person bleed through and it bothers my father. I don't like being someone who occasionally scares my only parent!"
It finally dawned on him that for the past while he had been shouting and it was unnerving Vestara greatly, and that in the end his attempt to make a point devolved into him simply venting his frustration. Massaging his throat which had gone sore he leaned back against a nearby wall, and with his other hand began rubbing the bride of his nose. "Well, what a pair we make. Seem's both of us aren't pleased with how we turned out."
Ben continued to simply sit where he stood burying his face in his hands trying to recompose himself, aware that none of what he spoke of was comfortable to talk about Vestara gathered herself and began to approach him to try and give him some sort of comfort but before she reached him his head shot up and he stared at her cautiously. "Why are you even here?"
Vestara herself suddenly realized Ben had yet to get to that point, much to her surprise. "I'm not here as or for the Sith."
"Why are you here?"
"I am helping a...friend. That's all." Ben's unyielding gaze told her this was an insufficient answer and he would ask again if she did not divulge more. "I'm trying to help Mirta Gev go home."
Hearing Mirta's name Ben shot up straight and drew close to her, momentarily startling her "Mirta?"
"Yes. We thought we might find a cure for the Nano-killer over Mandalore in the Senate archives."
Ben was now more than a little confused and tilted his head while raising his eyebrow. "And HOW did you come to that conclusion?"
"We believe the virus was originally manufactured during the Clone Wars Jacen just recycled it, and that a cure was already made. We just need to find it, and the archives was a plausible place to look."
Ben thought about this, everything she said could be verified, and if it was real, if a cure already existed while it was good for Mirta and all others affected by the virus. And yet it made him feel bad that he and his own family hadn't handled this already given they did hold some responsibility.
"Tell me, what do you get from this arrangement, helping Mirta?"
"What do you mean?"
"I've never know you to help someone unless you had something to gain in the process, what do you gain from helping Mirta?"
"Is it really so hard to believe I'm just helping a friend?" Ben gave no answer, but she understood this was an affirmation in and of itself. "Fine, the Qrepth's blew out my knee and ankle. Mirta got me proper medical treatment, so I'm paying her back. In the mean time I get a place to lay my head that doesn't involve Ship."
"I thought you and Ship were friends."
"You thought wrong. He's demanding and controlling. Not very conducive to someone figuring things out. I need to pick my own path."
Ben stared for a moment at her uncertain if she was telling the truth or not, she had told him so many fallacies in the past he couldn't tell. It had occurred to him not once had she mentioned the Sith itself, and only referred to her self as such in the past tense, something that gave him the slightest bit of hope. He continued to think while beginning to stare very deeply at her dark brown eyes. "What is it you want?"
"Beg pardon?"
"In life, Ves. Where are you going, what are you trying to accomplish." Ben started to step forward until he was directly in front of her, making direct eye contact. "What do you want?"
Vestara herself could now feel his breath on her skin, which made her both nervous and anxious. Vestara opened her mouth to try and answer his question but was unable to make any words emerge, and for a moment they simply stared back and forth at one another, that is until the door behind Vestara suddenly opened.
Both turned to see who was standing in the door way only to be met with a small flash of light and the howl of a blaster as a bolt from a baster flew by and struck Ben right in his shoulder, causing him to fall to the ground. Vestara herself turned to see who fired only to see none other than Mirta. "Cockblock! C'mon let's go."
"Mirta!" Taking one quick glance to ensure Ben was fine, but saw no discernible wound. "WHAT THE HELL?!"
"Relax, I didn't kill you boyfriend he's stunned, now let's go."
Tightly grabbing onto Vestara's arm Mirta pulled her through the doorway, during which Vestara turned back to Ben and mouthed an apology to him before Mirta pulled her completely away.
The two ran though the hangar bay until they reached the Kandosii which both wasn't that far from where Ben and Vestara were and was alrady prepped to launch. While clamoring aboard Vestara noticed Ben running though the hangar after them, suggesting Mirta's attempt to stun him was only partly successful. But the ship began to take off before he reached it, and Vestara watched from a window within the Kandosii as Ben stood and watched the ship depart. It wasn't until Ben had completely faded from view and Vestara could not see him anymore that she finally uttered the answer to his question that she couldn't speak before.
"I want you."

A/N OH MY GOODNESS! This chapter turned out much longer than I thought it would, I think in terms of word count it's the longest yet.
BTW, everything Ben said in this chapter did happen, Ben has issues. I don't think that's brought up enough.