THE FOLLOWING NIGHT:
Inside of the Aurora Club, the thumping beat of Trindi's music mixes blasted out of speakers set around the crowded dance floor. Nahlia, dressed in a low cut top and black skirt with a sexy slit up the side showing off one of her legs, approached a group of creatures at a table to take their orders.
At the table, a creature with brown leathery skin, prominent canine teeth, and round, flat nostrils asked her in his native language if she spoke Huttese. "Chuba rima di hatta?"
Nahlia smiled graciously and answered, "Tagwa. Ma pika na Nahlia."
Nearby at the bar, a patron heard Nahlia speaking and turned to seek out the source of the familiar voice. The tall blue-eyed man smiled and slicked back his already perfectly coifed brown hair before getting up from his barstool and heading in Nahlia's direction.
The green skinned Rodian at the table spoke to Nahlia in Huttese, feigning seriousness, before giving her a wink. The patrons at the table immediately burst out laughing again.
Nahlia just smiled and shook one finger at the patron playfully. "Smeeleeya whao toopee upee," she joked, then walked back to the bar with their orders. Before she could take a step forward her eyes met with the blue eyed man's and she froze in place. She scowled at him. "Kee chai chai cun kuta?"
"Do I need a reason to visit my beautiful lady?" He asked innocently as they continued their conversation in Huttese.
"I am not your lady."She huffed and pushed her way past him toward the bar. "Not anymore."She turned back to him a moment and looked him straight in the eye as she said. "Me hari tish ding." She quickly turned around and headed to the bar.
He stood there for a moment baffled by her statement as if it weren't possible to him.Finally he responded with, "What do you mean you're through with me?!" and set out after her.
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Obi-Wan looked at the entrance of the Aurora Club with apprehension as he approached with Qui-Gon Jinn. He had told his Master about becoming drunk on Red Vortexes there the night before but left out some of the things that happened while he was drunk, such as kissing Nahlia. He wasn't sure why. At first, it had simply slipped his mind, being that his memory was still quite fuzzy, but a night of sleep had brought back the moment in a dream and left strange feelings lingering. Feelings he knew he wasn't comfortable talking about, even with his master.
Shortly after entering, Qui-Gon stopped and took out a small round holoprojector from a pouch on his belt and pressed a button. On the projector appeared the image of a male Ithorian, a tall creature with brown skin and a long head that curved up at the front into two protrusions on either side where his small black eyes were set. He showed the image to Obi-Wan. "This is Inu Daalaka. According to my sources, he was seen at this club just four days ago and hasn't been seen since," he explained. "The same image has been programmed into your holoprojector as well as the images of the other missing persons. I want you to take the left side of the club, I'll take the right. Hopefully someone here can give us some information on what happened to him."
Obi-Wan nodded obediently. "Yes, Master." The two then parted ways and dispersed into the crowded club.
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Elsewhere in the Aurora Club, Nahlia took out a round platter and waited for the Nikto bartender to prepare drinks for her table of customers.
The young man followed Nahlia to the bar and stood directly behind her. He leaned down a bit and whispered in her ear in Huttese. "Nahlia. We're not through talking."
"Yes, we are." She insisted.
The Nikto bartender glowered upon hearing their conversation as he began handing Nahlia drinks to place on her tray.
"Nahlia. Chuba ki naga ke jo isti?" He pleaded. "Jee oto uba." He said first in Huttese, then repeated in an attempt to prove to her that the statement was heartfelt. "I want you back."
Nahlia shook her head angrily. She finished stacking drinks on her tray then finally turned to look at him. "Cha scrunnie do pat, sleemo." She responded with venom before pushing past him to return to her customers with their drinks.
"Nahlia!" He called after her desperately. "Pay dowat jalom konia!"
A moment later, Qui-Gon approached the bar and sat down. He motioned to the bartender who was cleaning a glass and still glaring at Nahlia and the young man.
"You wanna order something, Jedi?" The Nikto asked sourly.
"No, actually. I would like to ask you a few questions." Qui-Gon took the small holoprojector out again.
"Questions? I don't get paid to serve up answers, pal," he said gruffly. "Listen, I know you're not used to the real world, what with being brought up in that fancy Jedi Temple of yours, so I'll explain it to you." He was pleased to note the perturbed look on Qui-Gon's face in response to his condescending tone. "You sit at my bar and you order a drink or you leave."
Qui-Gon regained his composure and forced a smile. "Caloma Ale, please."
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Nahlia tried to ignore the young man behind her as she placed drinks down for her table of chatting patrons.
"Me sleemo. Eniki?" He admitted finally. "Me Koochu. Ma kichi zay."
Irritated, she turned to him quickly and insisted, "Song pich aley."
He considered her response in a moment as he watched her place the last drink down and asked if her customers wanted anything else. The Rodian customer quickly picked up his drink and began slurping it down.
"Bun yo muni chu?" The young man finally asked.
Overhearing this question, the Rodian customer, taken by surprise, spit his ale out suddenly and the creatures at the table went silent - giving the two humans an odd look.
Nahlia blushed. "Sorry." She told her customers. She immediately turned and grabbed the man roughly by the arm as she took him to a quieter corner of the club. "No." She informed him in an angry Huttese whisper. "I do not have a lover. Not that it's any of your business if I did."
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Obi-Wan showed a male Twi'lek with dark blue skin the hologram of the missing Ithorian. The Twi'lek simply shook his head indicating that he didn't know the creature. Disappointed, Obi-Wan shut the holoprojector down and thanked him for his time. He hadn't spotted Nahlia yet, but he could sense her there, somewhere. 'She's extremely irritated wherever she is,' he thought. Obi-Wan surveyed the crowd for a minute hoping to catch a glimpse of her. He finally saw her arguing with the young man in a dark corner, not far from the bar. Obi-Wan's vexation grew as he watched the young man grab Nahlia and hold her in place by the shoulders while they continued to argue. He couldn't hear the conversation but what he saw was enough to cause his teeth to grind as he made his way over to them. The Nikto bartender could see the fighting couple as well, and snarled under his breath. Qui-Gon Jinn took a sip of his ale, then, curious about what was annoying the bartender, looked over at the couple as well.
"Leave me alone." Nahlia said as she tried to struggle out of the young man's tight grip. She was more angry than afraid, as well as confused about why he even wanted her back when she knew he could have any girl he wanted - and often did.
The young man suddenly pulled her close and forced his lips down on hers. The anger rose inside of her as she struggled, Obi-Wan could sense it as he increased his pace through the crowd and towards the two of them. Nahlia slammed her foot down on the young man's, causing him to let her go and yelp out in surprise.
He held his injured foot and began to rub it. "That really hurt!"
"Oh, please," Nahlia folded her arms. "It could have been worse!"
"Oh, really?" He returned her snarky exchange. "How so?" Just then, both he and Nahlia heard someone coming at them fast. The man could barely get out a "Huh?" when he felt Obi-Wan tackling him. Nahlia screamed and customers jumped to get out of their seats, and out of the way, as the two men went flying across three tables.
"Obi-Wan?" Qui-Gon just sat at his barstool, in shock for a moment. The bartender, now furious, motioned to a huge four-armed creature with tan skin and horns to come over.
"Obi-Wan!" Nahlia shouted as she watched the men wrestling. Obi-Wan, who had already pinned the young man to the floor from behind, looked up at her, confused. "What are you doing?!" She asked. "Let him go!"
"But he was molesting you!"
"Molesting her?" The man continued to struggle in his pinned position but found it futile against the smaller but more powerful man. "What are you a Jedi or something?"
"He is, actually," Nahlia informed him. She repeated her request to Obi-Wan. "Please, let him go."
Reluctantly, Obi-Wan released his hold on the man and got up. Behind Nahlia, Obi-Wan and the young man saw the Nikto bartender standing with his four armed monster. Wondering what they were looking at, she turned to see for herself.
"Lorda," Nahlia addressed the bartender, suddenly realizing the trouble she was in. "I can explain."
"No need for explanation." The Nikto told her coolly.
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The four-armed bouncer effortlessly carried the three protesting humans out of the entrance of the Aurora Club.
"Put me down you big galloba!" Nahlia kicked at the air as the creature held her in the lower hand below the one that held Obi-Wan.
Obi-Wan struggled but could not pry off the huge fingers around his waist that denied him access to his lightsaber. Just then, the creature pulled the arm holding Obi-Wan back and tossed him into the air. Obi-Wan pulled his body into a ball and spun before landing safely on his feet. Behind him, he heard the man yelling incoherently. Obi-Wan turned to see he had also been thrown by the creature and was barreling in the Jedi's direction. Using his fast reflexes, Obi-Wan leapt into the air and did a back flip over the man who landed hard into the side of a parked speeder. Obi-Wan watched the man rub his head and groan, then heard the sound of Nahlia's screams coming swiftly closer. Obi-Wan turned back to see Nahlia in mid air. Without a thought, he stepped forward to catch her before she hit the pavement.
Nahlia instinctively placed her arms around Obi-Wan's neck and breathed a sigh of relief when she realized she hadn't been splattered on the street. "Thanks." She and Obi-Wan smiled at each other, a little bashfully.
"Yes." The young man said sarcastically as he pulled himself up off the ground. "Thank you very much!"
Nahlia and Obi-Wan ignored the man, as they were preoccupied with each other. In the process of catching her, Obi-Wan's hand had accidentally slipped through the slit on her dress and was now firmly on her bare thigh. Obi-Wan felt the soft smooth skin of her leg and looked into her dark brown eyes - captivated. Nahlia returned the gaze with admiration for the young man who held her.
"A-hem. Obi-Wan?" Qui-Gon interrupted - annoyed with the turn of events. His Padawan looked back at him worriedly. "I think you can put her down now."
TO BE CONTINUED...
