When they arrived at the hotel, everyone was awake and wandering. Their detour took them longer than expected and it was almost time for dinner. Carth and Saleairy freshened up, standing side by side in front of the mirror after taking showers. Carth blinked at Saleairy. Carth noticed she wore clothing that was more feminine than heavy grade armor and Jedi robes; the style suited her. Everything suited her. She peered at Carth.

"You look nice in non Republic issued clothes." He chuckled.

"And you look stunning in your non Jedi non battling attire."

"Who says I can't battle in this?" Her lightsabers still hung on her belt.

"No one said that." He backed out of the room and she laughed as she followed him. She bent over her suitcase and rummaged.

"I always knew you were afraid of me going Jedi on you."

"Not afraid, terrified." He teased.

"Don't patronize me." She said.

"I wouldn't dream of it beautiful." Her arched eyebrows made his grin fade to a less mischievous one. "I'm sorry if I've ever implied you weren't a good Jedi."

"I suppose hanging around with you would imply that to other people well enough." She said.

"Snippy. I'm serious."

"You never implied that I wasn't a good Jedi or that I shouldn't be trying to save the galaxy. You were never one for subtleties." She narrowed her eyes at him.

"I'm sorry. I never meant that comment." He cursed his vocabulary.

"Yes you did. And I shouldn't be upset with you for it either. You're right. Neophyte is a good way to describe me." That was why he disliked the Order's role in Saleairy's life. She shouldn't give in like that. Anyone who wasn't close to her would think it was a lack of strength in Saleairy rather than a perverse weight of some Jedi's snide remarks.

"No I'm not right. I wasn't then and you shouldn't let me get away with it." He hated having to encourage her to be stubborn even as rare as the occasions were. He knelt next to her and wrapped his arms around her, stopping her rummaging.

"Don't encourage me to fight with you. I knew you were angry with me on Dantooine. I didn't want to argue with the angry Carth." He pulled her down from her crouched position onto his lap. She settled against him and he realized how cold she was. He held her closer and she rested her face against his collar.

"No, you didn't want to argue with me because it would be arguing that you were more than a lowly padawan who gets spat on and stepped on and kicked on a regular basis to keep them from the dark side." She listened to his heartbeat and sighed. He knew she didn't have the strength to argue with him and the principal he baited her with. He touched her face with reverence and sighed. "Why do you pull things out of me with such ease and when I get rough with you and it really matters, I get nothing?"

"You're stronger than me. You're willing to pull with me and I won't pull with you." She looked at his face and sighed. "In my defense, if I truly believed every philosophy of the Jedi was correct, I wouldn't be with you right now." She blinked at him and her statement sunk in.

"Ha! I win. I got you to defend yourself against those stodgy, theology ridden, text reading, no life having-"

"I was defending you, you addle brained Gizka. We both win." Saleairy said.

"So I'm really a Gizka to you?" She smiled.

"You're more like the ones on the world below the Star Forge. You're a little more to look at then the ship dwelling ones. Actually, you are a flyboy, so you're probably more like the ones on the ship. You know, the ones you were too chicken to suggest leveling out their population with Gizka poison?" She smiled.

"Where did they go anyway?"

"They liked this planet. There's still one on board. I think it's some what of a pet."

"Who keeps Gizka as a pet?" Carth said.

"I've seen Canderous feeding one of them. I think it's the one still aboard."

"Canderous has a tender side?" She chuckled.

"Apparently. I think that's why HK claims to have some knowledge of the subject now. Canderous probably asked him to look up what Gizkas eat." Carth faced the omnipresent temptation of kissing her and sighed, resting his cheek on her head. She knew he was restraining himself. She held his face in her hands for a moment and smiled.

"What?" He asked.

"I don't think you'll ever know how much I love you. Every time I look at you, you're doing something that makes me happy in some weird way or another."

"I'm not doing anything right now." Carth said. He wasn't as confused as he sounded.

"I have patience." Carth kissed her and she caressed his face with her feathery fingertips. When he pulled back, her hands remained in his hair and she stared at him.

"I ran out."