AN: It took a while plotting and sorting out what will happen in this particular arc which is part of another bigger arc that are the Arions (those won't be going anywhere for a while). Got another chapter ready to go in a bit as well. However, I am also on the last stretch for my Master dissertation, so those might be the only updates until I am done with that.

"So… what's the place like?" Altharya asked once they had cleared out of the capital city in silence, the ship zipping alongside other ships.

"Isolated," Boba answered curtly, pressing some more buttons in the cockpit.

Helpful.

"Anything else?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. He better not throw in a non-specific description out again.

Boba quirked an eyebrow back at her.

Was he mocking her?

Yes, he was. Damn him. She frowned in response, eliciting waves of amusement swirling in the cockpit. They were soothing in a sense. What would happen now? They were not where they had been before coming to this planet. Was he planning on reverting that?

Could she if need be? Her stomach flipped at the thought of him not being so… she couldn't even put her finger on what his behavior was. Nor what hers was, occasionally. It was like her brain went on autopilot around him.

Why was her body doing all these strange things when Boba just looked at her?

Boba was grinning now, joy radiating and lighting up around him. He was looking forward to going to this place.

"I thought it would be best if you saw it for yourself first," he was practically vibrating under his collected demeanor.

She had to look down. His excitement bouncing off the walls around them was strange. Not that he showed it, but the Force was transparent like it had never been before. What was so exciting about this place? It must be something remarkable if Boba was in higher spirits just thinking about it. Was it a place he went to often? Maybe there was something particular he was looking forward to?

Or someone particular? Her stomach sank just thinking about it. Was there someone he cared for? Not that she would ever know, she would be dead before they ever reached that stage. Or worse, she'd be the thing Vader wanted her to be. Maybe she would have become something similar with the Jedi. No one would ever know, or care.

"How long will it take?" she asked.

"At least half a day," Boba replied, pressing more buttons as the ship ascended further into the atmosphere. Were they trying to leave?

"Is Wegret on this planet?"

"No. It is on another. One of the shared ones between the Arions and Brents."

"They can share a planet without coming to blows?" she asked, both eyebrows shooting up in surprise.

Boba let out a humourless laugh, "They can if the blows are officially not from them."

"Someone like you?"

"Precisely," he answered as they broke atmosphere, now orbiting the planet. The buttons on the consoles were flashing, the ship's computer calculating the position to get to their destination.

"I thought they didn't need you any longer?" she questioned him.

"Not now, probably later. But…" he stopped to press several more buttons as they zipped through space to a tiny bright spot in the distance.

She waited silently until he was done.

"Neither family wants to mix the bounty hunter rabble with their citizens," he scoffed as he leaned back on his chair.

Exhaustion lined his face already, dark bags underneath his eyes. When was the last time he had truly slept? Definitely not since she had been in his charge and it made her mouth draw into a thin line. Hopefully they did not land in a time zone that screwed with their sleep cycle too much. She crossed her arms. There was no point in interrupting him.

"So they created little spots where bounty hunters could settle and have protection from other galactic powers if they did the odd job for their family. Wegret is one for the Arions," Boba explained while rubbing a hand over his right eye.

"So, we're going to an outlaw nest?" She asked.

It wouldn't be any different than living on Teth, but she didn't have to like it either. Bounty hunters weren't the most trustworthy lot around.

"Aye. I got a safe house there," Boba added.

"So why did we land on that planet?"

"I needed to talk to Monts and restock," he admitted, "Monts will come to the house at some point. We kind of share the space there."

She had known he and Monts were friends- just not that good of friends, apparently. Did bounty hunters just become friends between each other?

"Is the house large enough?" she wondered.

"Large enough for us three, maybe four if he decides to bring his kid along," Boba answered, stretching his neck, the muscles twitching as he did it.

"Kid?" she countered, surprised.

How had she not noticed?

"His aide in the cantina is his son," Boba turned to look at her, looking surprised, "You hadn't noticed?"

She shook her head as her answer and bit her tongue. Back then she had completely different things on her mind than to properly see who looked like whom. Not that she needed to bring that up again. For now she could pretend it didn't exist.

"They usually take a few weeks of vacation there to relax. After all, those spots sometimes are attractive tourist spots," Boba continued and she could hear the miniscule head shake even if he did not do it.

"Tourist spot?" she sputtered disbelievingly.

How was a bounty hunter nest a tourist attraction?

"Natural wonders, historic artifacts, buildings… you name it. Most of them were built before the relations went to shite," Boba replied and lifted a hand to massage the side of his neck, "Sometimes I wonder if it is the danger that attracts some of the morons that come around."

"Wegret is one of those?" she asked.

"Not really, but it has a hotel that seems to yield enough profit to keep going."

"I suppose I have to see what brings people to visit the place?" she teased, remembering him saying she should see it for herself earlier.

He grinned, "Aye."

She looked back out of the window; they were still too far away from their destination to properly recognize it as a planet.

"Do you go there often?" she asked softly.

It could very well be his home for all she knew.

"Not as often as I'd like," Boba conceded after a moment of tense silence.

"Bounties keeping you busy?"

"What else?"

"I don't presume to know you," she countered, throwing him a sharp look.

Boba snorted in response, "That would be a first."

She quirked an eyebrow in question. For a long while he just stared at her, face closing off rapidly and the air dimmed. So much for some relaxed companionship.

"Nevermind," he muttered, shifting his eyes to look outside as she was doing.

She ground her teeth together and leaned her head against the headrest. Wegret sounded like it would be isolated enough for them to lay low, but her gut didn't quite like the idea of a law-free zone. Teth had been alright, but only because she had lived there for several years and bounty hunters generally did not go out of their way to entertain children. The ones who did occasionally never came back after a while.

How was Kiani doing? She hadn't thought of checking on her when they left, only focused on getting out. Fingering the hem of her shirt, she wondered briefly if she could ask Boba to ask after her. As quickly as possible, she glanced to Boba who looked like he was in another place with his mind. Maybe not now. Sighing, she looked back outside. The bright spot had grown bigger now and the light reflected back at them had gained a blue tinge. They must have been flying for hours now, her butt feeling numb already. Her feet felt like they needed to run somewhere.

"Are there a lot of people in Wegret?" she broke the silence after it became a bit too unsettling.

He blew out a breath before replying, "I would say it is a rather small community, but…" he regarded her with hooded eyes, "in comparison to Teth, large."

Compared to Teth it would be large. Huh. That was telling her so much.

"Are you on good terms with most of them?"

Boba had to chuckle at her question, "You could say so, but no one is particular close to anyone."

"Except you and Monts," she pointed out.

"That is another story," he admitted.

"Care to tell?" she asked.

He glanced at her before shaking his head, "Monts and I go way back, back when the Empire was just weeks old."

Oh. She had been on Coruscant back then still, sleeping on the street with Master Renstan, waiting for their contact to smuggle them off planet. She waited for Boba to continued, but he didn't say anymore. She bit her lower lip, uncertain. Ask him for more details or leave it? It wouldn't hurt to ask, right? He could always say no.

"How did you meet?" she prodded slowly making him groan.

"Aren't you curious," he grumbled, stretching his legs and crossing his arms behind his head.

"Well… it is odd that two bounty hunters are on good terms," she argued.

He blinked at her, stunned, before he let out a short laugh, "That is true. Why do you want to know?"

"Just curious," she shrugged and he shot her a look that pretty much meant we both know it is not .

"Fine," she huffed conceding, "we all will live in the same house at some stage. Shouldn't I know?"

"Should you?" he threw the question right back at her with a raised eyebrow.

Was he seriously challenging her? Narrowing her eyes in his direction, she tried to come up with another reason. What was he trying to get from her? Right… think… Shouldn't be too hard to come up with another valid reason?

Hang on…

"Look, we are going to be in this town for how long?" she started with another question of her own.

"A long time," he answered still giving her the challenging look, but she saw a glint of dawning realization of what she was about to bring up.

"I don't think you would tell everyone I am your captive," she continued making him frown at the last word.

"True."

"So either you are banking on anyone not asking questions or have already thought of reasons why I would be there."

"Correct."

"Wouldn't it be suspicious if someone who is not your captive didn't know about your friendship with Monts? Maybe just enough to not contradict ourselves too blatantly," she finished her argument.

Boba merely stared at her, expression unreadable. Until a smug grin spread over his face, showing his teeth.

"Clever. I was thinking of introducing you as a temporary partner of sorts and our time there would be to plan and train together for the job," he explained still grinning.

Why was he so smug right now? Made no sense.

"So?" she challenged back.

He had not answered her original question.

"Monts and I met on a bounty actually. We were both contracted to work together," he huffed in amusement.

"I guess you were partners ever since?"

Boba shook his head, "Not always. But we knew we could rely on each other for some."

"What was the job?" she asked now curious.

"Some criminal escaped prison on Belsavis and we were contracted to track him down and… eliminate them for good," he grimaced.

"I take it the job took a while?"

"Definitely took months of tracking and planning. That one was a nasty piece of shit."

"So… after that?"

"After that? Oh we had a nice set up going on. We would go on jobs together for a while then work solo and once in a while meet for a drink," he was looking to the ceiling now, reminiscing.

"As you do," she commented making him huff.

"Do you know what happens to bounty hunters?" he suddenly asks sounding serious suddenly.

"What do you mean?" she asked confused.

"Bounty hunters cannot quit, ever," he explained, staring straight into her eyes.

Never quit? Did that mean… Stars, did that mean only death would make someone stop being a bounty hunter?

"Like… they die before, or?" she asked frowning now.

"It is the only way," he deadpanned, "Either you die on the job or you are hunted for the jobs you have done."

"So?"

"Monts is retired," Boba explained and looked grimly outside the window to the fast approaching planet, "And I am keeping an eye out for anyone being aware of him. So far he is lucky."

"No one interested?"

"Interested? Oh some people would love to get their hands on him, but hey… cannot hunt a dead man," he flashed her a vicious grin which made a shiver run down her spine.

"Dead?" she repeated stunned, "How?"

For a dead man Monts had been talking way too much.

"How do you think?"

"You faked his death?"

"Took a while and some silencing but yeah, he is officially dead under his actual name."

"Monts isn't even his actual name?"

"Of course not. Keeping his old name was too risky."

"What made him retire?"

"His kid."

That was good enough a reason for anything. She looked back outside for a brief moment before looking back to Boba. Something wistful flickered over his face before disappearing completely. Nevermind, dwelling on it would get her nowhere right now.

"Wouldn't people recognize him if he went to Wegret for vacation?" she wondered now.

Boba shook his head, "People tend to be face blind to people of other species, if they are not too distinctively coloured. A Weequay looks like any other Weequay to them, so it is easy for him to blend in."

"Would a citizen want to live in Wegret?"

"He is officially dead, but many Weequay are bounty hunters and there had to be an explanation why he could kick some people's asses without too much question. As I said it took several months of planning and silencing," he explained, sighing now as he uncrossed his arms and leaned forward on his chair.

She didn't reply. It made sense, to some extent at least.

They had reached the planet now, its atmosphere glowing an electric cobalt around the upper half of their window screen. White clouds shrouded much of what was underneath. But she saw the vast blueness of oceans and the brown and green of landmasses scattered throughout, with the occasional white spots sprinkled in between.

Atmospheric entry was smooth, the occasional flame licking past the shield when they descended further until they were flying over clouds that stretched on to the horizon towards the setting sun. It looked pretty, the oranges and pinks glittering underneath them, and she wanted to press her face to the screen and watch it.

It was gone as soon as they broke through the clouds and zipped past mountains. Teth hadn't had many mountains nearby, and the monastery didn't count, in her opinion. Was that snow? The white dusting on the peaks? Surely it must be. Was it as cold as some said it would be?

After a while the mountains gave way to a large stretch of grassland that was littered with rivers, lakes and forests. She could see villages dotted around and when she turned her head to the left, the tall towers of a city.

"We aren't too far off now," Boba broke the silence steering the ship to their right, away from the city.

Towards more mountains? It looked like it. Surely a town could not exist in the mountains? They flew over the first few peaks and the first set of valleys before she finally saw what Boba meant with isolated. It looked like a mountain top had been blown off to create a plateau with a large lake in it, leading to a waterfall crashing down into a valley. It lead towards others, which connected to the grassland outside. There were buildings gathered close to the side towards the waterfall with a forest starting on the other side, which stopped at the beginning of the next peak. There a difference in architecture from one side of the waterfall to the other. One she was more familiar with, but the other? She couldn't really describe it. It looked like huts that were suspended in the air with bridges connecting them and a lift bringing small dots of beings up and down. Beyond that part, large patches of fields stretched until they were cut off like the forest was.

She was not sure how to think about it when they made the last stretch of their descent and hovered over a small house that was more on the outskirts of the town. So many ships were littered in between houses on landing pads or just right next to them.

"Welcome to Wegret," Boba sounded amused and only now she realized her mouth was hanging wide open.

She snapped her mouth shut immediately. If only her face wasn't on fire, she could pretend it hadn't happened. Turning her face away from Boba's stare helped, she hoped. Only now she was aware of his stare prickling at her back making her shoulders tense.

"It's still day time, so we might get some food from the cantina," he suggested into the silence easing the tension slightly, "and get settled in before we start work."

Before she could answer, they were in the landing sequence, the cockpit's rotation preventing her from seeing anything other than the sky.

"Aren't cantinas open all the time?" she asked.

"Ah, yes, but good food? That is time dependent," Boba joked back, unbuckling himself and marching towards the exit, "You coming?"

Sighing, she followed him down the small way out of the ship into a warm evening breeze. She crossed her arms as they walked down the ramp onto the roof. But now she finally saw the sheer amount of beings bustling around. How was it so busy?

"Lots of bounty hunters settle here with their families," Boba suddenly answered her unspoken question and then pointed towards the direction where she could just see the silhouettes of the hovering huts.

"These are the native Rishii," he explained, "lived here before even the split. I think the Arions gave them a huge funding boost to tolerate the bounty hunters."

"There haven't been any problems?" she asked, raising a disbelieving eyebrow at him.

"Not lately, no. The split in living space probably helps," he replied as the ramp retracted and the door to the ship closed. "And the fact that they are the ones providing us with food and supplies while we are one of their main contributions to their economy."

She shrugged. It was new to her that a bounty hunter nest was coupled to an actual village. How much money did the Arions pay them to tolerate people who are considered outlaws by many? Turning away from the sight, she saw Boba walking towards a circular hatch in the roof. Then she looked back and over the edge of the roof. It was a two story home from what she could see so far. Jumping off would only break her ankles, and running away on a plateau was idiotic.

So she followed him as he unlocked the hatch and opened it. A ladder lead down into relative darkness. He stood up again and motioned for her to come to his side. Her feet obeyed and she crossed her arms as she peered down the hole.

"Climb down," he said putting his hands on her shoulders to push her towards the opening.

Slowly she turned around set one foot on the first rung grabbing instinctively at his wrists to stabilize her. She heard an amused snort from above her. Not that she cared, but she'd rather not fall down, either. It was a relatively short descent and she nearly yelped when her feet met the solid floor suddenly.

Darkness surrounded her and she swayed slightly on her feet. Could he at least turn on the lights before sending her down? The sparse light from above didn't really help either to see what was what inside. A shadow passed over her as Boba climbed down himself. She stepped to the side, so he would not land on top of her and her shoulder met solid stone painfully.

Hissing quietly, she clutched her stinging shoulder and watched as Boba closed the hatch, dousing them in total darkness. Great. Now she was completely lost. At least there was a wall she could orient herself on.

"Can you at least turn on the lights?" she snapped at Boba when she heard the thud of someone landing on the floor.

"Afraid of the dark?" he teased and she wanted to throw something at him.

This wasn't funny! She could barely see! For all she knew he was going to lock her away and… and... Her hands clenched into fists and she would have swung after him if she only knew where he was! The Force wasn't being helpful either, swirling just beyond her reach. Calling on it was impossible.

Something rumbled to her side and around them suddenly and she leapt away from the wall. What was going on?

A crack with light spilling into the house opened up in front of her. Dumbfounded she just stood there in the middle of a corridor with Boba shaking with inaudible laughter behind her. He was enjoying this. Biting her lip to keep herself from snapping at him she looked around. A corridor that lead to a window and then she could not see. Window shutters. This must be it!

"Go on," Boba urged now, hands landing on both her shoulders pushing her forward.

At the end of the corridor, one could only turn left down a hall with three doors leading away. Curiously she stared at the plain metal doors before being pushed down a set of stairs at the end of it.

"Those are the bedrooms," Boba explained as they walked down.

"Ah," she muttered.

Which one would she be sleeping in? They walked down into another hall which ended in a door.

"Entrance," Boba said before steering her to the side through an archway into a living room.

At least she presumed this was a living room. Two couches with a holo-net projector with shelves dotting the walls. It was rather plain, nothing really personal except for a small figurine on top of a shelf next to her. Other than that datapads or boxes were crammed into the shelves. A small table was to the side of the holo-net projector.

How the room was filled but felt so bare at the same time was puzzling. At least the couches looked comfortable, even if they looked like they had seen better days. With a small nudge, Boba guided her further to the back where a table was crammed to the far end of the wall with five chairs stacked on top of each other next to it. Was this where they were going to eat? A thick layer of dust covered the top of the table and chairs.

"How long has it been since you have been here?" she asked stunned and looked back to Boba.

Boba scratched the back of his neck before replying, "For me? Eight months. No clue about Monts or Kertan."

"Seems like this place needs a good cleaning," she remarked off-handedly, shaking her head.

Boba shuffled slightly and then walked past her to another archway that lead, she had to peak around his side, to a kitchen. It was a relatively small kitchen, not big enough to fit more than two people in.

"Where's the 'fresher?" she asked.

Boba pointed to his left where a door was between two packed shelves. No wonder she had missed it. Slowly she opened it, lights flickering on as soon as she opened the door further. It was a roomy fresher with the necessities in it. Nothing to really complain about. Their stuff was still on the ship, now the question was when would they take them out?

Her skin tingled then, goosebumps spreading down her arms. She could practically feel the room, the wall and its cracks. Was that Boba in the next room? He was searching for something, a determined streak colouring his presence. It was comforting to sense it all again. Slowly she retreated from the fresher, closing the door behind her and watched how the dust particles floated in the light that fell through the window. How had she not noticed this before?

It took Boba a few minutes before finding what he had been searching for. Turned out to be a droid, one she hadn't really seen before.

"What kind of droid is it?" she asked pointing at the folded up chassis.

"A cleaning droid," Boba elaborated setting it down on the floor in the living room, "it only cleans. No personality, you know. Was so cheap they threw it after us. Apparently its personality core got fried and the owners couldn't find a replica. Neither could we."

"So… it is just," she was struggling to find the right word.

What was a droid without its personality core?

"A machine," Boba finished for her and pressed something on its back.

A loud whoosh could be heard before the limbs jerkily untangled themselves and a medium height droid was standing up to her waist. It beeped several times before walking awkwardly towards the kitchen area.

"It is an old model," Boba added with a shrug, "We should let it do its job and while we wait get some food."

Reasonable and… her stomach rumbled slightly at the suggestion and she clutched a hand to it briefly. Definitely hungry too. Nodding she turned to him to leave.

"Is the cantina far away?" she asked and Boba shook his head.

"The cantina is a bit more central, but we will be walking for only a short while," he explained and motioned for her to go into the entry hall.

He unlocked the door with the swipe of a card and opened it. By now the breeze had cooled a bit with the sun now fully setting on the horizon. On Teth that meant the cantina would be picking up most of its business. Probably the same with this one, given this was partially a bounty hunter nest. Even if sanctioned by the ruling family. As they walked down the road, more people were seen out and about. More Rishii, Twi'leks, Nautolans and... was that a Trandoshan? Not that Boba let her stop to see properly, always nudging her when she slowed down. But the town looked nothing like Teth. Teth had been mostly practical block buildings with the occasional personal touch on the windows or entrances, but here? Here the houses were more… she didn't know the word- elaborate, maybe? Why else would a bounty hunter need a tower on one side? Or a random statue in one yard? By the time they reached a junction she was shaking her head at the scattered architecture and twists to them. Boba's house was nothing compared to some.

"You should see some others," Boba had caught on to her amazement when she had not talked for a while.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"You should see what some bounty hunters get on Taris or Nar Shaddaa. This here would be a slum compared to those," he replied lightly, turning onto another road.

"Given what I have seen with the Arions, I really do not need to imagine more," she grumbled and Boba laughed.

"If you think that is too much, you should see some of the Hutt palaces out there," he chortled.

"I'm good, thank you very much," she shook her head, but her mouth was twitching into a smile already.

"We are here now," Boba pointed to one of the buildings.

It was a rather circular compound with some neon signs floating around. Flashy didn't even begin to describe it.

"Oh stars…," Boba cursed suddenly pointing to one of the signs.

"What?" she instinctively asked before reading it.

"Huttball night," he groaned in response.

Huttball night? Oh Force, noooo. Those were the bane of her existence when the galactic championship was on. Every three years, the best teams of the galaxy competed for the chance at the most sought after Huttball trophy. They'd compete for at least two months before a winner emerged. On match days, the cantinas would be completely packed with the entire town and more often than not, she and Struhn had to patch up the aftermath of more than a few cantina brawls.

This time she probably wouldn't be the one getting asked. A nice change, for once.

"Is it that time again?" she complained and Boba nodded his head.

"I just hope they still have enough food," he muttered as they approached the cantina.

Up close they could see the tightly packed area to one sight with a huge holo-screen set up. From what she could see the usual pre-match analytics were going on.

"Which teams are playing?" she wondered out loud when they had to push themselves through the crowded entry.

"The Stinging Colicoids and the...," Boba looked up to the sign, "the Snapping Thrantas."

"Balmorra versus Alderaan? That is going to be interesting," she remarked seeing several blue and purple shirts marking the wearer's loyalty.

This was going to be a long evening.

"What an understatement," Boba retorted as they finally had made their way to the bar.

"Fett, long time no see!" a muscular tall woman called out and Boba winced.

"Terha, you haven't changed one bit," he greeted the Togruta as she sauntered her way over to them.

Blue striped lekku shook with a chuckle when Terha put her yellow-skinned hands on the bar.

"Are you staying for a while?" she seemed genuinely curious.

"Yep," Boba replied, "can we have the usual?"

"We?" Terha frowned as she asked.

Only then did she notice Altharya.

"Ohh," Thera's said leveling her with a purple stare, "Not every day Fett here brings a guest along."

Altharya quickly glanced to Boba who was facepalming, mortification radiating from him. Looking back to Tehra, she realized that it had been a joke meant to embarrass him. Her face heated up and she wanted to crawl somewhere else. Had Tehra really just implied…? Force, she would never get that out of her head now.

"No?" Tehra teased further, now leaning with one elbow on the bar winking to Boba who now looked at her stoically, "Fine. The usual twice. I will bring it over if you can find a place to cram yourself to."

"Always the hostess, Tehra," Boba commented drily while handing her a handful of credits.

His mortification waned as soon as Tehra took them and gave him a warm smile.

"Good to see you back," she said.

Before Boba could open his mouth to reply a patron yelled from the other end of the bar, "Another round!"

Tehra shot Boba an apologetic look before hustling over to the patron who looked like he was reasonably drunk already. All before the match had even begun.

"Guess we have to find a table," she suggested pointing towards the darker corner of the cantina that wasn't completely crowded with Huttball fans.

"We would be lucky if we don't have to share," Boba commented.

They had to shove their way through the mass of people before finally finding a table that was empty except for a Rodian that was slumped over the table top, snoring. Their breath stunk to the sky of alcohol. Urgh. She crinkled her nose, looking to Boba, who shot her an amused grin. Then he patted the space next to him and she quickly slid there, away from the reeking Rodian. Quickly she shot him a grateful smile to which he inclined his head slightly.

"Have food and then walk back?" she had to speak loudly.

Otherwise Boba who was right next to her would not hear her. Her throat was going to be raw tomorrow if she had to do this a lot tonight. Wonderful…

"That is the plan," Boba answered as he leaned down to her so she could hear, "But I think it is more likely that we will be sitting through the entire game."

"Why?" she asked frowning.

Surely the food didn't take that long to make?

"Pretty sure we aren't the only one currently waiting for ours," he said before nodding over to the other tables in the room.

Sure enough, there were plates on some of them while on others the patrons looked occasionally towards the bar as if expecting something.

"Is Tehra doing this on her own?" she asked incredulously.

"Eh," Boba craned his neck as if trying to see something, "I think I see two of her aides scurrying around. It's just really busy."

Just then massive cheer rippled through the gathered crowd close to the broadcasting screen. She turned her eyes away from Boba to see the screen change from the analytics board to a short intro sequence of the championship with the camera whizzing across the field while the two competing teams filed out of their cabins with sponsor adverts flickering above their heads. Soren had been a Huttball enthusiast, dragging her to the showings in their cantina if she was free. If not, he occasionally made her watch the replays at either her or his home.

Oh Soren. How could she have forgotten him? She lowered her eyes to stare at the table top. Hopefully someone found and buried him, or returned the body to his parents, if someone went to the temple in the first place. Her eyes were burning and she had to blink to get rid of the irritating feeling. No tears this time. Strange. She glanced over to Boba who didn't seem to notice her and just looked towards the screen. The names of each player were currently rattling off and some names were familiar.

The Balmorran anthem started, a few people starting to bawl the lines alongside the singer in the stadium. It was so much like Teth and given how intoxicated some of the people belting loudly were, this was only going to get worse.

Hopefully there were not too many fouls. Given how the Alderaanian backers were now trying to one-up the Balmorrans, it'd be a miracle if the lashing out by the losing side would be kept to a minimum.

"What are the normal reactions around here?" she asked Boba once she was sure her voice could not crack.

"What do you mean?" Boba asked looking back down at her again.

"On Teth we had a lot of brawls once the matches were done and…," she could not finish her explanation because Boba was now laughing as if she had just made a jest.

"They would be dumb if they did. Tehra is rather strict and capable of enforcing what she wants in here. And this is the only place where most can get their booze," he chuckled.

Then he pointed at the screen, "It started. Look at how sloppy that pass was!"

She blinked. Hadn't he groaned about the match when coming in? Changed his mind, hadn't he? Might as well watch it, there was nothing else for her to do. Other than eat once the food came. Was it too late now to bang her head on the table?

The match was a stalemate so far. At one point one of the commentators mentioned that this was still the group elimination stage. So it was still early in the competition. A few more months of this madness. Great.

It could be a source of entertainment or- she had to swallow while glancing to Boba whose eyes were glued to the ongoing match- a reprieve from whatever training he had devised for her. Getting off this rock was impossible without knowing how to steer a ship. Though, surely at some point she would need to know how to. When was the other question.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of their food towards the near end of half-time. A Mirialan girl put the two plates in front of them and she was gone as quickly as she had appeared, leaving a cloud of stress hanging over them. They really should leave a tip for the waitresses once they left.

A snore from across them nearly made her jump in surprise. Annoyed, she narrowed her eyes at the blissfully unaware Rodian. Could he not take his nap somewhere else?

"Ignore him," Boba commented as he started shoveling his food onto a fork.

"How?" she snarked back pointing with her fork at the offending person, "He is practically snoring on my food!"

Boba rose his eyebrow in amusement, his eyes twinkling in the light of the cantina as he retorted, "Didn't know that snoring was now a crime."

"Not when I am trying to eat something! If I wanted to get drunk I would have bought alcohol!" she said.

How her face remained serious without immediately cracking into laughter was beyond her, but Boba's face was priceless. He stopped moving his fork to his mouth mid-air, staring at her stunned for a moment.

"Did you just make a joke?" he asked.

She blinked biting her tongue to not start laughing on the spot. Yes? That had been obvious? By now the corners of her mouth were twitching, ruining her serious façade. Slapping a hand to her mouth she tried to save it, but he had already caught on. His disbelieving stare morphed into a grin when he finally caught on.

"Heh, didn't you know you were funny," he teased resuming eating again.

Her mouth dropped behind her hand in shock. Did he just…?

"Heeeey!" she exclaimed now glaring up at him only to receive a humorous wink back.

"You had it coming," he snarked flashing her a toothy smirk.

Words were beyond her capabilities right now. How did one speak again? It had to do something with her mouth. Now… how did one form sounds? She looked back to her plate, who still had over half of its content. Rather delicious content too. It would be too wasteful to throw it in his face. Her stomach would not forgive her ever if she did. Her fork rammed too forcefully into the plate, making her wince. That had not been intended and the sudden flash of uneasiness beside her did not help either. She was doing everything wrong right now. A sudden urge to crawl underneath their table came over her as her cheeks caught on fire. The uneasiness dissipated now, slowly replaced with apprehension and then… she had to slap a hand on her cheek facing Boba so he did not absolutely see how red it probably was, there was understanding. His laughter could be heard before it even left his mouth. One of his hands clasped her shoulder holding on as his whole body shook in laughter.

"This isn't funny!" she hissed through her teeth setting her fork down.

"Yes it bloody is!" Boba retorted, wheezing from restraining his outburst which was suddenly drowned in a cacophony of cheers.

People had jumped up on their seats, arms in the air and some even chanting the Balmorran anthem again. Her embarrassment now forgotten, she tried to peek over their heads to see what was going on. This could only mean there had been a score right? Only Boba beat her to it. Damn taller people…

"Balmorra scored," he confirmed the obvious.

She rolled her eyes at him to which he shrugged in response.

"Eat," he then grumbled, "the sooner we are out of this place the better."

Had she stepped on his toes? Frowning, she stared at his temples, the only thing in plain view, and tried to sense what was going on. But with the still cheering crowd and their excitement, whatever he was feeling or thinking got flat out drowned in it. Her stomach was growling again, reminding her that she had no eaten yet all day. Only when she chewed it tasted bland, almost like the ash back… She looked back towards the screen to see a Balmorran pass to another teammate before being tackled to the ground. It looked painful. So far there had been only 3 fouls as shown on the number at the bottom left of the screen. A clean match so far. How unusual.

Her plate was almost empty, her chewing mostly automatic at this point. The bad taste in her mouth didn't go away, no matter how much food she pushed in. It was ashy and metallic, as if she was chewing on bloody ash. Even the hair on her neck started to stand up, goosebumps forming along her arms in a cantina that was warm, bordering hot with all the bodies crammed inside it. She pressed a fist to her chest to elevate some of the chest pain when she swallowed painfully.

Once she was finally done, she only stared at the empty plate, her fork hovering above it. The goosebumps wandered up her arms, her neck and down her back. Something was up. But what? Nothing seemed like it was coming from around her… No. That feeling came from her . As if her stomach had flipped.

Her fork nearly slipped from her limp fingers when Boba clamped down on her left hand.

"Phasing out?" he had lowered his head towards her ear snapping her out of her phase out.

She shook her head slightly, her goosebumps receding and even the taste in her mouth disappeared. There was concern displayed openly on his face, his hand on her left wrist loosening its grip.

"I guess…" she muttered back, the weird feeling now completely gone.

Had she just imagined it? It seemed so out of place. His eyes dipped to her nose and then back to her eyes, before he ducked his head further towards her. Their foreheads were a hair's width away from the other, she wanted to close that distance. Really the urge was there, burning behind her eyelids. But it would be too weird if she did, so she stayed put.

"Sleep?" he suggested softly, nudging her with his legs.

She hummed in response as she slid out of the booth with him following right behind her. The match on the screen had entered in the last quarter, most people now visibly on the edge of their. Some even biting nails or claws. Their ambient chatter had died down not completely gone. Altharya had to squeeze her way out of a gaggle of four Twi'leks who had matching purple shirts and flags. Alderaan supporters.

They nearly had reached the door, Boba was already reaching to open it when the screen flickered off the match to an impeccably dressed man. The taste of ash was back in her mouth and her hand flew up to cup her mouth as her throat convulsed. Her back impacted with Boba's chestplate and his hand shot to steady her on her shoulder. Both of them stared at the man who had dark circles underneath his eyes. A news reporter. It had been years since she last saw one of them, back on Coruscant.

Confusion washed over her from everyone in the room at first. Why was there an interruption? Startled she looked to Boba whose eyes were transfixed on the news man who cleared his throat awkwardly. That man didn't want to do this. It was clear as day. She inched closer to Boba. Whatever this was, they might have to bolt. Hadn't they all said that war was brewing? Was this going to be…

"Apologies for the interruption of the live showing of the match, it will recommence once the announcement from Mr. Eric Arion has concluded."

Someone booed loudly before being shushed by the others around them. Her stomach sank. If the Arions are putting out a public announcement, it must be something bad. Right? She looked to Boba who turned his head to her for a short moment, looking unsure himself. The man faded away to a video where Eric was sitting on a chair with microphones surrounding him. Morion and Lorena stood behind him, faces impassive. Only their eyes looked reddish,as if they had been crying.

She knew what was going to come.

Boba's hand settled firmly on her shoulder, steadying her shifting her weight from behind her heels to her feet again. A questioning look was all she got before his question was answered from the Arions.

"I apologise for the abrupt announcement," Eric Arion started, voice heavy and measured.

Flashes of cameras lit up their faces and Lorena winced at the bright light. No one noticed, Altharya glanced around quickly, all eyes were fixed on the head of their planet. Slowly she shifted more towards Boba, twisting her hands, her nerves wracked.

"Given the circumstances in Ebonya a couple of days ago and the new developments, this has become a matter of utmost urgency," Eric Arion paused, letting his eyes slide deliberately over the journalists that must be gathered out of their view.

It was as if a tense chord had strung around them, ringing from the worry and anticipation permeating in the room now.

Get out .

Her breathing stuttered and she pressed herself flatly against Boba's side causing him to grunt in surprise. Words were stuck in her throat, otherwise she would have told him what was going on. But then she locked eyes with him again. He knew, his eyes screamed it for all to hear. With a pained expression he squeezed her shoulder he was clutching. Both of them could not move transfixed onto the Eric Arion's face which seemed to have aged in the last few seconds. All she could see was a tired old man. A man that was grieving.

That poor kid …

"My fellow citizens, I come to you in our hour of grief," Eric paused again taking a deep breath while the air seemed to be sucked out simultaneously of their cantina room, "I hereby announce that Senya Arion has deceased two hours previously. The investigation into her passing is still ongoing."

As soon as he said that murmuring started, growing steadily louder. Worry, anger and fear were flying around her head, driving painfully into the back of her skull. Her spine felt cold, as if fingers creeping up on it, steadily and finger by finger.

Tap .

Her hand found Boba's belt, gripping the leather tightly, making her knuckles creak.

Tap .

Silence hung over the cantina, no one daring to utter a word. Was she even breathing at this point? Her lungs felt like it had become incapable of taking in air.

Tap .

She felt Boba retreated, her feet scrambling to keep up with him. Before Eric Arion could speak more they had stumbled into the cool night, leaving her panting. Stemming her hands onto her hips, she tried to regain some semblance of balance. Boba had let go of her as soon as they were out, though he still hovered above her. Cool air finally entered her chest and dispelled some of the ache in her skull. The fingers on her spine disappeared.

Right. They had known Senya would be dead sooner than later.

"Let's go back to the house," he suggested after a moment.

She nodded and straightened out to follow him. Quickly she looked back at the cantina entrance, muffled noise coming out from there. The others must have snapped out of their stupor. Boba shuffled slightly with his feet, impatient. Huffing she turned to him, ready to give him her best death glare. Only he looked sullen, exhausted. Sighing she stepped closer to him, slipping her left arm around him. His hand hovered hesitantly over right shoulder before pressing her shortly to him, as if it was a hug.

Their walk back was silent, the both of them looking anywhere but at each other. Whatever consequences that were going to come out of Senya's death, she knew they were grinding through Boba's head. He was not being exactly quiet, a muted storm behind his mental shields. What was she to think? They both knew who and what had happened. Why the Arions kept a tight lid on those details was beyond her. Maybe they had a good reason. Or they were withholding for now and would drop the truth later.

The fallout was going to be deadly and it was inevitable.

Even with the mild breeze and close to Boba, she was shivering violently.

AN: Hope you liked it, please tell me what you thought. The reviews on the last chapter did bring some additional motivation to write on this chapter and the next one which should drop in the next few days.

Love . Fiction . 2018: I am glad you are liking it so far :)

icevsfire721: I hope I could deliver on what you had been hoping for!

RavenHairedQueen: glad you loved it and you asked for the next update, here it is!