Lorash felt a strange hesitation come over her as they neared the waiting assassin droid outside Corr's ship. She knew nothing of Jaa except the little bits and pieces Seia had let slip, but she knew the man-turned-droid understood more of Seia's suffering than she did. There was an unmistakable familiarity to the way Seia greeted the anthropomorphic droid with her hand against its cheek. Lorash wasn't used to seeing her lover be so demonstrative with anyone else.

"I have someone I want you to meet, Jaa," Seia said, letting her hand fall away. "This is Lorash."

"The Lorash?" The droid turned to face the jedi at the motion of the sith warrior's hand. It reached out with delicate manipulators, each ending in a pointed, fingernail-like claw. "I don't know what to say except…thank you. You're the only reason we made it off that horrible rock."

Lorash shook his hand. It felt a little awkward, but mostly because she was having trouble reconciling the droid body with the personality of a human. "I take it Seia mentioned me?"

"You could say that," Jaa said, adjusting the sling of the rifle over his shoulder. "When she was delirious, she practically raved about you. Never a name until later, when the imps weren't around, but you kept her going through the worst of it and she dragged me right along." He leaned in and lowered his voice. "Take good care of her, Lorash. I owe Seia my life a dozen times over. Go gently, though."

"What do you mean?" Lorash said, brow furrowing.

"She never told me what they did, but there were some interrogation sessions she didn't walk back from, you know?" Jaa whispered while Seia was busy snapping at Corr over something. "Despayre was nothing compared to what came after."

"She seems healthier than I expected," Lorash admitted.

"They fed her back up to her old strength, but they tried hard to break her will. Even beskar cracks under enough pressure," Jaa said. He lowered his head in shame. "I had my part in that, unwillingly. They would torment me to provoke her rages, to teach her she was helpless. I think the hurt runs deeper than she shows."

Lorash wasn't surprised that Seia was masking her pain. It was her way, and had been since the beginning. "I'll take good care of her, Jaa," she promised. "I'm sorry you both went through so much."

Eso sidled over, eyeing the droid while Yyrfh stood between Corr and Seia as insurance while the arms dealer punched in his door code. "So you're, uh, not really a droid?"

"I am HK-71," Jaa said. "Or at least, that's what the Empire called me after their experiment was a success. I suppose I don't sound like a droid, but…" He rapped on his chassis. "I don't know what else to call myself now. My other body was parted out for organ leggers. The only part of me that's original is interfaced with a prototype neural network. Enough to feel pain."

"Seia seems pretty, uh, chummy with you."

"We went through most things together," Jaa explained. "I earned her respect and trust."

"How?" Eso asked.

Jaa scratched at one optic sensor. "Some rabble-rousing, tending injuries, and refusing to roll over on her when it would have saved my own skin. Not that different from yourself, I'd imagine."

Lorash sensed what Eso was getting at, even if he wouldn't come out and say it directly: that greeting from Seia worried him, for the jedi knight's sake. He was trying to figure out if Jaa was competition in any form, or if he had been prior to becoming a droid. The implication pricked the jedi's feelings for a moment, but how could she be upset with the notion even if it was true? What expectation could Seia have had that she would ever see Lorash again? Could she really be angry with Seia for seeking solace somewhere?

Sith are creatures of passion, Nabeila acknowledged quietly when she sensed Lorash's unease. Go carefully, Lorash. There is great potential to hurt and be hurt here.

Jaa looked from Eso to Lorash, evaluating their expressions. "Did I say something wrong?"

"Seia's not usually, uh, touchy with people," Eso said more bluntly. "Or droids."

Jaa adjusted his shoulder sling again. "That sounds like a conversation for Seia. I don't know if you know this, but she does what she wants pretty much exclusively. I can persuade her occasionally, but not like that."

Lorash elbowed Eso in the ribs just enough to get his attention. "They've both been through a lot, Eso. Don't make them feel any worse."

"Hey, uh, I'm just looking out for you."

"Would you lot hurry up?" Seia's tone had a lot more snap in it as she stopped in the open entrance hatch to the ship. "We need to leave before more show up."

Lorash took the hint and followed Seia into the ship, Eso and Jaa on her heels. Yyrfh had already headed into Engineering now that the sith had simmered down about Corr.

She hesitated when Seia turned to face her. It had been months of separation, months of torture that had probably felt more like years to Seia. Out of the heat of the moment, Lorash didn't know what to say to bridge that kind of gap. "Seia…"

The sith smiled, stepping closer with a sway to her walk that left Lorash's mouth dry as Tattooine. "Does anything really need to be said, jedi?" Seia's voice teased, but the blistering heat and conflict that enveloped Lorash's sense told her she was still every bit as desired as she had been, with intensity and an almost desperate edge hidden just under the surface.

Jaa and Eso both seemed to sense they weren't needed, heading up to the cockpit with a meaningful shared glance.

More than ever, Lorash knew there was a gap between carnal desire and real love. She needed to know which she was actually getting before this went any further. She pressed a gloved finger to Seia's lips before the sith could sweep in for a kiss.

"I need to say some things."

Seia stopped, sensing the seriousness of her mood. "Very well," she acknowledged, but Lorash could feel the sith mentally retreating from her, as if preparing to receive a killing blow.

That needed to be nipped in the bud. Lorash reached out, catching Seia's hand with her own. She sought the gaze of those burning eyes, only to find a sort of distance in them that hadn't been there before.

"Seia, I love you. Nothing is going to change that." Lorash squeezed Seia's hand. "I know there's so much I don't know, but I want you to feel safe enough to tell me. I'm not leaving you."

Seia hesitated a moment, but some of the distance seemed to thaw. "That is…difficult to believe," she admitted.

"Why?" Lorash leaned in, brushing her lips against Seia's cheek, trying to offer comfort in a way she would accept or at least understand. It also broke eye contact, something she was hoping would make it easier for the sith to talk.

"I saw you come back into my life so many times," Seia whispered. "You always left."

Lorash had a gut-wrenching feeling she knew now how the Empire had tried to break Seia when hard labor and privation failed: the only soft spot in that heart of hers. They hadn't been too discreet in the Diadem. There was probably plenty of footage of them together, maybe even of the kiss stolen at Corr's table after everyone else had left. "If I'm still your asha, Seia, let me break your chains," Lorash said, stroking Seia's hair. She let her sense expand, feeding the connection between them. This fear will die with time, as all fears do. If you are going to choose a passion to answer to, let it be love instead. I will be here into endlessness in the Force, Seia. Whatever might separate us for a time, I will always find you again.

"Jedi cannot love Sith, Lorash."

Lorash felt the hurt underneath the bluntness in Seia's tone. "Watch me," she said fiercely. "Feel me. All things are possible with the Force, Seia, even this. I did not choose the Order over you, I chose it because of you. Because I had to be strong enough to reach you. There is balance in what we are to each other, not destruction. No light is complete without its shadow."

Seia kissed her with the same intensity, pressing her back into the wall. For a moment, Lorash lost herself in sensation, the burning conflict all around her as Seia's fingers framed her face, always seeking more in the kiss until it hurt not to breathe. Then they broke apart, Lorash's teeth catching Seia's lip in an affectionate nip as they did. Those coal-like eyes glowed as they took her in, looking as if Lorash was the only thing she ever wanted to see again. "Are you done speaking?" Seia rasped.

"I've said my piece," Lorash confirmed. This time when the question rose to the surface of her mind, she didn't hesitate to ask it. "Do you love me, Seia?"

Seia leaned close, resting her forehead against Lorash's. "I thought it was obvious, my asha. My heart burns for you more hotly than bleeding kyber. Every moment without you is a torment, every moment with you the breath of life itself. It is love that will endure when bones are dust and stars are only ashes."

Lorash felt a little bit tongue-tied by that answer, said with so much certainty that it seemed to bend the Force itself around the words. "Then what are you waiting for?" she breathed, finding the challenge in her own voice. Instead of trying to free herself from Seia's touch, she used a delicate Force push to open her door down the hall.

Seia danced her fingers down Lorash's sides. "You have some new tricks," she whispered before scooping the jedi up into her arms and carrying her towards the open door. "I hope you remember how to dance."

Lorash's cheeks flamed red hot at the reminder of their evening together. "I don't think you can do to this armor what you did to that dress."

"It does seem sturdier," Seia acknowledged with a cat-like smirk, carrying Lorash down the hall and into her room. Corr's ship had more in the way of creature comforts than Eso's, a wide bed instead of a single person's bunk and a walk-in fresher with a shower, along with a living area sectioned off by a couch and a small but rather well-stocked bar. "Would you like help with it or shall I just make myself comfortable?"

The jedi took a deep breath. One option meant having Seia's hands on her immediately, the other her eyes. Both had their own appeal. "I think you've worked more than hard enough," Lorash said, choosing her path as Seia set her down. "This is your chance to relax." She kissed the sith as she hit the lock for the door, not interested in the slightest in anyone interrupting, and then used the sweeping movements of Niman to guide Seia back until the sith's legs hit the edge of the couch.

Seia didn't sit down the way Lorash had hoped. Instead, the sith splayed her hands across the jedi's lower back and kissed down the side of Lorash's neck. "I wanted to touch you," Seia whispered, tone almost pouting even though Lorash could feel her wicked smile. "I think I need some persuasion if you're going to get your way."

Lorash found herself balancing between relatively novel states of being: vulnerability and wanting to tease the way Seia always did. "You gave me the choice, Seia," she said, mustering her courage. She'd learned confidence was something she could tap into if she remembered what she wanted. "You wouldn't have offered if you didn't like the idea. You can touch all you want—once the armor's off."

She expected more pushback, but Seia just kissed the point of her jaw and then sat, crossing one leg over the other. The sith's eyes flashed like coals. "By all means, then," she said, waving a hand almost airily even as she watched with a hawkish intensity.

Lorash had a feeling that Seia wanted to see where this new boldness was going, while letting her love set the pace and terms…at least for the moment.

"You know, I thought about you every night on Tython," the jedi said, starting the slow disassembling of her armor. It was an education unto its own, watching Seia's expression shift from feigned nonchalance into outright hunger as Lorash exaggerated movements like the roll of hips or the stretch of her arms as she shed pieces just a touch, just enough to pull Seia's attention where she wanted it. She'd learned to dress light under the armor, because even with the suit's cooling built in, a fight would invariably outstrip its ability to compensate.

Her shoulder and ribs still ached from the sithspawn and were definitely bruised, but Seia hadn't seen that yet. Instead, the sith watched as if hypnotized as each piece of armor removed revealed more skin and the close-clinging silk beneath the beskar plates.

"Only at night?" Seia asked, lips twitching back into that wicked smile.

"Only like this at night," Lorash said, undoing her belt. Instead of letting it fall as she had the armor, she draped it across the low table. The lightsaber on it clinked against the thick glass, forgotten by both of them as Lorash bent slightly to unbuckle the armor around her legs.

Eso's cursed teasing chose that moment to resurface in her thoughts, spawning a lot of imaginings Lorash very much liked but weren't helping her focus.

"Mm."

She looked up to see Seia clearly struggling with herself. It wasn't hard to guess the nature of the conflict, the sith's hands clenching and unclenching as temptation and desire warred with the game they were playing.

Lorash acted like she hadn't noticed, slipping off her boots. "You're being awfully tame for not being bound, Seia," she teased as the last pieces were set aside.

She felt the conflict around Seia flare, fed by a mixture of desire and challenge. The sith herself only leaned back, draping her arms across the back of the couch. "You should be careful, Lorash, playing with fire like that."

"Maybe I like the burn," the jedi said, swaying closer. The tired and the ache didn't matter. She had Seia all to herself again. She stopped just short of the sith's reach, fingertips slipping under the hem of the shirt clinging to her torso. Unfortunately, her shoulder throbbed angrily and she realized she didn't have the full range of motion needed to slowly strip off her shirt the way she wanted to. That meant changing tacks. "Seia."

The sith leaned forward when she heard the plea in Lorash's voice. She reached out, catching the edge of her lover's shirt. "Allow me," she purred, sliding fabric upward slowly. She stopped when she exposed Lorash's damaged ribs, angry bruising easily visible as livid marks across her skin. The marks of the sithspawn were unmistakably ugly. Seia pulled in a sharp breath. "You are injured." She looked up at Lorash. "Why did you not say anything?"

"I want you, Seia," Lorash said, trying desperately to recapture the moment. "It's not that bad."

Seia finished pulling her shirt off, revealing her damaged shoulder too. "Oh, asha…" The lips that brushed over her injured joint barely made contact, so careful not to wound. "You need bacta and a cold pack, not this."

Lorash was torn. There was a rare tenderness in Seia's expression, something she couldn't bring herself to draw away from even though what she really wanted was a repeat of their dance in the Diadem. "Seia—"

Seia kissed her, this time light and gentle. "There will be time for that when you have healed. Let me take care of you."

The jedi's resistance crumbled. "I suppose," she said with a sigh, melting a little when Seia's fingers combed through her hair. "I guess I should leave the seduction to the expert."

The sith's softer smile took on its catlike sharpness for a moment. "You were doing well. I look forward to another such display. But in the meantime, asha…" She kissed Lorash's shoulder. "Where is your medkit?"

"Bathroom," Lorash said. As much as it was disappointing, she would have been lying if she said she didn't love this side of Seia too: the side no one else was privy to.

"Go lie down in bed with your injuries up," Seia said firmly, brooking no argument.

It only took a few moments for Seia to grab the kit and come back. She used the bacta first, spreading the cream mixed with numbing solution across Lorash's ribs and shoulder. The jedi hissed in pain despite Seia's gentle touch and then let out a sigh of relief as the numbing kicked in. Seia crushed up the chemical ice packs and wrapped each one with a thin towel, then placed them around Lorash's injuries, propping her up with pillows so she was comfortable and could relax.

"This must hurt, asha," Seia said, stroking Lorash's hair. "You were foolish not to tell me right away."

"I just…I missed you and I wanted…"

Seia kissed the corner of her mouth. "We have all the time in the world." She laid down too, moving close. This time, Seia's conflict seemed to calm as her emotions did, and the hand that stroked Lorash's hip felt comforting rather than enticing.

Lorash draped her arm across Seia's side, resisting the urge to scoot closer because she knew it would disrupt the icepacks. Instead, she rested her forehead against Seia's. "Thank you," she said softly.

Seia smiled faintly, combing her fingers again through Lorash's hair. "Rest, asha."

"I don't want to sleep," Lorash murmured, even though the fatigue was quickly coming for her now that the pain was under control.

"I will be here when you awaken," Seia promised soothingly, continuing to stroke Lorash's hair. "I am not leaving you, asha. Just rest."

The care and love that she felt radiating off Seia was like a warm blanket. It softened the edges of Lorash's own worry. For the first time in a long time, everything felt right.