If you want to read more chapters ahead from here you can visit my Patre-on.
[P] [A] [T] [R] [E] [O] [N]
https://patreon.com/kelly_over
____________
"Jabba didn't use those, he used collars. He was a traditionalist like that," Aayla said, shaking her head. "I think the pervert just liked to see his property, wearing chains." She spat out, before calming down noticeably as Harry once again squeezed her hand before letting go. Even as they went their separate ways for the moment however, the two continued to talk via their mental bond. It wasn't as personal as it would be if one or the other had projected their astral bodies into the other's mind, but it would do for now.
A few moments later as Dooku and Harry were still integrating the slaves, conjuring up clothing for them, once more with Dooku acting as a front man when Fay and Aayla returned with Quinlan, who was leaning heavily on the older woman. He wasn't still wounded, Master Fay had helped heal his wounds quickly, but the disorientation in his mind would take longer to deal with. Quinlan had been given three times the amount of drugs Aayla had been given and the fact he had fought so hard against Aurra before succumbing to his wounds made his Force healing even slower. On top of the drugs to make him pliant however Jabba had added even more to make him respond to questioning, the various drugs merging into a horribly debilitating concoction.
Quinlan's eyes rolled up slightly in the back of his head even as he walked, but he focused on Harry for a moment, nodding his head to the younger man. "Thank you for your help here, not just for me, but for my padawan. If you had not, if your connection with her was not…" he trailed off, unwilling to say what would've happened to Aayla
In the face of this outpouring of un-Jedi like emotion Harry just nodded, smiling at Aayla. "We're connected he said simply, "always. And I was telling the truth, I'm not letting Aayla out of my sight again."
Aayla nodded fervently, the two of them staring at one another for a few moments before shaking their heads and moving away back to their various tasks quickly. Neither of them really understood how to explain their bond verbally without using analogies, though Aayla did so quietly to Master Fay and Quinlan a few moments later as the three of them moved toward the patrol ship with Quinlan still leaning on Fay's shoulder.
"It's like, it's not like we were missing pieces of the puzzle or something like that," Aayla said haltingly. "We're still separate people, we always have been. Our connection doesn't make us one person or anything like that, that would be weird, and rather wrong. It's like… like our two puzzle pictures had little corners that've been missing for a long time, but now they're connected overlapping. Or like we're two cups of water that were supposed to be merged and now are again. When we were apart, it was this sort of… dull ache that was always there, ignorable after a while but there and now it's gone, and we're a greater whole?" Aayla stuttered to a halt shaking her head.
"Something like that anyway." She finished lamely.
Master Fay chuckled, shaking her head. To her the mystery of their bond was just that: the mystery of their bond and she would not question it. She knew it was of the Light. It laid between them this bright vibrant glow to her senses, and staring at it, the power and nature of it Fay knew that she would never agree to separate the two again. The Force had plans for these two, she didn't know what that was plans were, but it was obvious whatever it was, they would face it better together.
Sifting through the shattered remnants of the ships docked in the hangar bay took a while, but eventually Dooku, Harry and the rescued slaves found several skiffs they could repair. This included the monstrosity that had been Jabba's personal yacht. Setting the goons who had survived to this point and the slaves who had any mechanical background to work they were able to repair them in a few hours, during which Quinlan recovered, and he joined Dooku and Aayla hunted through the palace, making certain that they'd found all the communication devices, computers and other things with Lily's help. After they found them, Quinlan gleefully copied anything they had on them, sucking them dry of all information on to various data cubes which Quinlan could then use to smash the illegal slave trade wide open.
They also found Pol Secura. He was still unconscious from one of Master Fay's mental assaults, along with his bodyguard, holed up in a small communication room complete with computer. Dooku stared hard at the bodyguard, frowning thoughtfully. "This one I will want to talk to later," he murmured. "He looks familiar to me, I'm uncertain if he's a bounty hunter or a bodyguard, but I have definitely met him before on assignment."
Aayla didn't respond to that, too busy staring down at her uncle as the realization that it must have been him who had spotted her and given the game away. Harry's soothing thoughts reached out again from where he was still working with the freed slaves and goons, joshing them along or helping as he may physically and with Force, his ability to repair things working overtime in very small lots, easily hidden or written off by the workers around him. "Easy Aayla, remember this isn't the first time your family tried to betray you."
"He's not my family Harry!" Aayla said, throwing off her shock and feeling of betrayal quickly. "I chose my family, and it's you, Lily, and the rest of the Order," she said aloud, as well as mentally feeling Harry's approval and affection through their bond. Nearby Quinlan and Dooku both nodded, though Dooku wasn't quite as at home with such emotions even after a few months with Harry, Lily and Master Fay as Quinlan was.
"Are you done with the computers Quinlan?" Dooku asked, moving on quickly.
_____________
If you want to read more chapters ahead from here you can visit my Patre-on.
[P] [A] [T] [R] [E] [O] [N]
https://patreon.com/kelly_over