Kamda

Azina was working exactly like she would on any other day. At least that's what she told herself. Every so often she'd stop her routine, as her thoughts broke through the wall of routine she was hiding behind, and anyone in the bar could see she was struggling with something. Fortunately, there weren't too many people around to notice. And so Azina would shake off those moments of introspection and get back to what she knew and was comfortable with, even if it meant wiping down a table for the seventh time already...

Quietly, Jaxom slipped into the bar. The Empire had greater concerns than him, but it was still best to be cautious. Once he was certain of who was there, he stepped out of the shadows. C77 chirped something and he nodded in response.

"Azina, how are you?" He asked as he approached her.

"Bah!" Az vocalized as she jumped. She hadn't noticed Jaxom, but thankfully his voice only generated surprise, no actual fear. Catching her breath and shaking her head, it took the young woman a minute to respond.

"Jaxom, hey." She paused for a deep breath. "I'm... Fine, as you can see." It was a weak joke, and she smiled to show she knew she wasn't fooling him. She probably wasn't any better of a liar now than when she'd meet Jaxom more than two years ago.

"You did well last night. You were braver than I was." he smiled.

The young Nautolan girl was dumbstruck.

"I... I guess," she said tentatively. Az looked at her feet. She actually had her eyes closed when she spoke again, in a flurry of words: "I thought I was ready. I was so confident in the moments before those troopers hit us, and I was right there with the sword, and when I hopped the barricade, I was ready to cut through them with such anger." The steam of words stops. Az's voice returns, but quietly: "And I don't think I even hit one of them. And I got stabbed," she waved at her left side, although nothing was visible inner the clean shirt she was wearing.

"The same thing happened to me." he told her. "I was useless as a soldier and I failed my home. I thought I could make up for it here on Kamda, but I was too late."

Az looked at Jaxom like he'd grown two heads. She really didn't know what to do with this information.

"How did..." She lowered her voice and looked around suspiciously. "I mean, what'd..." Maybe she wasn't ready to process things yet. Az waved her hands vaguely, then she tried another line of thinking.

"If you thought you failed before, why did you try again?"

"Sometimes, you don't have a choice." he shrugged. "I couldn't stay on Bellionas after the Separatists lost, not for very long. I thought I could help here on Kamda, but arrived to late. So, I stayed. I tried to help in other ways, help the people. With all of this, though, it felt like I had to do more."

C77 delivered a drink.

"Now, we're in something bigger."

Az nodded at that sentiment. Realizing she was still standing and holding a cleaning rag, she sat down, gently laying the cloth aside.

"I've spent more than two years waiting to be a part of... Of whatever I thought my dad coming back would be." Her voice went very low, and stained. "But, that's... That isn't..." She seemed pained but determined to say this out loud.

"He's. not. coming. back," Az ground out slowly. "And I think... Maybe, maybe what I learned from being right there -- right. on. the. knife," she said, sounding incredulous. "I... I need to stop thinking that one big event is going to save me." Az shrugged, and suddenly seemed tired, like this revelation had completely taken her by surprise.

"It's hard, letting go." he said. "There are some things you'll never let go of. But, your not alone. If you need me, I'm here. There's the others, too. For better or worse, we've all banded together in different ways. That doesn't make us all friends, but we're all tied together."