CH-76

Ahsoka nodded immediately and actually laughed, "This thing handles way better than it should. It's not a problem. Other than the crap shields this ship is great. Twenty seconds until we're passing over the city."

Harry nodded and gestured for Aayla to stand and follow him. She stood up and looked around as she stepped in his direction, "You have an escape pod to get us down?"

He reached over and gripped her wrist, "Not quite… brace yourself, this will feel-" And he apparated with a crack.

Ahsoka glanced over her shoulder to find the two gone before she turned her attention back to her piloting, a slight shake of her head the only acknowledgement of the newest bout of insanity to infect her life.

Her eyes looked towards the ship that was slowly making its out of the atmosphere by keeping the curvature of the planet between them, but was already almost in visual range due to the speed of Harry's craft.

She flipped the safeties off of the ship's fixed turrets and smiled grimly as instincts honed in two years of fighting flared back to the front of her mind, "Back into the fire."

Aayla barely had enough time to process the words said by Harry, much less had the time needed to brace herself. But even if she had been set, it still wouldn't have been enough to prepare her for the sensation of being sucked through a straw while surrounded and bombarded by waves of the Force.

Harry's hand on her wrist seemed to anchor her but, after only a moment, the sensation ended and he let go. She felt the wind whipping past her body, bitter frigid coldness surrounding her, and her lekku trailing behind her as she realized they were in a high-altitude free-fall.

Her eyes opened and the brief glimpse she got of the surrounding area before her eyes watered rapidly from the passing wind, made her realize that they were still a long way up and falling to the city. Before she could do anything but gasp in fear, she felt the Force touch her several times.

Suddenly breathing in the dangerously thin air became infinitely easier. Aayla sucked in a grateful lung-full of air. The frigid upper atmosphere, which had been almost unbearable on her exposed skin, suddenly was warm as she found her entire body surrounded by the Force in a comforting embrace. Her eyes, which had already been squinting to see anything through the rushing winds, suddenly found themselves wide open and no longer buffeted by dangerous winds.

However that was a mixed blessing, because now that she was able to see clearly, she realized just how high they truly were and just how far a fall to the ground they were in for. She found herself really hoping Harry had a plan for this.

Jedi could fall much greater distances than a normal person, but from this height, she would end up dead, just like anyone else. She looked around for Harry since he had let go of her wrist after they had reappeared and Aayla couldn't spot him in free fall with her.

Suddenly she felt the sensation of being grabbed near the waist. She looked down to find Harry's hands on her hips. Then she felt the Force wash over her again as Harry's chest met and then adhered to her back.

Somehow, despite the sound of wind as it passed while they plummeted in free fall, she heard Harry's voice. A second later, even after Harry's words registered in her mind, she realized he had said the words instead of yelled, yet she easily heard him all the same.

"Hey Blue, what's a gorgeous girl like you doing in a place like this?" he asked, an audible trace of humor in his voice.

"Harry, I swear to every god of my ancestors, if this is an excuse to feel me up, I will shove my lightsaber up your ass!" she half shouted, proud of the fact that her voice didn't quaver in the slightest, despite the height in the air or the speed in which they were tumbling through said air.

Aayla could see nothing at all of Harry other than his hands, but she could hear the grin in Harry's voice as he responded, "Wow Blue, I didn't know we'd get into kinks this quickly! I'm glad you opened up first! Though I'm sorry… that's not really my thing. We can talk, but you should know that my safe-word is Phoenix."

Despite his banter they continued to accelerate toward the ground.

Aayla was proud of herself as she kept her voice steady, "I really hope you have a plan so that we don't go splat."

"Of course I do... though I might get distracted by this outfit you're wearing," Harry replied with a laugh, squeezing her hips lightly for emphasis though he didn't move them anywhere inappropriate, "Honestly, what possessed you to come up with an all-leather midriff and cleavage baring combat outfit?

"Is it an 'I'm comfortable in leather' thing, or 'I have a fetish for leather' thing, or is it a 'the enemies are so distracted by what I'm wearing they don't notice me kicking their ass' sorta thing?" Harry's voice was conversational and amused, as if it was an everyday thing to be tumbling through the air like this.

Aayla's back may have been somehow stuck to his chest, but her legs certainly weren't. She brought her foot back, and grinned as she felt the satisfying thump of her heel smacked between his legs.

"Oof. Phoenix… phoenix." Harry muttered, relieved she had hit his inner thigh and not elsewhere, though it had been a close thing.

"Already calling time out Harry? You want me to think you have performance anxiety issues?" Aayla smirked, glad to have finally returned one of the dozens of comments he'd made toward her. Though her smirk died when she realized that she had hit the person she hoped had a plan to keep her from falling to her death.

Harry laughed out loud, genuinely pleased that she finally seemed to be hitting back, "Blue, I promise you, that's one thing I've never been accused of. Well there was the time when I was fourteen before opening the school ball with a formal dance. But I'd like to think that was an isolated issue."

K̾o̾-̾f̾i̾

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