CH-89

Harry held up his hand to Aayla to cut off the question or protest he could see brewing on her face, "Look, Dobby did what I told him. He got onto the ship, saved the captives, and kept himself safe. That was exactly what I asked of him. I'm not going to yell at him, or let you yell at him."

He turned back to Salporin and then nodded a bit, "I'll make you a deal. In fact, I'll trade you. I've given you both the slaves and the slavers I picked up off-world. You make sure both are taken care of appropriately. Find the freed slaves some place to live, and you let me keep using the landing pad space my ship is on and we'll call it even. I'll even throw in the slaver's ship as well so you can impound, search, and then sell the thing."

Salporin roared and nodded in what was obviously agreement.

"Awesome," Harry stated with a smile, looking pleased briefly before his expression then turned more serious, "You're going to interrogate the slavers right?"

Salporin nodded, growling an affirmative.

Harry's facial features hardened, and his voice returned to its deceptively calm tone, "I'd like you to… keep me in the loop about what you turn up. If you don't mind."

The wookiee made a questioning sound and tilted his head curiously.

"I don't know. Just a hunch. So many slavers working together, on something as bold as this. I'm curious as to why," Harry replied with a shake of his head, "Especially if there's a bit of a trail to follow."

Salporin nodded only to be distracted when another wookiee came up with his long strides. He exchanged a quick round of growls and barks at Salporin.

While the two Wookiees talked, Aayla spoke up. She had been quiet since Dobby's rather upbeat pronouncement that he had killed an entire ship's worth of slavers, "Harry, just so you know. I reported in with the Council, so they would know of the slavers attacking Kashyyyk."

"I also reported that you were in critical condition…" At Harry's raised eyebrows Aayla held her hands up defensively, "Well, at the time you were, and Master Yoda decided to send a healer here in case you need help to get back on your feet."

Harry frowned and tilted his head and then very deliberately looked down at his feet, "Seems I've managed it just fine."

Aayla sighed and shook her head, "But this is the first we're hearing of it. The last I had seen of you, you were missing your arm, a good portion of your left side… and you made a delirious comment about my breasts before disappearing."

"There was nothing delirious about that comment believe me," Harry replied with a grin.

Then he nodded solemnly and gave a drawn out sigh, "I can see where this is coming from. You're having difficulties believing me and having trouble trusting me on this."

He moved over against one of the sides of the office and leaned against the wall. "I can see why you contacted someone for an outsider's opinion, but there was no need to go to your Jedi Council for this."

He reached into one of his pockets, and pulled out a small datapad, and held it up so the unit's camera faced Aayla. "If you really think I was delirious and was totally wrong, you could always do some jumping jacks. I can broadcast the video around the holonet and ask them for their opinion of your breasts if you don't believe me about mine."

Aayla's jaw dropped once more, she thought she had gotten used to Harry's comments but he just seemed to be able to keep her off balance.

Harry grinned impishly, "Besides, I don't need to be delirious to comment on your breasts. I have no trouble standing by my previous comments and saying how beautifully formed and perky they are."

"Y...you..!" Aayla sputtered.

Harry grinned at Aayla loss of composure, "Hey, don't take my word for it, I'm sure Salporin would agree with me!"

Hearing his name, the wookiee turned and roared a statement at Harry.

"See. He agrees with me," Harry stated emphatically.

Aayla shot a look of betrayal at the wookiee.

"Harry's teasing you," Ahsoka interjected, amusement clear on her face, since she knew Aayla couldn't understand Shyriiwook.

Harry sighed, at Ahsoka spoiling his fun, "Yeah actually he said that you don't have enough fur. Though I personally don't go for the hirsute look."

Harry grinned and winked at Aayla who seemed completely robbed of speech before he turned away from her to speak to Salporin, "It's been a long day. I'm going to take these two back to my place. You know how to get in touch with me if you need something?"

The wookiee acknowledged him with a grunt and wave, before turning back to his own issues from today's events.

Harry led the two women out of the hut that made up a temporary office for Salporin, and headed back towards the ship. "I just want to pick up a few things from the Gryffindor and we can go on down to my home and get some rest before this… healer shows up."

The second mention of the direction of his home finally got their attention, "Harry," asked Ahsoka. "You keep saying 'down' for your home. Where exactly do you live here?"

He glanced at Aayla, who had apparently just realized what those words could possibly mean, and the look of apprehension that was already upon Ahsoka's face since she'd already put two and two together, "Someplace where the neighbors aren't all that friendly, but it has a wonderful backyard."

After a few moments silence, Ahsoka blurted out, "Your home… is actually in the lower forest? It's not up here in the canopy?"

Harry's voice was unconcerned, "Yep, it was like wrestling a gundark with my bare hands to actually clear a beachhead down there, but I eventually got the place set up."

Their eyes were wide, and Harry couldn't honestly blame them. He was well aware it would've been like saying, 'Oh, it's perfectly safe setting up a treehouse in a tree next to Aragog's clearing.' Especially when there were creatures down in the lower tiers of the Kashyyyk forest canopy that made Aragog and his fellow acromantula look like the spiders that had once shared his cupboard.

"Why would you build a home down there?" asked Aayla finally as Harry quickly stepped into the ship only to come out literally a second later with a sack over his shoulder.

"I like the Gryffindor, but after wandering the galaxy for a while, I wanted someplace that wasn't just a ship," Harry said, accompanied by a bark from Hedwig who fluttered out of the sky and landed on Harry's shoulder.

He chuckled a little bit, "Hedwig definitely didn't appreciate always being stuck on ships all the time. So she finally guiled me into setting up a more permanent home."

"Yes… but why in the depths of the Kashyyyk forest?" Aayla asked as Harry looked around.

"Kashyyyk has one of the largest concentrations of magic I've ever seen. The entire planet, all of the plant life is drenched in magic," Harry replied as his eyes got a faraway look in them.

"Magic on this planet runs through the ground and infuses everything. Every tree, every branch, every creature. It makes me wonder how magic has impacted the course of this world over the eons…" Harry's musing voice trailed off as he seemed to ponder the idea.

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