Lost and Longing.

Ahsoka continued, unaware that Aayla had been remembering their earlier conversation. "Harry's people had multiple ways to coerce people to give up their secrets, many of them involuntarily, as well as ways to modify memories."

"He's teaching me how to fight those methods, then said he would teach me how to perform a few of them. Ahsoka shrugged slightly, returning to the topic at hand. "Some of what we talked about is crazy abstract though, like what he calls divination and prophecy, which he says he can't teach."

Ahsoka laughed a little, "He's still rather stunned at how often Jedi seem to look to the Force hoping to see the future. Harry said he has no talent at all for that and very few of his people ever genuinely did."

"On the other hand, something like transfiguration is completely different. The basics make sense... in theory."

Ahsoka was interrupted from continuing by a slight bark from the bird that Aayla had just thus far only seen on the back of a chair and briefly on Harry's shoulder. The bird had been a silent observer and both women had sort of forgotten about her presence.

The bird suddenly hopped off the chair and onto Ahsoka's shoulder, with a fluttering of wings. Ahsoka winced a bit expecting to feel the bird's talons, but the bird seemed to be able to just settle in without gripping the muscle in her shoulder as it settled in.

Ahsoka started slightly and then smiled. "Well hey girl, that's the first time you've been nice to me."

The bird ruffled its feathers haughtily but didn't reply, though let out a contented sound when Ahsoka tentatively began to stroke her chest feathers. "This is Hedwig. She's apparently from Harry's home world, and is a species called an Owl according to him, they sleep in the day, and hunt at night."

"Harry certainly has interesting pets if nothing else," Aayla thought aloud

Hedwig immediately barked in disapproval at Aayla complete with glare. Ahsoka stage whispered, "She prefers 'companion' though Harry calls her a 'familiar'. In my experience, it is best to simply treat her as if she's sentient."

There was a short bark from the owl, and Ahsoka added sheepishly "And Harry said it's safest to just assume she's the smartest one on the ship at any given time."

"Though, if we're talking about pets, I think Hedwig thinks Harry is her pet," Ahsoka said with a little giggle, though her statement was punctuated by an affirmative and approving little bark from the bird.

Aayla tried to fit this avian in with her current knowledge of Harry, and just couldn't see the relation. He seemed to be a highly complicated man, who defied all attempts to describe and categorize him in a simple manner. Aayla frowned at how wide his skill set was from what she'd seen, "Definitely curious to know what kind of work he prefers to do when a mothering droid and a nocturnal avian are his primary companions."

"Don't forget Dobby," Ahsoka added with a grin, still stroking Hedwig's feathers.

"Yeah... I have no idea what to think about Dobby," Aayla admitted.

"All of this does make me wonder what he does with his time though. He doesn't seem to be an active bounty hunter and I haven't seen anything to smuggle," Aayla said.

Ahsoka laughed, "I have no idea what he does. He certainly doesn't spend much time as a bounty hunter. He said he only registered after someone offered him a slot in the guild after he 'accidentally' saved some guy's life in a bar. The bounty hunter used his credentials to blow off the local police afterwards, and that apparently intrigued Harry. He said that was ultimately the only reason he joined was so could avoid local law enforcement too when he wants to."

"He has no need for money. He appears to just go wherever the flow takes him," Ahsoka frowned a little bit as she verbally puzzled out some of his issues. "The only overarching thing is that he's searching for some things. That's why we were on Nar Shaddaa."

Ahsoka elaborated at Aayla's curious look. "He performed a job for someone, and in return, his reward was delivering some package to some slicer. The whole point of it was merely the introduction to the slicer. Harry paid him ten thousand up front, and another twenty thousand when the slicer mentioned the bounty hunters hanging around the ship and elsewhere."

"And then promised 500 thousand creds if he could find some information on a specific person on the list," Ahsoka said with a frown. "Though … he seemed to be completely caught off guard with the idea that the person could be found."

Aayla blinked, that was a lot of credits no matter what he was looking for. "Who is he searching for?"

"No idea. He hasn't really talked about it. Though I haven't asked. He doesn't pry about my history or anything I've done. So I've sorta extended the same courtesy," Ahsoka shrugged a little bit.

"Do you have a name?" Aayla asked curiously.

Ahsoka tilted her head before she sat forward to the ship's computer keyed up a datafile on the ship she had access to see if there was anything easily accessible.

"If he didn't tell you are you sure you should be looking for it?" Aayla asked She still had it in her mind his distaste for her when he thought she was a spy. She definitely didn't want to be accused of spying after making progress.

"He told me he didn't have anything to hide in there. Any important secrets he has are in his head," Ahsoka said with a shrug. Unfortunately it took Ahsoka about thirty seconds of going through the computer to realize that organization was definitely not Harry's strong suit. At least not any sort of organization she could determine.

She found herself reading recipes for bizarre food dishes and drinks. Files on planetary geological surveys and historical sites. There was even a file labeled thesis whose title made Ahsoka blink "An in depth theoretical examination of psychological impacts of long term youth exposure to a reclusive pre-industrial society through an examination of response to high stress situations, with a focus on concern for mortal peril."

"This is about as organized as slime on a hutt's backside," quipped Ahsoka. "Ahsoka!" Aayla said, mortified at the language that was just spouted by the younger woman "You were on Nar Shaddaa for less than a day, when did you start speaking like one of them?"

"Whatever, 'Blue'," said Ahsoka with a laugh. "Stick around Harry enough and you'll find that your vocabulary expands accordingly."

"I do not wish to start swearing like a spice smuggler," replied Aayla.

"True, that wouldn't be the career choice I'd see you emulating," Ahsoka said as if she were agreeing with the thought.

"No, more like a high-priced dancer." Harry's voice came from the doorway.

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