“Anyone seen Vestara?” Luke asked.
Jaina shook her head. “No.”
Ben appeared, ruffled but unharmed.
“I was almost worried about you, Ben,” Luke said, sliding his look toward him.
“I already complained about your trust in me, didn't I?” Ben asked.
“Yeah, I think you had already complained about every mistake I did as a father.”
Jaina didn't join this conversation; she heard enough of these 'father-and-son quarrels' that she knew they were most funny when let free.
Luke, however, didn't want to continue it. “Had you seen Vestara? You said you've glimpsed her sneaking out.”
Ben nodded. “Yeah. I tried to track her.”
Luke examined him. “Well, you look quite untuned. What had she done to you? Kissed you?”
Ben's eyes widened. “What?”
Jaina grinned.
Luke caught her eye and cocked a brow. Then he turned his attention back to his son. “Calm down, Ben. I was just mocking…” he spotted a flush on his face. “Oh, she did kiss you?”
Ben looked embarrassed. “Well, it wasn't my fault.”
Jaina let out a short laughter, then quieted it into very Barabel-like siss.
Luke looked puzzled. “Wasn't your fault? How exactly it wasn't your fault?”
Ben shrugged, a guilty expression on his face. “Well, I didn't ask her to do it. And didn't provoke her to do it.”
Another amused sound sounded from Jaina's side. When another sissing followed it, Luke realized they didn't cut the communication with Saba.
“Hello, master Sebatyne,” Ben said, hoping that he will manage to change the way their conversation went.
“Hello, young one,” Saba replied.
“How's Tesar?”
A silent, upset siss. “He'z okay, Jedi Skywalker. But there'z no time for chitchatz. The Sith girl escaped, right?”
Ben shrugged. “Well, she did. I met her in front of the dock bay.”
“And she knocked you down, if I understand it?” Jaina said.
“Well, she caught me by surprise…”
Jaina's brow rose. “So she kissed you and you were so shocked you let her escape?”
“No!” Ben defended himself. “I fought her and well, I forgot the Sith play hard. She shoved me into wall and ran for it before I recovered.”
Luke gave him a narrow-eyed, suspicious look. He pretty much doubted that Ben – especially Ben, with his experiences with Sith – would forget that fights with them are rarely fair.
“If the Sith ezcaped, what doez it mean to uz, Master Skywalker?” Saba asked.
Luke shook his head. “That a girl with lots of handy information is heading to our enemies.”
“At least she isn't allied with Abeloth,” Ben said, trying to cast some light on the situation.