Rubato
AN: Just to warn all of you, I STINK at romance..
Summary: Who said Barriss and Luminara had to get along at first? My try at angst and LumiWan.
Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars and its characters. It's George Lucas's sandbox; I'm just destroying it! :)
Chapter One: Dimentitchi
--
"Barriss!"
"What, Master?" came the exasperated reply.
"You forgot to bring the data pad!"
"What data pad?"
The frustrated face of her Master, Luminara Unduli popped out from behind the speeder's trunk. Master Unduli had long, dark hair hidden underneath a covering. Her blue eyes looked abnormally angry. She looked like she was trying to control her irritation with little success.
"The data pad that you were supposed to get from Master Yoda, who's in an extremely important Senate meeting for the next three days, about our mission, which was supposed to begin half an hour ago!"
She said all this in one breath, staring down at her apprentice, who shifted her feet awkwardly under her gaze. It wasn't her fault, Barriss thought. She's just.. forgotten.
Her Master bent down next to her. "Now, what do we do? We have no mission!"
Barriss shifted her feet again; this was getting embarrassing. "I meant to get it, but…"
Her Master cut off her sentence. "But you forgot."
Barriss nodded uneasily. Her Master let out a long sigh. "I suppose we'll have to postpone the mission for now."
Barriss looked up; panic was suddenly flooding her. "But you can't! This is my first mission!"
"And perhaps your last, if you continue to disobey orders."
Barriss dropped her eyes back to her feet. This was the worst.
"Come one; let's go. I'll explain to Master Yoda when he comes back."
Barriss trudged behind her as she marched back to their quarters. It wasn't fair, she decided. She had only become Master Luminara's apprentice three weeks ago. It wasn't as if she was doing it on purpose.
"Barriss, are you coming?" snapped her Master, waking her from her thoughts. Barriss nodded.
--
Barriss shifted slightly from her pose. She had been assigned to four hours of meditation for her disregard.
She wondered what her Master was doing. She was in the next room, talking to Master Windu. Barriss leaned forward, squinting through the crack in the door. She couldn't see anything. She shifted slightly to the left, narrowing her eyes.
"Barriss?"
Barriss jumped back, looking guilty. "Yes, Master?"
Her Master frowned. "What are you doing?"
"Er.. nothing, Master."
"Trying to peek through a crack in the doorway certainly doesn't seem like nothing."
"I thought I.." Force! What could she say?
"I thought I saw something in there.."
Her Master cocked her head, and Barriss squirmed under her stare. Luminara finally relented, and with a, "Please keep meditating. Do not distract yourself.", she left.
Barriss breathed a sigh of relief. Safe, she thought.
--
Luminara Unduli strode through the corridors, walking along a much familiar path. She was so caught up in her thoughts she didn't notice the person in front of her until it was too late. She bumped into him or her, and landed on the floor, hard. A concerned voice sounded next to her. "Are you alright?"
She nodded. "Yes."
Obi Wan Kenobi stood over her, his normally serene face full troubled. "I guess we both got carried away with our thoughts," she joked as he helped her up. He smiled, and asked, "Where's your Padawan?"
"She's meditating over her actions…"
"So I heard. What did she do?"
While Luminara explained, Obi Wan studied his friend carefully. Barriss was her first apprentice; he hoped it would turn out all right.
When she finished, Obi Wan nodded, slowly. "You did exactly what I would've done. Good job."
She smiled, slightly. "Want to spar?" she asked.
Obi Wan sighed. "Can't. Anakin is in trouble again. He jammed the turbo lift-yet again."
Luminara nodded sympathetically. "Well, I'll catch you some other time."
"How about tomorrow at 3 pm?"
"Okay. See you there!"
As she walked away, Luminara decided that she would see what Barriss was up to. She'd better be meditating.
--
Barriss heard her Master's footsteps drawing near. Quickly, she assumed a meditative stance, and closed her eyes. She'd been staring out the window the past hour or two, and she hoped her Master wouldn't see through her act.
--
Should Luminara see through her Padawan's feint?
That's all for now! R&R please!! I'll try to make it longer next time!