Maldecka walked slowly along the hallway. She was on her way to her mandatory meditation time with Master Sellanni. It was her punishment for breaking into the kitchen after hours. All things considered, Maldecka got off pretty light. Kally was offered a much steeper punishment. In the end she decided to leave the Jedi. Or her parents made her; Maldecka wasn't really sure.

Maldecka pulled her head up and tried to force the image of Kally's angry glare out of her mind. Now was the time to meditate and Master Sellanni was not happy with Maldecka's inability to go deeper than basic meditation.

Walking into the garden Maldecka was surprised to see Knight Zarro waiting for her.

The grey and black stripped Cathar grinned when he spotted her, "Master Sellanni had to meet with the Council. I hope you don't mind me taking her place today, Maldecka."

Maldecka felt a smile tug at her lips, "Not at all Knight Zarro. Though I'll warn you, Master Sellanni is pretty unhappy with my mediations."

Zarro grinned and knelt down for mediation, "I'll be the judge of that Kid. Let's get started."

Maldecka knelt and closed her eyes. She focused on slowing her breathing and reaching out to the Force. It was so much easier to feel the Force in the dojo; but this was mediation, not Combatives.

As Maldecka sat more and more images of the kitchen raid and the last time she saw Kally rose in her mind. Kally blamed Maldecka for getting caught. Kally had to go before the Council and then her parents came. Maldecka had run to say goodbye but Kally had just glared and glared and she was so angry even Maldecka could feel it...

Maldecka slammed back out of meditation, afraid to think about how that broken friendship made her feel.

"Maldecka, open your eyes." Zarro commanded.

Maldecka did and to her surprise found that Zarro was not meditating at all, but instead looking at her with quiet curiously.

"Maldecka, I could feel your emotions, you were projecting quite strongly. Why did you suddenly deny them?"

Maldecka looked down and fiddled with her hands, "Jedi don't feel emotion, they feel peace. I'm a Jedi."

Zarro placed his hand on Maldecka's shoulder, "Do you think I never feel emotion?"

Maldecka frowned, "Well, you're a Jedi so..."

Zarro reached to his side and pulled forward his lightsaber, "Between you and me; I don't buy it. We are emotional begins, having a connection to the Force doesn't spare us that. However, we can control our emotions, prevent them from controlling us. " Then he held his lightsaber between them, so its intricate design was easy to see, "Do you know that all Cathar are part of a Pride? Prides are much like your Zabrak warrior clans."

Maldecka instinctively traced the tattoo markings on her face.

Zarro grinned, "See, these claws on my lightsaber hilt are distinctive to the Pride my parents were in. Because of that heritage I handle many emotions the Cathar way so that I may be a more effective Jedi."

Zarro placed his lightsaber back at his side, "Now, I know you're afraid that feeling emotion makes you less of a Jedi, but what did your Zabrak brothers teach you about fear?"

"To face and conquer it."

Zarro folded his arms across his chest, "And how does that apply to this situation?"

And so Maldecka talked. She brought all her jumbled feelings about Kally leaving out into the light and addressed them. She explained her frustration about meditation. And finally, she admitted that she was scared she would not be good enough to be a Jedi.

Zarro nodded along until Maldecka was done. Then he smiled sadly, "We cannot help but form relationships with those around us. But there is great danger in letting those relationships get too strong. That is why I can count on one paw my friends."

Maldecka gasped, "But that's so few! Surely everyone wants to be your friend."

Zarro grinned, "That's why I pick my friends carefully. If I became friends with the whole galaxy, I wouldn't be a very good Jedi now, would I?"

Maldecka nodded in stunned silence.

Zarro rolled his shoulders casually, "Now, I think you understand why this little conversation should stay between the two of us."

Maldecka beamed at being trusted, "I understand completely, Knight Zarro."

Zarro reached out and ruffled Maldecka's hair, carefully avoiding her head spikes, "There's my fierce little sunbeam. I was wondering where you were hiding! I think I have a solution for your mediation problem; if you're willing to work hard."

If Master Sallanna yelled at Zarro the next day for teaching a five-year-old Kata Mediation, well, he would just reply that Maldecka was probably born with a sword in hand, why try to make her meditate without one?