Obi-wan and Soniee land on Coruscant arrive at the Temple. He has a request to make of her, she sends a comm back home to Mandalore, and what's Barris Offee doing skulking around the hanger?
They survived the drop to sub-light speed and Master Kenobi contacted the Jedi Temple to let the Masters know he was on the way. Then Soniee got her first look at the planet-wide city that was Coruscant.
"There is no chaos..." He reminded her with a hand placed on her shoulder.
She gave a shaky sigh and finished, "There is harmony." But even with the mantra and his help to shield her mind from the onslaught, it was still overwhelming to feel the force signature of a trillion beings living and working and playing on the surface and under the surface below them. She knew it wasn't very 'Jedi' of her but Soniee remembered what Kenobi had said about how she had in the past, before she knew what she was doing, gained a measure of control from focusing on Korkie. That is what she fell back into now.
She felt her cheeks grow warm as she remembered the boy coming up behind her the morning before their attempted rescue of the Duchess. He had put his hands on her waist and said, "You're going to be amazing because you're always amazing." And it did help. She loved him.
Kenobi gave her directions for which skyways to follow but weaving in and out of the flow of traffic was really the easy part.
"It's beautiful." She smiled when the Temple itself finally came into view.
"It is, isn't it? I grew up here. I honestly haven't taken the opportunity to see the majesty of it for some time." He seemed lost in his appreciation for the buildings for a moment. "Well, I suppose I should let them know we're coming." He commed the Temple hanger, gave them a series of codes and then received the instructions for landing.
Soniee guided the fighter into the landing bay. As soon as they had crossed the threshold into the Temple building she felt the change in the atmosphere. She took a deep breath and the worried tension eased from her muscles. She turned to Kenobi with an amazed smile. "It's so calm. I can still sense thousands of beings living and working... but they're so..."
He nodded with a smile of his own. "It's like a sanctuary or an oasis. Yes. For me this is coming home."
As she pulled the fighter aside into a designated parking area, Soniee wondered if she could have ever called this place home. But no. She shook her head and powered down the engines. Mandalore was home. Korkie was home. She turned in her seat again to face the Jedi. "What happens now? You'll tell the council about what's going on? They'll send someone to help us?"
"Actually," he began with a sigh that surely meant he was going to ask her to do something. "I think it would be helpful if you would tell the council what's going on in Sundari."
"Me?" she very nearly squeaked. "But I'm just the pilot. This is your mission. I'm ... I've got to get back."
"Soniee, I was only on Mandalore for a few hours. You've experienced the whole takeover first hand. If the council is going to make a decision they are going to need more information than I have to give them."
She started to protest again but he held up a hand and continued, "You are a student of the Royal Academy of Government and as such have been trained as a diplomat. There is no one better qualified to bring your case before the Council."
"But I haven't prepared anything and - and Korkie was the orator, I just did the research and..." Even as she tried to come up with more excuses her brain was beginning to compile the sequence of events that she would have to describe to the group of Masters that made up the ruling council of the Jedi Order. "I couldn't possibly go before them looking like this." She finished lamely.
Kenobi smiled at her in an encouraging, fatherly sort of way. "I'll find one of the Padawans to lead you to a place where you can get cleaned up and find some clothes for you to borrow. And then I'll go to the council first and make your introductions. Don't worry." He laid a hand on her shoulder. "I'll be with you the whole time."
She nodded.
He looked out the window. "It looks like there may be a Padawan already here to meet us who could help you find everything you need."
Soniee looked out as well. There was a girl there, a little older than herself, with green tinged skin and a sprinkling of black diamonds across her cheeks. "Could I have just a moment to try to send a comm back home? I don't know if it will still be blocked but - I'd like to try to let them know we got here safely."
"Of course." Master Kenobi winked at her and then left the cockpit and descended the ramp to the hanger floor.
She watched him out the window, walk over to the green-skinned girl in the black cape and hood while she tried to think of where exactly she should send the comm and what she should say.
Korkie's personal comm link he had given to his mother. It had been destroyed or taken by the Shadow Collective soldiers. She could send the comm to the Academy. All outside messages were supposed to go through the office and then get patched into the common room units with an instructors permission. But Soniee had gotten around that ages ago. When she was a third year an older student had paid her to hack the unit so she could receive private messages in her own dorm room. Soniee had never tried to splice the lines from this end though. She was sure she could do it and after considering another moment decided to try to send the comm to her own dorm room. Korkie had moved all of his things there and it was more likely that he would get the message himself there than if she sent it to the common room where any of the Night Owls or Bo-Katan or Lagos would get it first.
She typed the codes into the ship's net link. It went through right away but no one was in the room to receive it. She'd have to leave a message and hope he would check it soon.
"Korkie," she began. "You don't know how badly I wish I could be with you right now. Or I don't know maybe you do. I wanted to be with you when you learned about your mother... It breaks my heart. Kenobi too, though he hides it well. He's an incredible man. His humor and his compassion remind me so much of you. He was teaching me how to meditate on the way here." She took a breath. "And that's what I commed to tell you. We've made it safely here to Coruscant. We're going to go before the Council and ask them for help. That's right I said 'we'. He says I have to address them, that I'm better qualified to explain everything that's been going on than he is. I'm nervous. I wish you were here. And..."
Soniee bit her lip closed her eyes and then plunged on. "Y-yes... I want to marry you. We might be young but still we have no idea how much time we have and... I want to spend that time with you. So when I get back, and I hope that will be very soon, we can have some kind of ceremony or just say the words to each other." She laughed. "I don't care. I just want for us to belong to each other."
She took another deep breath. "Well I had better go and get this over with so I can come home to you. Korkie, I - I love you." She ended the comm and blinked away the tears of sadness and joy that had gathered in her lashes.
She was sure she looked ever more a sight now but Master Kenobi had promised her a chance to get cleaned up before she had to go in front of the council. She just wished she had one of those Jedi cloaks to hide under until then. She could always wear her helmet. She picked it up and her display visor that she remembered she had uploaded a lot of the recent news holos to before she left. That might come in useful when she was speaking to the council. Then she worked up her courage and left the ship.
"And here she is," Master Kenobi smiled as his pilot descended the ramp. The green-skinned girl did not smile. "Padawan Barris Offee this is Soniee Ordo."
Soniee bowed her head slightly at the introduction. "It's nice to meet you."
"The pleasure is mine." It didn't sound like it. "You can call me Barris."
Soniee got the distinct impression that Barris had not been there to meet them at all.
"Well then." Kenobi clapped his hands together. "I'll leave you to it. Barris if you could please tend to our guest's needs and then show her up to the Council chambers?"
"Of course Master Obi-wan." She nodded respectfully.
He turned to Soniee. "And I shall see you soon." He smiled. "You'll be just fine."
"Thank you." She watched him go.
"Come along, if you please," Barris instructed her.
Soniee hurried to follow. When she caught up to the other girl's longer stride, she spoke apologetically. "I'm sorry if we interrupted you. I didn't know myself that I was going to have to stay. I'm sure you were doing something important."
Barris stopped and sighed. "No, I wasn't. I should apologize." She smiled, which brightened her whole face. "You're our guest and I'm glad to help."
"You're sure? Because if you were busy I'm sure someone else could..."
"Absolutely sure." Barris interrupted her objection. "You're meeting with the Council?"
Soniee grinned sheepishly. "I'm terrified."
"They can be rather intimidating, but come on. You'll feel better after you've cleaned up and I'll try to fill you in a bit on what to expect."
"Thank you." Soniee still wasn't quite sure what to make of the Padawan but she was glad to have someone near her own age to help prepare her for what was to come.