If obitine gets Moulin Rouge then I think the green girl should get a Wicked reference...

I've heard it said
That people come into our lives for a reason
Bringing something we must learn
And we are led
To those who help us most to grow
If we let them
And we help them in return
Well, I don't know if I believe that's true
But I know I'm who I am today
Because I knew you...
Like a comet pulled from orbit
As it passes a sun
Like a stream that meets a boulder
Halfway through the wood
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
But because I knew you
I have been changed for good

"There now. Does that feel better?" Barris asked her almost half an hour later when Soniee exited the 'fresher with hair wet from her shower and wearing borrowed leggings and tunic.

"Yes, quite." She sighed. "I must look a bit more like I belong here." The outfit was the color and style worn by many of the padawans and and knights. "And I've been thinking about what I need to tell the council. Can I borrow a datapad to get down some notes?" Soniee's hands went to her wet hair and she started to twist it up into a knot at the back of her head.

Barris stopped her. "Here." She handed Soniee a datapad. "You sit and I'll do your hair."

"Thank you," Soniee smiled and sat. She took the pad and started typing right away. Then she stopped again and mused, "You know when I was a kid I was always worried that the Jedi would come and take me away from my clan to raise me here at the temple."

"Why would you..." the padawan began but then it dawned on her. "You're force sensitive."

Soniee nodded. "Family and raising children the Mandalorian way is very important to my people. They would never send a child away to be 'brainwashed by that cult'." She frowned. "I'm sorry. I suppose that's terribly offensive."

"No, not really." Barris assured her. "I'm sure a lot of people feel that way."

"I wouldn't mind so much now, I think, since I met Ahsoka and Master Kenobi and you. Master Kenobi was teaching me a bit about meditation on the way here. It did help me feel more focused. I can definitely see the benefit of being taught what to do with ones powers."

Barris dangled the section of hair she was braiding down between Soniee's eyes and said sarcastically, "Why don't I just chop this short then? I can leave you a padawan braid and when you speak to the Masters you can convince one of them to train you."

They both laughed. "I'm probably a little to old to be just starting out."

"Oh, Master Obi-wan might train you. He's always been rather unconventional and he hasn't taken on a new padawan since General Skywalker was knighted."

Soniee giggled. "From what I hear he still has his hands full with General Skywalker."

Barris laughed too.

"Besides. I," Soniee blushed. "I have another reason why a can't ever be officially a Jedi."

"Do tell." Barris tilted Soniee's head gently as she began to pin the braids in place. "But hold still."

"Well there's a boy," She did try to hold still but she thought she might have been trembling because Barris was the first person she'd told. "or a young man rather, back on Mandalore who asked me to marry him. Ow." There was a brief stab of discomfort when one of Barris's hair pins poked her scalp.

"Oh, I'm sorry. What did you say to him?"

"It's alright." Soniee smiled. "Just before I met you, I sent him a comm from the ship. I said, 'yes.'"

"That's very exciting," the green-skinned girl said in her same mild tone. "I'm sure he was thrilled with your answer."

"I wish I knew." Soniee shrugged and Barris put a hand on her shoulder to keep her still. "I had to leave a message. More than anything now I want to go back to the ship and see if he's sent me a comm back."

"Back to your ship?" Barris stepped back. There was a different note in her voice now. Soniee sensed something. Was it worry? "Your ship in the hanger?"

"Well yes." Soniee turned to look at the other girl curiously.

"It's just." Barris calmed almost instantly and turned Soniee back around to finish her work. "The hanger is such a long way for you to walk. You'd be welcome to use my commlink right here."

"Thank you. Thank you for everything." Soniee sighed and then held up the datapad so she could see it and continue to keep her head still for her friend's work. "I should probably get this finished first."

"Whatever you need." The smile returned to Barris's voice. "Just be still until I say and then you'll look beautiful for your holo."

She had almost thought she could go through with it. The girl had the perfect motive. The council had failed to protect her Duchess and she'd come here in a Deathwatch fighter of all things, a Deathwatch fighter that was now sitting in the hanger that was already scheduled to be destroyed.

Barris had already passed the nano droids to Letta. She'd shown the woman how to feed them to her husband. She knew the man worked in the hanger. The only thing she didn't know was when it would happen. Soon.

And now she'd practically been handed the chance to make an even bigger statement. This girl, this pilot of the Deathwatch fighter was going before the council. They would all be there, well most of them. How easy it would be to feed the girl a few more of the nano droids, send her into the very council chamber as a second incendiary. No one would question a Mandalorian seeking vengeance for the council's failure.

But then, she couldn't do it. This girl who had grown up force-sensitive without the tampering of the Jedi Order, this beautiful girl who had only just accepted the proposal of her true love; she deserved to live. There had been, there would be enough blood on Barris's hands. She would save this one girl. Now she just had to keep her from going back to the hanger and not let her suspect...

The comm came from Master Kenobi before Soniee had a chance to comm Korkie again. She had just finished going through her notes and checked her display visor to make sure she had the vids she wanted to share with the council members. "They'll have something I can plug this into in the council chamber won't they?" she asked Barris holding up the visor.

"They should." She frowned. "They do their battle planning in there some of the time."

Soniee studied the older girl. "You don't like that the Jedi have become generals in the war."

"No. No, I don't."

"I don't like it either." Soniee nodded. "I grew up hearing the New Mandalorian teachings on pacifism. It doesn't seem right for the peacekeepers to have to fight. But," that was exactly what she was going to ask them to do. "I still hope they'll help my people."

Barris smiled a little sadly. "Well if the presentation you've prepared is as good as I think it is you should have very little trouble with that. Come on. They're waiting for you."

They walked silently from the padawan's dormitories all the way up to the top of the northwestern tower. It was only when they were standing before the door of the council chamber that Barris spoke. She gently took hold of the younger girl's shoulders. "You're going to be just fine. Just... when you're done here don't... go to your ship and fly off right away."

Soniee frowned, "You don't want me too..." But she wasn't allowed to finish.

Just then Barris leaned toward her and kissed her cheek. Soniee was speechless as the other girl turned and hurried away. She was sure the Barris understood that she was going to be married. Or maybe she was misinterpreting and this was just some sort of good luck gesture in her culture. Her words, though, had sounded more like a warning but a warning of what?

She didn't have time to dwell on the strange goodbye. The panel next to the door chimed and a solemn voice called to her. "Miss Ordo, please enter."