nice to have a new friend to chat with during a boring Senate meeting

"Onderon." She read the word that was etched onto the door panel, first in Basic and then in several other scripts.

"It's the planet I represent," explained Lux.

"Yes, I know." Soniee shook her head. "I mean I knew that but I had forgotten. It's where my mother was from."

"I thought you said you grew up..."

"I was adopted by Clan Ordo, actually. My birth mother was from Onderon." She sighed. "It's all I really know about her. She died in a crash right after I was born."

"Sounds like a play I had to read in school," Lux smirked.

"I was in that play a few weeks ago." She smiled.

"Don't tell me you were..."

She gave him the same deep curtsy that she had performed in her portrayal of the character. "...the Princess of Onderon."

He gave her a shrewd look. "And you're sure it was your mother who died in that crash? You don't think my mother was keeping secrets from me?"

Soniee laughed. "Quite sure."

He grinned as he opened the door to the repulsorpod that was designated to the Onderonian delegation and the grand Galactic Senate Rotunda beyond it.

She hardly had time to be awed by the majesty of the huge round room, walls lined with pods peopled with beings from every corner of the Galaxy, when a bright light shown in hers and Lux's faces.

"And here they are..." It was the Chancellor's voice, amplified to be heard by every being in that grand room.

As Soniee composed herself, she couldn't help but think that she and Lux's late entrance and somewhat guilty smiles we're playing right into someone's hands. Even so, she bowed respectfully toward the holocams that were buzzing around the pod and relaying her image around to the multitude senators and politicians.

"May I introduce Miss Soniee Ordo of the Neutral system of Mandalore." The Chancellor's voice echoed first in basic and was then translated into dozens of other languages for the individual delegations. "You may have seen on our schedule of events for today that Miss Ordo was prepared to give us a presentation on the need for a Republic Military presence to protect her planet from an insurgency that had arisen in the capitol city of Sundari."

There were a few noises of affirmation from the ranks of senators and then the Chancellor continued. "It is my great pleasure to inform you all that the crisis has past and the system of Mandalore shall be allowed to continue in it's neutrality."

There was a smattering of polite applause or whatever else some of these beings did instead of clapping their hands, during which the holocams focused once again on Soniee and she tried to smile triumphantly.

"It is a further pleasure that although Miss Ordo's prepared speech will be unnecessary in today's session we may very well have the opportunity to hear from her in the future as she has agreed to act as the Mandalorian Prime Minister's representative in the Senate."

She nodded and smiled to the cams while Lux whispered with a chuckle in his voice, "You agreed to that, did you?"

"I didn't agree to anything," she growled out of the side of her mouth back at him.

Then thankfully the spotlight shining on her was removed and the holocams floated off to bother someone else.

She plopped down into one of the chairs that were built into the pod's interior.

"You handled that very well, I thought." Lux came to sit beside her.

She watched as a pod detached itself from the wall and a sour looking man with high, sharp cheekbones prepared to speak. "At least I didn't have to say anything." She wondered if the man always looked like that or if he was just angry at being made to wait until after her ridiculous introduction to the Senate.

"I'd say it was a performance worthy of the Princess of Onderon," Lux finished and then burst out laughing.

Soniee rolled her eyes and then she couldn't help but laugh as well. After all the tension it did feel good to laugh with someone her own age.

They attempted to listen to the senate proceedings. It was actually interesting to hear the news that a woman, Letta Turmond, had been apprehended for her involvement in the Temple Bombing and that she was to be removed from the custody of the Jedi and placed in the Republic Military Base prison.

"I'm so glad they caught her." Soniee thought of the Jedi she had met and made friends with.

"I'm glad that they found out it wasn't a Jedi."

Soniee gasped. "Is that what they thought? That it could be a Jedi who bombed their own temple?"

Lux frowned. "Well you spoke to Ashoka. Didn't she say anything about it?"

"I was... being questioned myself. The ship I flew to Coruscant was in the hanger when it..."

"Oh ho! I had no idea I'd been conversing with a suspected criminal."

She swatted him with the back of her hand. "Be serious."

"I'm sorry," said Lux. "I know the bombing is nothing to joke about. It's... terrible."

But Soniee was remembering something else, her ship. How could she get home even if she wanted to?

"How was Ahsoka?" he asked when she hadn't spoken for a few minutes.

"Fine. She was good." She answered. "Well obviously upset about the bombing."

"The temple's her home. Of course, she would be." Lux frowned.

The senators had moved on to some other topic, trade routes or something. Soniee turned to look at her new friend. "You like her, don't you?"

"What? Who? Ahsoka?" He sputtered. "We're friends. We've had some adventures together. That's all."

"But you like her." Soniee grinned.

"Lot of good it'll do since she's on her way to becoming a Jedi Knight," he spat.

"Oh," Soniee quieted and turned to face forward again. "Yes, I forgot."

"Still I..." His grin returned. "I did managed to steal a kiss once."

She laughed. "Good for you."

"So you approve of the Jedi braking their code?"

Soniee thought about that. "Well in some cases I suppose... though, the thing about attachments isn't actually in the code, persay." She could see the wisdom in not allowing one's passions to rule one's head. She glanced down at the center of the rotunda and thought for a moment that the Chancellor caught her eye and that strange yellow glow flared there. Surely that was only a trick of a holocam flash.

Lux was speaking again and she allowed her focus to flit back to him. "So you've done a great deal of research into the loopholes of the Jedi order?"

"Well no." She gave him a smirk of her own. "Though, I am acquainted with someone who would not exist had the rules not been bent several years ago."

"You know the child of a Jedi?" He asked a little too loudly but after looking to their right and left he realized that no one was paying them any attention. He dropped his voice anyway. "Wait. Is that what happened to your parents? Why your mother left Onderon? Was she or your father some kind of Force user?"

The question left her speechless for a moment. She'd never thought of that. "I - I don't know. I don't believe my mother was or she wouldn't have crashed. But my father... I don't know anything at all about him."

He patted her arm that was lying on the arm rest between them. "Some day we'll go back to Onderon together and I'll help you look him up. Well." he backed off embarrassed. "I don't mean... together. Obviously."

"Obviously." she repeated. "Thank you for the offer."