A few months into Eleventh Form the issues between the Mantellian people and the government began to heat up again in a nearby region. A number of parents decided to move their children to Solasta's school, and the resulting influx of students were primarily in the junior grades, however there were a number senior's that also moved over.

When she arrived for Mathematics one morning there were three new students in class, one of them being a tall male Cathar, which immediately caught her eye. She studied him quickly as she walked to her desk while he stood talking to some of the other students. He stood a good half-head taller than herself, had short jet-black fur with grey stripes, and the bluest eyes she'd ever seen.

As she got near he smiled and said in a deep velvety bass voice "Ztrav" [Hello]. Solasta just smiled at him and sat down.

"Kar ta ri?" [How are you?] He asked her, and she gave a little nod and smiled again.

"Vy ri'gav Rusari?" [Do you speak Catharese?] He slowly asked. Solasta just crinkled her nose and smiled again, so he repeated the question again in Basic, "Do you speak Catharese?"

"No, sorry I don't - I mean I've learned a few words, mostly names of things and some cuss words, but that's all."

Tasa asked, "Didn't your parents teach you to speak it?"

"No, my parents don't speak it either." answered Solasta.

Tasa looked puzzled at this, but the teacher came into the classroom so everyone took their seats and the lesson began with an introduction to the new additions; Tasa Kosit (her new friend), Meira Rotuba (a Mirialan girl), and Ernav Hrddan (a Weequay boy), then launched into the lesson.

At lunch Tasa found Solasta in the cafeteria, sitting alone and studying her data pad as she usually was, so he sat down across from her with his tray and waited for her to finish reading. When she put down the data pad, Tasa asked "How is it your parents don't speak Catharese either?" She paused for a moment and recalled their conversation from earlier before replying, "Because they're not Cathar".

Tasa's confusion showed plainly and she laughed before explaining that she had been adopted as a kit and raised by her mother, a Zabrak, and her father, a Human. They continued to talk about their lives and growing up all through lunch, and where Solasta was usually shy around people she just met, there was a something about him that made her feel oddly comfortable talking to him.

She told him about her father being retired from the Navy, her mother the musician, and the quiet little retirement village where they lived. Tasa told her about how tense things are between people in his region and the Separatists, and how his parents decided it would be better for him to come to her school for a while. His parents ran a droid repair business, and he had two little brothers from his mother's second litter but he was the only one from her first.

They continued talking until the bell sounded warning the students to get to their afternoon classes. Solasta stood and said she needed to change for gym before she was late, and Tasa said he had gym as well and would see her in class.

In gym class the teacher split them evenly for a game of Kickball on the field outside. When both teams had assembled on the field they began playing, and students changed shifts regularly to rotate tired players to the sideline and ensure everyone participated. As the game progressed the line rotation had Tasa come onto the field where he took a spot on defense while Solasta was already playing a forward position on the opposite team. As she ran downfield to receive a pass she noticed Tasa and thought herself too quick and agile for him to defend against, as many others in the class were unable to, and expected this to be an easy goal. She was wrong. Tasa didn't need to be fast, it turned out he just need to be standing there.

Becoming excited at the thought of showing off for her new friend, Solasta misjudged her speed and distance when she looked over her shoulder to receive the pass, but when she turned to look forward again she ran head first into Tasa and bounced backwards falling on her ass [Catharese: Rit]. Tasa laughed and took the ball, running it back up field. She sat there stunned for a few seconds then rolled onto her side to look backwards and watch him score on her team before breaking into laughter herself.

As the weeks went by they spent their lunch hours together talking, and Solasta learned that there was so much more about the Cathar culture than she could have imagined. The school didn't have many Cathars for her own age to interact with and the and village where she lived was mostly populated with retired folk, of which few were Cathar, and she didn't have any ambition to spend time with them. She also learned that Tasa wasn't strong in Mathematics and was at risk of failing the course if his grades didn't improve, so she struck a bargain with him.

"If you'll teach me more about Cathar traditions and how to speak Catharese, I'll tutor you in Math. What do you say?" she asked.

Tasa smiled and said, "Duh, of course."

They agreed to study math during lunch since the morning's lesson would still be fresh their heads, and after school Solasta would come to his home to fully experience being Cathar with his family. In return, Tasa would explain the customs and traditions in Basic but general conversation would start slowly with Catharese words or phrases until they could build up to speaking only Catharese to each other.

At first Tasa's parents were a little skeptical of the arrangement, but welcomed Solasta when they could see her interest was genuine and how much she adored Tasa's little brothers, Atan and Cudu.

"Do you have any brothers or sisters?" asked Tasa's mother as she watched Solasta play with the boys.

Distracted with tickling Atan while pretending not see Cudu sneak up on her she absently replied "Yes... Well, no actually I don't Ma'am."

This response made Tasa curious but he decided to wait until later to ask her about it, so when Tasa's mother gathered up the boys for a wash in the tub they had a chance to speak alone.

"Why were you confused when my mother asked if you had any brothers or sisters?" Tasa asked.

"It's a long story, I'll explain it another time. Start teaching me some more Catharese words!" she replied, hoping to prolong having to talk about it.

In the months that followed, Tasa took his part of the bargain very seriously and spent many hours preparing himself to teach Solasta about the Cathar Circle of Deities, Rituals of Birth, Coming of Age, Soul-Binding, and Death, as well as other important events in a Cathar's life that were celebrated. He quickly realized that despite growing up Cathar and participating in many of the rituals himself, he didn't really have what we would consider any depth on the topics, so it was just as much a learning experience for him as well.

Solasta's Catharese had come along quickly since she had the vocal cords to make the right sounds and pronunciations, and could now carry on a simple conversation roughly at the same level as Tasa's little brothers. Tasa's progress in math was now a respectable 'pass'.

Aisii and Sandoval were happy to see she had found someone her own age to spend time with, instead of always sitting in her room studying. She was helping Tasa with his math and in return he and his family were helping Solasta in a way they never could. They both liked Tasa and he was always made welcome when they studied at their home. He was polite and respectful to both of them with the right amount of "Yes Sir, No Sir" and "That was delicious Ma'am, may I have another helping?" without being insincere. He shared that he had planned to apply to the University on Coruscant for Astrometrics when they graduated, but it wouldn't be possible without Solasta's tutoring.

As they began spending most of their time together studying or just hang out after school, neither of them saw the closeness that grew between them, which was obvious to everyone who saw them.

As final examinations approached, they were studying at Solasta's after classes on a regular basis since Tasa was worried about her safety with the ongoing issues with the Separatists in his region.

During one of their study sessions, Solasta was reviewing a regression formula they had learned much earlier in the year to refresh Tasa's memory, and as she spoke he became entranced at the sound of her voice, the sight of her eyes moving over the data pad screen, and the expressions in her face as she worked thought the formula for him. He wasn't sure why he hadn't noticed the vibrancy of the orange markings or symmetry in the stripes on her face before. He became completely lost in his thoughts, and didn't notice she was talking to him until she put her hand on his and asked a third time "Ta Ri Vysa? [Are you okay?]

He blinked, looked her in the eyes, and could only say "Ri Ta Videti" [You are beautiful].

Solasta was instantly confused, but Tasa reached out and ran his hand along her cheek as a sign of affection that caused her to close her eyes and press herself into his palm as a wave of electricity washed over her, and they leaned in to kiss each other.