Chapter 9

AN: While it is taken me a long time to finish this story, it is done. I hope everyone enjoys it!

While Obi-Wan was talking to Qui-Gon, Siri was looking up at Adi, wondering what her Master was thinking. She never seemed to know, since Adi seemed to always be in control of her emotions. It made her mysterious, even to her own Padawan.

"You danced well," Adi finally spoke.

"Thank you, Master," Siri gave a bow of her head.

"You broke a number of rules though," Adi replied and the blonde haired girl's eyes went to the floor. This could mean any number of things. In fact, now that she was being confronted, Siri realized Adi could decide to no longer have her as her Padawan. That would mean that she could be sent to Agricorps. The thought made her heart skip a beat and she felt sick. She didn't know how she could handle such a punishment.

"What did you learn?"

Siri looked up at her Master when this was said. What had she learned? Was this a test? "What?" Siri asked. This had not been what she was expecting.

"You surely must have learned something from this. Something that might influence your training?" she suggested.

Siri looked at her, and then realization came to her. She couldn't help but feel a small amount of relief. Her Master was giving her a chance to use this as a learning experience. That meant that Adi, while not pleased, would not do anything as drastic as sending Siri to Agricorps.

"Well, yes, Master. I have learned a lot."

Adi nodded. "Go on," she instructed, voice taking on a kinder tone.

"When I first started, it seemed like it was just movement to music," Siri started to explain. She wondered if she would be able to put into words all that she felt. "It is different now though. I watched these girls dance, and I realized that their training is a lot like the training that Jedi do."

"Oh?" Adi raised one eyebrow slightly. That was most surprised look that Adi ever had, and for a moment Siri wondered if she had ever truly been surprised in her life.

"Well, their movements have to be precise. They have to move at the same time and have to hold themselves correctly. Their teacher stresses that their moves have to be correct and will tell them if they are even a centimeter off. In lightsaber training, we learn that such a small calculation could determine whether we win or lose."

Adi nodded, and Siri continued.

"They also have to be able to trust each other, like Jedi do when they work together. The men have to be able to toss and catch the girls, and the girls have to be able to trust them to do that. They also have to trust that each of them know their dance steps. Everything they do involves trusting each other. Jedi have to trust each other as well. If we didn't…well, we just have to. We need to know that in battle we can rely on each other and know how they move so we can work with them. We also help each other to be the best Jedi possible. Kalani and the girls helped me be the best dancer by working extra hard with me."

Siri let out a deep breath, done with her explanation. It all seemed to have rushed out and now she felt slightly deflated by it all. It was more than just the lessons she had learned that made it such an amazing experience. It was each small thrill of doing a complicated move correctly. Hearing the applause and knowing she had been a part of something that was enjoyed by so many. She also had forged friendships with these girls. She was not a person to give friendship easily, but Kalani had proved to be worthy of such a thing and in time, the other girls would have as well.

"So it seems your weeks of sneaking out have taught you a number of lessons." At Siri's surprised look, she continued. "I have known about you sneaking out since the beginning. Did you honestly think I would not notice?" she asked Siri who hung her head again.

"I was hoping you wouldn't," she admitted. She felt like a youngling who had done something wrong.

"But I did. However, I let you go."

"Why?" Siri asked. "If I was not supposed to do this, why did you let me?"

"Sometimes we learn best from experience."

That did sound like something her Master would do. Let her find out things on her own. Siri gave a nod in response. It made sense.

"You know that you can no longer continue with this. Not if you wish to remain a Jedi." Some Jedi left, but Siri could not imagine being anything else but a Jedi. However, there was one thing that bothered her.

"Master, there are still two more performances. I can't just stop coming. That would mess up the performance." The other girls were very good, but it would be impossible for them to learn all the steps of the dance done with Kalani.

Adi held up a hand to silence her. "You will be allowed to continue dancing for those performances, I would not want to be the one to hurt such a wonderful performance. However, after that, you will not be allowed to continue dancing."

Siri nodded. She had been expecting that. She was grateful that was allowed to continue by dancing in the rest of the performances.

"You also should be sure to thank Kalani's parents for being your sponsors," Adi added. "They were the ones that gave the tickets to me." Siri didn't show surprise at this. That explained a lot.

"I will," Siri assured her. There was not anything else to say after that. They had both come to an understanding. Siri knew that she would miss dancing once it was over, but was thankful that her Master would let her see this through to the end.

As they walked back to the Temple, Siri slowed her pace a little, hanging behind Adi. Seeing this, Qui-Gon moved up so he and Adi were walking side by side, and they started to talk quietly. This left Siri and Obi-Wan to walk with each other. They were silent for a few minutes until Obi-Wan spoke.

"You did really well," he complimented her and while it could have been a trick of the dim lighting, he could have sworn she blushed.

"Well, thanks," she offered him a smile, and Obi-Wan gave one in return. He was a bit surprised, yet pleased to see that the smile was not her usual sarcastic smirk. This time it reached her eyes and made all of her features look soft. Very much unlike the hard, determined look she always seemed to wear.

"You never struck me as a ballerina before," Obi-Wan remarked and noticed that she frowned a little at this.

"Are you going to make some joke?" she asked, putting one hand on her hip.

"No," he answered. "I was just making a comment."

"Good, because it looks easy, but it isn't," she told him. All those workouts had been strenuous but to the audience, it all looked quite easy. Siri would never again assume that just because something looked easy, that it was.

"I can believe it. But I really did like it. Especially that last one you did."

"I'm glad you liked it," she replied, secretly pleased with herself. She had worked hard on that piece and it clearly had paid off.

"I did, I just had a few questions…"

For probably the first time ever, Siri and Obi-Wan were having a conversation that was not laced with teasing, taunting or sarcasm. They were talking with one another as friends often would, with a certain degree of openness that had not previously been there. This lasted their entire long walk back to the Temple.

The rest of the shows went very well. The reviews from opening night drew in many beings, so that Corps was playing to a full house every night. The final performance was a matinee and for the first time in five years, it was full as well. Siri had to admit that she enjoyed performing, and knew she would miss it. However, her duty was the Republic and her loyalty was to the Jedi Order.

The final performance went by without any major flaws, but after the final curtain call, everyone seemed to have tears in their eyes. Once the curtain fell into place again, Kalani threw her arms around Siri, hugging her. "I am going to miss you."

Siri allowed herself to hug her in return. "Coruscant is not too big. We will probably see each other again. The Jedi are often called the Senate building," she pointed out.

Kalani nodded. Siri was always strong, and the other girl vowed to be more like her. While she knew she would never be like a Jedi, she wanted to take a self defense course to learn how to protect herself, since she was uncertain if someone like Siri would be around the next time trouble arose.

Everyone started to go off stage and to the dressing rooms to change into their normal clothes, the performances now over. In just a few hours, all that would be left would be the memories.

With a small smile, Siri followed Kalani back to the dressing room where the others girls were hanging up their costumes to be collected later. The air was full of conversations, people complimenting others and people saying goodbye.

"Oh, Siri…" Kalani touched the other girl's arm and pulled out a small box. "This is from me. I wanted to say thank you, for being a friend and for helping us. We could not have done this without you."

Siri took the box, truly touched. She did not often receive gifts. The only one was the warming stone her Master had given her when she turned thirteen. She kept the close to her, but that was the only gift she could think of.

Slowly, Siri undid the ribbon around the wrapped box, then carefully pulled away at the wrapping paper, enjoying this moment.

"You are allowed to rip it," Kalani smiled and Siri ripped just a corner of the paper, returning the smile.

With slightly shaking fingers from excitement, she lifted the lid and was still for a moment as she looked in the box, but a smile appeared. "Kalani, you shouldn't have."

Inside, on soft cloth sat a simple silver chain. Hanging from the necklace was a charm of toe shoes, also a beautiful silver color. Looking closer she saw that on one of the ribbons in fancy script was 'Siri" and one another ribbon, in the same manner, was "Tachi."

"Do you like it?" Kalani asked, already pleased with Siri's reaction.

"I do, but it is too much," she insisted. She had not done anything to warrant such a gift.

Kalani shook her head as she took the necklace from the box and went behind Siri. "You need something to remember all of this by," she told her as fastened the chain around Siri's neck. Both girls looked in at the mirror and smiled. The charm rested slightly below Siri's collarbone and Siri touched it gently. It really was beautiful. Siri never really liked jewelry, but this one had meaning behind it and that made her like it.

In the mirror the two girls' eyes met and they both hugged each other. "I will miss you," Kalani whispered as she hugged Siri tightly. Siri returned it with less intensity. She had been hugged more times in the past week than she probably had been her entire life. However, she would miss her friend.

When they pulled away, Kalani had tears in her eyes. "You will come back to visit, right?" she asked, hopeful.

Siri nodded. "I will." She had enjoyed herself and while she would miss dancing and being with other girls her age, she would not cry. That was not in her nature.

Kalani nodded at this and wiped her eyes. "Then I will see you soon."

"Yes," Siri gave a nod. The girls looked at each other for a moment before Kalani's parents came up and hugged her, telling her how great she was and how proud they were.

Siri felt a familiar pain when she saw this and slid out of the dressing room, dance bag over her shoulder. It was not that she was not happy that people like Kalani had families. The Jedi were like her family. She knew Adi cared for her, but unlike most other Masters, she rarely showed this nor said it. She did not ask her Master for that recognition though and Siri felt stronger and more independent because of it.

Instead of going out of the main doors or the back door, Siri went back to the stage. Since everything would be cleaned up the next day, the set was still where it had been left. However, it looked very different. There was one lone light on, casting enough light for Siri to see the edge of the stage. Over that there was the orchestra pit and beyond that, she knew there would be many plush, empty seats.

She paused. No, not entirely empty. While she was the only one on the stage, there was someone else still in the auditorium.

"Do you often lurk in the dark, Kenobi?" she asked casually.

"It seems to be the only way to get to you," he answered as he climbed up the stairs that were hard to see, unless a person knew where to look. It let over the orchestra pit and to the stage.

Closer, Siri could see Obi-Wan now. He was dressed in a clean blue tunic as well as nice pants and polished boots. His hair had apparently been combed as well. It was strange to see him out of his usual Jedi tunics. He looked good, handsome in fact. Not that Siri would ever tell him that.

"Well, you found me," she shrugged, shifting the strap of the bag so it rested more comfortably on her shoulder. She took in his appearance a bit more as he came up to her. "Did you see the show again?"

Obi-Wan nodded. "I enjoyed it. If you don't make it as a Jedi, you could do this," he smiled and was rewarded by Siri giving one as well, though there was a hint of the usual sarcasm in her eyes.

"You just don't like me beating you in training," she remarked.

Instead of arguing about it, Obi-Wan revealed a single yellow rose that had been hidden in his hand, the faint light not reaching it. "This is for you."

Siri took it, a bit surprised by his thoughtfulness. Many of the other dancers had received flowers from friends and families, but she had never thought that she would receive one.

"I heard that yellow roses stand for friendship, and I thought it looked nice, so…" Obi-Wan shrugged, when he realized he could not see her reaction. She was just looking at the rose she held in her hand.

"Thank you," Siri spoke sincerely as she looked up from him after a moment of silence. She considered Obi-Wan a friend and was fairly certain Obi-Wan had considered her one as well, but neither of them had ever said it before. Siri had never felt the need to say it before.

Obi-Wan gave her a smile. "Want me to take your bag?"

"I'm not a helpless damsel in distress," Siri countered and patted her bag with one hand, not about to hand it to him.

"It is a far walk," he remarked.

"I danced a bit, I didn't break my legs," she answered. She took one last look around the theater. It had been like a whole other world for her, one that she had been able to explore and become a part of for a short time. One hand went to touch the necklace she now wore. She would always carry this experience with her, but her destiny was that of a Jedi.

"Siri, are you ready?" Obi-Wan asked from where he was holding a door that would lead them to the backstage hallways and then out another door to the streets of Coruscant.

Siri nodded went to the door, before she turned and looked at the stage one last time. A place with so much life, lights and music was now empty, silent with one lone bulb casting a small circle of light into the seemingly endless dark.

With a faint smile at the memories, Siri turned and followed Obi-Wan back onto the bright, busy streets of Coruscant.