Summary: Just a random oneshot thing. I guess this will be my attempt at making up for not writing for so long... It is a lumiwan so yeah... thats about it...

Tattoo

Luminara Unduli is Mirialan. And she follows most Mirialan customs. One of these includes tattoos. Luminara has a total of 41. There are thirteen diamond shaped tattoos on her face, running down her chin. Her bottom lip is tattooed. And all of the joints on her hands are decorated with intricate designs. Well, almost all of them. Every one except the bottom knuckle of her right hand's ring finger.

Each tattoo on her body symbolizes an important event, task, or accomplishment. Being a Jedi, Luminara accomplishes many things. So it is not surprising that she has so many tattoos.

The date is one year after the dispute on Ansion. Luminara is setting on one of the benches in the Room of a Thousand Fountains in the Jedi Temple. She comes here to think, to clear her head.

Her padawan, Barriss Offee is, is on an emergency mission to Felucia where her healing abilities are needed. Luminara was asked to stay back at the temple, because she is not a healer.

She sighs as a slight breeze causes ripples in the lake. Without her padawan there to train, Luminara has nothing to do. A leaf from the tree behind her catches in the wind and floats down to the lake to settle on its surface, causing the water to stir.

At that moment Luminara decides to try meditating. She stands from the bench and sits down on the grass, close to the water's edge and assumes a meditative pose. Exhaling slowly, she relaxes and closes her eyes. The Force swirls around her as she settles into a meditative trance.

She looks through the force and something catches her attention. There is another force signature nearby. It is warm, and welcoming. She opens her eyes and spots the person whose force signature she had detected.

It is a friend of hers, another Jedi Master, Obi-wan Kenobi. He had been on the mission to Ansion with her and their padawans. Luminara smiles at him as he comes closer. Company is welcome.

He sits down next to her and smiles as well.

"What brings you here on this fine night, Master Kenobi?" She asks.

He shrugs. "I was walking and saw you. You looked like you might need some company."

Luminara studies her friend. The war was taking its toll on everybody. She notices how he wears armor over his arms and shoulders. She herself wears armor on her forearms. Before the war, nobody wore armor.

Continuing her exploration she notices how the armor has chinks in places and the blaster burns on it. This man has seen many battles, Luminara notes.

"Thank you for your concern. I was growing slightly lonely." She admits.

"I guess it's a good thing I came." He says.

Luminara observes how he answers her questions in a casual manner.

"It is." She nods.

"Good."

He jumps slightly and brings his hand around in front of his face. Luminara sees that there is a drop of blood on his palm. Looking down she spots a small thorn in the place where his hand previously resided.

"Ow," He wipes the blood from his hand and picks up the thorn to study it. Satisfied, he tosses it into the lake. Luminara watches the thorn land with a small splash in the water.

Obi-wan looks back at his hand which now has a red smear on it that is slowly growing. In the small wound there is an object. It is the tip of the thorn. He uses his other hand to try and remove the thorn's tip, but only succeeds only in pushing it further into the wound.

"Here, let me help you." Luminara takes his hand in hers and uses the Force to remove the thorn's tip and to stop the injury from continuing to bleed. She studies her work and looks up at Obi-wan.

He studies the place where the thorn was and smiles as the wound slowly starts to heal.

"I thought you weren't a healer?" He asks.

"I cannot heal major injuries, only small ones. I thought you knew that Master Kenobi." Luminara says.

"You may call me Obi-wan if you please." He says.

Luminara tries to read his expression. "Okay, Obi-wan."

Obi-wan studies his friend. She has been through many battles, he can tell. She smiles, a thing rarely seen anymore from her. He takes advantage of this and smiles back. She starts to laugh quietly. An action even rarer than the smile. She is happy. A feeling he thought she had lost when the war began. He puts his hand back on the ground, first making sure there are no thorns.

Luminara stops laughing and looks into Obi-wan's eyes. He is happy too. She is glad of this. It is rare to be able to interact so freely. She lets her hands fall to her sides, but pulls one back as it had hit another hand that was not hers.

Obi-wan feels something brush his hand and looks down and sees Luminara pulling her own hand back toward her. He catches it as she pulls it toward her. He is studying the strange designs on her fingers. He notices that there are tattoos on her finger's joints except for one. The base of her ring finger is blank.

"Why is there nothing here?" He asks curiously.

Luminara looks at the blank spot on her hand. "I have not completed the task associated with that tattoo yet." She says.

He frowns. "What task is that?"

Luminara can feel her face heating up with the passing seconds. "It is not so much a task as an achievement. On my home world that tattoo is called corintia."

He looks back at his friend's face. "Does every tattoo have a name?"

She shakes her head. "No, only the important ones."

He still can't figure out his friend's riddle. "So corintia is an important one?"

She nods slowly. "Yes, for some it is the most important."

"What does corintia mean?" Obi-wan looks back at her hand.

Luminara considers her words carefully. "Corintia is not translated directly into basic, but the simple meaning of the word is to give one's heart to."

"So it is associated with love?" He says quietly.

"Yes." Luminara says.

Obi-wan looks back up at her. "And you have not yet gotten that tattoo." He says softly.

"No, I have not."

"Do you plan to?"

She shrugs. "I depends on if I fall in love… but of course, that won't happen. I am a Jedi. Jedi are not aloud to love…"

Obi-wan thinks he hears a hint of pain her words. Her face is blank, as if she's trying to mask her true feelings. It seems as though she wants to know corintia but is troubled because of the code. He wants to help her but is afraid his speculation is incorrect.

Luminara doesn't want to talk about the topic of love. She knows it is forbidden, and that the code is always right. Or is it?

She finds herself thinking this over and over. The code states that there is no emotion, and no passion. But is it truly possible to live without emotion? One would go mad trying not to feel anything. She had seen people like this; people who had endured and survived horrendous crimes. People who would rather have died with feeling than live without it. People who simply didn't care.

If the Jedi were really emotionless, what would the galaxy be like? One could go without emotion for hours, days, even years if they were truly determined. But eventually, they'd crack. It was all a waiting game.

And passion. That was a strong emotion. One that was dangerous to fool with. When under the right circumstances, it is one of the best feelings you could ever encounter. But everything had a catch. Especially in these times of war. Yes, with passion almost always came guilt. Be it one thing or the next, unless you knew exactly what you were doing, guilt would find you.

Luminara's mind is awash with different emotions and thoughts. She hardly acknowledges her colleague's hand moving toward his pocket. He pulls out a pen. Slowly gaining awareness of his actions, she watches him as he uncaps it and starts to move it across her skin. The dark blue ink stands prominent against her olive complexion.

When he is finished Obi-wan caps the pen and returns it to his pocket. While he does this Luminara studies his work. She doesn't know what to think. She stares at the simple markings on her hand in awe. The design is simple. Just two lines at the base of her ring finger. But the meaning is not in the artwork itself, but in the reasoning behind it. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. But that is not enough to describe what is going through either person's mind.

The ink fades after a few days and is gone completely within a week. But Luminara never forgets her most important tattoo. The one on her heart.

Corintia.