The Padawan and the Rebel

The Padawan: Identity

When Adhara thought of Mirialans, she thought of her father.

In her youth, Adhara didn't know many other Mirialans, but she'd been certain he had the most tattoos out of any that ever existed. They swept under his eyes and down his cheeks, cascading over his chin and up to his ears. They brought out the purple in his eyes, the startling green of his skin.

"This one is for slaying a desert monster on Mirial," he'd say, pointing to a diamond tattoo on his forehead. "This one, for saving a Jedi."

"What about this one?" Adhara had asked, tracing a small finger across the tattoo on his chin, arranged in way that looked like a phrase. Like it meant something.

Her father's face softened. He caught her little hand, her white skin stark against his, deep green like pine needles.

"It symbolizes love. It's for your mother, the best decision I ever made. For Aitor. Arus. Anali. And you." He lightly tapped on Adhara's nose, and she laughed.

As she grew older and reflected back on her short time with her family, Adhara began to understand things she never had before. That her father had to leave Mirial for her mother, because his traditional family didn't believe in mixed species couples. It was the same reason why they lived in isolation in Eshan, and why they had ended up dead.

But still, she knew, her father never regretted it. He held his family as close as he held his tattoos, scrawled across his skin.

After becoming a padawan, Adhara got her first Mirialan tattoos, of five diamonds underneath each eye. They brought her immense pride, and reminded her of why she was there. Of hhat was important.

Now, she knocked on the door of the tattooist at the Jedi Temple, ready to complete the set with two large diamonds at the ends of her eye after facing General Grievous on her own.

The door swung open she saw Barriss Offee on the table, getting more tattoos inked onto her nose. Behind her stood her master, Luminara, arching an eyebrow at Adhara.

"Master," she said, bowing slightly. "Padawan Offee. I didn't realize you were here. I'll come back later."

Luminara arched a brow at Adhara, looking at the few Mirialan tattoos she had.

"Let me escort you," Luminara said, and Adhara read her body language, a trait she picked up from her Echani heritage, and saw hostility. It made her throat close up.

"Of course, Master."

For a moment they walked in silence, until they stepped out into the bright light of day. Adhara continued to read Luminara's body language, and saw a smug streak go through her as soon as they stepped outside.

"I see you sport Mirialan tattoos," Luminara said, just as Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Ahsoka walked closer from repairing their ship.

"Yes," Adhara said, keeping a close eye on the Mirialan Jedi. "I am half Mirialan. I don't remember him well, but I remember that the culture was important to my father."

She remembered him well enough. Enough for it to mean something to her, like it did for him. Enough for it to hurt every time he crossed her mind and she saw his body falling to the ground.

"And what is the other half of you?"

"Echani, Master."

Luminara pursed her lips, looking Adhara up and down, at her pure white skin and purple eyes, hair half black and half white, piled onto her head. Behind them, Ahsoka cocked her head in curiosity, and Obi-Wan radiated confusion.

"You don't look Miralan."

Her words hit Adhara with a jolt, and she fought to keep the stiffness out of her body and the hurt out of her voice. Her father's face flashed before her – green as the grass, eyes purple like her own, tattoos covering so much of his skin you knew he was honored and beloved on Mirali until he left it all for her mother. For love.