Barriss Offee has always been impulsive. She takes a certain pride in that, despite the fact that it, and the pride itself, are frowned upon by the Jedi.
It is impulse that leads her to the balcony after Master Luminara leaves their quarters. That has her standing on the railing, arms outstretched. She wishes she could fly away. Away from the pain she has caused her master.
The air up here is thin and cold. Barriss' robes whip about in the wind and do little to keep her warm. She wonders where her master went, and if she is warm.
Master Luminara Unduli had been warned about the Padawan Crush by other masters. She never went through it herself, unlike many of her agemates. She is at a loss. She was not told that she might return those inappropriate feelings.
The Jedi Temple gardens on Coruscant are climate-controlled. Luminara still shivers as she lies on the bare ground in a secluded corner of this garden. She can feel the Living Force here, but not the grounding effect of the planet itself, something she desperately needs. She can still feel her padawan's lips on hers.
Her meditations bring her no peace.
Barriss sits on the balcony and begins her meditations, those assigned by her master and her own contemplations. She wants to lose herself in the trance, forget the anxiety burning like a fire in her gut.
There is no emotion, there is peace.
I am a Jedi, I am not an automaton.
Release these inappropriate feelings.
I *have* released them to the Force. They always return. That must mean something.
Her frustration grows, but she continues until she senses her master's return hours later. She surfaces from her meditation and steps inside.
The look on her master's face brings hope.
As she enters their quarters, Luminara feels the emotions rolling off her padawan in waves. Combining with her own, they threaten to drown them both. She feels Barriss surface from her meditations and knows they have come to the same conclusion as hers.
She smiles when her padawan comes in from the balcony, windblown and pale. "Have you been out there all this time?" she asks.
"Yes, Master."
Luminara quickly closes the distance between them. She reaches out and cups Barriss' face, tracing the rows of diamond-shaped tattoos with her thumbs. She leans in and whispers, "Jedi Code be damned."
Forbidden by the Code or not, it is happening. The kiss that Luminara started so tentatively is now deepening, and Barriss grows bold as she reaches around Luminara, hands clutching at her master's waist, pulling her even closer.
Luminara releases her hold on Barriss' face, sliding one hand around to grasp the back of her neck, stroking lightly with her fingers. The other hand wraps itself in her padawan's braid, grasping tightly.
Forbidden or not, it is *right*. The Force is around them and in them and of them and it is perfect. Perfect. And this is just a kiss.
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