Chapter Text
Ansion was where he had been introduced to her. Sure, Barriss had initially attracted his attention, but after the stunt with the water she had pulled in the Senate building, she struck him as someone to remember. Then, there’s the way she helped him up after dealing with the shanhs that had almost cost him his life reminded him both of his mother and of Padme: strong, capable, kind, and self-assured. She walked with a grace not many had, intuitive to the point where almost any Jedi could mesh with her and turn into a formidable fighting unit, and nerves of steel when it came to battle. Her battle skill was renown by the others in the Order, yet her kindness, compassion, and negotiation skills were equally impressive. There was a reason she had been promoted to the office of the Supreme Chancellor so quickly; even the most difficult Senator was hard-pressed to continue his or her arguing when confronted with sound, reasoned decisions by the eloquent and intelligent female.
She was not unattractive, either. Many offhand remarks had been heard by him about her alien beauty; despite being considered a humanoid, the skin coloring and tattoos were significant reminders of her not quite-humanness. He had no idea how old she was, and no one else in the Temple either knew or was inclined to share that information with him. He was certain that no matter how old she may have gotten, her singular beauty would not fade. She was truly one of the best in the Order.
Then came Geonosis. The fighting against the creatures in the arena, about to be killed by Dooku’s droids, Jedi backup arriving in the hundreds, more fighting (but now against the droids), and then the clone troopers arrived. He was quite relieved to see her acting as part of the vanguard that protected him, his master, and Padme while they got their weapons, and even more relieved to see that she had survived the ensuing massacre. After joining the others to liberate Geonosis and attempted capture of Count Dooku, and subsequent loss of his arm to that Sith lord, he was in the same medbay as her. Why she was there was to practice healing. Upon his inquiry as to where Barriss was, a shadow fell over her face.
Barriss had been believed to be dead as she hadn’t escaped from the arena with the others. A memorial service had been planned. A couple days later, Barriss emerged intact, with a group of several other badly wounded Jedi who had been wandering around in the catacombs. He had been standing next to her when she received her lost, thought-to-be-dead padawan with a strong hug. He had wondered if Barriss had known just how much her master had missed her presence, having been there when she had told the story, almost completely breaking down despite her training. He later regretted not attempting to comfort her more over their shared loss, despite being in a pain-filled haze at the time; she had more than earned his respect and trust by that point. Master Obi-Wan had been called away by the Council that time for a strategy session, one preluding the many that would soon be held during the Clone Wars.
Now that the Clone Wars were in full swing and had been for a couple years now, he had worked with many Jedi on or around several hundred planets. The only few he ever felt truly comfortable working with, though, were his own former Master, Obi-Wan Kenobi, his padawan Ahsoka, and Master Luminara Unduli and her padawan. Their bonds had deepened with the Second Battle on Geonosis and with the brain worms incident, and both padawans became friends.
Just recently, Barriss became a former padawan. Barriss had command over her own troops now, and was fighting separately from her former Master. Last he heard, Barriss had been called back to Coruscant for some research request while Luminara and her troops were making their way through the Mid Rim.
He wondered if he would ever see either one of them again during the remainder of the war.