Assimilation (Unna to Demaya)

[Akirapryde]

Twice Demaya wanted to interrupt but choose not to. Instead she listened carefully. Everything that Unna said, resonated with her. She could relate to what Unna was saying. Demaya remembered when she first arrived to the Vengeance. Like Unna, Demaya too had lost her parents. Like Unna, it was hard for her to open up to others. And like Unna, Demaya only had one person she could truly open too. She too carried too much emotional baggage when she came aboard. Instead of being considered cold, indifferent, and well, a bitch, Demaya was a bit different. A teenage version of Demaya was that know it all, bossy teenager that seemed to rub everyone the wrong way no matter what she said or did.

Demaya drew in a deep breath before she opened her mouth, "Unna, I am sure that everyone on board has asked that very question at one point with their time here. Even I found myself in your place." She laughed, "I was seen as bossy. A know it all that didn't know it all." Demaya moved back and leaned up against the railing. "Back when I was just a first year Padawan, Master Chun allowed me to sit in on a mission briefing. I watched them lay out their battle plans, and thought I found flaw in it. Master Chun had always encouraged me to speak up, so I spoke up. But I didn't do it the right way. I acted like the spoiled teenager I was."

She laughed again, "Master Chun was so mad at me. He ripped me up one side and down the other for three straight hours. He told me that if I was to ever be seen as their equal or even one day lead the, that I had to learn what kind of lives they live. So he ordered me to hang up my robs and lightsaber. For nearly two years, I trained along side them. Ate with them, worked along side them. I even slept in their quarters. It was hard for me to walk in the shows of someone else."

Demaya turned back to face space passing by, "Unna, its one thing to be on this ship. Its something else to be part of this ship and its family. To know each and every member of the ship's crew, the lives aboard. Not just their personal file. But to really know them." She rested her hand on the large window, "I can feel V's heart beat when I touch her. Even now, I can feel the pain I caused her. Normally there is hum, a vibration that has a rhythm. That rhythm isn't in sync anymore. I know my baby is in pain."

She pulled her hand back from the window and turned to Unna, "you can exist here or you can learn to live here." She said softly, "does that make and sense?"