The last training droid hit the ground with a loud clatter, a few sparks sputtered out of it. Miara clapped, Omega was just as good with her hands in combat as she was with a blaster and her bow. Watching her take down the droids with nothing but her hands and witts was entrancing.
Her clapping startled Omega, who's head shot up in alarm. Her whole body went tense for a moment until she recognized her, then she relaxed. For a second, her cheeks flushed, but it faded quickly.
"Like the show?" Omega asked with an impish smirk.
"Yes, you're very good at what you do." Miara said, walking into the training room.
Omega smiled at her compliment. The bright grin made her seem far more alive and happy than she typically was. She always had an air of sadness around her, to be fair, most in the rebellion did, but Omega's seemed to go far deeper.
The Mandalorian usually kept to herself. Most rebellion members had at least one friend they spent the majority of their off time with, giving them someone who understood their pain or a distraction from it. Omega had nobody, yet she seemed to be fine with it.
Omega wiped the sweat off her forehead with a towel, for once, she wasn't wearing her signature red bandana, said bandana was tied around her water bottle. Without it, her bangs were falling into her face and sticking to her forehead. She swiped at them with an irritable grunt. Miara chuckled and received a short glare.
"Are you just going to stand there staring?" Omega asked.
Miara turned her head away slightly, her cheeks heating up slightly. She was keenly aware of Omega's suddenly sharp eyes on her.
"How are you with melee combat?" She asked.
"Uh, why?" Miara responded.
Omega looked her up and down, then wrinkled her nose.
"You look like a fighter pilot, and only a fighter pilot." Omega pointed out.
Miara scowled at the Mandalorian.
"What are you saying?"
Omega rolled her eyes and gave her an exasperated sigh.
"Can you fight? How are you in close quarters? Can you defend yourself from and armed opponent without weapons of your own?" Omega asked.
Miara didn't say a word. She was mostly a fighter pilot, and when she was on the ground, it was usually long ranged and utilizing explosives. She did have some basic self defense training but that was it. She knew for a fact she couldn't do any of what Omega had just done.
"I'll take that as a no." Omega rolled her eyes and tossed her towel down onto the bench.
She gestured for Miara to step onto the mat.
"C'mon, I'll show you how to fight properly." Omega said with a smirk.
Miara frowned and took off her sweater, she just had a dark green tank top on underneath, matching Omega's mostly black tank with patches of red on it.
"What exactly does that mean?" She asked, walking into the ring.
"I'll show you exactly what I'm talking about." Omega grinned.
The Mandalorian took a fighting stance, Miara adopted the basic self defense stance she had been taught. Feet at a side angle, knees facing feet, get the alignment right. Weight on balls of feet. She held her arms in a position ready to block any strikes.
They slowly circled each other. Omega's sharp eyes examined her, darting back and forth, Miara could see her clever mind working out the strengths and weaknesses of her stance, determining the best place to strike. Miara knew for a fact she would have no chance if she struck first, her best bet was to react to whatever Omega did, being a pilot meant she had an excellent reaction time, so she at least had something .
When Omega did strike, her movement was swift and fluid, Miara hardly had the time to block the swift strike, but Omega had anticipated that move and easily shifted from striking to grabbing and had both of Miara's arms pulled away from her body almost effortlessly. With a quick flash of a grin, Omega pinned her arms behind her back, gently but firmly so Miara couldn't shake loose.
"Okay, fine, I don't know as much as you do about fighting." Miara grunted.
Omega chuckled and let her arms go. Miara stepped back and faced the Mandalorian.
"I could teach you, I mean, if you want to learn, that is." Omega said with the slightest hint of embarrassment in her voice.
Miara swore Omega was blushing for a brief second then her cheeks color returned back to their normal tan. She made note of that possible advantage.
"Sure, I obviously need it." Miara said.
"Great! Er- what do you want me to show you? I know a couple fighting styles from training with different people." Omega said.
"Like what?" Miara asked, walking back into the room.
"I know some standard combat forms, Mandalorian combat, Echani, Teräs Käsi, and some other stuff. When I actually have to fight someone, I mix em up to confuse the opponent, it works pretty well." Omega explained as she demonstrated a starting defensive stance, it was similar to hers but different in the position of legs and body.
They spent the next couple of hours talking and training, just the two of them. By the time Omega decided to call it a day, Miara was out of breath, sweaty and exhausted but she felt great . Some of Omega's shell came off while they were training, her eyes had brightened, she laughed more, and was more open to talking. It was nice to see her so bright and joyful.
Omega grabbed her water and took a long drink, clearly, she was done for the day.
"So, same time tomorrow?" Miara asked.
Omega shot her a surprised look and almost coughed on her water. She sputtered for a second, then wiped her mouth and stared at her.
"Scuse me?" She asked, tilting her head.
"Should we do this again tomorrow?" Miara repeated.
"You want to do it again?" Omega asked.
"Of course, why wouldn't I? You're a great teacher." Miara smiled to herself as she headed off, unknowingly leaving Omega flustered and staring after her.
XXX
Miara sat down next to Omega on the break bench. It was her seventh day of training and she was improving, it wasn't nearly as exhausting as it had been a week ago. All the extra time around Omega had given her the chance to learn more about the elusive Mandalorian.
She hadn't gotten into any meaningful details about her life for a couple of days. Miara was content with just learning what she liked and didn't like, her favorite foods, books, planets she really wanted to visit, just normal conversation stuff.
Omega drank from her bottle, Miara found herself staring at the other woman. All this time around her had also allowed her to see her up close, Miara had already begun to notice things she wouldn't have otherwise.
Omega had a preference for her right arm, it was incredibly subtle and she had only begun to notice the small, nearly invisible marks on her arms, maybe because her muscles were distracting, but there were also small round marks on her shoulders, barely perceptible but there. She knew that someone with the training Omega had would be into dangerous lines of work so the injuries had a simple explanation.
That didn't stop her from wondering.
Omega seemed down today, she looked like she was weighed down by a huge load. She looked tired.
"Have we been doing too much?" Miara asked.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Omega raised an eyebrow at her.
"You look tired today." Miara pointed out.
"Oh, I'm just, today's not a good day, ya'know?" Omega flashed her a false grin.
She knew it was false because when she was really happy, the tattoo around her nose scrunched up slightly. She didn't bring it up.
"Where'd you get those?" She asked.
The intricate tattoos were only drawn on the right side of her face, the left half was left purposefully blank aside from one over her nose. Miara had never seen anything like them before.
"These?" Omega asked, pointing to her face.
Miara nodded, Omega brightened.
"They are Dathomirian tattoos. Nightsister. I spent some time on Dathomir as a teenager. I wanted isolation… instead I got a sister. I met a nightsister, Merrin, she's my age, she was alone and wanted company and I guess I was too, so I kinda just stuck around…"
"We became friends, good friends. I don't know where I'd be if I hadn't run into her, probably dead. So we stuck together, got each other through the worst of it. We traded information, I taught her and she taught me." Omega sighed and touched the bridge of her nose lightly.
"This one here roughly means 'sister'." She said, pointing out the tattoo on her nose.
"It's the first one she gave me, so that I could look at myself and know someone cared. Then she gave me more as I got better with the Magick, she always added some extra meaning to them." Omega said wistfully.
"Wait, Magick?!" Miara exclaimed.
Omega blinked and glanced at her, then chuckled and snapped her fingers. A small, glowing green flame appeared above her hand. Omega waved her hand and it followed, leaving a small trail of glowing green embers. Miara found herself staring at Omega again.
Damn. She is impressive. She mused.
"She sounds really nice." Miara said.
"She is, like you." Omega said.
A subtle blush rose to her cheeks, the flame adopted a darker color in the center.
"I mean, you're nice too." She said slowly.
Miara chuckled and stood up, ready for another round.
"Wanna go again?" She asked.
"Are you sure you wanna fight me?" Omega asked with a lot more confidence in her voice.
She made a show of the glowing green flame in her hand. Miara smirked.
"I think I can handle you." She said.
"Oh really? Getting cocky, are we?" Omega rose from the bench and put the green flame out.
They stood opposite to each other, slowly circling, waiting for the opportunity to strike.
Omega, again, struck first, instead of blocking, Miara ducked to the side to avoid her. She kept her eyes on Omega as she backed away. Omega smirked, impressed. Miara smiled back.
I can't wait to see how she reacts to this. She giggled internally. Admittedly, her grand plan was a little childish, but she wanted to do it and knew it would work.
Omega tried to charge her a few more times, Miara dodged her attacks. She only struck when it was safe to do so, like when Omega's back was facing her. She played it carefully and kept her distance.
Just a little longer. She thought. Omega would anticipate a dodge now, and she could let herself get caught. She'd get caught eventually.
This time when Omega charged, Miara didn't dodge and did let the Mandalorian pin her. She hadn't expected to be knocked into the wall behind her though. Omega pinned her arms and gave her a suspicious look when she just smirked. Her plan was going great.
"What are you smirking about?" Omega asked.
Miara grinned up at her.
"This."
She shot her head up like she was going for a headbutt, and gave Omega a quick kiss on the cheek. She felt Omega stiffen and her hold on her loosen, she pulled back and smiled at the blushing Mandalorian.
She was able to easily free her arms, using the distraction to her advantage but not pressing it like she could. She didn't want to trick Omega.
"Personally, I think I did better this time." Miara said.
Omega came out of her shock and scowled down at her.
"That's not gonna work with anybody." She scolded.
"But it worked on you ." Miara pointed out.
Omega turned her head away in an attempt to hide her blush. Omega took a breath and glared at her.
"It's a cheap trick." She said.
"I think you liked it." Miara stated.
"And if I did?" Omega asked, the edge in her voice melting away.
"Well, we could do it again." Miara suggested, feeling heat in her cheeks.
She was comforted by the fact that Omega's face was turning red.
"I'd definitely like that ." Omega said.
"Me too."