Katrina Dawson and Julie Taylor shared many things; a career, a friendship and memories forged through time. This week the world learned they shared 16 terrifying hours trapped inside the Lindt cafe in Martin Place.
Ms Taylor paid tribute to Ms Dawson on Friday after she died in the early hours of Tuesday morning, describing her as "my closest friend, a role model and confidant". The pair had worked together in commercial law at nearby Eight Selbourne Chambers.
"Her bravery and strength was, and continues to be, a comfort and inspiration for me," Ms Taylor said in a statement, the first time she has spoken since the siege.
"She invested every moment of her life in her friends and family, and will be greatly missed by everyone who has known her. My thoughts and sympathy are with her family, whom I have come to know and love."
Ms Taylor, from Randwick, managed to escape at 2am on Tuesday, shortly before police stormed the building in a volley of gunfire. In her statement, the 35-year-old, who is 19 weeks pregnant, said she had been told by doctors that her unborn child is healthy and was not harmed in the crisis.
She praised Lindt cafe manager Tori Johnson, also killed in the siege, as "a kind, considerate, level-headed and courageous person" who exuded compassion in incredible circumstances.
"I am grateful that you were with me throughout our ordeal," she said.
Earlier on Friday, Mr Johnson's partner of 14 years Thomas Zinn thanked the public for their tributes, saying they had made the city "smell like flowers".
Those floral tributes continued to pile up in Martin Place on Friday, four days after the siege came to its fatal end. Among those paying their respects were Joanne Proctor and her husband Walks The Wind, a Native American shaman or "medicine man".
Ms Proctor had been instructing Ms Dawson's parents in pilates at their home that fateful Monday morning, at the very moment Man Haron Monis was storming the cafe.
"I literally walked out of their house to Sydney in siege," she said.
She has come to Martin Place to burn sage - held sacred in traditional Native American medicine - every day since the tragedy.
"I'm here on a personal level, for them. Katrina was the apple of their life. They are a really beautiful family," she said.
"The Native American people believe the smoking of sage brings channels to [the] creator and cleanses the spirit, cleanses the body. So this is a cleansing ceremony...give away the bad, take on the good."
