"Star Wars" will pay tribute to a little girl who passed away a decade ago by including a little pink astromech droid in "The Force Awakens."

If you're a fan of "Star Wars: The Clone Wars," you're probably familiar with R2-KT, aka "Katie," but you may not know the moving story behind it. However, io9.com does: "Katie" is named after Katie Johnson, the late daughter of 501st Legion founder Albin Johnson.

In 2004, he and his wife noticed Katie kept falling down, and soon learned she had an inoperable brain tumor; she was given just months to live. Albin came up with the idea to to create an R2 unit to watch over his daughter in her final months, and put out the call for help. The R2 Builders Club quickly responded, and set out to construct an astromech droid that would be painted pink, Katie's favorite color.

However, when it became clear the R2 unit wouldn't be finished in time, master droid builder, Andy Schwartz, painted one of his and sent it to Katie to enjoy in her final days. The R2 Builders Club finished R2-KT in 2006, it was sent to Albin, who began taking it children's hospitals and charity events.

Now, along with a handful of appearances on "Star Wars: The Clone Wars," R2-KT will be able to include "The Force Awakens" in her filmography. Albin told Geeks Speak that Katie was shipped last year to London for about six months. Although he doesn't know when or where she'll be shown in the film, he's been told she'll definitely appear.

"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" opens Dec. 18 in North America.