Disclaimer: I do not own the Star Wars characters; however, Angeles & Les Dollslayer characters are mine.
Angeles Dollslayer was excited. Today was her sixteenth birthday. There would be business to attend to in the Senate tomorrow. But tonight, a grand party would be thrown in her honor.
She has personally selected her gown, which was black. She vowed to wear black until the Empire crumbled. As much as her father Les and her other colleagues tried to convince her to wear another color, she refused.
"If the Empire thinks I'm sympathetic to them because of the color dress I wear, then they are dumber than I thought!" Angeles told her father, as she was getting ready for the party.
She looked at herself in the mirror. Tonight, she wanted to forget about the Empire and forget about being a rising politician. Tonight, she just wanted to be sixteen years old, to dance with boys, maybe even get her first kiss.
Angeles made her grand entrance into the party. Everyone clapped for her. She spotted Poe Dameron in the crowd.
"He came," Angeles said to herself. She had a major crush on the pilot. Actually, most of the women in the galaxy had crushes on Poe. But to his credit, either he was not aware of his admirers, or he chose to ignore the attention that came his way.
Poe gave her a wink, and Angeles' heart melted. She was about to make her way through the crowd to him, when one of the security guards pulled her to the side.
"I need you to come now," the guard whispered. "There is a situation with your father."
Groaning internally, Angeles followed the security guard outside to the gardens. She was horrified to see her father screaming at an Imperial officer.
"You are not allowed in here!" Angeles heard Les say. Guards were restraining him from attacking the officer, who was accompanied by a couple of Stormtroopers.
"This is a social visit, Senator Dollslayer," she heard the officer speak. To his credit, the officer remained calm, despite Les screaming at him.
"I know why you are here, Hux!" Les growled angrily at the red haired man.
Angeles' eyes widened as she looked at Hux. He was... young. He looked around the same age as Poe!
"What is going on?" Angeles said to her father, as she and the security guard approached.
"Nothing, sweetheart. Just taking out the trash!" Les hissed in Hux's direction.
"Dad, please," Angeles begged him. "Stop making a scene. It's my birthday..."
Les looked at her with sympathy. He just wanted the best birthday for his daughter. And Hux had to come and ruin it!
"It's your birthday?" she heard Hux exclaim. She turned around and saw confusion in his icy blue eyes.
"Yes, it's my sixteenth birthday today," Angeles explained, as she stepped closer to Hux.
"Why are all the good looking guys, except for Poe, with the Empire?" she thought to herself. To Hux, she asked,
"What is in the bag the Stormtrooper is holding?"
"Nothing," he replied nervously. "My apologies to you, Senator Dollslayer. We will be leaving..."
"No, you won't. I want to see what is in the bag."
"Angeles, don't...," Les warned her. But she ignored him, and waited.
"Go ahead, show her what is in the bag," Hux told his guard. The stormtrooper approached and gave Angeles the bag. She peaked inside and saw it was a bottler of vintage blossom wine from Naboo . She did not take the bottle out, for the wine was very expensive and she was afraid to drop it.
"What a strange gift to give to a sixteen year old..." Angeles thought to herself. The she realized. The gift was not for her, it was for her father! Her father collected rare bottles of blossom wine.
"Please take the bag from the stormtrooper," she told her security guard. The Stormtrooper surrendered the bag.
"Can we please remove them from the premises?" Les snarled in anger. Angeles turned to her father and said,
"Father, you have conveniently forgotten that this is a public event. The Empire is permitted to send an representative, per the treaty."
Les looked annoyed. Of all times for Angeles to remember the rules of the treaty! He was concerned. Most of the time, the Empire would send a low ranking official. But this was Lieutenant General Armitage Hux!
"You are correct. However, there are three of them here. Which none of them are welcome."
Angeles was frustrated. She knew her dad was concerned, but now she felt embarrassed by his behavior. After all, she could handle herself just fine.
"General," Angeles said, turning to face Hux. "I will permit you to attend my party only if the stormtroopers stay outside."
"Are you insane?" Les yelled at her.
"Enough!" Angeles snapped at him. Focusing her attention again on Hux, she said,
"The Stormtroopers must stay outside and..." Angeles thought for a moment, then added with a mischievous smile on her face. "You must be my date for the evening.
When Hux heard that, his eyes widened. That was the last thing he expected to hear coming from the girl. Not that it bothered him, for she was beautiful.
"You are insane," Les told his daughter.
"I am sixteen," she replied back, as she put her arm into Hux's. I am old enough to decide who I want at the birthday party I paid for!"
Les shook his head. He saw that fire in her eyes again. He knew, now that she was older, when it was best to back off.
"Fine. But Hux, I swear if you hurt her..." Les threatened.
"He won't, Dad," Angeles interrupted him. To Hux, she sweetly said,
"Can you escort me inside?" Hux nodded his head, and the two of them walked back inside the party. The Stormtroopers that were with Hux were escorted off the premises.
"Why did you...?" Hux began to ask. But Angeles raised her hand.
"Not now," she replied. "We can talk when the dance music comes on. Are you hungry? I believe they have served the main course."
"Yes," was all Hux could reply. Normally he was very good at reading women, but Angeles... At least the night would not be a boring one.
Angeles lead Hux to an empty table, so that they both could eat in privacy. Hux admitted that the food was delicious.
"Better than the food on the Star Destroyer?" Angeles asked curiously. Not that she wanted to be on a Star Destroyer anytime soon, but she figured she asked.
"It is right up there in terms of taste. Senator..."
"Please. Call me Angeles." She did this so that he would let his guard down.
"Angeles," Hux repeated, liking the way her name sounded off of his tongue. "Why did you not pull out the bottle of blossom wine in front of everyone?"
"Because it was not for me," Angeles answered honestly. "You thought it was my father's birthday." Hux nodded in agreement.
"It was my fault. I should have researched better. You could have embarrassed me, by showing the wine bottle. But you didn't. Why?"
Angeles thought for a moment, then uttered,
"I guess I had compassion on you."
"Compassion is a very dangerous thing to have. Especially for someone in the Empire," Hux warned her. It was too bad she was on the opposite side of the war. Oh the fun they could have with each other!
"I think compassion is what makes us different. If I did not have compassion for my fellow man, I would be just like you, General Hux."
"Please," he said, suddenly holding Angeles' hand. "Call me Armitage."
"Armitage," Angeles replied, not knowing what to make of Hux holding her hand. The only other man in her life that held her hand was her father. Until now.
The dance music started to play. Angeles looked around to see if Poe was nearby. He was not, and she felt sad.
"Come," she heard Hux say to her. "Let's dance."
Reluctantly, Angeles stood up, and Hux led her to the dance floor. She knew all eyes were on them as they starting dancing.
"You are a very good dancer," Angeles admitted to Hux.
"So are you," he complimented back, a small smile on his face. A couple of guys tried to cut in to dance with Angeles, but Hux shooed them away.
"Maybe I wanted to dance with them?" Angeles said in an annoyed tone.
"They can dance with you anytime. I can only dance with you tonight," Hux reminded her. As they continued to dance, they both wondered what it would be like, if they were both on the same side of the galactic struggle."
"By the way," Angeles said, as she leaned closer to Hux. "Happy birthday." She gave him a quick kiss on the check. He was quite surprised when she did this.
"How did you know it was my birthday?" Hux asked, continuing to dance with her.
Angeles winked at him, and replied,
"I did my research." Hux could not help chuckle at her response.
"Speaking of research," Angeles whispered, suddenly getting serious. "Have you done yours, Armitage? Did you find what you are looking for?"
Hux gave her a puzzled look. He was doing research, on behalf of Vader. But how did she know?
"As I told you before, tonight is a social visit," he told her, gazing into her lovely brown eyes.
"But tomorrow is not," Angeles suddenly realized. She closed her eyes. Hux took the opportunity to draw closer to her. He whispered in her ear,
"Tomorrow is not here yet. Let's enjoy each other's company tonight."
To her surprise, Hux moved his head, and gave Angeles a kiss on her lips. She had finally gotten her first kiss, and it was from the enemy.
"I would ask you to come away with me," Hux said, as he stroked her silkily black hair. "To leave the Senate behind, and come join the Empire. You already dress like you belong there. But I know you would refuse."
"Why don't you leave the Empire?" Angeles countered back. "Leave Vader behind, and start over."
"You know I can't do that. Just like you can't leave the Senate. Face it, Angeles. We are destined to be enemies, forever at war with each other."
"I know. But tonight, we can forget that you are an Imperial officer and that I am a Galactic senator. Tonight, we can be just Armitage and Angeles."
The night ended, and it was time for Hux to leave. Surrounded by guards, Hux whispered to Angeles,
"Avoid the royal palace tomorrow." He pulled away, kissed Angeles on the hand, and was escorted away by the security guards.