Master of the House

Chapter One: The Arrival

Commodore Karyn Faro had put shore leave off for far too long. She had excuses, yes, but that didn't make the fact any less true. First it was the new commanding officer, then came the Battle of Batonn, then the rebel campaign entered full swing, with it came the Battle of Atollon, followed by her promotion, and then there was that business in the Unknown Regions with Lord Vader… eventually, Karyn had to admit no time was an ideal one to take a week off. She just had to seize the opportunity and weather any damages to her career that came with.

At least Grand Admiral Thrawn had taken it in stride. One aside about how Lord Vader had 'exhausted' all his best officers, and her request was granted without issue. Karyn scheduled passage on the first transport she could find with her home world of Kohmbra among its destinations and was off the Chimaera in less than a standard day.

Which was why it was such a shock to her when the grand admiral joined her on the same transport. What was he doing here? Karyn's eyes widened when she saw him, gaze lingering far longer than was polite.

Lucky for her, Thrawn mistook her reason for staring. He nodded as she took a seat in the row behind him. "Commodore."

"Grand Admiral, sir. What… brings you here?"

"I have an audience with High Command on Coruscant. This transport shall dock there after a brief stop on another Core world. Kohmbra, if I recall."

"Yes, sir. That is where I am headed." What were the odds of this happening? Karyn could only assume they were insanely small. And wasn't Thrawn just on Coruscant when he debriefed with the Emperor? High Command didn't feel like holding meetings a week earlier?

Thrawn glanced behind him as she was seated, offering the barest of smiles. "I see. A coincidence, then."

Karyn didn't ask him to elaborate on that. She didn't need to. Instead, she did her best to ignore him. Focus on the fact that she was on leave and therefore had no reason to interact with Thrawn. Today marked her first time speaking to him outside her professional capacity. It wasn't something of which she ought to make a habit.

Still, her eyes wandered to the back of his head more often than she cared to admit, especially after the transport entered hyperspace. She thought about engaging him further, but her senses caught up to her before that could happen. Determined not to linger on her commander's presence all flight, Karyn shifted her thoughts to the message that inspired her to take leave now, while she still had a chance.

It was Hana. Karyn hadn't gotten off shift early enough to receive the call, so a holo message was all her little sister had left for her. "Karyn, finally! I tried calling you days ago, but you must have been super far out in space, because I couldn't get a signal last time. Anyway, I know you ignored me when I invited you to celebrate my acceptance to university, my graduation, our father's recognition in the Hall of Planetary Heroes, my engagement, our mother's recovery from that horrible case of cancer… look, I get it. You're busy. But… I'm getting married next week to the love of my life. It would mean sooooooooo much to me if you came for the ceremony. All our family's gonna be there, and it wouldn't be the same without you. Don't you wanna meet your future brother-in-law?"

Sigh. "I won't make this message long. I'm sure you have important stuff to get back to. I… understand if you don't want to take time off right now. Hope you're well. Love, Hana."

It didn't matter that Hana had been an adult for a few years now. When Karyn looked at her sister's face, she would always be reminded of a kid. Hana's face had a round softness Karyn's had long since lost. Coupled with her wide eyes, pouty lips, and flowing locks of hair, Hana seemed to look the same age in every holo message while Karyn alone aged on.

Perhaps those perceptions would change when they saw each other in person again. Karyn had sent advance notice of her plans along to her mother in the form of a request. Pick her up from the spaceport and bring her home as a special wedding gift to the bride. It was the least Karyn could do after missing out on so much.

Who could Hana have chosen to marry? She'd never mentioned anyone to Karyn. The last time Hana and Karyn were in regular contact, Hana was forbidden from dating by their mother. That hadn't stopped Hana from seeking boys out in secret, but none of those relationships had lasted to Karyn's knowledge.

Would Karyn like the person her sister was bringing into the family? Did it matter if she didn't? All sorts of questions swirled around in Karyn's head, none of which she had the answer to. It was disconcerting, having all this free time with just her own thoughts. Especially when work on the Chimaera was as constantly hectic as it had been lately.

At least she didn't have long to wait. For all the physical distance between Outer Rim planets and the Inner Core, the transport had taken the widest and most popular hyperspace lane connecting the two. A direct flight from the Chimaera (docked above Lothal) to Kohmbra only took several hours. Karyn watched through the window, waiting for the familiar sight of blue streaks to melt away. She allowed herself a smile when the sprawling capital city of her home planet came into view.

Karyn was out of her seat as soon as the ship landed. Her higher rank had scored her a seat on the front of the ship. It also granted her a quick exit off the flight and speedy passage through customs. The sun, though setting, hadn't yet departed from the horizon when Karyn found her mother in the arrival zone.

She approached her mother with a purpose, careful not to startle her. "Mother?"

Gasp. "Karyn? Oh, it is you!" Hayleen Faro threw her hands around her daughter, straining to reach Karyn's cheek for a kiss. Her embrace was tight, but wavering. Her hair, once a vivid chesnut brown, remained short and dominated by dull gray streaks, giving her the look of someone far older than fifty-two. Hayleen's fight with disease had not been as sound a victory as her holo messages had claimed. Karyn's heart sunk with the realization.

As Hayleen pulled away, Karyn did her best to hide her thoughts. "You look wonderful, Karyn. So nice to see you in full size! And your new rank badge! Every time I see you, it gets even bigger. What are you, now? A commander?"

"Commodore."

"That's right. Congratulations, sweetie! You deserve it." Another embrace.

"Thank you, Mother. How are you? How is Hana?" Karyn wanted to hear about everything going on at home. She had to strain her ears to hear over the newest spaceport announcements.

"Oh, I'm fine. Been healthy for a good half year, now. I can do everything I used to do around the house again. Hana is exactly how you'd expect her to be. Girl's three days away from the biggest event of her life. She's gonna be so happy to see you here, you know. She has two plans for her wedding ceremony: one with you in the wedding party and one without. I made sure she had that second one, just in case you couldn't make it."

Karyn laughed, then stopped herself. After everything she'd been through, hearing someone call a wedding the biggest day of one's life was… quaint. But it made Hana happy, and that was all that mattered. "You didn't tell her I was coming, did you?"

Hayleen returned her grin. "Not a word. She thinks I'm out picking new wine glasses."

"Good. I want to surprise her. I…" Karyn's next thought drifted right out of her head when she noticed something strange at the gate. A tall blue man stood there, wrapped in a heated discussion with a travel officer. Two stormtroopers flanked his sides, obscuring his uniform from view. All Karyn could catch was a flash of white. "Excuse me for a minute, Mother."

"Hm?" Hayleen followed after her. "What is it?"

It's not my problem. I'm on leave. I shouldn't ask. It's not my-

"Grand Admiral, sir? I'm surprised to see you off the transport. Isn't you destination elsewhere?" Karyn asked from a respectful distance away. She kept her question vague to avoid giving information to eavesdroppers.

Red eyes met hers. At first they were alight with frustration. Their fire dulled considerably upon Thrawn's recognition of her. "This doesn't concern you, Commodore. Do not delay your vacation activities on my account."

The travel officer scowled at the interruption. "I'm sorry, Grand Admiral, sir. Our transport ships are hardy, but even they can't fly through the solar storm currently occurring in local space. Imperial safety regulation does not permit it. I share your frustration that such conditions were not forecast, but we cannot authorize any further liftoffs in current conditions. If you agree to wait for the storm to calm to an acceptable degree, we will connect you with first class seats on the next available transport of your choice, free of all charges. Once again, we are sorry for the inconvenience."

Hayleen leaned forward, eyes squinted. "A solar storm? Was that on the forecast?"

"Did you not hear the recent announcement? Excessive solar activity from this system's star was just detected on radar. The possibility of coronal mass ejections is high. All outbound flights have been cancelled until further notice. That is final." The travel officer dared give Thrawn a tight grin. "Good day, sir."

The fire from before was back. She tried to soothe her commander about the situation. "I'm so sorry, sir. Your meeting was not tonight, was it?"

"No. I was only asked to meet with Grand Moff Tarkin tonight. He spoke of running routine errands with me at his side. Meetings with lower officials, as he described it."

That sounded important. "Did he call them 'errands', sir?"

"That is all they appear to be, Commodore. No matter now," the grand admiral turned to Hayleen, "Madame Faro, I presume?"

"Oh, yessir." Hayleen performed a mangled action halfway between a salute and a curtsy. Karyn did her best not to react. "My daughter speaks highly of you, sir."

Thrawn's lips twitched up for a split second. For him, that was a full-sized grin. "She did not leave her own accomplishments out of her reports back home, I trust. Let me personally assure you of their grandness and diversity in nature."

Karyn felt the blood rush into her cheeks. "Thank you, Grand Admiral sir. Since you are moored to Kohmbra for a night, I assume you will be seeking temporary lodging?"

"Indeed. I will find what Imperial-approved location is the closest to this spaceport and await better news in the morning." And with that statement, Thrawn was done talking. "Good leave to you, Commodore. A pleasure, Madame Faro."

"Well, hold on now. Sir, you don't have to spend a bunch of credits on a hotel. My house is a mere ten kilometers away from this spaceport. You can stay with us until space travel is safe again."

Karyn froze in her tracks. This was not what she'd intended when she came over to speak with Thrawn. She couldn't give him the impression he wasn't wanted without causing offense, but the image of Thrawn in her house analyzing her family's possessions was quickly approaching the leaderboard of her most dreaded nightmares. She had to avert this crisis. "Mother, I know you want to be generous, but I doubt the Grand Admiral would be interested in what we have to offer. It's... rather modest, especially compared to where he would be tonight, had a solar storm not erupted."

"I'm sure it is, but wasn't it you, sweetie, who told me the Empire doesn't reimburse its officers for unscheduled lodging payments? Places by the spaceport can be awfully expensive. This is the nice part of the city, after all."

"Only on non-combat missions, but yes. It's to prevent officers from sending vacation resort bills to the Imperial treasury."

"Well, I don't have a problem with housing an extra guest for a night or two. You, sir, are bound to be on your way before the wedding. I'm certain of it."

Thrawn raised an eyebrow. "A wedding, Commodore?"

"My sister's." Karyn was quick to clarify. Not mine.

"I see. I certainly wouldn't want to intrude on such an important event for your family. Thank you for your kindness, Madame Faro, but it is far from my desire to impose on your hospitality."

Hayleen Faro had every opportunity to step down at this point. She did not take the option. "Nonsense, sir. It wouldn't be an imposition at all! Us Kohmbrans take pride in our hospitality. You two don't have any baggage to claim, do you?"

Now Karyn could remember why she didn't argue with her mother. Didn't matter how many sound points one presented if the woman ignored them all. How could she have forgotten? "No, Mother."

"Grand Admiral, sir?"

Thrawn still hadn't budged. But he did wave his guard away. The pair of troopers were hesitant to leave him, but they did concede. "If it is your custom to welcome guests such as myself into your home, I see nothing to gain in affronting it. I will accept your gracious offer, Madame Faro. I travel with few possessions and have nothing to retrieve. Will I be secure in your residence?"

"Certainly, sir! If my house is safe enough for a commodore and future admiral, it can accommodate a current admiral as well."

"Grand admiral," Karyn corrected. Thrawn didn't seem to mind, for his part.

"Well, follow me you two! I'll drive us out on my speeder."

And so the nightmare begins. This was why Karyn never should have approached her commander in the spaceport. Lesson learned for the next time she took shore leave. Whenever that was.

A/N's: Special shout out to coffeeberry (on AO3) who gave me the final push I needed to write this fic. I've been considering Tharo as a ship for some time, but her fics are what fully brought me on board. Read them if you haven't yet. They may be in Polish, but that's what Google Translate is for.

Thanks for reading, don't forget to leave your thoughts below, and I'll see you on the far side!