Chapter 19
by Saber Girl Leia
Lol! You lucky people! My Internet was out for six days so you get an extra-long chapter!
Luvinna: Thanks for the review! Yes, there would be quite a bit of angsting going on if Luke found out...
Mara look-a-like: Of course! His... hand. heehee. I guess it would have to be the left, though, so he doesn't start thinking he's a Skywalker or anything... lol. You were? Cool! Great minds think alike:) hugs :)
Check out the dancing part of this chapter... I think you'll like it... heehee
SailorLeia: GIRL POWER TRIPS ROCK! I used to have this awesome shirt that said 'It's a Girl Thing: Higher, Faster, Louder, Longer, Better, Smarter, Cuter, Stronger.' I loved that shirt... I kept wearing it until it was practically splitting at the seams...
Thanks again, I'm very happy you are still enjoying it :). MUCH LOVE! lol!
Amidaala: What do you mean, 'though?' Feministgood! lol. Most of the time, anyway.
Shh! It's a secret! (Do I owe J a nickel for saying that? lol)
Oh. Right. Your husband. I still say you should have married your Shakespeare action figure instead. Oh, wait, I know... go reread your new and 'improved' Certain Point of View fic with substituted names... lol, no I'm not that evil. GRIN.
Check out the twirly skirt bit...
AN: Thanks to Mara look-a-like for her suggestion that Mara should cut off Lando's... hand.
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Mara had just discovered the newest major problem with her mission.
The sleeping arrangements.
Yes, she had expected something of the sort, but seeing it made it worse.
The room was spacious and luxurious, and there was a couch one of them could sleep in since they certainly wouldn't be sharing the lone bed, but it was still just one room. They could lock the main doors against outsiders, but there were no doors to lock against each other.
She could have lived with this arrangement with nearly anyone else she knew; with Karrde, with Ghent, with Aves... heck, she had been in similar situations during her career as an assassin. She avoided thinking about what the sleeping arrangement would be if she was with Luke, though she could not repress the slight blush. A mental image of Lando watching her in her nightclothes entered Mara's mind and stuck there.
"All right," she said brusquely, before he could get any ideas, "you can have the bed. I'll take my pillow and sleep in the bathtub." The fresher would have a lock. It had to.
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Once they had unpacked, Lando settled down to watch the Holo, and Mara decided to call Luke. When she tried on her own com, she received only static. Knowing that she could simply be unable to get through with her personal com due to the hotel com system, Mara was bothered by this.
A brief search of the room revealed the com, attached to a wall near the door.
She dialed and picked it up to hear and see only static. Slightly but not unduly worried, Mara tried again, to the same results. She tried picking up the com first, but even before she could dial, she was greeted by an automaton telling her to press one for room service, two for the front desk, three for information about the area and activity ideas, or four to dial another room. The message ended, then repeated,
The woman slammed down the device. "They're jamming us!" she yelled.
Lando was nonchalant. "What did you expect?" he prodded her, "After all, they can't just have word of this place spreading all over. Can you imagine, with a female President of the Republic? They like to keep things kind of hush-hush around here."
Mara glared. "Oh, and I'm sure that's just perfectly legal," she snapped.
"If you think of it in the terms that many of the people who would jump on shutting this place down are the same ones who are so eager to get rid of everybody with a shady background- namely you and me- it seems a little different."
He had her there, much as she hated it. She tried a different tactic. "How am I supposed to report to Karrde, then?" How am I supposed to talk to Luke?
"I guess that will just have to wait, won't it?" Lando responded lazily. "For now you're stuck here with me. You know, if you gave me a chance, you'd find out I'm really not such a bad guy."
"Except for being a complete womanizer," she grunted, "and that little incident where you turned Han over to the Empire."
"Hey! Hey! Give a guy some credit, here! Those women all come with me of their own free will. And I still stick by what I said the first time about Bespin. I had no choice. It was Han or a city full of people I led. There's no good solution to that. Surely you, of all people, know about that sort of decision."
She was silent, head hanging slightly under the weight of many memories. He went back to the Holo.
A moment later she came and perched on the arm of the couch. "But they have Holo? Aren't they afraid that some of the women are going to see what happens on there and realize they aren't mindless?"
"I'm afraid this place goes beyond teaching the women that they are mindless, Katris. Many of the men actually believe it.
"Besides," he added, flipping through the available networks, "the access does seem to be pretty limited."
She watched him. The women she had met, those originally from other planets, obviously felt mistreated and seemed to know they had something to contribute which they were not being given the chance to show. But did the native women?
Though it was not supposed to be part of the mission, and Mara has never though going out of her way to help people was in her character, she felt an unaccustomed want to help at least Fai'Nel, Ila, Adele, Skye, and Zafirah. She had only talked to them for minutes, and yet she felt a connection to them. Friendship. She rolled the word around in her mind, testing its appropriateness in this situation. It was not a word she had had much use for before, and certainly not this suddenly with anyone. Where was her characteristic cynicism and distrust? Had Luke really changed her that much?
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Checking to make sure Lando was looking the other way, Mara tugged at the bunching tight fabric of her dress. It itched. It was hard to walk in the thing. She had only agreed to the tight outfit on the condition that the skirt would be past her knees and the neckline would be decent. She was beginning to regret it, though, seeing as that just made more of her pinched and itchy.
Lando certainly had not told her before that he intended to have her get a dress and go out for a fancy dinner with him on their very first day. Unfortunately for Mara, he had had the good sense to mention it when she could not argue: in the lobby, surrounded by the other guests. Katris would never refuse. Katris probably would have agreed to some of the original outfit suggestions, which reminded Mara terribly of her stint as the dancer Arica.
Even more galling, perhaps, was the fact that Mara has to use the Force to keep her balance in the ridiculous heels- her other option was leaning all her weight on Lando's arm. Climbing the half-flight of steps to the restaurant entrance was terrible. The one thing she had to love about the shoes was that they made her taller than Calrissian.
When they reached the door, a waitress welcomed them. At least women can have some jobs here, Mara thought grimly. The woman led them to a table, which was far too dimly lit and cozy-looking for Mara's taste, gave them menus, and walked away. Looking around, Mara could see any other couples seated together, a few people seated alone, and a small stage which was probably used either for musicians or dancing.
Finally seated, Mara managed to calm herself. Lando would probably find some other, more willing woman to flirt with, and she might actually enjoy herself a little. Unless some other man decides to flirt with me... she worried suddenly. Not that she could not handle that. Just that Katris could not handle that.
She eyed her menu, and chose a meat dish and salad. The price made her eyebrows rise, but heck, she would have gone out of her way to order something expensive- Lando was buying.
Once the waitress had taken their orders, Lando began.
They were seated in a small circular booth, such that they could sit across from each other but easily slide around if they felt the need to be closer. He did so, causing Mara to inch away until she was in danger of falling off the edge. Leaning over her, he whispered, "Act! They're watching!" a little angrily into her ear, then proceeded to grab her and pull her into his embrace.
Reluctantly she fought her own instincts to fight him. Lando snapped one arm around her waist and planted several kisses along her collarbone. She tried to make her disgusted squirm seem like one of pleasure.
Squealing, she hoped directly in Lando's ear, Mara tickled the back of his neck a little. He swatted playfully at her hands, then grabbed one and kissed it quickly. She laid her head on his shoulder.
If his wishes that this were real had not been echoing so clearly through the Force into her mind, Mara might have enjoyed the masquerade. She had always loved acting, especially the sort undercover work required. The audience did not even know they were watching a show.
Someday Luke and I will have to go on a mission together...
The waitress came with their food, and Mara used it as an excuse to jump back to her own space, though Lando followed. "Don't overdo it or they won't believe it," she tersely whispered.
"Have you looked around?" he murmured.
Indeed, she had been trying not to notice. Many of the couples around them were sharing food and leaning on each other so much that it was a wonder they did not all go crashing to the floor. "I think they've had a few drinks," Mara said out of the side of her mouth.
Reluctantly, Lando retreated a bit. "I hear the wine here is quite good. Some of the best in the galaxy. We'll have to sample some momentarily."
In spite of herself, she grinned at his attempts. "If you're a good little boy," she whispered.
He grinned, "Yes, Milady."
As they were finishing their meal, a band came out to the edge of the stage and began to set up. Several couples rose and went to the open floor. Lando stood and, bowing, offered Mara his arm.
She kicked off her shoes.
Dancing was something she was at home with. She could dance with anyone, anywhere. It took her mind away. She loved it.
And so, even with Lando as her partner, Mara was completely focused. Slow-dancing was not her particular interest, but with the odd waltz and fast-paced partner-swapping piece, she had plenty of fun.
She had to admit it, Lando could dance. He knew the right steps, he knew how to hold his arms, and he knew when to switch partners. She felt light and free spinning to the tempo. She wished that her skirt billowed about her like a few of the other women's, but realized then that she had almost forgotten about the annoying dress.
Mara laughed. She thought she saw Fai'Nel at one point, but was not sure with all the movement going on around her. During one of the dances which placed the women in one line and the men across from them, Mara could see that it was Fai'Nel, only two spaces down from her. The Twi'lek was dancing with a big, red-faced human with a scraggly beard. She did not look happy at all. Noticing Mara, the other woman threw her a sad little glance.
Mara discovered why moments later as she was spun into the man's arms. He grabbed her roughly, pinching her upper arms. As they danced, he snatched at her neck and dress. Mara pretended to slip and elbowed him in the stomach, but he dragged her upright once again and increased the pressure on her arms. "Watch it, little missy," he growled, stroking her cheek as he passed her along to the next man.
When the next dance started, a slow dance, Mara returned to Lando and watched as the subdued Fai'Nel walked to the rough man. So she was here with him. He was the one who beat her. A spark of anger flared in the redhead, but she buried it deep. She could not help Fai'Nel now, but she vowed to do something before she and Lando left the planet.
Absorbed in the music once again, Mara was startled rudely out of her reverie to slap Lando's hands, which were moving suspiciously lower as the dance went on. Pulling them back to where they belonged, Mara snarled at him quietly with a smile still plastered on her face: "You'll keep those where they belong and off me if you don't want to lose them."
But that reminded her of Luke, poor Luke who never deserved to suffer that. But Lando smirked, interrupting her thoughts once again. Angrily, she decided to make it clearer. "I mean it. Try anything and they won't be the only things I rid you of." At his flash of dismay, she smirked. "You wouldn't enjoy trips like this nearly so much if that happened, now would you?" she said in a sickly-sweet voice.
He glared, but did not try anything for the rest of the dance. Flustered but unwilling to show it, Mara stayed in for two more dances, and then walked purposefully back to her table. Lando watched and began to follow her, but apparently thought better of it, and headed towards two women on the other side of the floor.
Glad to be rid of him for the moment, Mara walked to the 'fresher. Checking in the mirror, she had to admit that the shimmering lavender dress had held up much better than she had expected it to. She washed off her face and quickly repinned her hair.
After finishing in the fresher, Mara went back to find Lando still absent. She slid into her seat to rest her feet for a moment, but was almost immediately interrupted.
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Review, please! I love constructive criticism!