GIRL WITH MANDALORIAN LILIES

Guess who's back, back again?

If you guessed "DK and LS with the next installment of While Others," then you're right on! But you're not here to listen to us talk - let's get to the story.

Sanjay Rash threw down his brush and growled with frustration at the canvas.

"What's wrong?" his protégé asked looking up from his own artistic pursuits.

"I can't get the eyes right," the king sulked.

Bernard was still learning and had no claim to expertise but the work before him appeared to be as masterful as anything else he had seen come from his instructor's imagination. "You were trying to recreate someone specific?"

"My sister," Sanjay bent to pick up his brush and wiped the splattered paint with a cloth. He remembered her in painful detail even though the child she was carrying when she ran off would have been just about Bernard's age.

"The one who's memorial we saw down in the crypt under the temple?"

Sanjay had accompanied the young man when he went to lay flowers on his mother's grave and they had stopped for a moment to view the Rash family monument.

"That's right." It had been part of the inspiration for his current creative endeavor, that and the dreams…

Bernard nodded. "She was beautiful."

"That she was." Sanjay once again studied his work in progress, wondering how he might fix the errors he had made so far.

"Maybe you should just follow where the brush wants you to go?" His student suggested.

"What?"

"Nah, it's stupid. Don't mind me." Bernard went back to his own painting sheepishly.

Sanjay chuckled to himself. The advice actually sounded like something he would have told his student. He took another look at the canvas. "I think you may be right."

In the end the girl in the painting did resemble Melaana besides the differences in the eyes and the shyness in her smile, but she was still familiar somehow as if from a dream. In his mind he saw her surrounded by other figures, two young men and a young woman all with fair hair that contrasted with her dark auburn, but he decided not to add them. Instead he focused on the flowers. They were stately, white, cone shaped, on long, thin, green stems.

"Those aren't Onderonian, are they?" Bernard questioned and he snapped a holo to do a search of the galactic botanical directory.

Sanjay knew they weren't from any of the garden beds his muse had tended, but they had been so detailed in his vision. "I don't know where I could have seen them before, but I must have."

"Could be these, perhaps?" The search revealed several images that looked very much like the flowers Sanjay had captured in the painting. "They're called Peace Lilies. It says here that they signify new life and are a symbol of the New Mandalorian government."

He still had no clue how this particular idea had come into his mind but he was pleased with the result. "And what shall I call it?" Sanjay asked his protégé, turning back to the finished painting.

…

"Girl with Mandalorian Lilies." Dalla pointed out to the new client she was touring through the museum. "The piece has changed hands several times over the years, sometimes lawfully, sometimes not, but we are proud that it found its way back home here to the artist's original stomping grounds."

"Lovely, though it seems more valuable in this museum than anywhere else," the client said. She clearly was no art critic but she knew enough to determine basic age and value. Fleshing out the client was one of the reasons Dalla swore by the museum tour as part of her pre-association ritual.

"Helping things find their proper home is one of the most rewarding parts of this line of work."

"And I look forward to working with you to find the proper homes for mine."

This was going swimmingly. Dalla nodded. "I appreciate your patience in this matter as well. The museum business is a delicate one and we need to be sure of -."

"Hi Mom!" Sandor came around the corner. "Can I help with something?"

Dalla begged the client's patience with a quick look before turning to her fourteen-year-old son. "I'm all good for now Sandor, but your dad might appreciate some help."

It clearly wasn't what Sandor was hoping for but he went with it. "Alright," he said and trudged off.

Dalla sighed. Sandor had been hinting he'd like to be more involved with the family business but right now things were too tight for him. Maybe she could send him on a transport trip with his Uncle Sloan come summer. That would cheer him up some.

"Thank you buddy." She returned to the client. "That's most of the painting exhibit. You told me you were more interested in antiquities?"

"I am. I'd love to show you some of my favorite pieces."

"I'd like to see them." She nodded. So far this client had passed all her tests and unless she started slinging forgeries, Dalla didn't see a reason why this wouldn't go off without a hitch.

"Excellent. I'll arrange for -."

The screech of an alarm made them both jump.

The client blinked. "Is that a theft alarm?"

"It is." Dalla resisted the urge to grit her teeth. "I'm sure it's just some kids trying to touch a statue again."

"Lock down the exits and call the police!" Her husband Bernard's voice rose above the alarm klaxon. "The cameras had to have caught something - find it!"

That didn't sound good. "Excuse me again Ms. Leighton. I should look into this."

"Of course." The client stepped aside.

"I'll be right back." Thank the gods Ms. Leighton was in a hurry, otherwise Dalla would have definitely lost this sale.

She made her way down the corridor and only allowed her concern to show when she spotted Bernard raking a hand through his hair. "Love, what's going on?"

"Girl With Mandalorian Lilies," he said. "It's gone. Someone stole it in broad daylight."

"What? It was just there a few minutes ago."

"It's not anymore. We've only had it back for about ten years and now poof, gone!" He shook his head. "What would Sanjay say if he could see this?"

"He'd say let's go string up Steela and Saw for almost destroying us, again." Dalla growled. She knew Saw had been remiss to hand over the painting when they initially stole it, and she wouldn't put it past the con men to swipe it for a wedding present. If she was even ninety percent sure they were behind this she was going to toast marshmallows over their funeral pyres.

Bernard shook his head, saving the Gerreras' bacon. "Sloan says they're all at the docks today. It isn't them."

"So we have no leads." This was just terrific. Not only had they lost arguably their most valuable painting, definitely the most valuable to Bernard, and were looking like the galaxy's least secure facility in front of a client, but the museum was about to be crawling with … the sound of approaching police sirens was just the icing on the osik cake.

Dalla mentally checked the date and let out a sigh of relief. "She's on duty today. I'll handle the cops and the client, you take a minute and go check out the cams."

"Right." Bernard nodded, blinking a tear from his eye. "Let me know if you need anything."

"I will." She hurried back to her client, pulling a few cred from her pocket. "My apologies Ms. Leighton, but it looks like this will take longer than I thought. If you'd like to grab something from the cafe I'll be with you as soon as possible."

The client's face twitched with (admittedly, justified) annoyance for a moment but she smoothed it over. "I understand," she said and took the credits. "I'll be there."

"I appreciate it," Dalla said and made a mental note to buy a lottery ticket on her way home as she rushed to the painting exhibit. Not only was the client miraculously sticking around, but she had assistance wrangling the police.

She'd barely gotten around the corner when said assistance intercepted her.

"Swain, thank gods."

Part-time Detective Sergeant, full-time fence's lieutenant Hannah Swain raised an eyebrow. "I'm assuming you didn't do this?"

"If I had I wouldn't have set off the alarm." She groused but caught herself before she went on. It could be worse, she could be working with a detective who wasn't part of her criminal empire. "And I wouldn't have taken Girl With Mandalorian Lilies."

Swain shook her head. She knew as well as any of them what the piece meant to Bernard. "Anything I need to steer the investigation away from?"

"Just the usual." Not for the first time Dalla wondered how she'd gotten as far as she did without a second lieutenant, much less one on the force. Swain was incredible. "But according to Bernard it's not the con men. They're off doing salt-gods-know-what on the docks."

…

"Look at the water, Philip!" Kallus held up the six-month-old so he could see the river and the ships pulling up to the docks. "That's bigger than our bathtub, isn't it?"

Sierra smiled through the lens of the holocam as she snapped a picture. "He looks just like you, Alex. You're even making the same face!"

"Were we?" Kallus bounced Philip in his arms, making the baby giggle. "No, he just has my hair. The rest of him is all Mom."

Sierra rolled her eyes. "I lie for a living and that is the biggest load of bantha poodoo I've ever heard."

Just a few meters away, Melaana (formerly Kryze, only recently Gerrera) trudged alongside Kiara on the way to the docks. It wasn't as if she didn't like Philip, or that she didn't want for Momma and Papa to return from their northern cruise. She couldn't wait to see them again and be all together as a family finally.

Her brother was happy about the reunion too but he was hesitant. He'd been having dreams again and though he wouldn't talk about them, Mel knew Pascal was worried about something. Maybe he was waiting to tell Momma when she came home or maybe he didn't want her to worry about whatever it was he had foreseen. Tav was holding his hand and guiding him toward the landing point.

Molly was going to meet them there. She was coming from the restaurant. She'd promised her mom and dad that she could handle the running of the place while they were gone on their anniversary trip.

Being married for twenty years deserved some sort of special vacation, Mel supposed. Uncle Hutch had rigged some holo station's contest to go to see his favorite sports team play. Originally he didn't know that the game was supposed to be the week of his wedding anniversary. Or maybe he forgot but then he found out that, beside just the game, the contest winners got to stay in a fancy hotel with all expenses paid. Well Aunt Hero supposed she could endure a bolo ball game for a couple of hours if it meant a hotel with a spa and room service and everything else it included.

It sounded a lot fancier than where Momma and Papa had gone on their honeymoon up north. They had been on a ship for most of the time, only the ship floated on water; it didn't fly in space like the ships Mel was used to. Momma had told him she didn't want anything too extravagant and she didn't want to go terribly far away from Mel and Pasc. Mel guessed she also wanted to be close to their new home in case… but then Mel wasn't supposed to talk about that yet. Not until they had made the announcement to everyone.

And that, the announcement, was really what had Mel wound up about this reunion. She knew momma loved her and Pasc and Papa had practically adopted them. But now, what if his feelings changed now that he had…

Mel looked around the docks to see if there was anything interesting to distract her. That was when she noticed Sandor. He was talking to some of the men who were loading something onto one of the other boats. She looked at the flag that was flying from the mast. It was a blue background with a black ship. That meant… Mel tried to remember what she had read about Onderonian heraldry… Blackwell. It was a ship that belonged to his mother's family. Maybe his cousins were on board.

"Sandor!" she called out to him.

He looked over his shoulder as if he was worried about something or maybe Mel had just startled him.

She called out to him again, "Sandor, over here. We're waiting for Momma and Papa to come home."

He spun around, saw her, and then he smiled. "I'll be there in a minute. Just running an errand for my mom."

"Alright," Mel yelled and watched while he concluded whatever business his mom, Dalla the fence, had asked him to complete.

It could have been anything. A message to her family back on their home island or some sort of illegally gotten artifact that they were trying to hide until they could find the right buyer. Mel liked to imagine that it was the latter.

Aunt Steela had told her all about Dalla Blackwell and the work she did. What Aunt Steela did was fun and exciting but once that part of a job was finished they had to find something to do with the stuff they collected. You couldn't just carry around stolen stuff and expect not to get caught. And Dalla was the best in the galaxy at getting stuff into the right hands, or paws, or tentacles for the right price. She knew what things were worth. She also knew what people were worth, according to Uncle Lux.

As soon as he was finished Sandor ran over to join Mel and the other members of their family. "Hey," he said to her in greeting. "You said your Mom and Papa are coming back today."

"Yeah," Mel smiled, glad to have a friend closer to her own age to wait with. Molly and Kiara and Tav were called the kids but they were all almost adults. And Pasc was a baby but Sandor was only a couple of years older than she was and they were interested in the same sort of things since she'd been learning from Aunt Steela and he kind of worked with his parents as part of the family business.

"You don't look all that happy about it." he noticed. He noticed lots of things. She guessed that it was because his dad was an artist, an amazing forger really. And his mom had to study things to find out if they were real or how much she could charge for them.

"No, really. I'm glad for them to come back. I'm just not all that excited about the news they're going to tell everyone."

"What news?" Sandor asked.

She might have pulled him aside and told him in confidence if the gangplank of the ship her parents were coming in on hadn't lowered and began to disembark its passengers.

"You'll see soon enough," she sighed. Before she could get a proper view of them over the heads of the people in front of them she heard Aunt Sierra swear.

"That did not happen in the last couple of weeks!"

"I can't believe you didn't know." Steela laughed.

"I was a little busy with my newborn!" Sierra complained. "And it looks like she will be soon too!"

Finally the crowd parted enough for Mel to catch a glimpse and Sandor seemed to see them at the same moment. "Osik! Your mom is…"

It was definitely more obvious than it had been when they had left three weeks ago. Momma had been able to hide it still at the wedding but now her belly had popped out just like Mel remembered it when Momma was pregnant with her brother.

Papa found their faces in the crowd and waved and then he placed his hand on Momma's belly as he helped her maneuver between the people to get to them. He was so proud and protective. And well he should be. It was his first baby. Mel and Pasc were only step children. She wondered how long it would be before this new little one would take their place in his affection.

"Come on, Mel they'll be dying to see you!" Molly reached back and grabbed the younger girl's arm and pulled her forward.

"I'm coming." and Mel in turn grabbed for Sandor's arm so she wouldn't have to face this alone.

The little girl tried to smile and be excited as she was hugged and exclaimed over. Papa talked about getting them all settled in the new house. They wouldn't all fit in his apartment after all and Pasc and Mel had been staying at Aunt Mina's for ever so long. First with Auntie Steela and Sierra while the crew were investigating Buir's murder and then with Momma while she was engaged to Papa and then while Momma and Papa were away on their trip.

It would be nice to be in a new place that was just for them and they could decorate their own rooms however they liked. And… momma would of course be ready to start setting up a nursery for their little brother or sister. Half brother or sister that was.

They would likely find out which so that they could decorate appropriately. They thought Mel might like to have a younger sister since she already had a brother. But a sister would more easily step into her place. A brother would be… well, she was already used to having Pasc around.

Either way she would act excited and maybe if things went really badly she could get Sandor to take her up north to live with his cousins in the islands of the northern sea. Maybe she could meet Selkie too.

...

Swain was so ready for this day to be over.

It was always a headache when her two jobs collided, but they'd never intersected quite as much as they had today. First she was shocked that someone had managed to rip off Dalla, second that the person in question wasn't either in police custody or at the bottom of the river. Whoever they were they'd somehow managed to avoid the alarm and fool the security holocams at the moment of the theft.

Cracking this case would be a challenge by itself, but she wasn't just D.S. Swain. She was Selkie, and Selkie needed to make sure none of the police got a whiff of the criminal network headquartered in the museum.

Swain was ready for dinner. She was ready for one of the headache tablets in the medicine cabinet, and to crash into bed for the next ten hours at least. But as she made her way down the side street that led to her apartment complex she spotted a flash of movement.

She stepped to the side just as a vibroblade swung at her head, the very tip slicing her forehead.

"Missed!" The owner of the vibroblade snapped. So that meant two attackers at least. Fan-kriffing-tastic.

Swain drew her knife and wiped the blood out of her eyes. Today could not be over soon enough.