Toro practically dragged me outside; his hand covering my mouth the whole time. He made me sit down onto the now one bike that was out there. Then he covered my face with a cloth and tied my arms around his waist. Once we were both secure like that, he covered his own face and put his goggles on. Before I knew what was happening, the bike took off at full speed.
We rode for I don't know how long, but it was a loooooong time. It was still nighttime once we finally came to a stop. Toro unbound my arms around his waist and pulled the cloth down off my mouth. He got off the bike, still clutching me by the forearm. "Nothing personal, sweetheart. You're just the perfect bait for Mando. He'll come when he knows I got you for sure." Oh, I see; he's not after my bounty but Mando… for some reason. Wait! Why would he want Mando? Don't tell me there's a bounty on his head now too. Oh joy! As if life wasn't already hard enough.
I winced as Toro lifted me using only one hand. Man, for a skinny-looking guy, he was strong! That's when I got my first good look where we were. Fantastic- desert in every direction. Nothing but endless sand as far as the eye could see. Amongst the sand was this little yet noisy shack, which I'm guessing was an inn or tavern of some sort. My new abductor hauled me into this rickety hovel by the arm. The closer we got, the nosier it became; sounded like a bunch of rough, burly men inside. Before we went in Toro leaned his mouth close to my ear. "Now if anyone asks, you're my wife." Oh, the disgusted glare I shot him. And he! He had the gull to appear surprised by my repulsed reaction. "What? You're already married; just pretend I'm your husband." My husband, ha! Like I'd ever marry a jerk like him.
Through the threshold we marched, Toro keeping his arm unpleasantly around my waist the entire way. I was right; this was a tavern chalked full of these tough, buff, scarred brutes. Not a woman in sight. Greeeeeeeeeat, cause I'll get out of this unscathed- insert eyeroll here. It was so painful being the only female in the vicinity. Some might like the attention it would bring, but I was supremely uncomfortable by all the eyes suddenly lingering on me. It's agonizingly clear that this was a hunter or warrior hang out; not anywhere healers like me would choose to spend their time. Toro must have known how much I hated the situation, but he made me come inside- the dick.
Still feeling a ton of confused gazes eying me, Toro pulled me over to a free, two-chair table at the side of the wall. He slid out a chair and glared at me. "Sit," he ordered in a hushed tone. I begrudgingly did as I was told, and he sat down opposite me. Pretty soon a male server wearing armour approached our table. "What can I get you?" He asked both of us. "Some food and a drink for her," Toro motioned to me with his fore and middle finger. The server nodded before taking off. I gave him an obviously puzzled expression and he smirked. "Can't have you starve on me." What an excuse. At least Mando cared for my welfare; not about what someone might do to him if I came to any harm. This coward.
Everyone in the room instantly turned around when the main door burst open. In came three men- two men carrying an injured fellow. His leg had this nasty cut on it and was bleeding profusely. The poor, wounded man was crying out in pain. "Outta the way! Outta the way! Make room!" One of his carriers shouted. "Nugh, it hurts! It hurts!" The man kept yelling. "Put him here!" The server, who I presumed owned this bar, patted a free stool. Everyone watched as he was transferred over, carefully set down in an upright position. That's when people started to gather around the fellow.
"What happened?" One patron asked his friend. "Jawas," he replied. Jawas? What's a Jawa? Everyone else seemed to understand though, judging by the way they bobbed their heads up and down. "We need to do something about this leg." "It's been bleeding for over an hour now." "Please! Give me something for the pain!" The injured man begged. The inside of my chest coiled again. He's in pain; he's suffering…. My hand rose up to my heart unconsciously. I have to do something…. I have to help him.
The server knelt down to get a better look at the sore; he inspected it carefully. "The bone's shattered. It's not gonna heal on its own. It's going to have to come off." "No! No, don't saw off my leg! Don't take it off!" The poor, desperate man shrieked in a voice I'd never heard from anyone before. "Sorry, but there's no other way; it'll go gangrene if we don't. Where's my bone saw?" "No! No! You can't do it! I won't let you do it to me!" "Hold him down!" The server directed his friends. Ok, this was getting sick. It was then that I stepped forward, much to the shock of everyone present.
My hand rose up a bit in front of me so to grab the server's attention. "Uh, excuse me. Can I help?" "You? Help?" The server gasped like this was an extraordinary request. "Please, please let me heal him. You don't cut his leg off; I can do it." Stunned silence soon turned to uncontrollable bouts of laughter. My cheeks sizzled red, but I stood my ground. "She thinks she can do it," one uttered while gasping for air, he was laughing so hard. "Well hear her talk," another chortled. The only ones who weren't laughing hysterically were the server and the wounded man.
The server narrowed his eyes onto me suspiciously. "Who are you?" "Uh, she's my wife!" Toro cut in before I had a chance to say a word. "Well, keep your wife under control and out of our way. Can't you hear him crying?" The server fired back to Toro while pointing back to injured man. Toro reached his hand out to snatch my arm, but I glared at the server, very much angered now.
"Let me heal him. I promise I can do it; I don't need payment or anything. Just let me help him," even I was surprised by the severity and sincerity in my own voice. This certainly succeeded in silencing the tavern again. Several men glanced at each other with conflicted and confused faces. It was the wounded man to break the quiet a few seconds later. "Let her! Let her help me! Don't saw off my leg! Leg the woman help!" I think that's when the server had had enough. He gave me such an intimidating look, I actually felt a little frightened just then. "Listen here, little girl. This isn't the time for you to be playing nurse. He needs real help now." "Ah, let her try. What's the worst that could happen?" one of the man's friends piped in. His other friend simply nodded and motioned me forward. All eyes were on me as I approached him.
I got to my knees and as gently and tenderly as humanly possible, I placed my hand over top his bleeding skin; the blood squished between my fingers. Shutting my eyes, I concentrated as hard as I could, simply motivated by the fact that I didn't want him to lose his leg. Concentrate, concentrate….. You can heal him; concentrate, I kept repeating to myself. Though I didn't see it, I knew it was working. I was officially Force-healing his deep cut. I could tell by the disappearing blood against the bottom of my hand and the astonished gasps all around me. It took about a minute and a half in total, but by the time I was done, his leg felt completely dry. My eyes fluttered open to see a natural, normal-looking, hairy male leg in front of me. A relieved smile crept across my face. He's ok… He's going to be ok.
"She did it…. She actually did it….." One man quietly exclaimed to himself. "I'll be….." "Incredible…." "I'd never seen anything like it." "How'd you do that?" But it was the now healed guy who put his hand on my shoulder. I glanced up to find him beaming down at me with such gratitude and kindness. "I have no idea how you did that but thank you. Thank you so much…." He then held out his hand for mine and helped me to my feet. I grinned back at him in a warm fashion; his hand gave mine a squeeze. Another man gave Toro a shove to the back of his shoulder.
"Your wife is something else. You sure are a lucky man." "Yeah! You'll never die of an injury if you're her husband," a second man added. A lightbulb suddenly flicked on in my brain. Hey, yeah! They don't know Toro lied to them, and if I spilled the beans now at least I'd have one ally on my side. The guy I just helped was a lot bigger and looked a lot stronger than Toro. If anything, they could help me get away from him. Formulating a rapid plan in my head, I shot Toro a vicious, accusing glare while still holding onto the man's hand. "He's not my husband! He took me away from my real hus-….. partner!" Whoa, I almost called Mando my "husband" there just now. Almost…..
I wish I could have captured the monstrous glowers all patrons were giving Toro now on hologram. He squirmed clearly afraid as all male eyes burned a searing hole through him. "What?" The healed man growled in a very threatening tone. "Are you sayin' you kidnapped her?" "An innocent woman?" "That doesn't sit well around here, boy," I had to stifle a smirk when one man loudly cracked his knuckles. "I-I can explain!" Toro's hands shot up in front of him so fast. "You took her away from her family?" The man currently holding my hand let go so to stomp over to Toro; he grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. "N-No! I didn't, I swear!" Toro sounded utterly pathetic right now. I folded my arms but was ready to intervene if things got too escalated. "If it's one thing I can't stand, it's a human trafficker," he hissed enraged. "I-I'm not! I was going to return her! Please! You gotta believe me!"
"Take him out back!" "Yeah! Show 'em how we handle kidnappers around these parts!" Lots of people started hollering. "Please! Hear me out!" Toro kept looking around frantically; his hands grasped at the one holding him up. "If you ever so much as look at her again, I'll….." The healed man began to threaten. Ok, that's enough. With a sigh, I uncrossed my arms and stepped forward a few strides. "Don't hurt him." "You don't have to watch," the man's friend reassured me. Yeah, as if that's any reassurance. I shook my head. "Please don't hurt him. I'm alright; I'm ok now. Just…. keep him away from me," I pleaded. "No need to worry about that," the healed man set him down into a chair, still glaring at him irately. He then came over to stand beside me. "Alright, listen up! This woman is now under my protection! You mess with her, you mess with me!" Our eyes met as he turned his head to face me once more. "I won't let anything happen to you, miss. And if you want, I'll even escort you home."
Home? My eyes and heart lit up. Did he say "home"? That's wonderful! I won't have to worry about being abducted again. Only…. My lips parted a sliver as I drew in a silent breath. Which "home" should I choose? I was suddenly and unexpectedly presented with an opportunity to grab my freedom again, to go home… my real home. But…. it wasn't my only home now; I had two homes at the moment. The question is which should I choose? Which is right to choose?