Sheriff Skywalker wasted little time for celebration, Mara noted. A glass of champagne, more or less a sip, before getting back to business. A school district would have to be charted, and a census taken. He asked for permission to leave his sister with her as well as another woman from Tatooine to assist her. Mara promised the help of all her men, including Cassian's, and the protection of the women Luke was putting in her charge.
He returned by the end of the day with two trunks, a young woman, and a contract. She signed it right there on Kaytoo's podium, offering him another drink. He politely refused, apologizing for taking so long to return.
"It ain't nothing, sheriff. Came quicker than a jackrabbit spotted by a coyote, and I make my business in men coming quick."
He didn't acknowledge her comment, but she thought his face might have turned redder. In the lighting of the parlor, it was hard to tell, and it was considerably warmer than usual, she felt.
He thanked her for looking after Miss Organa and Miss Erso. "If you have a hotel in town, I'm sure that would suit them just fine," he had said.
She waved that idea out of the air. "They'll stay here, Sheriff." She took pleasure in seeing the color drain from his face, and she laughed. "You think this place is only a cathouse? How little you know, Sheriff. The two young ladies will stay in my apartments on the third floor, no clients are allowed past the second. There's a separate entrance. I take great care of my guests."
That relieved him of some stress, she could tell. He was looking to leave, she saw, and noticed it was almost dark by then.
"Why don't you stay the night?" She wasn't sure if she wanted him to refuse or accept, or even why she had offered. She had been very careful to never let men stay overnight that were not clientele or employed by her. But something told her she would never have to worry about this man overstepping his bounds.
He refused, saying he needed to be close to Tatooine just in case. He came back the next morning, telling her he was going to Crait, another town that shared a border with Yavin and Tatooine. Mara sent Cassian and Bodhi with him, Solo, and that Indian fellow, which left Chirrut and Baze to stand guard along with Kaytoo as doorman.
Madame Ahsoka, who had plucked Mara out from under a man and placed her under a wing, had started out as three women in a covered wagon, taking turns with clientele. The first purchase she'd made with their profits was hiring a bodyguard. Ahsoka was the one who taught Mara that the ability to conduct business safely was the number one priority, and she had never forgotten that lesson. As the town grew around the good madame's business, there had never been a question when she had been alive who the town answered to. The folks back east would scoff at a woman running a town, much less the owner of a whorehouse, but the citizens of Yavin never forgot who brought them there, and who kept them safe. When she passed, Mara had done her best to keep the same attitude. The sheriff served her, and she kept her people and her girls safe.
She showed Miss Organa the secret entrance to her apartments, and told her that if she needed to leave the brothel, to take Chirrut with her for protection. The young woman gave her an incredulous look, and Mara laughed.
"I know what you're thinking, he don't look like much more than a blind, pious old man. You'll just have to trust me, no harm will come to you with him," she assured, sitting at her desk across from her guest.
"How does a man like that come to be in your pocket?" Miss Organa asked, not convinced.
"In another life, he'd been a man of God. But then the Devil came knocking at his door." Mara poured both of them a drink and took a sip. "He preaches for the girls on Sundays, and reminds us all of God's love." Miss Organa nodded, taking a drink of her own. Mara gestured to the office. "Feel free to do any work you need in here. Anything you might need, let any of my men or girls know, and they'll get it to you. Also, be sure not to use the entrance to the parlor unless you'd like to meet some maybe not-so-friendly characters."
"Thank you, Ms. Jade."
"Please, Mara."
"Leia. Thank you for allowing me to stay here, Mara."
She chuckled. "Why of course, I'd never ask for you to go anyplace else. This place is safer than any hotel and has better company than any saloon."
Leia did her work from Mara's office, having Baze or Chirrut bring her the information she needed. Though she did leave occasionally to see sites or take headcounts herself.
Miss Erso helped Leia most days, or else sat and read in her room. She had taken quite a liking to Chirrut, who seemed to soothe her after the tragedy of losing her parents. Cassian had also been visiting the old priest more since the young Miss Erso had been staying with them, and Mara was sure it wasn't to confess his sins.
Sheriff Skywalker had seen to it that Cassian didn't spend all his time in Yavin. Most days he was negotiating with other towns, or helping take headcounts. Crait had agreed, Mustafar had not. But it was easy for them out in Mustafar, they didn't share a border with Scarif, and if Sheriff Skywalker's crazy plan worked, they wouldn't have to worry about annexation. Skywalker had come the night after they had disagreed and told her how smug Mayor Tarkin had looked.
"If I didn't know better, I'd say he wants us to fail," he said, after a half-bottle between the two of them. "Doesn't he know that if we fail, he will have a border with Scarif?"
"Maybe that's what he wants," Mara suggests. "Not everyone can hate being annexed, or else more would've tried what we are."
Luke shook his head. "Word is getting out about our proposal. One of Sheriff Jarrus' men from out in Geonosis visited me in Tatooine yesterday. He was sent with a sealed message saying Geonosis would comply with being annexed by Tatooine."
That was bad, but she faked a smile anyway. "That don't mean nothing, Sheriff. They see the other towns meeting and colluding, and they got scared. It don't mean they know about the plan."
"Or that everyone knows about it. And anyway we can't add Geonosis because they share a border with Mustafar but not any of the other towns that have agreed."
"They share one with Kyloth, don't they?" Mara blew smoke out and took another drag of her cigarette.
He squinted, seemingly trying to recall his mental map in a drunken haze. "I do not recall." Luke took his own drag.
"Well, if they do and Kyloth agrees, we'll have Mustafar surrounded."
He shifted in his seat uneasily. "That may be, or they'll be secured in their plan to stay out of ours. I don't like the idea of bullying whole towns into following my say."
He said goodbye soon after, limping back to Tatooine. The men from Tatooine didn't visit very often, mostly the Sheriff to update her on his quest. But there was one other man that made the occasional visit: the wayward Han Solo. The first of his visits was a night much like any other. Baze was off keeping the peace, and taking census. Chirrut was in his spot on the stool in the corner, praying most likely. Men were talking to the girls, liquor was flowing, and all was well with her business when Han Solo made a move to enter Ahsoka's.
"5 to stay the night," Mara reminded him. "And I'm sure I have no need to tell you again that Qi'ra left us, so you'll have to find a new favorite."
He looked surprised, then smirked. "I'm not staying the night, madame. Jus' want to make sure the ladies are settled in."
"I can do that just fine, Solo. Pay up or get out."
He held up his hands and pulled his purse from his pocket. He separated one five credit coin from the rest, dropping it into Kaytoo's open hand. He passed by, and Mara pushed a drink towards him. "Welcome, good sir. May you find what you're looking for tonight."
He raised the glass, but did not drink. "Where's Miss Organa?"
Mara's eyebrows shot up. She was sure he would let up the ruse of checking on the women when he'd passed the rope and go straight for her girls.
"My office, but she's working, I wouldn't-"
"Cheers, madame." He turned and walked away as soon as she spoke, and Mara watched him go. She wasn't sure if she should be happy or concerned.
The large wardrobe had seemed out of place in an office, but Leia had done her best to put it out of her mind. Her hostess had opened her home and her town, and Leia didn't want to repay her by snooping around her things. It had plagued her thoughts for days, and when Mara left her alone to "make the rounds," Leia couldn't ignore her curiosity any longer. The wardrobe was large, and well made. She couldn't imagine what it must've cost to make, and then to ship out here. The contents were recognizable immediately to Leia. What her hostess would do with gowns in her office of all places, Leia was unsure, but they were there-all tailormade in various fashions. She assumed they were the latest fashion from back east, but Leia had lost touch with that life when she had boarded a train five years ago.
She pulled a particular one down, white and gold-a dress you might wear to the fair or for New Years. There was a mirror next to a screen, and Leia held the dress up against her chest to look at herself. A moment of vanity, the first she had allowed herself in a long time. There was a chuckle from across the room and she nearly cried out in fear. But a glance told her it was only Mr. Solo. She sighed, and turned to put the gown away.
"Don't scare me like that, Mr. Solo," she chastised him, shutting the wardrobe. "You shouldn't even be here. Don't you know the meaning of propriety?"
"Excuse me, sweetheart, but I didn't just ride from Kyloth to Tatooine and back to be given a lecture," He said, taking a seat on the couch near the door.
"Then why did you come, Mr. Solo? You could have stayed in Tatooine, or perhaps you were looking for some female companionship." Leia sat with her back to him, making note of the census data Baze had given her earlier the day.
The cowboy was silent for a moment. "D'it bother you to think who I may have spent my night with?"
Leia hadn't anticipated that question, and her face burned with embarrassment. She didn't want to face this now, now that there were so many other, more important things to occupy her mind. The plan to keep them all safe was still in its infancy, she was barred from joining Luke as well as sleeping in her own bed, and Jyn cried herself to sleep every night. And here was Mr. Han Solo, asking a question that hurt her chest to think about. "It is none of my concern or business who you invite into your bed, Mr. Solo."
He chuckled. "I thought everything that happened around here was your business."
She shook her head. There was a small pause, and it seemed like they would sit in silence until one of them left. Han spoke first. "I had to make sure you were settled in and doing well."
"You mean Miss Erso, and I." Leia didn't look back as she spoke, sure her face was red.
"Her too, but, in truth, I came to see that the madame hadn't recruited you. She can be quite persuasive."
She turned back and glared at him, his face split into a smirk and she fumed. "What kind of woman do you think I am?"
"One who could give the whole West a lecture whether it deserved it or not."
Her anger faded at the mention of the West. Such a wild place it was. Such a wild life she was living as she made sense of census data and county layouts.
"That life is dying," she said.
Han yawned. "And it's a crying shame." He took a drink and wiped his mouth on his sleeve almost as if to illustrate his point, though Leia was sure this was lost on him. "Used to be a body could find himself out there in the dust. He'd go out a green boy, lost, and come back a man, found."
Leia wouldn't consider Mr. Solo to be a found man, but thought there might be some truth to his statement. After-all, isn't that what she had done?
Mr. Solo continued. "Now it's all statehood and laws. Beginning to feel like I'm back in Corellia."
This admission was surprising to her. "You're from Corellia, Mr. Solo?"
"Yes ma'am, born and raised." That would explain the "ma'am"ing and the "sweetheart", those Southern men were known for their pet-names.
She did some math in her head, estimating his age. "Were you in the war?"
He flinched a little, and Leia regretted what she had said immediately. Though it explained how a boy from Corellia would end up herding cattle in Alderaan territory. How many veterans had come out west to find what they had lost on the battlefield?
"Yes'm." He took another drink, and Leia felt it best to talk about something different.
"I was born in Tatooine, I was adopted by and sent to live with my cousins, the Organas, after my mother died in childbirth."
"They sent you away to be civilized. But the West roped you right back in, I see." His smirk was back.
She smiled. "Civilization isn't so bad."
"Miss your fancy dresses?" He gestured to the wardrobe and Leia blushed.
"I can live without the frivolities that come with it. But there's something to be said about the safety the state gives you." She didn't meet his eyes as she spoke. "They weren't kidding when they called it the Wild West. And I suppose when I was young I thought it romantic to return here to the dust and find where I'd come from. But a young woman's family was murdered in their house within these past weeks, and there's no recourse? That would never happen in Coruscant. Anarchy is very liberating until you have something to protect." She yawned, itching for a stretch. She stood, and Mr. Solo did too. "It's late, I ought to go to bed, Mr. Solo."
"I had best be getting back too. Long day tomorrow, just like all the others."
They stared at each other from across the room, and it seemed almost like he took a step towards her direction, away from the door, when Mara came in. Mr. Solo excused himself, and Mara sent her to bed.
A/N: Thank you for the continued support
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