THE ARC OF SKYWALKER | a star wars story✔️

24 | toro malican

—HOURS PASSED AND MANDO WASN'T BACK YET.

The kid woke up an hour or so after he left so Peli and I had to care for him. I noticed she kept glancing at me while I rocked the kid back to sleep. She probably recognized me.

"I've seen you before. Have I threatened you with a lawsuit?" Peli asked and I chuckled at her statement.

"No, I would remember you if you did that. What about me do you recognize?"

"It's the face." Peli said and gestured with a wrench she held in her hand. "You look similar to Princess Leia of Alderaan. Never saw her in person but from what I've seen from holograms and propaganda, she's real pretty."

I smiled a little as I thought about my sister. From what I saw, she hated when people only saw her for her looks rather than her brain and intellect. I was one of those individuals who degraded her by calling her 'another pretty face' and someone who wanted attention, but now that I'm trying to get better, I saw her as the most powerful person I've ever known.

"I get that a lot, but I don't really see it." I replied as I tried to get Peli away from the subject of me looking like Leia.

"But you have the look of that one Skywalker kid who frequented Mos Eisley. Scrawny little moisture farmer who went off with a crazy hermit and a smuggler one day. The way you talk and how your stance is, it reminds of him."

"Skywalker?" I asked, my voice straining from saying the name out loud.

"Yeah. Didn't really know him, but he would come around with his aunt and uncle to watch the ships coming in or to collect scraps around the Zones to take home with him. He came to me once when he was...probably 8 or 9 years old and asked if I wanted to trade with him. I humored him and gave the kid a couple scraps I wouldn't use."

I looked down at the sleeping child who cooed in his sleep. Peli walked over to me, her eyes narrowed.

"I know who you are, kid." She spoke quietly to me and I tensed. The dark flooded my senses and the kid in my arms stirred in his sleep.

"No, you don't."

"I won't turn you in, Asa Skywalker. You proved to me you're good."

I gawked at the woman, all darkness disappearing. Did I hear her right? Did she really know who I was?!

"How do—"

"I was a young woman in the time of the Clone Wars. Your birth was big news around here since many knew your grandmother, Shmi Skywalker. Of course, everyone was devastated when the Empire made it out like you were killed during Order 66."

"That doesn't explain how you know who I am."

"I know who you are because I've seen you here before. It was when you were Darth Axcia, and you didn't have your paint on. You asked people if they knew who Buru and Owen were and where they lived."

I closed my eyes, silencing the voices and memories in my head.

"That's how you recognize me." I muttered my gaze turned to my boots. Peli patted my shoulder before gently taking the kid from me.

Before anything else could be said between us, the doors to the landing zone opened and Mando walked in. Immediately, he went into defense mode over Peli having the kid.

"Get away from it!" He shouted and I strode toward him. I placed my hands on his chest to stop him and calm him down.

"Mando, it's okay!"

"Now you've done it! It took forever to get him to sleep!" Peli yelled and tried calming the fussing child in her arms. I gave Mando a look, the man shrugging cluelessly, and turned to grab the kid from Peli. The kid calmed down almost instantly and buried his face into my chest, still tired.

"I assume you got a job?" I asked Mando as Peli and I stood together.

"I did." He replied and gestured for me to follow him. I handed Peli the child before following him outside. The setting suns shined in my eyes and I squinted from the brightness. I caught sight of a young man standing a few feet away with two speederbikes. When he caught sight of me, a flirtatious smile spread across his lips. Oh, Maker, take me now...

"And who is this heavenly body?" He asked Mando and approached me. I stayed in place as he stopped at arms-length and looked me up and down.

"I'm Toro Malican." He introduced and went to grab my hand. I turned to Mando and brought my hand up to pretend to scratch my head, my body language awkward. Just from looking at him, I could tell he was laughing silently under that helmet of his.

"How long are you going to be out?" I asked, ignoring Toro's amorous advances on me.

"A day or so." He replied and patted my shoulder.

"Huh, wish I could come. You'd be lost without me." I teased him as he scoffed quietly.

"It's too dangerous for a lovely lady like you." Toro spoke up and I turned to face him, an eyebrow raised at him.

"Wouldn't want to damage the goods." He commented and I blushed; not from flattery, but from embarrassment. Here I was, Asa Padmé Skywalker, a high profile bounty and former killer, being catcalled by this sleazy bastard of a bounty hunter.

"Of course!" I replied in a sickly sweet voice and smiled so wide it hurt my face. "Since I'm a woman, I have to live up to your standards! But guess what, sweetheart?"

I stepped forward so my face was only inches from his. Toro bit his lip and gave a seductive smirk which made me want to gag. But what made me enjoy this even more was the intense jealousy I felt radiating off of Mando.

"What, my beautiful star?"

"Fuck your standards."

I let my face drop to a scowl and marched back into the landing zone, Peli following closely behind and resisting the urge to laugh at Toro's shocked expression.

~*~

*NOTE*
i hope you enjoyed this chapter. i know i did lol

see ya in the next update ;)